Christmas!

Which was awesome just because all of my family(including the brother who moved to another state and the grand kids) managed to spend the whole day at my parent's house just hanging out really.  not a lot on the physical present side, but the spending time together would have been more than enough.  Getting all of my siblings for any of the holidays has been getting harder as my two married siblings have kids and other responsibilities and my brother has to take a plane to get here.  But we managed it this Christmas!
Work of course was crazy, and people did not seem to notice the 'closed at 4' sign my boss put up before Thanksgiving to let them know we were not having regular hours and tried to come in after we'd turned off the open signs. Had to wait almost fifteen minutes after that to lock the doors and people still tried to  come in.  And when that failed to let them in they came through drive through....
Today was much slower(we still made almost as much as we'd been making every day for the past week with six hours less)by comparison but still busy.  The late snow last night trying to freeze car doors shut and keeping the daylight cold did not help I think.  Sold a lot of soup today....
Might get to see siblings tonight too, but we'll see.

Oopps...

My mom and I were working on my ceramic greenware christmas scene and one of the sides on the church caved in. We spent the next hour trying to piece it back together so it would hold on the outside.  today I spent another 15-30 minutes getting the inside of all the cracks to hopefully ensure it would not fall apart during the firing.  Letting it dry for now then I'll go back later to see if it worked or if I still need to patch more of it.  Took a few tries on the outside to keep the patch from cracking while drying.  Then if it's good I just have to smooth out or reform the windows(sad to say that side had a lot of them) and rough patches.
Staged a pillow fight with my dad on saturday that my youngest brother got involved in too, just trying to get him to smile as my dad had had a stressful week and seemed tired.  Went on for about fifteen minutes and I did see a big smile for a while there.  Success!
Work has not been as busy as my GM thinks it should be so less hours at work.  But saturday was very busy so it still is plenty busy for me.
Christmas is so close!  Had a sub job yesterday that made it clear to me how eager the students are for the break.  They were supposed to watch a video on the earthquake in Japan and take a quiz while doing so and I could not get them to stop talking for more than 30 seconds.  Just was not going to happen I guess.
Had to get a new water heater saturday(part of why my dad was so stressed) as my dad was fixing a leaking toilet and the water heater started leaking. Sigh...

BRRR

Been a cold week, that's for sure.  So far has not got above 40 once since it snowed.  But that's not surprising to me.  Just means I have to make myself deal with the cold until my body gets used to it.  I guess being on drive through a lot will help there....
Work was of course crazy thursday with French Toast with Santa(they got the same awesome guy to do Santa as last year, which was cool for the kids) and people wanting soup.  Ran out of a lot before we closed.  Last night was not much better, given it was friday and it seemed to be either sick people(hopefully their family, not the actual sick person) getting soup or people not wanting to cook coming for most of the night.  Put us very far behind on cleaning before and after close and the only reason we were done by 10:30 is there were two of us doing it.
My mom got a cold this week that is refusing to let go despite three days off from work and stuff.  Thankfully none of the rest of us got it.  My dad took a few days off to help her as well.
I think I've got all my presents ready save one that just needs a frame, which is nice.  Means that I'm done with that for now.
Pearl Harbor day yesterday,  watched Midway with my family after I got off work.  They watched Tora Tora Tora while I was gone.  77 years....
Had to put our oldest cat down today, seems she hurt her back some time this week and she was just not functioning well at all.  She couldn't walk really, just limped and kind of fell to one side with each step.  Her meow sounded like a dying record and she couldn't really eat.  Hard to say it, but it seemed the only thing we could do for her was to let her go as she was not likely to last much longer any way and we did not want her to suffer.  My second youngest brother is really sad about it, just like when we had to put our dog Marley down.  And Samantha(the cat) was older than Marley.  She lasted longer than Princess, my dad's cat who died at about 15.  Marley was about 10-12(we were never sure of her age).  Samantha lasted 18 years.  So she had a long run.  Her brother didn't make it to 10 I think, but he got hit by a car.
Funny that this is the week that my cat Midnight decided to come back to us a bit more permanently.  She's been coming by off and on for several years now, but this week she seems to have come back to stay.  Demanding to be an inside cat and wanting a lot more attention now too...
Down to her and her sister Teresa now...

Snow!!!

We finally got a lot of snow that stuck!  To the drive way any way.  So my dad and I had to spend 20-30 minutes clearing a path for him and my mom to get their cars out to go to work(my brothers' were not keen on helping, though the second youngest did help with the other side a little after my dad left) and I finished the rest of it later. After visiting the chiropractor to figure out why my neck has been giving me headaches all weekend(occipital bone and my C5 vertebrae were out of place-the former in a unique way according to the chiropractor)and getting things put back in place.
Good news about getting the driveway done early: even when it snows after it's shoveled it tends to melt instead of continuing to stick most of the time.  so it dries off before it gets dark so we avoid an ice sheet.  hard part is usually getting it done early enough for that to happen.  or when it is too cold so that it sticks any way.
Kind of a hot chocolate pastry night saturday, so the nasty headache part did not help with the late night trying to clean up the store.  But it was a good pastry night even with customers coming in after we closed(finally had to tell people we had closed as they were coming in so we wouldn't get in trouble).
Got my 50,000 words in before work friday!  Beat my mom, for once.  Only because I had more time alone to write and this story just kept going and going and going on its own....

