Procrastination is like masturbation...

It's been about 7 months since the last time I've updated. And it's probably been about 6 months since the last time I read anything on anyone's livejournals. I just haven't been that into hanging out on the internet lately. It's due in part to being really busy and not having tons of free time, and due in part to just kind of losing interest in all things time-killey. So I've been totally out of the loop in terms of what all my old friends are up to.

As for me, I've been working as a nanny since the very end of November, and I'm actually really happy with my job. I'm making relatively decent money, the kids are great, and although the hours are really long (7am to 6:30 with a 45 minute commute) every day flies by. I have Fridays off right now, so the long weekends are nice, but there's a chance I'll be picking up those extra days come May. I really want to do it, because it never hurts to bring in extra money, and because I dont like the idea of my boys being with someone else. Other parents always want to have Friday playdates, and I always have to tell them that I have no control over that. The other girl who's watching them Fridays now is covering for their regular girl, who's out on maternity leave. She doesn't seem too eager to set up playdates or socialize with the other people in the neighborhood. All the people I know really well seem to not even ever have met her. I guess I'm just being a control freak, but I want to know that they're my boys all week long.

My boys are just the coolest kids. I love them so much. Trey is 7 and just a total jock. He eats, sleeps and breathes sports. Ethan is 4 and my little drama queen. They're both just hilarious. Trey stuck a sign to my back the other day that said "kike me." I brought that home to Sam, who thought it was hilarious (he's an eastern european jew). Around Valentine's day Ethan turns to me very seriously and says, "Jesus shot you." Upon my response of utter confusion he explained, "You love your boyfriend, which means Jesus must have shot you." It was all I could do not to laugh histerically when I figured out that he meant Cupid. They're so cute!

Anyway, aside from my work, Sam's been acting, we've been having visitors and traveling, and we've been going out with his friends from his improv class a lot. They've all become pretty close, and it kind of reminds me of hanging out with the people from Liquid Fun or Wandering minds, though just not as many people. They're all lots of fun. Sam was just recently in a series of sketch comedies that one of his friends wrote, and it had a pretty successful run. There was a packed house every night. He made a whopping $30, but that's still something, because it was the first time he'd ever been paid to act.

I'm sure there's lots more that's been going on that I could update about, but I need to stop procrastinating and go to the gym. Anyone who's reading this, leave me a comment and let me know what you've been up to. I just highly doubt that I'm going to be able to find the time to read through 6 months worth of lj archives.

A while ago I promised an update about our move to Chicago and never really followed through with it, so here it is. Better late than never, right?

About a month and a half ago Sam and I moved to Chicago so that he could take acting classes at Second City. We got an apartment last minute off of Craigslist that turned out to be perfect. The building itself is on one of the major streets in Chicago with lots of shopping and restaurants nearby. We're living in Lincoln Park, which is a pretty nice upscale family-oriented neighborhood. Basically, if Chicago were Boston, Lincoln Park would be Brookline. The street's a bit busy and there's some construction for a new apartment building across the street, but as long as we have the windows closed it's not a problem at all.

The apartment 950 square feet, so it's really spacious. It's on the first floor, but it's really a floor up because you enter down a few steps and into the basement floor. There's an elevator, which makes bringing home groceries and furniture much easier. The kitchen isnt gigantic but it's a lot better than the BU Bitchen (bathroom/kitchen) that I was used to. It's just big enough that I have enough room to cook without having to go a long ways to grab other stuff I need. The living room/dining room is huge and has one wall that's entirely windows and a sliding door which opens onto our balcony. The bedoom's a good size also, and it too opens onto the balcony. The balcony is nice, perfect for the plant stand I've got set up out there. I'm growing basil, oregano, sage, parsley, arugula, cilantro, spearmint, a tomato plant and lettuce.

