Ambiguity lends itself to creativity.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Something I appreciate
I was driving home today from work, San Jose State, and there were many crossing guards in the area. I must say, I appreciate crossing guards! I have heard a number of stories where crossing guards have been hit by a car passing by, and intentionally put themselves in harms way in order to protect the kids that they are serving! I must pay tribute to those crossing guards. They are there faithfully everyday, early in the morning, before a lot of us are even out of bed - all for the sake of keeping the kids protected from passing cars. They are good people!!!!
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Apple Hill
Today Shawn and I took a bit of time off from prepping the house for painting and we went to Apple Hill. I have never been to Apple Hill before, even though we have owned a house in the area for a year and came up here numerous times before that when we were dating and married. Today was pretty fun. I finally learned what Apple Hill is. This is exciting because I have wanted to discover what it was for some time.
I have finally learned that Apple Hill is a vast area of land in the Placerville/Camino area that has lots and lots of apple farms. Here, the owners of the farms make apple cider, apple pie and pretty much everything else apple you can think of. They open their farms for people to come visit - they sell lots of items - crafty stuff, jewelery and the like. They also show how apple juice is made, sell baked items (I know where I am getting my apple pies for Christmas this year - YUMMY!!!), and you can even go and pick your own apples. There are about 50 or so farms that do this and the whole point is to go and visit a bunch of these farms and just enjoy what they have to offer. You travel around from farm to farm, check out the crafts, buy apple stuff (cider, pies etc..) and you make a day of it. I have never done this before, and even though Shawn and I only took time to go to one farm, we had a really good time. We were only there for about an hour, but it was a welcomed break. Now that we are back I should get to the rest of the school stuff (or work, as I refer to it since they do pay me) that I need to accomplish before tomorrow morning. Until later....
(Oh yeah, in case you read my last entry, I wanted to let you all know that I am healing from what I witnessed. Thanks for praying (thanks Annie for being so concerned) for me, the prayers are helping a great deal. Talk to you all tomorrow!
I have finally learned that Apple Hill is a vast area of land in the Placerville/Camino area that has lots and lots of apple farms. Here, the owners of the farms make apple cider, apple pie and pretty much everything else apple you can think of. They open their farms for people to come visit - they sell lots of items - crafty stuff, jewelery and the like. They also show how apple juice is made, sell baked items (I know where I am getting my apple pies for Christmas this year - YUMMY!!!), and you can even go and pick your own apples. There are about 50 or so farms that do this and the whole point is to go and visit a bunch of these farms and just enjoy what they have to offer. You travel around from farm to farm, check out the crafts, buy apple stuff (cider, pies etc..) and you make a day of it. I have never done this before, and even though Shawn and I only took time to go to one farm, we had a really good time. We were only there for about an hour, but it was a welcomed break. Now that we are back I should get to the rest of the school stuff (or work, as I refer to it since they do pay me) that I need to accomplish before tomorrow morning. Until later....
(Oh yeah, in case you read my last entry, I wanted to let you all know that I am healing from what I witnessed. Thanks for praying (thanks Annie for being so concerned) for me, the prayers are helping a great deal. Talk to you all tomorrow!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
**********Graphic Blog - BE WARNED**********
Please stop reading this entry if you cannot handle horrible information. This blog is really heavy - so be warned.
Today was a bad day to say the least. I tried parking in two parking lots with no success. So, I headed over to the 10th street parking garage because I knew that there would be parking there. I got out of my car and walked down the flight of stairs to get to the ground. I was walking for approximately 15 seconds before I witnessed something horrible. A woman, who appeared to be a transient or from one of the halfway houses from the area hit the ground. In fact, I saw her fall the last 10 feet of her drop and then hit the pavement with incredible force. People were standing all around the woman not doing anything. At first I was in shock about what I had just witnessed, but tried to call 911 anyway. My cell phone did not get through to 911 because I dialed it wrong in a panic - but there was someone else already on the phone with the police who had called at exactly the same time as me. As I was walking over the woman to see if she was ok, I instructed a student to quickly go inside into the Admissions and Records building to get someone to call for help. I then walked over to the woman and asked if she was ok. Gasping for air, but still breathing a bit, she didn't respond but appeared to be alive. The university police had come a minute later and tried to get the woman to respond - at this point she was still breathing, but she was not responsive. The police then moved the two witnesses, myself and a student, to where we were not able to see the woman. We were held for about 20 minutes and then questioned. They finally let us go since I had classes to instruct and the student had a midterm today.
Apparently she committed suicide by jumping from the 4th or 5th floor of the parking garage right in front of us. While she was still breathing when I went over to assure her that help was on it's way, she died shortly after the police arrived.
