of weddings, starters and families

so i've been gone for a bit. i went to the wedding of two of my friends.
the wedding and ensuing celebrations (before and after) were all great, and i think that we all had a lot of fun.

after the wedding, my plan was to drive the 2 hours or so to the family picnic (yearly gathering of the powell side of the family). my plans were changed when, after a quick stop for coffee, my car refused to start. to make a long story short, thank goodness for manual transmissions. and hills. that way, when the starter goes out, you can still get the car going.

eventually, i made it home.
while there, i hung out with doom and others, saw stardust, and generally had a decent time. i even got to see both sisters and a niece. and the big sister brought me some yarn, along with my lilies amber. i'll get a picture of the amber soon, but for now, here is yarn that the big sister dyed. it is destined to be a bag for my friend gina.

yarrrrn and beans.

so i signed up for an account at ravelry.com today. it's supposed to be really cool if you're into that sort of thing. the sister said that it is a good way to keep track of your yarn projects, so i thought i'd give it a go. they have a blog up at: blog.ravelry.com

in other news, i have been looking up recipes on allrecipes.com for black beans. i've had an unnatural craving for black beans and rice, but no one out here sells the good stuff. i mean, they have zataran's but it's not the same as the vigo. so i'm on a mission to find something similar that i can make with stuff i can get at the stores here. i've found lots of delicious-looking recipes, and if any of them are winners, i'll let you know.

oh! and i turned in my 'caring narrative' today, and she said it was good. she especially liked my answer to #3. :)

comment free for over a week!

well, i'm done with the all beatles lyrics titles for now. it was fun while it lasted, but i am no longer amused by it.

soon i will be headed back to the other side of the state. i don't think that i've been there since... *crickets chirp*... um, well, it's been a while. i can't wait to see everybody! i'm hoping to be able to hang out and watch movies and stuff, but i can't really afford to go anywhere or do anything fancy. that damn broke college kid stuff again. hopefully i'll have enough gas money to get home in the first place. anywho, enough of the financial woes...

i am now getting stuff figured out for the college of education. scary. i'm nervous, because... i'm not sure why. i guess it means that i'm almost done and i'll have to 'grow up.' sigh.

one of the things that i have to include in my teaching portfolio is a "caring inventory." i have to answer the following questions:

• Share some evidence that you are working on behalf of other people’s welfare? How do you display your empathy? Are there activities or organizations or personal relationships in which you demonstrate you look after other people, or are of service to others?
• From other people’s perspective, what would they say about you in terms of you being a caring person?
• Identify two characteristics that you think a caring teacher possesses. Then, give an example of what that teacher might do to demonstrate those traits.
• What personal characteristics or personality traits are you attempting to acquire (or diminish) that would make you more sensitive to others, or make you better able to care and serve as a teacher?

the first thing i noticed about this set of questions (quoted directly from the instructions) was the grammar. it makes me want to grind my teeth. second, how am i supposed to know what other people think about me. it's not like i can read minds. i think that it is stuff like this that has kept me from jumping fight in to the application process. now there is no longer any way to delay. sigh...

so, what do you guys think about me "in terms of being a caring person?"

i look at the floor and i see it needs sweeping

my sister came into town last night/this morning at 1:30 ish. they are on their way to a camping adventure with another family. at first, they had wanted to stay in a motel, but being that it is rally week, this did not work out. then, there was the thought of just driving through. by the time they got here, this was also not feasible. so, they crashed on my floor. i kinda feel bad because i have not vacuumed for quite a while due to the fact that my vacuum is broken and does not work at all. but free is free and i'm glad they decided not to drive the whole way through the night.

i left for work this morning only 4.5 hours after they got settled in, so i hope they slept well, and can a) find their way out of town, and b) figure out the road that i told them about. if not, my boss said that they could stop by if they wanted, but who knows when they will head out.

it was good to see little monkey girl and her parents. i miss them.

i've been looking forward to seeing stardust. (imdb) i may be very disappointed, however, because none of the theaters in the area seem to be showing it. this is the only movie that i've really been looking forward to. i think that it is showing in soo foo, so maybe doom and i can go see it when i'm home? please? :)

images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes

lots of stuff going on in the universe recently. stars are so cool. i think it would be fun to be an astronomer. i could watch galaxies collide and discover huge planets. and play with nifty telescopes and stuff. i actually really kind of like physics. maybe if i don't like this teaching thing...

anywho, i spent the weekend up at camp helping with the pack-up. it was hot. and slightly awkward. i guess that's what i get for always helping out when i'm not actually on staff. i got to lead a ride out though. on a horse that i haven't ridden forever. his name is lightning. don't let it fool you, he is not terribly speedy. except when you're trying to cinch him, and he is trying to bite you. other than that though, he's a wonderful horse. i hadn't ridden for a year, so i'm feeling it today, that's for sure. another one of those 'muscles that you never knew you had' things. i miss camp. sometimes. there is a year-round position opening up, and the director is 'nudging' me to consider it. scary. i realize that the real world is coming at me fast... only one school year left, and half of that is student teaching, so that's almost the real world. ahhh!

wish me luck!

i read the news today, oh boy

when i got to work this morning, i say this article in the newspaper that i had to put out on the stick. ok, so the article was in the local paper, but the bbc does a decent job of reporting, generally, and i have their news bookmarked. no wonder my sister is always nervous driving over bridges.

browsing the bbc news site, i came across this as well. all i have to say is that i'm very glad that i didn't ever vote for him. i know all politicians are crap, but he seems crappier than most. i just get so angry when people in power seek to keep secrets from the people who elected them. it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when i think about it.

ah, but here is some good news...well at least not bad news. animals are so cute. even if they are ugly. i wonder if their leaders try to pull the wool over their eyes too. can animals lie? will we ever know?

but oh that magic feeling nowhere to go

final tonight! wish me luck! :) i'll be done for the summer (what's left of it).
i went out last night for a celebratory grocery run (haven't gone shopping since last paycheck). it felt good to buy cheese, milk, veggies, rice, peanut butter and bread and 'fancy' name brand cereal. ah the good life. i even managed to get some apples that taste quite heavenly, instead of slightly bitter like usual (they always look so good). all in all a good trip to the store. until it came time to pay. it wasn't the total (under $40 - pretty good for almost a month's worth of groceries and a card for my parents' anniversary), no, the problem came when i swiped my debit card. and it was refused. i swiped again. no go. i had to flag down the self-checkout monitor lady and have her suspend my transaction so that i could run out to my car and get my checkbook. i called my bank's automated account info number, but it kept disconnecting after one ring. this made me nervous. but, at least my check went through (they scan the check and it does an eft instead of being sent to the bank, and then they hand it back to you). something was wonky with the bank, but i eventually managed to get my groceries and go home.
somewhere along the way, my driver's license, my check card, and several other cards that i carry in my little metal id case (it looks like this, only no cigarettes) somehow fell behind my seat when i put the groceries in the car. that sent me into a panic this morning, but i found them when i was going to go home for lunch. sigh. so much stress for nothing.