Alive and Well*

Hi. Remember me?

I used to be that person that blogged every day. Or almost every day.

And then… life happened. Lots and lots of life.

Oh sweet mother… where do I even begin? Last week was insanely busy. It was my very last week at the university and it was full of madly trying to complete my portfolio, attending (useless) workshops, and going out with my lovely teacher friends for farewell dinners and outings. One night I even stayed out to 1am. For an old married hag like me that was CRAAZY. haha

And then last Tuesday the Hubs had an interview with a big company near The City.

On Wednesday we found out he had a job offer and that we’d be moving. :) More on this soon.

On Saturday I said goodbye to my Hubster and left to begin my last 3 week placement in the City. I went to BTown to pick up my momma’s car (she loves me and is lending me her wheels so I can feel like a grown up) and drove down last night. My fabulous cousin kindly offered to take me in for the next couple of weeks so I can get this placement outta the way, so I’ll be bunking with her, her hubby and their stinkin‘ cute new bebe. Seriously–I can’t get enough of this kid.

So, I started the new placement today. Correction–I started the last placement today. It’s reeeeeally different from anything I’ve done before… first things first, I’m working in an elementary school that’s full of little people. I forgot how tiny 6 year olds are. haha! I’m working in an Autistic Spectrum Disorder classroom, and there are 6 boys in my class. They are all functioning at varying levels, but as a whole it’s a really great group. Fourteen days until freedom, baby!

Anyway, I’m wiped and I need to collapse on bed. (that’s right, I said ON bed. If I can last long enough to get under the covers and get IN bed it’ll be a miracle)

Oh, one more thing–for those of you out there that use Twitter, I’ve left my @shopgirll account and created @iheartmyshoes so add me there!!

Shop Girl*
xo

My Top Ten Irrational Fears*

Do you ever think about about the absolutely ridiculous things you are afraid of? I’m talking about those completely irrational fears that you are a bit embarrassed about and that have no real basis in anything but that you are secretly afraid of anyway? Iiiiiiii have a couple that I usually keep secret from everyone but the Hubs, but I decided it’s time for Confessions of Shop Girl*.

Shop Girl’s Top Ten Irrational Fears*

1. Leaving my hair straightener on. I actually think I might have a touch of OCD sometimes. Whenever I leave the house I am always afraid that I’ve left my straightener on an am thus going to burn down my entire apartment building (which is virtually impossible, but somehow I imagine I could do it). I always have to check 2 or 3 times to make sure it’s off, and sometimes I even have to call home just to double check. It’s bizarre.

2. Clogging a toilet. Yes, it’s true. I am terrified that I will some day clog a public toilet. I have never (to my knowledge) had this happen, nor should it ever happen, but I alllllllways afraid of it. I ration my toilet paper to prevent it. haha

3. The dark. Yes, dear readers, I don’t like the dark. I’m not terrified of it–I can certainly enjoy some darkness–but I don’t like sleeping in it. When I was little I had a pink Glow Worm (Remember those??) and I think I got used to sleeping with a little bit of light. I now have a wonderful IKEA Moon Lamp (yes, I am 5 years old inside) in my bathroom that sheds just enough light into my bedroom, and a night light in the kitchen. Not TOO bad… but I don’t sleep as well if they are not on.

4. Expired food. This one probably goes without saying for most people, but I have a hard time eating something if I even THINK it might be expired. I read an article on CBC earlier this year that explained that you can safely eat most expired foods for up to several weeks / months after the best before date (depending on the food in question, obviously…) but I can’t do it. The Hubs laughs at me all the time because I will stand before the fridge in agony trying to decide if I can eat something or not if the best before date was yesterday. *sigh*

5. Towel snapping. You know when you have a damp towel or dish rag and you twist it a bit then snap it at someone? (Click HERE for an example) This terrifies me. It sounds like the most painful experience ever… that *SNAP* sound is lethal. I was towel snapped once a lonnnnnnng time ago and it hurt like a mother, now even the sound of it makes me run away. haha! The Hubster is not allowed to even pretend to towel snap me. No way hosee.

