Gotta get started

I had class yesterday and Friday. It's time to start getting my paper ready and finished (hopefully) before next class weekend (July 10th-11th). Now, I'm ready for summer classes to be done but I must say that classes in the summer are nice because I don't have anything else to worry about really. The only thing is the motivation factor but it's not too hard if I'm not teaching/subbing now. :)


We leave for IN on early Friday morning and will get to Chicago, Midway airport around 1pm. Then it's driving all the way to Milford from there. My guess is we'll be getting to Milford around early dinner time or very late afternoon. It'll be fun! I can't wait! I have a couple recipes that I'd like to make while over there for dinner and possibly something for the 4th. :)

Why is it always the ugly ones?

I went with Kyle to his thesis meeting at BSU today since he just wanted the company. I did some computering in the lab while he had his meeting with the professor. When he came to get me, we were about to leave when he realized he forgot something. I was just wandering/loitering in the hall while he ran back to the prof's office and while I was waiting, I saw a strange sight. There was this rather homely looking woman walking down the hallway in a one-piece dress toward me. Without staring and gawking, I casually looked her up and down as her back was facing me. Well, I thought something was a bit masculine about her and I was thinking how unfortunate it was to be that masculine looking when it hit me....it was a man. Just to be sure though, he-she walked back by me and I looked at the arms and the calves and yes, they were very man-ish. Also, he-she was thinning in the hair at the back of the head. He-she hadn't quite mastered the "feminine" walk and so he-she was just loping along the hallway. Those poor ballerina flat shoes were so not made for man feet! They were so stretched out of shape and all strained looking. It was definitely an interesting sight and if I had been tacky enough, I would've taken a picture but I guess I'm not trashy enough. hahaha.

Anyway, so when Kyle and I were clearly out of the building and headed back to the car, I asked him if he had seen this person. He did not but he had heard of a professor that was currently transitioning from a man to a woman and he was gradually starting that process by taking hormones and whatnot. He had been told by one of his professors during a class about this guy so that there were no surprises and extra, unnecessary talking in the building. Kyle said he wished he would've seen this person and that he's sorry he missed out on this opportunity to catch a glimpse of this "transitioning" professor. But seriously, why do these very masculine-looking, blocky males feel as though they need to be turned into women? Why can't they just be gay? I don't understand this concept of suddenly changing your sex. I mean, I feel bad for them because I know it is a feeling that you get early in life (or maybe later in life, who knows) that you're different but I mean, what about going to the bathroom? Do you go into your "real" bathroom, i.e. would this professor be expected to go into the men's room? Or would "he" go into the women's room? What would be considered appropriate for someone like that? Especially since people know that he IS a man...I wouldn't feel really comfortable with a male coming into the women's room but at the same time, other men probably wouldn't feel right for a "woman" to come into the men's room? So, why don't they just be gay and stay their own sex? And then, these people who change what they are, if they're still interested in the opposite sex, how do they deal with that? This is something I'm going to have research about and find out how these people deal with certain predicaments. It's intriguing but I know it's probably a pretty painful process for all who are involved, not to mention the person to whom this identity crisis is happening...I guess though, it's better that we allow these people who feel tortured in the bodies that they're in find who they really are and who they really want to be because if we turn them away and ridicule them for what they feel, that too can cause pain and oftentimes, these people feel so horribly about themselves that they end their life. It's a sad situation but I'm willing to open my mind and accept these people for who they are (even though it's weird, strange and unfamiliar to me).

Book Club!

Last Monday I started this book club thing with a fellow classmate from my children's literature class. She works with the state department of education in the literacy department. I had told her that I was possibly looking for a small job in the summer to make some pocket money. She asked me to do this book club thing for pay since I was a certified teacher and what we do is go to a local library and read a chapter book to kids and do activities with this book. The book we're doing right now is Moonlight on the Magic Flute. It's a pretty cute book and it's a quick read for me so that I can get ahead at least 2 chapters from the kids. My predictions are that this book is going to introduce the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We've already met "Wolfie" in Austria. I don't know exactly what's gonna happen, I just know right now that the 2 children, Jack and Annie have to use the magic flute that they've been provided by Merlin and their mission from Merlin is to help a brilliant artist bring happiness to people all over. My guess is that they are going to make "Wolfie" famous. I'll let you know if my predictions turn out true. :)

5k done!

I'm done with the 5k! It was actually shorter than the normal 3.1 or so miles because somebody put a marker in the wrong place. So the race ended up being about 2 miles or so. I was feeling like the race was a little shorter than normal. I finished in 20 minutes and some change. I guess if the race was its normal length, it probably would've been about 30 minutes, since when I workout and train, I usually run 10-11 min/mile. I got done about 9am and the awards ceremony wasn't going to happen until about 11:30 and I didn't want to stick around for that long so I left with my friend, Karen and we went to McDonald's. I almost feel like I should go running again today to finish up my 5k. My body feels a little short-changed. Hahaha! I guess now it's time to start training for a half marathon! I want to be able to run the whole thing by October!

Another new 'do yet...

Yesterday at Fantastic Sam's (my normal hair salon) was having a killer sale! Haircut, blowdry, style and 7 foil highlight for $35!!! Best deal I've seen there! I decided to partake because normally just a highlight job is $30 alone! It was my first time getting professional highlights and I love them! Also love my new haircut. I'm wanting my hair in one of those A-line cuts where the front of my hair is a little longer and an angle in the front and the back is stacked (shorter and layered for texture). It feels good to have short hair again! I love this hair. I have to use a straightening iron though to make the front lay down right. That's the only thing but it doesn't take too long to do that.

