Gummy's Journal Archive

.:April 2002 - May 2002:.

5.30.02, Thursday

[08:10pm] My computer has been moody in terms of going online...=( Makes me feel unhappy too. =(

One thing I forgot about the SF trip...quite worth mentioning...while we were waiting in traffic for about two hours to get on the Golden Gate Bridge (it was crowded, and there was an accident on Lombard as well...and I think it's like the ONLY way to get to the Bridge, so aiya!), Edwin got thirsty, so me and Dorothy ran out to Walgreens, got a bunch of drinks, ran back to the car-filled street (and our car had moved quite far away, cuz they had just passed the accident shortly after we got out) in a mad rush, dropped off some ginger ale in the other car, and got back into Edwin's car. Hee hee...quite an adventure...and in fact, it could have even been a commercial for Canada Dry and Mango Gatorade (weirdest flavor I found, decided to get it for Fred, who seems to have an affinity, like Mark, for it.). ^_^

05.29.02, Wednesday

Wow! It's been about a week since I blogged! Heh heh...first of all...Happy Birthday Cheryl! ^_^ It was her bday yesterday, for those of you that didn't know. And for tomorrow...Happy Birthday Nina! ^_^ Can you believe it? I'm about to finish school! This week is about over...next Thursday is the 8th grade picnic at Pharaoh's Lost Kingdom, so that will basically be a 4-day week, and the week after that...well...that's graduation week...nothing much for me to plan really...all day Tuesday is Promotion Practice, and Wednesday morning is Promotion...and then that's it!!! Woah huh?

Taking a vacation has left me with a lot to do upon my return. >_< The insane UCI MAT program sent me info, wanting me to TRACK students and collect evidence...if they wanted us to track students, wouldn't it have been better if they told us AHEAD of time? Like at the beginning of the year??? There are 2 pages of information of what we are to do before class starts in mid-June, and it's in 10 point font. Riverside ends school about two weeks before OC does, so I'm also extra-disadvantaged. I'm not the only one hassled by this obvious, unprofessional, on-the-fly requirement for one of my masters classes though. I realize it's a new program, but such purposeful collection of data should have been said much earlier on...not when I only have two weeks of school left. So I was stressed by that, but fortunately, my department head, Super Cherie, helped me with a bunch of ideas on what I could do. Another thing is that today, during the Department meeting, the principal NOW tells me that I can't do the hot air balloons...what the heck??? I had told him what we were going to do, and though I understand his disapproval (tank of propane to heat air around a bunch of middle schoolers? heh heh...it's actually not that dangerous, I did it last year...but with last year's incident at King HS, where a teacher was a little bit careless and set methanol on fire, burning students in the front row...), he should have told me earlier as well. He didn't say a thing until now, and some of my kids are already starting to build them. So now, I will have to change it a bit...I'm going to have them scale it down, reduce the size, and have them become mini hot air balloons, in which we will use hair dryers to propel them. *sigh* Not as grand as I wanted it to be...though still workable somewhat...

San Francisco Trip: 05.24.02 - 05.27.02 Ah, SF was fun! But SF is so...small...there wasn't too much to do there. Most of my money went to either food, or parking. Bleah. But it was nice still to get away for the weekend, to be completely oblivious of responsibilities from school, and to see Lorie too! ^_^ Friday night, Fred, Ed, David, Shelton, Dorothy, and I arrived in Danville at Fred's like at 12:30am. We stayed in his gloriously immaculate and big house, completely furnished with the quietest beagle I've ever met, Cookie (but then again, I'm comparing this to the only other beagle I know, Barney...who is a howling madhouse all the time! ^_^ j/k!). We decided to not go to Carmel and the Monterey Bay Aquarium...the fishies were all like two hours away (one way)...so on Saturday, instead, we went all over SF. First, we wanted to tour Alcatraz, but the tours were all booked up! So we just took some pictures, like we did visit it, hee hee...We wandered around Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf, and compared four types of clam chowder, as well eat things like fresh crab and crab sandwiches, which were all quite tasty! ^_^ We went to see Ripley's Believe it or Not! museum, and that was pretty cool. We played with all the hands on toys they had there, heh heh. ^_^ After paying an insane $6/hour parking fee (and we were there for three hours? In two cars?!?), we went to Union Square and Chinatown. In Chinatown, we got to eat dinner, and then hang out at the Night Market, which was so insanely crowded...but still neat, filled with all sorts of curios to keep me interested. ^_^ I got a funny Pucca cell phone charm, to replace a much needed charm on my cell after Tare fell off. =(

