Laura's Blog

back from vacation

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:18:23 GMT

O.C. was a lot of fun. I spent a lot of time lounging on the beach (although I think we spent more time at Seacrets than at the beach) The tubes at Seacrets were a lot of fun. The waitresses come to you in the water and you can fit everybody on these big tubes. Their food is really good too and they have live bands and DJ's at night. We also went mini golfing and went to the boardwalk to get ice cream and Henna Tattoos. I got a star tattoo on my foot. We went to a Comedy Club the last night that we were there. It wasn't that good. The comedians were just ragging on the audience for the most part and it didn't seem like they really had a script ready. There was a lot of dead spots too because they didn't like how there wasn't a lot of laughter. So they just stared at us and commented on how we didn't think they were funny. We decided to stay an extra day because we were having a lot of fun. I would have preferred not going to the bar as much as we did because there were a lot of other things I would have liked to do like ocean kayaking and jet skiing. but I can do that next time. I bitched to the hotel people about how our room had ants and that I was scorched in the shower and so after much debate I got 75 bucks off of our bill. There were so many things wrong with that hotel....I'm not going back there. It was called the Princess Bayside. Next time we would like to rent a house for a week on the beach side. With more people it will be the same or less than staying at a hotel and we'll have better access to the beach and will be able to save more money by cooking our own meals and not going out every day.

vaca

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:03:28 GMT

I am so excited that Zach, Tiffany, Steveo and I will be going on vacation tomorrow to OC, MD. I have not been on a vacation in a very long time. I can't wait for the beach and to lounge on an inner tube at Seacrets :) We're staying until the 3rd so I should be coming back nice and tan (hopefully it doesn't freakin rain though). I need to find my camera. It's been missing since we moved and I definitely want vacation pics. God I lose everything!

I hate the rain

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:07:28 GMT

I am so sick of this weather. I want it to be sunny so I can tan and ride my bike. Although the summer has been nice so far and I've been able to relax a ton. I took off from work last Friday since the kids were gone because of the lovely swine flu and all we were doing was playing kickball and dodgeball all day. That was a lot of fun and I was able to see a competitive streak in some people that was very surprising. Plus I haven't played dodgeball since high school which was my favorite game. But my sister and cousin were coming up so I wanted to spend time with them. It was a nice weekend. This week, I've gotten a lot of cleaning done and I've been cooking a lot which is something I never seem to have the time to do anymore. I'm also trying to eat healthy and work out so that I can look good in my new bikinis for the beach in 2 weeks. Zach, Steveo, Tiff and I are going to OC, MD which I'm souped for. I just hope it doesn't rain like it's been doing.

Zach and his friend Nick built a horseshoe pit in the backyard because that is the most important thing that we needed to do around the house of course. How could we possibly function without a pit for which we play horseshoes? But it is pretty neat.

No luck on the job hunt. I called 20 different stores the other day, searched the newspaper for openings, and the web. NOTHING. Nobody is hiring right now and Borders and Starbucks are having a hiring freeze. I'm not complaining though. I like being able to relax and actually have time to clean, unpack, and do stuff that I want to do. I mean it would be nice to have the extra money but we don't necessarily NEED it.

you swine

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:14:21 GMT

Our school ended the school year a week early due to the swine flu. We don't have any confirmed cases but 91 students were absent today. So administration decides 30 minutes until dismissal that the kids need to clean out their desks for the end of the year. So not how I envisioned my last day. I wanted to give out certificates and have a breakfast and take my time saying goodbye to the kids. Instead I gave them the news and they cheered and then the chaos began. I probably shouldn't have told them until everything was collected and clean. Although I am pretty happy I don't have to teach for another week. 3 of my kids have been disrespectful and out of control. I couldn't take another week of it. It was teacher abuse on their end. But now I have 2 days to get report cards out, fill out my QAS (although I'm still not convinced that anybody even looks at that), print goal sheets and attach Terra Novas, AND pack up my entire room. FUN. I will NEVER forget this first year. I had a great class but also the most challenging class out of all of the 2nd grade classes. I learned a ton and I have so many things I would do differently next year.

whooooaa....I've been travelin' on this road too long....just tryin' to find my way back home

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:15:29 GMT

That song is in my head.

