September 2005
09.30.05, Friday:
[07:20pm] *headache* Ow...I'm gonna dieeeeeeeee....
I can take pain alright...granted, I've been fortunate enough to never break a bone, but for the most part, when I hurt myself, it's not so bad. The worse pain, I think, was from that time where the hammock dropped me on a bunch of rocks, and it felt like my kidneys were killed.
But headaches, they incapacitate...all day today, I felt headachey and nauseated...I guess I had it coming...doing way too much, and not sleeping enough.
Though right now, it's not AS bad...but if I start moving my head by standing up or going somewhere, it pains. =( But I can't just lay in bed. I already napped for two hours, and about half an hour after dinner, I just lied on the couch with my head smooshed by pillows to ease the ache. But I can't do that all night! So I'm here, trying to figure out the game for the picnic, so that whether I go tomorrow or not, there will still be a game. =P
09.28.05, Wednesday:
[10:22pm]
Announcements:
Happy Birthday Grace! (last Friday!)
Happy Birthday Jason (again)! (last Saturday)
Happy Birthday Lauren! (Sunday!)
Happy Birthday Theo! (Monday!)
Happy Birthday Leighton! (Monday!)
Happy Birthday Kate! (Tuesday!)
What a couple of days of good fortune - such wonderful people placed into our world! ^_^
Blog:
It's been an insanely hectic couple of days...I'm split into a hundred million little pieces, from church (Governing Board stuff up lately, church picnic - STILL haven't looked through to find a game for Saturday's picnic, Sunday School prep things for next year, DVD going away, concerns for some people, ideas for youth, practicing this new Chinese song, and well, just in general, lots...) to work (DC Club - planning, meetings, students, parents, ffunding, costs and stipends, legality questions for WorldStrides; teaching science, specifically physics now) and me time (devotionals, which are actually going pretty good, a new tortoise in the family - 88, and keeping my work area CLEAN! Arg. Wanting to cook and bake them famously yummy cookies and enjoy the kitchen and home more. Read books for fun. Write in The Notebook, which I haven't even been able to do yet; schedule time with my friends, make some phone calls and find out how everyone's doing. Stuff like that.).
And it's nonstop...from 5:30am till about, well, when I go to sleep. Tonight's an early night...I'm mostly finished...still have to make the Car Wash tickets fit on these cards for DC Club, and write a donations letter (trying to figure out this tax deductible thing, and if we should take cash only, or checks only) for the students, but I have some time for that. And I'm ready for tomorrow's lesson. And Friday's too. I might read some more of The Pigman before I sleep. Or, I just might sleep. =)
Anyways, Sunday was great - church as usual, hung out with people, and I wasn't running around like a chicken with its head cut off. =) ET and Anna and I (sudden subbing) chilled during Sunday School, hee hee, and talked about dreams. =) After church, most of the YAF went to a free Steven Curtis Chaplin concert at Loma Linda, where there was also free food, muah ha...but since I had a lot of work to do still, I didn't go. And so Shelton accompanied me. =) When I was finished with everything, he treated me out to eat for the 25th, hee hee...yay...! =) We headed to Calabria in Riverside, but you know what??? It changed business! The card I had for the Entertainment book wouldn't work...so sad...so we found another place in Corona, and had deeelicious bread, dip and pasta (Mmm. Chipotle Chicken...spicy and yummy!).
