Counting my blessings

It's Sunday. I haven't been to Church (regularly) in a long time. It makes me feel a bit guilty, especially when I do go back for a Sunday service and get a warm reception (not to mention a healthy dose of "where have you been?" guilt). The reason I haven't been to Church in ages is simple - I've gotten lazy. Before I moved to my current place I used to have to either take a cab to Church (expensive at nearly $15 a ride), ask for a ride from a friend (which made me feel guilty and I HATED, above all else, to bug my friends for rides), or take the bus halfway and walk the rest (which took about half an hour, unless someone headed for Church stopped and picked me up along the way). Now that I've moved I have to take two buses to get to Church. It takes about 40 minutes. It's way easier to stay at home. I'm a horrible Christian. Since I haven't been going to Church regularly, I thought I'd take this time to make a list of my blessings. I strongly encourage everyone who is reading this to do the same.

1. It isn't raining outside.
2. I cleaned my house this morning. Finally. Let me say hooray for swiffer, vileda, tilex, and all other products that make cleaning just that much easier!
3. I'm getting my laundry done at home, and I've been lucky enough to have in-suite laundry at every home I've ever lived in.
4. I got to see a movie and have dinner with my best friend yesterday. My best friend has been talking a lot lately about marrying her longtime boyfriend and is thinking that December is a good month to get married. She says that I will be her maid of honour.
5. I know several people who are pregnant right now. Two are due in July and one is due in September. Hearing them talk about their excitement is contagious.
6. I have a newly married sister who is very happy.
7. I am in good health.
8. My mother is happily remarried and has an awesome husband.
9. I have a new, fast computer that I love playing with.
10. My students are learning! I marked their essays yesterday and without exception all of them have learned to indent their paragraphs, write topic sentences, and confine their paragraphs to one topic. If you knew my students, you would know what a huge accomplishment this was.
11. I have lots of friends at work who make the day pass much faster.
12. In my bedroom there are two big closets. Both are mine.
13. I have the unexpected blessing of a dishwasher. When I was looking for this place I never expected to get a dishwasher. My priority was the laundry.
14. I have money in the bank. Not a lot, but enough so that I don't have to worry about money every night before I fall asleep.
15. My wonderful mom and stepfather are coming over on Monday while I'm at work to fix a couple of small things in my place. Yes, this is what prompted me to clean this morning.
16. I have a step-brother and a step-sister on my mom's side and dad's side. All of us get along. How sweet is that?!
17. I have finally finished my TESL course, which gives me more work options.
18. I got a raise at work, so the paycheck I deposited on Friday was the biggest one I've ever deposited (don't get me wrong, I'm still barely above poor, but I like to think there's nowhere to go but up from here).
19. I can raise my left eyebrow independently of my right. This is a very useful skill when dealing with students as it tends to get their attention and signal that I'm not pleased with whatever they are doing/saying.
20. I completed the Sun Run last Sunday in two hours and twenty minutes. I know a lot of people who have never even attempted it. It was my SECOND time doing it and I felt frigging FANTASTIC when I was finished.
21. I have at least two books on my shelf that I haven't read yet and can't wait to start reading.
22. I get to borrow a DVD from my sister on Monday.
23. I bought a new purse yesterday.
24. I've met some cool people online by surfing blogs.
25. I live alone (no annoying roommates to bug me!) and don't have to answer to anyone.
26. I have not one, but two pairs of sexy boots.
27. I bought new clothes last weekend.
28. I still have a whole day ahead of me to do whatever I WANT!

That's one blessing for each year I've been alive :-)

Dreams

Recently I had a dream that I was chewing gum and it turned to cement in my mouth and pulled out 4 of my teeth. I was too embarrassed to go visit my dentist (in the dream) because I recently was at the dentist to get some dental work done and I didn't want him to see that I pulled out the teeth with gum. Wonder what that means?

I have dreams of travelling to Russia. There are lots of place, primarily in Europe, that I want to visit, but right now Russia is at the top of my list. I want to visit St. Petersburg. That would be totally sweet.

I dream of having a husband one day. But at the same time I love my independence and I don't want to give it up.

I had dreams about the situation at work changing. Will that dream ever be realized?

You know those cheesy e-mail surveys? This isn't one of them!

Okay, I admit it - I secretly adore those internet surveys that I get sent from my friend Debbie (strangely, I never get them from anyone else). That's probably why I like filling in and posting these memes. Without further adieu . . .

