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Well, I finally did it - I finally updated the wedding blog.
This particular post was begun about 2 weeks ago. When I say begun what I really mean is that I logged into my blog, opened a new post, gave it a title and then saved it. I went back to it a couple of times, even leaving notes about what to write once, but it took until tonight to actually docujment our little excursion to the Hamilton Bridal Show.
There's much more that I want to document, but it's time for bed. At this rate it'll be another month before I update it again, but to those of you who are extra interested in the status of the Conley-Morris wedding plans I say this: keep checking. You never know when a little fairy has given me a hand (or a motivating kick in the butt)!
It seems it's my lot in life to be surrounded by people whose internal clocks don't jibe with mine. It's my curse. And it's very annoying.
There is historical evidence to prove this. In my teenaged years, I would get a spurt of energy when it was time to go to bed. I'd always want to talk to Alicia, but she'd be falling asleep and impatient with me.
With the exception of Ashley (whose sleep schedule would have matched mine exactly if I didn't have to get up so stinkin' early for work every day), I can't think of a single roommate that would naturally find themselves sleepy and awake at the same times as me...consistently.
Now I have the same problem with Darren. However, it's worse because not only does he get tired at different times than I do, but he's also a morning person. These people are so rare that I was beginning to think it was all a myth, but now I know: they really do exist.
Darren couldn't sleep past 8 am even if he tried and he feels the need to start his day once he's awake. He thinks it's strange that I can lay in bed, falling in and out of sleep until late morning, but there is very little I'd rather do on a Saturday morning! (Or any morning, for that matter!)
Perhaps I'm a little too sensitive to sleep issues. I say this because I always get emotional whenever I'm the last one awake. I hate it when people "fall asleep on me," albeit unintentionally. But at the same time, I hate falling asleep when there's stuff going on because I don't want to miss out on anything. Yup, screwed up...that's me.
I wonder if it's possible to awaken the morning person in you or (preferably) shift one's internal clock a couple of hours later...say, to Alberta time!? Hmmm...
Grrrrrr....
That growl is going out to Christy Conley for having a Sudoku puzzle book on her coffee table.
Friday night Darren and I hung out with Chris & Christy. We had dinner, watched a movie and I was introduced to my newest nemesis: Sudoku. To be fair, it was Darren who picked up the book and began figuring out a puzzle, and no one forced me to give him a hand, but now I've got a new addiction to overcome. I can see how this has become such a fad.
Instead of walking away from temptation, I searched for and found some puzzles online. So I've been working away at filling rows and columns with numbers from 1 to 9. I'm sure I could find one with a nicer interface, but I'm afraid to go looking. I do have stuff that has to get done....
I can solve a medium puzzle in just over 20 minutes, and that's just about the same time it takes me to quit a Hard one. I thought that was pretty good until I discovered that the average time it takes to solve a medium puzzle is 11 minutes. Oh well. I'm just a beginner.
Just like I did with Bookworm, I can justify this by saying that at least I'm exercising my mind. But I'm also giving myself an excellent opportunity to practice the art of un- frustrating oneself when I try the hard ones. I guess it'll help me deal with intense emotions if nothing else.
And yes, I did vote.
I'm at the point in the planning of the advanced course in oral communication (also known as level 5 speaking, but that sounds less offical) that I'm teaching where I'm working on the presentations. There are specific skills that the students have to have mastered by the end of the course, but the means by which they learn and practice them are not prescribed. So I've got to figure it out.
When it comes to picking topics for presentations or lessons in general, I'm usually at a loss. Students themselves usually have a hard time thinking of topics that are interesting and deep enough to create real discussion. So I look through resource after resource and then come up with something that I think is mediocre.
As a result, for this first presentation, I'm having the students, through thoughtful consideration, choose their own topics. I'm going to pose the following question: "What do you really want to know?" Their answers will then get fleshed out and become that which they research for the presentations.
Of course I have to do a sample presentation, so I've been considering what I really want to know. At this point in my life, I really want to know which type of vacation is the best and cheapest: a cruise, all-inclusive resort or a plan-your-own trip. I also really want to know all the benefits and drawbacks to buying a home vs. renting. But I'm not sure that my students are as interested as I am. (Oh, that's another of the stipulations. They have to choose something that they and at least 2 others want to know.)
So I've decided on something that I've heard students ask before. I'm calling it "How to Survive Winter in Canada: Strategies for Dealing with the Winter Blahs." Hopefully I'll be able to take some of my own advice, too!
