HEY! I'm 20 years old! TWENTY!!! It happened exactly a week ago. Yay! The first part of the day wasn't super eventful, but I went to Khan's Mongolian Barbeque with my awesome parents for dinner, so that was fun! And I had dinner with other family members during the week, as well, so that was cool.
What made me open up my computer and make another blog post was this: Last night, I was eating dinner with a guy that I like a lot and some of his really cool friends, who I'm becoming friends with too. During the midst of our conversation, own of the people who works in Anderson came over and reached above and around us to grab the napkin containers to refill them. I knew he was mentally disabled, but nonetheless I started snickering and as he walked away, I said, just loud enough for the people at my table to hear me, "Okay, dude! Okay."
I received blank stares, and the guy I like looked straight at me and said "He's mentally handicapped." I knew this already, but I just replied "Oh." When the employee returned and put the napkin dispensers on the table, I said "Thank you!", as if it would even out the fact that I had laughed at him behind his back.
I was really taken aback by the reaction that my friends had given me. They didn't say, "Don't laugh at him, he's mentally disabled; that's so rude and mean!" They just stated the obvious, but I entirely expected them to snicker too. After my friend said, "He's mentally handicapped.", I realized I expected them to act the way my old friends would have acted. Furthermore, I realized I was acting that way. It made me sick to think about it, and super ashamed. How many times do I do things like that without even thinking about it? I know that I am better than those other people, but I feel horrible right now. I am glad that he said something (it wasn't reprimanding in any way or judgmental, just like a "well, this is why he's doing that."), otherwise I would not have caught it and would continue to say things like that. I should not make fun of that guy, he's not less of a person than me in any way.
That's all I want to say.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Driving
Hello! I am super excited to share that last Monday, the 20th, I took my driving test. AND I PASSED!!! YAY! I am so happy about it! I can drive by myself now! And actually make use of a car! And use those nifty Car2Go vehicles! WOOHOO!
The lady at the drive-up window at the test center wasn't very friendly. I didn't like her at all. And the man who drove with me was odd. I didn't do very well with parallel parking, and he was like "Well, that basically sucked." And it did, but I thought, well, thank you, sir! Geez.
But at the end he said, "OK, here is this. Go inside and get your license."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In other news, this weekend I babysat the kitties at my house. It was more work than I thought it would be, but I had fun seeing all of the cats. Little Bit shunned me, as is par for the course since I've gone back to college. I even sat with her one-on-one in a room, but after a few minutes that started out great, she got all huffy and hissy. I don't understand why the cat that I love the most has to be the most temperamental of all of them.
Lastly, I wanted to share a bit about what I have been thinking about teaching. This will keep coming up, because deciding what to do with your life is really freaking hard. I feel like I ought to/want to minor in something that could help me in classrooms with children who hear. While I find my ASL classes fun, I don't think I want an ASL minor anymore. I thinking that maybe a minor in history/social studies (I will have to look deeper into what is offered here in that regard) would be fun. History is really fascinating; I keep picking standards for my mini-lesson plan from the social studies standards and, a while ago, I remembered how interested I was in the Arab-Israeli Conflict I had learned about in my senior year of high school. And really interesting discussions can come from learning about history. So that is what I am thinking about right now. But earlier I was thinking about incorporating social justice in somewhere. And I may change my mind again tomorrow. It never ends!
Thanks for reading! See you later!
The lady at the drive-up window at the test center wasn't very friendly. I didn't like her at all. And the man who drove with me was odd. I didn't do very well with parallel parking, and he was like "Well, that basically sucked." And it did, but I thought, well, thank you, sir! Geez.
But at the end he said, "OK, here is this. Go inside and get your license."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In other news, this weekend I babysat the kitties at my house. It was more work than I thought it would be, but I had fun seeing all of the cats. Little Bit shunned me, as is par for the course since I've gone back to college. I even sat with her one-on-one in a room, but after a few minutes that started out great, she got all huffy and hissy. I don't understand why the cat that I love the most has to be the most temperamental of all of them.
Lastly, I wanted to share a bit about what I have been thinking about teaching. This will keep coming up, because deciding what to do with your life is really freaking hard. I feel like I ought to/want to minor in something that could help me in classrooms with children who hear. While I find my ASL classes fun, I don't think I want an ASL minor anymore. I thinking that maybe a minor in history/social studies (I will have to look deeper into what is offered here in that regard) would be fun. History is really fascinating; I keep picking standards for my mini-lesson plan from the social studies standards and, a while ago, I remembered how interested I was in the Arab-Israeli Conflict I had learned about in my senior year of high school. And really interesting discussions can come from learning about history. So that is what I am thinking about right now. But earlier I was thinking about incorporating social justice in somewhere. And I may change my mind again tomorrow. It never ends!
Thanks for reading! See you later!
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Blood
So today I donated blood to the American Red Cross organization. Yes, I willingly allowed my middle finger to be pricked and to have the vein in my arm be injected with the most humungous needle I have ever seen. It was actually tube-like, and closely resembled a miniature spile; those things that are stuck in trees to draw out water. I guess that is kind of what giving blood is like. Anyway, I answered a lot of questions, got pricked by a needle to figure out my iron level, had my pulse and blood pressure taken, got the crease in my arm coated it Iodine - it was a orangey-brown color and looked really weird - and then out came the spile-needle. I couldn't look at my arm once the needle was in it; it was kind of freaky. But a pint of my blood went into one of those blood-bags and a bit more was put into six test tubes to verify that my blood would be fine for donating. the whole time I had to roll a ball around in my hand so as not to, I think, tense up and make a fist. This is all I have time to write about right now, but I just wanted to share about this. I wanted to do it last year, but arrived too late each time. I am glad I did it this time. It was scary, but I think that I will do it again because apparently the bag saves three lives! Go me!
Sunday, September 7, 2014
People Really Aren't That Scary... At All.
Okay, so I know that I really should be doing homework right now (I really was a minute ago) but I really need to stop for a minute and write this down because it won't get out of my head.
I haven't been back at Hamline for very long (although it feels like it's been two weeks already) and I am trying something new. I am trying to meet a new person everyday/talk to someone that I have not talked to before. The first time I did it, it worked out wonderfully. I met a girl in my Sociology class due to the fact that I complimented her on her outfit. We kept talking before we had to go into the classroom, and then when we entered, I picked a seat and she asked if she could sit next to me, and we kept on talking. I found out she is from NY and is a first year student. We swapped stories about being a first year; I told her that I came here with another girl from my high school and made the mistake of following her around and not meeting people outside of the group we hung out with; she responded by saying that it was interesting for her because she doesn't know anyone, and that a lot of other people came here in pairs/already have groups and she is still trying to meet people.
This morning, I decided to ask her via facebook if she wanted to get breakfast. She never responded, and I saw her as I was leaving and said hello again and told her I had sent her a message. She said that she hadn't seen it; I said it was fine and that I'd see her later.
And then about 45 or so minutes ago, I went downstairs to do laundry and saw a guy who sat next to me in my religion class from last year, and I thought to myself, 'Okay, yes you thought he was intimidating since he is so freaking tall, but he probably thinks you are stuck up since you never smiled at all, which makes you look kinda pouty and arrogant. Just say 'You were in my religion class last year, right?' " So I did. And I learned his name, that he is going for an accounting major, that he lives in MN, goes to a Methodist church (because I said "I go to church because I like the people" "Where do you go?" "Fairmount Ave. United Methodist"), and that his roommate is in the same theatre troupe as me (glad I wore that shirt). He asked me if I was going for a religion major and I said yes I thought so, and then we asked each other if we believed in God. He said yes, and I said 'OK, how do you describe 'God'? What is God to you?" I can't remember the entirety of his answer to that, but he started by saying something like 'Oh, tough question.' I left after putting my clothes in the washer, and when I came back he was there again, and then he started talking to me, and we talked about having bad roommates, and what dorms we were in last year, what year we were here, etc.
