Wow!

Wow #1! So, for right now the homework is all caught up. That changes in about 3 hours, but for now? For now, I'm good!

Wow #2! I just looked at my blog in internet explorer, and um, sorry guys. I don't know why it looks that way, but you really should use firefox. It's so much better. Like you don't have to scroll all the way down to read a post.

Wow #3! Mary over at BlogHer posted about nannies, and linked to many of them last week. Most of which are on my blogroll, but I also haven't updated in a long time, so I could be wrong. I'll go check in a little while. Anyhow, she writes about her nanny and discusses how she learns a lot about herself (not just kids and their behaviours) when she reads a nanny blog. I think that's cool, and I bet it makes her a better employer, because she realizes that sometimes when we complain (which I seem to do quite often, although I'm trying not to so much) things are legitimate.

Wow #4! The A's are the AL West champs. And I could post about this weekend. But, I don't have my computer right now, so that'll have to wait. Because, you know you wanna see pictures of the last home games of the season. I also want to download the clinching game last night since I didn't get to watch. But, I did get to listen to the boys party and interview ALL. THE. WAY. HOME. last night. And, I'm wearing my jersey today, which I never wear other than to games. After all, it is signed.

Let's talk a bit about talking

Hmm, I think that every 5 days or so I should probably write something around here.

K has been so very verbal lately, it’s actually quite amazing. Her sentences are becoming more and more complex and it seems like she is really catching on with pronunciation as well. Today she told B his spelling words, and only a couple times did I have to clarify the sounds she was making. Progress – and it’s exciting.

On the other hand, along with more words/sentences comes more attitude. I was tickling her the other day and she told me to “keep your hands to yourself” or how about every time you call her young lady, she fires back with a “I no young lady” (we’re working on noT instead of no) or “okay, ol’ lady” or about a million other snotty comments. And yet, I probably encourage it, because I probably laugh far more often than I should. Oops.

Today, I wanted to go to Borders before heading to the library (which was also my suggestions, because EVERYTHING in this town is closed on Mondays, especially anything child related) and she tells me “no book store, liberry” Yeah, sorry kiddo, I win, I’m bigger AND I’ve got the car keys! She helped me pick out books though so it was all good. And then we went to the library where we played on the computers for about 40 minutes before coming home. To have nachos. Hold the cheese, please – at least for K!! Although, I managed to sneak the cheese by pretending that it was all white (because, “I no like lellow cheese, only white”) and she didn’t seem to notice the three or four specks of orange cheese that was in the mix that I’d dumped on her nachos. Score another point for me!

I’m sure there were a number of things I meant to mention over here, but I forgot them all. And now, back to homework. Or perhaps allowing the computer to charge. Or sleep, because sleep is always welcome. Hmm, maybe I’ll sleep WHILE the computer charges.

Randomness is the plight of the college student

So, I actually feel rather calm about school today. Granted I didn't do the majority of reading that was required for today's 1pm class, but I still could I suppose if I decide it's worth it. My student will be absent from tutoring, so I didn't have to write a lesson plan, and I also might get to go to bed before midnight for once. Maybe, if the stars align and write my reflection between 515 and 6...

I have K all day tomorrow, I didn't even really have to tell H and S's mom that I won't be able to make Fridays anymore. She probably could tell by the look on my face yesterday when she met me on campus that I was in no condition to work a ton of hours. And, if I can, I might go up there next Friday, but that's if I'm not too stressed and if it doesn't snow between now and then. Even typing that word is nerve wracking. But it's been cold so I kind of need to count on it. I should check the weather and see what it will be like in Oakland this weekend. Because, I have a feeling I'll freeze if I'm cold here now.

I went to Bible Study last night, which was fun except for the big mouth who wouldn't stop rambling about stuff that had nothing to do with with the passage we were reading. And I had questions, that went unanswered because he took all the time. Argh! Getting home at 11 after Bible Study is a whole lot better than getting home at 11 after class. I could actually see the road for the last 20 minutes of the drive. Unlike Tuesday, when I was almost asleep by 9 in my class that goes until 945.

