Cupid

You Are Cupid

A total romantic, you're always crushing on a new reindeer. Why You're Naughty: You've caused so much drama, all the reindeers aren't speaking to each other. Why You're Nice: You have a knack for playing matchmaker. You even hooked Rudolph up!

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Hmmm. I guess I am a good match maker. I thought Becky and Jay should get together long before they did... or long before they both figured it out at the same time. :)

Hmmm. I like to talk. Big surprise!

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Black Friday anyone?

Now we didn't go out and do the 5am thing. (did any of you?) But we did go out for pizza for dinner, and then hit up a couple of stores. I thought it was going to be crazy, but it wasn't that bad. We went to Toy's R Us, and got four different gifts for Emily, and spent only $25. Lovely jack pot. We got her the Fisher Price Doctor's kit, a kitchen clean set (for her new kitchen set my mom bought for her earlier this month) a string puzzle, and her first Barbie doll. Very exciting.

I plan to pack all of these things in the bottom of my suitcase when we fly out to Ca for Christmas, and then pack them up to fly them home once Emily opens them. Scott thinks I am nuts, but I want Emily to have presents under the tree, not have to open them two weeks before Christmas and leave them behind.

Then we went off to A.C. Moore. It is kinda like Michael's but has a much better scrapbooking selection. I had the token "60% off one non-sale item" so I got a tool kit that I have been wanting. (Sam's probably the only one who knows what I talking about) and also picked up some great paper, and some basic solid color packs. Also I got some storage filing systems for my paper. I have been waiting to get this organization stuff for a long time. Merry Christmas to me! I feel kinda bad that I spent so much, but most of it was all on sale!

The best thing... our state has made this "tax free weekend." Everything is tax free... from Christmas gifts, new cars, and cigaretts. As if we needed another reason to get people out shopping this weekend?

Rodeo Drive anyone?

So this would be my Sunday afternoon. Emily playing dress up, Scott calling from the airport saying his flight is delayed, again. Stupid Washington Dulles. I hate that airport. I'm ready for him to be home. I had big plans to make homemade calazones and watch a movie together tonight, but I guess that's not going to happen. (By the way, I am really into baking stuff lately using yeast. All of those recipes that called for yeast that I used to shy away from have now become mine to conquer. So far, so good. Nothing has been yucky yet. And calozones are my favorite.

To me this looks as close to Beverly Hills shopping as a toddler in SC can get. I think shopping was what she was doing. She kept taking things out of my closet and putting them in her purse. Too funny. Of course, Boots the monkey had to fit in the purse too.

Yes, I know she is a mess. The hair, the scabs all over her chin, the stained onesie. It all goes together to show how much fun we are having doing nothing today except playing. But we are reading for daddy to be home. The past couple of mornings we have had to look around the entire house as Emily wouldn't believe that he wasn't here.

But anyhow, back to the picture. I thought it was cute.

All by myself...and other rambles

My mom left today. She had been visiting all week. We had a great time... that's a whole additional post. However, she flew home today.

Also, Scott's NCTE conference is this weekend in Nashville. He missed his plane Thursday morning (after Wednesday night's storm) and finally was able to leave this morning. He's in Nashville now, but they lost his luggage... again that is a whole additional post.

But what I DO want to post about is how excited I am to have this weekend to myself! I know we all feel a little bit of relief when visitors end their stay, even visitors that make life easier when they are around, like my mom. But I am just glad to have this weekend with Emily to myself. Even Scott being gone doesn't really bother me. I'm sure after a couple of days I will want him to come home, but right now I am good! Emily and I made a big bowl of popcorn and watched a disney movie tonight until she fell asleep on me. Loved that. And really we have no plans besides grocery shopping for Thanksgiving dinner and cleaning some house. Maybe some scrapbooking.

Life is slowing down, and I am thankful.

On another note, we did get struck by the big storm on Wednesday night. This was the same storm that hit North Carolina, killing eight. Just about the entire state was under a tornado watch at some point, our county was under a watch for over ten hours. That didn't make for good sleeping. Besides the lightening and thunder was so loud and bright. Emily didn't sleep so well, so nobody slept well. My mom was here for that, and I don't think she liked it very well. The weather alarm radio goes off every time the NWS issues a warning or alert for our county. After the "tornado watch" went out (a watch means conditions are favorable, warning means an actual tornado has formed) we sat waiting to see if the alarm would go off again. At one point it did, and I started to race down the hall to get Emily, but it was a flood alert. My heart was racing a little bit, but other than that we didn't have any actual cells form around us. It was quite inconveniant to sleeing though.

Anyhow, I hope everybody has a great weekend!

