Superficiality and photos

Saturday Darren and I had an appointment at the Bay in Niagara Falls to complete a gift registry. What became an all-afternoon task was a very trying, exhausting, and revealing experience.

It seemed by the look on the face of the registry woman that we are very disappointing. For our 3 hours of walking around the store scanning items, - after she explained to us that we would need about 180 gifts on our registry, give or take - we came up with only just over 2 pages of "stuff" that we need or want.

Darren said he guesses we're just not superficial enough for such a task. It's also that we don't need a lot of things. The registry's main job is to help us avoid getting duplicates of items and having to either regift or return.

Anyway, before heading to Niagara Square, we decided to go to Denny's for breakfast. This is where my day started to go south.

For those of you who don't know, I have a hard time making decisions. No decision is worse than (probably) choosing what to eat at a restaurant. It's not that I'm picky; it's that everything sounds so good that I can't make up my mind.

It's even worse when I see a picture. In fact, 9 times out of 10 I end up ordering something that I can see simply because I can see it. I can't really remember a time recently in which a trip to a restaurant didn't include a "Gasp! I want that!" (pointing to a menu picture).

It works with real food, too. If the wait staff brings food to a nearby table before taking our order, the chances of me changing my mind double.

So the reason that the Denny's experience was so difficult is that they have a fabulous, large colour menu with the most delicious food pictured. Even after placing our orders (not an easy task on my part), we kept the menu to drool over it a little more.

Incidentally, the food was excellent and despite the over-pricing and over-filling of the plates, I was able to finish my meal! Of course, it was enough protein to last me 3 days, but that's what eating out for breakfast is all about, isn't it?

It's about time!

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)!

Bedtime blues

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...

New addiction

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.

What do you really want to know?

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!

Wedding planning reprise

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.

Bookworm took over my life

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!!

Getting ready for school (?)

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!

This year I'm going to...

'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...)

The day before New Year's Eve

Today is my mom's birthday; she's XX years old today. Unfortunately, I won't be there to celebrate with her. It kind of goes with this year - I missed all the birthdays in my family (except maybe Alaina's). But it won't go uncelebrated; her friend whose birthday is tomorrow is coming over for a little tea-ish celebration this afternoon.

I remember one of my mother's birthdays clearly. Alicia and I were young and living in Dunnville. We got up early, went to the kitchen quietly, shut the door and prepared breakfast for mom (and dad - we didn't want him to feel left out). It wasn't easy because my mom isn't a big breakfast person, but I remember planning out foods that we though she would eat (a fruit salad and tea, I think). We brought this breakfast on trays to mom & dad's room and proudly presented their breakfast in bed. We had really good intentions but were disappointed to find out that she can't eat first thing in the morning. Oh well.

I feel badly for anyone whose birthday corresponds with any widely-celebrated event or holiday - New Year's, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, Canada Day, you know what I'm getting at. Try as you may, it seems that birthdays, which we celebrate all year long (for different people), always take second place to these once-a-year events. I wonder if people whose birthdays fall on these days ever really accept it.

Perhaps it's up to the friends and family of such unfortunate souls to make sure it's a special day. Either way, happy birthday, mom.

Christmas reflections

This Christmas vacation has been extremely relaxing. It has been so wonderful to have some time to lay around, read, nap, watch movies...all without feeling a nagging sense of "I should be grading something" or "I'm not sure what tomorrow's reading lesson is about." Somehow this past week and a bit was very laid back and relaxed. It was slower than real life. I loved it.

Christmas itself was fabulous. I wasn't sure about this division of time between two families deal, but it was really nice to celebrate with my family and Darren's. It made for a lot of turkey, but that's ok. I won't cook my own anytime soon (or ever?) so I'm not complaining!

But this Christmas vacation has also been revealing. I learned that I need to have my time structured. If there is no pressing need or deadline, I am very good at letting things go. What I'm really feeling is guilt. I'm always so focused on doing that I have a hard time being still and feel bad when nothing gets accomplished in a day. But God provides times to rest one's body. This is it.

