Monthly Archives: May 2010

(via: http://blogs.bet.com/entertainment/whattheflick/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/isaiah_mustafa_old_spice_scene.jpg)

Confession: I love commercials.

Really, I do. I generally find them hilarious and sometimes more entertaining than whatever it is I’m watching. Now I should probably tell you that the last time I actually had cable TV was when I was 17, so I haven’t had to deal with them on a regular basis like most people.

And so, much to the Hubster’s chagrin, I love commercials. (and movie previews, for that matter. He’d be happy never to see either one.)

Now then. Every once in a while I see one that is just pure gold–one that makes me laugh until I cry in less than 30 seconds. It just has that little bit of ridiculous magic that makes it epic… the kind of commercial you’ll remember long after it’s over.

The Hubster and I went to see Robin Hood on Tuesday. I loved the movie, but a commercial they played before it even began was easily the funniest bit of the whole evening.

We all know what Old Spice is. If you don’t, just go smell your dad. I’m sure he’s wearing it. It’s the Dad scent.

Or, at least it was. It appears that they are trying to revamp their image somewhat and appeal to a younger audience. Ladies, it certainly captured mine. This is the man your man could smell like.

Watch, and LOVE.

The Hubster is getting Old Spice for Christmas.

And maybe a horse.

(via: http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/pju/lowres/pjun937l.jpg)

What. a. whirlwind.

As you know, after a year of pestering the Head Honcho Hiring Man of my school board he took pity on me and finally gave a spot on the supply list. (If you live outside of Ontario, you may know this as an occasional or substitute teaching position. Same deal.)  I received the email to come in for a sign up session / sign all the paperwork  at the board office last Tuesday.

So, bright and early Tuesday morning I donned my pretty teacher clothes, arrived way too early and sat in my car imagining my life as a supply teacher. I tried to imagine how long it would take for them to process my criminal record check and all the paperwork so that I could begin teaching as quickly as possible. I had my fingers crossed for a week from that day.

I walked into the room and found about 20 other teachers all waiting for the same session I was. I sat at a table and quickly did introductions and found that most of the people there were in the same boat as me–we’d all graduated the year before and had been volunteering / working crap part-time jobs waiting for something to open up.

Except for that one girl who had graduated teacher’s college the day before her interview. (secretly I hated her just a little bit. Don’t judge me. haha)

It was supposed to be a two-hour session, but we are just so smart that we flew through the paperwork in record time and after 45 minutes the woman in charge asked if any of us we available to being teaching a little earlier than expected. In an unexpected turn of events I somehow ended up with the entire week off work so I raised my hand in the air, as did a handful of others. She asked us to stay behind and those not ready to begin teaching filtered out of the room.

She then picked up a stack of assignments and told us they needed teachers for that afternoon. I had no time to think, no time to be afraid, I just stood up, walked to the front and took my assignment–elementary gym coverage.

Have I ever mentioned that I’m a high school English, History and Special Education teacher? haha

I wasn’t given any other details, only that I should bring running shoes with me. I drove home, changed into something a little less dressy, grabbed my runners and headed out the door. I arrived a little early so I have time to look over the lesson plans left for me and get a sense of the gym classes I’d have that day. The office was chaos when I got there, but finally the principal came out and asked who I was. I explained that I was in for Mr. Gym Teacher.

He looked utterly perplexed.

Apparently this teacher hadn’t even bothered to let him know that he’d be gone for the afternoon and had just booked a supply without telling the office. haha! He then told me that I wasn’t teaching gym. I had 29 grade 7′s for the five afternoon periods. The principal then told me that there were 10 IEP’s in the class and that it had a bit of a “reputation”.

And there were no lesson plans.

Not only were there no plans, there wasn’t even a schedule of what his regular subjects for the afternoon were. Awesome.

Tiiiiiiime to improvise. I got the kids into the library for two periods, then it was up to me to throw together a literacy and math lesson to cover the remainder of the afternoon. It was a challenging class, but thankfully I was able to draw from my experience of teaching grade 7 last year and made it through without too much difficulty. I didn’t have to send anyone to the office and we got through a fair bit of work.