I AM: a conscientious teacher
I WANT: more sleep! More days in the weekend!
I WISH: that I could travel more! I want to see Europe, New York, Las Vegas, and Japan!
I HATE: liars!
I MISS: my dad! More accurately, I miss the dad I knew growing up. My dad has alzheimer's disease. He lives in the hospital and sits in a chair all day. He is not the man I remember. I miss my old dad so much that sometimes when I think about him (no matter where I am) I cry.
I FEAR: never falling in love!
I HEAR: a commercial, my own inner voice telling me to dust (don't worry, I've been ignoring that voice for a few days now so I'm not about to leave you mid-meme!)
I WONDER: how I will feel tomorrow when I see a particular man I had a huge crush on last year.
I REGRET: not knowing German. Luckily I still have time to learn!
I AM NOT: pretty. It's true.
I DANCE: sexy, according to my students. They have vision problems. I like moving to music, but I'm not particularly good at it.
I SING: whenever I hear a song I like, or whenever I think of a song I like. I sing when I'm happy, and I sing when I'm stressed out or sad.
I CRY: When I laugh so hard that tears come out of my eyes! I also cry when I'm sad.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: the hard-ass some people think I am.
I MAKE: people smile, laugh, and learn.
I WRITE: e-mails, memos, curriculum, blog entries.
I CONFUSE: myself sometimes!
I NEED: more sleep! A long vacation where I am required to do nothing more strenuous than decide which beach to go lie on.
I SHOULD: dust. Not going to happen until the weekend though!
I START: reading good books.
I FINISH: reading good books.
I TAG: anyone reading this :-)

Changes

My students have gotten me thinking about all the changes that have been happening at my school lately. They have heard that our Activities Coordinator is leaving (Friday is his last day), and they found out last week that they will be changing teachers (not me, their other teacher) tomorrow. Their "old" teacher isn't leaving, she's just going to be teaching another level. They're getting a little freaked out and keep asking me if I'm going to be leaving them. I keep telling them that I'm staying put, but I'm not sure they believe me. I'm not looking for a new job right now, but my job has been posted out because over the summer my school would like me to focus on administration and not on teaching. I haven't actually told my students that yet. They have no clue. Now, if they did hire someone to teach for me, that person could theoretically start teaching as early as next week or the week after. That's a bit scary. I love my students and I can't really envision someone else teaching them. Also, I have a feeling that even though they would still see me every day, they would NOT be happy if I stopped teaching them right now. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm a pretty darn good teacher and I'd like to think I've made personal connections with each of my students. But, we'll see what happens. At the rate the resumes are coming in right now, I'll probably end up teaching all summer!

Victory!

Got home a short while ago from the 22nd annual Sun Run. I feel awesome! I just walked it (like I did two years ago), and I completed it in approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes. Last time I did it, it took 2 hours and 35 minutes. Ten kilometres - fantastic! I feel pretty good. A little sore, but otherwise fine. Of course, ask me how I feel tomorrow . . . I've done a little stretching, which should help ease the stiffness for tomorrow. I'll go sit in a hot bath soon too. It feels great to have accomplished this goal!

An Update on Work

When I last posted I was afraid that the sh*t was going to hit the fan as a result of a talk that the boss's boss had with her based on complaints from me and a couple of other colleagues. I was really nervous about how yesterday was going to go. I didn't know how the boss was going to react, but I was pretty sure it was going to be negatively. She didn't disappoint! I got the evil eye, which isn't really unusual for her. Our few exchanges were rather terse. The Assistant Director bore the brunt of her wrath though - apparently they had a closed-door *talk* that involved tears from both parties. Resignation was mentioned by the witch, but we still don't know for sure if this is just talk. I guess the next couple of weeks will tell the tale.
Here's what I don't get though: the woman is desperately unhappy in the job and even if she were happy, it's a hugely stressful job. Now that she knows that she has no friends at work, why would she stay? Ultimately isn't that worse for you and your life satisfaction? I know I've complained about work, but at the end if the day, I still laugh a lot more than I frown and I care about my students and teachers. I think of the teachers under my charge as *my* teachers, and I get VERY protective of them. My students are like my kids (even the annoying ones), and I am equally protective of them (and by protective I mean I always have their best interests at heart - academically, behaviourally, and socially).
I think the next few weeks will be more stressful for her than for any of us. I'm pretty sure she's going to be under a microscope from above because we were told that if her behaviour doesn't change then further action would be taken. In the past 48 hours, this 52-year-old woman has refused to look certain people in the eye (me included), has been rude and abrupt with people she has to work closely with, and has flat-out lied to the entire staff during a staff meeting while at the same time making a really rude and inappropriate comment. Isn't that a good indicator of maturity and suitability for the job? Mind you, I suppose if I'm being fair I would have to admit that I don't know if my reaction in her situation would be much better. I have to think it would be, but I don't know.
Anyway, the bottom line is that I refuse to let her attitude towards me and my colleagues affect my mood and attitude at work. During the past 48 hours I have still been the same cheerful person I've always been, even when dealing with the witch (whom I don't actually call the witch at work, in case you were curious). I have been friendly and polite to her and even though she acts miserably, I don't let it get to me. If she thinks that she can make me miserable, she's got another thing coming. I'm damn stubborn and I refuse to be made to feel bad by her. It's become a challenge now - I CAN and WILL outlast her.

Will the Sh*t hit the fan today?