It was hard to choose after we missed out Calabria's (Councilman Betro let us down! Arg! He used to own it, by the way.) between Villa Amalfi and House of Ribs, though we were happy with the choice of pasta. Next time we go out, we may just head over to House of Ribs for them zucchini wedges. Muah ha ha! How I love fried zucchini!!! =) Either way, the Entertainment book saved us $12, bringing my total savings to $27, which exceeds the cost of the book by $2. Yay!!! =)
Chinese people like it when we save money. =)
Monday night, a gang of us went to send DVD off by finally fulfilling his wishes and eating at Hooters. =) However, everyone was late - heck, Ralm and I showed up half an hour late, but still - everyone else, save my bro and Simon, were late. Since there was a huge wait at Hooters, we hopped over to Iron Chef, where the waitress messed up our orders a hundred times over, and somehow, we got about $30 worth of food free with our messed up orders. I certainly thought that my honey-seared chicken tasted different...>_<
Anyways, DVD went back to China today - but we should see him again sometime within 6 months. Yay! ^_^
School's been school/work. Late hours lately. But things are running along smoothly. At least I have one less thing to worry about - I'm not going to be a Master Teacher anymore! The whole UCR/bad-communication thing again - they decided to move the student teacher to one teacher, instead of two. In fact, she was SUPPOSED to go with one teacher, but she chose two because she didn't know any better. Since she had two classes with Dr. P, and one with me, she decided to stay with P. Ah. Cool with me...it'd be nice to chill, but also nice to not have to worry about test scores for the new assessments, and stay EVEN later after school coaching and training, you know, when I already have DC Club going like crazy this year. =)
I got 88 yesterday though. It's so tiny! Heh heh. But aggressive! It was walking all over the place, active and crazy. And 87 is so big compared to it! 87 actually though, didn't seem to like 88...87 was ignoring it and actually kept its head shrunk inside its shell, and showed 88 its backside. 88 just ignored it and kept on meandering about, and at one point, was trying to bite the back end of 87's shell! Aggressive little booger...this one knows no fear...! So for the moment, they're staying separated.
So, here are some pics of little 88 (87 was hiding away from him, heh heh...). (1) I didn't want to flash it, so it's a little, well, non-flashy. (2) Walking up to a Jackson. (3) In the Jackson = his whole size. Next time, I'll put 87 and 88 together for a size comparison, hee hee...^_^
That reminds me. Don Adams, the guy that played Agent 86 in Get Smart back in da days (I used to watch it all the time! Cheesy, but so loved it!) passed away on Sunday. He was the same guy that voiced Inspector Gadget. =)
A student brought in her Bearded Lizard to class for us, so we had a pet for the day. It's so cute! I want one too! ^_^ We got to pet it in class (we had just to pass out papers, turn in our mini-books, get our Science textbooks and cover them up today. Simple day for short, 30 minute class period, ha ha...). How I love animals. =)
09.25.05, Saturday:
[08:44am] Courtesy of Julia! ^_^
| You Are Chinese Food |
|
Exotic yet ordinary. |
What an amazing Saturday...
I finished grading at 1am, and wasn't tired enough to sleep, nor alert enough to lesson plan...so I watched Hotel Rwanda at home. It was either that, or Alone in the Dark by myself at night, hee hee. I love that movie though - it still a 10 out of 10, because it's so awesome...
It was also Jason Kong's birthday. Of course I remembered! Cuz it's JK Day is important to me! Hee hee...so again...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON KONG!!! ^_^
So after a few hours of sleep, I woke up early, got to work like crazy before my cousin came over for lunch. For some funky reason, I've had her wedding and Takako's completely switched - one's in October and the other's in November...one on the 29th and the other on the 19th...and I'm supposed to be bridesmaid for one of them. Heh heh. =)
Next thing you know (well, after procrastinating and playing on xanga for a little bit, ha ha...), we're off to the Hollywood Bowl for the Farewell Tour!
We're all dead tired from carousing last night. I do loooove The Hollywood Bowl now that I've been to it. And Luciano Pavarotti is a funny, funny performer. I loved it! La la laaaaaaa!!!! *singing* I'm sure my dad did too! =) I met a couple next to me in their very early 50's - a black man and a white woman who were married, and both of them had a twin, hee hee. But the twins weren't there - just them. They brought glass wine glasses and a bottle of wine to celebrate the evening - partying with style and class at the Hollywood Bowl, heh heh. One is a secretary at a middle school in Glendale, and the other fixes machines of all sorts, and we hit it off pretty well. =) It's fun to meet people. =)
It was worth the couple of hours we took to get there. It was worth the one hour wait to get on the bus to the Bowl. It was worth the one hour wait to get on the bus to get back to our car. And we even got a bonus - we stopped by The Boat on the way home for some warm noodles to fill up our empty stomachs at 1 in the morning. =) A total of about an 8 hour venue. No wonder we all got up late...