I read something yesterday that shook me. It’s from a book loaned to Darren and I by a couple in his church entitled “Sacred Marriage,” but the part that made me take notice (and shed a couple of tears) isn’t related to marriage at all. Gary Thomas writes:

Jesus of course, was celibate his entire life, so it’s somewhat ironic to suggest that marriage is the preferred route to becoming more like him. But Jesus did live in a family, and, as Betsy Ricucci points out, that’s all he had done at the time the Father proclaimed, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). “What had Jesus done to receive such praise? Nothing but live in his own home, honoring his parents and serving his father’s carpentry business. Apparently that was enough to please God.

I think I will struggle my entire life with being vs. doing, but this passage sure helped. Jesus pleased his Father without doing anything. I can please my Father even on a lazy day in which nothing “gets accomplished.”

Lest I give the impression that I spent the Christmas vacation in a restful state of bliss, I think it's important to include this. I did get a wave of panic rush over me today as I thought of all the things that will have to be done next week. I'm trying to get certified by TESL Ontario (not an easy feat since I got my TESL training in Saskatchewan). The easiest way will be to get a TESL certificate from Niagara, which will be cost efficient because I can pay the staff price. I've already studied just about everything that is included in the program, but I have to prove it. Unfortunately I can't find my syllabi from Briercrest. I can get credit for other courses based on prior experience but again I have to prove it. It's a lot of work and the school is closed this week. So that will all take place while I'm preparing the courses I will teach next semester.

But I'll be well rested and ready to take it all on!

What if there were elves?

Have you ever thought of the Santa part of Christmas from an elf's perspective? I mean, they would have to be working awefully hard to make enough gifts for the Jolly Old Man to deliver and what reward do they get? I doubt they get to "test drive" their favourite toys. They're probably working for room and board. And they certainly never even get a chance to see the result of their long hours in the workship: the happy little faces of children around the world.

My conclusion is this: it's a good thing, for the sake of the elves if nothing else, that the Santa story isn't real. But if it were, I think we'd be reading news reports such as this one, composed by my very own Darren Conley. Enjoy!

Engagement photo

Well, Chuck did it again! We took an hour yesterday, and got some engagement pictures done. It's amazing what you can do on the second floor of a mall with natural light coming through the skylights. And the added thrill of potentially being asked to leave makes it a much more adventurous experience! :)

Someday Chuck'll have a studio of his own, but that's partly what these pictures are for - to demonstrate his ability and get him some business! Also, they're for us.

Alicia called it right - these are much more posed and less fun than our usual pictures, but that's what we wanted...this time. So, enjoy my favourite engagment picture:

It's Christmas!

Well, it seems that Christmas snuck up on me but I'm glad! It was nice not to have to rush around getting all caught up in the spirit of buying. I have made the necessary purchases but our family really tried to simplify this year and I appreciate it!

Darren and I are off to my family's place in Forest tomorrow and then we'll be back this way on Christmas Day.

I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas! May you have a joyous and refreshing weekend!

Happy Birthday, Jesus.

Free time...at last!

The semester is finally over and it's so weird! I guess this is what "boredom" feels like.

Last night Alaina and 3 of her friends crashed at my apartment. They went on a road trip to Dunnville (yes, I wrote that correctly) to get their hair cut and coloured. Then they came to my place to make supper and exchange their Christmas gifts. Then, after setting up their sleeping arrangements, they piled in the car (we like to call her Olivia) and headed to Niagara Falls to see the lights.

Once they were gone, I kind of looked around aimlessly for a few moments, wondering what I should do. Of course there are a million things I could have been doing, but they sure weren't coming to mind. It was just so strange.

I tried to go to bed but couldn't sleep so I got up and watched the second-to-last episode of Babylon 5 (the series which Darren and I finished tonight, incidentally - sigh of relief) and then tried to sleep again.

But the whole evening makes me realize this: it's so nice to be done, but I'm just not sure what to do with myself. I'm going to have to re-learn what one does when he/she has some unregimented time. It's a wonderful problem to have, if only temporarily.

My Jag

About 4 months ago, Darren and I made our first purchase together...we bought what like to call the Jag. It's a welcome addition to our almost-family. It's a Dirt Devil Jaguar, exactly like the Dirt Devil Scorpion, but much more fun to say. [ Try it for yourself: Jag…Scorpion…the Jag…the Scorpion. See? Much more fun! ] And, believe it or not, I (Larissa!) put it together myself. Yup, that was a proud moment.