So this past week felt like the longest week ever. It's funny how short weeks always feel longer to me. One of the 2nd grade teachers had jury duty all week and we didn't have any substitutes available. So her class was split into all of our classes which brought my class size from a 26 to a 31. It was very frustrating especially when I know that there are people at that school who do nothing all day and do not have their own classroom that could have taken her class. But no...apparently gossiping, drinking coffee, and kissing the principal's ass all day was more important. At least everything will be back to normal next week.

Also we are watching caterpillar larvae grow in the classroom. 2 made their chrysalises the other day and the kids were super excited until the other caterpillar devoured them and now there's blood splattered on the side of the cup. That was a learning experience I wasn't counting on. But at least there's one chrysalis that just formed and it's in it's own cup. So hopefully in a week or so we'll have a butterfly in our classroom. We also have a trip to Hershey's butterfly gardens booked and my kids are souped about it. They are really into this science unit. I think it's the best one that we've done all year.

Also settlement on the house was moved to this Wednesday which gives us about 8 days to get out of the apartment. So we're packing like crazy and we're going to start painting this week also. This is going to be a rough couple of weeks with everything that is going on.

house

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:27:28 GMT

We just found out today that we got approved for the house and we are getting the appraisal done this week. All that's left is giving notice with Colebrook apartments that we're OUTA HERE!! and settlement. I'm SO excited. I have so many decorating ideas for the house. It will just be nice to have our own space without having to worry about neighbors above us and next to us. We can have parties without bothering anybody. I can leave my laundry in the dryer for as long as I want without getting rude notices about it. I can DO laundry at 2am if I want! We can grill again and have our own offices. I won't have to tape pipes together anymore or call about the broken toilet every month and then get rude notices about that because they think it's our fault that their plumbing sucks. and (as far as I know) NO MORE BUGS!!! :) That's the BEST part of all!

Yay no more landlords!

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:43:13 GMT

Zach and I have been house hunting for the past month and we've been doing a lot of research online. Zach happened upon a split level house in Lancaster Township and I sent the link to my real estate agent to set up a walk through. It just so happens that this house was his aunt's house and was able to get us in right away. The Aunt bought another property and sold this house to the company that she bought her house from and they already reduced the price by $20,000 and basically just wanted to get rid of it and break even on the deal. It was built in 2002, has 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room, living room, 1 1/2 baths, a two tier deck attached to the house, a pretty nice yard, and two car garage. I'm pretty excited about it. We're supposed to settle in about 3 weeks and then we'll be able to move in. I would post pictures but they are all on my cell phone and I don't know how to send them to my e-mail because I am retarded when it comes to technology. I will post as soon as I get pics with my camera or figure out my phone.

oh how I love my job

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:51:16 GMT

I really do love my job...HOWEVER...this week is not fun. My kids were kind of crazy this week with all of the chit chat except today. Today the only problem I had was with one little boy who has been diagnosed with ODD recently. perfect....I think that brings my count to 4 or 5 in my classroom with ODD. That's too much defiance!!! But this kid is the worst. He screams at me "NO IM NOT DOING THIS or IM NOT GOING THERE!!!" Its ridiculous. I tried so hard today to avoid writing him up. But right at dismissal he steals my math rubberbands for the geoboard and is flicking them. I asked for the rubberband back and he said "NO ITS MINE FROM HOME" and I said no...you're lying because its the one that goes to the geoboard...I can tell the difference. So I grabbed it from him since he wasnt handing it over because I didnt want him to hurt anyone. He got pissed and started screaming and making a scene so I told him to get his stuff and dismiss next door. He refused and picked up his chair and started swinging in circles as fast as he could. I ran over and grabbed the chair and called for someone to escort him down and I had to write a referral. He had to literally be carried out of my room and tried to escape the building apparently. He's suspended tomorrow and his mom is pissed (probably with me). And the worst is that i know I'm gonna have to deal with the same shit next week. He never stops. Every day is a battle with him. He's playing a game and I don't think I'm winning.

butt sweat

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:52:17 GMT

I've been working out at the gym a lot this week. I've noticed that a lot of the people there have butt sweat problems. I am not one of them. But it's disgusting. My arms hurt. They feel like jello.

I've also been watching what I eat. I'm hoping to lose 10 pounds, tone up, and lower my cholesterol. I think I can do it. Especially with having a personal trainer. He makes me keep going even when I don't want to. I probably would have quit already if it weren't for him.