Yesterday I decorated Granny's myspace, while typing a paper and writing 2 letters (one to myself in 3 years, and one to my students) and IMing with 3 people at once. Yes, that is called multitasking and I've done a lot of it lately. It's the only way to get things done!!

I have a new phone. And I might get away with claiming the other one under warranty. As long as they don't find signs of water damage. And the main indicator was not present, so they probably won't open up the phone to check. Score one point for me. If they do find water damage however, they'll charge me like $200, which is still less than the $300+ it would have cost to get a brand new pink Razr this soon...

Okay, so that was random. I didn't do a very good job of staying on topic, but I haven't posted in forever. Apparently blogger will be down from 4-445 tonight, which just about guarantees that bloglines will stop recognizing blogger blogs again. At least I have notice this time I suppose!

More ramblings of an overexhausted college student

I've been watching Full House almost all day. Except for a quick trip home, to the grocery store and to a little street festival we have once a year in my town.

Oh and a stop at a casino. Where I managed to spend $15 (of my mother's money!) in a very short amount of time. On penny machines. Yeah, not so into gambling. Knew that I really wasn't but this just confirms it!

I've packed up my stuff and I'm ready to go in the morning early. I have to get up in time to take the dogs out before I leave, but after that I'm finally done with this job. Oh thank goodness. I'll get paid on Wednesday - which means my car payment will only be three days late this month (I have 10, which is kind of nice).

I need a good read aloud book or else I may just stick with the Robots one that I picked out a while ago - because he might like it? I'm not sure!! I have a robots book for him to read as well, so if I tie in a writing activity I'll earn bonus points.

I'm trying to pick a song for my myspace. I've never had one on there before - but hey, everyone else does, so why not join the bandwagon! Okay, after narrowing the choices I finally picked a Matthew West song - and now back to Full House, one more episode before bed. I have to get up early after all.

Friends and other ramblings

Wow - I've actually got my computer balanced and charging without me holding the power cord. What a concept - I need to go back to Best Buy and argue the point again. My cellphone won't work, I'm using my old one with the sim card inserted - why didn't I think of that before?

I went to my favourite clothing store yesterday to pay my bill and ended up spending as much as I'd just paid off - oops! But, on the way out I ran into one of my friend's from high school (there was a time when we had like 4 of 6 classes together, making us almost inseparable), lately we only talk on birthdays when we send each other a text message. I ended up going back in with her and shopping for her date! It was fun and we made plans to hang out tomorrow evening and at least once in the coming weeks. I miss people, but I'm really bad about keeping in contact with people. Probably because I hate talking on the phone.

I'm going to update my blogroll before working some more on my homework. I've been meaning to update for a while, and just haven't gotten around to it. I think I may separate "nanny" blogs from others. But, that might be hard to do!!

So yesterday...

• I taught my second lesson plan. And it sucked. Okay, just pieces of it sucked but enough to make me crazy! I have to figure out how to entice the kid to work. Particularly on writing. Oh, and is it a bad sign when before you even sit down he announces "I'm bored?" I'd guess so!
• My [new] power cord managed to break, so now I'm stuck with the old one. Not that either of them ever worked to begin with!
• My phone dropped out of my back pocket and into the toilet. And I dumbly turned it off even though it was on when I got it out. Now, it's drying and I'm hoping it will work. Especially considering that I haven't even paid the darn thing off yet. I called my mom from a friend's phone and left her a message. She didn't listen to the message but called back. And I know I said 'hi mom' - probably even sounding slight like mum, not mom because for some reason lately the Canadian accent has been highly prevelant. And yet, she asks "who's this?" Um, your daughter perhaps? Who else would call you mom?
• Finished reflections on my lesson plan at midnight again.
• Got to listen to the smoke detector beep every 20-40 minutes after 2am
• Finally gave in and let one of the dogs sleep in bed with me, that's what they're used to, I'm not so cool with it, but I wasn't sleeping anyhow (see above item)

