Monday, September 22, 2008

For the lazy and forgetful

For those of you who are lazy or forgetful, we are having a little boy. You can look at him manhood further down the blog. I am due on October 28. My last doctor's appointment though he told me I would probably go early. We will see if he is correct. I am 35 weeks tomorrow.

Again, I am having a little boy that is due on October 28.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Rant

So I'm in class right now. Yes, I know blogging in class is a no-no, but I am in a state of serious frustration and need some kind of an outlet. As a recent college graduate and one of those people who is crazy enough to pay for more punishment by going for a Masters degree, I've been to quite a few classes and had quite a few teachers. I am writing today about two things that I am utterly disgusted with. 1 - POWER POINT. Microsoft must have struck a deal with the Devil himself on this product, because as a part of Office it's completely ubiquitous, but beyond that, in the way it is USUALLY used (some teachers know how to use it well) it COMPLETELY saps any semblance of real learning from school. It causes students to disengage from the lecture (trust me, I know) because most teachers that use them READ from the slides in their teaching and post the slides on the internet. "But that's so nice, you can have those notes for later!" - THAT'S WHAT A NOTEBOOK IS FOR!!! I have learned MUCH MORE from teachers who DON'T use powerpoint than from those who do, because I know I have to be taking notes myself rather than letting the teacher spoon-feed them to me. Beyond this, a lecture without powerpoint slides flows in a natural way, rather than in some predetermined order that may or may not actually work when the teacher gets into class. Another part of the problem with this is that it causes people (I'm one) to prepare lessons and/or presentations to the slides, rather than fitting the slides to the lesson. This is a BAD way to prepare a lesson. Anyways, just to quickly end this little rant, the other annoying thing to me is the whole tenure system and that being tenured leads (some) teachers to spend way too much time on their research and none on being a good teacher, and teachers who are "great researchers" are often sortof arrogant, especially in terms of showing up to class with little or no preparation because they feel they are expert enough in their field to not have to worry about it. Anyways, maybe I'll write a post about things I'm grateful for to balance all of this negativity. That's all, goodbye.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

TAGGED!!!

The Rules:

Link the Person who Tagged you. Mention rules on your blog. Tell about 6 quirks of yours. Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same. Leave a comment to let them know.

Quirk #1: When I sleep, I can not repeat CAN NOT feel any human breath on me. I know this sounds weird, but if I can feel my own breath I will move my arm. If Zann is breathing on me, I will pull the covers up over my neck, which leads me to

Quirk #2: I have to sleep with some kind of blanket. Whether it be a sheet, small blanket, I just have to have something covering part of my body.


Quirk #3: I hate being told what to do. I didn't realize it as much until I got pregnant and people tell me all the time that I shouldn't lift that, I should sit down, or I need to take it easy. Honestly, I know what I can and can't do. Don't tell me that I can't do it, or I will do it.

Quirk #4: Once I start something, I always think that I will finish it in a timely manner, but if I don't make a goal to work on it everyday for at least a half hour, it will just sit there. I finally finished a quilt today that I started a year ago. I have moved it back and forth between places and kept telling myself that I would get it done. It is now complete. This is what it looks like:

Quirk #5: I have a nose that can smell awesomely well, particularly candy. My sister's roommate was eating a candy apple Now and Later. She offered me one and so I knew she was eating a Now and Later, but I was able to guess the kind. I have been in the passenger seat before and somebody in the back seat was eating a watermelon Jolly Rancher and I was able to guess that someone was eating it and I didn't see them.


Quirk #6: I have a husband who I love.

I tag Kellie Buckner, Rachel Richins, Janelle Cropper, Mindy Anderson, Mindy Holmgren, Jessica Nielson Newman.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Monday, September 01, 2008

Old and New Car

We sold our car on August 2, 2008. We were very excited except that we now have to find a new car, which has been an extremely big head ache.

We really liked this one and even put an offer on it, but we were denied. This is a 2003 Toyota Camry with 59,690 miles and they were asking for 10,800. We offered out the door $10,500. it was a low blow, but like we said we were denied anyway.

They were having Car Wars Thursday-Monday. We went and have test-driving the cars since Friday. We test drove a 2000 Honda Accord with 97,000 miles on it. It has a V6 engine and runs so smooth. It is a great ride. The guy wanted to sell it and so we made him an offer. We drove over to my parent's house and they drove in the car with us. My father is a mechanic and he also has a really good friend who looked at it as well. He said we were getting a great deal. We are now the proud owners of this wonderful car. It was quite a bit less than $10,500 and so we can now buy a camera as well. We are pretty excited about that. The cool thing about buying the car was that we were able to pay with cash. We have been saving for a few years. We highly recommend doing this. We don't have to pay anyone. we are going to be getting the title instead of some lien holder. Sweet!!