Flying high

Less than an hour and we're on the road. Not much time, so I better fly...well, not REALLY fly yet, but soon. Wow, another country, like another world. A whole new chapter in my life. Wish me luck, my friends, and I will talk to you soon. Love you all :)

Ack! The time of departure is nearly upon me!

It's 6:30pm the night before I drive down to Chicago and fly out to London...and I have nothing packed yet. Sounds like me, doesn't it? EEEK! So much to do in so very little time. And I still have to fit in some apple crisp and a drink with my brother tonight :) OH yeah, and a phone call or two. EEEK! Blog more later...gotta kick it in gear!

Super Mega Awesome Weekend

This really was a totally sweet weekend :) From the happy moment I stepped on Minnesota soil on Friday to the bittersweet farewell at the UMN campus this evening, it was a magical and wonderful time. Many beautiful pictures were taken, the wedding was freegin freezing but so very romantic, and I got to see two of the people I care most about in this world. I will miss them both A LOT in the next couple months, but that's what this blog, email, and letters, and expensive phone calls...are for :) Tomorrow will be full of good-byes and treats (thanks to me) at the middle school, and also a lot of packing and cleaning. Tonight I made cookies with Tiff and watched Fantasia...a great combo. I better get some sleep though. I know I'll have some sweet dreams--may you have some too :)

Woof Woof, Meeeow!

Today was "Make a Difference Day" for the 8th graders here. I was given the lucky position of chaperone for one particular field trip/volunteer experience: the Humane Society. :) For those of you that know me, you surely know I just melt whenever I see cute looking dogs and cats, so you can just imagine the look on my face when I received my chaperone assignment. And the kids did a great job. They walked dogs, vacuumed, cleaned walls, clipped rabbit toe nails, brushed cats, and played with puppies. I got some adorable pictures of them going about their volunteer work. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to interract with the animals, other than patting a dog or two on the head and briefly petting a couple cats.

I can't help but become a little sad every time I go to a place like that, knowing that some of those dogs and cats will never be adopted. I'm not sure what policy this particular humane society has, but I know the one in my home town keeps a dog or cat for a few weeks, but after that...It's really a shame and makes me want to rescue them all, though I know I couldn't provide for them. When I finally have my own house, I'll just have to get my own young cat and dog from the local humane society. And hey, it never hurts to try an older dog too, you just never know what could happen...i.e. Oliver and Bailey :)

Shame on me...I forgot my blogiversary!

Yep, somehow I managed to totally forget that my blog turned 1 year old on Oct. 16. I did blog that day, but I didn't mention one thing about that special day. So now I must say, Happy Belated Blogivesary Return of the Journal--you've been a special place for me to write nonsensical babble and heart-wrenching sagas...I love you so. Keep truckin', blog, and I'll keep writin'. And maybe someday...someday I will figure out how to change some of the hosting and crap to fix up the template and make it all jazzy and new. Someday.

Young Tom Cruise vs. virtuous me

Alright, last night my dream contained a young Tom Cruise. He was still older than me...I'd say about 32ish. And he looked GOOD...I'm talking like, Top Gun good. Okay, so I'm at a nice bar with some friends, and I see right next to me is Tom Cruise. He looks over at me, and starts hitting on me. Understandable, right? He wants to take me home with him, you know, get a little closer. ;) And I'm like DUDE! Tom Cruise wants me! I grab a nearby friend and am like, wow! check this out! And then I remember, Hey, I have a boyfriend. Dang. Looks like Tom Cruise is too late. If he had run into me a few months earlier, maybe I'd think about it. But nope, I have a boyfriend, so he'll just have to forget about it. Of course I was like, BUT it's Tom Cruise! But, I totally turned him down. Aren't I a great girlfriend?

I just had to share that. Sometimes I have some really strange dreams. Think I would have done the same thing if I actually did run into a dashing, younger Tom Cruise?