2,000 to go

For NANO.  I was hoping to finish before today, but it did not work out that way.  But not far to go.  think I have identified the true villain now, finally.  Still have a lot to go on it, so it's not like I'm going to struggle with finishing today before work.  Granted it's gotten harder given that it's not quite writing itself any more.  But I'm still not sure where all of it ends.
Rained a lot this week, most of it yesterday and the day before.  Got the part for my car, so no more trying to work out transportation for now. Tried to take a chunk out of my finger(just a scratch, thankfully) getting it attached.  But I got to see how it handles the rain(no problems with sliding or other stuff yet).  Waiting on snow to see how it handles that...same for my brother with his new car.  we get to show him donuts when it finally snows.  Just wet and cold right now.
Getting Sub jobs has been harder too, things have slowed down there.  probably a good thing, given how tired I was trying to do both for so long.  So I'm only doing a partial one maybe once or twice a week now.  Can't get more than that and not really wanting to any way.
Work got crazy as expected for Thanksgiving, but went really slow for the next week after.  Yesterday the rain made it crazy again, so we were running out of soups and the store got very messy.  Nice change from boring slow, but a bit much right off the bat for most of us.
And now we have to set up for Christmas.....

Thanksgiving Week,

and 34,000 words so far.  And I finally have an idea of the story line for my Nano, but not much beyond that.  I sit down to write and I really can't say what I would write until after I make myself stop.  Certainly not sure what it was going to be when I started and it has kind of stayed that way. Figures...
Got off work saturday and it seemed to have gotten so cold once the sun went down that my car windshield was already frosted over.  Too bad there wasn't a scraper in the car, so I spent almost ten minutes getting the heater to do it.  Had some snow and rain last week, but so far its just cold.
Work is still getting busier by the day it seems.  At least my coworkers have gotten to the point that they don't need my help much.  Wish they knew more about drive through so I could get away from it more than once a week...

Half Way Already?

Sheesh, this story is writing itself, I had no idea where it was going beyond the opening scene(which I now have six versions of before I finally settled on the one I have now moved on using) and then the ending opener(not the actually ending, just how the 'final battle' begins).  It's moved past that by far, so I'm up to 25,000 words and that's only two or three chapters worth so far.  And as I said, I really don't know what's going to happen next beyond what I already wrote down. And I have to stop myself from reading what I have already written so I can stay up on word count(not that I'm behind, just don't want to fall behind) because it's sad to say that this is my type of story.  Not what i usually write, but it was an unusual story idea to begin with.
Work is not getting any better, had a coworker put in their two weeks notice friday then pull a no call no show on saturday(that was so much fun for my manager to deal with) and it happened to be the start of the crazy half of pastry nights we get during the holidays.  In other words: NOT FUN.
Had snow on sunday that lasted pretty much until the sun came up, but the cold is lingering.  my car still has power steering issues(as far as I can tell, the reservoir is cracked and leaking badly) and I can't get the part I need to fix it. sigh...not enjoying strong arming my car even if its not as hard as my truck was...

Sigh...

Remember that story idea for Nano? Wrote down what I had at the time and now I'm stuck rewriting that first scene/chapter trying to decide which one I want to use(I think I'm up to 5 possible openers, kind of a record for me) and can't deal with the rest of the story much because that's kind of the stage setter.
Grr.
Had two sub jobs today and both got cancelled.  So I have more time to try and hash out my story.  At least I can write all the openers to get a jump on my word count.
My car's power steering fluid is refusing to  stay in the reservoir, and I fear that trying stop leak has only made it worse. Sigh...a new reservoir is $50(people I've talked to suspect it may be cracked), other stuff is more.
Halloween was actually busy at work this time, shocker.  A customer suggested that it might have been because no one wanted to cook.  Given how many of the orders were large(as in multiple people's worth of food and such) that wouldn't be too far off. Even my family ordered pizza for dinner.
Lots of rain yesterday, but it actually made for a slow day.  Ran through a lot of soup though.  Actually fully ran out of two of them and all our spares.  But not a lot on pastries or other stuff.

Ugh...

Another long week, and I had to talk to my mentor about my plans(not sure yet, they were trying to get me to move to a non license program since I'm going to Japan next year, but I'd have to do all the Pre-DT stuff(and classes) all over again when I got back since they would no longer apply. Sigh....Really don't want to just have the degree, I want the license too.
Work's still been crazy, and sub jobs haven't really calmed down either.  But the possible place I'm going in Japan is Fukashima(if I remember right).  Should be fun.
Donated blood today, first time in over a year thanks to getting anemic last year.  The finger prick decided to bleed through the first bandaid and nearly got everywhere.  Meant the poor worker had to clean my hand and the desk area before replacing the bandaid.  The donation part went well, but after I remembered that I'd completely forgotten my lunch bag at my sub job this morning.  So I didn't get home until well after 3 since I had to run back there(praying and hoping there was still someone there)and get it.  Then break a huge prayer of thanks with a sigh of relief.
Downside to donating means no strenuous exercise, kind of kills any rent work for the day(sigh...)and makes me get tired a lot faster just doing anything a little exertive...