Election Day...

I remember sitting in the Portela's livingroom during the 2004 Presidential election and thinking I really couldn't imagine what it would be like if Bush won again. He did, and I think I was in denial. I was really upset over it. Quite different from the 2000 election, when at 20 I really couldn't make up my mind about who I would vote for, partly because I was still so self-absorbed that I didn't pay attention. How sad is that?

Today in our lovely blue state, South Carolina's republican governor is ahead by 2%. What a bummer. I won't get into all the hairy details as to why this guy is a moron, but much of it has to do with his view of education. But another big deal to me, us I guess, is the school board race. Kinda of interesting in our school district. It sits in two counties, seven members, the majority of the population in Lexington county, so that county gets five seats on the board. The smaller population of the school district sits within Richland county (where we live) and gets two seats. What makes it interesting is that we can only vote for the seats within our own county. So there are people on my school board who i will never get to vote for or against.

Oh well. I guess I will be thankful that I can remove the school board election propaganda from my home and car. Hopefully those people will be voted in. In case you were wondering... Scott and I have huge magnets on our car for the school board candidate, bumper stickers, and signs in our front yard. We did our part I guess. Now I can take it all down.

So all of you Californians... my daddy tells me he is sick of the recorded phone calls. Sounds almost obscene how many phone calls they get (cel phones too). Anybody else been getting them?

I hate Rush

...and no I don't mean the band. Of all the things to talk about on his show, Limbaugh has to chose somebody with a disease whose drug makes them shake. Interesting choice their Rush. How are those prescription drugs working of you? Oh... they're not? Well that's too bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyODxggQpAw

And my dad listens to this guy daily. Ughh.

What are you watching this fall?

Each season there is always a big hit show that I didn't watch, and by the time everybody says it is good, I am too behind to start watching it. I guess I am too lazy to reinstate our Netflix account and order the past seasons. (Though the series that tempts me the most to do this with is Grey's Anatomy.)

Anyhoo, at the beginning of fall when all these new programs came out I felt I had to pick one to invest in, and I picked Heroes. Kinda freaky at first, but once I got over the Vegas stripper girl's slaughter scene, I really liked it. My favorite is the asian character who can teleport himself.

Anybody else watching this show? What are you watching?

**By the way, i used to be a mediocre Desperate Housewives fan, however last night's episode where Gabriel tricked Carlos into thinking he had a chance, but then slept with a random guy from a nightclub REALLY made me hate the show. I didn't even like the Carlos character so much, but that was just so evil and mean. Ughh. I think I'm done investing time into that show.

Lack of posts

First of all, this is us at the fair. Animals, stinky pig pens, rides, and yes... funnel cakes. It was a great day. I love going to the fair, and there was just something about the SC State fair that was much more wholesome than the fair I remember growing up with.
Speaking of wholesome... I have stopped using myspace. Not so much because I feel some sort of moral obligation to stop (I loved checking my myspace and running into old friends) but because I literally cannot log in anymore. My account through myspace was sending out rather vulgar adult sites and it got beyond my control. I tried to change my password, and now I can't log in at all. It was like the entire account was taken over beyond me. So... yeah, sorry. I won't be checking my myspace. Kinda bummed about that. I had all sorts of old high school people on my friends list, and I am surprised how much I enjoyed seeing how everybody was doing. I guess I just should have put up with the porn sites being posted. Oh well.

Other than that, sorry I haven't posted. Things are kinda busy. Scott is always running around (see below) and Emily keeps me on my toes. OH yeah, school is busy too. We just got our SMARTboards installed today and got to take home a new laptop. Awesome. I just have to figure out how to use the board now. So many new things!

A Quick Update

I thought I better do a quick update so that people won't forget about us. I know it's been almost a month since our last post but a lot has been going on in the Johnson household. I brief everyone on what's going on with me and that might force Malisa to begin updating our blog again since she was the one who was really good about posting.

This has been the semester from hell!!! It's not that the classes have been difficult but I have been inundated with a lot of work and little time to do it. I used to have several days a week where I could stay home and focus on nothing but work. Not any more. Here's the lowdown:

1) I supervise 13 student interns. at two different school each about 30 mintues away. This means I'm away from home at lease twice a week for about 3 hours. Doesn't seem like much but that's a big chunk out of a day. That also doesn't entail the paperwork that needs to be filled out on each intern which adds another 5 hours a week.

2) For two of my classes, I read an average of 400 pages a week. After I read, I either post messages to Blackboard or type of notes on all my reading. And of course, both of these courses have all their assingments due at the same time! Damn conspiracy agains me!!!