(1) Dad and Mom on the bus. =) (2) My bro and I being silly on the bus. ^_^ (3) Couldn't get any good ones during the concert, so my bro and I tried, and this would have to be the best one. The colors are so pretty in the bowl! =)
(4) The crowd of people behind me...(5)...and the crowd in front. It was simply crowded. My mom was pushing her way through in the usual Cantonese custom, and we were all holding hands and being smashed and pulled at the same time because we couldn't squeeze through. Someone behind us yelled out: "Wheelchair Rides! $5!" some time after an elderly man on a wheelchair was given way, heh heh...
Needless to say, I still have to lesson plan. =)
It's getting chilly lately. Winter is coming along. Maybe it will snow this year? ^_^
We sing in, jubilation, adoration, to a Joyful King
You are spinning, You are singing
Zealous love over all your children...
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee
God of glory, Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee
Opening to the sun above
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness
Drive the dark of doubt away
Giver of immortal gladness
Fill us with the light of day
09.23.05, Friday:
[08:56pm] It's Friday already? Week didn't go by thaaaat fast...but it was so packed....
In something of a nutshell:
09.18.05, Sunday:
[04:22pm] Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone! Eat mooncake, drink tea, and enjoy the lovely moon! ^_^
Highlights from the last few days:
09.15.05, Thursday:
[10:02pm] I had like THE BEST DAY today! Hee hee hee...I mean, every day is great...but today was extra good!
This morning, as it's late-start day at Ramona, I got visited by a few students, including Clarissa M., Yoenn and Rosabel, and even mi ahijada (Stephanie A!)!!! ^_^ And do ya know what Stephanie told me? First of all, that I put her in such a hard class - Biology Honors! 3 hours of Homework every night! But of course she can do it - she's a hard-working and smart girl that will go far. ^_^ But besides that, her bio teacher had asked her class, "Who had Ms. Lau last year?" When students raised their hands, he said "Ah, you guys will already know this stuff!". Woo hoo! It was about measurements and the metric unit...but still very cool to know that somehow, it got that far up into high school that the teachers up there know that whoever had me will know certain things that are important to them now. AWESOME. ^_^
That same teacher asked the students some questions about earth science for some reason...and all my former students started going crazy with the hand motions that we used to remember things in class. That teacher was like, what the...??? Ha ha ha! But they REMEMBERED. And that's what's so neat about it.
Cuz you know...you never really hear too much about how what you teach today will come in handy tomorrow, especially since my kids go to a different school altogether after 8th grade. I hear of it now and then, and it's always good to know that hey...it all mattered...!
Kids were generally great today, and hopefully, the superintendent thought so during her visit too, heh heh...My principal walked by to whisper "Good Job Ms. Lau!" during the visit. ^_^ They missed the fun parts of today, where I stood on a desk to point out to parts of the giant periodic table, and the story about diamonds vs. cubic zirconia, and all that good stuff, but that's okay. =)
After school was the D.C. Club meeting. Ms. Jackson and I are going to do a bunch of work - a whole mess of fundraisers and what not, for kids that want to go to DC over spring break! ^_^ It's about $1500 per students, and we're hoping to raise, well, a lot. But it's not going to be easy, and definitely lots of work. Fortunately, Mercedes and I have a million ideas, and will be selecting those students that will do the work for it. =) AND I just found out - we're both going for ABSOLUTELY FREE!!! Not a single penny for the hotel, round-trip plane ticket, nor food, nor admissions (if any). Awesome. =)
About 60 kids and more showed up. So on impromptu, we said that if they really wanted to go, they have to write a FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAY answering a few questions that we came up with on the whiteboard to prove that they want in in the first place, due next week. It's like an interview. A few kids left when they heard that - ha ha. No need for them in the club. =)
Anna and Jonathan cancelled on 24, because of mid-autumn festivities, so instead, my bro and I went to Barnes and Noble to do work. I got all the Skittles Labs graded! Woo hoo. All done. Lovely. And I think I'm still a bit spazzed by the java chip frap. ^_^
What a wonderful day! ^_^
09.14.05, Wednesday:
[08:05pm] We just ate "devil fish" (mou gwei yu) for dinner...commonly known as manta ray. SOOOOOO heavenly-delicious! My mom made it with chef-made-from-HK-XO sauce, with tofu. I think it's my second favorite kind of fish, after steamed catfish. Yum yum yum...!