On Sunday, we had breakfast with Auntie and Uncle Lam, then went to Fred's church in Pleasanton. After, we went up past SF to Sausalito (where I sat on the ground the whole time, as we had 6 in a car...and thought we were being followed by a cop for a while, heh heh...so I didn't see much of Sausalito, not that I hear I missed all too much) and got to Muir Woods to take pictures with the Redwoods. ^_^ However...we couldn't find parking, so Fred had to drive around the parking lot several times while we all went outside to take pictures, to make it look like (again) that we were really there. ^_^ After, we stopped in Japan Town, where they dropped me off with Lorie (and just in time for the Lakers/Kings game)! ^_^ I went with Lorie, Mercedes, Gilbert, and John down to Berkeley, where we had really good chicago pizza at Zachary's Pizza; after, we searched for parking down at Metreon...but in vain...thus we ended up playing pool, ping pong, and foozball at Lorie's apartment rec room. It was neat to see Lorie again, and just talk about everything that has been going on. Back in freshman year, we were like, "What would we do if we were NOT to be doctors?" We both thought we'd be doctors. But nope...now, she's got one more year to be done with dental school, and I have just about finished my first year teaching - both of which we love! ^_^ We were going to watch Thirteenth Ghost, but the cover looked really scary, so we opted to watch ER instead.

On Monday, I was picked up by my homies, and we went off to Chinatown for breakfast at Washington Cafe...Mmm...I got to eat hot and fresh "Ou Lai Sou" ("Cow Tongue Whiskers", though it's just my own spin on the literal pronunciation of the name of this sweet chinese donut...which is so delicious...equivalent to the love that many have for Krispy Kreme donuts), some mighty good won ton noodles, as well as some beef rice noodle wrap. After traveling around at the shops (hey, I saw the Floating Sushi Boat store! I don't even like sushi all that much, but I'd want to go one day, just cuz I like the food-on-boat concept, heh heh...I'll just have octopus instead), we took a long drive in Memorial Day traffic back to LA...about an 7 hour drive or so, had dinner at the Supreme Dragon in RH ("siu long bao"'s for me!), went home, showered, and after doing some neglected schoolwork, slept. At last.

Summation for SF trip: Food is awesome there!!! ^_^ The sky is bluer and there's less pollution. And I liked the bridges and tunnels that are up north. It was cool going on the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. That's about it. ^_^

05.22.02, Wednesday

[05:55pm] I'm home early today! ^_^ I have a lot of things to do though...=Þ...but I DO intend on taking a break to go to Step class tonight. I haven't gone for a while - it's strangely fun, and I miss jumping around like a fool in some mirrored aerobics room! ^_^ I'm teaching like there's no tomorrow, heh heh...some of my classes are doing their presentations still, while two of them are way ahead, and so we're working on density, and definitely able to work on the hot air balloons soon! For the other classes...I'll have to figure out what other neat things we can do, as we just won't have the time to build them in there. I never wanted to put my classes in different tracks, but at the same time, it's kinda good to give me practice with more than one prep. I've been extremely lucky to have a school that supports first year teachers so much! ^_^

I'm soooo excited about this weekend! I can't wait to go to San Francisco! We're going to go to Monterey Bay and see all the fishies...I also hear that Cannery Row is nearby - I liked some of Steinbeck's writing (though, I have to admit...sometimes...it can get boring...with all the elaborate details in scenery that he seems to go on and on and on...heh heh...remember the tortoise crossing the street in Grapes of Wrath?!? aiya!) But the best part about SF, besides all the neat places and food, is that I get to see Lorie! Woo hoo! Lovely! ^_^

05.20.02, Monday

[06:25am] I woke up this morning..."It's Monday???" Heh heh...off I go to get ready for the week...^_^

[06:50pm] About twelve hours later, and what have I accomplished? Another day of teaching...totally getting out of the J curve and back to my normal happy self. ^_^ And I finally am done with The Tao of Pooh. Basically, it just talks about Simplicity of Mind, and not complicating your life with too much stuff. Heh heh, I like it, very philosophical, although I have to admit you have to be in the right mindset and mood to read it, or else you get bored rather easily.