Teacher Voice...

My coworkers have decided that my being a part time substitute(and teacher in training so to speak) gives me what they are calling a teacher voice.  Not that they tell me what that is...My dad says it's a loud and authoritative one without yelling.  I know I can get a classroom's attention without having to yell now, but I don't know that it qualifies as a 'teacher voice'.  It helps with half off pastry night though.
Need to stop taking so many sub jobs, seem to not have time to sleep any more.  At least it's fall break so I can't (not that I was going to anyway) get anymore this week.  Good thing too as either my allergies kicked in or I caught a cold yesterday.  Don't want either one right now...  At least it pays good.
Works been picking up, got a hard freeze that killed the garden(noo...the tomatoes were finally getting ripe!) so soup became the wanted food.  Couldn't keep up for most of it, but now we're getting on top of it.  Can pick the apples now, so my mom and I (with a little reluctant help from my youngest brother) made our first batch of applesause today.
Sigh...two jobs is not fun....

It's Been a While,

since I've had a new story idea, just keep looking at/working on old ones.  But on monday I got a new idea that won't let go.  Strange thing is, it didn't come from a dream or a outside source.  Just a random thought while at work.  This time I know the main character very well, and the story, but I have no idea what the main character's name is(that's actually part of the story line).  Only have a chapter or two so far, but I want to do it for NaNoWriMo this year.  So I need to write what I've got down(not on the computer or it won't count, just on paper)that way I've got it for when NaNo starts.  I actually have time to do it this year!
Got loads of rain yesterday, so doing rent work is going to have to wait a little until things dry off.  Otherwise I'll just get wet trying.  But I need to check on the garden(haven't had time to get to it since last week)and see how the plants are doing.
Was supposed to have a sub job today that was cancelled so I have free time today.  Then I heard a teacher I like to sub for posted two jobs but they were taken already(sigh).  Might want to back off on the sub jobs anyway, getting really hard to keep up with two jobs given my main one is picking up in business.  And it's only going to increase for a while.  Holidays are coming...

So tired...

This has been a very long week. Started cutting out the invasive weed trees(and vines I think) that are taking over the circle.  So far spent nearly three hours and cleared maybe a 10 foot square.  Have to cut them down then poison the stump, so it takes a while. And filled up the wheelbarrow at least 4 times with what I cut down.
Work's been interesting, with the new night manager taking over and the last two other experienced cashiers leaving.  Plus I was supposed to close last night then open this morning.  The night manager found out and sent me home at nine but thanks to a dog barking before 11:30 I didn't get that much sleep regardless.  Then I wound up staying almost a hour and a half later.  But I managed.
Had the final interview with the second Japanese job option, though I wound up coming a half hour later thanks to getting lost and lack of parking. Sigh...I didn't get the job, but it wasn't because of that(or so they told me).  Still have the other though...
Getting colder, though not fast so I can work outside without sweating but not need a jacket. Garden's running out of time to ripen, and there's tons of tomatoes still on the vine.  Found out the little pumpkin type squash I've been wondering about are basically a decorative squash for tables in the fall.  Not much for eating.  At least there's something to do with them....

I Hate Myself

Sometimes anyway.  Like when school starts up so I can find sub jobs to fill in when I don't have work.  Only I decided to see how many I could fit in around work for this past week and next week, not just on my days off. With dropping my brother off at his work in the very early morning(like just after midnight) late nights at work, doing early morning stuff does not make for a restful night.  Sigh.  Does help with saving money for Japan though...
I think my allergies kicked in a little early, or a tiny cold(feels like allergies though) so breathing is tricky.  doesn't help that I've spent the last two days mowing the lawn that's gotten way too long again.  Sigh.  Front wasn't too bad, but the back was.  Still have another hour's worth to go on it, even with one of my brothers helping out this afternoon while I was at work.
Had to get two more references(first two didn't fit the bill I guess) for the second possible job in Japan thing, then record a demo lesson/self intro deal.  Meant 2 hours trying to get my computer to use my webcam to record it(finally had to give up on that) then another hour getting it set up and so rushing through the recording. Not too bad, but I felt more nervous than usual as a result and it kind of showed.  Good news is they're letting me redo it, but only til tomorrow.  At least they gave me more instructions than I got the first time.  And since I already know about the webcam failure I just need the alternate option I used last time.  And a blank wall or large whiteboard...
My second oldest brother left to go to another state for his job(not sure if it's called a volunteer transfer as they told him he'd get a huge jump in pay, plus they'd help with moving costs and so on) and my oldest sister went with him so they could trade off driving(he wanted to bring his car).  Not sure if it'll be that big of a change for me, I rarely saw him anyways with the way my work schedule and his lined up(He left early in the morning and I went to work before he got off).  But we'll see soon.
My oldest niece is turning 8!  We're giving her a party tomorrow(tradition to do it sunday's so more people can make it) for it.  Fun....