3) My research internship is going well but means I'm gone from home often either during the day or in the evening. The families I'm interviewing live about an hour away which means a two hour round trip sometimes 2-3 times a week. My interviews last between 20-30 minutes and conversations have to be transcribed for analysis, A 15 minuted conversation can take 6 hours to transcription.

4) And on top of the two projects that are due in two weeks, I also have my qualifying exams which are due. I'm not officially a doctoral student yet in case all are wondering. I'm just a doctoral candidate.

So all I do is pee, crap, read, type, and drive. I don't do a whole lot of anything else so I'm sorry for not posting more often. When I take a quick break, I read everyone's blogs so I try to keep up with how everyone is doing. Malisa, Emily, and I will be in Bakersfield/Fresno at Christmas for a week (have to finish that exam) so hopefully we'll see everyone.

I'm thinking three things

It was a big day in the Johnson household. Yes, Emily got her first pair of pigtails this morning. All of her hair made it up into the rubberbands, and she went from looking like a baby to a toddler in about three seconds. She is getting so big!

I know I haven't blogged in awhile. School started and I don't feel like life really every calmed down from that. Life is good though. Looks like we will be out for Christmas. Dad got a new job and can't take the time off to come here like originally planned, but that is okay. We look forward to seeing not only our family, but friends too!

I've been thinking a lot about work, and staying at home with kids. I always thought that I would stay home with Emily and any more children we may be blessed with once Scott finishes up school. However, I really love my job. Before loving my job made it bearable to be away from Em all day, but now loving my job means so much more. I really do know that is where I am supposed to be, and my adult life at work as a professional makes me a better mom because it makes me whole. Does that make sense? Who knows. If anything else it takes away the looming doom that before hung over us being able to afford or not afford me staying home in the future. I guess I have found a peace with the situation that will allow me to trust that whatever God has planned... it will be fine.

Kitler

I wasn't sure if the Heathers and Adams of the worlds had come across this site so I thought I'd post it anyway. Introducing a new breed of cat known as the Kitler.

http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/

Cruel.com

I love my daily posting from Cruel.com. I see some of the wackiest stuff. Here is the latest I had to post. Even us Christians like a little spice in bed a la Song of Solomon

http://www.book22.com/merchant2/

The Haps . . . .

My semester of classwork has finally began so I’m beginning to get into the swing of things. Instead of teaching I’m supervising 13 student interns. It’s a lot of emails and paperwork but I don’t have to prepare for teaching a class. I do have to drive out to schools a couple of times a week.

I’ve also started my course load. Once again I have an all day Saturday class which meets every other week. This one going to be lots of work. I also have my first Anthropology course which also a Woman’s study course on gender and migration. I also began my research internship. I’m trying to hash out my questions before I begin my interviews.

I also just bought a new MacBook. I’ve been toying around with the idea for a long time especially since the new Merom processors are coming out at some point. But Intel says you can swap the processor out and upgrade the software. Hopefully. I could always keep waiting for the next update but I could use the laptop so I can make better use of my time. Especially being out on the road so much. Yesterday I drove about 100 miles and was gone most of the day with several hours down time. I could have used that time to type up work. So I bought the middle of the road MacBook and I’m maxing out the memory from newegg.com, getting a bluetooth mouse, a wireless router so I can work outside the house, and hopefully begin being more productive.

Now I will have more time to blog.

America's Got Talent... apparently not

Yes, we have been watching this awful show off and on this summer. Tonight they are revealing the million dollar winner. I am upstairs reading all y'all's blogs, and Scott is really upset because "rappin' granny" made it to the top five. It really bugs him that she has made it so far. I think that is actually the only reason why he still watches it... because he can't believe that she could go on.

Anyhow, if she wins I think that he will be real mad. Maybe it will keep the both of us from watching stupid reality shows...maybe.

Also, today was my first day of school. It went really well. That is just about all I have to say because I am tired. I am sure in the next few days I will fill in more details.

Right now, it really seemed more important to blog about rappin' granny.

These are the good things:

... about starting a new school that I am loving right now

1. If I am lost as far as what is going on, it is okay! Everybody else is just as lost and confused as I am, and we will figure it out together!
2. There are no"last year we..." because there are no expectations of what was done at this school last year, because it didn't exist.
3. The kids can't wait to come in their new school and check everything out.
4. The teachers can't wait to come in their new school and check everything out.
5. There aren't any remnants of crap left in cupboards from previous teachers. Everything you put in your room is YOUR stuff.
6. All teacher's editions, math manipulatives, and science equipment are brand new. Complete sets= happy teacher! :)
7. The technology is crazy amazing. We are getting Smartboards installed in every classroom. (in case you don't know what that is, you will have to google smart board. Sorry, I don't know how to post a link yet, speaking of technology!)

