The baby name game

NO, we are NOT planning having kids NOW. Just wanted to clear that up.

However, this is always a fun topic. Especially when you're a teacher.

Names I really really like:
Audrey [my grandma's name]
Aubrey
Ava

The name Andrew is dead set on:
Drew Iverson [yes, I am cringing]

I think this is cute:
Emma Emerick

I have a cute kid at school with this cool name:
Vaughan
Quinn

Names I can't stand as a result of teaching kids with these names:
Arianna
Seyvon [don't like this name anyways!]

I have WAY too many students with these names:
Tyler [today I had a class with three boys named Tyler. nuff said]
Kirsten, Kiersten, Kirstin, Kristen, however you spell it or say it, I am sick of it

First names I have encountered that are RIDICULOUS:
[to be fair, some of these are maybe not ridiculous, just hard to say, and come from other places in the world that I am not familar with. But some are just plain stupid]

KBN [not kidding]
Ibn
Zahmir
Meadow
Emerin
Serenity [she is so NOT serene]
Mehul
Anuya
Rehan
Torsten [STUPID!]
Tristen [makes me think of triscuits]
Keirstyn - what a ridiculous spelling
Declan
Ciasaire [pronounced KA-sear - and it only took me a year and a few weeks to get that memorized]
Rashmika
Enyce [pronounced a-NEE-say??????????]
Ysenia
Hasan
Yanira
Ciaran
Journei [groan]

i got my new camera today! it only took 2 days. amazing. i am DYING to go out and shoot but i don't have the memory card yet. it better come soon! fortunately the camera came with a 32 MB card so i can take about 15 pics. [i suppose i could knock down the mp from 8 to 4 or something and get more shots but i haven't figured that out yet.]

anywho i am REALLY REALLY excited, the few random shots i took around the house already look pretty awesome. ;)

the things i am SO excited to use:

12x optical zoom
super-macro mode
fireworks setting
SNOW setting!
the super-cool flip out screen [already has come in handy]
face detection
loads of manual settings [since i can't afford a DSLR this rocks]

also, i can't wait till i go home and watch the sunset on the beach! and get some awesome shots. hopefully the sun will cooperate. ha.

btw, for those who care [crystal and alex!] i decided on a Canon PowerShot S5 IS. after HOURS [days?] of research!

babysitting

Today was/is a good day.

I started off by working in the nursery - I always end up with a little baby [or at the oldest, today, a sweet little girl who was around one year old, I think] who I pick up 'cause they are crying, then I sit and rock them to sleep. I hope this is an indicator of when I have a kid! One of the moms told me I must have a 'calming presence' to always end up with a sleeper. I thought that was really nice.

Then after church I was thrilled to discover that my reimbursement for my glasses already came through...which means...NEW CAMERA! So I spent some time researching them, until:

My phone rang, and a friend from church called to see about a last-minute hangout. So we spent a couple of hours at Barnes & Noble, where I scored the signature edition of Charlotte's Web, and saved over $20 on it!

The steelers won again, and even though it wasn't on tv, next week it will be and we will party!

Since B&N I have been researching cameras again [think I am finally done, at least for today] while my hubby watches [and I half watch] football.

I think it's time to [finally] put away the computer, and curl up with my kitty and a book, and relax until Monday.

I heard the saddest statement today.

"If I gave the amount of time and effort to my marriage that I give to this job, things would be a LOT different."

~said by a teacher at my school

.
.
.

All I could think was 'wow, I am glad that's not me' and 'I will never become that way.'

hooray for today

1. I love my new glasses.

2. My new principal rocks.

3. I have more people on my book fair committee than any other year [thanks to #2 above].

4. The weather is absolutely lovely - it finally feels like autumn!

5. Tomorrow is a day off that I really need and plan on thoroughly enjoying.

My new obsession

Well folks, I have found my calling.
Glassblowing.
Yes, you heard that right. Glassblowing. I saw the most incredible exhibit of it last weekend and I am still feeling blown away. The artists' name is Dale Chihuly, and he is a genius. I can't believe it took me this long to post about it. Where was my head? [I know where: at school.] Anyways, I took about a million photos, some of which I will now share.
Actually, maybe my calling is just to travel all around the world to see the rest of Chihuly's exhibits. That sounds about right.
The cool thing is, I actually know 2 people who 'do' glassblowing. So there is a chance I might be able to convince one of them to teach me sometime...sweet.
Also, there are a couple of these that don't have the glass in them, but they are some of my favorite photos from the weekend.

I survived my 1st day of teaching.

My first day of school
Originally uploaded by t23e.

If you click on the pic, you can read more. ;)

[too excited to think of a good title!]

I am bursting with excitement. I have an amazing weekend planned, when I get to see many [so many] people that I don't see very often.

For the first 24 hours it's just me and my twin, who I haven't seen for almost 2 months, which is way too long.

My camp Bible study partner is coming to stay with us Saturday night. And I just love her.

And Sunday is the big camp reunion, precious, wonderful people that I usually only see once a year. This year I am lucky to see them again!

'I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it...'

