Have you ever had a situation that you don't know the best way to handle? Do you ever get confused about what is a reasonable and rational response? Do you ever wonder where the line between precautions/safety and being a scardy cat is? Have you ever wondered whether you're being brave or just stupid?
I am wondering all these things this week. I predict I'll regain my composure by next Saturday.
Monday, April 30
Thursday, April 26
The Grammar Fairy
I gave my little blog a face-lift. I hope you like it.
In the course of doing so, I skimmed a few of my old posts and was dismayed to see the wild amount of grammatical errors. Every time before I post I ask myself whether I should sit on it a day in order revise it - I am a hug proponent of revision in my classroom, you know - but I always throw caution to the wind and post anyway assuming that I have a strong enough grasp of the English language. Clearly I am wrong.
This is my official apology for making all of you suffer through my mistakes and laziness, both past and future. I won't mention it again.
I am tempted to sit on this posting a day. I mean, how embarrassing would it be to post about grammar and have multiple grammar mistakes? Not quite embarrassing enough to withstand the instant gratification that comes with immediately seeing my posting. I am sure there is at least one, if not ten. Watch me as I throw caution to the wind.
In the course of doing so, I skimmed a few of my old posts and was dismayed to see the wild amount of grammatical errors. Every time before I post I ask myself whether I should sit on it a day in order revise it - I am a hug proponent of revision in my classroom, you know - but I always throw caution to the wind and post anyway assuming that I have a strong enough grasp of the English language. Clearly I am wrong.
This is my official apology for making all of you suffer through my mistakes and laziness, both past and future. I won't mention it again.
I am tempted to sit on this posting a day. I mean, how embarrassing would it be to post about grammar and have multiple grammar mistakes? Not quite embarrassing enough to withstand the instant gratification that comes with immediately seeing my posting. I am sure there is at least one, if not ten. Watch me as I throw caution to the wind.
Wednesday, April 25
In which I take one for the team
Sunday afternoon. 3pm.
G: If I were able to get the day off work tomorrow, do you want to fly up to Fairbanks and drive the motorhome back to Anchorage?
[Greg borrowed his aunt and uncle's motorhome this winter and lived in it while he was forced to Fairbanks]
M: Fly up there tonight?
G: Yeah. We really need to get it down here.
Me: I have class tomorrow night at 6.
G: We'll be back by then.
M: Promise?
G: Promise.
M: Ok, but I am not organizing it. You have to plan everything. And make sure the plane doesn't cost too much.
G: Cool. We'll use my miles.
Two hours later we get on the plane. An hour after that our friend picks us up. It is 7pm, the sun is shining, and I remember why I adore Fairbanks in the summer. I wanted to drink some beer. We do. Two hours after we arrived our friend drove us to the motorhome, jumped started it and went home.
We cleaned the motorhome out, dropped off the winterizing stuff at the transfer station, washed the windows and were driving around to charge the battery.
G: Do you want to leave right now for Healy?
M: Alright. It's 10 at night. We won't get there until at least midnight.
G: That's okay. We're gonna sleep in the motorhome anyway, why don't we just get two hours out of the way tonight.
M: Why Healy?
G: It's the last place we can eat breakfast until just outside of Anchorage.
M: We can go to the store and get stuff to make. We're in a motorhome, you know.
G: That's true. Let's go.
M: okay.
We arrive in Healy at 12:30 and park in the Railroad yard. We had a nice drive and chatted. We are at our best when we are on an adventure. Especially an unplanned adventure. We brush our teeth and crawl into bed.
M: Oh no! We don't have a fan or heater or anything to make white noise.
[Greg breathes really loud when he sleeps and, for a normal person, it is no big deal. For a wierdo like me who cannot sleep if one small thing is wrong, it is a travesty. White noise is the only thing that drowns him out.
G: There are some earplugs up front.
M: But I had that horrific cold last week and earplugs will bring my earache back.
G: Well, don't bug me. I have to drive in the morning.
Long story short: the earplugs made my ears hurt. I can't sleep. I can't sleep. I am still not sleeping. I find another blanket and move to the other bed on the opposite side of the trailer. I am still not sleeping. I can still hear Greg breathe. It is getting chilly. It is cold. It is fucking cold and I am shivering. The sun comes up. I crawl back into bed with Greg. I am still not sleeping.
G: Did you sleep at all?
M: No. What time is it?
G: [looking at cell phone] 5am. You didn't tell me to be quiet once. You didn't even kick me.
M: I know. You said not to bother you because you had to drive.
G: You're not even cranky.
M: I got over being cranky a few hours ago.
G:Way to take one for the team.
M: Thanks.
We get ready and go to have breakfast at the only place in town. I wouldn't call it a town, more like two hotels, a few houses, and a coal mine. At any rate it was closed for another hour. We decided to press on.
Four hours later we roll into Anchorage exhausted and hungry. We clean out the motorhome and find a place to get it professionally cleaned for a reasonable rate, which takes most of the day. Greg takes a nap. I go to work. I get home at 10 and we watch the DVR of Dancing with the Stars. I got a good thing going.
G: If I were able to get the day off work tomorrow, do you want to fly up to Fairbanks and drive the motorhome back to Anchorage?
[Greg borrowed his aunt and uncle's motorhome this winter and lived in it while he was forced to Fairbanks]
M: Fly up there tonight?