Last night, for CCF, Becky and LeeAnn and Melody all made it to fellowship! How cool is that??? Not only am I happy that there will be an addition of girls in the group, but it was neat to spend time with them (esp. Becky and LeeAnn, as we don't get to hang out as much) and just hang out. I'm looking forward to more of that! ^_^ Wow...to see my youth become CCF'ers??? Hee hee, that's just neat - and they have cars, so I don't have to do any picking up and stuff. Wow. ^_^

For the last week of school, it's basically a whole week of graduations that I will try my best to make...Monday's is Jason's, Tuesday's Becky's (I think), Wednesday's Harold's, and Friday's Melody's. I'm not too clear on the dates, but they are all something along the lines of that.

Oh yeah...my summer schedule...soooo insane...check this out: Tuesdays, 4 - 10pm, Wednesdays, 7 - 10pm, and Thursdays, 4 - 7pm. It's the Tuesdays that will kill me..After July 26, my W and Th classes will be done and I will only be left with the long Tuesday classes, so that's kinda nice I guess...?

That's about all the news that are going on right now...^_^

05. 19.02, Sunday

[01:50am - note...this was written through intermittent spurts from this entire weekend...heh heh...thus the length & discontinuity of this blog?] I saw Star Wars Episode 2 Friday night, after we all got a treat at Baskin Robbins (mmm...haven't had that in a while!) and waited about an hour and a half for the movie. It was...well...it was horrible!!! Thoroughly disappointing. It was long and drawn out, full of really bad acting (especially the Anikan person), and just plain dumb. The only good parts? Hmm...anything with the practical, behind-the-scenes hero of the story, R2D2 ^_^, the animated aliens in the background that were of all shapes and sizes, and the best part...Yoda dropping his crutch, raising his little fists with a "Bring it on!" look, and saving the day with his light saber. All that amounted to about less than 10% of the entire movie. *sigh*

Saturday morning, I went down to Arcadia for the Youth Summer Camp Counselor Meeting, so I got to see some people that I don't get to see so much. It's neat though - that though we are all at different churches, that we can all work together for One Cause. It's absolutely grand, hee hee. I'm looking forward to camp...I like the summer camps more than the winter ones, partly cuz it's Asian American, and many of my youths, out here in Riverside, don't see much other Asian Americans other than the ones at church. It's nice for them to see that there are others - Christians - like them who share this weird culture of not really being traditional Chinese, nor total American, and identifying with those who have common experiences as a youth. The other part is that there will indeed be a lot of fun and learning going on in those few days, and I get to see a bit of my friends from the other churches as well, that I don't see too much. The counselors at summer camp do a lot more than at winter camp - and it makes a huge difference in making the experience much more meaningful for us and the youth. ^_^

Sam and Bei (and Cory...who, at the age of five, is the super boy genius who was making up three digit addition problems to solve for on his little whiteboard while we were waiting to be seated!) treated the CCF and high school graduates out to dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory. Mmm! I just went not too long ago for Clara's bday...OSF, twice in such a short amount time...Actually, though I really love their clam sauce, this time, I got a split of that and the mizithra cheese/browned butter...and ugh...too much butter...it made me somewhat NOT like OSF as much as I could...ick...so although good in very small portions, half a plate is just too much...>_< Congrats to our high school graduates - Becky, Melody, Harold, and Jason! Wow...all off to college!!!

[promo]

By the way...go visit Jason's really neat site! He's a pretty dang good writer, and is valedictorian for the senior class...though...of course...he is really of the junior class. He's graduating early, and beat the senior class even! I'm proud to be his Youth Leader at RCAC! Hee hee...

[/promo]

(Happy Jason? I'll continue to make promos and comments for your neato website, heh heh...^_^)

After, Fred, Ed, Gilbert, and David came over...we had (and actually it's still going on!) a night of mah-jong, watching a Wong Fei Hung movie, and Fred's late night official ramen. Hmm...supposedly, it's near the end of the full round of mah-jong...I should go to sleep sometime soon...I'm subbing and moderating tomorrow during worship! Yikes. ^_^

05.16.02, Thursday

Happy Birthday Vanessa!!!

[09:00pm] Heh heh...that would certainly be her...chasing everything in sight!!! ^_^ J/k! Happy Bday girlie!