It is amazing to me how much people judge one another. I know that I totally judged the guy from my religion class to be stuck up and arrogant and a total introvert, but he probably thought the same thing about me because we both were probably too nervous to speak to one another. And I totally thought that he was older than me, but he isn't. I am really learning that (most) people aren't as intimidating and scary as we think they are when we first meet them. It is a bit of a challenge for me to take an extra step and talk to someone I don't know. Whenever I try, I realize that I expect people to give one word answers and then go back to their business. For example, I expected the conversation I had with the guy from my religion class to go like this:
Me: You were in my religion class from last year, right?
Other guy: Yep.
Me: What's your name again?
Other guy: ______.
Me: OK, cool.
(silence)
Me: ..........
But so far it hasn't, because the people I have talked to seem to like the fact that I have made an effort to talk to them. It is just super interesting to me, and I wanted to share it.
I haven't been back at Hamline for very long (although it feels like it's been two weeks already) and I am trying something new. I am trying to meet a new person everyday/talk to someone that I have not talked to before. The first time I did it, it worked out wonderfully. I met a girl in my Sociology class due to the fact that I complimented her on her outfit. We kept talking before we had to go into the classroom, and then when we entered, I picked a seat and she asked if she could sit next to me, and we kept on talking. I found out she is from NY and is a first year student. We swapped stories about being a first year; I told her that I came here with another girl from my high school and made the mistake of following her around and not meeting people outside of the group we hung out with; she responded by saying that it was interesting for her because she doesn't know anyone, and that a lot of other people came here in pairs/already have groups and she is still trying to meet people.
This morning, I decided to ask her via facebook if she wanted to get breakfast. She never responded, and I saw her as I was leaving and said hello again and told her I had sent her a message. She said that she hadn't seen it; I said it was fine and that I'd see her later.
And then about 45 or so minutes ago, I went downstairs to do laundry and saw a guy who sat next to me in my religion class from last year, and I thought to myself, 'Okay, yes you thought he was intimidating since he is so freaking tall, but he probably thinks you are stuck up since you never smiled at all, which makes you look kinda pouty and arrogant. Just say 'You were in my religion class last year, right?' " So I did. And I learned his name, that he is going for an accounting major, that he lives in MN, goes to a Methodist church (because I said "I go to church because I like the people" "Where do you go?" "Fairmount Ave. United Methodist"), and that his roommate is in the same theatre troupe as me (glad I wore that shirt). He asked me if I was going for a religion major and I said yes I thought so, and then we asked each other if we believed in God. He said yes, and I said 'OK, how do you describe 'God'? What is God to you?" I can't remember the entirety of his answer to that, but he started by saying something like 'Oh, tough question.' I left after putting my clothes in the washer, and when I came back he was there again, and then he started talking to me, and we talked about having bad roommates, and what dorms we were in last year, what year we were here, etc.
It is amazing to me how much people judge one another. I know that I totally judged the guy from my religion class to be stuck up and arrogant and a total introvert, but he probably thought the same thing about me because we both were probably too nervous to speak to one another. And I totally thought that he was older than me, but he isn't. I am really learning that (most) people aren't as intimidating and scary as we think they are when we first meet them. It is a bit of a challenge for me to take an extra step and talk to someone I don't know. Whenever I try, I realize that I expect people to give one word answers and then go back to their business. For example, I expected the conversation I had with the guy from my religion class to go like this:
Me: You were in my religion class from last year, right?
Other guy: Yep.
Me: What's your name again?
Other guy: ______.
Me: OK, cool.
(silence)
Me: ..........
But so far it hasn't, because the people I have talked to seem to like the fact that I have made an effort to talk to them. It is just super interesting to me, and I wanted to share it.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Well, That Sucked.
So today I learned that a possible Hamline student may be reading this blog. If you are reading this, Potential Piper, I would like to give you some advice (if you aren't, that is OK too): Make your own friends, especially if someone you know is attending Hamline as well. I don't mean: NEVER spend time with the other person who is coming to college with you; just hang out with a bunch of different people - don't just stick with one group. That was the mistake I made. Just wanted to put that out there.
Within the last few hours, I haven't been very smart. I tried to ignore my old friends as I walked by them on my way to dinner, but when dinner is outside and they begin to call your name, it isn't easily done. It's impossible, actually. And then there is the internal dialogue while all this is happening:
"I should stop holding a grudge against these people. It's been at LEAST half a year. I feel like I am just dragging my feet."
"But they never apologized. Or rather that one person who sounded like they were talking for the whole group never apologized. (But they all should.)"
"Yes, but now they are acting like nothing happened. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO???"
My problem is that I don't really want to stir things up by saying: 'Why were you such a jerk?' because I don't like conflict, and I wonder if they still are on my old roommate's side. If they are, then things would just explode all over again.
I also saw my old roommate's boyfriend again. The last time I talked to him I thought he was mad at me due to the fact that he got the backlash of my issues. But I waved at him today and talked to him at dinner, but the worst part of today was the fact that I left him, I LEFT the one person who was nice and didn't blow up at me (or wasn't part of the group who said "you suck"), to go and sit with the people who DID say I sucked. I did this because I didn't want to hold a grudge. But really I just got right back into the groove of being silent and uncomfortable and I treated the nice person exactly the way that the other people treated me. So really, how does that make me any better than them? This past Sunday, we had a guest speaker preach at my church, and her sermon was all about doing the right thing rather than what was easy or what you wanted to do. I am absolutely kicking myself for going back to the people who hurt me rather than staying and talking to the one who is actually nice. It sounds like being a woman who keeps going back to an abusive husband. Why did I do that? I feel really bad for leaving my old roommate's boyfriend in the dust. What I was thinking was that I didn't want the other people to think that I was mad at them, but I am, so what the heck is wrong with me? I shouldn't be that afraid of conflict that I end up hurting others.
I am going to make tomorrow better.
Within the last few hours, I haven't been very smart. I tried to ignore my old friends as I walked by them on my way to dinner, but when dinner is outside and they begin to call your name, it isn't easily done. It's impossible, actually. And then there is the internal dialogue while all this is happening:
"I should stop holding a grudge against these people. It's been at LEAST half a year. I feel like I am just dragging my feet."
"But they never apologized. Or rather that one person who sounded like they were talking for the whole group never apologized. (But they all should.)"
"Yes, but now they are acting like nothing happened. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO???"
My problem is that I don't really want to stir things up by saying: 'Why were you such a jerk?' because I don't like conflict, and I wonder if they still are on my old roommate's side. If they are, then things would just explode all over again.
I also saw my old roommate's boyfriend again. The last time I talked to him I thought he was mad at me due to the fact that he got the backlash of my issues. But I waved at him today and talked to him at dinner, but the worst part of today was the fact that I left him, I LEFT the one person who was nice and didn't blow up at me (or wasn't part of the group who said "you suck"), to go and sit with the people who DID say I sucked. I did this because I didn't want to hold a grudge. But really I just got right back into the groove of being silent and uncomfortable and I treated the nice person exactly the way that the other people treated me. So really, how does that make me any better than them? This past Sunday, we had a guest speaker preach at my church, and her sermon was all about doing the right thing rather than what was easy or what you wanted to do. I am absolutely kicking myself for going back to the people who hurt me rather than staying and talking to the one who is actually nice. It sounds like being a woman who keeps going back to an abusive husband. Why did I do that? I feel really bad for leaving my old roommate's boyfriend in the dust. What I was thinking was that I didn't want the other people to think that I was mad at them, but I am, so what the heck is wrong with me? I shouldn't be that afraid of conflict that I end up hurting others.