Until we bought this vacuum, I had been cleaning my apartment with the Dustbuster that Grandma loaned me. While I don't have a lot of carpet, this was a very lengthy task. You see, the Dustbuster has only so much power and I wouldn't even finish the entire room before it had to be recharged. That's when I decided to 'splurge' on a vacuum. (Well, half a vacuum; I'm so cheap!!) Let me tell you, this Jag sure would have come in handy back when I got that sunburn that nearly killed me and was peeling everywhere. ..although the dustbuster did do a good job on my bed.

Anyway, today I took the Jag out for a spin. Every time I do that, I have the same sickening realization: I am a dirty pig! It's amazing all the stuff that collects between those carpet fibers! No, amazing isn't the word I want - disgusting is more like it.

Invariably each time I see that I vow to never let so many weeks pass between vacuuming episodes, but when the Jag has to travel between my apartment and Darren's, that's easier said than done. Actually, it lives here most of the time so I have no excuse other than pure laziness, but if I weren't so darn honest you'd have believed me!

So here's to the feeling of being able to sit on my floor without the fear of finding my butt covered with the hair that I've shed over the past 3 weeks when I get up! Thanks, Jaggy!

Anagrams, snowdays...basically just ramblings

Lyla forwarded me some anagrams last week and some of them are quite clever. I don't usually go along with email forwards or the like, but I'm a little tired now and as a result, think these are worth considering. It's either that or perhaps it simply demonstrates my tendency toward linguistic intelligence (as opposed to bodily-kinesthetic or interpersonal intelligences).

I'm doing a presentation on Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences -it's really quite interesting and has deep implications for education - tomorrow so that's what I've been researching all day. Let me clarify: if the weather doesn't get any worse and the school remains open tomorrow, I'm giving a presentation on Gardner's Theory.

You know, I would normally be overjoyed with the prospect of a snow day. I used to pray for them when I was a student (and God usually answered me positively!) but I don't want one tomorrow. If that happens, the exam schedule gets pushed back a day and we have our graduation meetings and ceremonies/parties on Thursaday, December 22. Of course, that's not the end of the world, but it sure would be nice to have a day off before traveling to my family's for Christmas. (sigh)

The good news is that colleges rarely close because they receive no funding for those days. And it's not like they have to consider the safety of students who take busses to work. Transportation is not the problem of a post-secondary institution.

Anyway, read these if you're interested.

DORMITORY:

When you rearrange the letters:

DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:

When you rearrange the letters:

BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:

When you rearrange the letters:

MOON STARER

THE MORSE CODE:

When you rearrange the letters:

HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:

When you rearrange the letters:

CASH LOST IN ME

ELECTION RESULTS:

When you rearrange the letters:

LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:

When you rearrange the letters:

ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:

When you rearrange the letters:

TWELVE PLUS ONE

The search continues

Darren and I spent the evening yesterday looking at wedding reception venues. ..again. (more wedding plan info at my Wedding Blog)

It's a tricky business - choosing a hall, that is - and I'll tell you why. Most halls have package deals that include decorations, the meal, the cake, etc. with the price set per plate. But not only do we have to consider what's in the package (some include DJs and limo service but not chair covers) but also whether or not the taxes and gratuities have been included - that's 31% right there! It seems that getting married is a job for a mathematician!! At this point we're still gathering information and seeing locations. Once we have everything, we can lay it all out on the floor and do some real comparing. Hopefully that will happen this weekend.

We'd really like to get a date and location decided by Christmas so my family can help me with invitations. Apparantly they're supposed to go out in February or March. Personally I'm skeptical of that piece of information...I think I'd lose an invitation that I received that far from what seems like wedding season. But until I my research shows me that I can send them out later, I'll just tell myself that it's better to have the invitations out of the way! Besides, I'm confident that our guests are more competent than I am at keeping important information out of "safe places"!

So, if you have any suggestions as to where to host this event, I'd love to hear them. It looks like the ceremony will be in downtown Hamilton, so somewhere not too far from there would be best. Thanks!

Slowing down...

I'm not sure why, but the consensus around the office is that this has been one of the longest semesters...ever. True, we added a week (well, technically 3 days) to the term, but there were a lot of teachers who felt "done" weeks ago...myself included.