Today is a hard day for me considering the suicide of my father a couple of years ago. Now, I witnessed a person jump to their death right in front of me. I have no idea why I had to witness this, but apparently there is a reason. These are the times I throw my hands in the air, wondering why. A the same time I can't help but to trust in God fully and know that even when thing like this happen, He is still on His throne and through it all, is still in control no matter what happens.
I let my classes out early today, simply because witnessing such a tragedy like this had taken such an effect on me. I explained what I had just seen, and they understood. I can't help but relive the experience over and over again in my mind. I just wish I had gotten there a few minutes earlier - maybe I could have done something. Please pray for me. Even though I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is in control, this has still affected me deeply.
Today was a bad day to say the least. I tried parking in two parking lots with no success. So, I headed over to the 10th street parking garage because I knew that there would be parking there. I got out of my car and walked down the flight of stairs to get to the ground. I was walking for approximately 15 seconds before I witnessed something horrible. A woman, who appeared to be a transient or from one of the halfway houses from the area hit the ground. In fact, I saw her fall the last 10 feet of her drop and then hit the pavement with incredible force. People were standing all around the woman not doing anything. At first I was in shock about what I had just witnessed, but tried to call 911 anyway. My cell phone did not get through to 911 because I dialed it wrong in a panic - but there was someone else already on the phone with the police who had called at exactly the same time as me. As I was walking over the woman to see if she was ok, I instructed a student to quickly go inside into the Admissions and Records building to get someone to call for help. I then walked over to the woman and asked if she was ok. Gasping for air, but still breathing a bit, she didn't respond but appeared to be alive. The university police had come a minute later and tried to get the woman to respond - at this point she was still breathing, but she was not responsive. The police then moved the two witnesses, myself and a student, to where we were not able to see the woman. We were held for about 20 minutes and then questioned. They finally let us go since I had classes to instruct and the student had a midterm today.
Apparently she committed suicide by jumping from the 4th or 5th floor of the parking garage right in front of us. While she was still breathing when I went over to assure her that help was on it's way, she died shortly after the police arrived.
Today is a hard day for me considering the suicide of my father a couple of years ago. Now, I witnessed a person jump to their death right in front of me. I have no idea why I had to witness this, but apparently there is a reason. These are the times I throw my hands in the air, wondering why. A the same time I can't help but to trust in God fully and know that even when thing like this happen, He is still on His throne and through it all, is still in control no matter what happens.
I let my classes out early today, simply because witnessing such a tragedy like this had taken such an effect on me. I explained what I had just seen, and they understood. I can't help but relive the experience over and over again in my mind. I just wish I had gotten there a few minutes earlier - maybe I could have done something. Please pray for me. Even though I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is in control, this has still affected me deeply.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
The summer of lame TV
This summer has been horrible for TV watching. I am addicted to a number of TV shows and almost 'need' to watch them on a weekly basis. (Please don't freak out - I can give up TV whenever I want and don't actually 'need' it - so please don't message me 'challenging me' to fast from TV for a week or a month or whatever). In any case, The Office premiers this week. The husband and I can't wait. We have been waiting ALL SUMMER to find out what happened with Jim and Pam. I have a bad feeling that Pam got married anyway and Jim is now in the other office working - but we will find out on Thursday. Gosh I can't wait until Thursday!!! I just hope that I am not disappointed with the outcome of what the summer brought. Apparently they are 'reporting' in real time meaning that they ended in May and this next episode returns in September. This kind of sucks because we missed a whole 3 months of the characters lives. Yikes!!! Watching this TV show is almost like reading a book - the characters become almost real to me and I have to know what's going on with them. Like reading the Harry Potter books - right now they are in limbo, almost as if the DVD or VCR is on pause. Once the next book comes out, or the TV season resumes the DVD or VCR us unpaused and the characters come alive again. I can't wait until that happens. Ugghhhhh! The suspense is killing me.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
It was a Starbucks day
Today was an interesting day. I woke up this morning with ample time to get to work but ended up thinking I was running late. I was in fact about 15 minutes early which allowed me to stop by Starbucks before class. I ordered a grande pumpkin spice coffee - I didn't order a latte because it is about double the price and we are trying to save pennies for the house remodel. So, I spent $1.65 on coffee this morning that was pretty good.
I did not eat breakfast this morning because I didn't have time, nor did I want to waste 700 calories on something from Starbucks. Even their low fat stuff has tons of calories. I didn't feel like having a 1,000 calorie breakfast. If that were the case I may as well eat nachos for breakfast. In any case the coffee hit my system which gave me tons of energy for class. I am not quite sure my students appreciated it, but I sure had a great deal of fun being goofy and making fun of some of my students. I think that presenting in front of a group of people everyday is a good thing for me. I am not as eager to talk when Shawn gets home which I think he appreciates.