I'm having a really hard time getting up on time for school. Those two weeks off really spoiled me with sleeping in. I was late this morning. I got up later than normal but earlier than yesterday (when I was running late but made it on time) and everybody was driving like 45-50 miles per hour in a 55 zone. Which means you're supposed to drive 60-65. Granted it was pouring but those fuckers made me late for work by like 2 minutes.

New Year's

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:49:30 GMT

New Year's Eve was awesome. My sister and her friend came to visit for a few days. More people came to our party this year. My apartment is a disaster but that doesn't matter. It was fun and at least it doesn't smell like puke anymore. :) I have 2 new year's resolutions this year. 1.) is to be a more understanding, positive person. I think that this will help me with my family, with zach, and at work. I tend to overreact to situations and get extremely angry very quickly. I don't know why I do this but I need to calm down a bit because I sometimes look like a crazy person. 2.) I (along with the rest of the U.S.) am going to work out more and take care of myself more. I joined a new gym (L.A. Fitness) today. It's a really nice gym and has more options than Planet Fitness. There are aerobics classes and a pool there. My other gym didn't have anything. I'm going to get my money's worth and work out 3 times a week and try to get Zach to go too. We both need to start taking care of ourselves. I have my first session with the trainer bright and early tomorrow morning. We're going to set my goals and a workout schedule. This will be great because I have no idea what I'm doing. I created a third goal today but I can't remember what it was haha.

I also need to start cracking down and saving money so that i can get out of this hell hole of an apartment. There is no room for us here. I need a place with a basement in order to store zach's toolboxes and our decorations. We couldn't even get a Christmas tree this year because there was no room. I didn't even really decorate because it's too hard to get the box out of the closet. I need to get a house...or a townhouse by September.

what a day

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:03:35 GMT

I wrote up two kids today....one for being an annoying little shit all day and the other for calling me a "white cracker". yeah....he tried to say he wasn't talking about me but besides one little boy...I'm the only white person in the room and the other little boy was nowhere near him.

Lincoln...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:32:16 GMT

So I found out at my PD yesterday frickin morning that I have to create yet another portfolio. I have to choose 3 goals: 1 for my reading class, 1 for math, and one for my professional growth based on this book of standards they gave me. I have to write up this whole big thing and show evidence and whatnot. Now it's not hard or anything but it's ANOTHER thing to do. This school just piles on the paperwork all the freakin time. I have lesson plans that are just as detailed as college every week. I have to create goals for my students at parent/teacher conferences and then measure my goal for every single student in my class (which is 27). I also have to write up a 2 page analysis on the kids' reading and math benchmark scores every month and meet with administration about it 3 times a month. When do I have time to teach?? I also have to write a reflection paper a month and an observation of a peer. I'm too busy analyzing and writing papers. No other school does all this crap I am sure. That's what pisses me off. I am required to do shit nobody else has to do. Anyone who says teachers have it easy should be shot. I work 12 hour days just to come home, eat, and go to sleep. My kids are nuts and I'm busting my balls ALL the time. The workload never gets smaller.

Sorry...I'm just ready for Thanksgiving break and needed to vent. You may skip over this entry if you like.

holy cow!

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:48:24 GMT

I just bought a 2009 Nissan Altima 2.5 S in slate gray. I feel good.

no escuela

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:41:46 GMT

Yay school was canceled today because of a sewage backup :) Although I did not know that school was canceled until I got there. So that was a pointless 40 minute drive. I got out of the car and someone was like "didn't you get the memo?" I made sure I was put on the calling list today. I didn't mind so much today but I will not be happy if I am driving in a blizzard to get to school and then someone asks me if I got the memo.

So since I was there, I helped some other teachers who where there early to tell the parents and kids that were walking that there was no school. A LOT of parents don't speak English so I was just saying no escuela over and over since I don't know how to say full sentences in Spanish. My post was the corner of West and King. Some creepy dude with a bottle of alcohol walked by and told em I was sexy. That's when I decided that I shouldn't be standing on the corner. I was a little nervous standing out there because of the shooting last week. I can't believe these kids walk to school. There was even a kindergartener that walked to school by himself. I really hope someone was at home.

I am going to take the day today to do laundry and write up my lesson plans and probably play on my new PLAYSTATION 3 that we bought last night :) It's a wonderful day.

