A quick financial update - I'm both behind and right on schedule.  How does that work?  Well, it does and doesn't.  Again with the contradictions.  I'm caught up on 2 of my 4 student loan payments.  The two that I'm behind on is only by a month, and they're the smallest of the four, so they'll be easy to catch up on.  I need to call my insurance provider on Monday and get my insurance stuff hammered out.  As soon as I get that figured out, I'll need to go into the DMV and get my car registration taken care of.

After all that is said and done - I *should* have the money to go to PAX.  There's only one big "if", and that's my plane ticket.  Back a couple months ago, I had a coworker who also worked for Southwest.  In fact, he quit here (the radio station) to work full-time for them.  I worked a shift for him once, and he said he'd hook me up with a two-way "buddy ticket" to Seattle when I needed one.  He would've booked it then, but he said we needed to wait until closer to the actual event.  For those of you who've never heard of a "buddy ticket" (I hadn't), it's basically a free ticket to and from a location.  Score, right?  There's a downside - you show up at the airport, and your ride depends on free seats on the plane.  So, say you show up at 6am.  There's a chance that the first flight out to your destination with open seats doesn't leave until 9pm.  Yup.  So you basically wait around inside the airport all day until the first available seat opens up.

I mean, I have handheld gaming devices.  And it'd mean a free ticket.  So waiting around really isn't that big a deal.  The big deal is that I have to contact my buddy, 'cause he quit awhile ago... and I don't know if his offer still stands.  I'm e-mailing him right now, and hoping for the best.

As for the rest of life - moving is imminent.  I'm fucking excited.  It'll be a stressful move, but having my little brother with me will be freakin' awesome, regardless of how long it ends up being.  Him and his girlfriend should be arriving late Monday night/Tuesday morning.  Problem is, we don't actually move into the new place until Saturday.  So... there's going to be a house full of boxes for a couple of days.  No matter - we're making it all work.  The new two-bedroom place we'll be living in is just in front of the complex on the same side we're already on.  As long as I can get a friend or two to help out with a truck to haul the furniture, we should be golden.

Jackie seems to be doing better lately - she's made a few new friends through work, and that makes me a happy camper.  She's had 'em over once already, they went to a movie last night, and tonight they're hanging out yet again.  She wasn't doin' so hot for awhile... I mean, I know the pain.  It's tough being in a new city, with no one to really turn to except for me.  (Scary thought, right?)  Like I said, though, her new friends seem pretty awesome, and she's been having what seems like a good time hanging out and working with them.  She also just started getting benefits through her job - which is both good and bad.  Good - she's got freaking benefits!  Health, dental AND vision!  The bad - until she hits the 6 month period of being with Payless, it's hella expensive, and she doesn't really make enough to have that *and* pay all the bills.

I won't go more into it than that.  It's her business, not mine.  Either way, we're all making it work.  And with Brandon and Candace moving out here next week, and the resulting splitting of the rent and bills - things'll be ironed out (financially) in no time flat.  And EVERYONE will benefit.

I haven't seen The Dark Knight yet, and it makes me sad.  Jackie got taken last night, my friends Vince and Lisa went last night, seemingly everyone on Evil Avatar has seen it... and I haven't.  After paying bills and buying essentials today, I'm broke.  And I know I won't have spare money to see it for another couple weeks.  Blargh.

WiiFit helped me get back in the groove of working out.  I think I said that in my last entry, but I just thought I'd reiterate.  Thank you Nintendo, but it still doesn't forgive your horrible showing at E3.

They actually don't call it church, but for sake of everyone else, I'm referring to it as church.

There was order, there was a sense of respect, which I don't mean to refer that other churchs don't have respect, I just mean there was a sort of dress code.  Suit and tie skirt and blouse.  We had bibles and songbooks and always had another form of study material. 

I was invited to go to church with Nurse R, who as you have probably gathered is more then just a middle manager to me, she is what I refer to as "Work mama".  She asked me to go and even offered to pick me up since I can't drive (I broke a bone in my right foot, my drivin' foot, so you know can't drive).  She picked me up with her live-in boyfriend and her teenage son.  We looked like a big ole happy family, which was kind of nice.