At the end of the day the teacher who has the same class in the mornings came in to check on me and was surprised to see that I was still in one piece. She then told me that the last two supply teachers had run out of the room bawling at the end of the day and had asked not to be requested back.

Ha. Wimps. (KIDDING.)

I cleaned up the room, left a detailed note for the teacher and walked to my car and realized that I had just finished my first assignment. For months I had dreamed about how terrifying it would be to walk into a school I that I was unfamiliar with. How terrible it would be to get into a class and find that there were no plans left for me. To have to teach a huge class with a reputation for their behavior with supply teachers.

I got all three on my first day.

I not only survived, I loved it. No plans? Behaviour kids? BRING IT ON.

I had a call every day last week. The rest were all in different high schools and it was so fun. I’ve taught English, Literature, Civics and Careers, and tomorrow I’ve already been called back to a school to teach Business and Computers all day. I know it’s still new, but I can safely say that I don’t just like supply teaching, I LOVE it. I love being in a different class every day. I love meeting new people and taking on new challenges.  I love winning over a group of kids who try and pull the regular tricks on their supply teachers.

I am excited to begin every day, and words cannot express how good it feels to feel that way again. I knew that I missed teaching, but I didn’t realize just how much. I finally feel like I’m on my way.

I also decided to keep my part-time job for the time being. My manager has graciously offered to let me work Saturdays until the end of the school year, then I’ll work through the summer and permanently leave in September. As tempted as I was to run into the store waving my resignation the same day I got the job offer, I decided to suck it up and take the extra money over the summer.

September’s not that far away, right?

In the meantime, I’ll just stay on this supply teaching high as long as I can. I’m already collecting a wealth of stories that I cannot wait to share with you.

Life is good.

(via: http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/one-year-later.jpg)

A lot can happen in a year.

A year ago today I had just finished teacher’s college. The Hubster and I had just found out about his new job and had just found a new home in our new city. With mixed feelings, we packed up all the things we had accumulated through the four years we spent in Senior’s City and set out to begin the next phase of our lives.

A year ago I had a plan. I would either have a job as a supply teacher or have a class of my own by September. I would have a summer job within two weeks of moving to Pretty City. I was ready to get myself back into shape.

If anyone had told me that none of that was going to happen, I would have laughed in their face. I was ready to conquer the world.

The past year has been an interesting one, to say the least. In that time we’ve moved into a new city and embraced all that Pretty City has to offer. We love the people. We love the landscape. It’s a city of love.

The Hubster transitioned smoothly from student life to “grown-up” life as he began his career. He continues to be successful where he is, and we hope he’ll be there for a long, long time. He also started his own company AND continues to work part-time for our university.Yeah, he’s hardcore. haha

He started playing hockey again. He also became a bushman. He’s become an archer and a hunter, and the indoor man I once knew now thrives out in the bush. :)

I spent nearly four months completely unemployed before I was able to find any sort of work. In the past year I’ve applied to nearly 75 teaching positions. I’ve volunteered in a special education classroom for eight months. I’ve taken AQ courses and french courses and my education continues.

I joined a gym. I started eating chocolate again, then stopped eating sugar and yeast.

We bought our first car. I became an aunt to a beautiful little girl. The Hubster’s family moved 1800km away.

It’s been a year of challenges, hope, sadness and joy–and I feel like I’ve been on a constant path of self-discovery. I realized just how much I love teaching, and I also realized that feeling like my dream is just out of reach is the most frustrating thing I’ve ever experienced.

When I look back on it, it’s hard to believe that a year has already passed–but I cannot wait to begin the next one.

On Thursday morning–the day before I celebrated a year since completing teacher’s college–I received this:

Hello Shop Girl:

I am writing to invite  you to a sign-up session for supply teaching with the Pretty City School Board the details of which are below:

DATE:   TUESDAY MAY 18TH, 2010

PLACE: Education Centre,
Pretty City School Board

TIME:   9:00 A.M.

