Monthly Archives: April 2009

Sweet Moves*

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Shop Girl| Leave a comment

I love things that make me laugh.

I’m not just talking about a little snicker here, I’m talking about an honest-to-goodness genuine laugh which, for me, is usually accompanied by tears. I’m a laugh-crier. When I laugh really hard tears rolls down my face. It’s lovely. haha

Anyway. I love things that make me laugh like that. Two days ago, I was sent a link to a video which made me laugh so hard I thought I might die. It’s probably funnier for me as he looks like he belongs in my family and reminds me of my littlest brother, but it’s still glorious.

Watch and love.

I want moves like that.

Shop Girl*

Posted in Cool Stuff*

I’ve Been Googled*

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Shop Girl| Leave a comment

Yesterday I learned that of my biggest fears about teaching finally happened: I’ve been Googled.

I underestimated my apparently internet-savvy class who, I assume, were bored over the weekend and decided to Google their favourite student teacher. Thankfully I am a wholesome young lady and there are no clandestine photos of yours truly all over the internet.

However, they DID find something. As I popped in to chat with my former AT over lunch a student came running in the room nearly breathless with excitement to see that I was there.

Student: “Mrs. Shop Girl! I saw your video!”

(Confusion settles over me)

Me: “Pardon me? What video?”

Student: “Your wedding video! The one with the sad song and all the pictures!”

(Confusion is replaced by anxiety and fear)

Me: (Trying to laugh it off) “Oh really? How did you find that?”

Student: “Oh, I don’t know. So-and-so showed it to me.”

(Trying not to panic as my AT raised an inquisitive eyebrow and I realize more than one student has Googled me… which moves me to frantically try to remember if YouTube is in anyway connected to here, my most secret of not-so-secret places)

Me: “Oh. Ok!” (Turn my back to end the conversation. I was done.)

As the student left the room I nonchalantly explained that my oh-so-talented sister had made a video of our wedding photos for the Hubster and I on our last anniversary, hoping to keep the panic from my voice / the raised eyebrow would settle back to it’s regular position. As I watched the eyebrow slowly lower I deftly changed the subject and left shortly thereafter.

Unfortunately I don’t get wireless on my side of the school, so I had to wait in anxiety until 3:30 before I could get home and Google myself to see exactly what was out there. The video did indeed pop up on the second Google search page, and I realized that it connected to my sister’s page where a plethora of home movies awaited. If that wasn’t bad enough, I also found out that it connected to the YouTube page I had made for here, my blog. The one place I hope to keep anonymous and safe. For the life of me I couldn’t remember if I had placed a link to my blog on the YouTube site. I spent 20 minutes checking every nook and cranny and was relieved to find that I am smarter than I give myself credit for. (Not too smart, just a bit brilliant)

I was still disappointed that I had missed that though… after all my ranting and raving in September when I nearly had a panic attack about security and privacy (which you can read about here, here, and LISTEN here!) and even made a new secure blog on WordPress (which I clearly didn’t keep… haha) I thought the internet was clear of things attached to my real name. *sigh*

So, as I am a self-proclaimed worrier, I decided to purge the internet of all things associated with the me behind Shop Girl… and that meant one thing: breaking up with YouTube.

This year has been a year of breakups for me… I broke up with chocolate in August and have been clean for the past 8 months. I hope to go an entire year before I even consider eating it again.

Next came my breakup with Perez Hilton. If you know me, this might surprise you. Last year I was best buddies with Perez, checking his website umpteen times a day (I shall keep the real number a secret so I don’t seem like a total stalker) because I hearted his light-hearted mocking of celebrities. Thennnnn he got political. After Prop 8 I felt like he became a huge hypocrite–he opposed Prop 8 because it propagated hate, but when it was passed he spread so much hate toward the LDS church. It stopped being funny and became mean. So, we broke up in November and I haven’t looked back. (Suddenly I have all this free time on my hands! Who knew?!)

And now today, I said farewell to YouTube. I deleted each of my videos one by one and deleted my account. It really wasn’t sad for me as it has been a long time coming. As you may or may not know, Warner Music and YouTube had a lil spat and Warner has yanked the rights of using their music on YouTube. Translation? Any video that has a Warner song in it is either muted or pulled from the site. Fun, huh?

Spart and I have been increasingly unimpressed with the deteriorating state of YouTube and today we decided enough was enough. I have left, and she is following suit shortly.

Dear YouTube,

I have no more love for you.