Though I still enjoy gardening, I no longer need to treat my plants as my pets like I did this past year, because Sam and I adopted a bunny. He's an adorable light brown dwarf lopear that we've dubbed Mortimer Fred Kurnit. He's just the cutest darn thing ever. He's also completely insane, so he fits right into the family. He loves to run around and jump in this strange twitchy manner for about 5 minutes then flop down and rest for 5, then do it all over again. He also likes to eat anything cardboard, our leather belts and Sam's nice work shoes. He loves to lick Sam's hands when he's all sweaty and smelly and gross. I'm not talking one lick either, I'm talking about him sitting there for 6 or 8 minutes straight and licking every inch. Like I said, he's completely batshit insane, and we love him to death. Of course, we've had a couple interesting incidents with him, the most recent of which was me dropping a bowl of tuna fish and then looking down to find that he had been laying right next to where it fell and had a chunk of tuna on his ear. He just sat there stunned. I couldnt stop laughing. I wiped the tuna off and all was forgiven. Yesterday he apparently got bored with exploring things at floor level and started jumping on the couch to explore. At some point between then and about 2 hours ago when we werent watching carefully he ate all the buttons off the remote control. Not the entire buttons, just the parts that stand out above the plastic. I cant imagine they'll be fun to digest.

Anyways, moving on from the bunny, we also have furniture! It took us a while to get furniture, so for a while we had nothing but a bed. The bed is really nice. Sam's parents bought it for him/us as a graduation present. It's a nice soft pillowtop, and I got a pretty blue cream and brown set of bed linens for it. Of course I just HAD to have the most expensive set I found. Nothing else looked nearly as nice. We bought two fake leather love seats that fold out into full size beds off of Craigslist for $300 and they're just perfect. They look a lot nicer than I ever pictured vinyl couches as looking. We got a desk, table, tv stand and two huge dressers from Ikea, which took about 3 weeks to arrive. I was surprised at the good quality of the stuff. We paid less than $1000 for all of it, and everything but the tv stand is solid wood. I'm quite happy with it all. We bought the rest of our stuff, like night tables, an end table, lamps and all that other little junk from Bed Bath and Badonkadonk. I'd have to say I've put together quite a nice looking apartment. My goal was to not have an apartment that looked like the typical "just out of college" apartment with the thrown together furniture and hand me down stuff. I wanted a really adult looking apartment, and other than the inflatable moose over the bookcase I think we managed to achieve it. It's going to look even nicer once I get some actual decorations once I'm working and can afford them.

As far as work goes that's not going so well for me. Sam transferred to the Best Buy that's about a 5 minute walk from our apartment, so at least we had his income right away, and I had graduation money from my parents and other relatives to live off of so we had some funds for furnishing the apartment and living off of. Unfortunately there is apparently quite a bit of competition for jobs in the Lincoln Park shopping areas, and I have yet to find anything. I've sent out applications to probably 15 places that were supposedly hiring, and I've gotten a few interviews but never a job. The Gap kind of strung me along for over 2 weeks, because at the interview they made it clear that they wanted to offer me a position and they just needed to follow procedure and contact my references. Then when I never heard back from them it took several phone calls to find out that they couldn't get a hold of my references. I wasnt aware that Professor Garik, my boss from BU, would be out of the country for a few weeks, and that apparently they misread the number for the family I babysat for this year, and couldnt get through to them. Unfortunately instead of letting me know about this and having me supply other references they just never said anything to me. I gave them other references who I knew would be around, but I dont know if they even called them. All I know is that a week after that I had to call them again because I hadnt heard anything, and they told me "their employment needs had changed" and that they'd be putting my resume on file. Interestingly enough though, the help wanted sign in their window is still up. Other than that I got blown off by a summer camp that said they'd call me, and I've interviewed at Restoration Hardware and CB2, a spinoff of Crate and Barrel. I dont think I'll get the RH job, because there were a lot of interviewees and I'm not sure I did particularly great at the interview, but I'm hopeful about the CB2 job. I liked the interviewer a lot, the merchandice is really cool, and it'd be nice to be able to use the discount to decorate my apartment. It'd also be a good job to continue with while I'm teaching. So basically I've been out of work for 2 months and I'm going out of my mind. We're also running out of money pretty fast. Sam and I have had to start charging things on our credit cards to make sure we have enough in checking to pay the rent next month.