Her church is slightly different then what mine was.  They had a band that plays really loud rock christian music.  You don't have to bring a bible because they display the scripture on a big screen.  You wear jeans and t-shirts and drink coffee while you listen to the service.

It was all very weird for me.  But I liked it and I made a new friend, the assistant pastor whose about twenty-five and single, he didn't seem to mind the fact I had a very visible foot tattoo or that I was in a really ugly walking cast.  He didn't even mind when I showed him my bible I got from my old church, Nurse R knows him pretty well and was basically grinning the entire time we chatted.

He's nice, his name is Jim, I don't want to hear the references to Kim and Jim okay, I know.  Anyway, he invited me to another service tomorrow morning, which is just a rerun of today's.  I pointed to my leg which makes driving difficult and also getting down my second story apartment outside stairs. 

So with the help of Nurse R we agreed to meet for lunch afterwards.

I don't know what this means, but I am going with it.  With me moving in a month, I really don't need a relationship just a friendship with a Assistant Pastor.  Hmmm

This afternoon, I sat on the floor of my bedroom to put on my sneakers and I think I smelled a vaguely musty, ammonia-y smell lurking below the chemical pineapples... (and no it wasn't my sneakers). But I couldn't bring myself to investigate...i just finished putting on my sneakers and left.

Plus I need some recovery time from the trauma of having the workers in here before I start contemplating next steps IF the smell is still there. ... Ok, maybe "trauma" overstates it a little...but well...here's the story of that day.

I was told that workers would be here at 9:30am to install the new AC unit.  So I planned to be showered and dressed and hopefully out of the apartment by 9:15 (my apartment is way too small to be here with...well, other people, but particulary big men moving large pieces of machinery around).

 At 8:30 I finished my shower, and wandered into the bedroom to watch TV while I combed out my mop of tangled hair.  So I'm standing there, naked, and I suddenly l hear male voices right outside my bedroom window. The window was open but the blinds were closed, but they are just cheap venitian blinds, so I felt very exposed. I grabbed a robe and ran into the bathroom to finish combing my hair, and decide what I wanted to wear that day (a long process that normally involves multiple trips between my dresser and my closet contemplating various pieces of clothing.)

I go back into my room to grab the clothes I had decided on, and hear the men outside the window again, except this time it not talking, its heavy breathing and gutteral grunts and occasional moans. I tell myself its the workmen, and not creepy, but it kind of is.

After 3 trips between my bedroom and bathroom to change various pieces of my outfit (mental picture is always so different than what I see in the mirror), I was dressed, but the guy was still moaning and groaning outside my window. My cell phone rang and I went out to the living room to answer it. It was the apartment management company confirming that I'd gotten the message that they would be there at 9:30.

"I got the message..." I glance back at my bedroom wondering...

"Great. So i just wanted to let you know we're still planning to be there at 9:30, although we might be a few minutes late, will that be ok?"

"That would be fine...but..."

"Great. See you then." and he hung up. And I was left wondering why I didn't say "If you aren't coming until 9:30, who the hell is breathing heavily outside my window?

I wondered back into my bedroom and heard one guy say to the other guy "its for the air return, that's where the air comes into the unit," which re-assured me they were workmen. But still...

I grabbed my stuff and hightailed it out of there for the day.

When I got home in the evening, I immediately started to do a compulsive inventory of "things that were different" in my apartment. IE - things they had touched. I don't know why I do this, I'm not really that OCD, but I just have to do this everytime I know someone has been in my space. 

My desk chair is pushed aside, there are indentationsin the carpet in the hallway, a gash in the doorframe to the bedroom, and a mountain dew can on my nightstand. This freaks me out. This is gross and it feels too...personally associated with the strange men to be so close to my bed... But i fight the panic, grab the can and toss it in the kitchen garbage. I return to my room to finish the inventory and see...something on my bed, something that looks like...a grey t-shirt...thrown on the bed. I look closer in the gloom of the evening light- (I've turned the light on, but I have the wrong kind of eco-friendly bulb in and it takes like 10 minutes to warm up to full glow, so at this point its like standing in the dark). I feel the panic rise as I realize that I don't own a grey t-shirt like the one on my bed.

