Some things I love

I read my last post and decided that it was a little negative. I really don't want to look like a pessimistic jerk, so I'm taking this opportunity to write about some things I like, and some things I loooove.

• I love research. Although it sometimes wears on my brain, I adore going through records and finding out what people have written about, sometimes the most random topics.
  
• Love, love, love foreign language. I consider myself a novice, even though I have a degree in French and will be teaching it come August. But I would like to re-learn German and take up Italian. Has anyone used Rosetta Stone? I will eventually cave in and learn Spanish. I think I've avoided it because it doesn't seem all that foreign in this country... I may not understand it, but still.
• like to travel.... I resist the word loooove because I get a tad bit stressed. I haven't created a list of where I would like to travel because of the fact that I'll immediately become depressed because I know I would need to live 3 lifetimes to travel everywhere!
  
• Love the fam. I never imagined I would ever be as close as I am to my sisters. It's great. They know a lot about me, and we actually ENJOY spending time together. My Dad is the reason I can't find a good man; no one measures up! And my mom... well, that'll be another post. But I love her, of course.
• Audio-visual entertainment.... AKA film and television. If you all could view my other blog... yeah, you'd have ample evidence for that.
  
• Photography. I have no talent for it, but I really appreciate those who do.
  

I. Hate. Waiting.

Okay, so I've had several "I hate" blogs in the past few years, but I don't think I dislike anything so much as I dislike waiting. My review blog has been inaccessible to my darling readers all week. THREE POSTS. That's all I had, and then, bam, it's under review. I requested that it be unlocked, and now, as I think I mentioned before, I'm awaiting an official human to review it and make sure I'm not hocking Canadian Viagra or something.

But there are things I really like though, too.

Hide and I went to Lord Stanley's with Hide's friend Jodi last night. Ugh (the bar, not Jodi. Jodi's cool.) Although the spirit is decent, laid back, etc... no credit cards. Really?! In 2008? Come on. And they CHARGE DESIGNATED DRIVERS for flat, non-alcoholic beverages. That's just ridiculous. So we went to Eduardo's (just down the road) and charged up a storm of drinks ;) That's def the place to go, kids. Well, NOT kids, because you gotta be 21. You all know what I mean.

Okay, so I'm super stoked because Shawna's done defending her thesis soon and we're going to lunch somewhere, and then I'm going to go into Rockford and chill with my girl, Shelley. I've decided I'm eating nothing but salads for the next month, though, because I weighed myself this morning, and dang. No good.

Pretty good news...

Okay, so short post time because I'm pretty sure I'm going to go back to bed. I don't know why but I think it has something to do with dream resolution. Maybe I'll start a THIRD blog for that.

I got my midterm back on Tuesday, and I got an A! Seriously, our professor was not lying that he was going to grade generously. He only took 5 points of my pathetic excuse for an essay. I am, of course, concerned that my NEXT paper (due Tuesday) will be neither brilliant nor original. This circumstance will force Prof. R. to slash my grade and reduce me to a pile of tears outside of MacMurray Hall.

Only time will tell.

Interesting couple of things ... (to me)

Well, not much more is going on today than any other day; I finished a book early for my American Lit class, but I'm really fallen far behind for my OTHER class, so tomorrow's the day to try to catch up. Again. If anyone wants to hang out in the library, they'll be seeing me. A lot.

I got the mail today because I was still reading when it arrived (I had my own House marathon going on in the background. Very low volume), and I got mostly junk mail, but I did get one quite surprising document. I got something concerning Social Security. That's right; this 25 year old has apparently made enough of a mark to merit actual MAIL. It's a break down of how much green I would be entitled to, should I become disabled, say, tomorrow. I guess it's nice to have some knowledge... but actually, I wouldn't be entitled to anything because I haven't earned enough "credits" yet. I'm not sure if working a SS-paying job (ie, not teaching for the state of IL) over the summer would help any, but I might next summer. But the big question for my generation is:
Are we even going to see any of that green we've been giving away when we turn 67? I have biiiig doubts.

On another note, my newer, more colorful (haha) blog has been temporarily disabled because I am apparently SO logical that my entertainment blog is suspiciously spam-like. I did some verification thing through the website, and I think a human still needs to review it, so hopefully that'll be back up in no time flat.

Happy weekend!

So this weekend, I'm going to do several boring things:

• Try to recover from this crappy flu virus. That, combined with my asthma, sucks. I hate grocery shopping because my appetite is alll messed up. There's nothing I can ever think of that sounds appetizing. It's more than frustrating
  
• Get caught up with my movie-watching. I have watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix so far. I have Manon of the Spring and Jean de Floret, but I usually get so tired whenever I start to watch... However, I ORDERED Hamlet (Branagh), the third season of House, and The City of Lost Children. So that's exciting.
• I'm pretty disappointed in myself with my performance on my Am Lit midterm. I didn't prepare the essay nearly as well as I could have, but I hate trying to do that. It just blows because with the shooting and spring break, there are going to be very few grades for this class aside from the midterm and the final...
• However, I'm really excited to write a unit on To Kill a Mockingbird for my teaching English class. I'm hoping I can get some great resources from the English/Humanities teachers I met at DHS.