Please enter the building through the doors that face the road and  obtain a visitor’s badge from the reception area. Then take the stairs to the second floor to the Employee Relations waiting area. We are the first door on the right at the top of the stairs.

Thank you!

Hiring Head Honcho

What I (eventually) read was this:

JOB!!!!!!!!! JOB!!!!!!!!!!!! JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Friday I was called and offered an interview for supply teaching with MY board, right here where I live. I was so terrified I wouldn’t get it, or that I’d jinx my one shot at getting in that I didn’t tell anyone. Aside from the Hubster, my immediate family, my references and a few friends who had recently been through the same interview I was too afraid to tell a soul.

At 8:30am on Tuesday morning I stepped through the doors into a conference room and endured a 40 minute interview. I thought that it went okay, but again, I was too terrified to let myself think anything. Sometimes hoping is harder than being let down.

When I hadn’t heard anything by Wednesday night doubt crept into my mind from every corner.

On Thursday morning I went to go volunteer, same as always. After finishing an activity with the kids I grabbed my blackberry (as the behest of the EAs in the class) to see if I had heard anything. I started reading the email, unsure of what it meant. They demanded that I read it out loud and as I read they began jumping and shouting that I had gotten the job. I read it nearly 10 times to make sure it was real.

After telling the class, I didn’t tell anyone else for nearly three hours. The Hubster and I had plans to have lunch together and I really wanted to tell him in person. Besides, I needed time to digest what had just happened: I. have. a. job. JOB. Job. Job Job Job.

It didn’t feel real. It STILL doesn’t feel real.

I was one day shy of spending a full year without a teaching position, which I know, around here, really isn’t that bad. But I needed this. I really needed this.

Am I excited? Not yet. I’ve spent so long waiting and hoping that I still can’t believe it. After I sign the contract on Tuesday there will be excitement. And yelling. And singing. And jumping.

And possibly punch dancing. (I’ve got to get the frustration of the past year out somehow! hahaha)

It’s been a long, eventful year, but it couldn’t have ended on a better note.

I HAVE A JOB!!!!!!!!! :)

(via: http://www.babble.com/babble-50/mommy-bloggers/nie-nie-dialogues/images/nie-nie-dialogues.jpg)

Remember that time when I used to find really cool things and share them with you? I sort of let it go in December when things got reeeeally hectic and forgot to pick it back up. I’d really like to start my Shop Girl Shares series on Mondays again, but this couldn’t wait.

I like to think that I’m pretty good at finding interesting things on the internet. I often find things that make me laugh or throw my hand over my mouth in shock. Occasionally I find things that are just incredibly interesting that make me want to research a little further on my own.

Then, every once in a while, I find something that captures my attention so completely that I cannot move from my seat until I’ve learned all that I can. When I first found Gigi’s blog last fall and read about her journey through her husband’s infidelity I could. not. stop. reading. I read her entire blog from start to finish in one night. Her personal strength to overcome something I couldn’t even imagine was beyond my understanding and I was rooting for her from the first paragraph.

I found Gigi months ago, and almost forgot what that feeling was like–that feeling of something grabbing on to your heart so strongly it nearly takes your breath away.

On Sunday I found Nie Nie.

At first glance it just looks like an adorable blog about a mom and her kids. Which it is.

…but it’s also about Stephanie Nielson’s recovery from a horrific plane crash that left her with third degree burns covering over 80% of her body.

I honestly can’t remember how I stumbled across her blog on Sunday night–I was supposed to be busy being busy but found myself googling this and that and her blog popped up. I started perusing through, my attention caught by the bright colours and cute designs on her blog… then I started reading. And looking at her pictures.

My heart jumped into my throat and I googled a little more.

I found an article that chronicles the day of the crash, her recovery and her life since it happened in 2008. I read the entire thing from start to finish and was nearly in tears by the end. It is the saddest, yet most inspiring story I think I’ve ever read. Everything changed that fateful day, and she’s basically been to hell and back since. Her children didn’t recognize her after the crash. She is in constant pain as doctors continue to graft skin to help her slowly healing body. She can’t do half of the simple things we take for granted every day–doing dishes, lifting her small children, flipping pages through a book–but despite it all she pushes forward, resolved to be grateful for what she does have in life.