My theory is that I'm teaching 4 courses to 2 different groups of students. So, I see one class for reading and listening and the other for writing and listening. It's a lot of contact with the same people. (How do elementary school teachers do it???) It doesn't help that right from the beginning, the members of one of these classes haven't gotten along. They've endured the semester together as have their teachers.

All I can say is I'm so glad tomorrow is the last day of classes! Of course, we still have to get through exams (I'm half way done preparing those) but the end-of-semester hurdles are finally in view. By this time next week I'll be 26 hours away from really being DONE.

In the meantime, we keep plodding along. I'm just so tired....

Never warn a child!

The winter is a fabulous time of year for children. I was lucky enough to grow up in northern Canada so we really had winter! There was always lots of snow from November right until April. Sure, it was cold, but it was fun! Our mothers would bundle us up until all that was showing was our eyes, and then we would play. We built snowmen and snow forts, made snow angels and had snowball fights...all winter long. It was a blast!

But not everything about the winter is great. I remember one winter day, I met a stranger on my way home from school. We were walking in a pathway between streets. There were metal bars that prohibited vehicles from using this path. She spoke to me and warned me never to stick my tongue to one of those metal posts. I’m not sure why she said this and I really wish she hadn’t because, just like any child would, I became curious.

I didn’t stick my tongue to that post. But for the rest of the way home, I wondered what would happen if I actually did it. Because I was a semi-intelligent child, I realized that the issue wasn’t the posts, but the metal. So when I arrived at my house and noticed the thinner metal work on the door, I thought to myself, “This is my chance!” After checking that no one was looking, and feeling very naughty, I stuck out my tongue and touched it to the metal.

Of course, it got stuck. Then I started to panic! I could only think about how stupid it was for me to intentionally do something that I had been warned about and how embarrassing it would be to explain to my mother how I ended up attached to the front door. So in one quick, painful motion, I pulled my head back and ripped my tongue off of the metal door.

I went into the house, trying not to cry, and wishing I hadn’t been so stupid. I don’t remember what I told my mother when she asked how it happened, but I’m sure she knew. From that day on, my tongue has never gone anywhere near anything metal in the wintertime!

Spreading Blogger joy

Get this: *I* spent my morning troubleshooting problems with Blogger! Now, it's true that I am a computer scientist :) but that sounds impressive even for me!

Actually, I really should qualify my first statement - I assisted my students in setting up and getting the bugs out of their final assignments, which just happen to be blogs. These blogs consist of a personal description, report on an interview, 2 journal postings and a creative entry.

Their questions (the ones I was so aptly troublshooting) were simple, relating to posting pictures, changing the font size of post titles, etc. - things definitely within my grasp. I was glad; it sucks for the teacher to appear incompetent too often.

If you want to check out the blogs, here's the "hub." But don't be critical. At this point I'm happy that they're posting. We'll work on the accuracy of the writing as the week . Here's the link.

The best part of this assignment is that for the first time in months we're all excited about writing. Even those who were nervous about using the technology last week are having fun with this. That's music to a writing teacher's ears!

Now if only we didn't have to write essays for the final exam....

Ponderings of an inquisitive mind

I have a very inquisitive student. She's always asking something. Today these were her 3 ponderings:

1. Why did you become a teacher? The reason for this question comes from the fact that she's now trying to decide what to do with her future. People have suggested she take the TESL program and teach English in her country, but she's not convinced. Her favourite response came from a colleague who said "I always wanted to be a teacher; I just didn't know what I wanted to teach until I was 17 years old." How could my "I kind of fell into it" compete with that?
   
2. Why do some ugly women get great guys and some beautiful women stay single? Now, she didn't define any of those terms, but I think the obvious answer is that appearance isn't everything. I said something about the intimidation factor associated with highly attractive people and the inner beauty aspect of others. She didn't accept that.
   
3. Why do people display pictures of their families at work? Having never had a desk to permanently call my own, I haven't ever considered bringing a photo to work, but my take on this phenomenon (or normalcy in North American workplaces) is a combination of desiring to show off one's family and desiring to feel at home at work. Either way, I love getting a glimpse into the lives of people with whom I work but will likely never socialize with.
   