I was thinking today - I really like teaching. As much as it sucks to prepare for classes, I really like it. I don't have a boss looking over my shoulder every second of the day. I get in, get out and get on with my life after teaching - I mean all except for the grading papers and preparing and such. But, the fact that I get to work for 4 hours a day makes me happy. Shawn and I recently had a conversation about how I really just want to be a housewife. I would like to take care of our house, cook for Shawn and garden all day long. With our house being as big as it is, I think it's going to take quite a bit of work to keep it clean on a continual basis.
Tonight I am off to do a focus group with a company based in Sunnyvale. I think I am tasting Salmon tonight which should prove to be pretty interesting since I don't really like Salmon all that much. I had a bit of a bad experience with Salmon on a mission trip once and still haven't recovered. It is a 2 hour focus group and they pay $75 for the time that I am there, so it's almost worth it. Hey, it's $75 more than I had before right? I will post later if something interesting happens tonight - which I am sure it will since it's something I am tasting and I really don't like it. I will think of it as a Fear Factor challenge. Oh crap - I just thought of something, what if it's canned salmon or something and I have to eat salmon salad or the like - yikes!!! Or what if it's raw salmon or a hybrid salmon? Maybe it's going to be a cross between salmon and squirrel and I have to judge whether or not the general public is going to like it? Uh oh, I don't know about this focus group now that I actually think about it. I know I am going to get stuck eating something that is going to make me gag. I guess I will find out in a couple of hours. I will update later. Wish me luck!
Update: We taste tested farm raised salmon. It was pretty good. I now have a new appreciation for salmon, which is good because I should be eating it A LOT more than I do not which is almost never. :)
I did not eat breakfast this morning because I didn't have time, nor did I want to waste 700 calories on something from Starbucks. Even their low fat stuff has tons of calories. I didn't feel like having a 1,000 calorie breakfast. If that were the case I may as well eat nachos for breakfast. In any case the coffee hit my system which gave me tons of energy for class. I am not quite sure my students appreciated it, but I sure had a great deal of fun being goofy and making fun of some of my students. I think that presenting in front of a group of people everyday is a good thing for me. I am not as eager to talk when Shawn gets home which I think he appreciates.
I was thinking today - I really like teaching. As much as it sucks to prepare for classes, I really like it. I don't have a boss looking over my shoulder every second of the day. I get in, get out and get on with my life after teaching - I mean all except for the grading papers and preparing and such. But, the fact that I get to work for 4 hours a day makes me happy. Shawn and I recently had a conversation about how I really just want to be a housewife. I would like to take care of our house, cook for Shawn and garden all day long. With our house being as big as it is, I think it's going to take quite a bit of work to keep it clean on a continual basis.
Tonight I am off to do a focus group with a company based in Sunnyvale. I think I am tasting Salmon tonight which should prove to be pretty interesting since I don't really like Salmon all that much. I had a bit of a bad experience with Salmon on a mission trip once and still haven't recovered. It is a 2 hour focus group and they pay $75 for the time that I am there, so it's almost worth it. Hey, it's $75 more than I had before right? I will post later if something interesting happens tonight - which I am sure it will since it's something I am tasting and I really don't like it. I will think of it as a Fear Factor challenge. Oh crap - I just thought of something, what if it's canned salmon or something and I have to eat salmon salad or the like - yikes!!! Or what if it's raw salmon or a hybrid salmon? Maybe it's going to be a cross between salmon and squirrel and I have to judge whether or not the general public is going to like it? Uh oh, I don't know about this focus group now that I actually think about it. I know I am going to get stuck eating something that is going to make me gag. I guess I will find out in a couple of hours. I will update later. Wish me luck!
Update: We taste tested farm raised salmon. It was pretty good. I now have a new appreciation for salmon, which is good because I should be eating it A LOT more than I do not which is almost never. :)
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
We're not going to take this lying down...LOL
The weirdest thing just happened. I walked out to the mailbox at our apartment complex and observed a man laying on the ground right near where I needed to be. (Instead of taking a picture of the man, I decided to post a pic of my doggie laying down because she is MUCH cuter than a weird guy sleeping in the grass). In any case, I walked out to drop off our nextflix video - bringing the dog outside with me of course. Once I saw the man laying on the ground I promptly turned around and went back to the apartment to get Shawn (I don't feel safe without the man). We quietly walked over to him, about 20 feet away and asked him if he was ok. He said yes. We asked him if he needed assistance and of course he said no. So, Shawn and I walked back to the apartment and decided we should call someone for help. Good thing the apartment complex has security because the last thing we need is to call the cops and have to stay up all night to fill out a police report.