Kick-ass show, kick-ass friends

They made it to EC last night, and all was well. All was more well, it totally ROCKED! Once everyone finally made it safe and sound to EC, there ended up being 5 of us meeting at the show. The turn out wasn't huge, but that was what I was basically expecting. EC just isn't that familiar with Down and Above, so it will take some time for the word to spread. But really, dna is a band that could be so successful, spread like wildfire if they got a break. Cuz honestly, they just have SO much potential and the sound AWESOME. Anyway, Tricia, Chris, Joe, and Tiff all went with me, and we rocked out. Tiff and Joe hung out while Tricia, Chris and I went backstage to chill with the band. It was cool :) They had a nice dressing room and all that, thanks to UWEC's huge stage and facilities. I got to talk with the band more, which was sweet, especially since I feel so behind, being a groupie of a couple groupies basically ;) Cuz Tricia and Chris know the band a lot better than I do (it certainly helps that they've been to at least 3 times as many shows--Chris has seen a lot more than that) and that they are also up on the music scene in MN. But someday...yes, someday I will be living here in MN and all will be well...more than well, it will KICK-ASS! Okay, I'm done raving right now. Tricia, Joe and I have stuff to do! Later mis amigos!

All I have to do is dreeeam, dream, dream, dreeeam

Last night I had a really kick-ass dream. I just have to share, before I forget too much of it. Enjoy!

I was in a building, like a large house, with some other people. I'm pretty sure some friends were there, and also some other people, including some CIA types that I didn't know. We were down south somewhere, apparently in an area with tornadoes. A tornado was about to hit, so we all were sitting on the floor in a kitchen area, resting our backs on some cupboards. The tornado hit, and we were all blown forward a bit, but we were okay because the cupboards were strong and well-built.

Then we were standing around, talking about what just happened. I turned and looked out the window, and saw dark clouds spanning the horizon, racing towards our house in a very unnatural way. It wasn't a storm this time; it was a bomb. Someone was trying to kill all of us! I yelled at everyone to "GET DOWN!" And we all hit the deck, barely managing to brace ourselves when the tremendous force knocked into the house. The cupboards were blasted forward, the walls nearly crumpled under the pressure, while debris started pouring through the windows. We all started running away from the blast and the flow of debris, trying to outrun the destruction.

Amazingly, we escaped our own anihalation and streamed from the house, into the forest near by. We knew that whoever sent that bomb would be looking for us, trying to finish the job of killing us. Somehow, a few of us managed to grab a backpack or two of things essential for survival, but we were still in very dire straights. We stopped running once we got a few hundred yards into the forest at the top of a small mountain. I realized that we would be sitting ducks out in the open, so I tried to rally the group and tell them to keep going, further into the forest, under cover. One of the CIA type guys (or military type, I don't know) said it would be really dangerous, since it was a RAINforest, a jungle that was HUGE and it would be nearly impossible to navigate through, especially with next to no supplies. However, we had no other choice but to try our luck.

Somehow, we made it through the jungle, into civilization somewhere. Except we did lose one person. Heidi did not keep up with the group, and got lost. She was okay, as she was saved by some rescue workers. But with the huge explosion at the house, there was a lot of media along with the rescue squads, so they were interviewing her. I saw her on tv, while the rest of the group was hiding out in a hotel. I knew I had to warn the group about it because I knew that the "bad guys" (whoever was trying to kill us) would see her on tv, and know that she survived and so logically, more of us survived. Then they would start looking for us, near where she was found.

I ran back to the hotel, and squeezed down the sort of sewer grate entrance to the secret room where the group was hiding out. I told them what happened, and was trying to get them all on the move. But the bad guys were close behind, and it was going to be a dangerous and difficult flight...or fight. We were ready to take them on. And then I woke up.

Cool, huh? Makes me want to go run around in a big building playing laser tag in the dark with a big group of friends. Who's in? :)

If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning...on my students' heads!

