045

GNO!

After sleeping in and enjoying a relaxing morning, Wargo and I made a trip to Robinson. We did a little bit of shopping, and then Elisa met up with us and we ate dinner at Johnny Carinos. We quickly drove over to the Waterfront to see "Confessions of a Shopaholic", and I am sad to say that the book/movie were written with me in mind. After the movie, we came back to my apartment to do fondue! We had chocolate fondue, with tons of dippers: rice krispies, angel food cake, brownies, pretzels, chips, and strawberries. Yum! And of course, there was wine! It was a great time as we chatted and ate...and we ended the night in a food coma!

043 and 044

Again, I have to double-up. Sorry I'm such a slacker!

043

Another busy day. I made my students mad by giving them a lot of work to do in class, but they will get over it. They are honors students, and need to get used to a lot of work.

044

It's FRIDAY!! Woohoo! During school, I literally counted down until I was able to go home and sleep. When I got home, I took an hour nap until Ryan got home from work to say goodbye to him, as he was leaving for a "guys" weekend in ohio (i use the term loosely). Then, I met with Katie Wargo, Ryan, Elisa, and Dave at Texas Roadhouse in Irwin. It was a hike, but it was fun! I had the worst seat, though. Then, I met up with Kayla, Brooke, and Amanda who were visiting Ashley for the weekend. We hung out at her apartment, drank wine and chatted. It was fun, and it was nice to catch up.

042

OK, so this is going to be quick because I am super busy. The day goes by so quickly with these new classes that I barely have time to breathe! My students enjoyed the personal memoirs that I did for them, and hopefully the rest of the week will go by quickly.

On my way to night class every day, I get stuck in awful traffic. Apparently, they are fixing this bridge, but whenever I drive by, no one is working! They took away my turning lane for nothing, and it cuts down on my resting time when I get to campus. Blah.

041

What a busy day. I started the two honors classes today, and wow was I overwhelmed. I barely had a chance to breathe! My first period class was funny because I got a ton of phone calls from the front office while I was teaching, asking me to cover for other teachers that are out. But HA! I took on extra classes this week, so I can't! Woohoo!

I went home and vegged afterwards. I really enjoy not having night classes on Tuesday..i'm not quite sure how I am going to feel when it starts back up again! For dinner, Wargs, Ryan, Dennis and I went for wings (mmmhmm). Although it was super fattening, I tried not to eat too many. Then it was off to sleepy city when I got home!

039 and 040

OK OK I know I am cheating, but I have been SOO busy these past few days that I have to combine some of my posts as I sometimes forget to take pictures.

039
I spent most of the day on the couch, watching TV and doing absolutely nothing. It was pretty nice, actually. Tomorrow I have off for Presidents Day, too, so it will be a nice break.

040
Today, I babysat little Luca before I went to night class. Nothing super exciting, except for I have a really busy week coming up. I am taking over two extra classes this week (the Honors classes!) so that I will have some extra experience in all different tracks of students. Wish me luck!

P.S. sorry for no photos...i promise I will try harder!

038

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had to get up at 8am to go to a workshop for Pitt, but I did get to learn a lot about how to interview and what I should expect and prepare for. We finished up a little before noon, and I was on my way to meet Wargo for our favorite lunch spot...unlimited soup and salad at Chilis!

We stopped by Target afterwards for some V-day supplies....and she ended up buying the same card I bought my Ryan! Too funny. Then, on my way home, I stopped at Borics for a haircut and eyebrow wax.

After a little nap, I gave Ryan his card and gift certificate to GameStop (since I can never pick out the right games, I figure I would just get him money to do it himself). We got ready for our big dinner...Girasoles! It was delicious!

We took a little pit stop home ;) before we headed to Ryan Fair's house for some game night with Wargo, Ryan, Elisa and Dave. It was fun, and relaxing. Overall, a pretty good V-Day...although the longer Ryan and I stay together, the less exciting it can be :(

037

What a busy day! I woke up at 7am to babysit little Luca until 2pm. Afterwards, I met up with Wargo to do a little bit of shopping, although neither of us bought anything! Go figure! Then, I went home and took a quick nap to be awoken by Ryan banging around in the kitchen to try and put the dozen red carnations in a vase. They are very pretty!

Tonight was Girl's Night Out (GNO)! I love nights like tonight. We ate at Uno's, and then we saw "He's Just Not That Into You" and it was really cute. Afterwards, the four of us got some lattes and deserts at Eat N' Park before heading home. It was a really good time, and I wish we could do them more often. I love having 3 really good friends in Pittsburgh, and although most of my college girlfriends have left me, I hope that the four of us can become really close like Sex and the City. LOL!

036

My last day of the school week was pretty hectic. We had a bomb threat in the middle of the day, so we had to evacuate to the middle school until the police bomb squad determined that the building was safe. Afterwards, the kids were bouncing all over the place, and it was hard to just get everyone settled down. But, thankfully, we have off tomorrow and monday, so I get a nice long weekend to rest and recover.