It's been a good few days. I am definitely feeling more uppity and back to my normal self, after about...what...a month??? of being down in the J curve??? But see, I'm about back to me now. Although it doesn't  help being near the end of the year, with 8th-grade-itis running around. Alot of the kids are REALLY developing ATTITUDES that piss me off. I mean PISS me off (that's a strong word from me...even if not to most of you, hee hee...I only use it when quite angry!). Even the ones that are normally pretty good! Okay...maybe not a LOT, but many of them are unexpected, and it drives me karazy. A good number of them are improving a lot - a lot more mature, respectful, wanting to learn. I've seen most of them grow so much, it's awesome!!! But the ones that have suddenly decided to have an attitude, be ditzy and have that "I'm all that" manner of doing things...arg...!! But only three more weeks...!

I saw the house that Heidi put an offer on...it's so cute! One of the bathroom's painted this lavender color. Kinda wacky, but I also really like it! Hmm...methinks I'll do that with my own bathroom when I get my own place one day. Hee hee, the rooms are all rather colorful, and in their own strange way, they all match well and don't look out of place at all. It's small, but cute and functional, and there's no wasted space. It's really neat! ^_^

Ah...our roller coaster competitions are beginning...woo hoo! ^_^ I hope after we finish this, there will be enough time to do the hot air balloons...

05.13.02, Monday

[07:30pm] Mother's Day yesteday was grand! After church, our GB meeting was on super-fast-mode...I was done by about 1:30pm, heh heh...since everyone was going out for Mother's Day! ^_^ I took my mom to the mall yesterday, where we got to hang out and shop a bit...I bought her a neat purse that she fancied, and then at home, I made dinner for the family. Mmm...we had White Clam Sauce (with a dash of wine, sauteed mushrooms, and black pepper) on Angel Hair Pasta, Honey Mustard Roasted Chicken, and Vietnamese Spring Rolls, stuffed with lettuce, green bean vermicelli, fungus ("wun yee"), ground beef, egg, and a bit of those mint leaves (not my favorite things, but okay in this case), and a slightly spicy soy/oil dip for the rolls. ^_^

After that, Mark got me to watch Dinotopia with him...looks like we'll be watching the rest of this series today and tomorrow, heh heh. I'll have to tape it on Tuesday though, as Buffy and Smallville are on at the same time then. ^_^

It's been hot...today's like 90 something degrees out here! >_< I don't do well in hot weather...I get headaches whenever summer starts, and my mom says that I "jong shuu" very easily. I'm healthy and strong, but when it comes to battling hot weather, I'm helpless, hee hee....okay okay, it's not that bad...but I still don't like getting headaches and feeling uncomfortable...and getting, um, "special" chinese herbal tea drinks that is supposed to help. My remedy is usually to get rest, and drinks LOTS of ice cold water...I guess I should really reconsider Arizona, eh? =Þ

I recommended one of my students, Martin, for a $2000 GEAR UP scholarship for college...and he had his interview today! He came in to tell me about it at lunch - how there were all these smart people there, heh heh...I really hope he gets it though. See, all these "smart" kids have that name because they DO do well and work hard, which is great and all...but you know what? They will probably go to college anyways, with or without a scholarship. In fact, these kids are the ones that get recognized all the time, and will get lots of scholarships later on in high school. Martin is somewhat in the middle - low low income, low socioeconomic status, speaks spanish at home, would be the first in his entire family to make it to college (should he choose that route), and not the one that always gets the A's, thought not failing his classes either. In fact, he's bright enough to do well in a an advanced class - but he's a little lazy at times, plus he's often in the same classes as those who are lower skilled, or those with some ELD kids (I notice that he has the same classes with a bunch of other kids that are also Mexican. However, there are other classes that can be predominantly white, etc...it's a whole tracking thing...not my favorite, but also a controversial hot topic in the education field...), etc, and as a result, often part of a class that has experienced low expectations in the past. But he always has something really great and insightful to say in class, does an excellent job in taking knowledge and using it well, and he has the potential to go really far. Getting the scholarship would only further motivate him to go to college, to not be so lazy, and to be successful. Many of the others, they already are successful and know it. Martin, while waiting outside the counselor's office, felt like he was surrounded by these people that were all greater than him...when really, whether he realizes it or not, he can match them given what they have - middle class, a family, parents that can do things for him and take him places, generations of family that has been in the USA, parents who have gone to college and can provide better support and circumstances/experiences to the kids...and so many other factors that benefit the kids that are getting their education here in the American culture (it's a different story, if we were talking about another culture...but since they are here, and can only succeed if they do well in the way this culture does things...anyways, that's a whole different tangent.). I hope he gets it. ^_^