ECK! What a day! Alright, so today I was observed during 6th hour, a class I've only taught for a week. I should have known then...wow, were they pains today! The ONE day I need them to behave and follow directions, they are at their worst! Honestly, I could NOT get them to SHUT UP today. It was really difficult to keep class going with their interruptions, totally pointless comments or questions, and getting up out of their seats. I just wanted to smack them up! But of course, I'm a good-natured teacher, and could and would never do that. I really SHOULD have put the smack down more though.

That's what my supervisor called me on, saying that I need to take on more authority and let the students know that I will not put up with that sort of behavior. She had some really good points, so actually talking with her wasn't bad at all, and it's good to know where I need to improve. But the actual teaching part...man, it was like a mild nightmare. Try as I might, I couldn't seem to get it in their heads that I wanted them to pay attention, get through the school work, and stop goofing off. So tomorrow...HA! tomorrow...those poor sods. I'm totally going to lay it into them. They won't know what hit 'em ;) I'm not going to yell or anything, but I'm going to use a stern solid voice, and let them know how much they disappointed me. I won't tell them that they had any emotional or personal impact on me (like saying that their behavior caused me grief with my observation), but I certainly will let them know that it was totally rude and disappointing behavior in front of a visitor. And I will tell them it will NOT be tolerated AND I am going to change the seating chart. And I most definitely am going to tell them that though I may not be around for long, while I am here, I AM the teacher, and they will respect that or face the consequences. I am fully capable of giving detentions or worse ;)

MWA HA HA HA HA! They haven't seen ANYTHING yet ;) They think I'm a mild mannered student teacher? Think again, puny 8th graders! hehehhe, okay, I'm not going on a power trip or anything. But I know I need to take on more authority and let them know my tolerance level and the consequences for breaching it. I don't like having to put the smack down, but at this age, as eight graders, they need it sometimes. Some students understand when to stop, when to control and monitor their own behavior. And some...well, they haven't got a clue when enough is enough. And it's my job, whether I like it or not, to tell them when to stop. If I don't step up, they'll step all over me. My other classes that I've taught longer...they seem to understand that better. Maybe it's the students, or maybe it's that we have a stronger raport, and know that I can and WILL do something about their behavior. Also, they seem to care more about what I think, since we have established a relationship, teacher to student, and more--we seem to just get along with our humors sometimes. But since I haven't taught 6th hour for long, and they are different students, I can't use the same techniques for classroom management and expect them to work. It's a tough lesson, and today was LONG, but with some advice, a couple friends and happy hour...I'm doin alright ;)

Observe a moment of teaching

Tomorrow I will be observed by my content area supervisor, Dr. Helen Dale, during 6th hour. ACK! I've done a lot of preparation for this, but I'm still nervous. I just feel that my lesson isn't creative enough, and she's going to think I'm going to be a boring teacher :P I can't really help it though; everything we've been doing this week is preparing for a project next week, and so I pretty much have to go along with what's happening in class. Bleah, I just hope my teaching techniques and knowledge of the kids is enough to pull me through. I suppose I could do with some constructive criticism--God KNOWS I've a lot to learn. Well, I gotta jet, so wish me luck tomorrow!!! :)

Quick thoughts written quickly

It's been a few days since I blogged, so I thought I would throw some words on the page before I head home from the comp lab. Today I had to get back to the grindstone, teaching and planning and...okay, so I took a nap. I was tired! But I'm getting SOME work done anyway. Wednesday I get observed by my content area supervisor, a professor I've had for two of my most difficult classes. I THINK it will go alright, especially if I plan A LOT, but it makes me a lot more nervous than my last observation. I just have a feeling she'll be pretty strict, but I guess that's a good thing since I am supposed to get advice on my teaching techniques and such. And from my previous evaluations over the last couple years, I KNOW I'm capable of being a good teacher, so even if I have an off day on Wednesday, I'll know that I CAN do better. So that's kind of comforting.