"Holy shit," I suddenly think,"did one of the workers take his shirt off and leave it on my bed? That is so not ok". The panic is getting worse. I think "I have to report this, but I have to get it off the bed, which means I have to touch it. What if its gross and sweaty, what if my bed smells?" I feel myself on the verge of a complete melt down, all steming back to The Smell. That goddamn smell is ruining my life.

I'm taking deep breaths standing in the doorway, trying to focus on the problem at hand, when the light starts to get stronger. And something tickles my unconscious and I take another look at the article of clothing on the bed.  And I think, "maybe it isn't a grey t-shirt..." and the light gets stronger, and I can see the item even better and realize its my lavendar linen shirt. I start to relax, and then I think "Wait! I never wear that! Why is it out? OH MY GOD, they were in my closet!!"

And then I remember.

It was one of the options I tried on and discarded that morning.

I seriously don't know when I became such a nut ball.

Seriously.

To combat what would become a very long day, I proceeded to make a list of items I believed to be necessary to a brand new teacher and then trotted out around 8 a.m. to find all the things on my list:

Three cases of spiral bound notebooks a.k.a. 180 notebooks
I will employ writing every single day that I teach and have no issue with providing my students with a notebook should they need one.  They were a steal at Target and thus could not be passed up.  While some kids might want to bring their own kind of notebook, I do not want anyone to have an excuse not to write.

Kleenex
Really, the tissue is for George, my tiki-head inspired tissue box.  I will post a picture of him once I refill his nose.

Sanitizing hand gel
I will NOT get sick like I did last year.  Killing germs is perfectly acceptable and much more humane than allowing germs to fester. 

Clorox wipes
Again, my classroom will be wiped down on a regular basis.

All purpose cleaner
For spills, pen ink, general cleanliness

Paper towels
To assist the all purpose cleaner and serve as impromptu tissue should George run dry.

Dry erase markers
Okay.  I might have gone a little overboard with the dry erase markers.... I mean, 17 markers???  But truly, in comparison to the smaller packages of markers, the 17 were a deal and a half.  And it's not like I'll use every color every day, right???

Pencils
I'm sure I'll have a use for these... like selling them to woeful students without a writing instrument (kidding! that's what the golf pencils are for...)  :)

Index cards
These will be used on the first day for student desk placement and "getting to know you" info that I'll keep on file.

Post its
One can never have enough sticky notes.  And these are in school colors!

Teacher planner
Now I don't know if I'll receive one of these from my school but I didn't think it could hurt to try it out.  I'm a little persnickety when it comes to planners so I have a feeling I'll be doing trial and error to more than a few till I find one that feels right.

Purple binders
Again, school colors... Go Stallions!  :)  These pretty little things will hold my lesson plans for each grade level (that's the plan anyway). 

Dividers
For the binders.  Not sure what will be divided yet.  But at least I'm prepared.  :)

Computer labels
I plan (there's that lovely word again) to have a file folder for each student (along with an index card) and having their names printed on labels will be so much less time consuming than handwriting each name on each folder.

And now, I'm off to tuck the receipts of these lovely purchases into a file I like to call "Taxes 2008" as each item will be written off next years taxes.

Adventure Guy...taking suave to a new level since 1970

Adventure Guy's scanning project is turning up all sorts of gems.  At least he can claim a lack of responsibility for his wardrobe choices!

That my friends has changed. Rob started a blog. Go check it out. Add it to your blog roll and Google reader. If he sees people are reading, he may just keep up with it. Plus, he's pretty funny. Without further adieu, I give you -

My Aim is Truth!

Mom and me on our last day in San Diego... wandering around the yacht yards on Shelter Island.

 My birthday brulee!  It was deeeee-licious.  And no, I didn't eat it all by myself.  I shared with Summer:

 My cutie patootie nephew.  :)

Off to grab some coffee and pick up my dogs from the doggy hotel.  :)  Have a great weekend!

We picked up the worm farm today.  My word there's a lot to learn.  We got a great lesson and history about worms and their environment.

Did you know it takes an earth worm a year before they are mature enough to have babies.  Then they have just one a year.

Tiger worms are rearing to go within months and they have 3 to 10 babies at a time, and lots and lots and lots in a year.