I am going to make tomorrow better.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Move in Day - Year 2
So today I moved back into my new dorm room for round two at Hamline. I really hope this year will be better than last year. It took a long time to unpack, and then I went to the rummage sale that was taking place on the main floor of my dorm and found a chair. It's not super comfortable, but it was only $3, so whatever. I saw one of my friend's boyfriend a couple times and actually stopped by and talked to him at one point; that is one thing that I am going to change this year; I am going to go that extra step and talk to people I have met/seen but haven't actually talked to. I have done that twice so far: I spent the entirety of last year thinking that both of my friends' boyfriend didn't like me because he never talked to me, but it was really just because I was too afraid to have a legitimate conversation with them. The guy I talked to today was actually SUPER nice and chatty. The other occasion was with the brother of an old friend of mine; I had seen him numerous times going to and from class last year, but never introduced myself, and just figured that he didn't remember who I was. When I was at the fair, I finally said hello, and it turns out he DID remember me. Anyway, that is something I plan on changing.
I hung out with my roommate for the majority of the day, and we talked, had dinner, listened to downloadable ringtones, and watched movies. I know that this is a super short entry, but I don't have a lot to say today. I hope to have a good day tomorrow and hang out with new friends. Fingers crossed!
I hung out with my roommate for the majority of the day, and we talked, had dinner, listened to downloadable ringtones, and watched movies. I know that this is a super short entry, but I don't have a lot to say today. I hope to have a good day tomorrow and hang out with new friends. Fingers crossed!
Monday, July 7, 2014
Life
So, a little while ago I was thinking about what quote I would like for my next tattoo. Then I thought about how I will cease being a teenager in about 5 months: "Whoa. I am going to be twenty. two-zero. 20. If I am lucky enough to live until I am eighty, then that means that I will reach the one-quarter mark of my life in 5 months. If I am SUPER lucky, then it means that I will reach the one-fifth mark. And if I am EXTRA-SUPER lucky, it will be the one-sixth mark." But no matter what, a fraction of my life will have gone by. So then I asked the well known question of: 'If I randomly die today, will I be okay with it? Will I be content with the point which I am at in the world?' The answer that popped up in my head was huge, flashy, red, and consisted of the letters that are side-by-side in the alphabet.
There are two general things that I want to work on so that the answer will change:
1.) I want to help people/the world in a meaningful way that will impact others positively. Being a teacher will accomplish this, and so will working at a homeless shelter or the like. I need to get on that.
2.) I need to worry about EVERYTHING a lot less. I worry about being on time, hurting someone else/impacting them negatively (which is an important thing to worry about, but not as much as I do it), and, most importantly, what people think of ME. That is my biggest flaw. If I died right now, I know that I would be extremely disappointed with myself about caring that that one faceless no-name person cared about how I looked or walked or whatever. I think that this was part of my problem in my first year of college - I wanted so desperately for people to think that I was interesting and cool and I really wanted to fit in that I changed a bit as a person. I need to not second-guess my thoughts, actions, style, personal taste, and own them instead, because there are judgmental people in the world; that's just how it is. Letting the opinions of others be the ruling factor will ruin a person. I want to be able to say that I lived life how I wanted to when the time comes.
After thinking about all this, I decided that I want my next tattoo to be a quote that says something like 'Live boldly, love passionately, and laugh loudly, because today may be your last' or 'I want to be able to say that I lived life my way'. Then, when I look at it, it will remind me to live fully.
There are two general things that I want to work on so that the answer will change:
1.) I want to help people/the world in a meaningful way that will impact others positively. Being a teacher will accomplish this, and so will working at a homeless shelter or the like. I need to get on that.
2.) I need to worry about EVERYTHING a lot less. I worry about being on time, hurting someone else/impacting them negatively (which is an important thing to worry about, but not as much as I do it), and, most importantly, what people think of ME. That is my biggest flaw. If I died right now, I know that I would be extremely disappointed with myself about caring that that one faceless no-name person cared about how I looked or walked or whatever. I think that this was part of my problem in my first year of college - I wanted so desperately for people to think that I was interesting and cool and I really wanted to fit in that I changed a bit as a person. I need to not second-guess my thoughts, actions, style, personal taste, and own them instead, because there are judgmental people in the world; that's just how it is. Letting the opinions of others be the ruling factor will ruin a person. I want to be able to say that I lived life how I wanted to when the time comes.
After thinking about all this, I decided that I want my next tattoo to be a quote that says something like 'Live boldly, love passionately, and laugh loudly, because today may be your last' or 'I want to be able to say that I lived life my way'. Then, when I look at it, it will remind me to live fully.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Interning
The ExplorSchool program under Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth (MITY) organization just finished it's first of two weeks yesterday. I have had SO much fun interning there! I have spent mornings walking to local shops and playgrounds and such with the Aerobic Newspaper class; it is a fun way to get really good exercise and learn the history of places in St. Paul. Yesterday I joined Crimes and Clues class on their trip to the Mall of America where they toured the CSI Exhibit and solved murder mysteries. It was awesome. Oh, and I went to the Pavek Museum with the Aerobic Newspaper class on Thursday morning; the Pavek is a museum that features broadcasting. There were old radios, transmitters and record players, and the students got to see the tour guide send out an SOS signal via a transmitter that was from the same year that the Titanic sunk - 1912! It was SO cool. I learned a few cool things from the tour guide: the gemstone Amber is made from fossilized tree sap, and the first record was designed by Thomas Edison in 1877 and was made of tinfoil! I also watched the students host their very own radio shows! One student from each group made a Breaking News! story, one ran the music/sound controls, two were hosts, and the others were reporters. It was awesome.
Yesterday, on the way back from the CSI exhibit, the teacher of the Crimes and Clues class and I learned that one boy wrote a 28-page story that was fiction, but had to sound real (i.e; it couldn't be about rainbows and unicorns). His was about a criminal foreigner who escaped to the United States and planned to break into the Federal Reserve. This main character was planning with other foreigners about how and when to do it, when he was overheard by two elementary school students. The students went to the police with the information, and after a long chase, the police officers caught the foreigner when he jumped out the window. There was a lot more detail to the story than what I have just written, but I cannot remember it all. It took the MITY student the entire bus ride to tell his teacher and I about his story because he told us ALL of it. It was super interesting; the best part was when he said "I tried to get a floor plan or layout of the Federal Reserve from the internet, but then realized that that was kind of impossible because all the pictures I found had huge X's through them or said 'Classified'."
I think that my favorite part of the day is running the group games after lunch, because it's just me and the students; no curriculum or things that need to be done. It's just a fun break, and the students get to decide what to do.
So yeah, I am having a lot of fun with ExplorSchool. I am really glad that I decided to sign up for it this year, and I am definitely going to again next summer! In other news, I got an email from some Adjunct Action organization; I guess I got on their email list when I signed a petition for Hamline Adjuncts to have their own union. The email I was sent said that they succeeded at forming a union on Friday. I am so happy for them. One of my professors last semester was an adjunct faculty member, as was the professor who led the theatre troupe that I joined towards the end of the year. I was really angry when I heard that they worked just as hard as other professors but were not paid the same. I have to confess that I do not know very much about what it means to be an adjunct, and that I have forgotten a lot of what my professor told me about it, but I am glad that they were able to make a union. They got a lot of resistance from other faculty at Hamline when they proposed this, but I am glad it worked out for them!
That is all for now. Bye until next time!