Today I need to:

• Work on some homework - reading, paper, lesson plans, etc
• GO SHOPPING FOR FOOD!
• Listen to the game at 705 on XM Radio, lack of cable (or heck, television in general) sucks
• Hope that the phone works, if not tomorrow I'll head to Cingular and see what they can do
• Hope that H and S's mom didn't call, because she probably did and I have no landline to call them on
• Pray for no emergencies, lack of phone would be very bad in an emergency situation

Bloglines sucks - once again, I'd find links if I had more motivation, but I definitely complain often about bloglines not working! Today it's all the blogspot blogs with exclamation marks. Argh!

That's all - oh, I'm rapidly approaching my 450th comment, seems like yesterday I was at 200!! I like visitors. And I like it more when they say hi!!

While forgetting to breathe

I managed to teach my first lesson at the tutoring center. My kid's pretty cool - I need a pseudonym for him. And, I don't want to just use his first initial, so I'll have to come up with something. The lesson went well, thank goodness for the other girl who is in the room with me - I forgot to make an important copy AND cut out cards for the word sort. But, she had an extra set so that was good.

I think I must be too busy or something - I'm constantly forgetting important things. Such as the digital camera that I am NO where near paying off that I left in the tutoring center yesterday along with my yearbook from baseball, which in pristine condition would probably be worth something too, although for me it's highly sentimental. Plus, it's highly waterlogged from the rain in April in Oakland.

I've got to make this quick since I have class in about an hour and I'm super thirsty so I should go find a drink and a snack to hold me over especially since I won't get dinner tonight. I'm housesitting at H and S's and there is no food, nor do I have any time to stop and shop tonight since it will have been a long time since I left by the time I get out of class. Oh, and I have to type a lesson plan for tomorrow for my kid (gosh, he needs a name, any suggestions???). So, I'm out of here for now, but I'll be around on email for awhile.

Where do kids get this stuff from?

K just informed me she was going to "Wah-maht" to "buy earrings for her baby" - ooh the list just expanded to include clothes and hairbands. Haha! That she did not get from me, I swear. Sure, I shop at "Wah-maht" but only because as a poor college student where else am I supposed to find things I can afford? And, yes, I have taken K there. On several occasions in fact. But, I'm almost 100% positive that I just refer to it as the "store." So, it must be from mom. Which kind of seems unlikely too, since they don't shop there all that often. Hmm, where else could it come from?

Now, she’s moved on to the “go-cee” store; still on a hunt for what I suppose are rather elusive earrings and a wallet. Sometimes she kills me. And I love that she’s using full sentences almost exclusively today, very rarely have I gotten any kind of one or two word answers. That’s something she’s been working on in speech therapy, so it’s always exciting to have her improve noticeably. I so wish I could share pictures on here, as I’ve take a lot of great ones lately, but alas, I cannot.

Andie D. was right when she told me that I shouldn’t drop my social activities (again, not like I’m highly social, we’re talking 2 to 3 hours of stuff a week). I think I’m going to tell H and S’s mom that after I finish house-sitting this week I won’t be able to come on Fridays because school is just that stressful. It makes sense to drop them because the kids don’t nap while I’m there, they’re an hour from my house and I have NO downtime to do homework while I’m there. Even though I often spend a lot of hours with K, at least I can always count on a 2+ hour nap from her, and I can work while the kids are happily engaged elsewhere. At H and S’s house, I have to keep the kids happy all the time and can’t pick up my textbooks if I need to. Making me lose 5 hours of study time for a 3 hour work day. Which is just not worth it in my opinion. And, I’ll have my Fridays basically free again, which is how it’s been for a very long time.

Slowly climbing out from under the piles of work

I just finished printing an article from course reserves for one of my classes - and I managed to put the first page on the bottom half of the page. Meaning, I'll be reading the bottom, then the top of 14 pages. Oops.