G: Yeah. We really need to get it down here.
Me: I have class tomorrow night at 6.
G: We'll be back by then.
M: Promise?
G: Promise.
M: Ok, but I am not organizing it. You have to plan everything. And make sure the plane doesn't cost too much.
G: Cool. We'll use my miles.
Two hours later we get on the plane. An hour after that our friend picks us up. It is 7pm, the sun is shining, and I remember why I adore Fairbanks in the summer. I wanted to drink some beer. We do. Two hours after we arrived our friend drove us to the motorhome, jumped started it and went home.
We cleaned the motorhome out, dropped off the winterizing stuff at the transfer station, washed the windows and were driving around to charge the battery.
G: Do you want to leave right now for Healy?
M: Alright. It's 10 at night. We won't get there until at least midnight.
G: That's okay. We're gonna sleep in the motorhome anyway, why don't we just get two hours out of the way tonight.
M: Why Healy?
G: It's the last place we can eat breakfast until just outside of Anchorage.
M: We can go to the store and get stuff to make. We're in a motorhome, you know.
G: That's true. Let's go.
M: okay.
We arrive in Healy at 12:30 and park in the Railroad yard. We had a nice drive and chatted. We are at our best when we are on an adventure. Especially an unplanned adventure. We brush our teeth and crawl into bed.
M: Oh no! We don't have a fan or heater or anything to make white noise.
[Greg breathes really loud when he sleeps and, for a normal person, it is no big deal. For a wierdo like me who cannot sleep if one small thing is wrong, it is a travesty. White noise is the only thing that drowns him out.
G: There are some earplugs up front.
M: But I had that horrific cold last week and earplugs will bring my earache back.
G: Well, don't bug me. I have to drive in the morning.
Long story short: the earplugs made my ears hurt. I can't sleep. I can't sleep. I am still not sleeping. I find another blanket and move to the other bed on the opposite side of the trailer. I am still not sleeping. I can still hear Greg breathe. It is getting chilly. It is cold. It is fucking cold and I am shivering. The sun comes up. I crawl back into bed with Greg. I am still not sleeping.
G: Did you sleep at all?
M: No. What time is it?
G: [looking at cell phone] 5am. You didn't tell me to be quiet once. You didn't even kick me.
M: I know. You said not to bother you because you had to drive.
G: You're not even cranky.
M: I got over being cranky a few hours ago.
G:Way to take one for the team.
M: Thanks.
We get ready and go to have breakfast at the only place in town. I wouldn't call it a town, more like two hotels, a few houses, and a coal mine. At any rate it was closed for another hour. We decided to press on.
Four hours later we roll into Anchorage exhausted and hungry. We clean out the motorhome and find a place to get it professionally cleaned for a reasonable rate, which takes most of the day. Greg takes a nap. I go to work. I get home at 10 and we watch the DVR of Dancing with the Stars. I got a good thing going.
Thursday, April 12
Three Simple Observations
Online tetris is addicting.
Online tetris has the ability to control one's life.
I am getting good at online tetris and recently reached level 15.
Online tetris has the ability to control one's life.
I am getting good at online tetris and recently reached level 15.
Wednesday, April 11
Anatomy of a Tuesday night
We are almost halfway through the new season of Dancing with the Stars and things are progressing fine. As always, I am disappointed in who has been eliminated and who is still in it because the audience votes don't necessarily correlate to who I think should be eliminated from the show. I do not vote, however, so I cannot complain (too much).
The show is on Monday nights and I watch it on DVR when I get home from teaching at 10pm. The last two weeks Greg has been able to watch it with me - although he went to work at 1am this week, so I stayed up past my bedtime and went to bed alone. Last night and the Tuesday before he was in Seward (remember a few posts ago when I said that he works 60-70 hours a week? A lot of his off-work time is spent in a town several hours away). Because he could not watch the television I was under strict instructions to call every time it was announced that someone would continue on to the next round or that they were in the bottom two. This means that I called him roughly four times in a half an hour period. We would quickly analyze the situation and the previous night's dances during the commercial, then hang up when the program resumed so I wouldn't miss a second. We both get giddy and some of you may be embarrassed for us. That's okay. We love it.
The show is on Monday nights and I watch it on DVR when I get home from teaching at 10pm. The last two weeks Greg has been able to watch it with me - although he went to work at 1am this week, so I stayed up past my bedtime and went to bed alone. Last night and the Tuesday before he was in Seward (remember a few posts ago when I said that he works 60-70 hours a week? A lot of his off-work time is spent in a town several hours away). Because he could not watch the television I was under strict instructions to call every time it was announced that someone would continue on to the next round or that they were in the bottom two. This means that I called him roughly four times in a half an hour period. We would quickly analyze the situation and the previous night's dances during the commercial, then hang up when the program resumed so I wouldn't miss a second. We both get giddy and some of you may be embarrassed for us. That's okay. We love it.
Tuesday, April 10
Friday, April 6
Overheard from my office
Man #1 (with a thick English accent): My sport is over. We lost to Sri Lanka in cricket.
Man #2 (with a thick American accent): Sri Lanka, huh?
Man #1: Yeah, I know. The next thing you know we'll be losing to Ireland or Scotland.
Man #2 (with a thick American accent): Sri Lanka, huh?
Man #1: Yeah, I know. The next thing you know we'll be losing to Ireland or Scotland.
Thursday, April 5
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