Other than that, not much new. Getting some good reviews of my haircut, which is nice--it was quite a drastic change and had me a little worried until I got to play around with the hairstyle a bit. Still will take getting used to. Can't wait to show mi amigos! Hm, anything else? Eh, not really. This Friday is the dna show, which is totally going to rock! And a weekend in MN is ALSO going to be totally kick-ass! And tomorrow's already Tuesday :)

Birthday wishes and drastic cuts

Today is now officially Erin's 23rd birthday, so everyone wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Today is also my hair cut day, and I must say, it is a BIG change. I barely recognize myself! It totally kicks ass, and dudes, it's really too bad I'm not in the States for Halloween--I could TOTALLY pull off the Super Saiyan look this year! The hair only spikes up if I make it spike up, but it certainly doesn't take much effort! It so rocks! I can't wait to show you all :) Maybe I'll have to take a pic and stick it on my other webpage. Yeah, I really have to update that thing...I never DID get around to making the fun page of late night mischief pictures...I'll have to work on that. Well, it's late, and this tired girl must sleep. Later, mis amigos!! :)

Where I've been today: teacher convention, Borders, the ER...

My day can best be expressed in the form of an IM conversation:

Me: DUDE!
Me: guess what I did today
Jenny: howdy do
Jenny: no idea
Me: fainted
Jenny: taught eighth graders
Me: went to the ER
Jenny: omgosh!
Jenny: what happened??
Me: got to ride in an ambulance
Me: well, it's really rather silly

Me: I was standing outside this noon with some other teachers
Me: during the convention
Me: we were all about to walk to get lunch at Boston's (new place in town)
Me: when one of the other teachers came up to us
Me: she had just been at the hospital with her young son
Me: who cut his head
Me: big gash, bloody, deep
Me: and she was telling about it
Me: and, I guess that story, mixed with me not having a lot to eat, being a little thirsty, hot and the cold medicine and being sick....

Me: last thing I remember, my heart was beating fast, I felt light headed and queasy
Me: and I put my hand on Barb's shoulder
Me: (my coop)
Jenny: uh huh
Me: and she asked if I was okay
Me: and I said something like, I'm feeling lightheaded....and then bam, no idea
Me: apparently, I started collapsing, but she held my head
Me: so I didn't bump anything
Me: which was good cuz we were on cement
Me: and I guess I was totally out for a min or two
Me: meanwhile, I'm dreaming about something
Me: wake up, and there's faces all around
Jenny: wow
Me: no clue what just happened
Me: I'd never ever fainted before in my life
Jenny: you were just laying on the floor?
Me: yeah, I was laying, opened my eyes up and there were the teachers's heads all around me
Me: someone was taking off my sunglasses
Jenny: embarrassing?
Me: kinda yeah
Me: although, it's not like you can help it

Me: so they called someone there, and he came and checked me out, meanwhile they called an ambulance
Jenny: yeah
Me: and they checked me out, and then decided to take me in just in case
Me: and they said it was just a case of kinda low blood sugar and basically having a reaction to the story
Me: which can happen
Jenny: yeah
Me: when your heart starts beating too fast, and then your body tries to slow it down, but does it too quickly, and you faint
Me: but then when you lay down, blood rushes back to your head
Me: it was so bizarre, being put onto a stretcher and carted off
Me: I'd never been in an ambulance before
Me: it's not a fun ride
Me: my stomach felt queasy from the position and the drive
Me: and they pricked my finger twice for getting a blood sugar count
Me: :P
Jenny: oy vey
Me: at the hospital they checked me out, asked 2 times if I was pregnant :P and did an EKG
Jenny: lol wow
Me: I'm like, no I don't think so...