6. Fast food chicken. I will not tell you why I am afraid of fast food chicken lest I frighten you from ever eating it again. However, I will tell you that I have not ordered a chicken dish at any fast food restaurant since I was 8 years old. I am now almost 24. *shudders*

7. Elevators. Here’s a tricky one for you. I LOVE elevators. I love the whole concept–you get in and ZOOM! Off you go to your desired floor. I also think outdoor / glass elevators are way cool. Sooo… how does this become an irrational fear? I love elevators when no one moves in them. I like people to become mannequins when they ride with me and stop moving when the elevator does. I freak out when people jump or make the elevator move while it’s moving. I noooo like it.

8. People being mad at me. For some reason I cannot handle people being upset with me to the point that I almost fear it. I don’t think I’ve ever even had an experience where someone was absolutely livid with me, but I hate conflict. It is not my friend. Debates? Suuuure! A little argument? Okay, why not. Being mad at me? Nope. I will bend over backward to make things right.

9. Spiders. Oh sweet mother, I do not like these little beasts. They fascinate me, but I hate them. If I see one it takes everything in me not to call out for the Hubster (my knight in shining armour / Spida Killa) to come and “get it”. I’ve been better lately… after a deep breath I am able to take a ginormous wad of kleenex and remove it from my living space. If the wind blows my hair on my arm or face my immediate thought is that it couldn’t possibly be my hair, it MUST be a spider on my skin. (this happened. once. haha) But here is the bizarre part–I love watching them. If they are behind a pane of glass I absolutely love to watch them do what they do. It’s so cool.

10. Fire. This is probably my greatest fear… I am terrified of fire. Did any of you ever watch that old show “Rescue 911″? I used to watch it as a kid and there was an episode about a house fire and it scared the crap out of me and has stayed with me ever since. Even now, if the fire alarm goes off I am nervous for a lonnnnng time afterward, even if I know it was nothing. I love a good bonfire (if it is under control) but any type of fire indoors is not my friend.

So there you have it. I promise I’m not a total scaredy-cat, nor do these fears consume my life (I have not yet had to live in a bubble… life is good). They are just things that make me nervous from time to time without any really good reason.

What are your irrational fears?

Shop Girl*

P.s. If you use Twitter you absolutely must watch the following video. It’s glorious!

LAST DAY*

Soo… I’ve been a little absent from my blog this week.

It’s been a little hectic.

Okay. It’s been a lot hectic.

First things first: I started teaching the grade 12′s. It was a huuuge jump from Grade 7 where I could say anything and sound smart. In Grade 12 I actually have to know what I’m talking about. Kinda. (it’s a grade 12 university course, so they actually know some stuff. ha) I’m in the middle of a Hamlet unit which has been a huuuuge struggle for me. Even though I am an English major, I haaaaaate Shakespeare. I can appreciate it, but I don’t like it. Nope. So having to teach it was not easy for me, but I made it through. I found my groove today and connected with the class.

Tomorrow is also my very last day of this placement. Let us reflect on how I feel about that…

HOO HAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously. TEN WEEKS. Waaaay to long for a placement, even though I loved my class and my AT. You might be thinking–”waitaminute… the school year is way more than 10 weeks, if you can’t handle 10 weeks how can you do a whole year?“

Ahem. Having your own classroom is very, very different from being a student teacher (which I experienced on the days when my AT was away and there was a supply in) as as a student teacher in someone else’s room and I am limited in my freedom. I am being watched allll the time, I’m playing by someone else’s rules, and I am constantly thinking, “Well, I think Mrs. X would have done it this way… ” rather than, “Screw it. Let’s do THIS“. It’s fine, but I am SO ready to do this on my own.

I think.

Anyway. Tomorrow is the LAST day. I feel like I’ve already said my goodbyes as my wonderful little Grade 7′s threw me a party 2 weeks ago, so I feel as though I’ve just been filling in time these past 2 weeks. But whatevs… the end is here now! Tomorrow I shall be a very, very happy Shop Girl.

I was going to add on this post I’ve been working on about all my ridiculous irrational fears… buuuuuut you’ll get’er tomorrow. Then I can think of more.

Shop Girl*

Personal Space Invasions*

This year I got the best Easter present ever.

It certainly wasn’t your traditional solid milk chocolate bunny that I am trying to convince myself I am not missing terribly, nor was it really tangible in any form.

This year my gift was an introduction to my new favourite thing: Howie Do It.