I had a wedding-planning-free weekend and it was so nice. I don't think we can afford to do that again (and to be completely truthful, Darren did talk to our photographer) but I think it was necessary this time.
The end of last week I was feling under the weather. I wasn't sick enough to actually call myself sick, but I had that achey, sneezy, listless feeling of "oh no, here comes a cold!" After work on Friday I was feeling worse and dragged myself to visit with some friends in the evening...keeping my distance, of course. Then Saturday was a much-needed lazy day of napping, movie watching and all-around nothing-doing.
As it turns out, the only wedding plans we had intended to make fell through (the DJ wasn't available). But regardless, we're still plugging along, crossing items off the list one by one. Somehow things keep getting added to the list, though. More accurately, forgotten items keep getting remembered. Sigh.
At least I'm healthy now and ready to deal with it again. Darren's another story, though. Let's just say I'm good at sharing.
It's been exactly a week since my last blog entry. Where has the time gone? No, I'm not turning into Kari. I'd like to say that I've been busy this the first week of the new semester getting everything in place for the courses I’m teaching. But that would be a lie. The truth is that I've spent the last week playing Bookworm.
When it comes to video games, I have no patience whatsoever for the kind that involve role playing or blowing stuff up (or, incidently, hitting bystanders with a bicycle). I simply don't see the point. But I do love a good puzzle-type game.
I have had to cut myself off completely from Bejeweled 2 because I was spending more time playing than I thought was acceptable, and I think Bookworm is headed in the same direction.
Let me tell you a little about this game. It's kind of like an online version of Boggle, except the words you make must have adjoining letters. Once you make a word, those letters get eaten by the bookworm and new ones fall into the game. Sometimes letters that are on fire enter the playing area and if you don’t use them in a word before they hit the bottom, the library catches on fire and the game ends. The longer the word, the more points you get and the more likely you are to get a special, shiny letter, also worth extra points. (see image)
As you proceed through the levels, you receive a new title, ranging from Assistant Librarian to Bookwork Supreme. As far as I can tell, once you get to Bookworm Supreme, there's nowhere to go. You just get extra stars.
This past week I actually only played one game of Bookworm. In total I spent 11 hours and 32 minutes making it to Bookworm Supreme, 5-star. For those of you who play, that's 2 317 470 points (level 37). Somehow I just couldn't exit the game. I was driven to try to make longer and more obscure words. I was curious to see what new rank I’d get after passing the level. It was a mild addiction.
What a relief it was to see the library burn down Friday! I'm finally free!!
I am officially at the end of my vacation. That's right, folks, Christmas is over; New Year's festivities are done and it's time to get back to work. Tomorrow I start teaching 2 courses (this will be a light semester for me).
Each class is at the highest level of our program; the majority of the students are heading off to regular college courses in September. It's my job to get them able to handle the oral components of college (presentation skills, understandable pronunciation, grammatical accuracy while speaking, being as close to native fluency as possible) and note-taking/understanding academic lectures. The fate of their academic careers in Canada rests in my hands. Not really, but it seems like it sometimes.
To prepare for this semester what am I doing this evening? I'm trying out my slow cooker! I mean, OUR slow cooker. Darren's brother & sister-in-law gave it to us for Christmas but it was quickly decided that it would be put to better use at my apartment.
I really do like cooking...to some extent. I love chopping vegetables and mixing stuff together. I like experimenting with ingredients (with some basis of what WON'T go together) when my cupboards are a little sparse. But I have little patience for watching food cook or ensuring it doesn't burn. Why didn't I get one of these machines years ago?
I'm hoping this becomes a fabulous time-saving tool for years to come and not something that I use for a time and then forget about. (...kind of like the breadmaker back in the 90s...) But even if the crock pot eventually finds a semi-permanent resting place under the counter, I'll at least have lunch for the next week!
'Tis the season for New Year's Resolutions. Darren's already posted his, and Chrissy beat him to the punch, so I guess I'm a bit behind.
Last night I decided that I wanted 2006 to be the year that I really started to manage my time better. But then today happened.
Right, today. The only time I left my apartment was at 8:30 this evening when I got my mail. Oh, and then I went again to my car to get a piece of paper I needed. That would be fine if I had accomplished anything while inside my home, but I can't say that anything besides showering and making meals (and eating them) happened today.
So I guess I should try something else.... I'll let you know when I decide what it'll be.
(Darren suggest resolving not to give up so easily. Perhaps what I should work on is making a decision and sticking to it. We'll see...)
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