Me: so yeah, it was an event
Me: I called my dad when I got home, and he was all concerned--he told my mom, she called me, and she was all concerned about getting the insurance straight :P

Top 3 Lessons of the Day:

3. It's a good idea to have friends around when you faint--it makes falling a lot nicer and less painful.
2. Next time your friend wants to tell a graphic story about bloody gashes that are so deep and wide that the skull is showing DON'T LISTEN!
and the number one lesson of the day.... ::drumroll::
1. ALWAYS have your legs shaved: you never know when a young and very cute doctor will be feeling your ankles. :P

dna rocks my campus!!!!

DUDES! Guess who's coming to EC in a couple weeks? Yep! It's dna, a kick-ass band that I just can't wait to see again. You should totally come on down to EC to see them. Of course, that might be more difficult for those of you out of state or out of the country, but...I GUESS I can understand. Still, if you haven't seen them and are somewhere in the area, or if you HAVE seen them and you want to see them again, COME ON DOWN! Come to beautiful Eau Claire and see a rockin concert (and me, of course ;) Okay, I know I'm supposed to go to MN that weekend, and I STILL will, BUT, why not go to the concert first? I mean, I want to see Tricia and Chris, most definitely, but it's been a LONG time since I've seen DNA. SO...how about Chris somehow manages to get out of work (okay, so I know that's next to impossible) and Tricia and Chris drive to EC (much like the plans way back when) to see the kick ass concert, and then WE ALL can drive back up to MN together. Well, maybe we'd take separate cars, but we wouldn't HAVE to, since I could drive us all to MN, stay there for the rest of the weekend (granted, that leaves Tricia without a car, but I'd cart your ass around ;) and then Tricia would drive back to EC with me, and then take HER car back to MN when we arrive in EC. Everybody got that? Okay, so I know it's a far-fetched plan, and maybe I'll just go see DNA on my own and then drive to MN afterwards, but, I just love visitors :)! And you know, it COULD work if we tried...maybe. It'd just take some planning. Alright, had to get that all in--I was just SO excited when I saw the poster on the wall in Davies Center :)! DNA, here! Tee hee hee!!

OCTOBER 16th!!!!

That would be my blogiversary with my first entry in the blog "A new blog for a new start!" If I only knew then the complete truth to that statement.

She softly screamed for attention!

Bleah, it is NO fun trying to teach three classes with next to no voice :P I miss my voice...let me know if any of you find it, for it is lost. Saturday was Homecoming here at wonderul EC, and of course, like usual I didn't attend a single Homecoming event EXCEPT this year I headed on down to Water St. for the typical college drinking ritual. Unlike the throng, I didn't have much to drink, but I did have a few (two of which I didn't buy ;) mwa ha ha ha ha and my womanly wiles). My missing voice has mostly to do with the cool night air, LOTS of talking and yelling done by me with my friends, and the smokey environment inherent in bar hopping. We didn't do much hopping though, seeing as how it WAS Homecoming, so the streets were already packed at like 7pm. My friends and I headed out around 9pm, much earlier than usual, and went to Brothers for an hour or so. We got bored there (of course) and decided to chance leaving the bar, despite the fact that there were lines for EVERY bar, even the less popular ones. In the end, we went to The Nasty Habit, which wouldn't be my first choice, but it ended up okay. We waited outside for maybe...20 min I think, but the time flew while talking and meeting strange new people. Anyway, we did some dancing and singing along to lame old songs, and it was pretty fun all in all.

Speaking of fun, know what totally rocks? My blogiversary is coming up! See, it LOOKS like I started this blog back in June 2002 according to the archives, but that's because this blog took over the old one I had way back when--changing the address AND the content COMPLETELY, so it was a totally different blog. I figured, I wasn't using the old one anyway, and I may as well just use the space I have. Yeah, Homie Bear reminded me of the blessed event when I looked at his blog and his blogiversary writing contest. I don't remember the EXACT day of my blogiversary offhand, but I'll check it out after I get done blogging. I know it's sometime soon though--how could I forget that fucked up week? :P Eh, but that's in the past, and I think I've learned A LOT since then. Not to mention, I think I'm a lot better off ;) So, I think I'll have to do something extra special for my blogiversary, but I'm not sure what...I'll let you know STAT ;)

Oh yeah, and another thing....