I managed to leave my power adapter at K and B's house on Friday (boy do I have issues with that thing, eh?), but oddly enough their mom didn't mention it to me when we talked yesterday. Although, it was a rather short conversation so that may be why. I have an entire 20 minutes left on the battery life of my laptop, therefore I'm typing from the parents computer. Where I've been for much of the day because of the shear amount of homework that I have to do. On the plus side, I've gotten a lot more reading done than I normally would, but way less typing than is necessary. Oh well, I've got all afternoon/evening tomorrow and Tuesday morning as well.

This is the first time I've been home in like four days, it's kind of nice. I spent 10.5 hours with K and B on Friday (not counting getting up with K at 2am), the night with my friend and her 1 year old Friday night/Saturday (including a wake up by the baby at 3am) and last night at T and C's house (which didn't include an extra wake up, yay!).

Okay getting back to work now. Be back tomorrow or something.

Quick post on a Thursday afternoon

Sitting waiting for Intervarsity, that's what I'm doing right now!

Class is over for the week (finally, week 2 done), only 14 more to go. I'm still overwhelmed and I don't know if I can ever stay all caught up with everything I'm responsible for this semester. I'm working way to many hours, I think I need to drop someone, but who? I don't want to drop social things (all two of the things I consistently participate in; bible study and intervarsity), but that's what will happen if I continue working 25+ hours a week for several different families.

I actually got to eat something today, what a concept! I think tonight was the first time that I'd had dinner since class started (on school nights anyhow).

Wow, the lack of anything interesting that I'm coming up with is astonishing to me. But, I spend twelve (12!!) hours with K and B tomorrow, so maybe I'll have something to say then!

It's about time!

The Big Hurt with a BIG bat!

Outfielders during the delay because an umpire was injured.
Rich Harden throwing off the mound! For the first time since like July!

Signing for everyone but us. How sad! And we
At least I got to see him? Even if he didn't come off the disabled list?Remember when I wasn't sure how to spell Bocachica? Well, here he is!
GRAND SLAM!

Titles are difficult when everything I write seems so RANDOM!

I'm here - I made it home. Yesterday's game absolutely ROCKED (that'll happen anytime your player hits a GRAND SLAM in the FIRST inning). I took like 250 pictures - or something close to that all weekend long. That's like 125 pictures a day. And I named every one of Sunday's last night after I got home, because uploading photos is difficult when you have to remember random numbers. As is remembering which ones to open to put your name at the bottom of. Because, I'd be unhappy if someone stole my pictures and I didn't know about it. That should help - maybe. I should do a quick google search and see what comes up.

I'm tired, I have homework and my professor still owes me an email about corrections that are needed to a sample lesson plan. Which is a total failure anyhow, considering that I am tutoring a 9 year old boy and my books are about PRINCESSES. Crap- I have to go look for new books. And buy books tomorrow morning. So, I should probably go to bed so that I wake up early. And now that the power is back on (it went off for like an HOUR, while I was babysitting for children who were rather scared by the lack of power; and it was so widespread that the ENTIRE TOWN had no power) I can set my alarm.

More to come in the future

For some reason I really love this photo of Dan Haren today's starting pitcher. Something about the angle of his arm and the colour of the grass behind him is just amazing.
Today was Breast Cancer Awareness Day - over 300 survivors took the field with their families. Here are a couple photos.

I'll post more pictures on Tuesday or so. In the meantime, I need to go to bed!

Have a great weekend!

I'm off early tomorrow morning (and I mean early, like 4am) and have so much homework to do that I'm a little overwhelmed. And my professor didn't email me the stuff that they said would be in our inboxes this morning. Which is NOT GOOD at all. Hopefully, I get the things I need to complete the projects that are required.

There's a fairly decent, rushed post below this from yesterday.

Have a great and safe weekend, I may be back tomorrow or else it will be Monday. We'll see.