Yesterday, on the way back from the CSI exhibit, the teacher of the Crimes and Clues class and I learned that one boy wrote a 28-page story that was fiction, but had to sound real (i.e; it couldn't be about rainbows and unicorns). His was about a criminal foreigner who escaped to the United States and planned to break into the Federal Reserve. This main character was planning with other foreigners about how and when to do it, when he was overheard by two elementary school students. The students went to the police with the information, and after a long chase, the police officers caught the foreigner when he jumped out the window. There was a lot more detail to the story than what I have just written, but I cannot remember it all. It took the MITY student the entire bus ride to tell his teacher and I about his story because he told us ALL of it. It was super interesting; the best part was when he said "I tried to get a floor plan or layout of the Federal Reserve from the internet, but then realized that that was kind of impossible because all the pictures I found had huge X's through them or said 'Classified'."
I think that my favorite part of the day is running the group games after lunch, because it's just me and the students; no curriculum or things that need to be done. It's just a fun break, and the students get to decide what to do.
So yeah, I am having a lot of fun with ExplorSchool. I am really glad that I decided to sign up for it this year, and I am definitely going to again next summer! In other news, I got an email from some Adjunct Action organization; I guess I got on their email list when I signed a petition for Hamline Adjuncts to have their own union. The email I was sent said that they succeeded at forming a union on Friday. I am so happy for them. One of my professors last semester was an adjunct faculty member, as was the professor who led the theatre troupe that I joined towards the end of the year. I was really angry when I heard that they worked just as hard as other professors but were not paid the same. I have to confess that I do not know very much about what it means to be an adjunct, and that I have forgotten a lot of what my professor told me about it, but I am glad that they were able to make a union. They got a lot of resistance from other faculty at Hamline when they proposed this, but I am glad it worked out for them!
That is all for now. Bye until next time!
Monday, June 9, 2014
We're ONLY Halfway Through June?
Oh my goodness. This month has barely started and I am already feeling worn out. I had about a four day break after school ended before I began nanny-ing for my former high school teachers. It is harder work that it seems; kids like to run around ALL day, and it the job of the nanny to make sure they clean up after themselves, don't run off, eat healthy food before eating not-so-healthy food, etc. It makes me wonder what is harder: being a nanny, or being a parent. I don't really know anything about being a parent, obviously, but being a nanny has difficulties that parenting does not. For instance, the children you are watching do not know you or how you operate (if you are lenient or not), so they test you and push your limits to see how far they can go. Which is probably the same for parents.
Anyway, that was kind of a tangent, but I do that from 6:45am to 3 or 4pm. That has been going on for a week and a half, and sometimes my job is right afterward. So then I am up at 5:30/5:45 and don't get home until 10ish, and get to bed around 10:45, which means that quite a few times, I have been operating 17 hour days on 7 hours of sleep. Yuck.
I am super excited for next week when I begin interning at a MN Institute for Talented Youth (MITY) program called ExplorSchool. Then I can wake up at 7am instead of 5:30am! That is whole extra 1.5 hours of sleep!!! YAY!
Besides nanny-ing and working, not much has happened except the trip that I just got back from yesterday. That was a much-needed break, and super fun. I don't think I have ever been to the cabin with everyone on my mom's side of the family before, and definitely not all at one time. But it was super fun! The occasion was my Grandma and Grandpa's 50th Anniversary!!!!! I am so happy for them! I love you guys, and congratulations! The weekend was a lot of fun and super relaxed; I think that everyone had a great time and enjoyed themselves. We had professional photos taken of all of us outside of a great restaurant; it was fun to see the pictures a few days later - there were two of my youngest cousin and many of the entire family that were phenomenal.
Apart from celebrating with my Grandparents and the family, my favorite parts of the weekend were when my other two cousins and I played a variety of card games: garbage, kings in the corners, speed, and my favorite: perpetual commotion. Those were times I had a lot of fun. I don't see them very often because they live in a different state, so I like to spend lots of time with them when they visit. They are coming back soon for the youngest cousin's birthday, and we are planning a Valley Fair trip because they have NEVER been. I was appalled when I heard that, and I want to tag along when they go for the first time!
That's about it for now; I will post again soon!
Anyway, that was kind of a tangent, but I do that from 6:45am to 3 or 4pm. That has been going on for a week and a half, and sometimes my job is right afterward. So then I am up at 5:30/5:45 and don't get home until 10ish, and get to bed around 10:45, which means that quite a few times, I have been operating 17 hour days on 7 hours of sleep. Yuck.
I am super excited for next week when I begin interning at a MN Institute for Talented Youth (MITY) program called ExplorSchool. Then I can wake up at 7am instead of 5:30am! That is whole extra 1.5 hours of sleep!!! YAY!
Besides nanny-ing and working, not much has happened except the trip that I just got back from yesterday. That was a much-needed break, and super fun. I don't think I have ever been to the cabin with everyone on my mom's side of the family before, and definitely not all at one time. But it was super fun! The occasion was my Grandma and Grandpa's 50th Anniversary!!!!! I am so happy for them! I love you guys, and congratulations! The weekend was a lot of fun and super relaxed; I think that everyone had a great time and enjoyed themselves. We had professional photos taken of all of us outside of a great restaurant; it was fun to see the pictures a few days later - there were two of my youngest cousin and many of the entire family that were phenomenal.
Apart from celebrating with my Grandparents and the family, my favorite parts of the weekend were when my other two cousins and I played a variety of card games: garbage, kings in the corners, speed, and my favorite: perpetual commotion. Those were times I had a lot of fun. I don't see them very often because they live in a different state, so I like to spend lots of time with them when they visit. They are coming back soon for the youngest cousin's birthday, and we are planning a Valley Fair trip because they have NEVER been. I was appalled when I heard that, and I want to tag along when they go for the first time!
That's about it for now; I will post again soon!
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Service Work and Stuff
I didn't mean to leave the page blank for so long. oops.
Today was a pretty good day. I kept pressing snooze on alarm clock this morning, so much that I almost was late for class. I did NOT want to get up. What woke me was the Old Main bell tower ten minutes before my class started. Classes were good today, and it was SO nice out! I did some homework outside, which was super awesome. I also went with three other people from the Values in Action group at Hamline to rake someone's yard. This person was part of the Hamline Midway Elders group, and watched us very intently as we worked. We swept and raked all around her house and trimmed a few plants for her. I enjoyed it. I really like doing service work, and it was nice to meet some new people. I talked to them about their majors and jobs and it made me think about what possibilities I have for my co-major. I have already declared having an Education co-major, but I have not declared the other major yet. ASL is awesome, but I REALLY really enjoy religion classes. And I think I would really like social justice classes and maybe history classes. I really just don't know. Part of my problem is that if I want to do an ASL major, I have to make a flex-curriculum major and the next few years will be planned out.
So that is something I am thinking about. I feel like I am constantly changing my mind. I would pick religion in a heartbeat, but I feel like it wouldn't be beneficial to an education co-major. That is what hinders me. I like ASL a lot, but I like religion a lot more. I would like to do an education and religion double major and an ASL minor (and maybe make it a major later on). That would be the absolute best. But is it better to do what I want, or what would be better for my career? I welcome thoughts about this in the comments.
In other news, due to the awesome weather today, I decided to eat on the third floor patio of the student center today. I also happened to eat at the time that the people I used to hang out with eat. So when I saw someone trying to get the door open with their full hands, I got up to help them, and then realize it was my old roommate and a friend. Another two of them came as well, and they sat down at the same table that I was at. And began talking to me like nothing had changed. We all joked and it was fine. Now I am sitting here and it seems a little weird now, but it makes me think that I shouldn't try so hard to avoid them if they are going to be decent. But I am not going to seek them out. It is just a weird situation. Sigh.
Overall, though, it has been a pretty good day. I have to go do some homework now and think some more about what I want to do with my life. No pressure.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Stuff (because I don't Know what To title This...)