I'm not having much more luck finding a teaching position than I am with summer work. I've been to two job fairs, and I seem to have a lot more competition than I'd expected. I gave out probably 20 resumes at the last job fair and got only two calls for interviews. One interview was at a school, Nicholson, which is down on the south side in Englewood, one of the poorest areas of Chicago. It's a science and math magnet school though, so I thought I might like to work there anyways. Unfortunately that was over a month ago and I haven't heard anything back from them, so I'm assuming they've given the job to someone else. I dont think they were very impressed with my student teaching in a predominantly white suburban school. The other interview was Tuesday at a small middle school, Nia, that is departmentalizing for the first time. I'd be the only science teacher in the "school" (which has a total of 4 classrooms, if that shows you how small it is), but Nia is housed in the same building as a K-8 small school and a high school, so hopefully I'd be socializing with those teachers too. I'd be teaching 2 hours of reading each morning, then one class each of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. I'm a bit concerned about the amount of prep that would mean (4 lessons per day is an awful lot to have to plan) but they use SEPUP and Foss kits for science, which should make my job a lot easier. I'm a bit hopeful about this job, because I think the interview went really well, and I just got a vibe that I'd really like it there, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

I went to the second job fair this morning. It seemed that for every position I was applying for there was someone with more experience right in front of or behind me in line. When I was still in school everyone kept telling me that being a middle school science teacher I'd have pretty much my pick of the jobs, and that there was a lot of demand for science teachers. Unfortunately I'm starting to get the impression that that's a load of bull, at least in an urban setting where there are a lot of teachers looking for jobs. It seems like every school I talk to is either turned off by the fact that I'm a first year teacher, or that my student teaching was suburban. I also think a lot of schools dont want me because I'll only have provisional Illinois certification, which means that I'm getting Massachusetts certification and transferring it temporarily to an Illinois one. I'll then have 9 months to complete the requirements for a regular Illinois certification. I didnt point out to any of them that there's actually a chance I wont have any certification when the school year starts because it takes so long for the paperwork to go through.

I'm retaking my last MTEL this Saturday, acutally, and I've been studying for 2 weeks so I should pass this time. Last time I got a 69, which is the most frustrating score ever, since a passing score is a 70. I figure I should do fine, cause I really only need to know enough more to answer one question correctly that I didnt last time. Having failed that test is really costing me a lot. Retaking the test was $150. Then I also have to fly home to take it, because they're only offered in Chicago during the school year, so that's an extra $400. It would have been $150 to $200, but because I still dont have a job I didnt know if I'd be going for a weekend or a week, and I didnt buy my tickets will kind of last minute. I actually still dont have a ticket home yet because I need to coordinate things with Sam's mom, who's going to be driving me to the airport hopefully. The plan, as of right now, is for me to fly back to Boston tomorrow, stop by SED and see Garik, stay with Venus, take the test, hang with Boston people Saturday night (let me know if you'll be around and want to do something), take the train back to NH on Sunday, go out for Miranda's 21st birthday, hang out in NH till Friday, take the train into Boston then the bus into NYC with Kat on Friday, stay with some of her friends from school and paint the town red, head out to Sam's parent's house in White Plains Sunday night, stay there till Monday or Tuesday, then catch a cheap flight back to Chicago. I'm pretty excited because it's going to be really fun despite the fact that I can't really afford any of it. I've also been getting a bit homesick because I'm so far away from home, which I was surprised about because I normally never get homesick.

Once I get back I'll hopefully have heard back from Nia and some other schools about interviews or even a positionat Nia (which I think I'm going to accept if they offer, because they want to have someone by the end of the month and I just want a job). Just in case I cant find a teaching position, which is starting to look like a definite possibility, I'm looking into nannying jobs. I could make almost as much as a nanny as I could as a teacher if I find the right family, and I know that I enjoy it. I've gotten in contact with a few people through Craigslist (best invention ever!) and I've signed up on a website or two. Hopefully I'll be able to work something out and actually be able to pay the rent come September. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

So I think that's everything that has happened with me in the past month. And I think this is the longest livejournal entry I've ever written. In the time it's taken me to write this I've made baked ziti, had dinner with Sam, and he's done the dishes. And baked ziti is not a fast disk to cook. I dont know how all you people who update regularly find the time to do it. You're much more dilligent than I am.