On another note, and another reason to be excited, is this: tomorrow at school we have open house, where parents/students can casually come and visit the school, their teachers, etc. I find I am really looking forward to seeing some families that I have not seen since June, and also I'm excited to meet new families.

I need to get to bed!

I have football fever.

Right now I could be at the Steelers [preseason] game. I decided against going.
And we had free tickets.
.
.
.
WHAT THE HECK WAS I THINKING???!!!???

I went to a rap show?

I promised a friend I would blog about this. And so I shall.

Sunday night was the Modest Mouse concert. It was an outdoors, all-weather show, so of course it was cold and rainy. However, I was too excited to care. I met my friends outside of the city for dinner and then we all rode downtown together. We got there just in time, and secured our places in the mob, about 4 rows back on the right side of the stage. It was a pretty sweet place to stand.

And stand we did.

There was a random opening band at 7, didn't catch their name, and I wouldn't give them a good review anyways.

Then Band of Horses played, and they were really good. I'll probably end up purchasing some of their music.

And then. Brace yourselves. Clipse played a set. [I use the term 'play' loosely.] I hate to even disgrace my blog by linking to their site...but you need to go there to fully understand.
As I stood there with my mouth agape, wondering why there is an effing RAP GROUP opening for my beloved Modest Mouse, I decided I was in my own personal nightmare. I don't know who was in charge of the booking for this event, but I would love to know what they were smoking when they came up with this idea.
The scariest part was:
a. when their 'dj' played the bass so loud that I literally could not breathe. For an entire song. I had to time my breathing for moments when the bass died out and quickly take a breath then. This was a new and terrifying experience for me.

or maybe:
b. when I tried to be sneaky about my ear-plugging, and I was afraid one of the guys on stage would point me out since I obviously hated them, and their *cough* 'music' and life in general.

Anyways. After rattling my bones with their noise for too many minutes, they left the stage, to much cheering [mostly by me] and I was able to laugh about it...although I couldn't really hear myself laughing...so I at least think I was laughing. I'll have to ask my genius of a friend who was next to me and must have been forewarned to bring EAR PLUGS.

Note to self: always, always, always, bring earplugs to concerts from now on. Just in case.

Moving on.

Three openers 2 1/2 hours of standing in the rain aside, it was finally time for MM. And the shoving.

A group of people had worked their way through the crowd and came to 'rest' right behind me. Literally right behind me. You could not have shoved a piece of paper between me and my new buddies. I really don't prefer my ass to be grabbed that much unless it is by my husband. I looked at the girl next to me and we bonded over this uncomfortable and unfortunate experience, and we decided to stand our ground. So we did. We ignored them for quite some time, then turned around and yelled a couple times. I think they backed off for a song or two [because MM had finally taken the stage!].

I began truly enjoying myself for the first time in 3 hours.

Suddenly, I got shoved, hard. I fell onto the people in front of me and tried to stand up, and got pushed again. And again. And I started pushing back, and who knows what song was being performed, all I knew was hands and legs and feet and yelling. Then someone grabbed my arm, really hard, and I started yelling at them, and my friend Jess yelled that it was her, and she pulled me out of there.

[Now, I have been to a LOT of concerts. And many of those involved a similar venue, and I know there have been high/drunk people at other shows. But I have never been treated so rudely. I know these people were high, I could smell/see the pot and the beer bottles were everywhere. But come on. These people were OLD. I mean at least as old as me! And I'd think by then you would have moved on in your life? Apparently not.]

So anyways. Jess pulled me out of there and now I am pretty much standing as close to her and her husband as possible, but at least I am not getting shoved.

I am fuming, and the assholes who pushed me are right next to me, and I just want to kill them all. But I managed to close my eyes, forget about them, and focus on the [amazing] music.

Then MM had to go and play 'Doin' the Cockroach.'
Yes, I love this song.
No, I did not love the insane amount of ruckus it caused [wow, I sound old] and the fact that another, larger shoving match broke out, and I got moved further away from MM and their awesomeness.

Ok. So again, I managed to ignore my fury, and enjoy myself. Until finally Jess was getting beat up again and we got out of there and stood behind the whole crowd.

We should have just done that in the beginning, but Jess and Joe are die-hard concert-goers and they wanted to stand up there, so we did.
I will let them go on their own next time.

Bottom line[s]:
Was Modest Mouse good? No, they were amazing.
Did I want to kill myself during Clipse? Yes.
Did the rudeness ruin my night? Hmm...I would say no, but almost.
Do I need to see MM again to redeem my concert life? Yes please, and soon.

For a more lighthearted review of MM live, see this blog!

bdgt

I've decided to eliminate the vowels and create a new word so as to make this word a 'four letter word.'

This four letter word makes me want to quit my job before the school year has even begun.
This four letter word is the cause of more discussion, stress and tears than anything else related to my job.
This four letter word is one of the most frustrating things I have dealt with in my entire life. No lie.

This four letter word had better become a 6 letter word again, and soon, or I just might lose my mind.

I turn 28 in 85 days. Time to drag myself back up on the proverbial horse.