I just ate a tomato. Yep, me. Ate a tomato. I bought a salad with cheese, chicken and cherry tomatoes on it, and I thought, 'I am going to eat that tomato.' Result: disgust. Tomatoes are gross. I think I could deal with them if they were more like red peppers. It's the slimy inside stuff I can't cope with. I probably could deal with peppers. Maybe even like them. But tomatoes. Unless they're on bruschetta.
Apart from my horrid relationship with tomatoes, I want to share about the fact that I had a bad Tuesday. I thought that my ride to my clinical was coming later than it actually did, so it left without me (totally my fault. sigh.) and I was late to my clinical. Luckily, the teacher I work with was super cool about it, and was glad that I was safe (I had to walk part of the way). And then in my Schools and Society class, I was called on to answer a question that I had JUST talked about five minutes earlier, but I couldn't come up with an answer. I was paying attention when my group was talking about the issue, but it just left my head the minute I went back to my seat. When I attempted to answer, the majority of what I said were sentences that I failed to finish. I finally said, "That's a good question. I am sorry, I don't feel good (which was true: headache, lack of food causing lightheadedness, and neck pain)." So then my professor allowed me a "life line" and asked someone else to answer the question. Maybe the fact that I wasn't feeling 100% was a large contributor to why I was unable to answer, but I still felt like a huge idiot. When I tell people, though, I feel like it is not as bad as it is in my head. I feel like a lot of the time in this class, I am not making any sense and have trouble with connecting my thoughts to certain ideas/concepts and prior reading material. I felt like this today when one of my friends was like "How does that connect to this?"
Speaking of 'friends', I feel like ever since the issue I had with my last roommate, my self-confidence has both increased and decreased at the same time. This is actually really hard to admit. I think it all depends on the mood that I am in. Sometimes I feel kind of awkward around some of my friends/when I text them, and sometimes I don't. I think my issue is that the people I hung out with before didn't care at all, and so I don't know when I am pestering people and when I am not, and I am not exactly good at asking people to hang out/get together/etc. And when I share things like this, I feel like I am holding a little personal pity-party. Which is not what I mean to do.
This is not how I meant for this post to go.
So, on another note, today I ran into my old roommate and some of my past friends coming into Anderson this morning. All of them except my roommate said hello to me, which leads me to believe that they believe that my side of the argument that my roommate and I had to be somewhat valid. if they didn't, they wouldn't even say hello. This I find interesting. I don't necessarily have the grudge that I did, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't be angrily in shock if they decided to ask me if/why I was mad at them.
On other note (a happier one too; this is turning out to be a lot more negative than I planned...), I didn't really study for my religion quiz as well as I could have the other day, and I came into class hoping to do better than I expected (but we get to drop one quiz grade; the professor has seven quiz grades in his gradebook and we take eight), and he announced, "In lieu of talking about grace yesterday, everyone who showed up to class today gets an A on the quiz and you don't have to take it."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Talk about luck.
He gave us the answers and said that the material would be on the final. But hey. Wow.
And now I am sitting here eating string cheese and planning to watch the BBC version of Robin Hood. My parents got me addicted to the show. (Thanks, Mom and Dad.) And I have to do more homework. Such is my life.
The End. Bye until next time!
Apart from my horrid relationship with tomatoes, I want to share about the fact that I had a bad Tuesday. I thought that my ride to my clinical was coming later than it actually did, so it left without me (totally my fault. sigh.) and I was late to my clinical. Luckily, the teacher I work with was super cool about it, and was glad that I was safe (I had to walk part of the way). And then in my Schools and Society class, I was called on to answer a question that I had JUST talked about five minutes earlier, but I couldn't come up with an answer. I was paying attention when my group was talking about the issue, but it just left my head the minute I went back to my seat. When I attempted to answer, the majority of what I said were sentences that I failed to finish. I finally said, "That's a good question. I am sorry, I don't feel good (which was true: headache, lack of food causing lightheadedness, and neck pain)." So then my professor allowed me a "life line" and asked someone else to answer the question. Maybe the fact that I wasn't feeling 100% was a large contributor to why I was unable to answer, but I still felt like a huge idiot. When I tell people, though, I feel like it is not as bad as it is in my head. I feel like a lot of the time in this class, I am not making any sense and have trouble with connecting my thoughts to certain ideas/concepts and prior reading material. I felt like this today when one of my friends was like "How does that connect to this?"
Speaking of 'friends', I feel like ever since the issue I had with my last roommate, my self-confidence has both increased and decreased at the same time. This is actually really hard to admit. I think it all depends on the mood that I am in. Sometimes I feel kind of awkward around some of my friends/when I text them, and sometimes I don't. I think my issue is that the people I hung out with before didn't care at all, and so I don't know when I am pestering people and when I am not, and I am not exactly good at asking people to hang out/get together/etc. And when I share things like this, I feel like I am holding a little personal pity-party. Which is not what I mean to do.
This is not how I meant for this post to go.
So, on another note, today I ran into my old roommate and some of my past friends coming into Anderson this morning. All of them except my roommate said hello to me, which leads me to believe that they believe that my side of the argument that my roommate and I had to be somewhat valid. if they didn't, they wouldn't even say hello. This I find interesting. I don't necessarily have the grudge that I did, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't be angrily in shock if they decided to ask me if/why I was mad at them.
On other note (a happier one too; this is turning out to be a lot more negative than I planned...), I didn't really study for my religion quiz as well as I could have the other day, and I came into class hoping to do better than I expected (but we get to drop one quiz grade; the professor has seven quiz grades in his gradebook and we take eight), and he announced, "In lieu of talking about grace yesterday, everyone who showed up to class today gets an A on the quiz and you don't have to take it."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Talk about luck.
He gave us the answers and said that the material would be on the final. But hey. Wow.
And now I am sitting here eating string cheese and planning to watch the BBC version of Robin Hood. My parents got me addicted to the show. (Thanks, Mom and Dad.) And I have to do more homework. Such is my life.
The End. Bye until next time!
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Pastrix
Today I want to talk about a book I am reading for my religion class called Pastrix: the Cranky and Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber. Upon reading the first few pages, I told my mom that she should check it out, but I should mention to my mom and anyone else who possibly wants to read the book: Nadia is very opinionated, straightforward, and extremely (as she likes to put it) "misanthropic". She is very interesting and I like how I really have to think about what she writes in this book, but I think that last characteristic of hers is what makes it hard for me to really connect with what she writes. I am not really misanthropic in any way. Yes, I think that there are extremely senseless and heartless and (insert word here)less people out there, but the definition of a misanthrope is "somebody who hates people: somebody who hates humanity, or who dislikes and distrusts other people and tends to avoid them", which is not me. At all. Anyway, despite that, I LOVE the book and how I can really hear her tone; she is incredibly funny, and I am... I don't want to say "in awe" (of her life story (so far)), because that sounds wrong... it's more like I think that the fact that she was on a path that was (in my opinion) in the complete opposite direction from God and Jesus and somehow got there anyway is really intriguing.
Nadia talks about the experiences that she has had throughout her life with church/religion. As a kid, she went to a Church of Christ (I don't know what that is, and the internet says a lot of things about it, but the most common is: "a group of Christians who use only the New Testament as the source for Christian doctrine and practice and who consider themselves to be part of the original church (Wikipedia)") and stopped going when she realized that she was smarter than the Sunday School teacher. When she was in her late teens/early 20s, she discovered Wicca, which she loved, but that was just a period in her life when she (paraphrase) "hung out with God's aunt." She says she never stopped believing in God during these periods in her life, but that the way she was told to behave/the ways that the groups of people with these beliefs acted were either wrong for her or only right for certain periods of her life.