Waiting for Sam to finish with Second City appointments so we can shop for more apartment stuff, so I thought I might do a random survey.

1. Fell in love - 18
2. Lost someone close to you - 18
3. Drank alcohol - discounting sips from parents... 16
4. Smoked weed - 16
5. Got kissed - 16
6. Went to the hospital - 3
7. Got your heart broken - Really broken? 19
8. Lost a pet - I think 10ish
9. Got arrested - never
10. Smoked a cigarette - never
11. Broken a bone - 18 months
12. Got a job - 15
13. Got cheated on - possibly 19, possibly never
14. Rode the city bus- 18
15. Went to a concert - 18
16. Had sex - 19
17. Got your own cell phone - 18
18. Had first boy/girl friend - 18
20. Snuck out of the house - never
21. Drove a car - 16
22. Got your own digital camera - 15
23. How old are you now? 22

Wow, a lot happened when I was 18, but I guess that's freshman year of college for ya.

Maybe I'll update later with details about the Chicago move (this is day two here) if anyone's interested in hearing. I dont know if anyone actually reads this anymore.

When did I get to be so old that 2:05am feels like the middle of the night and I cant wait to go to bed?

Had an awesome night tonight, thanks to Paul, Ann, and a bunch of guys including a couple Pablos and some irish boys. Such an... interesting evening. It was great to see Paul again. I dont think I'd realized how much I missed him while he was at Woods Hole. We always have some really great philosophical discussions. And he's just a great drinking buddy in general.

Now it's time for bed.

Instead of getting something accomplished or going to bed, I choose to meme!

Stolen from Kellie

ONE Meme

Your One Best friend -- Kat

One person you would marry -- If you know me and you cant answer this, you're just dumb. Sam of course!

One thing you regret -- Starting the latest Harry Potter right before finals. My grades could have been SOOOO much better

One thing you will never regret –- Its amazing how some things you think you'll never regret can turn around to bite you in the ass years later. But I'd have to say not making any attempt to get back with Jon after we broke up. Seeing someone else go through that lately has just shown me that it really was the best idea to cut him out of my life completely. Plus I'm just really glad we broke up in the first place.

One Person who made the biggest impact on your life -- My mom... and Giggi. They've both played similar roles, so I cant just choose one.

One reason to wake up each day -- Our bedroom gets fucking hot.

Next..

Something important on your desk: My comp has been banished from the futon to the desk after getting knocked off twice.

When you sleep you wear: tank top and shorts.... or nothing at all if Michele's gone home for the weekend.

If you could afford it at the moment, you would buy: A cute and stylish but totally appropriate teaching wardrobe.

Something you don't have a lot of: money for buying clothes.... though I buy them anyways.

MORALS

If there were no side effects, you would enjoy being addicted to: Shopping, though I enjoy being addicted to it anyways.

A time when you purposely hurt someone emotionally: Telling my best friend something she needed to know but that I knew would break her heart to hear. It sucked hardcore.

A time you accidentally hurt someone emotionally: being a little bit too harsh with an ex in expressing my annoyance with him

One person you have killed in your thoughts: killed... mutilated.... castrated.... umm.... no comment

FRIENDS

Three traits you look for in a friend: Goofiness, honesty and caring-ness (thats totally a word, shut up)

Who makes you laugh most often: Sam (especially when in conjunction with Bob and/or rum)

A friend who you can tell anything: Kat, Ann and Sam

A friend you can go to for advice: Ann seems to always "get" my love life really well.

The best piece of advice you had been given: "Who cares what they think?"

Two closest friends: Kat and Ann

The friend who uses most of your energy: Sam... not explaining how that energy is used

EGO

Your 3 best qualities: Brutal honesty, goofiness, science-teaching-lovingness (notice that I didnt say my mastery of the English language)

Your 3 worst qualities: Brutal honesty, procrastination, laziness

Describe your ideal self: Someone who can be loyal to their friends without occasionally fucking things up royally

You are embarrassed when: I misspeak in front of people... over and over and over.