Perhaps it is a good thing that I go back to school soon...in the past week I have almost put soap on my toothbrush twice, and this morning when I was in the shower I noticed that I had left my wedding rings on...and right before I turned off the water I realized that my glasses were still on.

I just made 2 amazing purchases on bn.com and I am way too excited about it.

I <3 gardens.

my extremely random yet oddly specific thoughts.

• 
  
• We bought a laser pointer [remember those?] in the 'cat toy' department at Target over the weekend. I never knew my husband would be so entertained by it. He is enjoying it more than the cats!
• 
  
• I remember being in 9th grade...watching 'channel one' at school [a news thing] and there was a commercial with a little girl who was talking about 'the information superhighway.' It sounded crazy, unreal, even silly. And my friends and I laughed about it and said 'that will never happen...' and not 2 months later I had an email address.
• 
  
• This coming weekend [which for me, starts Wednesday!] I am traveling to Virginia by train. I get to see my sister! And some dear friends. I'm very excited. Like jumping up and down excited. Super squinty eyes and huge cheesy grin excited. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it.
• 
  
• I purchased a belt today. I have never purchased a belt in my life. My sister would be so proud.
• 
  
• I had to purchase a belt because I keep buying pants and they keep ending up being too large after a few weeks.
  
• 
  
• Speaking of shopping, I tried to buy a swimsuit today. I wish I would have gotten the memo that swimsuits are no longer functional whatsoever! I need one that I can wear for water aerobics that will actually stay on, go figure. I tried on Nike and Speedo ones, and they were cute and fit and whatever, but there was no way I could wear any of them for swimming or aerobics. And don't even get me started on 'support.' Or really the lack thereof.
  
• 
  
• I got a phone call from a camper yesterday. It was the cutest thing ever. [besides which this girl was my 'favorite' - shh!]
• 
  
• Yesterday at church my pastor asked if I was in for fantasy football again this year. I got really excited. I came in 2nd last year...out of 40 teams! And only 3 of them were run by women.
  

Someone at accuweather is feeling feisty!

retail heaven

I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday for over two hours. [C'mon...shiny new books...comfy chairs...and starbucks coffee! What more do I need?]
I also made two sales when I was there and was basically offered a job! Ha, too funny. I spent most of my time in the 'teen' section [I still swear that 'teens' don't want to be called 'teens.'] - reading many a book jacket and writing down too many titles on my 'to read' list. And giving a few recommendations here and there...I just can't help myself.
Also I find it comical that I *ahem* 'seemed' to know more about *cough* young adult/children's books and authors than the employees. [Probably why they tried to recruit me.]
Anywho, if you click on my 'goodreads' link over there on the left, and then from there find my 'to read' list, you will see the gems I discovered in the teen section that I hope will live up to the previews! Actually, over half of the books I chose are by authors I have previously enjoyed...so they should be rather good!
Now the question is...back to B&N for a midnight purchase tonight? Hmm, we will see.

I've been gone for a long time. You might want to grab a snack before reading. Here goes:

1. I did successfully reach my "I am going to exercise for 90 days in a row no days missed" goal thingy. Then I went to camp for a week and took some days off after that. I think tomorrow I need to get back on the horse. Or treadmill/bike, as it may be. The good news is that I have gone down some inches here and there and taking that time off for camp was not a setback!

2. My grandparents 60th / parents 30th anniversary party was so nice! It was pretty laid back, as family parties go. And great to see some family that I see about 2x per year.

3. I went to camp again. I could write a novel! For now I will say it was great, but also a lot different from previous years, and I had to deal with some heavy issues concerning one of my campers. Hopefully I helped her some...only being there for a week is not so long when it comes to situations like these.

4. On a happier note, this was the best year of camp in many ways!

5. It was good to be with my immediate family for so many days! I miss them. I hate living so far away. My 92-year-old grandfather [Papa] always reminds me of this fact when I leave. So sad.

6. I just loved the weather when I was home. I wore jeans/sweatshirts/etc so many days! I love when it's like 70-75 in the day and then cool enough at night for a sweatshirt. Although the 1st two days of camp were HOT, after it stormed on Wed am, the rest of the week was gorgeous. I'm so thankful for that!

7. I felt like crap after camp...well the sunburn [only a little!] and shin splint didn't help. And the lack of sleep. It took me a LONG time to recover! In fact, today is really the 1st day I feel pretty much normal. So, only 4 days? :)

8. I wish I lived in Pittsburgh. And could see camp people all year.

9. Hopefully I will be seeing some of them over Labor Day. And New Years. And other random times!

10. I am really glad to be home...I was away so long!

11. I finally became a member at Barnes and Noble today, after many years of shopping there and sighing when they asked me if I was a member and having to say 'no.' Immediately after getting my membership card, I went to the B&N starbucks and got lunch...and did a victory dance when I got to use my member discount for it.

12. I have my hair in braids and I feel like Pippi Longstocking.

13. I will stop for now. Need to finish reading HP6, and make dinner, and see my hubby, etc.

PICTURES TO COME!!!