That, and we also ate Chinese chicken. Hee hee. What IS Chinese chicken? No, not orange chicken or kung-pow chicken or whatever...it's actually a different kind of chicken altogether. Like, American chicken, as in Foster Farms and those type - they're a lot more fatty. Though still good. But Chinese chicken, I think, is better, and not just cuz it's Chinese, but the meat is leaner. It even tastes different because of the way they raise the chicken. They actually let the chicken run around a whole lot more, instead of just sitting in some henhouse all day, hidden from the outside sun and dirt that they run in, heh heh. Even the white meat is good on Chinese chicken!
Like any chicken, one of the easiest and tastiest ways to cook it is "baat tzeet gae", which is where you basically boil the chicken slowly for about an hour, and then make that yummy ginger/green onion/sizzling hot oil and soy sauce mixture for it.
That mixture is the same for the steamed catfish, except that I like to add a tad of sugar into the one for fish. =)
Actually, this sauce is good for anything. ^_^
Oh wait. I ain't done with animals yet for today's post...ha ha...though this next one is not to eat. It's actually something my bro saw on Animal Planet's Extreme Animals. I wish I saw it, cuz it's so cute! It's so neat that it's become my bro's new favorite living animal, and it just might be gummychild.com's new mascot, seeing it DOES look like a little living gummy bear...^_^
Tardigrades fo' life, yo!
09.12.05, Monday:
[09:27pm] Since I didn't post on Saturday...Happy Birthday HEIDI!! =) It's good to hear from you! Yay! ^_^
I'm actually listening to some old school Chinese kung-fu songs that Shelton gave me a while ago. Heidi's missing out. Maybe I can somehow send them to you - one of them is a Jet Li one, hee hee. =)
On Saturday, I went with my mom to San Gabriel, where we dim-summed (hmm, that Sam Woo's dim sum is not as good as the one in Rowland Heights, which is superb. Also another Heidi-related thing - she's been there with me before! But anyways, that was surprising, cuz you'd expect it to be better in San Gabriel, you know? Surprising.), meandered at the shops there, and then went shopping at the 99 Ranch. Oy! Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up, so the market was all packed and crowded...people were buying mooncakes left and right, as well as everything else. That's ONE thing that I don't like too much about grocery shopping in the San Gabriel/Monterey Park area. It's always crowded. Like, you can't push the cart anywhere...so you learn to take the deserted aisles that nobody goes to (like the household stuff, or American food aisle, hee hee) as a detour to other parts of the store. But you always come across a lot of rude and pushy Chinese people who push their carts around and disregard the fact that there are people waiting or trying to cross the path that they just barged in. Sigh. That's Chinese traffic for you. =)
Anyways, when I got back, Shelton and I went to Kabuki, and was joined by my bro, DVD, Kevin L, and Simon. So off we went to Victoria Gardens, eating half-off sushi and goods. (Sushimon still is #1!) The funniest thing that happened occurred after dinner, on the way to the car. Kevin, Simon, and my bro jumped onto a trolley to ride on it, but DVD, Shelton and I didn't see them go on. Suddenly, DVD was like, hey, they're on the trolley! So we ran to join in, but the trolley took off and started moving - DVD ran and jumped up right when it was going, and Shelton and I didn't make it. So we started walking back en route to the car...and the trolley suddenly takes this turn, completely not where we were going to go. We found that hilariously funny, hee hee, so we just pointed and laughed and waved to them, wondering if they were going to get off soon and come back.