The greatest physical pain you ever endured: Ovarian cyst

The greatest emotional pain you ever endured: long-standing ongoing daddy issues

Moment you are most ashamed of: Not being prepared to teach an important science lesson in my methods clas

Your best physical feature: I really like my butt.... and my "porcelain" (aka pasty) skin tone that's gonna keep me looking lovely late into my 50's

Who/What makes you happy: Friends, Sam, teaching, knitting

Who/what makes you sad: Watching those I love being hurt and being able to do nothing about it. Not being good enough (either for myself or to others)

EMOTIONS

Emotion you hide most: Depression. I hid it for years and noone knew.

The emotion you tend to experience most: hilarity

The emotion you are feeling most lately: Love, but also some frustration

You have a huge amount of guilt regarding: the whole Gerry situation

When you are angry you need: physical activity or someone to talk to

When you are sentimental you need: my box of keepsakes and a photo album from high school

When you are in love you need: just my boy

MEMORIES

One of your most peaceful memories: Spending hours upon hours wandering in the woods behind my house

One of your most tragic memories: Seeing someone I love gone so young, and for no reason.

One of your angriest memories: Being accused of being a lazy bum despite the fact that I was keeping a full courseload on honor roll, working multiple jobs, volunteering, and being a club officer and team captain.

A memory that makes you laugh: PICKLES!!! PIGEONS!!! Crunchy nutty balls! And more recently, Mr. Roboto

A memory that makes you happy: school dances and the after-parties with the girls

Something someone can say or do that you find extremely attractive: Its just this look that Sam gets sometimes.

Something someone can say or do that you find unattractive: Snub me.

What you enjoy most about having a committed relationship: having someone who I know loves me unconditionally no matter how much else seems to be falling apart in my life.

FINALLY

If you had more time alone you would: clean my apartment finally... While singing along to Alanis Morisette really loudly.

If you had more patience you would: be better at dealing with people who annoy me... especially my sister

If you could change one thing about your physical appearance what would it be: lose my tummy

If you had no commitments what would you be doing: Sam

If you could have one super power what would it be: To move things with my mind... though chocolatey goodness always did seem kinda cool

Isn't it interesting how much these things are influenced by what you have on your mind at the time?

Okay, so I know that I'm not normally one to post lyrics in my LJ or anything. But I just hadnt realized how much this song finally applied to me. I've been having a bit of a shitty day, and whenever I'm in a bad mood I like to put on Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette and sing along really loud to all the songs. It's just so nostalgic and angry chick-y. I've always identified with one or the other song on the CD, but i realized today that despite its being my favorite song on the album I've never considered Head Over Feet to apply to me. I've finally found someone to fall head over heels for. A few days ago was our 1 year 4 month anniversary (not that that really means anything) and we're still going strong. We still have people tell us how cute we are, just like when we first started dating.

( Cut in case you dont feel like reading the lyrics )

Oh, and speaking of my boy, he just got the LEAD in Wandering Minds' Flowers for Algernon. I couldnt be prouder or more excited for him. This just feels like a big step in the direction of him becoming a successful actor.

Speaking of Sam becoming an actor, people have been asking a lot lately about what's going on after graduation. In case you cared, the plan is to graduate in May, go home for a week or two to get everything together and then move out to Chicago with Sam so he can study theater at Second City. Chicago is a scary distance away from home. I've never even been in a state that doesnt touch the Atlantic ocean other than Vermont. This is gonna be a huge step. Moving in (permanently) with Sam. Moving far away from home. Getting my first teaching job. Completely supporting myself for the first time. Scary as hell, but I think it'll be good in the long run. Though I must admit, I'm a bit disappointed to know that I probably wont get to live in Boston again. I guess I just always saw myself as ending up staying here.

Speaking of Chicago, does anyone know enough about the city to spend a minute or two helping me figure out neighborhoods? I'm having a hard time figuring out how to figure out where to live and how to find an apartment. How does one go about picking a real estate agent with no recommendations? How do you choose an apartment without ever seeing it (since neither of us can afford a trip out to Chicago earlier than when we move, and we're going to need an apt ready for all our shit)?

