Monthly Archives: June 2009

Girls Night In*

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Shop Girl| Leave a comment

Well, the Hubs is out having a boys night playing hockey, so I’m here all by my lonesome curled up with my laptop, smelly candle (Pecan Pie is pretty much the best scent EVER), and girly music (see video posted below) and thought I’d post a lil something on here.

For starters, thanks for all your input on the grad photos thus far! I appreciate your votes / comments as I still have no freaking idea which one to choose. haha! Last night I realized that I had only 5 options on the poll and there are 6 photos (I am not a math teacher, I promise) so I had to start it over. The funny thing was, the votes were COMPLETELY different last night to what they are today! People seem to like #4 the best today, but yesterday it was a toss up between #3 and #5. So, if you voted last night, would you mind voting again today? I know, I suck, but I do really appreciate the feedback!

Next on the agenda, I found a new site that I am loving and on this fab new site is a fabulous giveaway! Beautiful Blog Designs is the place to go if you want some ideas on how to spruce up your blog a bit, and she is currently giving away a custom blog design by Blogs by Erin. I want this SO BADLY. I JUST posted about how I want a site that is a little more “me”, and I am hearting Erin’s portfolio with so much hearting. I went through trying to find a favourite, but there are two that I am LOVING:

In no particular order:
1. Pink Sugar Desserts
2. Mamma Blogger

Seriously. It’s fabulous. So go check’er out… and tell them to pick me. Ha!

I also started running again yesterday. I finally pulled together some motivation and pushed myself out the door for a jog. I was not as out-of-shape as I expected and managed to go for a good 2 mile jog. I felt great yesterday… happy to be back on track and all that jazz…

…and then I woke up this morning and I AM AN OLD MAN. My legs are SO SORE! I stretched like crazy yesterday but every muscle in my legs hurts today. haha! I gave myself the day off to prevent further injury, but I hope to get out again tomorrow. I want to get back to where I was last August when I started teacher’s college and signed my life away for the next nine months. I’m not sure whether or not I’ll start up my “Shop Girl Gets in Shape” blog again or not–the jury’s still out on that one, but I’ll let’cha know.

Before I go, I’ve been blasting some of my FAVOURITE songs while the Hubs is out, and you’d probably laugh at the random playlist I’ve created–everything from Boys II Men to Charlotte Church to Aqua to Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Anyway, tonight as I was playing piano I came across some sheet music I haven’t seen in years: The Flower Duet from Lakmé. I love this piece of music more than life… it was sung at my wedding by my best friend at the time, and I’ve decided that I want to learn how to play it.

So, enjoy. :)

Shop Girl*

Posted in Exciting News*

Grad Photos (Again)*

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

**Annnnd I am an idiot. Jenny noticed that although there were 6 options to choose from, there were only 5 options on the poll… so I had to make a new one. Sorry friends. Sometimes I am not so bright. haha

Okay folks, it’s time.

Last year you were such a big help in my grad photo dilemma, and this year I need you more than ever. You see, I thought it would be a good idea to go get my photos taken at the conclusion of an exhausting day of teaching grade 7 (meaning that I left it until the absolute deadline and I had no other choice *sigh*) and I was so tired I nearly fell asleep in the studio. Last year there was at least one photo that I kind of liked… this year, not so much.

My mom wants a photo though, so it’s time to choose… which one should I pick?

(You can click on pictures to enlarge them)

Shop Girl*

Posted in Complaining about something*, Photos*

IT WORKS* (The Hubster Has Magic Powers)

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

I have the best Hubster EVER.

After my oh, so excruciatingly painful weekend fighting with my blog (which I tried not to exaggerate as he started his new job yesterday and I didn’t want to be a needy “I-can’t-do-anything-on-the-computer-wifester) tonight he made magic happen and… voila! It works!

…or at least it should. If it doesn’t, I don’t wanna hear about it.

…actually I do. But break it to me gently. I might snap. Be forewarned. ha

I’m still playing with it / adding stuff to the new links so watch for that! Also, the link to comment is now at the top of each post, instead of the bottom. So, should you want to leave me some love (which you should) do it there. :)

So, that’s that. As I am feeling lazy / want to continue feeding my new found Law & Order SVU obsession, (I did not watch 4 episodes today. Nope.) this post is going to be a mismatch of randomness. Be excited.