Yeah, I forgot to mention: NOTA sucks. For those of you that don't know, NOTA is the literary magazine published twice a year here on campus. This was my last chance to get into NOTA as an undergrad, and of course, they rejected my stuff. And of course, like usual, they put in like 3 poems each of their favorite authors. I understand the whole anonymity thing, and the fact that "they can't help it if they like more than one poem that happens to end up being by the same author" but dammit, maybe they should. Don't they think it might be a good idea to give some other people a chance? Does one person really need to get 3 or more poems published in the same dang magazine? Personally, I don't think so. I think that the sacrifice would be worth it to give someone else a chance, to have more authors in there. But, then again, maybe it's just me. At this point, I really don't give a rat's ass anymore. They don't like my writing, fuck them. I like it, and one of these fucking days, I'm going to get published.

Join the club: get a cold!

Wow, it seems like everyone I talk to (including myself...) is feeling under the weather. Today I had to call the school and tell them I was sick. I felt bad doing that, knowing I already left early one day this week because I didn't feel well. I thought it was just a light little sickness, but today I woke up just feeling nasty and I could not find the energy to get out of bed. I hope my students did well on their quiz today--I hate to leave them hanging like that.

Oh, guess what! I got an email from Angelica, my old roomie from Sweden. She's still looking forward to Jenny and I visiting her after Christmas. I was sort of wondering how she was doing, so it was great to hear from her. She was in Australia for a month or so, with her boyfriend who was studying there. Now they're both back in Sweden and it looks like things are getting back to normal. Glad to hear she's doing well. And it will totally kick ass to actually visit her in a few months.

Yeah, one more month! Can you believe it? This is going to be one heck of a trip. I know that when I'm there, I'll be so busy and have a blast and it'll just totally rock. right now though, it makes me a little nervous. I'm glad it's coming, just that, there's so much to do before then. Like, searching for jobs and sending out resumes, figuring out what I have to do to get a MN state teaching liscense as well as a WI one, try to save money as my funds dwindle away, pack up, and see as many friends and family as many times as possible before I go. Not to mention, I still have a month of teaching at the middle school. And then there's one particular reason why I'm not totally psyched for London...a certain someone I'm going to miss A LOT. Okay, so I will very much miss Tricia too :) But I was really referring to Chris, this totally sweet and surprising guy that has completely swept me off my feet in the last month. Yep, it was one month ago yesterday that he and I, in the early hours of the day, had our first kiss and started something...wonderful :) I can't believe how much has happened in just one short month....and in one short month, I'll be away for 2.5 months :( I know it's not THAT long in the scheme of things, but I know I will miss him more than he can imagine. I'm not really worried about what it will do to us, because I know I care too much to do anything to lose him. But I know it will be hard.

Strange that I have had such a turn around in just a month, hm? I mean, a month ago, I was "dating" Craig, having doubts about him but figuring maybe I just needed time. Ha! Yeah, shows what I know about myself. Life is just so screwy sometimes. Four years ago, I thought I had my life and love all figured out. Three years ago, I still thought I had all the answers. Two years ago, I had some difficulties, but I thought I had overcome them and my life was well set. A year ago, I was totally chaotic, my mind, self, and heart everywhere and no where all at once. Through that year, the very values I have held most dear were called into question. And now, now I can actually look back at all of this, and see how and why I am at the point I am. I can acknowledge that even though I seem pretty well settled, I'm sure I don't have all the answers yet. I can realize there are a lot of things I still want to experience, and a lot of very important choices I will have to make. And I can also see just how lucky I am, to have the very caring and wonderful friends that I have, the loving family I have, and to have caught a wave to a future that could be very bright indeed.