And Another One

bites the dust, if anyone remembers that song.  In this case, it's another car.  I was running an errand in my parents spare car and it threw a piston rod(ironically, it's the car my youngest brother was using to get to work lately) effectively killing the car.  So now there are two dead and one unreliable cars sitting around. Sigh...
Making it tricky for said brother to get to work now, been asking us for rides(sad to say I haven't had a good nights sleep this week).  But hopefully they get a new one closer to home so it doesn't require an hour round trip drive at 1:40 in the morning.
School's back in, so I'm looking for sub jobs to fit into my regular job's work schedule.  Had one for today that got cancelled(sigh).  Found another but not for two weeks.  Need to check again.
Finally getting tomatoes, mainly roma's that have grown a bit bigger than normal so they look like hearts.  Squash have kind of stalled, though there's plenty of blossoms and unripe ones.  Not sure when the melon will be ready...
Things are cooling down temperature wise now, so I'm not quite as concerned about getting out to weed as early(still try for before 10 am though).  But getting harder to find ones I can get out all the way.  Keep finding weeds that break off right at the dirt so I can't get the root. Gr.
Work's picking up too, so I'll get plenty of hours there.  Holidays always do that...

Annoying Things...

There have been a few things bugging me lately, so I'm going to start a list of them here.
1.On days when I can sleep in, I get up early.
2. On days where I shouldn't sleep in, I have a hard time getting up.
3. when pulling weeds in the garden I'm careful and a little slow because I don't want to damage or uproot a plant on accident.
4. When pulling weeds in a non planted area(that I think I can just go all out on)I have to be careful and slow because the stupid weeds are so small and/or pathetic I can't just yank randomly.
5. How the first 20-30 minutes of weeding go by fast, then the next part goes so slow despite constant efforts to not watch the clock.
6. Paperwork, for anything.  I swear it always seems to be a little at first then has doubled or more before I get it all done.
7. when it gets close to fall but it stays hot regardless.
There's probably more, but those were bugging me the most.  Granted, there's more that don't bug me, but this was fun.
Entered a photo in the county fair, hope to see how it did today sometime.

AARRGGHH!!

First we have the deer problem(where they come and munch on the plants and maybe the produce, thereby killing it)that thanks to a suggestion I've managed to solve.  Now the stupid birds are at it?  Sheesh.  Had two or three tomatoes about ready to harvest yesterday.  Came out today and there was a huge hole in all of them! 
I suppose I should be glad they're leaving the squash alone, but the tomatoes were looking so good!  At least the peppers are thriving and the grasshoppers seem to be leaving them alone.  But I still need to thin them out(all have three or more WAY too close together) so they can really grow.
Stupid Blackberry bushes won't give up either, though they're small enough that I don't have thorns out to suck my blood when I pull them.  but I have to keep at them or they do get big enough for that.  Worse than the morning glory in my opinion.  And those stupid sticker weeds....
Sigh, how to deter the birds....

Getting Out

of the world is something I think everyone needs to do once in a while.  Part of the reason my family likes going up to a trailer every years is because it's disconnected from the internet, cell service, and doesn't have a phone. So we don't have to worry about anyone bothering us for as long as we stay there.
I just got back from a YSA trip with the same goal and it was awesome.  Had several speakers like John Bytheway(who was funny and spiritual) Paul Cardal(who I didn't know had heart problems from birth and even had a heart transplant in his 30's) T. C. Christensen (He described a rather unexpected encounter with deer outside a wolf trailer during the filming of 17 Miracles) and more.  Ran out of paper to takes notes, but I tried to remember what they all said.
Service project was fun and yet slippery, as we were widening a newly created trail.  Took over an hour and we still didn't finish(and my group was the last of four that day).  but we got a lot done. And had fun.
Not that being home is bad, it just means I get junk emails and random texts aside from work and family stuff which I have to get rid of everyday.  Can't have one without the other I guess...

Now another year older...

And I still get told I look under 20, though not quite high school age anymore.  Oh well.  It's weird because I don't feel older, but who does?  Took my parents out for brunch(breakfast for mom, lunch for dad is the idea, though this time neither of them had eaten all day) and was going to pay when my dad stole the tab from me.  Same as last year...Sigh. Not that I mind too much, but it's supposed to be my  treat to celebrate their involvement in my birth.
Vacation to Island Park was fun but short, basically spent one day there then left. But floated a new river this time, and visited the lake(after waiting out a microburst) before heading back for dinner.  Had fun making smore's, my dad found these dark chocolate pretzel and nuts clusters that we tried.  Like the dark chocolate pretzel thins better, but worth a try anyway.
Mosquitoes were out in force, got bit three times in the car on my legs.  Now I'm having to avoid itching any of those areas. Plus one of them is on the only area I got a bit of a sunburn.  Sigh.  Double itch...
Second set of worksheet training turned in, but they want me to fix a few things and try again.  Doesn't help that what I sent to them got messed up so part of the problem doesn't show up on my copy...Grrr.  Rest should be simple.
Had our water cut off for most of the day yesterday so they could replace a valve near the storage tanks.  Not a big deal as there were only two of us home and one of us(my brother) was asleep most of that time anyway.  So I just avoided using any water from the tap for a few hours.
Started out as a sunny day today but by the time I finished rent work it had gotten cloudy and muggy again. Figures...