There was one thing kind of creepy about the situation - I mean, other than the fact that a man was laying on the lawn at almost 1am. Shawn and I just got finished watching 24 and I had this weird sense that he was going to get up and come after me with a gun. For those of you who watch 24 you know why. Everyone in that show is a suspect and carries a gun. So, before I went back to the apartment to get Shawn I literally RAN back to the apartment for fear that the inebriated (or so I assume) man got up in a fit of manipulation and deceived me into thinking he needed help but really he wanted to kidnap me and hold me for ransom all the while threatening national security. Then, CTU would have to get involved, Jack Bauer would inevitably come to my rescue - all within the time span of 24 hours. Yes, I understand that my mind runs wild at 1am, especially after watching 4 episodes of 24 - but hey - one can never be too careful when walking alone in the dark. I would rather nip the whole situation in the bud before having to get Jack Bauer involved (not for a lack of wanting to meet Kiefer Sutherland because - WOW, he's a hottie - but lets not talk about that right now). Weird night!!!
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Still no camera
I still can't find my camera - too bad too, it was pretty expensive. I am going to look around down here and then in Placerville this weekend when we travel up there. I really want to post some pictures in the middle of our remodel and then when we are done so we can really see the progress. I know a new coat of paint is going to make the house look brand spanking new. Plus, our new windows (when we actually get those in) are going to make the house look really really good.
On a different note, I have started teaching at both colleges - and I swear, with this new prep - my life is pretty much over for the next 4 months. I have invited my friend Vanessa to observe me this week since she has this whole week off. I hope she comes! She is leery about coming because she thinks that I am going to be nervous when she comes - and I probably will - but I have also known her for 16 years or so and I know that she is going to be supportive even if I do something strange. But, with the way Evergreen's classes are going, I don't think there is going to be too much problem. My classes are so incredibly intelligent - especially the first class of the day. I have a few, what I call, "heavy hitters". These students are very intelligent and know the material in and out. So, in order to interest them I have been bringing in material from other books (which my 'heavy hitters' seemed to really like). Yesterday it took me about 3-4 hours to prepare for. I am expecting that Thursday's class is going to be about the same. I knew a new prep was going to be hard, but not this time consuming. But I guess that's the nature of the game. I think every new prep is going to take this much time. I can't wait until I have prepped for all of the classes I am every going to teach so I can just breeze through it like I do for the public speaking class. But that probably won't happen for years and years. Oh well - you can't win 'em all can you? :)
On a different note, I have started teaching at both colleges - and I swear, with this new prep - my life is pretty much over for the next 4 months. I have invited my friend Vanessa to observe me this week since she has this whole week off. I hope she comes! She is leery about coming because she thinks that I am going to be nervous when she comes - and I probably will - but I have also known her for 16 years or so and I know that she is going to be supportive even if I do something strange. But, with the way Evergreen's classes are going, I don't think there is going to be too much problem. My classes are so incredibly intelligent - especially the first class of the day. I have a few, what I call, "heavy hitters". These students are very intelligent and know the material in and out. So, in order to interest them I have been bringing in material from other books (which my 'heavy hitters' seemed to really like). Yesterday it took me about 3-4 hours to prepare for. I am expecting that Thursday's class is going to be about the same. I knew a new prep was going to be hard, but not this time consuming. But I guess that's the nature of the game. I think every new prep is going to take this much time. I can't wait until I have prepped for all of the classes I am every going to teach so I can just breeze through it like I do for the public speaking class. But that probably won't happen for years and years. Oh well - you can't win 'em all can you? :)
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Our bodies HURT!!!!!!
I will update this as soon as I get my camera in the house. :) I have updated pics of what we accomplished this weekend. Yipeeeee!!!
I have waited to update the post because I can't find my trusty camera. We did have a long weekend last weekend though. I tore down an entire fence and Shawn and I ripped out our backyard save a couple of pine trees (I don't think I have ever sweat so much - even in the internship). We pretty much leveled everything else. As soon as I can locate my camera (gosh I hope I didn't leave it somewhere) I will upload some pics. If I can't find it tomorrow I will take more pics next time we go up there so y'all can see the progress. (So sorry I haven't had time to update - I started teaching my new class this week and it's kicking my butt so far. I sure hope this gets easier, but I kind of think it's going to stay this way until the end of the semester - but one can hope!) I will be sure to give an update on life as by Monday. Tomorrow is going to be VERY busy.
I have waited to update the post because I can't find my trusty camera. We did have a long weekend last weekend though. I tore down an entire fence and Shawn and I ripped out our backyard save a couple of pine trees (I don't think I have ever sweat so much - even in the internship). We pretty much leveled everything else. As soon as I can locate my camera (gosh I hope I didn't leave it somewhere) I will upload some pics. If I can't find it tomorrow I will take more pics next time we go up there so y'all can see the progress. (So sorry I haven't had time to update - I started teaching my new class this week and it's kicking my butt so far. I sure hope this gets easier, but I kind of think it's going to stay this way until the end of the semester - but one can hope!) I will be sure to give an update on life as by Monday. Tomorrow is going to be VERY busy.
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