New car

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:09:12 GMT

So I'm shopping for a new car right now and was looking up the consumer reports for the Nissan Sentra. All I found so far was one for a 2001 Sentra. This is terrible but I definitely laughed at this guys expense.

"I own a 2001 Nissan Sentra thats turning into the biggest piece of junk i've ever drove. I purchased the car used with only 57000 miles,not too many and still in warranty.The day after i purchased the car the accellerator jammed down and i nearly wrecked the car into a light post.The dealer refused to fix the problem at his cost and said that something i did most have caused the problem.

A week later the pedel jammed down and my girl friend slammed into a large construction truck at 35 mph. The result was 7588.40 worth of damage,not including the defective cable that had to be replaced at my expence.Did i mention that i had already replaced the cable with a new factory cable.After this it just went down hill.The dip stick broke off the second i tried to pull it to check the oil after i changed it for the first time,again the dealer refused to help and i had to go online to find out how to get the cheap piece of plastic out of the tube.Just yesterday my girlfriend tried to check her make up in the visor mirror and got shocked pretty bad from the visor light. This in turn fried the keyless entrie as well as the trunk popper and air bag system.My girlfriend refuses to get back into this car and i have about 2000 dollars in repairs.I've drove Nissans since i was 16 and have never had these problems. This is my first sentra and my last.Nissan uses cheap inafective parts and poor disign idea's in there sentra and the consumer pays the price. "

So I guess I'm not getting a Sentra or at least I won't check my make-up in the mirror. :)

Doris

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:56:49 GMT

So my 90 yr old neighbor has been complaining about us because we leave things in the dryer too long sometimes. but here's the thing, I have NEVER in the entire year that I have lived here...seen that woman do laundry. She has somebody take it out and do it for her. So why the hell is she checking the laundry area just to get us in trouble? Maybe I should complain about the fact that her apartment smells so bad that it makes the hallway stink or maybe the fact that she BLARES her TV at night that I can't read in my living room because of it. Because those are things that actually affect me....unlike the laundry area that she doesn't use.

ahhhhhhhh

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:13:56 GMT

So I just had the week from hell at the school. I had 3 new students this week which takes me up to 27...which is my max. I don't have enough books or anything for these kids and the school is taking forever to get my order. The kids were nuts this week except for Friday and I got screamed at by a parent Thursday morning. I was supposed to have a meeting with her cuz her daughter told her a teacher got in her face and screamed at her during a fire drill. (which wasnt me and actually was an exaggerated story...she wasnt screamed at) But she cancelled that morning but asked the office if she could come up real quick to talk. I said sure because I figured it would be quick and the kids were doing their morning work. Well she started screaming at me for what my sub said to her kid the other day and told me if kids contimue to pick on her kid, she gave her permission to hit them. and then I was like "well...no...she can't do that because she'll get suspended". Mom apparently didn't care and told the kid in front of me not to listen to me or the principal and to do what she's got to do. So after she left I called the office to give them a heads up and someone caught her before she left the school. I was shaking and another teacher had to come in and help me catch up with my morning stuff while I tried to make my new kid feel comfortable on his first day. Later on that day I had a sub again so that I could observe my mentor and I came back to 4 crying kids. Great. One said his mom beats him and so I had to report that too. ON TOP OF ALL THIS....I'm sick to my stomache and didn't even want to come to school because I had to keep running to the bathroom but came anyway for that meeting. Because I care a lot about each of my kids.

I had a meeting with that same mother on Friday but this time the principal and another 2nd grade teacher was there. I told the principal on Thursday that I refuse to ever meet that woman one on one again and that she is not to ever be sent up to my classroom. The meeting went well and I got some books together for the girl to take home and practice some school work with mom. My dismissal went fabulously....I tried the dismissal train which is something different for my kids. We made train noises as we walked around the classroom getting their bookbags and papers out of their cubbies. My kids respond well to music and movement. I also graded my quizes and my kids did awesome!

So today, Saturday, I used the gift card that Zach got me for my last birthday and got a spa pedicure and manicure. It was AMAZING. and I really needed it after this past week. They put this blue stuff in a bag with my feet and wrapped each foot with a hot towel. They massaged my feet and my hands. I got to wait in the lounge while waiting for my manicure after my pedi and there was all kinds of teas and chocolates. They even brought me a cappacino while getting my pedi done. It only cost 70 bucks too and I felt great!!! I'm definitely going back for the hot rock massage!