Muggy....

Though the 4th wasn't.  Glad I didn't have to do anything in the morning, just had a long boring shift at work. Sigh.  Heard and saw plenty of fireworks while closing up, then walked out into smoke thick enough to choke on-not fun after work-so I wasn't much in the mood to watch more when I finally got home.
Have a kind of 'final' interview for the Japan job, basically a repeat of the 'lesson' one plus a self intro in Japanese.  This is to determine where I'm placed as far as I can tell.  The lesson is the same as last time-think I'll just use paper and markers, the whiteboard doesn't show up on the camera well at all-just with a new person.
Really hope the whole sore for the rest of the day thing with rent work goes away soon, getting really tired of it.  Granted, doing hour and a half segments might have something to do with it...Only did an hour today and not nearly as sore.  Being laying pavers along the front flower garden, which is tricky but fun.  Have to dig up stuff that's spilled onto the driveway(almost a foot actually, with dirt) and a good six inches into the garden itself so the pavers aren't on the driveway either.  Good arm workout though...
Cloudy most of this week, bit of rain on tuesday, hence the 'muggy' title.  Makes me sweat differently(and more most of the time) while working outside. But it's not as hot....

Finally!

Got all the documents for Japan in! Sheesh, that took a while. Sigh.  Still haven't finished planting the  garden(did I mention that my aunt gave us 2 'flats' of plants-mainly tomatoes-that is way more than the usual flat?  took up all the cleared space so I had to clear up a lot more to get it all planted) and thanks to this weeks way hot weather the plants we did get in the ground are really struggling.  think I've given the stupid berry bushes taking over the garden area a standard donation of blood worth to scratches and punctures trying to get them out. Even with gloves(they go after my arms and legs, shred the gloves, or go right through them)
Have road construction going on our street, which constricted the road a lot last week.  Then yesterday they pushed it down to a single lane.  Makes getting out of the driveway LOADS of fun.  And I was running a bit late for work too(thankfully I still got there just fine and on time).
Figured out (thanks to my mom) why I was so lethargic after weeding and stuff for several weeks: I was dehydrated.  Basically I drank the same amount of water I would if I wasn't constantly sweating and working. Why that didn't occur to me I don't know, but now it's much better. Still sore but that I can deal with.
Strangely busy at work monday(saturday was even supposed to be slow and we got slammed-mainly due to the air show on base ending-until close) which made the new night shift manager very frantic.  I glad they had yesterday off to deal with it. Didn't help that they were less than a week into the job and we ran out of most of the breads and other things long before then.  And monday we were running low on stuff too(unusual stuff, actually).  Yesterday was more normal, but we still ran out of 2 kinds of bread. Sigh....
Supposed to be really hot today(more than yesterday)...

Ow...

Decided I'd try to mix the mulch pile we keep in our backyard on Friday.  Spent a good hour(managed to drop and bury my cellphone) and lots of effort to move about a foot of it.  Did get that mostly mixed(partly due to trying to unbury my cell phone after my dad came out with his to call mine so we could find it) but that was mainly a start.
Got the garden area re-cleared of weeds(what little had come back after I'd cleared it a few weeks ago)and mostly hand plowed.  Hoping to finish the plowing part tomorrow(thanks to rain last night it's not hot but it is very humid) and then plant.
Work's definitely got the whole 'last minute before closing rush' thing down.  Especially on saturday with the pastry sale. Sigh. Was steady all day, though there was a spooky period right after 7 where it just died until after 7:30.
Father's day was kind of lame(two siblings not living at home still not coming over)due to my second oldest younger brother being out of town for work and my oldest sister having to work her regular job.  Didn't help that I didn't sleep well and spent the whole day trying not to be cranky.
Oh well...

I am Not a Driving Instructor...

Which I suppose is why I'm having a hard time NOT yelling while helping my younger brother practice.  He's graduated from parking lots to side roads(and yet keeps going on main ones) which is even trickier.  He doesn't quite get that not every intersection has a stop sign or traffic light to worry about.  Then he gets on main roads with more than one lane and doesn't understand how stay in 'his' lane(hence the trying not to yell bit).  And then there's maintaining speed limits(either too fast or too slow) on any road.
School's ok, passed one class, have to pay to finish the second one(not full tuition, but still almost $1000, that I don't have).  So close there too...
Work is really slowing down, though it's getting into the 'late night' rushes when we think it's time to start sending people home early.  I've gotten off early twice, but more often get stuck late due to these rushes.  Not bad though, given it ensures I still get plenty of hours.  Just wish it wasn't quite so boring until the rush.
Still trying to finish the paper work for Japan, just need to things for the medical report, one contact, then scan it all in and email.
Getting really hot now, though we're holding in the high 80's to low 90's for now.  Makes me want rain...

