Moving

So it looks like I'll be moving, one way or another, by the end of September. The townhouse is as good as sold, and I'm looking for my own place to buy. If I don't find something by the end of September then I'll be moving in with my mom and step-dad in Burnaby. Hopefully that will just be temporary . . .
Lots and lots of upheaval at work recently. Now, according to a magazine article I read recently, people shouldn't blog about work because people have gotten fired for it. I think, depending upon the content of the blog, this is stupid. First of all, people shouldn't be dumb enough to write specific/negative comments about their employer and/or workplace in an online forum such as a blog. That's just begging for trouble. But, for people who tend to just vent a bit and keep their comments too general for people to know who the employer is, firing seems way too extreme! People, chill out! Anyway, so that I don't risk getting fired when I still have to qualify for a mortgage, let me just say that over the next 4 to 6 weeks there's going to be A LOT of changes happening, and it remains to be seen whether these changes will ultimately be positive or negative.

Harry Potter

At 9:45 yesterday morning I received my copy of the newest Harry Potter book. Since then I've read about halfway through the 600+ pages . . . I can't seem to put the book down! Overall I'm highly satisfied with my purchase, and I hope my friend Heather enjoys the copy I'm sending her in Korea. Now, my fellow muggles, I must get back to my reading!

Nausea is NOT Fun!

So I've spent the last couple of days alternating between feelings of nausea and hunger. It's not fun. I know that many people would suggest I may be pregnant; let me assure you that I'm not. I'm sure it's just from the stress of the summer and my job, but I sincerely hope that I get a handle on things soon. At least I know two of the guys I'm working with this summer, so that's cool. Having James around will be good for a laugh too. Four of us (that I know of) have teaching degrees and experience in public school, so it's not like I'll be working with a group of inexperienced people. Things have the potential of being an organizational nightmare, but I think once the first week is over things will be fine. I wish we were only staying up there for 4 weeks, but I guess 6 weeks won't be too bad. I don't envision myself getting lots of curriculum work done, but that's just the way it goes. Maybe I can stop teaching at the end of July and go back to curriculum. We'll see.

Broken Computer

So for the last week and a half my computer at home hasn't been working (well, the monitor, I think the rest of the computer is fine). Ironically, although I spend 8 hours a day at my work computer, I miss not having a computer at home! Hopefully thanks to my fabulous friends, this situation will be resolved tonight!
Still doing curriculum work which is mostly just tedious and time-consuming right now. Creating 24 unit plans for the content class is A LOT of work!! I hope it's work that will ultimately prove to be useful in the future and not something that sits on the shelf collecting dust! I'm hoping to go back to teaching in May (not to sound too vain or anything, but I think the junior teachers need some of my organizational influence and wisdom!). I've enjoyed the curriculum work, and it's been rewarding and very productive, but enough is enough!

Goodbye Roomies (and good riddance!)

As I type this I have just under two weeks left to live with the terrible twosome - my roommates! Hooray! I will no longer have to put up with being woken up in the middle of the night, a dirty house, lack of space in the fridge, overnight guests, yucky and mildewy towels, the constant asking of favours, having to chase down my money . . . the list goes on. I'm really, really looking forward to this (in case you couldn't tell)! I've decided that to get me through the next couple of weeks (and because I've wanted one for a while anyway) I'm going to go out and buy a Nintendo gamecube tomorrow. I was going to buy one today, but my plans were thwarted by the fact that the used place I wanted to try first didn't have any systems in. Tomorrow I will go with my lovely and wonderful sister (in part to help me carry it on the bus, and in part because there's safety in numbers) to Future Shop to make my purchase. I can't wait!

Bad Roommates

I suppose it's nothing new for me to be writing about my bad roommates. The morning after the strange guy incident that I wrote about last time, my roommates woke me up at 4:50am because they were both in the bathroom (which is right next to my bedroom) with the exhaust fan running, with the hair dryer running, holding a conversation loud enough to be heard over both, which is what woke me. They offered up a half-assed apology (it wasn't our intention to wake you, we didn't realize that the walls were so thin that you could hear the fan or our conversation) and then in an e-mail (the apology came via e-mail too) they gave their notice, claiming that our lifestyles were too diverse for us to keep living together in harmony. I think the real problem is the complete lack of communication and consideration on their part, and I think now they are just cowards and immature adolescents who are trying to run away from their problems. On the one hand, getting rid of such poor examples of humanity is a good thing, but on the other hand, it does cause me a lot of added stress as I'll now have to go through the difficult process of finding another roommate. When I think about how nice my mother (the landlord) and I were about things like rent and getting stuff done I just want to scream! They must also be clueless because they didn't seem to be aware that this would make me upset or cause me stress. I think it's safe to say that whatever friendship existed before this (which must have been tenuous at best) is officially over. Good riddance!

