Kontan Jou

today was my last day of culinary freedom. jem and i have been trying to eat healthier. starting tomorrow we will be doing the south beach diet. i do not care so much about losing weight as i do about changing my eating habits and getting in better shape. i’m looking forward to doing this together. there is only one issue. we hate fish. it is frequently on the meal plan. we’ll see what happens. south beach doesn’t look so bad outside the whole fish deal. celery is a snack option, and i hate that so i’ll stick to the mozarella stick. i love salad and the other creations sound tasty. let’s hope. the first two weeks will be the toughest and most restrictive. after that the diet isn’t so bad. my difficulties will be with bread. i have no problem with eliminating junk food. i’m not a big sweets fan and i really don’t like chocolate. so no problem there. my snack choice is golden flake hot chips. i love those. i can do without. no problem. the other issue deals with coffee. having to switch to decaf. jem says i won’t notice. i say he’s wrong. i guess if the headache gets too bad i can get a diet dr.pepper in the morning. otherwise i plan on drinking only water. again, the big problem with the first two weeks. bread. i love bread. yes, i’m a carb addict. i would choose a baked potato over a snickers any day.

i need to get back into school mode for a bit. i have several essays to write. i’m just not motivated to do it yet. i’m interested in the first topic, but just not in sitting down and going through the info. i will be when i do it. it is like historian James McPherson told me once, “the hardest part is getting started.” he’s right. he was referring to writing. but in anything, starting is the most difficult part most times. i will start and get through it. i’m ready to get all of the work out of the way.

comps are over….wooohoooo!!!!!

originally posted 10/13/05 but moved to explain pics below

well, there was only one plane and i didn’t get to take a pic. the automobile section was closed for renovation…but there were tons of trains! on kontan kote i detailed our labor day st. louis trip. while there i talked the rest of the family into visiting the transportation museum. that was pretty neat for me. LOTS of trains. i wanted to tour the pullman cars but it was hot and the family wasn’t nearly as into it as i was. plus i couldnt find the guy to let me walk through. sooooo, maybe next time. but here are a bunch of pics i took while there…..ok. so my net connection stinks tonight for some reason and photobucket will not complete the upload…i give. ready to turn in early for once….*sigh* i hate it when things don’t go my way. blogger let me upload one so wah…

homecoming week. i’m tired and the chaos has done nothing but fuel a weeklong headache.

kontan jou…tomorrow is friday!

*edit* TGIF!

This is a test post from Photobucket.com

Tommy Lee Shares Your Taste in Music

See his whole playlist here (iTunes required)

well that’s just scary. tommy lee? ugh.

i will listen to just about anything. about the only thing i really can’t stand is a woman singing in operatic style. honestly, i don’t like a woman singing period, but there are a few that i can deal with. my favorite music at the moment is Pat Metheny. i was turned on to him this past summer. really great talent there and so relaxing. i also enjoy John Mayer and Jack Johnson, but have recently gotten into Gavin Mcgraw and 3 Doors Down. ok, i like mellow guitar! i like jazz guitar. i like blues. i like horns. i like everything! love Chicago. but i also like Phil Collins, Reba McEntyre, and Rascall Flat. oddly enough you will also find Will Smith and Usher on my play list. like i said. i like just about anything. pretty great that my husband shares most of my likes. he can do without the Usher and such, but we generally do not have a problem with traveling music…our next toy…satellite radio!

time to turn in i guess…i’m loving this no having to study thing now! woohoo. (my break ends soon though. i have a few things to write. *sigh*)

I really do plan to post here again.Right now I am just so thrilled to not have to be studying ALL the time. There are a few things for me to do to finish up my degree. I started the program a year late so I have been playing catch up. My next topic will be the bombing of Japan in WWII. Looking forward to reading the articles and accounts to determine the why’s of such a monumental decision.

since comps i have spent time trying to be creative. my oldest likes to write…stories, songs, plays, anything. she asked me to create her a blog to post these on….so check out froggy’s place. she hasn’t seen it yet. i just finished. but, i think it’s cute.

nothing else to say tonight. i’m still in the daze from comps and haven’t paid much attention to world around me.