Branches Falling...

The weather seems to be pruning the trees lately.  Helped my brother move one that fell into our neighbor's yard over a week ago(that took an hour as we had to chop it up-and get my sister to help too)during a high wind storm.  Not a lot of rain, but plenty of clouds.
Got rain last night and it took down a bigger(around, shorter in length, though that may have been because it snapped a third off as it fell)branch off.  Lot more debris to clean up too.  I started clearing it up and had to get my sister to help again(no way I was going to move it alone) with both cutting it into thirds and moving it.  Took over an hour, didn't help that the wheelbarrow tipped over on us at the end.  At least it was nice and cool with a steady breeze.  And I got a very good arm workout(ow).
Works been slowing down, at least until I start thinking I might get off early.  Then we get slammed.  But it means my hours are staying consistent.
Had someone asking about my truck so I made sure it still runs the same noisy(not quite safe to drive) way it did a few months ago.  And we pulled it off the lawn.  But they didn't show up so it may go back. Sigh....
Still working on a few things for the Japan job so I still don't know when I start.  Had to rush to take to finals(well, turn the one 'practical' in after revising it for the sixth time) very late last night, but so far haven't seen a grade for either.  Given it seems everyone at the school is doing end of semester and graduation stuff, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Got to sleep in but thanks to the branch problem I'm now tired and sore. Sigh...

Lawn Mowing...

isn't that hard most of the time, but after being fertilized and having lots of rain it takes a lot longer than usual. Sigh.  Spent the whole week just trying to mow it. As long as that doesn't happen again it shouldn't take that long this week...
Work's been slowing down finally, but not much.  Sunday had sandwich training for those of us who are cashiers on night shift.  Not that it takes long, given we're all familiar with what goes in the stuff, just didn't know the 'procedure' of it.  So we just need to practice it when we can.
Then there's driving with my younger brother, which can be very frustrating because despite practicing all the time his progress is very slow.
School's finally moving again, but not much.  And getting the last stuff for the Japan job is almost done too.

Somewhat Spring....

At least the weather's warming up.  But it's still fluctuating temperature wise.  Plenty of things are blooming now.  Too bad we haven't gotten the garden cleared, let alone planted. Sigh...
Work's getting interesting, given at least two new coworkers.  But things aren't slowing down much, though the busy days seem to be flip flopping.  So planning how many to work each day is tricky for the manager I think.
School's kind of stalled, waiting for stuff so I can appeal, though I might not bother with the job in Japan.  But I see no reason to not finish the classes I'm currently in, though both are just on the final test area.
Thankfully I've had plenty of sub jobs so I can keep busy.  But plenty to do still.

New Job

In Japan no less, though it's not set in stone.  But I have an offer on the table so far.  Which is cool and terrifying at the same time.  But I need a few things before I can be sure I've got it.
Work's been rather busy and the insanity regarding coworkers made last friday and saturday very long days(mainly saturday) for me.  Plus my doctor told me I've got tendinitis in my right thumb so I've got to immobilize it for four weeks and that makes work tricky.  Basically I'm having to go full left hand and very minimally right.  For the most part it's working but writing's not at all.  My manager's been avoiding having me work drive through for now, thought last night I was on it all night.  At least it was busy so I didn't get bored...
School's kind of stalled, finished the observation hours(thankfully before the thumb issue so no concerns about taking notes) and got one more teacher saying they'll give me a recommendation letter but haven't yet. Still haven't finished that one final either...
So things are getting interesting...

One Down, two to go and two days of Observations...

Finally got one of the recommendation letters!  And it was really sweet too!  Down to just needing two days of observing too, which is nice as I'm really tired.  Was actually nodding off in the third period today, to the amusement of the students.  Had to get up and move to finally stop it.  At least the last period was better.
Got a new(to me, it's barely a year younger than my truck) car. Really nice too.  Honda Civil LX that's in really good shape despite having 235,000 miles on it.  Still trying to sell my truck though.  Someone's made a bid but haven't paid up yet.  Gets 30-35 MPG so far, which is awesome.
Very windy today, which is better(I think) than the snow/rain/sleet we got last week. Just makes things a bit dusty.
Work was crazy saturday with it being one school's prom and a coworker quitting on thursday.  Than two called in saturday and we had a typical(though rather drawn out) pastry night. But the GM came in as a 'regular employee' which they said was fun.  And they did seem to have fun with it.  And we had a day shift sandwich maker come in too, so we managed.  But I was there right up to 11 cleaning up as it was just me.  My poor manager(not the GM, just night shift) was there after me along with the closing sandwich maker. So it was not the best night but it could have gone much worse.
Had the interview for being an ALT in Japan, which I hope went well.  Now I'm just waiting to see when the second interview(the first was testing my English as well as the usual interview stuff)is going to be.
So things are getting better, just have to hold on a bit longer with the very long day thing....