What we DIDN'T know happen until later was that there was actually a cop at the corner where DVD ran onto the moving trolley! So the cop actually followed the trolley, pulled it over, took DVD out and talked to him, and kept asking him if he was an adult, heh heh. Later, the rest of the guys got off when the trolley had to go on, and the cop also lectured to them all, asking again if they were all actually adults, though the trolley driver did say that he let the guys on - just not DVD as he jumped on. Oy. So after a good lecturing-on about responsibility as adults, that there were kids around, and how it was dangerous, etc...they headed back to the car, and we got their phone call about what happened. Karazy. =)
The rest of the guys stayed at Simon's (Pastor's) to play Texas Hold'Em (geez louise, at the Pastor's house??? Hee hee...j/k...it's all good...I think. ^_^) while I went home to finish lesson planning and weekend work. It was kinda nice to have some quiet time to just sit and do the work that I had to do. Getting back into the mode of teaching again, heh heh...
Sunday was church and GB meeting and relaxing afterwards - since I finished all my work the night before, I could read Harry Potter! Yay! And we finished the book!!! I liked the 6th book quite a lot. Maybe my 2nd favorite after the 3rd book. =) I actually have pretty much forgotten what happened in all the other books, ha ha...but oh...I have a theory about the last thing they want to find!!! If you have a theory, tell me about it! =) I don't want to spoil it here for those that didn't read it yet, heh heh...but ooooo....I could be right!!!!! Or not. But I could be! =)
Oh yeah! School news! I'm so completely loyal to my new principal, hee hee...he's like...the BEST! How did he earn my complete loyalty??? By noticing what I do. And even saying that he believes in me, that I'm a good teacher, etc, etc...yeah, so simple to gain my loyalty - just like my loyalty to Cheesecake Factory, Fox and Bean, and Baskin Robbins (though not the University Market so much - though I worked there, and liked it, I didn't like the bosses all too much...Huy can attest to that, heh heh...).
But he says it in just the right way, and really meant it. There's no fakeness to it. I love it! And he's so cute!!! Not cute as in, well, THAT type of cute...but he has the right kinda moustache/sideburn thing, and he's not too tall...so he looks like this cute little leprechaun, and would be the perfect one if he was way shorter, had an actual beard and orange hair, ha ha...and wore a green hat and outfit. =) Muah ha. But really, he's a good principal, and following through on everything he says he's going to do. The assistant principal too! She follows through on it all, and so I like her too. They both want us science teachers to actually teach science. TEACH SCIENCE! Woo hoo! So so far, it's awesome.
09.09.05, Friday:
[08:59pm] I got my Michael Buble CD in the mail today! Yay! I have one more coming some other time. His voice is awesome! So I've been listening to it. If you listen to it, you will like it too. ^_^
Ooo. Two good pictures from Vegas not on my ImageStation because they're from LVMel! They're both from the Bellagio Cafe. ^_^
(1) Kevin, Shelton, and Derrick, posing. ^_^ (2) Shelton and I! ^_^
Aw. I need a picture of LVMel. Next time I take my camera with me and see her, I'm getting a picture of you!!! ^_^
After work today - Applebee's. No happy hour (= no discount appetizers. Bleah. But I got a cheese dip with spicy ground beef thing!), but we still all chilled and hung out for a while. Interesting - so far, after school happy hour seems to be a central theme for the start of this new school year with the people at work, heh heh...
Okay, back to grading, updating, lesson planning...the usual, right? ^_~
09.08.05, Thursday:
[07:28pm] We just ate the last cucumber from the backyard tonight...
*moment of silence*
^_^ Mmm. It was refreshing, crunchy, and oh-so-tasty!
After I got off school yesterday, my bro and I went down to Rowland Heights and met up with Jonathan and Anna again! Yay! Such fun, every time! =) Anna and I worked up a sweat at the gym while practicing Japanese, hee hee...important basic phrases learned/reviewed for the night that we used over and over again include:
Hello! konnichiwa
How are you? genki des ka?
I'm fine. And how are you? hai, genki des ka ana ta wa?
Fat Chance! Masaka!!!
Here you go. Dozo ko.
Thank you. Arigato (gozaimas)
Good morning. Ohayo (gozaimas)
and of course...