I also got to see Monika and Mark this week which was nice. She helped my week out a little bit :)

The job search has ended.

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:43:09 GMT

I AM THE NEW 2ND GRADE TEACHER OF LINCOLN CHARTER SCHOOL IN YORK, PA!!!!!!

I went for my 2nd interview this morning and they called me back like 4 hours later to offer me the position. I am SO HAPPY that I don't have to be a teacher's assistant to the Hildebrandt Kindergarten teacher this year. My heart wasn't really in that decision and I am just so excited that I finally got my dream job.

However, I still need to tell Hildebrandt and I start school on the 11th but there's training that I have to do so I can only give them 1 weeks notice. This is gonna be tough. I hate telling people that I'm quitting. I'm not good at it.

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:03:19 GMT

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has read only 6 of the top 100 books they've printed.
1) Look at the list and bold those that you've read.
2.) Italicize those you intend to read.
3.) Underline the books you LOVE.
4.) Reprint this list in LJ so we can try and track down these people who have read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray -
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I think I did pretty good. :)

Hope after all?

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:11:22 GMT

Well there wasn't as many kids that signed up for summer camp as Hildebrandt thought there would be. So I lost the coin toss and had to leave. I'm at the main learning center right now as a floater. This one girl up and left yesterday and so I took her hours today. She didn't call today so I asked my boss if I could take over her job (haha I know...I'm a bitch). I also mentioned to my boss that if there is a Kindergarten position open at any of the centers next year, that I would love to stay with Hildebrandt and teach there. Job prospects are looking low and so I figured this would at least be a step up. She looked surprised but I heard that theres a lot of Kindergarten kids next year and might need co-teachers in that room. So maybe....I don't know though. Things are kind of up in the air right now. We'll see.

Good news

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:31:56 GMT

I am going to a job fair tomorrow at Millersville University and there's supposed to be like 100 school districts there. So I have to print out a bunch of resumes tonight and get my suit together. I got an e-mail this morning from South East School District to set up an interview with them for next Friday. I'm gonna have to call out with a sick day that day for Smoketown but I'm thinking I'm gonna have to do it with Hildebrandt too because I can't show up at Smoketown for the after school program when I was supposed to be "sick". I thought being at the same place all day for both of my jobs was gonna be easier but it's actually been a pain in the ass because of situations like these. I also got an interview for Conestoga Valley School District at the end of the month that I'm pretty excited about. That's the school district that I really want to teach for and I want to be a teacher at Smoketown. I love the faculty and staff there (minus the night janitors who are rude people).

Speaking of the night janitors. I've been having a lot of problems with them lately with Hildebrandt. They are constantly reporting us for the most ridiculous things. I actually had to speak to the principal the other week to clear some things up. Last week I was trying to get in the school through the back door because I couldnt park in the front since the buses were taking up so much room. I tried calling Emily and Alyson but nobody was picking up their phones. So the one man janitor was going in the school and I went to follow him and he tried to actually pull the door shut behind him so that I couldnt get in. He sees me every day!!! He knows that I work there!! And then yesterday the same janitor flipped out on me. Which is strange because usually when I ask him a question he pretends like he cant hear or see me. He's very childish. I think theres something mentally wrong with him. Well anyway...yesterday this girl a little younger than me (who I actually found out is zachs neighbor) was knocking on the door of the school. She saw me so I couldnt ignore the knocking and so I answered and asked her if I could help her. She said she was there for basketball and as she was talking I realized that she had some kind of disability. I think she might have down syndrome. So I walked her down to the gym to see if anybody was there yet and they werent. Then the janitor comes up to me and tells me I can't be in the gym and I said I know that I was just waiting with the girl. He said she should be in the lobby waiting for the others and I was like "oh ok! sorry". So as I'm walking back to Hildebrandt he yells at me about opening the door...he's like "its my job NOT yours, don't touch the door!" I was like whoa dude sorry but the office told me that I can answer the door if someone knocks." and he wasnt having that and kept going on and on about how he opens the door at 5:30 and not before and blah blah blah. The girl came a whopping 2 minutes early! big effin deal! And all he does anyway is prop the door open for the first person anyway and then walk away and let the rest of the people open the door for each other. How the hell is he doing his job?? Maybe I wouldnt have to open the friggin door for knockers if he was there to open it when hes supposed to. and its not even like I opened the door and let the girl wander the school...I walked her to the gym and stayed with her.