At night class tonight, we did some pretty silly drama activities. The picture is of some of my peers acting out one of the skits they had to do. Although I hate all of my classes at this point, this class can be pretty funny.

Tonight I look forward to some rest, although I have to babysit in the AM.

035

Day two of the PSSA writing schedule commenced, so I got a nice 2-hour break in the middle of the school day to get a whole bunch of stuff done for next week. I will be taking over the 2 honors courses for the unit on Non-fiction, so I used that big chunk of time to get prepared for those two weeks and to get some stuff done for grad school. Although my 9th period misbehaved again today, it was a pretty productive day.

When I left the school building, I was ecstatic to see that it was beautiful outside! I quickly ran home to get changed into some comfy clothes and then went to campus for class. It was so nice out, I decided to stop by the old Copy Cat to say hi to Theresa and Ricky. We spent a little while catching up, and then I went to night class until 7.

Dinner, tv, and relaxing took up the remainder of my evening, and although I have a mini-paper due tomorrow, I think I am just going to hit the hay instead :)

034

Phew! What a smooth day! The school day was a little unusual because the 11th graders were taking their PSSA Writing Tests, so there was a big 2-hour homeroom session in the middle of the day and all classes were shortened, but the break was kind of nice. We have the same schedule tomorrow, so I hope to get a lot of work done tomorrow...which is good, because I have a paper due for tomorrow's night class that I barely started!

After school, I stopped at the Waterfront for some items. Primarily, I wanted to buy a coffee maker. For the past 5 months I've been stopping at the local gas station and spending $1.38 on coffee on my way to work. Finally, I decided it would be better if I just got my own coffee maker. So, at Target, I got all of the necessary supplies, plus the few odds and ends that you think of while in the store.

I've spent the rest of the evening procrastinating on my paper and making a meatloaf dinner for Ryan and Dennis. Dennis came over to fix our internet, so I wanted to treat him to a yummy meal and his favorite desert...sugar cookies!

Now, I am hoping to finish up my paper (but I'll probably just get ready for bed instead) and slowly wind down for the evening. I will also be waiting for any news from Warg's Bushia, in hopes that everything is alright! ]

033

Yes, I started numbering my blog posts. I just can't think of anymore creative titles, so I'm stealing Wargs approach and just numbering them. Deal with it...

Today went pretty well at school. My students were all well behaved, and I started planning my work with the honors level classes next week. Talk about a full schedule, but it will look good on my resume to say that I taught all these different level of students.

Night class went by slowly, but it was nice to get out at 7. After Ryan ate his fish-sticks and noodles dinner, we cuddled on the couch and watched "Smart People," a movie filmed in Pittsburgh (oakland specifically) with Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Ellen Paige. It was realllly slow...so it was hard to get into. After a few valentine's day M&Ms, I am ready to hit the hay.

i'm running out of creative titles

Following our newly established weekly tradition, Ryan and I had brunch at our favorite local diner, Elena's Country Market. I had wonderful eggs, pancakes, toast and sausage (i couldn't even finish it!) and Ryan had a tasty "blank" angus burger (according to the typo on the menu). On our walk home, we saw that there was an open house, and we decided to stop in and check it out. The house was BEA-UTIFUL. It has three bedrooms plus a loft, a nice kitchen, dining room, living room, sun room, porch, etc. It was just the perfect starter house...but over our price range by about $40,000 (if we were still looking for a house).

Afterwards, we lounged in the house and watch Step-Brothers. It was funny, but not nearly as funny as I thought it would be. Then, I took a little nap while Ryan played Xbox, and now we are watching the Pro Bowl and hanging out on the couch. Tomorrow's Monday :( but thankfully I only have a 4-day week :)

Busy Saturdays

After a restless night (due to the new medicine), we woke up about 10am and ready to start the day. We tried to get Ryan's car washed by our house, but again it was packed, so we stopped at wendy's for lunch and headed to the grocery store. An hour and $150 later, we went back home to unpack our large purchase.

We had a little date afternoon, with movies and dinner. We were SUPPOSED to do a doubleheader with dinner at TGI Fridays, but our plans got a little screwed up. We saw "Taken", which was an awesome movie, but our second movie option was not so great. The only one was "Underworld," which Ryan wanted to see and I didn't, so I had him sneak into the movie while I walked around the waterfront for a little bit. I stopped at a few stores, bought two really cute shirts and a necklace on sale at the Gap, browsed Bath and Body Works for some lotion and lip gloss, stopped at Ulta to look at some beauty supplies, and then finally ended up at Barnes and Nobles for some starbucks and a magazine.

When Ryan's movie was finally over, we stopped at Fridays to see that it was packed. We decided to stop at Arbys instead, and joked that our old valentine's day tradition had played out the week before the big heart day.