Hot Sek-shi
Hee hee hee...^_^
We had dinner at TGIFriday's. I haven't been there since that last giant gratuity thing at The Block many, many years ago, hee hee...I guess I've had some lasting bitterness about it? But other than that, the food was tasty, and it was fun to share dinner all around, muah ha, and as always, had an excellent time just chillin' together! ^_^
Today was picture day. I despise the whole process: Tilt your head this way...point your nose this way...lift your chin up...point your nose more to the right...no, left...okay, just a liiiiitle more to the right...and tilt your head again...ah...okay, SMILE! *flash* *blink*
Another good day of classes today. Woo hoo! =)
After school, I was visited by Brandon W. again, who was in his ROTC uniform, and we talked about what he did in there - they actually get to go on a night mission and practice using guns! Woah! Yesterday, I was visited by Christina L, and later, by the gang of boys again - like Joey, Paul M., who once again, wanted to remind me about today's football game. So I went after school (ran into Ralm of course!) and found out that there was some scheduling mistake, so at the last minute, the whole freshman team went to King instead to play. King's too far to drive (traffic), plus I don't know how to get there (lost in Riverside back country). So I just stayed at Ramona, where I heard lots of "Ms. Lau"!!!!'s from all over the bleacher. Ray F. (Heidi's favorite, ha ha...he's older looking, but causing problems just the same - he caused some type of ruckus with him and his brotha's, and one teacher down on the field had to yell out "FORD!!!"), Ashleigh, Jenna, Erik G., Carlos, Brayan, and several others.
Another thing that I do love about being a teacher is that you're really a part of the community you teach in. It's like, wow. I mean, not just at the football game where there were many former students of mine (my goodness! The first group of students I taught are now seniors in high school, so technically, there are about...700 and some students there that have had me as their teacher at one time!). Everyone knows you and are comfortable talking to you, and we're like old "friends" to some degree when I see former students. They've grown, are more mature, and we can talk on different levels on understanding, and it's neat. ^_^
I know that 5 years teaching is still little compared to the great gurus that are out there - but every year, I still learn and find something new to enjoy and cherish about the profession that I am in. Woo hoo! I win®! ^_^
®"I win!" and various forms are a registered trademark of Derrick Choy. =)
09.06.05, Tuesday:
[11:32pm] Can't sleep...waiting for pics to update! =)
Happy Birthday Tiffany!!! My goodness, we all miss you out here! Hope your bday went great! ^_^
Happy Birthday DVD, whose bday was yesterday!!! Sorry I missed getting to hang with you guys this weekend - I heard it was funny, with the whole Dennny's bathroom break that went on too, hee hee hee...^_^ Shhh - those that don't know...don't need to know, hee hee...=)
Woah! Crazy news while I was gone!
Heidi, you're getting MARRIED??? I had no idea (I've been out of touch with the online info lately on everything!)!!! And this IS big news!!! It's not the three weeks thing that gets me - it's more of the WOAH! You're GETTING MARRIED!!! that got me, hee hee...My goodness, and I can't BE THERE??? Cuz it's across the globe in AFRICA??? Well then woman, you've got to take lots and lots of pictures, or have someone do it anyways, and send them my way!!! Hee hee...aw man...I wish I could be there...I'd so love to help you out, have fun with you and all for such a big day! I've missed you, my goodness! AGhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Congratulations!!!! ^_^
On Saturday, Derrick, Shelton and I went off to Las Vegas!! Surprisingly, there was no traffic really! Woo hoo! We win! =) I'm sure gas prices killed a lot of trips. =Þ
The weekend was AWESOME! I have pictures - too many to put on here, so it's just up on my ImageStation account - go check it out, add comments if you like, hee hee. =) Highlights included:
09.02.05, Friday:
[07:25pm] I still have a freezer/frostbite burn from Jonathan's trick yesterday! At least all sense of feeling has returned to it, hee hee hee...^_^ It was actually quite funny - he was trying to do this thing called "Hole in your hand". He put salt on the back of my hand, and then an ice cube, and then smashed it down - I was expecting it to be some type of magic trick, where he goes, look! Ice cube is now at the bottom of your hand! But I kept waiting, and waiting...and though it hurt some, I think that the ice just numbed my hand so that I didn't feel anything. As it turns out, it was just supposed to hurt. So now, I have this brown spot on the back of my hand. ^_^ Heh heh...and I was waiting for the magic trick!!! =)
But yeah, last night was great! ^_^ The only disappointing part was Garden Cafe - their food isn't as good as it used to be. =( Their Hai Nam Chicken is still decent though. =)
Aghhhh!!! My dad says there's a gas shortage coming up - so we have to fill up at every chance we have! And that soon, there may not even be any available, or that they might limit the amount of gas people can purchase (like he said in the 80's, people had to line up and were limited to 10 gallons only), and that it can go up to even $4/gallon. Daaaaang.