Gradumacation

Yesterday I applied for graduation from my Master's degree! Had to pay $25 to graduate--isn't that funny? Anyway, I'm on schedule for graduating with my degree in December assuming all goes well and so far, everything has gone according to plan. I had a transfer credit from UGA so that I didn't have to take one class over again so that helped me get done a little faster! I'm so ready to be out of this program!

Ahhh...summertime

I've almost forgotten how much I love the laziness that summer brings. I love being at home now and relaxing. I've had 2 interviews for ELL tutor positions. One I didn't get, the other one I just interviewed today and the principal was extremely nice and seemed pleased that I was also trying to finish my ELL master's degree--she put some stars next to my name in regards to that. I told her to keep my name in mind in the future should they need another ELL teacher. They're in between teachers right now, meaning their teacher they had, is leaving for another job and so there's an opening at that school now and I'm interested in it...We'll see. I did interview for just the tutor position but maybe if I get this, it'll give them a chance to see what kind of person I am and want me in the future for a certified job.


I have my 5k run on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, Kyle won't be able to be there to cheer me on but my friend Karen will probably show up to cheer me on. I've been renewing my "love" for running and have been trying to get in my practice early this week. I need to probably not run after tomorrow so I can save up my leg muscles and endurance for the big day. I am wanting to do another half marathon later this year (the City of Trees one and also there's another one called Prison Break). They're both in the same month so we'll see if I can get my motivation up to running 2 half marathons in the same month!!! My body might just fall apart. :)


Well, I guess that's about it.

Another interview

I had an interview today for an ELL tutor position at an elementary school. I know, I know, it's still just a classified position and not a certified position but I gotta do what I gotta do in order to get my foot in the door (again) for a position that I actually am interested in (only it must be certified). Although, every time I put my foot in the door somebody slams the door. Maybe this will be more promising though. I know Kyle's kinda frustrated that this job is only paying $10.24/hour but I got get what I can get. I feel a little frustrated because I feel like I'm having to recreate myself to fit into this city and its school districts. It's like a career identity crisis for me. Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel but I know I can't and that would be a total waste of my talents and knowledge.

I'm also having a feeling of helplessness with my personal goals such as weight loss/management. Ugh. I know I complain about this a lot but hey, sometimes I just need to write it all out and sift through my thoughts. I usually feel a lot better afterwards (most of the time). I lost motivation for working out. I think the problem was that in the past, I was working out at such a high intensity that it wasn't sustainable over a long period of time. I'm starting to regain my workout motivation but now it's the food issue. I start out in the beginning of the week doing really well and watching what and how much I eat but lately, I don't know if it's job stress/career identity crisis, but I find myself slipping down that slope of comfort eating and I immediately go for the "bad" foods. All the stuff that I don't need to be eating and that includes either extra helpings or desserts. I don't know what to do but I do know that I can't gain weight because I've thrown out all of my "big" clothes. So, I either have to maintain the weight that I am or if I want to lose those last 10 pounds, I need to find a new way to get motivated. I think I'm gonna be okay because I'm starting to feel renewed now that school's out but I still need to learn how to deal with these feelings no matter what. Why does weight loss have to be so stressful? Isn't that the one thing that triggers the gain--stress? Or at least it does for me...It seems as if, even if I have only one indiscretion with food, the scale jumps up 5 pounds--where's the justice in that? :(

Home, sweet home...

We made it home last night late. We landed in Boise at about 11:40pm mountain time. The first leg from ATL to Denver was a bit miserable for me. Since Kyle and I had separate reservations due to booking a frequent flyer ticket for practically free, we didn't get seats together. They were one behind the other. We both were in the middle seats. On my row, I had a woman in the window seat and then I was sitting there in the middle. Nobody had come to sit in the aisle seat yet but I knew it was a full flight. All of the sudden, this guy who looked like he could have been 6 foot 5, 400 lbs sat down right next to me!!!!!! I was squished!!! He almost should have bought 2 seats due to the amount of discomfort he caused me. I couldn't even put my elbows on the armrests. Not to mention, he kept picking his nose and rolling it around on his fingers. GROSS! He was watching TV and kept having to poke his elbow into me because his controls were on the armrest on my right side. I was just hoping this was going to be a quick flight! Well, it was long, but I made it. The woman in the window seat wasn't so bad but she kept wrapping her jacket around herself and letting it spread all over the seat and other armrest so I was boxed in all around! AAAHHH!!! When Kyle started to lean his seat back, I said, "Oh no you don't!" hahaha...The Denver to Boise flight wasn't as bad because I had two relatively skinny people sitting on either side of me so there was more elbow room.

It's good to be back home though. Now back to normal.

Special night out

Kyle and I did something spur of the moment and special today. Last night we decided that we wanted to make this trip to GA a little more vacation-y by doing something really special. SO...we booked a hotel room in downtown Atlanta (Hilton Garden Inn) and stayed the night. What was so special about this was that we were able to get a room with a whirlpool INSIDE our room! We also paid about $10 extra for included breakfast and sparkling wine. We also had chocolate strawberries delivered to us in addition (we didn't know we got those too)! We've never stayed in a hotel room with a whirlpool jacuzzi in the room! So neat! It definitely felt like a vacation! We also went to eat at our all-time favorite pizza restaurant, Fellini's. Awesome pizza! We're only staying one night but it's a well-deserved break from real life. :) Kyle had a crazy idea too. We went exploring around the hotel to check out the pools (indoor and out) and it was raining. Well, Kyle decided he wanted us to get in our bathing suits and go to the outdoor jacuzzi and sit...in the rain...the pouring rain. It was kinda cool to be out where we could see a lot of the skyline but not so cool to have rain pouring down on our heads the whole time. It was a crazy experience and I guess I'm glad to have done it. :) haha!