After dinner, we finally got Ryan's car washed, and then got ready to head over to Dennis and Kris's. Maryann, Justin, Keith, and Kris's sister Staci were all in town, so it was a nice little get together. There was beer pong, movies, catch-phrase, and Rock Band, and we ended up staying until 3:3o am when we were told to quiet down and everyone was getting ready for bed. It was a pretty fun night, though, and I was happy to have a relaxing time.

Warm weather and car washes

The weather has finally started to improve around here, and so everyone's spirits were high. I got observed at school today, and my lesson went awesome. My supervisor was totally impressed, and she said it was an "excellent lesson." It was so nice to hear that she thinks I will be a great teacher, and it was just the little boost I could use to my bad mood lately.

After work, I tried to stop at some local car wash, but it was PACKED, so I decided to wait. Then, I went to my doctor's appointment. She took some blood to test for thyroid problems, and put me on some medicine to help with all of my stress and anxiety. Yup, I've become one of the millions that uses meds to get through hard times, but at this point I'm willing to do anything to get me out of this eternally awful mood I've been in. My doctor at Pitt's student health is so wonderful, and I trust her with everything...I wish she had a private practice so that when I finally graduate, I could still see her for all of my medical needs...

Once I was done at my doctor's appointment, I stopped at Target before babysitting. I picked up a new curling iron and some binders for school. I finally found a carwash that wasn't packed, so I stopped and gave my car a little bath :)

Babysitting Luca was fun...he is so hyper, but cute, and I am always so lucky to have great families to babysit for. I wish they would just adopt me so I could live in their huge house. If only...

Six-Word Memoirs

The theme for my 9th grade class today was memoirs, and I should my students this video on Six-Word memoirs. I don't have a picture to show, but I encourage everyone to check out this video. My students loved it, and at the end of class I had them write their own 6-word memoir so that I could create a PowerPoint that looked similar to this video. It went really well, and I was excited that my students took it seriously.

I got my free gift at aerie today...it was pretty smelling lotion, but then I also stopped at the American Eagle next to it and bought some pretty necklaces. They were on sale, and stuff I could wear to work, so I was happy. But then I learned that my family is not coming down this weekend (news to me) and so I was pretty pissed. People who change last minute suck, especially when they are your family and don't tell you ahead of time.

Class was ok...we got out early, which was wonderful, so I got to come home and veg. Tomorrow is Friday, thank god, is friday, and I plan on having a relaxing weekend at home.

The Life of a Grad Student...

Today was a rough day. I was in a bad mood, the weather sucked, my students misbehaved, and night class went by slowly. There wasn't anything that really went spectacular, so this post is going to be super short. Behold the mac n cheese...my dinner after a day like today.

Resume Workshop

School went by somewhat smoothly, as some of my first period students were silently due to the phone calls home yesterday. But my 9th period class was awful, and their behavioral probelms seem to be an issue again. I just can't win.

After school, I stopped at Target for a some small things, and then met with my professor to look over my resume and talk about the upcoming months. I really cannot wait until this stupid program is over and I can get my life back.

Wargs and I met after my meeting, and we had a bite to eat at Hemingways and enjoyed a little bit of girl time. Then, we snuck around to Dave and Andys and got some delicious birthday cake ice cream. I got the baby-sized cone so as not to totally bust my diet!

Does Anyone Believe in Groundhog's Day?

So I woke up exhausted, and my morning went horribly. My students were awful, and now I have to give a discipline assignment to my lasy students who can't handle their regular homework. Just a bad morning overall, but to top it off, good ole' Phil saw his shadow, so 6 more weeks of trecherous weather. But does anyone even believe that he is accurate, anyways?

Night class went ok, but I was just so tired, I could barely function. The worst part is my house is a mess (note my cluttered desk) and my family is supposed to be coming down this weekend. Oh well, I still need some "me" time.

I still can't shake this feeling that I was supposed to be doing something more interesting with my life...living somewhere new and exciting and living wildly and with passion. How can I be 22 going on 42?

...Now for some TV time on the couch with ryan.

Superbowl Champions x 6!

Superbowl Parrrrrtay! So, after I got home from Erie, Ryan and I had a nice brunch at the local diner (its FABULOUS) and then went grocery shopping. When we got home, I began to prepare for the big event....SUPERBOWL XLIII. I made Diet Soda cupcakes (a repeat from Friday), but hey, I'm on a diet!

We went to Dennis and Kris's apartment, and Dennis had just bought a big screen tv in celebration of his new job at Westinghouse. So Ryan, Kris, Dennis, Dave, Dave, Craig, Sarah (from grad school), and I squeezed onto various couches and chairs and ate pizza, wings, dip, and cupcakes while watching the big game. It was a blast! The rest is not important though, because we all know that STEELERS ARE THE SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS!

After the game, Sarah offered to give me a ride home, but we ended up making a pit stop in oakland to catch all of the action that we were a part of 3 years ago! There was some crazy rioting, destruction, and lots of policemen. But, because I am old and I couldn't stand to see all of my tuition money being destroyed, we went home.

Go Steelers!