I’m not sure how I ever lived a complete and full life before Howie Mandel and Vic Cohen, but oh, oh, OH my friends, life is so good now. I have not laughed as hard as I did this afternoon in… well, at least a day. haha! (I like to laugh, so sue me… haha)

There are so many AMAZING segments that I have decided I will post them weekly. I haven’t decided which day it’ll be on (or if there will even be a day… I heart all things random) but it needs to be shared. Tonight I introduce you to Vic Cohen and the clip that nearly made me pee my pants this afternoon.

Love. (P.s. When you get to the biker, make sure to watch his buddies’ reactions in the background. High-larious! haha)

Shop Girl*

Easter Update*

I love Easter.

It’s one of my favourite holidays, and although I thought it might not be as exciting without chocolate this year, rice krispie squares made for an excellent replacement AND this is the first year since beginning university that I’ve been able to enjoy the entire 4-day weekend. I have decided that I love 4-day weekends. More please.

Th Hubster and I hadn’t really planned on doing much this weekend (I expected a repeat of Easter Nachos) but at the last minute we decided on a quick trip to visit his family for a day. We had a glorious relaxing day… we slept in a bit (I slept all the way to 8:30! WHOA) and did a bit of shopping where I found some FABULOUS deals. I got a new spring jacket and two new shirts for TWELVE dollars. That’s right. The clothes were already marked 70% off, then at the counter I found out that they were an additional 50% off the sale price. (Seriously?!?!) Needless to say, I was quite proud of my thrifty shopping.

We came home and I was able to spend a good hour finishing another one of my Amish books. I admit it–I’m obsessed. I love learning about different lifestyles, cultures and religions. This week I was OBSESSED with reading Escape by Carolyn Jessop. I could not put it down–thank goodness I wasn’t teaching! haha! I think the Hubster was relieved when I finally finished it as when I read I go into a trance and am oblivious to the world around me (sorry love!). The book was amazing though… I knew very little about the FLDS faith before reading it, and while I know it’s biased and skewed through this woman’s one perspective, it was a fascinating read. Like this book, I also love reading my Amish books as it’s another religion and culture I knew absolutely nothing about before I began reading, and the Amish really are a fascinating people.

Anyway, I digress. After I finished my book we all decided to go out to a country store that I absolutely love. They sell the best Cherry Bread (and I don’t even like cherries, that should tell you how amazing this bread is) and all kinds of other neat food and random things. I found the CUTEST gift for Peeah’s baby (did I mention she is having a girl?!?!) that I know I will have an impossible time keeping until she starts having her baby showers. Seriously. Actually, I lied. The Hubster found it and I couldn’t resist buying it. Ha. I was also able to score the last two loaves of my beloved bread. Life is good.

We came home and after a quick nap we had a phenomenal turkey dinner. I can’t even remember the last time I was able to make a big dinner so it was soooo nice being able to sit down to four kinds of vegetables, delicious turkey with stuffing and gravy, and a mouth-watering pecan pie for dessert. I really don’t need to eat ever again. Well, at least not for another hour anyway. haha!

I did eat so much that I felt I needed to walk some of it off, so I dragged the Hubster out the door for an evening walk through his old neighbourhood. It made me really nostalgic as we used to go for walks there alllll the time when were dating many, many moons ago. (We are oldie-weds now) We went for a nice stroll around the block and had a long talk about our future, even stopping to sit on some swings for a while. We really have no idea what’s going to happen over the next couple of weeks as we both finish school and prepare to enter the real world of jobs, cars and *shudders* debt. It’s scary trying to find jobs right now, and I’m just hoping that things will fall into place. :)

So, that brings me to now. I’m sitting all cozy at my desk, thinking about the future and not procrastinating my final teacher’s college assignment: the portfolio. My portfolio is huge and is also worth 50% of one of my classes, so it’s not really something I can leave to the last minute. I’ve really had to let go of my procrastinating skills this year. I worked so hard to perfect them, but I can’t keep it up anymore… *sigh*. Luckily we had a snow day this week (did I mention that? We had a SNOW DAY. On April 7th. How gross is that?!) and I was able to spend the afternoon working on it and completed the first section. I am determined to have it nearly completed by Monday evening. Wish me luck!

Anyway, this post is monstrous so I had best leave things until tomorrow. I hope you are all having a fabulous Easter wherever are. :)

Shop Girl*

P.s. Add me to Twitter!! http://twitter.com/shopgirll