No longer yours,

Shop Girl*

Posted in My thoughts*, Teaching*

Glorious Grade 7*

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Shop Girl| Leave a comment

I did it.

I made it through 8 weeks of teaching grade 7… and I can’t believe it’s over. I just reread some of the posts I wrote in February when I was just starting out, and while the exhaustion is still there, somehow over the past few weeks they completely won me over and I loved my class.

Thursday was my last day with my little grade 7′s, and they were so sweet. They were well-behaved and on task all morning. We spent spent a period in the computer lab trying to finish up a podcast assignment we have been working on, and as they finished they were to head back to our classroom to begin silent reading as we transitioned into Language Arts. I stayed to the end to make sure that the lab was tidy and sent my AT back to the class with the kids so they would be supervised.

I expected to walk into the classroom to find them sitting quietly at their desks reading (which is what they normally do) but as I opened the door I was met with a loud “SURPRISE!!!!!!!” and a shower of confetti. As I tried to figure out what was going on I saw that the whole room was decorated with streamers, balloons and “We will miss you!!” signs. The entire class huddled at the front of the room holding a massive red “THANK YOU” card with cake, chips and cupcakes nearby.

…I had no words. I had already determined that morning that I was not going to cry under any circumstances, but they really pushed me there. haha! They all crowded around me while I read the beautiful card (made by hand) that had been signed by every student in all three of my classes as well as the entire Intermediate staff. The cupcakes I had brought to say goodbye to my students suddenly seemed horribly inadequate by comparison… it was obvious they had spent several days planning this. I was so touched. :)

Want to know what the best part was? As a teacher I am constantly wondering if I’m getting through to all my students… several of my students have hard or complicated home lives that sometimes filter into the classroom. There is one student in my class that I wasn’t sure if I had ever connected with in my 2 months as her teacher. She struggles with a lot of outside issues and I think has some problems connecting to adults. I felt badly that I hadn’t been able to “bond” with her like I had many of my other students… even though I consistently put forth effort to try and make that connection.

After we had had our little party and my AT and I were cleaning up a bit, she mentioned to me that she had had absolutely no part in planning any aspect of the party. The students planned, decorated, made the card and baked the cakes. She supervised, but the entire thing was organized by my kids. And this student I thought I hadn’t connected with was chief party planner–she initiated everything so she could say goodbye to me. I was so glad to know that for at least 2 months I had been able to get through to her a little bit and she recognized that. I couldn’t have asked for more.

And now I can’t believe it’s all over. I still have 7 days of placement left, but they will be up in the high school teaching grade 10 and 12. It was all I wanted when I first started placement, and now I’d love to be able to stay just a bit longer in grade 7… it went so fast. I can’t even remember the moment when it all clicked and I fell in love with teaching intermediate despite it’s challenges and unbelievable amount of work. My AT was amazing. My class was fantastic. I learned SO much.

I can’t believe I ever questioned whether I should be a teacher… I have the best job.

Shop Girl*

Posted in Teaching*

Sushi Sickness*

Posted on April 5, 2009 by Shop Girl| 1 Comment

(this isn’t actually me… but it bears a striking resemblance to last night)

I hate being sick.

I actually started writing about my abhorrence for illness as I writhed in agony last night, but I was interrupted by another wave of sickness and abandoned the post. But let me back up a bit…

Yesterday the Hubs went to the City to see a guy about a job and to check out a job fair that was going on… so that left me with a big empty day by myself that I decided to fill. You would have been so proud of me yesterday… I got up early, spent only an hour with Edward, then went into warp speed. I cleaned the apartment, took apart a drawer that was driving me nuts, cleaned out my cupboards, scoured my kitchen and went to get groceries all before noon. WOO!

I then spent the afternoon readjusting my resume and began applying for work all over Ontario. I got through six applications yesterday, and it was really scary. I am terrified of the teaching interview process, but I’m going to suck it up and hopefully be awesome! I really need a job, so hopefully something will come out of this. There are a few more positions I’d like to apply for today as well.

Karog* came over as I was working to work on her resume and apply for jobs with me. For about 2 – 3 hours we both sat with our faces glued to our laptop screens and worked non-stop. Eventually we got hungry and decided we wanted sushi for dinner. We debated over where to go for a couple of minutes, then finally decided on a little place downtown that the Hubster had never been to. It’s actually a really neat little place–it’s very contemporary and the food is fabulous.

I’ve been there once before, and even though a couple of hours after eating there I had writhed in agony, I decided to try it again. When we went before Karog had given me all kinds of interesting food to try, and I assumed I had eaten something that didn’t agree with me. So I’d be fine this time, right? Right?