At one point in her life, she attended AA meetings, and she says that getting better felt "like I was on one path toward self-destruction and God pulled me off of it by the scruff of my collar, me hopelessly kicking and flailing and saying, "I'll take the destruction please." God looked at tiny, little red-faced me and said, "that's adorable," and placed me down on an entirely different path." After this, she met her "unicorn", Matthew. She visited Matthew's church and fell in love with the Lutheran religion, and attended seminary, and became the pastor (or Pastrix (hence the title), which is "a term of insult used by unimaginative sections of the church to define female pastors.") of the House for All Sinners and Saints (which apparently is quite famous; I plan to learn more about it). I like that Nadia gives me a alternative way of thinking about God. She states in a video on her website that she never fit into the 'atheist' category, but that she has "struggled with what God looks like" and means for her.
Anyway, wow. That was pretty much a synopsis of (only) the first five chapters of the book. I pretty much gave a summary of her life. But I wanted to share all that before I made my main point.
MAIN POINT
Before Nadia encounters the Lutheran religion, she dabbles in Unitarianism, but says that it wasn't right for her because "Unitarians just don't talk much about our need for God's grace." For her, the grace of God was necessary; she believes that God interfered with her life and repositioned her. The best way I can define what the grace of God is for her is when God interrupts someone's life and repositions them the way he wants. I don't know if this is what Nadia means; she gave a fair number of examples, but I wasn't able to come up with a clear definition.
But, personally I don't see this to be true. I always feel like I want it to be true, like I want to believe that there is a God out there somewhere, but I don't. And at the same time, I don't like the idea of there being a spirit or power that people are supposed to submit to. Belief in God makes me feel like I am a chess piece; I don't really have a choice about where I will be moved and that the outcome is already planned. And I have not experienced anything like what I believe her grace/grace in general to be.
I don't really support the idea of God or gods because I feel like it is the same concept as a supreme dictator; why can't we have any say or figure things out entirely for ourselves? And the idea that we are made by God makes me feel like someone took a chunk of clay and shaped me. And maybe all of that is correct. I just don't like that idea.
But at the same time, I want a category to fit into. I want to be part of a group; not religious, necessarily, but with common beliefs that gives me a label. I feel like one flaw with humans is that we don't want to be put into categories or boxes, but at the exact same time, we want confirmation that we are not the only ones who think, believe or act how we do; so really, we do want categories. Our issue is that we don't want to be confined to ONLY that category; we want the freedom to change and not be held down by the original belief.
It has taken me a long time to type this, and I am starting to get tired, so I apologize if I make typos or don't make complete sense. But to conclude, I like Nadia's book, and it makes me want to find a category that I fit into, I just don't know what category that is. I feel like humanism might be it (which is exactly the opposite of what the awesome misanthropic author prefers), but I need to know more about it, as well as other religions and beliefs. But that is the main point that I wanted to make; I can't believe it took so long. Sorry about the long read! Thanks for checking it out!
Nadia talks about the experiences that she has had throughout her life with church/religion. As a kid, she went to a Church of Christ (I don't know what that is, and the internet says a lot of things about it, but the most common is: "a group of Christians who use only the New Testament as the source for Christian doctrine and practice and who consider themselves to be part of the original church (Wikipedia)") and stopped going when she realized that she was smarter than the Sunday School teacher. When she was in her late teens/early 20s, she discovered Wicca, which she loved, but that was just a period in her life when she (paraphrase) "hung out with God's aunt." She says she never stopped believing in God during these periods in her life, but that the way she was told to behave/the ways that the groups of people with these beliefs acted were either wrong for her or only right for certain periods of her life.
At one point in her life, she attended AA meetings, and she says that getting better felt "like I was on one path toward self-destruction and God pulled me off of it by the scruff of my collar, me hopelessly kicking and flailing and saying, "I'll take the destruction please." God looked at tiny, little red-faced me and said, "that's adorable," and placed me down on an entirely different path." After this, she met her "unicorn", Matthew. She visited Matthew's church and fell in love with the Lutheran religion, and attended seminary, and became the pastor (or Pastrix (hence the title), which is "a term of insult used by unimaginative sections of the church to define female pastors.") of the House for All Sinners and Saints (which apparently is quite famous; I plan to learn more about it). I like that Nadia gives me a alternative way of thinking about God. She states in a video on her website that she never fit into the 'atheist' category, but that she has "struggled with what God looks like" and means for her.
Anyway, wow. That was pretty much a synopsis of (only) the first five chapters of the book. I pretty much gave a summary of her life. But I wanted to share all that before I made my main point.
MAIN POINT
Before Nadia encounters the Lutheran religion, she dabbles in Unitarianism, but says that it wasn't right for her because "Unitarians just don't talk much about our need for God's grace." For her, the grace of God was necessary; she believes that God interfered with her life and repositioned her. The best way I can define what the grace of God is for her is when God interrupts someone's life and repositions them the way he wants. I don't know if this is what Nadia means; she gave a fair number of examples, but I wasn't able to come up with a clear definition.
But, personally I don't see this to be true. I always feel like I want it to be true, like I want to believe that there is a God out there somewhere, but I don't. And at the same time, I don't like the idea of there being a spirit or power that people are supposed to submit to. Belief in God makes me feel like I am a chess piece; I don't really have a choice about where I will be moved and that the outcome is already planned. And I have not experienced anything like what I believe her grace/grace in general to be.
I don't really support the idea of God or gods because I feel like it is the same concept as a supreme dictator; why can't we have any say or figure things out entirely for ourselves? And the idea that we are made by God makes me feel like someone took a chunk of clay and shaped me. And maybe all of that is correct. I just don't like that idea.
But at the same time, I want a category to fit into. I want to be part of a group; not religious, necessarily, but with common beliefs that gives me a label. I feel like one flaw with humans is that we don't want to be put into categories or boxes, but at the exact same time, we want confirmation that we are not the only ones who think, believe or act how we do; so really, we do want categories. Our issue is that we don't want to be confined to ONLY that category; we want the freedom to change and not be held down by the original belief.
It has taken me a long time to type this, and I am starting to get tired, so I apologize if I make typos or don't make complete sense. But to conclude, I like Nadia's book, and it makes me want to find a category that I fit into, I just don't know what category that is. I feel like humanism might be it (which is exactly the opposite of what the awesome misanthropic author prefers), but I need to know more about it, as well as other religions and beliefs. But that is the main point that I wanted to make; I can't believe it took so long. Sorry about the long read! Thanks for checking it out!
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Crazy Day at MOA
So the other day, I went to the Mall of America with my mom. It was super fun at the beginning; we went to See's Candy and Best Buy (which was a mistake) and to Microsoft to fix some stuff with my computer. We ended up spending over an hour in the Microsoft store because they had to figure out what was wrong with/how they could fix my computer. I had the option to leave my computer there for a long period of time, or to get a new computer of equal or greater value. I ended up going with a new computer that was just a little more costly than my original, and I like it very much.
And then we left, but we didn't leave early enough and I was late to work; fortunately my managers weren't mad about that.
My co-workers are the funniest people. While I was there, two of them had a conversation about not having eyes and about being immortal. It was so odd that I just listened and laughed at them. They are just the best.
I just got back from seeing Divergent, which was awesome! Everyone should see it. I liked it a lot. Now I am going to chill and watch more Doctor Who and I'll probably have to do some homework... Sigh.
And then we left, but we didn't leave early enough and I was late to work; fortunately my managers weren't mad about that.
My co-workers are the funniest people. While I was there, two of them had a conversation about not having eyes and about being immortal. It was so odd that I just listened and laughed at them. They are just the best.
I just got back from seeing Divergent, which was awesome! Everyone should see it. I liked it a lot. Now I am going to chill and watch more Doctor Who and I'll probably have to do some homework... Sigh.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Laziness!