It's fabulous to have students who display critical thinking skills and truly engage with the language through thought and discussion. I have no problem answering questions such as "What's the difference between make it and make it through?" and "Is it ever correct to use a double negative?" (last week's questions). I am, after all, a language teacher. It's these culture-based, human motivation-ridden questions that throw me for a loop.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Back to work Tuesday

As I'm sure you've heard by now, Darren and I are engaged. For full details, interesting back story and regular updates, check out my wedding blog. (keep checking; things are a little busy right now)

We got home from Edmonton Monday night and to be honest, I was a little nervous going to work on Tuesday. I wasn't sure what kind of reaction I would get. First of all, the majority of my colleagues just recently found out that I was even dating someone. Secondly, there are many views about marriage represented: some have been happily married for years, some are married through common law, some are single, some have had bad relationships and one seems to be turned off of marriage altogether.

I thought I would test out my storytelling skills on the ride there with Lyla but she had so much to say (we hadn't seen each other since Thursday; a lot can happen over a weekend!!) that I only got a chance to give a very rushed rendition. That didn't help my nerves at all.

But actually, I didn't have to tell anyone. The first thing my office mate (cubical mate?) did was check out my hand...it was like she was expecting to find an engagement ring there. She made a big fuss, which led to more commotion and the word spread like wildfire among the 5 of us who were actually there at 8:20 this morning. After teaching 4 hours in a row, I came back to the office and started eating my lunch. At that point, my bosses came in, already having heard (sensed? Can women really do that?) the news and that created another round of hugs and squeals and people popping up from all over the office to see the ring and congratulate me.

I'm not sure how I'm so clueless as to not have known that Darren was going to propose when my office mate and boss seemed to have been in the know. But then again, not everyone was in on anything. A little later the office assistant / secretary, with whom I've eaten lunch on a number of occasions, asked, "So, who's the lucky guy?" Oops.

Anyway, that was very nice, but my favourite part is still to come. A colleague instructed her class, "...and the other piece of homework is to scrutinize Larissa and figure out what is different with her today." I'm glad she warned me!

I got to my reading class 2 minutes late (that happens sometimes...shhh!) and when I entered I was greeted by applause and cheering. So what did I do? Turn around and walk right out the door. I re-entered to the same reaction. I guess they had figured it out. I asked how everyone knew and they all turned and pointed to the quiet one in the corner. It's always the quiet ones, eh?

One student pulled up my chair, asked me to sit down and proceeded to ask a number of questions like "So, where were you really yesterday?" and "What did he say to you?" Actually, they took turns asking questions until the entire story came out. They were so curious - it was a nice teachable moment.

I'm sure things will get back to normal soon.

Perhaps my favourite moment was when a collegue came into my cubical shouting, "You're marrying the Meter Reader?" And his buddy responded with, "That's great! Now we can joke about little meter readers!" Sigh...I love my job...usually.

P.S. Sorry for the delay in posting this blog. We didn't want our close friends to find out this way. If this is the first you've heard of any engagement plans, sorry I missed you!

16...how convenient!

My baby sister is 16 years old today! She really is a unique individual - you can read about it here.

Leona has told me before that she feels like she learns a lot about herself whenever she hangs out with me. The reason is that I remember things about her childhood that she doesn't. For example, she had to hear about the naming of Luke the cat story from me. To be fair, that's a minor thing - I doubt any of my other sisters remember that either. But what I couldn't believe was that she didn't even know this one:

One summer the Morris girls (mom and four daughters) were picking strawberries in Dunnville. Oh, I think Alicia's boyfriend was there and maybe a couple of other friends (Becky or Rachel Peters?), too. Anyway, Leona couldn't have been more than 4 years old and was just learning how to spell things. - She was always a very smart child. - She was also learning big words and wanting to use them.

I can remember as clear as day her bending over and picking a flower from the strawberry plant (likely a blossom, but I'm not sure) and shouting, "A flower! How convenient! C-O-N...pause as she thinks...venient!" It was so cute to see her try to spell a word that clearly didn't fit the context!

Perhaps you had to be there or hear it in person, but for months and dare I say, even years, after, we would spell out the word convenient...at least to the N.

It couldn't have been easy growing up as the youngest of 4 girls, but Leona managed it. She is now the only one living with our parents, holding down the fort, and soon to be off to bigger and better things...if that were possible.

I hope you have a fabulous birthday, baby sister!