Speaking of taking trips, the family I babysit for just asked me if I'd come with them on their next ski vacation to take care of their 2 year old so they dont have to leave him in the not-so-reputable day care program there. I'm wicked excited. It'd be so much fun! Getting to play in the snow, getting to spend a weekend NOT in the city (I dont get a spring break this year, so it's going to be a long semester), and getting to spend a lot of time with Daniel (who is just the cutest damn thing ever).

Anyways, I've finished my lunch, so I should probably get back to doing reading and editing my paper for class in an hour. Tonight is looking up. We science ed kids are all going to the BU pub, which I've actually never been to, and then I have PJs Pool Mondays with Ann. I like Monday nights.

Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!

The damn thing has sat on my bookshelf since October. I never even looked twice at it since I borrowed it from my little sister.

Why the fuck would I think it's a good idea to pick up the newest Harry Potter book "just to read while I have lunch today" a week before finals??? I've hardly gotten anything done in the last 3 days, and its all her fault. Damn you, JK Rowling for making children's lit so addicting.

DAMMIT!!!

So the brazilian guy left his wallet in my apartment. I stayed up till 5:30am so he could come back and get it. I had started getting ready for bed before they came back, and was wearing pajama pants. He tried saying "we can be jjust friends, right?" I was like, okay, I can forgive you for the stupid shit you said.

You really blew it when the last thing you said to me was "I like your underwear. Red, right?" cause my pj pants were hanging a bit low. FUCK YOU!!!

When talking to a girl...

Telling her that the picture she has on her refridgerator makes her look fat but she's pretty now is no better than telling her she's fat now, since the picture was taken 3 months ago and she's GAINED 5 pounds since then. DONT DO THAT!!!

Also, when said girl tells you she has a boyfriend and shows you a picture, DO NOT tell her her boyfriend is funny looking. I dont care what the language barrier is, you're still being really insulting. And I happen to think Sam is quite dashing. Plus, while you spent the night telling me I was fat, he spent the earlier part of the night serenading me and dancing with me (complete with dipping me). He wins, you lose, dumbass.

These are not good ways to make me okay with the fact that you guys are in my apartment so your friend can hang out with my friend. These things are things that get you thrown out the window, which you guys were actually kind enough to suggest.

Brazilian girls may be very hot, but Brazilian guys are fucking dumb.

I just taught! In a classroom! With actual students in it! I held the attention of a class of 19 10th graders from Reading for an entire hour, and it didnt kill me!

I realized that in all the time that I've been training to be a teacher (since my freshman year of high school) I've never gotten up in front of a room full of students and taught. I've spent lots of time observing, and helping run activities, but I never commanded all of the students' attention for any significant period of time. I finally did today, for an entire hour. And it seemed to go well!

I wasnt perfect, but neither were the students. I forgot that in high school it's REALLY uncool to answer the teacher's questions in class. The result? Complete and utter silence, and blank stares. I definitely hadnt prepared for that. It was a bit scary, but I got through it. I froze up once, cause my itinerary changed from the neat little outline I'd written up for myself, but I got through that too. Everyone watching me said I did well, but I'm going to have to wait till I see the tape to see how I actually did. I tried to talk slower and to not fidget nervously so much, but I dont know how good of a job I did with that.

All I know is that it's over, so I dont have to stress about it any more. Phew!

It isnt bad enough to have something happen that really bothers you. But then, when you have to dream about it all night, you wake up feeling like you've swallowed a lead sinker. Fuck.

My roommate Michele's friend is visiting, and they went out to a bar tonight. He had something like 7 or 8 Jack and Cokes, which is a lot of whiskey even for a guy his size. He just puked in the bathroom and got it all over EVERYTHING. Then Michele had to pee and he came out and said he was okay and curled up on the futon. He then proceeded to puke on his pillow, the futon, one of my throw pillows, and the ironing board that's under the futon but poking out a bit. And they had a super-meaty pizza for dinner. It smells so nasty in here right now!