This week has been kind of busy, so I haven't been able to post anything. A lot has happened: my roommate reserved us a room for next year and picked the dorm that I wanted, which was super nice of her; I learned that I am going to get a free cat from the lady that my family got our last cat from, which is AWESOME! And this past week was midterm week, so that is why I haven't added any new posts. I think my midterms went well, but my American Sign Language test taught me that I am directionally challenged; I had a very hard time trying to figure out which way the shapes that my professor signed were facing. I hope I did well...
And now I am lounging around at home because Spring Break has FINALLY arrived. I am really looking forward to relaxing and doing nothing/not doing homework. Its been a great first full day: my mom made an amazing breakfast of bundt pan caramel rolls (SO GOOD) and I went to work and then my dad made a great dinner (chicken and stuffing - YUM) and now we're all just hanging about. I plan to watch lots of Dr. Who and eat more caramel rolls. That's about it, and it's great. :)
And now I am lounging around at home because Spring Break has FINALLY arrived. I am really looking forward to relaxing and doing nothing/not doing homework. Its been a great first full day: my mom made an amazing breakfast of bundt pan caramel rolls (SO GOOD) and I went to work and then my dad made a great dinner (chicken and stuffing - YUM) and now we're all just hanging about. I plan to watch lots of Dr. Who and eat more caramel rolls. That's about it, and it's great. :)
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Done Moving In!
I finally finished moving all my stuff into my new room! And yes, if I didn't mention it before, I got a new roommate. She is super cool. So I moved all my stuff over, filled out the room condition form, and handed it to my new RA. Now, I am just waiting for my old RA to complete the room inspection thing with me. Almost done!
Tonight I went to Olive Garden with my roommate and her two friends. I almost didn't go, but then I was like, 'I just turned down Olive Garden. What is WRONG with me?' So I found them again and she asked again, and I went with. The friends are super cool. One is an English Major who wants to be part of a publishing company - she wants to decide which books get published and which don't! And the other has memorized all of the movies that won academy awards by year, and chart-topping albums and songs by year - he was able to tell me that the one for the year I was born was Forrest Gump, and what the song and album were (I can't remember). That friend is also a Education Major like me! I also learned that they are super into music, and we turned up the radio and sang super loud on the way back to campus. It was SO fun! Now I am outside writing this after doing some homework, and they are watching Pitch Perfect. I think I am going to go join them now.
Bye-bye!
Tonight I went to Olive Garden with my roommate and her two friends. I almost didn't go, but then I was like, 'I just turned down Olive Garden. What is WRONG with me?' So I found them again and she asked again, and I went with. The friends are super cool. One is an English Major who wants to be part of a publishing company - she wants to decide which books get published and which don't! And the other has memorized all of the movies that won academy awards by year, and chart-topping albums and songs by year - he was able to tell me that the one for the year I was born was Forrest Gump, and what the song and album were (I can't remember). That friend is also a Education Major like me! I also learned that they are super into music, and we turned up the radio and sang super loud on the way back to campus. It was SO fun! Now I am outside writing this after doing some homework, and they are watching Pitch Perfect. I think I am going to go join them now.
Bye-bye!
Friday, March 7, 2014
Calming Down
Wow. A LOT has happened this week. Pretty much a four (possibly more) day long argument with my roommate and people who think that I am being unfair to the roommate's boyfriend. But whatever. I feel like the issue has been wrung out and exhausted. I know I am very tired and done with it. My roommate and I met with my RA (Residential Advisor) and the AC (Area Coordinator) and the decision has been made that I will be moving into a different room within the coming week. I will be rooming with a new person on the floor that I am already on. AND SHE HAS A CAT! Super excited about that!!!!
And I am so glad it's Friday and that the weekend's almost here! I have my interning job and work tomorrow, and work on Sunday. Yesterday I made an exchange extraordinarily positive, and was super proud of myself about it! The customer had about $170 in returns, but got new sizes in everything she had previously, as well as a bunch of new items! So the instead of returning her items, she exchanged them and ended up spending about $350! (So she basically bought $500 worth of stuff!!) I was super proud of myself!
I am going to go see my high school's performance of 'Little Shop of Horrors' tonight! I know it's going to be amazing! Can't wait to see you guys!
AND MY BEST FRIEND COMES BACK TODAY!!!! I SOOOOOO can't wait to hang out with you!!!!! Hopefully we can hang out Tuesday night and a bunch of other times coming up!
This week hasn't been the best, but this weekend and next week will be better, I am sure.
Bye until next time!
P.S. - I've had over 115 views on this blog. !!!!!
And I am so glad it's Friday and that the weekend's almost here! I have my interning job and work tomorrow, and work on Sunday. Yesterday I made an exchange extraordinarily positive, and was super proud of myself about it! The customer had about $170 in returns, but got new sizes in everything she had previously, as well as a bunch of new items! So the instead of returning her items, she exchanged them and ended up spending about $350! (So she basically bought $500 worth of stuff!!) I was super proud of myself!
I am going to go see my high school's performance of 'Little Shop of Horrors' tonight! I know it's going to be amazing! Can't wait to see you guys!
AND MY BEST FRIEND COMES BACK TODAY!!!! I SOOOOOO can't wait to hang out with you!!!!! Hopefully we can hang out Tuesday night and a bunch of other times coming up!
This week hasn't been the best, but this weekend and next week will be better, I am sure.
Bye until next time!
P.S. - I've had over 115 views on this blog. !!!!!
Monday, March 3, 2014
Chaos and Catastrophe
Sometimes things don't really go the way I planned them to. I try to fix something, and it starts out fine, and then everything blows up in my face. And it forces the fact that I haven't made the best decisions socially to the center stage. Thank goodness for the amazing person halfway across the country who is willing to listen to me sob horribly into the phone. I love you. You are wonderful and thank you. And for fantastic parents who talk things through with me and support me. You guys are the best; I love you. And I am also grateful for the two people I have met here this semester that are more than decent and willing to listen to me rage about my problems and agree that people have been more than horrible. You all are amazing, and thank you for your love and kindness.
I'll explain the above bit that I wrote earlier:
So yesterday, I talked to the roommate's boyfriend about the issue we've had, and like I said, he was super chill about it. My roommate, however, was not. We had a huge argument about it, and then she just walked out. I was so tired and get really exhausted from confrontations like that that I just started crying (which I hate to admit). Soon after, one of my other "friends" texted me to hang out. But 'hang out' is code for "We don't like that you made your roommate upset and we need to talk about how you are not part of the group anymore." OK. Fine. I was actually was told that I am a "burden", "buzz-kill", and "the negative voice in the group".
I have three things to say about this.
1. It's great that my roommate came and told you she was mad. But it is not your place AT ALL to stick your nose in to business that she and I are having and 'expel' me from the group because she is mad about something completely unrelated to you.
2. It's just lovely that I can't sleep at night, and because of that problem, I get yelled at and kicked out of the group of people I was hanging with. It makes perfect sense. Yes, you definitely thought that one through.
3. Don't come apologize. Any of you. It won't change anything because you already said it, and you definitely will not like how I respond.
And roommate: Thank you for apologizing. I know we will work this out somehow, and hopefully in a less dramatic and tense way now.
I'll explain the above bit that I wrote earlier:
So yesterday, I talked to the roommate's boyfriend about the issue we've had, and like I said, he was super chill about it. My roommate, however, was not. We had a huge argument about it, and then she just walked out. I was so tired and get really exhausted from confrontations like that that I just started crying (which I hate to admit). Soon after, one of my other "friends" texted me to hang out. But 'hang out' is code for "We don't like that you made your roommate upset and we need to talk about how you are not part of the group anymore." OK. Fine. I was actually was told that I am a "burden", "buzz-kill", and "the negative voice in the group".