It’ll make you cry and make you seriously reevaluate the challenges you face every day and the way you react to them. She takes life as it comes, and though it sometimes gets her down, she makes it through with a lot of love and a great sense of humor.

This woman is such an inspiration to me. Her blog totally just made my daily reads list.

(via: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2zi7KBS6sG0/Ss0gCs-1TdI/AAAAAAAAAlw/A_C5XqRzqqI/s400/nie.JPG)

This is Stephanie and her husband holding hands post-crash (which they jokingly have labeled B.C. and A.C.–Before Crash and After Crash). Her husband was also in the plane.

Meet Nie Nie. I hope you love her like I do. :)

(via: http://incredimazing.com/static/media/2009/03/18/608bde939891843/Im_Hungry.jpg)

Well my lovelies, it’s been five days. Let’s have a chat.

When I started this new diet I had hoped to be able to write every day, and just post a wee update at the bottom of each post to let you know that I’m still alive and haven’t wasted away (yet). Unfortunately, life happened and things have been a bit, well, exciting, stressful, nerve-wracking and hopeful these past few days and my time was filled elsewhere. I can’t explain exactly why just yet, but hang in there. I hope I won’t keep you waiting long.

So I started the new regime off with a BANG on Friday. The morning was sooo easy. I thought, “Gee, I could live forever without sugar! Who ever said this was hard?” I was at work, keeping busy and life was grand.

Then lunchtime hit. Suddenly I was all kinds of hungry and my body ached for sugar. I was scheduled to work until 2pm so there wasn’t a lot I could do. I had eaten a large, healthy breakfast, but by 1pm I felt like I was going to be sick and my hands started shaking a bit. (Crazy, right?) I know it’s cheating, but I quickly drank a sugar-free pop (which I know isn’t reeeeeally sugar-free) and I felt a bit better. I made it through my shift, ate lunch and got back on track.

The weekend was actually pretty easy… we spent it with my family where I am less likely to raid cupboards as, well, they aren’t my own. haha! I packed lots of diet-friendly snacks with me and was able to stay fairly close to the guidelines I had set for myself and avoided sugar and yeast (which included a b-e-a-uuuuu-ti-ful chocolate cheesecake Peeah had bought for the beautiful feast she prepared for Mommy’s Day. *sigh*).

Yesterday was immensely stressful, so not eating crap was a bit harder. My body craves sugar (okay, let’s be honest–chocolate) whenever I am stressed, but I curbed those cravings with a low-fat blueberry organic yogurt shake. I would have normally thrown half a bag of sugar into one of those, but I was pleasantly surprised at how sweet the blueberry flavor was. One might even say that I hearted it.

And that brings us to today–the hardest day yet. My cravings were out of control today, but I managed to persevere. Only a few more hours and I’m through day five.

I’ll be honest–I miss treats. I reeeeally do. I’ve realized that the hardest part of this diet is not really cutting out the sweets, but rather changing my eating habits so drastically. Every time I finish a meal I crave something sweet because I’ve conditioned my body to want dessert after 20-some years of enjoying that happy routine. I’m used to grabbing a chocolatey granola bar every time I walk through the kitchen. I’m used to eating something sweet while I cook dinner to tide me over until it’s ready.

More than anything, this has made me realize that my eating habits are terrible.

Sure, it’s been hard, but I feel good. Like, really good. I feel like I have more energy and I don’t feel as lethargic as I’ve felt lately.

Want to know the best part? When I weighed myself on Monday I had already lost four pounds. I know it’s probably just water weight, but that’s still good riddance to four pounds! I like that.

So, on I go. My biggest fear is that I’ll get bored of the food I’m eating… I know I’m going to need to get creative, especially with my snacks. My next one to try is peppers with hummus. It’s no chocolate bar, but it sounds interesting enough. haha!

Have any healthy snack ideas for me?