For the most part, I played it safe. Even though I am not a vegetarian, I prefer the veggie rolls (avocado & cucumber is my faaaavourite) and yam tempura is my love. So, I was all set to order my usual (which never ever makes me sick at our regular sushi spot) when at the last minute I decided to forgo my rolls to split some spicy chicken ones with the Hubster. I figured, no raw fish, so I should be fine this time, right? Right?

When the food came I was reeeeally excited to try everything. The spicy chicken rolls were not as fabulous as my regular veggie ones, but they were still really tasty and huge. They came topped with a spicy orange sauce. I ate until I couldn’t possibly eat any more, then we came back here to continue our productivity / allow Karog to steal our internet as hers wasn’t working (aren’t we nice people?).

She stayed until 11pm or so, then after a quick date with Edward I climbed into bed just before midnight, feeling fiiiiiine. The last time I had eaten there I’d felt sick within an hour of eating… I never actually got sick, but I was reaaally nauseous for a while (which I sometimes think is worse… I hate feeling like I’m going to throw up).

So just before I fell asleep my stomach did a little flip flop and felt a little weird, but it wasn’t anything strong enough to keep me awake and I fell peacefully asleep…

…for 25 minutes.

At 12:15am I woke up and didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel sick per say, but I didn’t feel right. I lay still for 5 minutes or so hoping it would pass, then decided to trudge to the bathroom and hang out on the bathroom floor just in case. Three seconds later I was sick. I haaaaaate throwing up. I know it probably not anyone’s favourite pastime, but I am such a suck. I feel gross and cry and die a little inside. haha

Anyway, after it was done I figured I was fine. You know how sometimes when you feel nauseous it’s better just to get it over and throw up with because you often feel fine immediately after? (well, I usually do anyway) So I brushed my teeth like 7 times and crept back into bed, managing to spare the Hubster the entire ordeal. I felt better, and was a bit relieved that it had only lasted 5 minutes and was now fine. I fell asleep.

…an hour later I woke up again and bonded with the bathroom floor once again as my body died. I don’t know if I have ever been sick like that… I couldn’t even drink water. It was awful. As I lay with my face pressed against the tiles I tried to think of what I could have possibly eaten both times to make me sick like this.

Confession: this happens with another sushi place as well… there are three good sushi spots in Senior’s City: S, H, & M. I have never, ever been sick after eating at S. It’s our favourite spot to go because it’s all you can eat and the food is fabulous. We’ve eaten at M a few times, and I have felt sick afterward almost every time. I’ve eaten at H twice, and have been sick both times.

So as I lay with my face pressed against the cool tiles of my bathroom floor (thank goodness I cleaned it on Friday) I racked my brain for what could possibly make me sick at two different restaurants. I’m fairly positive it can’t be food poisoning, but I’m not absolutely positive. The only thing I can think of is the spicy orange sauce–you know the one I’m talking about, they top spicy rolls with it… it kind of looks like cheese whiz. haha! M & H both use it. I looked it up this morning, and there is a type of smelt roe in the sauce, and I am wondering if I might be allergic to it. It’s all I can think of. *sigh*

Anyway, after an hour of imprinting the square tiles onto my face I decided to give bed another try. I quietly slipped back into the bedroom, thankful again that the Hubster had slept through everything, (even though I got in “trouble” for not waking him up this morning so he could help me… whoops haha) and after a while was able to fall asleep and stay that way until morning.

I feel better today, but I’m taking it pretty easy. I never, ever want to repeat last night. I have decided that I am only eating at the one sushi place, and it probably won’t be for a good long while. (Hellooooooo Canadian food… hi chicken fingers, please be my friend!)

But I still don’t know… could it be how they are preparing the food? It just seems bizarre that it would only happen at 2 of the 3 places I’ve been to, no?

Shop Girl*

Posted in Random

The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Shop Girl| Leave a comment

I am utterly exhausted but I had the best day… which I shall tell you all about tomorrow. (When my brain is functioning somewhat) However, I couldn’t let today go by without sharing a story I was reminded of in a meeting I had after school. My dad told me this story years ago, but I completely forgot it until today.

I hope you love it like I do. :)

The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee

A Professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the Professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The Professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The Professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the space between the grains of sand.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things–your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else -the small stuff.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. “Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The Professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

How’s that for a little perspective? I think I focus on sand too much sometimes…

Shop Girl*