I don't proofread my posts before I publish them... cause I keep my thoughts au naturale.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Thank You for Being a Friend...

Yes, I'm referencing Golden Girls, but no, this has nothing to do with the show... despite it's timeless humor and awesomeness...

You know, I will be the first, second and third to admit that I'm not the greatest friend in the world... I have much room for improvement.  Granted, I am a giving friend- if I have it, it's yours.  I would give my friends the shirt off my back if they asked for it.  And if I ever have money, I wouldn't hesitate to let a friend in need borrow it.

But I always find myself thinking, "who ARE my friends?"  On Facebook, you can now mark people as friends or acquaintances, although I wish there was an option for "complete strangers," but maybe that's in the works.  But there are people that I consider expendable, and I am sure 98% of my Facebook friends feel that way.  When I moved from my hometown to Cedar Rapids, I considered there to be 3 friends that I would truly miss.  Once I moved, I probably only spoke to one of them on any semblance of a basis.  Now that I am closer, out of those 3, I probably will only ever hang out with on of them.  She and I have NOTHING in common on the surface, but deep down we do have things that make us lifelong friends.  And one of the three hasn't responded to my texts in months and blows me off all the time... whatevs.

Then there's the friends in Cedar Rapids.  I have a friend there that I consider to be one of the truest friends I've ever had and it is amazing because so many people tried to tell me that she used me and wasn't a good friend, but I knew otherwise.  I understood the kind of person she was/is and overlooked any flaws, as we should all try to do.  She was nice to me and if I was in pain or having an emotional crisis, she would have been by my side in a heartbeat.  Since I've moved, she's made it clear that she is not gonna give up on me easily.  It is an amazing feeling.  I other friends who I will definitely keep in touch with and I have friends who still think of me and communicate with me when I was sure they would have forgotten my name once I left town... hearing people tell you that they miss you just because they actually do... makes me feel like I may actually have had a positive impact on their lives.  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

And finally, there are those that I have long since forgotten that when it is clear I am a wreck or bouncing off the walls with anxiety, I will get a random text, a random Facebook message and their concern, friendliness and just outright acknowledgement of my existence stops me in my tracks.  But to this I start feeling a smidge guilty for not checking in on them.

I guess there was no real point to this blog, but I think that sometimes the people that we think are our friends really aren't as good of friends as the people we have shrugged off as acquaintances.  I definitely wish I were a better friend and hopefully some day I can be, but in the meantime, I think I should try a little harder to appreciate those that I have...

Monday, September 26, 2011

Excerpt from One of My Textbooks

This was one of the example paragraphs in the textbook for the reading class I teach... I thought I'd share:

"Everyone has heard a few 'Your mama is ugly' jokes.  'Your mama is so ugly that when she entered an ugly contest, the judge said, 'Sorry, no professionals.'  'Your mama is so ugly that when she went to a haunted house, she came out with a paycheck.' 'In the dictionary, your mother's picture is next to the word 'ugly.'  There are several reasons why 'your mama' jokes are popular.  First of all, humor usually contains something surprising or even shocking.  We aren't expected to make fun of someone's mom, so a 'your mama' joke has the element of surprise.  Secondly, humor is a way we deal with taboos, or things that are forbidden.  Insulting anybody is bad enough, but insulting somebody's mother is really out of line.  Finally, 'your mama' jokes are generally told between close friends as a way to express friendship and affection.  Mothers aren't really being insulted.  Instead of getting angry, the friend on the receiving end of the joke usually laughs."

What... a hoot.

In case you were wondering the purpose, this was a practice paragraph where students are supposed to be able to figure out which sentence expresses the main idea.  I will give you a clue.  Look for words that indicate a list is soon to follow.  What's that?  Several reasons IS an indicator.  If you said sentence five, then you are correct, My Friend!

Enjoy this wrinkle in your brain.


Book:  Ten Steps to Building College Reading Skills by John Langan, Fourth Edition.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

What a Difference a Day Makes!!