And, yes, Katie. I stole your format! Well, I wish I had the cute flower bullets!

Cramming with movies in the background

So I'm writing up that tiny notecard that we can use for our 333 midterm, and i need background noise. Enter On Demand Free Movies!

The picks are usually pretty lousy. I mean, they're free. I'm watching "The Opposite of Sex" - Lisa Kudrow is fantastic, but Ricci is irritating (maybe it's just her character?). The guy from "Saved!" plays a character, too. He is NOT a hip pastor in this movie. Anyway, I rated TOOS on netflix as "Didn't Like It" already because the beginning is annoying. Hey, at least I didn't give it an "I Hate It." If I weren't able to get through the first 20 minutes, I would have.

So there. I'm glad you know.

Also, I signed my contract today! I still have to send in some additional paperwork (an official application, my transcripts, copies of my certificates, doctor's stuff), but yay! I'm somewhat employed!

Juggling once again...

So I'm going to be something of a hermit for the next couple weeks. Tomorrow I'm signing the contract (I was supposed to sign Monday but was sick), but I also have to get a notecard of notes together for my American Lit midterm ... tomorrow. And a whole lot of crap on top of that.

Just as an update to those who have been familiar: I had an asthma attack on Sunday and it's still affecting my breathing. I'm on that wonderful prednisone, which has helped somewhat but after walking for 60 seconds, I'm wheezing like the fat man in the circus after a 4-hour act.

Some movie quotes that have somehow entered my brain:
"You're the mother of the bride, not the opening act!" (The Mirror Has Two Faces)
"The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!" (The Princess Bride)
"And good Christians don't get jiggy with it until they're married." (Saved!)

Thanks, DVR

So I'm watching SNL ... saturday night (obviously), Amy Adams and Kristen Wiig sang "Loathing," one of my favorite songs from "Wicked," for the opening monologue -- I was excited until I realized that one of the women was.... kinda ruining the song. Any ideas?

Ohhh, nothing much!

So lately I've been trying to piece together conversations that don't revolve around the following topics:

• The new job
• classes
• my summer money predicament

Yes, I am THAT type-A. Perhaps. But I know how irritating it can be when a person talks about the same thing over and over. So here are some other things going on:

• I am realllly going to try to drink green beer this year.
• saw the movie "Network" and immediately HAD to e-mail one of my former English professors. I also watched "The Business of Being Born," a docu-ganda (documentary, propoganda) movie about midwifery and how evil hospitals are about having babies. It made some interesting points, but the last 30 minutes, I was saying "Oh, come ON!"
  
• hoping to schedule a trip to France for summer 2009; this will allow me to start my "France, every three years" routine. A friend of mine from back in the day is actually working on her Master's every summer in France through a university in Iowa, so we'll see.
• oh, and I got to see ultrasound (or sonogram?) pictures of Baby Fultz! (S)he has officially evolved from looking like a shrimp to resembling a miniature human being! SO exciting!

Okay, kids, and just so you know, I will take suggestions on possible blog topics. Film, books, art, best airport I've seen, whatever you want to know... Don't you want to know? :)

being picky.

Okay, so I have a lot of people who I have added as "friends" on facebook. People from HS, people from SIUE, people from NIU, and on and on. Even a couple peeps I met playing scrabble. Don't judge. Some people think it could mean I'm smart.

But anyway, there's one person I went to HS with who added me. Her first comment? About how gorgeous one of our mutual friends looks and asking if she was on facebook, too.

Really? I suppose I just need some kind of affirmation that I exist when having a fake conversation with someone. I wouldn't feel so irritated if she had simply typed, "Hey! How've you been? I saw the pictures you posted with Shelley; she looks great! Is she on facebook too?"

Sure, it would have been an empty three-word question. But at least it wouldn't have been as superficial. Well, that doesn't really make much sense in context, but still! Maybe it would have just made me feel better....

But this chick is no longer my "facebook friend."

The beginning

Hi all you readers out there... or you one reader, who knows?

I'm starting out simple, so here's what's up with Amanda:

I accepted a teaching job about 1hr45min away from DeKalb. I was offered a job in Houston, TX and a small town in AZ. The job in Houston would be very well paid, and the cost of living is fairly low in comparison. But I just don't want to -- it's not that I CAN'T -- I don't want to move that far away when I know very few people (2).

In the next week or so I'll be signing my FIRST contract! If any fellow teachers out there can think of anything to look out for, let me know!