So I'm a little worried about what's going to happen at work today. Regular readers of my blog know that I have a boss who is completely unqualified for her job and a real tyrant. Her *antics* are really becoming a problem in the workplace and many, many people are unhappy working for/with her. Here's an example of something that happened yesterday: Between classes we have a ten minute break. There are clocks all over the school and all of them are slightly off with their time-keeping abilities because they're cheap clocks. My watch always tells correct time and I periodically reset my classroom clock because some of my students have issues with lateness and I want to make sure they know the correct time. Yesterday after the break I returned to my classroom only to discover that my classroom clock said 11:44 when I knew that it was only 11:40 and I was on time for class. My students took great glee in informing me that I was late, but I knew I wasn't and that the clock had been changed. That really pissed me off because I've had students tamper with my clock before (which is dumb because I always wear a watch). Anyway, when I asked them who changed the clock they all replied "(name of boss) did it!" Which (name of boss) confirmed a few seconds later when she walked past my classroom. Needless to say, this made me LIVID! This is just one example of the little mind games my immature, 52-year-old boss plays. I think she knew that I went to her boss earlier in the morning to complain about her. Several other employees in the past couple of days have also complained. So yesterday evening before we left, the boss of our boss went into her office to have a closed-door chat with her about her behaviour, language (she swears like a trucker and in the workplace it's not appropriate) and other things. I have to be honest - I'm worried about what the fallout will be today! I know that we were in the right and we didn't exaggerate or lie about anything, but my boss is not the type of person to recognize her faults and try to change. She's a mean, vindictive person who will likely either give me the cold shoulder all day (which would be fine), play more mind games today (geez, grow up already!), or come in to have a confrontation with a few of us this morning (not a fun way to start the day!). I'm hoping that since she's already unhappy in her job that yesterday would have just put her over the edge and she'll end up quitting, but I don't know if I'm that lucky! I'll update when I know more!

I'm Finished! (Alternate title: I spent $749 on that?!)

Woot woot! Yup, those happy cries are coming from me 'cause I JUST FINISHED MY LAST ASSIGNMENT for my TESL course. Yup, it's true! My last assignment is finished - all I have to do is print it out and send it in! I started this online course about 6 months ago. Basically, I was told at work that I had to get my TESL certificate in order to continue teaching at my school. Despite the fact that I have a teaching degree from UBC, that apparently isn't good enough to teach in the ESL industry. This online course that I just finished was the cheapest course I could find that didn't require me to take time off work for a practicum. There are a couple of other people at work who are doing the same course right now too. I suppose we could have argued that it wasn't our fault the company hired us, and kept us employed, knowing our qualifications. But, since this was something I had thought about doing before, I figured I may as well get it over with now. At least this way I can say I have a TESL certificate if/when I apply for other jobs. Right now I'm just thinking about how I can celebrate this accomplishment since this course has taken up all my weekends for the past 6 months!! I did write once on this blog that I was going to go out and buy a new Nintendo game when I finished, so maybe I'll spend some time at Best Buy this weekend. Anyway, for now I'll just continue with the loud and proud "woot woot!"

Wwwwaaaaahhhhhhh!

Okay, this is really immature, but I just discovered that my VCR did not properly tape a show I wanted to see! I got 6 minutes of the show and THAT'S IT! How unfair is that?! Now I'm going to have to wait until next week to see what happens and that SUCKS! I know, I know, there's more to life than TV, but after a tough 3 days with my teenagers I was just looking forward to chillin' with my models (yes, the show I was trying to tape was America's Next Top Model). Sigh.

A Prison Diary

I don't normally post book reviews on my blog because that's not what this blog is about. I'm making an exception this time because I just read a book that really moved me. I'm a big fan of Jeffrey Archer - I've read just about everything he's written. I just now finished volume one of his prison diary, aptly titled "A Prison Diary". I picked it up from the library to try it out since I am a fan of his fictional books. I did not expect to have my eyes opened by the book - nor did I expect to absolutely devour it so voraciously. The books chronicles his first 21 days in prison - what new experiences he goes through, how he spends his days, and the people he meets. Prison, as you may expect, is highly routined and so I figured that the book would get a little stale. It's Archer's descriptions his fellow inmates that hooked me. He recounts exactly what these people are in prison for and what these people tell him. In a word, it's fascinating. The book made me laugh and cry. I will now think twice when I hear people talking about how cushy jail must be since the prisoners are "given three square meals a day and free television." There are two other volumes in Archer's prison diaries publication and I've got both of them on hold at the library.
What about you? What books have you read recently, or not so recently, that surprised you or made you think about something in a different way?

My sister is a married lady now!

Well, my sister is now Mrs. Lance Richardsen! She probably won't use that name much, but symbolically it's a big change! The wedding was beautiful and went off without a hitch, so I'm pleased about that. Even though it rained most of the day, nobody cared. Jennifer looked absolutely gorgeous in her sky blue dress and I wish I had some pictures right now. Lance looked very handsome in his blue pin-striped suit, and just as they are every other day of the year, they complemented each other nicely. Everyone in the bridal party (me included, shock of all shocks!) looked awesome and the day was magical. Of course during the vows I nearly lost it twice, but I managed to hold it together. The reception afterwards was great and everyone had a good time. There wasn't much dancing, which may have been the only thing that Jennifer will later be disappointed about, but the music was rather jazzy and kind of hard to dance to. I was the first person to dance actually (with Jerry, my friend Amy's boyfriend) and I found it hard to keep time with the music. It was still fun though . . . Overall I think everyone had a spectacular time and now the bride and groom will be able to enjoy their Mexican honeymoon!