Wednesday, November 7, 2007

CMA Awards- Taylor Swift

When I got home from work today, I flipped the tv on. It happened to be on the CMA awards. While I heated up my dinner, I kept it on, but didn't really watch it. When I sat down to eat, Taylor Swift was about to begin her performance. If you don't know who she is, she's this amazing 17 year old singer/songwriter. I've never seen her videos, but her music has an acoustic natural, homespun type sound. She just sounds real- not all synthesized like the rest of the teeny boppers her age.

So, much to my horror, I watched her perform Our Song while she looked like a Robert Palmer back up girl. (Black minidress, black gloves, doing the side to side hip groove thang.) She looked like a cross between Hannah Montana and a rocker Barbie. It just made me sad. Who told her to do that? Her music is outstanding, especially considering she wrote most of the songs at the ripe old age of fourteen or fifteen. So, why with such real lyrics and a natural sound, do you ruin it by drowning herself in sequins? Her voice sounded great, but she looked ridiculous. She would have been so much better off had she just worn a cute little shirt and jeans and stood at the microphone. It would have been much less manufactured and true to her music.

Maybe this was her idea of a dream performance, but my guess is the dang music industry trying to take a down-home girl and turn her into a country-western Britney Spears. Have they not seen enough of the results of that? The only performances Britney has right now are inside a court room.

spinning wheels...

Do you ever feel like a hamster on a wheel spinning your wheels yet going nowhere? That pretty much sums up my life right now. Two or three days a week I walk outside to find the sun has gone down and my car is the only one out there besides the janitors. And yet, I feel like I have absolutely nothing to show for it. My room is still a mess, my planning is still not done, there's a stack of paper a foot high of papers I need to grade. It's just so disheartening.

I get home and just can not bring myself to even look at my work. I cart it to and from work all too often without touching it. It's just hard.

Don't get me wrong- I have a great job. For the most part, the kids are great. They are sweet and eager to learn. They do have quite a bit more mood swings than I am used to, but overall, they are survivors. I love watching them show their attitude.

It's just a lot of change and adaptations when I really didn't ask for it.

Monday, September 10, 2007

update

Do you ever feel like you closed your eyes and three months flew by? This summer's been one of the hardest I've ever had. Here's a quick rundown of "How I Spent my Summer Vacation".

Late May/Early June- Move out of apartment with Beth, move into parents house
June- director of summer camp, threw huge anniversary party for the parents, run away to Louisiana for a few days
July- School, school, school! Month long intensive writing class for teachers. Oh, yeah, and I decided to move in to the new apartment in the middle of that.
August 1- Found out I lost my job
August 1-16- Frantically looking for job/Move out of old classroom
August 17- Hired!
August 18- Start work full time! Move into new classroom

It was a crazy summer full of trials, stress, and yes, some very good moments. It's now mid-September and I am just now feeling like I actually live in my apartment. This past week, I got satellite and internet! Yeah! I also had a maintenance guy come check out the washing machine that decided it didn't need to work upon moving into said new place. It's still not fixed yet, so I am just praising God that I am a clotheshorse! ;)

I'm coming along with the job transition. I really like where I work, but my heart was with St. Alban's. It's hard to just let go of that. The kids are great, though, and that definitely helps.

I had my first breakdown of the year, though. One of the kids was being a stinker and making me quite cranky. Finally, I got fed up and had him put his notebook on my desk for me to sign. (It's essentially a bad note home.) He was really upset, but did as he was told. The next period, he didn't have his homework in math class. When the teacher asked why, he told the teacher it was because he and his dad had slept in their truck. My heart broke. St. Alban's was not by any means a rich school, but I never worried about my kiddos not having a place to stay at night. At my new school, that's a totally different story. The majority are living paycheck to paycheck and not always making it.

It makes me once again realize how lucky I was these past two years. My salary at STA was small- I qualified for section 8 housing- but I always made it. I did heavily count on my savings, but I didn't get overrun with debt. Furthermore, I skipped a paycheck this month and survived! Now, granted, I now have to rebuild my savings, but still! I did it!

That's it for now.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

slipcover in!

I got my slipcover in and I love it! It's currently a wrinkled mess, but looks way nicer than the 25 dollars i spent, which is great. I'll iron it once i move into the new apartment and then put it on. I'm sure i'll take a picture or two of it, too.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Broken things...


So, I went to pick up my plates and when I opened the box, (still at the store) I discovered my precious plates were in about a 100 pieces! So, I got a full refund! Today, I was at Target and hit the jackpot. I found some plates that I like even more than the original set, but cheaper! :)

Tuesday, July 3, 2007








I bid on a slipcover on ebay today. I was originally thinking of black slipcovers, but I do like this one and it's cheap (if I win it). (The loveseat I am taking has t-cushions which apparently means more expensive and hard to find. So, a good price was a big deal!)












I also picked out my flatware. To me, it's more of a long time investment than the plates, so I will spend more (still giftcards, though!) and get a higher quality set. I got a service for eight instead of four. They're also half off at Kohl's today and tomorrow! :) You know I love a bargain!




Ooh! And my plates are ready to be picked up! They weren't supposed to be at the store (good ole ship to store means free shipping!) until the week of july 11th.
Hopefully I'm not boring y'all to death. This is just quite fun for me!
~h

Friday, June 29, 2007

plates- ooh the excitement!


I picked out my "dinnerware". I really hate that term. I wanted all white plates so that I could accessorize however I want. Plus, I just really like the way food looks with a white background. I guess I've watched too much Food Network! :) It's a fairly cheap set, but I'm okay with that- I will break them anyways! :)

The great thing is that I had wonderfully generous students and their parents that spoiled me rotten on teacher appreciation day with gift cards to set up my new house/apartment (at that time I was trying to buy a duplex). So, it means that I have tons of gift cards to Pier 1, Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc. to set up my new place. I would never be able to afford all this stuff otherwise, so I am quite excited.



Check out my new digs!




So, I signed the lease for my new apartment. It will be the first time I will live by myself. I am so excited about it but a little nervous, too. Overall, I think it will be great. I don't move in until July 20th, though, so I have a little while to prepare. That's nice because I got rid of so much stuff when I left LaTech that I am basically starting over. I have all of the furniture and appliances, I just need things like plates and forks! :)
Here's my floorplan. I ended up getting the largest floorplan for a 1B. I love the layout- it was the deciding factor.

This is all I have for you until I move in. I'll do some before and after pics so you can see.
Until then, my friends!
~h