The other day I was terribly excited to find the sweater that I've been dying to get from J Crew on sale for $20, down from its usual $80 price tag. I also found a cute halter top and a striped shirt also on sale that I absolutely loved. I put in the order, and I've been anxiously been awaiting the box in the mail. Today I get an email saying that all three were sold out. I'm way more upset than I should be. I was so excited to find such cute stuff on clearance. I should have known better than to get my hopes up, but I figured that they'd have taken down the listing online if they were sold out, and that because they were all still up when I ordered them that it meant there was enough left for me to have one. Dammit.

I just registered to go to the Museum of Science Educators night (next Tuesday, ask me if you want details), and I joined the National Science Teachers' Association. I'm really starting to feel like an official teacher.

Oh, and also because I spent the entire evening trolling ebay for teachery sweaters and Express Editor pants. Still having trouble figure out how informal I can get while still looking nice enough to be a convincing teacher. I tend to err (pronounced rrr, as I learned in class this week) on the side of looking like a business woman, but I'd like to look a bit more approachable, as well as wear more comfortable shoes.

BU really needs to figure out what it's doing with this heat situation. For about 3 glorious days we had full on, toasty warm heat. Then they just took it away, and we had absolutely nothing. Then we complained and they've turned it back up, so it's once again becoming somewhat bearable in here. Are they just gonna turn it back off tomorrow? Are we going to have to complain every single day to keep our apartment at a temperature where Michele doesnt wear 2 sweaters just to write a paper? Are we gonna be fighting someone else in the building who complains that it's too hot in their room (to which my response is "open the window and put a damn fan in it and suck it up, we're friggin freezing in here!"?) Only time will tell.

In other news I'm wicked excited about going to Jake Ivory's Halloween costume contest tommorrow. It's under 21 and I'm pretty sure there are some prizes. I'm hoping to maybe win "most unique" or something for my April O'Neil costume. Then Friday night into Saturday night Sam's theater group TFE is doing 24 hour plays, so I might go hang out there for a bit, then I'll be going to the performance whenever it is on Saturday. Then that night there's the band party (which I'm going to desperately try and drag my exhausted boyfriend to because I really miss everyone from band) plus the possibility of a TFE party if everyone doesnt just go home and pass out. Then Sunday I've gotta get back to working on all of my homework. Big project coming up in Symbiosis that I'd like to have at least somewhat wrapped up by this weekend (depending on my partner's participation and schedule).

(I use a lot of parentheses when I write).

Here's something interesting to realize 5 hours before you have to get up to go to your first teaching observation. Most of my nice "teacher clothes" were purchased when I was a size smaller than I am now. Of the things that werent purchased way back when, nothing matches. And the few things that do match dont really look all that nice. And the one nice outfit I have (a grey suit and blue button down) I wore less than a week ago to my initial interview. This is a lot harder than I thought. I think I'm gonna hafta go shopping this weekend. That or I'm going to have to go to the gym.

Can one be a bad student but a good teacher, or do the two go hand in hand?

If someone who's been training teachers for years tells you he has absolutely no confidence in you as a teacher, to the point where he's hesitant to even let you student teach, do you fight to teach or just listen to him because he knows better than you do, and give up the dream that you've worked so hard for for the last 8 years?

I've seen a lot of people switch majors and life ambitions altogether because the major they were in was too hard for them. Does my sticking to mine even though I've been a bit over my head at times make me dedicated or stubborn?

And most importantly, if I dont teach, wtf do I do? The last time I considered a different job was 7th grade when I wanted to be a marine biologist.

Are there any schools you can go to to become a full time nanny?

Caitlin needs a diet!?!? [This was the first three entries. Is Google trying to tell me something?]
Caitlin needs some fluids.
Caitlin needs to be swaddled too... [Huh?]
Caitlin needs money fast.
Caitlin needs help with this and could really use the support of the Senators and Oversight.
The Early Childhood Support Service provides the specialist group therapy sessions that Caitlin needs to overcome her barriers.
Caitlin needs a bit of inspiring right now.
Caitlin needs a ”B‘ in chemistry to stay. [Actually, its in biology, but surprisingly accurate.]
Caitlin needs her own division because she does martial arts tricks like a grown man.
Caitlin needs to have time with her daddy.
Caitlin needs to get out of my head.
Caitlin needs to model that for us because that is where we are lacking right now.
Caitlin needs no further encouragement.
Caitlin needs pain relievers and a clean environment.
Goddess Caitlin needs no introduction, she is an amazing woman of power, one with beauty, a universal spirit and a penetrating mind. [I like this one the best]

Oddly enough, I seem to be a character in A LOT of novels. Mostly romance I think. Maybe Caitlin's a romantic name, or maybe it's just slutty. Who knows.