We've just finished assembling the Lil Pig and found a place in the garden (close to the back door) to put it.  It's not quite complete because we need to put newspaper around the box that's holding/housing the worms.  The box is about 5 cm smaller on all sides than the wooden box so we're to put newspaper to fill the gap and in a couple of months when the worms have been busy doing their thing they will spill out of the box (it's like one 1/2 of a banana box) and onto the newspaper.

The only problem is that we were supposed to have a bucket of food scraps to put in the box already.  Ooops.

If you're keen to reduce your carbon footprint and want to give composting a go, check out Earthly Delights.

This is not me, but it's a picture of the Lil Pig.

Annmarie owns the business, she's a tiny little dot of a thing and a registered nurse and the "worm lady".

She did tell us that once she found a huge weta in one of the compost bins and she hot footed it out of there. 

May I never find a weta, especially one the size she described.

I'm looking forward to giving this a crack.  I'm sure it'll become second nature.

Already today I've found myself chucking egg shells into the waste disposal so I have some habits to break.  So bring on the newspaper, waste, garden waste and whatever else we normally throw down the gurgler.  I'll be doing my bit, though it will require some retraining :)

Today I was accused of a $75 mistake that I had nothing to do with and berated for doing something I was trained to do... both by the same person, who incidentally is not a supervisor of any sort.  I have to go in at 6 am, which means I have to wake up in 3.5 hours... and I haven't been to bed yet.

I can't show the house to potential roommates because it's trashed.  Nobody will fucking help me clean/organize it, and I don't have the energy to do it all myself.  I spent forty-five minutes tonight on one small section of the kitchen.

I honestly don't even know what I am living for right now.  I just don't see the point in any of this.  Things get worse every day.

I got involved in a fairly bad car accident this morning around 230 am.  I was in the car with a co-worker, we were going to work (I swear) early for some disinfecting and such.  We were stopped at a red light that was taking forever to change and I was turned towards him gabbing about it being so early and I SO TIRED AND WAH when we were hit from behind at what I would assume being around 50 miles per hour. 

I was wearing a seat belt, he wasn't.  The car was pushed into the intersection and glass was basically everywhere.  Somewhere inbetween screaming and hearing glass crunch and metal twisting, someone witnessed this and called 911 because I didn't and neither did my co-worker and the person driving the car that hit us didn't speak English.

Paramedics arrived in record time along with the fire department and police.  Let me just say a big thanks to all the EMS personnel out there, damn you guys are good.  I was collared, put on a board and shipped off the local trauma center in a descent amount of time.  My partner was in far worse shape then I and for the most part all I needed was three stitches for a head lac that looked more dramatic than it really was and for a broken bone in my foot which I don't remember getting.

The paramedics were awesome and even grabbed my purse before they took off towards the hospital.  They called my mom and calmed her down enough so she could talk to me and basically made a hectic, crazy experience a little better.

The hospital experience was a little different, it's weird being on the other side.  They cut off my scrubs and my name tag which was on a lanyard.  My head wound I think made them nervous, since I was kinda freaking out because I couldn't see very good. 

By the time they cleared my spine and made sure I didn't have a head bleed for any other trauma which I knew I didn't have, my boss arrived and was frantically making calls trying to find two techs to replace us who were obviously unable to attend work today.  She was standing in my little area talking really loud, my mother arrived about the same time and was about ready to bitch slap her. 

It was quite the scene.

My co-worker didn't fair to well, he had a liver laceration, a broken nose, three cracked ribs and will be in the ICU until they figure his liver won't bleed out on them.  All in all we are pretty lucky.  His brand new Acura MDX is totalled, his sub-woofer or whatever that was in the trunk is now nestled quite nicely where they middle console was.  My cell phone somehow got lost in the wreckage and I still haven't gotten it back although I know the police have it.

All in all fifteen stitches were sewed into different areas of my body, I have a walking cast on my right foot and am a little worse for wear.  I hurt and I was sent home with one of those collars, but I took it off because they are just not comfortable, I have whiplash but who doesn't after a car accident.

I feel fairly lucky, beat up but lucky.  Perhaps I will post a picture, or perhaps I'll just leave it, I dunno yet still kinda shellshocked about the whole thing.