I have three things to say about this.
1. It's great that my roommate came and told you she was mad. But it is not your place AT ALL to stick your nose in to business that she and I are having and 'expel' me from the group because she is mad about something completely unrelated to you.
2. It's just lovely that I can't sleep at night, and because of that problem, I get yelled at and kicked out of the group of people I was hanging with. It makes perfect sense. Yes, you definitely thought that one through.
3. Don't come apologize. Any of you. It won't change anything because you already said it, and you definitely will not like how I respond.
And roommate: Thank you for apologizing. I know we will work this out somehow, and hopefully in a less dramatic and tense way now.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Beginning a Blog
This is new. I've never even thought of doing anything like this before; I just said "Pinstripes and polka dots" out loud once and thought it would be a cool title for something, and my next thought was "A blog. Wait, what?" But I'm going to try it out. I think it might end up as a diary of sorts, full of things that I don't mind sharing with people. I think this will be okay, since it is through Google. Nonetheless, I am going to try to limit the amount of personal info I dish out. But most of you will know who I am just be my username.
I think this will be fun.
So, I am going to try to tell a bit about myself while trying to not give too much away. I am a college student from Minnesota, studying education & _______. In Minnesota. I don't know what the other major will be yet; I am testing out/going to test out American Sign Language, Religion, History, Social Justice, and some other majors. I really like little kids. They are the best.
I am super excited to be doing clinical work with my education classes this semester; I can't wait to see where I get placed to teach!!! It's going to be so much fun!
I don't really know what else to say. I think that most of the people reading this will already know what there is to know about me, so I think that's it.
So, getting to more 'blog' type stuff: Today, the most exciting things that happened to me were going to work and starting this blog, I suppose. Work was exciting because I have a job at the most amazing place ever! It's called Soma. There are five locations in Minnesota, and I work at the best one. I have amazing co-workers and managers and I love the product I sell. Soma sells the same merchandise as Victoria's Secret, but Soma products are by FAR more comfortable and fit all people. No one ever believes me until they see for themselves how awesome and soft the clothes are. And yes, we sell clothes (like pajamas and day-clothes) too! But I'm getting off track. Today has been pretty chill. I am writing a blog, wanting to watch the Oscars, and hating the fact that I have homework to do.
I am also immensely disliking the fact that I have to have what will be a not-so-fun face-to-face with my roommate. It's my first time having a roommate, and I have to say, not exactly enjoying the whole deal. The big problem that I'm having could really be fixed quite easily: Her boyfriend (a lovely, lovely dude) snores. loudly. And really, I can sleep through just about anything. Except that. Don't know why. It's the dumbest thing. And I really like her boyfriend. He's super cool. He brings free food a lot; I actually feel like I am reaping the benefits of them being together since he buys so much stuff (mainly food). But yeah. He snores. And I have talked to her about it (via texting; probably not a good plan), and she basically gives me ideas on what I can do to fix it. Sorry, roommate, I am not the one snoring. 'It's a part of him, and I am not going to change him.' No. Just, no. I am not asking you to change him, I'm asking you to allow me to sleep. My problem is that I really hate conflict, but I cannot keep this up for another three months. And I am done with her earplug idea (case in point: she wants ME to change, not him), and I really don't want to play the I'm-your-roommate-and-I-PAY-to-LIVE-here-and-he-doesn't card, paired with the 'Neither him nor I are to blame, but something has to be different because nothing is working I am sick and tired of the fact that I am the one affected by it and yet you are making me fix it."
I feel like more would be accomplished if I went to the source (her boyfriend/my friend) and told him that we need to figure something out. Because I am kind of done with my roommate. Just done. And she has no right to get mad at me about talking directly to her boyfriend because she said 'you can tell him if its this bad.' So I might. I think I might call him. Right now.
There. I did it. He said it wasn't a big deal; that he could sleep in his car or another building. I was worried that I was going to offend him, but he said it was fine. But I feel a little bad, because it's not his fault that he snores, and I didn't want to make him feel bad. But my roommate's going to blow up. And it's going to suck. She is going to blame me, and be all mad and stuff.
Oh no. I hope she doesn't read this and figure out who I am and what I've said. About her. Oh dear.
Anyway, that is the jist of things right now; there is nothing really new besides that. I apologize for the huge rant there. It's not really a great way to start of a blog, but I hope everyone who reads it will forgive me. I promise to post more fun/interesting stuff next time!
I think this will be fun.
So, I am going to try to tell a bit about myself while trying to not give too much away. I am a college student from Minnesota, studying education & _______. In Minnesota. I don't know what the other major will be yet; I am testing out/going to test out American Sign Language, Religion, History, Social Justice, and some other majors. I really like little kids. They are the best.
I am super excited to be doing clinical work with my education classes this semester; I can't wait to see where I get placed to teach!!! It's going to be so much fun!
I don't really know what else to say. I think that most of the people reading this will already know what there is to know about me, so I think that's it.
So, getting to more 'blog' type stuff: Today, the most exciting things that happened to me were going to work and starting this blog, I suppose. Work was exciting because I have a job at the most amazing place ever! It's called Soma. There are five locations in Minnesota, and I work at the best one. I have amazing co-workers and managers and I love the product I sell. Soma sells the same merchandise as Victoria's Secret, but Soma products are by FAR more comfortable and fit all people. No one ever believes me until they see for themselves how awesome and soft the clothes are. And yes, we sell clothes (like pajamas and day-clothes) too! But I'm getting off track. Today has been pretty chill. I am writing a blog, wanting to watch the Oscars, and hating the fact that I have homework to do.
I am also immensely disliking the fact that I have to have what will be a not-so-fun face-to-face with my roommate. It's my first time having a roommate, and I have to say, not exactly enjoying the whole deal. The big problem that I'm having could really be fixed quite easily: Her boyfriend (a lovely, lovely dude) snores. loudly. And really, I can sleep through just about anything. Except that. Don't know why. It's the dumbest thing. And I really like her boyfriend. He's super cool. He brings free food a lot; I actually feel like I am reaping the benefits of them being together since he buys so much stuff (mainly food). But yeah. He snores. And I have talked to her about it (via texting; probably not a good plan), and she basically gives me ideas on what I can do to fix it. Sorry, roommate, I am not the one snoring. 'It's a part of him, and I am not going to change him.' No. Just, no. I am not asking you to change him, I'm asking you to allow me to sleep. My problem is that I really hate conflict, but I cannot keep this up for another three months. And I am done with her earplug idea (case in point: she wants ME to change, not him), and I really don't want to play the I'm-your-roommate-and-I-PAY-to-LIVE-here-and-he-doesn't card, paired with the 'Neither him nor I are to blame, but something has to be different because nothing is working I am sick and tired of the fact that I am the one affected by it and yet you are making me fix it."
I feel like more would be accomplished if I went to the source (her boyfriend/my friend) and told him that we need to figure something out. Because I am kind of done with my roommate. Just done. And she has no right to get mad at me about talking directly to her boyfriend because she said 'you can tell him if its this bad.' So I might. I think I might call him. Right now.
There. I did it. He said it wasn't a big deal; that he could sleep in his car or another building. I was worried that I was going to offend him, but he said it was fine. But I feel a little bad, because it's not his fault that he snores, and I didn't want to make him feel bad. But my roommate's going to blow up. And it's going to suck. She is going to blame me, and be all mad and stuff.
Oh no. I hope she doesn't read this and figure out who I am and what I've said. About her. Oh dear.
Anyway, that is the jist of things right now; there is nothing really new besides that. I apologize for the huge rant there. It's not really a great way to start of a blog, but I hope everyone who reads it will forgive me. I promise to post more fun/interesting stuff next time!
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