Despite the whole bipolar thing, I see myself as a glass full kind of gal.  I totally abhor suicide because people have to realize that life CAN get better, you just have to work at it.  Of course, I know that not every bad thing in life is specifically that person's fault... believe me, I KNOW.  I always say that the bad things that have happened to me in life are because of other people.  That probably sounds like I don't take the blame for anything, believe me I do!  If I don't have money for gas and I don't work, duh, it's my fault I don't have money for gas!  But if I don't have money for gas because Jen Schirm of Iowa City didn't pay me the $150 she owed me for babysitting... well, then I blame Jen Schirm.  (Of course I can be partially to blame for trusting someone who couldn't be trusted.)

So, rewind to yesterday.  Not to get into details, but when we moved into our apartment, the lady that manages the property we moved into said that she wouldn't cash our deposit until close to Sept. 9th because that's when we'd be caught up from moving.  She even talked us into moving sooner than we had planned because she kept insisting the check wouldn't get cashed until the 9th.  Well, guess what.  Yesterday was soooo not the 9th and the check got deducted from my bank account, which immediately ruined my day.  Once again, I suppose I can take blame for trusting someone... am I beginning to see a pattern here?  Wow, I just had an epiphany... bad things happen to me when I trust people.  Aha!  Now I know why I say you can never trust anyone.

Fast forward back to today.  A deposit came in sooner than I had anticipated, which covered the check that was cashed yesterday!  That immediately put me in a much better mood.  And I sat there and realized, you know, I have two awesome kids who are with me 98% of the time, I have a fantastic boyfriend who loves me endlessly, I have friends that occasionally talk to me, I just got a part in a play, which is one of my favorite things to do AND, I love my job!!!  So dang it, I tell myself, I need to start looking more at the positives than the negatives.  Sure, David tells me that all you need is love... well, I don't know that living in a cardboard box with my kids eating rats is really going to make me happy, but I appreciate his sentiment.

So for today, it's a good day and I'm loving life!!!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

I LOOOOVE My Job!

So to catch you up to speed, I was offered a teaching job at a community college near my hometown.  David and I had already planned to move to this town and were planning on a January move.  I had forgotten I had even applied at the college.  Well, classes were to start on August 17.  I was called and offered the job August 10.  It wasn't even one of the jobs I applied for!  Apparently, there were so many students enrolled in the developmental English class that they needed to add two more sections.  The dean who hired me sifted through the applications and resumes until he found one that would suit his purpose and it was me, yay! 

I am now an adjunct teacher, which means that I am only contracted one semester at a time and I don't teach a full load.  I teach two classes a day.  Each class lasts an hour.  So if you did the math, yep, I work two hours a day.  But, being as ambitious and dedicated as I am, I actually stay on campus about 4.5 hours a day.  I use the time in between classes to work with students, grade papers and work on my lesson plans.  I absolutely love my job!  I would probably do it for free if they asked me to... I hope they don't, though.

So, David, the kids and I moved from Cedar Rapids to this new town.  I'm going to refrain from saying it because I was less likely to get stalked and murdered in Cedar Rapids than I am in this town as it is much much smaller.  So far, we love where we live, but are a bit disappointed in that most of this people in this town seem like a$$holes.  Well, I haven't experienced it as much as David has.  People from here just tend to be a little on the snooty and holier than thou side.  But, I have met so many nice people that it doesn't dissuade me from liking the town overall.  We are located in a great area and it is only about 5 minutes from my work, A's school and L's babysitter.

Yep, I had to start L at a babysitter.  He so far loves it, which takes a huge burden off my mind.  I also plan to start substitute teaching on Fridays once everyone gets settled and into a routine.  I love subbing as well.

Okay, well that's my update.  I'm going to be chomping at the bit for September to get over because the cost of the move set us back quite a bit and now we have a lot of catching up to do.  That and the fact that Jen Schirm of Iowa City never paid me the babysitting money that she owed me AND she has some of my DVDs.  I still need to figure out how to file a lawsuit.

I will update you as needed!!