School starts Thursday. I think that I a may actually take some pictures of my classroom before the kids come. I have to say that I am amazed at how great it looks, not because of how I put it together necessarily, but of how the room was designed. I love it!

Back to work

The school passed inspection yesterday, and we were in today. Wow. It was so exciting to actually get to walk in the building. Everything was new, and though it still looked very much like a construction site, it is obvious that this place is going to be a beautiful school. We had meetings all day except for an hour and a half that we got to work in our rooms. My stuff was delivered from my old school into my new classroom at the new school by district movers, so when I walked in my classroom, my boxes were already there. Talk about spoiled. It was nice not to have to move all that stuff. Tomorrow we get to spend just about the entire day putting together classrooms, which I am really looking forward to.

Now... the bad part. I still can't get over how I can be so excited, yet cry so much and be upset about leaving Emily. There were many times this summer when I second-guessed my ability to be a stay-at-home mom. However, leaving her was so hard today. Scott did it actually because I had to be at school so early, and I knew if there was a problem (Emily crying as I tried to leave or something) that I would be late. So I got up early and worked out at the gym, got ready there and drove straight to school. And yes, I called Scott to check in on how their morning was going. And yes, after I hung up the phone I cried the rest of the way to school. Emily was a champ, and just saw it as a big play day with her friends. She had a little trouble at nap time, but other than that, she was fine. And I got to be the one who picked her up, so she greeted me by yelling "mommy mommy!" which made me cry again. Ughh. I know this will get easier. But right now I am having a bit of a time getting over it.

Say a prayer please

I know I have told a lot of you about the new school that I will be teaching at this year. Well tomorrow morning is our first day back for meetings and such, and next Thursday (8/17) the kids come back.

The problem is that our school has not passed inspection. None of the teachers have been allowed inside ever, and our stuff is in storage at another elementary school where we can't get to it. It failed inspection 7/31 and this morning at 9 am the government inspector is scheduled to come again to come. Last time I don't even think the sewer lines had been finished, but this time I hear there is a problem with the fire alarm, something the electrician was working hard to finish.

Anyhow, just pray that it will be done, and the inspection will go well. I really don't feel like teaching fourth grade out of my garage! Just kidding. But in all seriousness, our district doesn't have a back-up plan lined up in case the school fails inspection again. Hmmm. Makes me nervous.

So that is all that is on my mind this morning. That and the fact that starting tomorrow morning I will be dropping Emily off at Miss Sheri's house all day, and I will probably cry a bit. It amazes me how much I can love my job so much and look forward to going back, but at the same time I absolutely dread being away from Em all day long. Weird how those two things can simultaneously exists in my heart at the same time.

Let me OUT!

Of the house please! It has been so hot the past week that Emily hasn't been outside to play much, and she is getting sick of her toys. So finally today it was supposed to cool down a bit, which it did, but not enough. We decided maybe this evening after dinner we would all go out and play in the yard and let Emily escape the walls of our home.

Well then the storm moved in. I swear the lightening and thunder and rain hasn't stopped since two thirty. This was also the time when Emily got put down for her afternoon nap. Fifteen minutes into napping and she is woken up by the loud thunder. Nice. After the third time of putting her back down, Scott gave up. Now we have Miss Cranky Pants.

Scott is so bored he is actually considering taking us to the mall so I can find a new top for a skirt I got. He must be desperate. I am trying desperately to get some school planning done, to no avail. I am just plum bored.

Oh well. Hope your Saturday isn't nearly as boring as ours.

Music for the seasons... yeah, I guess

Yeah, I don't really have a lot going on to talk about.

We came home from Bible study, put Emily to bed.
I finally remembered to plug in my ipod so it could charge the battery.
Oh, and I switched up the music (I have the shuffle, so it doesn't hold nearly the amount as y'alls, but it does the job)

Anyhow, that's basically it. I'm really excited to hit the gym tomorrow with my newly added J5 music on the shuffle to listen to while on the treadmill.

I haven't listened to them in a bit, and I realized that all of their music reminds me of summers in Fresno. Why? I dunno. Maybe it was all those great times on the back porch with the music playing out the outside speakers. But I was really excited to listen to it. That and some Fat boy slim. Also reminds me of summers in Fresno. Weird how music does that.

Okay, and while on the subject, Radiohead and travis remind me of winter, especially winters in Fresno. That's Jenny's influence I guess. Anybody else have a band that does that to you?

**and yes, I purposely meant to b put y'all. And no, I never say it out loud.