this week is homecoming. trying to teach is almost pointless. yesterday was dress-up day. students looked really nice. today was tacky day. students looked…well, tacky. the teachers in my building all chose to dress in their football rivalry’s shirts and colors. i wore a long sleeve Alabama tee. i told djembe it wouldn’t stay in the house after today…i have to find someone to give it too, haha! it was either AL or Ole Miss. i just couldn’t bring myself to buy an Ole Miss shirt, even if it was for tacky day. tomorrow is flash-back so i’ve pulled out the tie-dye. thursday is dress up so the teachers are wearing scrubs. and friday is school color day. students are crazier than ever, but at least it is fun.

we did have some excitement this morning when an adorable little mouse was seen running around an upstairs room. it disappeared into a storage closet and things got back to normal…at least until me and a coach walked around showing people the cute little mouse we caught. (*evil laugh*) have you seen the little boxes where you pull the lid back and something jumps out? well, we had one where a mouse jumped out. hehe. yes, learning took place 3rd period today! haha. oh don’t be shocked, we only interrupted one class and that was the one that had already been disrupted by the original rodent sighting. teachers gotta stay sane too people!

hehe. *snicker* it was really funny…just use your imagination!

Finishing my comps, completing Project Impact (PI) has been so exciting. Today, that excitement was dampened by news we received from our project coordinator.

Ms. Arlene was part of PI. Less than a year ago she as diagnosed with liver cancer. She tried to complete work for fall semester. She would sometimes have to leave early and she was dealing with so much, but she kept on…working for her Master’s just like the rest of us. She signed up for colloquium in the spring and was assigned to my group, but was not able to attend class. Same story for summer classes. Ms. Arlene was not able to complete PI. She passed away this week.

I didn’t know Ms. Arlene well. But she so impressed me last summer on our Civil War trip. She sat behind me on the bus and we spent a good bit of that time talking about this or that. She was so well spoken and had so much advice to give. She was an original participant of PI. (I came into the program a year after everyone else.) For two years she worked so hard, just like the rest of us, not knowing that she would not see the end.

PI participants are bonded by their experiences teaching full time, pursuing a MA in American History, while also trying to keep home and family going. We had our classes together six times a semester and shared many of the same struggles. Many of us didn’t know each other outside the program. That is the way it is for me with Ms. Arlene. I did not know her outside the program. But I am so saddened by her death. I know what she was working for. I know what she put into it. Several people who started PI did not finish for one reason or another. Those of us who made it to the end persevered through the difficult times of classwork, teaching, and home. Ms. Arlene would have been one at the end.

I didn’t know her on any other level than what I have described above, but she made an impression…and she was a truly wonderful lady.

Goodbye Ms. Arlene.

if you don’t mind….check this out and let me know what you think.

thanks!!!

I PASSED! it was the longest two hours of my life, but i passed! wow, it was not easy. i really felt good about the first part. having a different panel than i expected worked out. the guy that i didn’t expect to be on the panel was very difficult. i really think that he got some sick fascination out of trying to confuse me.

here’s how it went. the director of my program started out with generic questions asking what my undergrad degree was and concentration area. then why i chose to be a part of the program and seek a masters. then he moved on to asking about the civil rights era. several times i had to tie in how i would use this or that with my teaching. after about 30 minutes prof 2 questioned me about populist/progressive issues, urban concerns, and the book The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction. i had also read several works on urban reform so we discussed that as well. then she asked me what works i would use for civil war battles. then things are turned over to prof 3. he was the tough guy. started out asking me where i would begin a study on race. (i wouldn’t was not an acceptable answer.) his questions were tough not so much because of the content he was asking about but because of the manner in which he was asking. i found it very difficult to follow him. his questions were the first where i had to say i dont know. i hated that because i spent the most time reviewing early US history. i missed simple things that i should know. but was able to show what i did know and that i was not totaly lost. i just got flustered. part of it. after prof 3 finished prof 1 got another turn. he chose to ask about my readings concerning the US and Middle East. diplomacy is his area. i was able to answer with minimal stumbling. i was very comfortable with prof 1, pretty much with prof 2, and prof 3 irritated me. i was most flustered with prof 3. it was a long difficult process, but i passed…i passed…I PASSED!

woohoo!!!!!!!!!