Spring Break

For the school district anyway.  Makes for a slow and boring week at work so far.  Not that I mind too much as my allergies kicked in this week too.  Been rather nice(though monday night was very cold and windy)this week weather wise.
My brother was driving the car we've been sharing last sunday morning and threw a piston rod into the oil pan, meaning said car is now more useless than my truck.  As my dad put it, we now have two cars out and my sister's was going the same way.  But she got her's back to normal(not working the best, but still running) for now.
So I'm back to being a little desperate for transportation. Fun...
On the plus side, I applied for a job being a english language tutor in Japan(I think my dad's nervous about it, even though they haven't offered me a job yet)and they want an interview next week.  through skype, which should be interesting.  Supposed to plan a 5-6 minute lesson where I don't use Japanese and am pretending the interviewer is a 2nd grade classroom.  Can't use too many english words either....
So that's the 'week off' from observations(up to 65-6 hours now)and having my parents home all day. Next week should be entertaining if we can't find another spare car(finally listed my truck for sale)for my brother and I to use.

Week 3 Down...

Ugh....Last week was soooo long thanks to working full time while trying to get 30 hours of my appeal observation(have to get 100 of them by April 1, not happening sadly, if I want to get in the fall cohort) in.  Managed it but was rather on autopilot by the end of Friday.  Crashed saturday, but didn't sleep in as well as I wanted to.  This week's not looking much better, even with the day off yesterday(from observations, teacher work days don't count sadly) as I did not get much sleep last night.
Then a coworker came in with a doctor's note saying they can't work for a full seven days, which means my manager spent an hour trying to get the days that that employee worked during that time frame covered by other employees.  Glad it was a very slow monday for the most part(rush after all that happened and we were beyond bored) so not too big of a deal.
Turns out the final I submitted two weeks ago and emailed my mentor about(as it was sitting in the 'evaluation in progress' state for three days) was something I misunderstood.  Thought it was just research with a question but it needed to be a full paper. Sigh...So I get to redo that sometime in this weeks(probably not though) to do list.
My sister has a post she thinks matches the weather: "winter is throwing a tantrum and storming out of the room only to stomp back in with 'and another thing..'"  Whereas a friend at church says it's more like winter procrastinated and is realizing it only has a few days to finish before spring shows up.  Be fun to see which is the more agreed with one....

First Week of March....

So far it's coming in like a lion everywhere.  Got plenty of snow sunday, but it's all melting today.  At least we got it in the mountains where we need it for summer.  Cool sunset tonight, just like last night.
Been busy the last week, so I don't get to appreciate them much.
My work's been doing their own version of the Olympics, with shifts competing against themselves and each other.  Think I might have to stop competing as I'm way ahead of not just my shift but the other as well and it just doesn't feel fair given I have so much more experience than most of them.  And a few only work 2-3 days a week as well. Sigh...Got a raise, but I don't know more than that about it.
Plenty of sub jobs though, which breaks up what can be boring at home, but makes for the busy week I mentioned earlier.  And so I'm still trying to finish the one final so I can get to the other and get both classes out of the way this week.  But I have time now to work on it at least.
My mom's better, which is good as she can go back to work.  She does have to take it easy though, given her lungs are still weak.  Hope that's the end of the sick people for a while...

Snow!!!

We got a (sort of) big storm.  Granted, it's been so warm that nothing stuck until it had been snowing for well over two (possibly double that) hours.  And took at least another hour or two before it stuck to the roads. but we got plenty on the grass and cars.  Then it cleared up after snowing for two days so the temperature is closer to 30.  Not more than 4 inches I think, but plenty in the mountains.
Winter Olympics are cool, just wish they wouldn't build up certain people so much and then get so upset when those people don't do as well as they built them up to.  Examples: Nathan Chan and the Shibutani Siblings.  The siblings got bronze, which is awesome for their first olympics, and Nathan got 5th(and made a very impressive jump from 17th to get there from the short to the long program) in his.  But because neither got gold "its disappointing".   We watched Cool Runnings, which in my mind is a true show of what it means to compete.  Winning the medal is secondary, just making it there and giving it your best should be first.
Got a nasty cold last week(my sister got it first, then both my parents-theirs lasted over a week-then two of my brothers) that the sore throat is lingering.  Worried that my room's dry and aggravating it, so I need to sleep with a humidifier and see if that helps.  For right now I can talk but not for long and certainly not very loudly.  Made yesterday's sub job tricky, had to really focus on student names and wander the room more.  Otherwise it was fun.
My sister took her car into the shop as she's tired of not being able to get her car working right in a timely manner and wanted to make sure this time.  She suspects they did a lot more than they said they did(brakes and shifting are much better, and they were 'only' fixing a bad part of the steering system)and charged her for.  But at least her car's more reliable now.
Working on appealing to repeat DT in the fall, and my mentor thinks I have a strong chance of getting it.  But I have to hurry and get it in to be safe.