New Year

This is my first posting of 2005. Not really much to report right now . . . but I can tell you that my worst Christmas present this year was from my mom - she gave me her cold! Besides that everyone seems to be in good health and good spirits. Have a blessed day off work today - which I've put to good use by just chilling out at home and trying to get lots of rest.
Many people have been talking about their New Year's Resolutions. Let me just say, for the record, that I don't make New Year's Resolutions. I get the concept and everything, but I just think that they're a little bit pointless. When was the last time you ever heard someone say that they stuck to their resolution and actually made a change in their life? It doesn't seem to happen too often. I just think they're a recipe for disappointment. If you are really determined to make a change in your life you wouldn't wait until a new year starts to do it! Besides, right now I'm generally pretty happy with my life and feel no need to try and promise myself that I will change something. Am I perfect? No, of course not! I'm just happy with the course of my life right now.

Merry Christmas!

Well, there are only 4 more sleeps until Christmas! This whole year seems to have gone by really fast! Have you noticed that as you get older time flies by much faster? It hardly gives you time to count your blessings! I've had a really good year - and I hope for another good year to come. Lately I've been really busy with work, and have had a lot of extra responsibilities. I'd like to think that I've risen to the challenge, though at times it has been really tiring, frustrating, and stressful!
I have, as of late, been experiencing a little bit of roommate frustration as well. We get along well, but she doesn't really contribute a whole lot to the household chores. She does a pretty good job of keeping the kitchen clean, but every couple of weeks I have to remind her that we have to clean the house too! I'm getting tired of always taking phone messages for her since she's never home! I feel bad when her mom calls and I always have to tell her that her daughter isn't home. I wish she would look around the house once in a while and see what needs to be done, then do it! Please actually put the toilet paper roll on the dispenser! Please take your recycling out to the box! Please take out the garbage! Now I know what my mother was complaining about all those years . . . Sigh . . .

Swiffer

So today I had the swiffer revelation. I was at Superstore and at the advice of a friend, I bought several cleaning products, including the swiffer broom. For someone who hates cleaning floors I've got to say, at least Swiffer makes it fun! It's very easy to use, so I can see myself regularly pulling it out and using it. The cost wasn't too prohibitive, so I plan to keep using it until I become wealthy enough to hire a live-in housekeeper, or until the self-cleaning house is invented!

Wedding Bells

Before I say anything else let me wish my sister Jennifer a happy birthday!!
Yesterday my mom got married! She went from being Mrs. Erika Feuchter to being Mrs. Erika Couch (much easier to pronounce and spell!). It was a nice small event. Only immediate family was present at the home of the marriage commissioner who performed the ceremony. The wedding itself was quick - it only took 15 minutes. It's what they wanted, so that was nice. I was a little disappointed by the whole ceremony because of its lack of ceremony I guess. All the weddings I have attended previously, even the small ones, had a little more of the pomp to them, but to each his/her own I suppose. After the ceremony we all went to New Westminster for dinner and a wonderful German restaurant. We had lots of fun at dinner and ate a great meal! All in all it was a wonderful evening. Mom and Howie were obviously very happy, which is the most important part. I hope they have many happy years together!

Rude, Inconsiderate Neighbours

If you're anything like me you have probably experienced the frustration that comes from having rude neighbours. My current neighbour, who has been living next to me for about a year, claims that she hardly ever plays her music so that the music I can hear coming from her house must belong to a different neighbour. Does she seriously think I'm stupid or something? I can hear the bass from her stereo all the way across the room! I hear the vibrations, and sometimes I can feel the walls shake. Seriously, what exactly is her motive for lying to me? Now to be fair, she is better than the previous neighbours who would have the stereo turned up so loudly sometimes that the walls would shake! Some days I thought our dishes would fall down and break. What irritates me so much is not the volume of the music (especially during the day, I don't mind too much) - it's the fact that she lied to my face about it and was really rude the other night when I asked her to turn it down! There's no call to be rude and lie! Geez, it sometimes really makes me wonder why I'm nice to people at all if all I get in return is grief!

Early Morning

Not a whole lot to say this early in the morning. For the past three mornings I've been awake really early. Mostly I think it's the heat. By the time I finally fall asleep it's late, and then I'm awake early the next morning. That combined with the stress of having to find a roommate and having no luck whatsoever is really starting to get to me. I've been quite grumpy lately and I think I've probably been more short-tempered than usual. Hopefully some of the stress will decrease in a week and a half when we make the move back down to the main campus and I don't have to be at people constantly. It will also be nice to arrive at work and be able to stay there for the day rather than have to walk up the street and back down the street at the end of the day. I should have invested in one of those step counters at the beginning of the summer to see how far I've walked by now!