Maybe I should go fill up tonight, even though I just filled up yesterday. =P
At school this morning, there was this chihuahua/Jack Russel terrier type mixed dog that followed a kid to school. It was soooo cute! White with light brown patches! =)The boy brought it to the office, and it had no collar! It licked my hand, liked petting, and wagged its tail at me - I couldn't resist! So I decided that IF and only IF nobody wants to take it home, and if its owners don't come looking for it, I would take it home! At least for the weekend - I could take it to the vet to see if it has at least a microchip on it, and call the Riverside pound up in case anyone was looking for it. But my mom said no. It's okay though - the owners came for it after school today, so at least it's going home. ^_^
The kids this year are really great - no problems anywhere, though again, it's 2nd period that I know will be a problem one of these days. =P I'm not letting them, but the personalities of about 7 of them are difficult already. =P
I was also dead tired this morning when I got up. In fact, I had a HARD time getting up. So I went to Starbucks and did a scientific experiment on myself - had a Mocha Frap at 7:02, and by 7:09 am, I was already jittery and felt my muscles ready to go for the day, ha ha...and I was awake all day long!!! I was wondering how long it'd take to have an effect - so pretty quick, I guess. It wasn't until after school that it started slowing down...but maybe before then, the caffeine had already worn off, since having students in class is a natural waker-upper, right?
More students visited, and many from the football team - Derek, Julian "DoughBear", Joey again, Paul, Robert J., David W., and Justin D. I'm supposed to go to their Homecoming game next Thursday. Hmm. I usually do 24 then. So maybe I will need to change the date for 24 for just next week? I'll have to consult my pic (partner in crime) on that. ^_~
After work, a bunch of us teachers went to celebrate "Survival Friday", for our first full week of students, muah ha, at Cafe Sevilla for Happy Hour. I've never been there, and have always wanted to go - so it was enough motivation to go check it out. It's BEAUTIFUL inside!!! Wow. ^_^ And the tapas were deliciouso, por supuesto!
Now? I'd like to nap. No more caffeine in my system, I'm sure. Caffeine works rather quickly on me. And lasts for quite a long time.
And then I should get back to the regular cycle of school stuff - grading and lesson planning! >_<
[12:19am] Technically Friday already!!!
I just got out of the shower...and just got home from a very fun after-school par-tay. =)
Muah ha. Actually, it was a teeny tiny party, but just as fun. =) My bro, Jonathan, Anna and I chilled out today. =) Anna and I went to 24 Hour Fitness, while my bro and Jonathan got a Kahlua coffee thing and read books and magazines for free at Border's, hee hee...
Then we went to eat at Tasty House, but it was CLOSED!!! It was only 8pm! So instead, we went to Garden Cafe, where the waiters mostly thought we were all little kids, and weren't too nice to us. But we ate anyways and kept bothering them. =) And then played at their place, watching Hoy and Toy, playing with their little pet turtle, looking at old photos, were given more "notebooks" by the guys (thanks!), met Mr. Cheng, and sang songs with the guitar. Sooooooooooooooo much fun!!! We win!!! Hee hee hee! ^_^
And not to be forgotten...thank you Giang, Shelton and Huy! ^_^ You guys know what you did - no need to mention it here. Cuz you all rock. =)
More former student visits: Joey dropped by after school yesterday on his way to get his little brother, and today after school, Brandon W. - one of the kids that stayed after school last year, and had told me that I was the only teacher that would do such a thing for him! He's loving Honors Bio so far, and is one of those kids that understand how much fun it is to know what nerds know cuz he can be that smart. ^_^