Eerily enough, it turns out that Caitlin Conway is a writer who has a romance novel you can download online called the "Scent of Wisteria." Strange to see someone with my exact name. I really wanna buy the book just so I can ask her what her middle name is. I've facebooked myself, and apparently there are 5 other Caitlin Conways out there. So wierd.

It's interesting how your perceptions of money change as you grow.

Remember when you were little, and I mean really little, before allowances and babysitting jobs and birthday checks, when you had a jar full of change you found around the house or on the street? I used to love to sit around and count my change, over and over and over, pretending I was Scrooge McDuck. Back then, if you had two quarters you felt like the richest person in the world. Quarters were worth so much. I mean, you could have a pile of pennies, but they were still not worth as much as two quarters.

Then you grow up, and get an allowance, and a job. You open a bank account when you're in junior high, and when you've slaved to save $150 on your $5 a week allowance for the latest toy, you feel so accomplished (I bought an American Girl Doll, which I continue to cherish to this day). Then you're in high school, and you feel broke if you have less than $200 in savings at any given time. Then comes the beginning of college, and you start to panic and feel pretty broke if you have less than $500 in the bank. By the middle of each year in college, you're back to feeling like Richie Rich if you have more than $200. I wont even go into how much it's going to take to make you feel financially stable after graduation.

But then, just when you think you're becoming such a financially mature adult, you get to the laundry room and realize that you miscalculated, and you only have enough quarters left to dry one of the three loads that you just put into the washers. And once again, the mighty quarter is the most precious money you can have.

I dont think I've ever actually seen a back-hoe in action before. It's like watching a really fast dinosaur expertly picking up slabs of concrete. For some reason I'm fascinated.

So I know that a couple of my LJ friends are into sewing and crafty stuff, and I need some general opinions. I've been thinking about making a cool halloween costume for a while, and when I saw the My Chemical Romance video I just absolutely fell in love with the dress the dead girl is wearing. Because of this, I'm thinking of going as a gothic ballerina. I've captured a couple screenshots from the video, and here they are...

( Pictures behind the cut for your viewing pleasure )

So what I'm envisioning is either a fitted bodice or a corset if I can find one somewhere worn with a full skirt either attached or loose, or just making the whole damn thing myself. There is some detailing I'd probably leave out. While I think the tulle around the top of the bodice is a cute touch, it'd get kinda itchy. I'd probably make the skirt with 3 or 4 layers, depending on how expensive the fabric turns out to be. I found a Simplicity pattern online, but they only give you one picture, and its a small one, so I cant tell if it's what I'm looking for or not, and I dont know anywhere in the direct vicinity of Boston that sells sewing patterns.

So my two lines of questioning are as such:

To all the people who know a lot about sewing: Do you think I could pull off making this dress look semi-decent in a semi-reasonable amount of time? My sewing machine died but the family I babysit for has one, so I'd probably have about 2 or 3 nights of about 2 hours of straight sewing to finish the dress before Halloween. Do you think it'd be too hard to just kinda fake it? I have a dress with the sort of bodice I'd like to make, and I was thinking of maybe trying to make a pattern out of that. Then I'd just wing the circle skirt (I mean, it's a bunch of circles sewn together, I think I can figure something out).

To everyone else: What do you think of the costume itself? I'm trying to decide whether I think it's a bit much to be wearing to a halloween party or two in Boston. I think it'd be really cool to have something so nice that I made myself anyways, so I dont think it'd be a waste of time, but would I look out of place at a party where everyone else is dressed up as a "slutty ____insert cliche here____"?