Sorry...I had to vent. I'm about to punch a janitor.

H&R block

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:41:22 GMT

H&R Block...don't go there to get your taxes done. I mean they do an awesome job but it's SUPER expensive.The lady did all of my W-2's including the one from NJ and she said that normally they would charge me 300 bucks for that. and I was like..."what?! so how much are you going to charge me?" She said that since I should only be getting like 70 bucks back that she would tell H&R block that I am a friend and charge me 20 bucks. I was so thankful! I am such a friggin retard though...I should have asked how much it would cost ahead of time. But I honestly didn't think it would cost more than 100 and I thought I would be getting like 400 back like last year. But I guess PA doesn't give very big refunds unless you are an independent which I will be this year. So...the moral of this story is...ask how much things are before you do them...and do your own taxes.

In other news, my bathroom exploded this morning. The sewer backed up and there was like poop in my tub and the toilet started to leak water from the bottom. So I called maintenance and they were here 5 minutes after I called them. which is great but I didn't get a chance to get ready for work yet. So I had to brush my teeth in the kitchen and then I couldn't find a hairbrush so I had to use this toothed headband to brush my hair and I left the house without matching. I had to appologize to the aide's at school for possibly smelling like dookie (I didn't use that word though...I am a professional) because I didn't get to take a shower this morning. Yesterday I had a couple kids mention how good I smelled...today...nothing. haha.

choices, choices

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:57:18 GMT

So I've been applying to a BUNCH of teaching positions lately. There aren't as many positions available as there were last year though. I have an interview for the district that I'm in right now at the end of April. but I was offered a promotion at Hildebrandt. I was asked to be the director of all of the after school programs in the area. This is because my boss is getting promoted and said that Bill (the main boss man) wants me to have the position because he's only heard great things about me. It might also have something to do with the fact that I am the only site coordinator that actually does what they ask...like hand in weekly lesson plans and update the children's files. It won't be as much money as a teaching job though and I would be out of the classrooms. I'm worried that I won't get a teaching position next year and be forced to do this. I'm afraid that this position might hurt me. However, I can't do this again with two part time jobs. I need to make money so that I can start saving and stop living paycheck to paycheck. It's taking a toll on me. I don't know what to do.

My family came to Lancaster for Easter this weekend. It was really nice having them here. I miss them a lot and I get really depressed since I'm so far away from them. but it doesn't make sense to live there. Everything is too costly. I hope that one day I can move to New Hope or somewhere much closer. But New Hope is for the wealthy and I'm going to be a teacher. It's all up to Zach. haha.

I'm going to H&R block tomorrow to get my taxes done. This is the first year that I'm actually taking care of this by myself. I'm nervous. I don't understand any of that stuff.

A New Year

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:29:42 GMT

Last night we were supposed to go to my friend Emily's house for a party but their party kind of fell through so we just invited them over to our apartment with a few other friends and had a small gathering for New Years until 4:30am. The party consisted of lots of guitar hero, beer, sing star, and debates. It was an all around good time. Except for the booger that I found on my wall. Not so happy about that.

So this past year was pretty good. I graduated from school and moved to Lancaster, PA. It's been really lonely with Zach working so much but it's just the beginning. We are trying to settle in here and we are both doing something that we didn't necessarily go to school for but will hopefully help us find the careers that we want in 2008. I love my jobs as an aide and site coordinator at Hildebrandt and feel that I made the right move towards getting a teaching position next year.

I made a new friend since moving to Lancaster, Emily, and I can see us being friends for a long time. I'm grateful for her friendship because it's SO hard moving to a new place and not knowing many people. Meeting new people never really came easy for me.

There were a lot of deaths in my family this year. One of the closest people in my life, my grandma, passed away. There's been a lot of family conflict ever since she passed. I just hope 2008 will be better. I mean it was a good year overall, but a hard one as well.

Well that's it....remember to eat your pork and sauerkraut today. Apparently it brings good luck for the new year.

Vitamin C

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:18:17 GMT

Ok so I just read this article about Vitamin C and it says that it doesn't help get rid of a cold at all. Maybe some cancers, but not a cold. Apparently this Nobel Peace Prize winning scientist guy wrote a book about how Vitamin C helps cure colds without doing any actual scientific research to back up his theory and so now most people think it helps cure colds when it doesn't. I hate being lied to.