First thing first: I am going to learn French. I have always wanted to and know it would benefit me greatly in my job search. So, tonight I got some new software, busted out some cahier d’exercices and away I go. Send happy thoughts my way… this may not be pretty. haha

I have fallen in love with cheese. I never thought I liked it. I mean, it was okay melted on top of stuff, but I was never one to grab a piece off a cheese and cracker tray, and I rarely bought it for myself. Until I did. And now I LOVE it. I know most of it is crazy fattening and blah blah blah… but oh. Cheese. ♥

Tomorrow I start running again–rain or shine. And by rain or shine I really just mean shine. Really shiny. And warm. Please?

The apartment is 90% unpacked and I seem to have stalled a bit. All that is left before I can do a photo shoot is all the little finicky crap that we have no place for / requires effort to put up on the wall. I will finish by Saturday. (Cue The Little Engine That Could please)

Annnnnnnnd I’m outtie. (Oh Clueless… where did you go?) Thanks for all the feedback about my new template yesterday… I still don’t understand why some of you could see it and others couldn’t. Maybe it was possessed. *looks around wildly* For those of you that couldn’t see it before, thoughts? Do you like it?

Tomorrow I scan my grad photos for your viewing pleasure. I’ll need you to pick one for me as I can never do it myself. *sigh*

Until tomorrow, dearies!

Shop Girl*

Posted in Exciting News*

Under Construction*

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

I have spent the entire weekend fighting with my blog. Here’s the scoop–I’m bored. I’ve changed my background / template several times in the past year because I still haven’t found one that I feel is really… me. I would love to have one custom made, but I’m poor and not working and probably can’t afford it. Sooo… I have been trying to find a semi-decent free one that can tide me over until then.

I found one that I thought was kinda cute, but it has been driving me nuts since I put it on. Sometimes the images work, sometimes they don’t. They appear to be working today when I view my blog in Firefox, but not in Internet Explorer. Bizarre, no? So if you could please just tell me if you can see them, that would be great!!

Can you see any images in my header / template, or is it just a big white box??

Thanks!

Shop Girl*

Posted in Complaining about something*

Take the Test*

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

I feel like I just signed my entire life away. haha

Today I attempted to be productive and spent the entire afternoon updating my license and health card information with our new address (but I still have to go in for the new picture… ugh), completing my passport application and fixing up the ol’ summer job résumé. I found a job that I reeeeeeally want right across the street. I think it’s destiny. I shall apply for said job tomorrow.

It’s a secretarial job at a medical office which means sweet hours — no evenings or weekends — and a professional work environment (no more mothers coming in with all 17 of their children expecting to have exactly the shoes they want in every size… I used to work in a shoe store, can you tell? ha). Keep your fingers crossed for me, dearies! I want it! haha

As I was reading the job description I saw that a requirement was to be able to type 41 – 60 words per minute. I’m a pretty decent “typer” but I wasn’t entirely sure of my typing speed so I decided to look up an online program to test my skill. The Hubster came in as I was starting and sat with me during my first go. The program I found was really hard for me… it was just a sequence of random words in a nonsensical order.

I got only 62 wpm (words per minute)… I thought I was better than that! So, the Hubster decided to try and blew me away with a with a score of 78 wpm.

(Here is where my competitive nature kicks in)

I tried again… and again, and I consistently came up with a score that hovered around 60, while the Hubster continued to kick the pants of me with scores of nearly 80.

So obviously I reasoned that the website must be flawed. It must be, right? Right?

I went back to ol’ Google and found another. This site was similar, only the test text was smaller and made sense. It was actual paragraphs or excerpts from texts… as in full sentences. None of this random crap.

I got 78 wpm on my first try. The Hubs could only manage scores in the low sixties. So we went back to the other site and tried it again… and again the Hubs rocked his scores and I was terrible.

So really, there is only one explanation:

I do well at things that make sense. The Hubs? Not so much. haha!

I kid, I kid. Usually I’m the one that doesn’t make any sense. (My momma learned me how to speak English good) But I DID find the whole thing really interesting–when my teacher-brain kicked in and I started reflecting on the situation (yes, my fellow teachers, I went there… haha) I realized that maybe he and I are able to process things totally differently. When I read I see entire sentences… I can’t read word by word–it’s too slow and doesn’t make sense for me. I need to see the larger context. Whereas the Hubs can read individual words for what they are and not need them in a sensical order.

Interesting, no?

Try it for yourself… which test is easier for you?

Test #1 – Random Words

Test #2 – Paragraphs

Let me know if I’m totally crazy and you can get the same / a similar score on both tests! I couldn’t do it… there was a difference of 10 – 15 wpm between the two for me!

Shop Girl*

P.s. I can’t stop listening to the Cranberries tonight. What ever happened to them?? They are fabulous!!