2018 Winter Olympics!

They're here!  Sad part is I have to work tonight during the Opening Ceremonies.  But my mom says she'll record them for both my sister(who has to work too) and I to see after.  So I'll see them later.
My mom and I were watching some of the competitor's pre-videos about what got them there and how people look up to them.  Reminds me of my coworkers, who have spent a great deal of time this week telling me how much they enjoy working with me(especially the newest, who says they are glad they always work with me) and the soon to be new night manager told me they want me there because I can advise them on what to have coworkers do before leaving.  Given the current one asked me for similar stuff it's not too surprising.  They keep mentioning how well I know the job and so on.  I have to remind them that I've been there for 3.5 years.  So it shows, I guess.
Kind of made up for getting kicked out of DT after barely four weeks with no warning.  Granted, I'm still working through that for more info an such.  Returned the keys and parking pass today.  Been looking at transferring or changing majors, but both would still cost me another semester at least. Sigh...
Nice day out, as has been most of this week.  Too bad I still want one more big snow before spring 'officially' hits...

Week 5?

So this week started out kind of weird and now my student teaching's been put on hold.  They won't tell me why and it's my university's policy that I not contact the school during this for my protection.  Not sure how that protects me, but it's what they told me.  And I thought I was finally getting a handle on this...
Then I went to the bank to ask about a charge on my debit card that I don't remember anything about(as in, I didn't go buy anything on that day-when the charge was made-, I've never been to the store it came from, and I don't have a receipt for it) and so now they're doing a fraud report about it. Sigh....
At least work is still the same, and I can sleep in for now.  Plus I have time to finish those two research classes that I was supposed to before starting student teaching...
Still having car issues, as my sister got hers working for less than a week and now it's not again.  Really makes me want my truck back, just wish it didn't cost so much...though my dad's suggesting I go to a salvage yard to see if I can get a good engine to replace the one not working.  Still probably take me a lot longer to get the old one out and the new on in than the professionals...

Week 4

is over, as is my first clinical observation.  Which was very nerve wracking having another teacher come in to watch me try to teach.  Sigh.  I was fine with just the one, but enter a second one and I get very nervous.  At least I didn't get all zero's, though they keep saying a zero doesn't mean fail just 'not observed'.  And the difference being..?
Trying to get my manager to lower my hours isn't working, so far they just adjusted them.  I'm still on for 27 hours on the newest schedule.  Wanted to talk to them at work this morning but they were out with either a back or hip problem.  Grr...
Sleeping is getting hard, it's like I'm even more sensitive to sounds and such than I used to be.  Plus I have to fight not to be super cranky about it too.  And I'm hungry a lot faster than I ever remember being.
We got snow twice this week, which was cool.  Got some last saturday so the girls were able to go sledding.  But that melted fast and the snow for the past two days was just a skiff.  At least we got some moisture.....

Week 3

Well, I mentioned that I start really teaching this week, though there's only three out of five days for that, so I'm working on the lesson plans to show my teachers so I can see what they think.  Still really only have enough for this week and next, but I have ideas for after and I'm going in tomorrow(teacher prep day so I'm supposed to anyway and they suggested I bring in the plans to go over) to get more.  Plus got the first official observation nailed down(think I mentioned that last time).
My poor sister had an accident involving a screwdriver while trying to fix her car problems so she didn't have a good weekend.  Could have been worse though.  I'm still relying on spare cars to get to work and such.
Helped my mom out by scanning in a bunch of recipes she had in a binder(there are two more just like it) so I could clear out duplicates and organize them.  That took almost four hours and I'm only done with the bulk stuff, still have the stuff that I either have to type up or scan in by hand(the other stuff I just put on a tray).  But  It put a large dent in it and I still have stuff to do later.
Wish we had more shingles, it's a nice day to work on the roof...

Student Teaching

is not what I expected.  I was nervous and excited up until I walked into the high school and suddenly I'm just plain calm.  Been that way ever since.  Other than some rather common swearing among teachers and students it's been very comfortable.  Rather strange for me, but I take it as a small miracle for me.
Downside is that I'm still doing 20 hours at work, which makes for some almost 15 hour days.  Afraid that resulted in a unpleasant interaction with a customer(they were calm while I was being sarcastic and came off as mean) due to a late night Thursday with an early Friday and a longish shift at work.    Slept in saturday(of course) but still had plenty of time to get stuff done before work.  Sunday was nice too.  Save the very thick fog rolling in after dark...
School's the same, though I'm only two modules away from finishing one of the research classes and given I have two days off next week I should get pretty far on the second I hope after taking the final for the first.
Still no car, but my brother got the spare one working so the driving situation isn't as bad(despite my sister's car refusing to start on her last thursday-hence the late night) for now.
Both teachers I'm with are planning to have me take over next week, so I'm spending this week getting the students more familiar with me and planning lessons.  Seems I'm going to be there for all of 3rd term and three days into 4th(not to mention these two weeks of 2nd)so I get to teach them about argument writing.  This should be fun...