Birthday

So my birthday was yesterday. I was quite touched by the love and acknowledgement I got from work. I got a gigantic card signed by a bunch of my students, a card from a coworker, and a couple of gifts from students. Several people wished me a happy birthday, and I got a couple of gifts from coworkers, which was really sweet. I got a lovely gift from a friend that included some bubble bath that I greatly anticipate using sometime in the next two weeks seeing as my stress level will pretty much be at a constant high. From the 'rents I got cash (which I think is going to go towards the purchase of a camera, but I'm not sure yet).
There are many years when I've had bad birthdays. Being a summer baby isn't always fun. Your friends are usually travelling and unable to come to your birthday party. Sometimes you are travelling so you aren't even home to celebrate with your friends. As a kid that really, really made me wish my birthday was during the school year. Later on in life I've had various experiences on my birthday that I'd just as soon forget. Top of the list would of course be getting kicked out of my house on my birthday (thanks, mom!). This year I haven't experienced anything horrible, so I'm glad for that. Overall I've had a pretty good year and I'm looking forward to more of the same!

Long Weekend!

All I can say is THANK GOD FOR LONG WEEKENDS! I thought this weekend would never come. I have been so busy lately that I forgot it was a long weekend until last week. It's a good thing someone casually mentioned it at work or I completely would have forgotten about it and gone into work on Monday like usual!
I think being so busy lately has left me quite grumpy and irritable most of the time. Some days I don't know how people stand being around me. I try really, really hard not to let my irritation show. Instead I focus on the positive and try to make people laugh with my often sarcastic humour. It would be nice, however, if once in a while I could offload all my irritation on the source(s) of my irritation. I suppose that wouldn't be very professional . . . though in my defence it's not usually the students who have really irritated me.
Speaking of being irritated . . . I was talking on the phone last night to a person with a talent for irritating me. This person, who is I suppose a friend (if that term is being used in the broadest sense possible), is so completely clueless sometimes it isn't even funny! She complains of being busy at school completing projects. I have really sad news for her - most days at my job (which I love, don't get me wrong) I feel as though I have 6 projects on the go, and that's before I factor in the teaching part of the day! If my friend is under the illusion that things get easy after you finish your education, she is mistaken! I don't really think she has any idea what the true life of being a teacher is all about. There is a reason why many teachers are single . . . I can't imagine having a social life after some of the 12 hour days I put in! Anyway, enough grumbling, it's time to get back to enjoying this long weekend!

Finally my computer is running!

Well, after some initial frustration (and I'm not afraid to admit, panic), my computer is finally running! I currently love it, but it's taking a while to figure out how to configure things the way I like them. It looks as if I will again have to impose upon my wonderful sister to help me get things set up just right! Hopefully this process won't take too long since the last time she helped me with the computer it took about 2 hours and she got totally dusty! I would like to send out a huge thanks to my good friends Sheryl and Koji for getting the computer up and running in such a timely fashion too! I would definitely be up %#*& creek without a paddle if not for them! Thanks guys!
I went to the wedding of my friend Cara yesterday. She was a radiant bride and the whole thing came off beautifully. It made me wish that I was getting married, which made me wish that I had someone to marry! Don't worry, I've regained my senses and have reminded myself that I am currently happy with my "singledom", as Bridget Jones would put it. Still, every once in a while I can't help but think "what if . . ."
Well, I'd better get off this machine while I can and get ready for bed. Those students of mine won't take kindly to the fact that we're doing nothing tomorrow because I was too busy playing on the computer to get a good night's sleep and plan for the day!

Weekend

Well, this is the start of the weekend before the big "junior adults move to a new campus" week. None of my questions about the facility have been answered, so Monday will be very interesting! We took the students for a walk up to the school today during class so that they would at least know what it looks like and where it is. From our current campus it's approximately a 12 - 15 minute walk to the new campus. Not bad, but we won't be making many trips back and forth during the day! One thing that struck me when we got there was the presence of playground equipment which indicated that it was an elementary school. I sure hope that the 6 classrooms we are using have desks big enough for our students to sit at!! Trying to teach students who are crammed into tiny desks isn't my idea of a good time!
Speaking of this move . . . I wish that some people had been a bit more organized about the whole thing! The process would be much easier to manage if everyone involved were on top of things and didn't have to scramble around to get things done at the last minute! Aargh! I wish people would use their heads for thinking rather than just a spot to put a hat!

I'm New at This!

So after reading Jennifer's blog I've decided to give this on-line blog thing a try. I'm not sure that I have too many witty or insightful things to share, but sometimes I just have things I want to get off my chest.
Naturally with the political climate being the way it is right now I want to briefly comment on tomorrow's federal election. I'm not here to tell you who to vote for, but I will say this - don't waste your right to vote! We live in a society that gives us the freedom to choose for ourselves who will govern our country, and it's up to us to exercise this freedom. Those people who think that their one vote couldn't possibly count should talk to people who have been robbed of the right to vote.
I guess the only other thing of interest happening right now is that my mother has almost finished moving out of our townhouse (now the great roommate search can begin - YIKES!). This weekend she began painting what is to become my bedroom. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product some time in the not too distant future. I can't describe it yet since I've told Jennifer (for those of you who are uninformed, Jennifer is my wonderful sister) that I'm not going to tell her what it looks like.