What ticks me off is that the GEAR UP scholarship is supposed to be given to those that are, in particular, not going to have such a chance to go to college, or those that have a low income, from another country, first generation to college...etc...all of which Martin fits, and yet...from his sharing of who else was there, some teachers certainly didn't nominate the kind of kids that GEAR UP is targeting. I hope GEAR UP sticks to who they are really serving and helping to advance...and not be disillusioned simply by a good student who is earning good grades and well liked and known by all the teachers. I like those kids too, alot! But that's not what this scholarship is for...

05.12.02, Sunday

[01:30am] Yeah, I think I'm finally getting out of this J curve deal...woo hoo! Still drained, and still quite strict, and still keeping the number of students in my class (other than class time) at lower levels...but the praying, seeking peace, patience and wisdom from the Big Guy up there, and reducing the amount of time I deal with school things (which requires a LOT of willpower!) has been working. This week, after school, I went to Heidi's for a bit, and another day, I just walked around the mall. Even though I didn't really leave school early, I made myself leave before 6 or 7, heh heh, and did something relaxing afterwards. One day, I even drove by the new stores by my house and picked up menus. I even found a pair of neat Etnies shoes that I'd like to get later to replace my current tennis shoes...however, as I currently need to budget (*cough*justpaidformasterscourse*cough*) myself, I don't think that will happen for quite some time. But it was nice to see a pair that I liked. ^_^

I took fun pictures of my students building their roller coasters, and will pick up my pictures tomorrow. Friday, I went to praise worship, where Christie and I made up some harmonies for the songs we will be singing, and danced a little to Enrique's Escape, hee hee...I met Sandavol, one of the girls who lives near the church, and who had a bunch of others with her playing a game of baseball in our church backyard when I showed up to praise practice. I totally didn't mind that they were playing there - if they felt comfortable enough to play there, they were welcomed to it, and I told her so. She and her friends agreed to watch out for our church when we are not there, heh heh...pretty cool deal...and perhaps they will catch a whiff of our aroma for Christ while they are there even...

I got to go to a Youth Specialties conference unexpectedly this weekend, which was really neat! I got lots of ideas and resources, and though I've heard of it, and was thinking of going this year, I didn't think I could, but God opened a door for me - a sister church had open spots! ^_^ I also got to see Sally, Belinda, Tako, and Jenn, as well as meet some more SGVAC'ers, which was neat! I've been going through the books I got, and am pretty happy with them...=)

Tonight, Fred, Ed and David came over...Mark sprained his ankle (tore a ligament? There was a *pop* sound) playing bball, so by the time Fred and Ed came over, we pretty much just chilled...they helped me grade some Cool Sciences of the Week, and made up some problems for a speed quiz, hee hee...we checked out Edwin's car, which we thought was leaking transmission fluid (but we concluded that it was not from his car, but probably from something else), played a LONG game of Risk, cooked some dumplings, and spoke of blenders, tools, and house appliances, heh heh...

It hasn't been too harrowing of a weekend...I have a GB meeting tomorrow, but that won't be bad at all...God has been helping me and situations around me to slow down and give me some time off, which is awesome...He hears my needs, and He answers, always...^_^

05.08.02, Wednesday

Nick's grad party was awesome! ^_^ We all pitched in to get him a PS2 Starter Kit (Sarah just got him a PS2), Grand Theft Auto III (appropriate, as we are all church buddies???), a compass, a whistle to use if if gets lost, a fire starter block, and the "world's smallest remote control car"...all handy things for him to take with him to go backpacking in Ireland this week! ^_^ In fact, he's already there as we speak!

13 hours on Sunday was spent at Six Flags with about 30 of Sierra Middle School students...what a day...it was fun...but really tiring...and aiya...At first, these four girls, popular-like types, asked me to hang out with them, so I said sure. One of them had a cousin that was there, who is also one of my students. However, soon, the girls started arguing over which rides to ride, where to go, etc, and so I escaped when I ran into my department head, another teacher, and another lonesome student. The boy, however, followed me, and off we went to ride our first ride, Dejavu. It was an awesome ride!!! So scarrry!!! BUT the boy didn't want to ride on ANY rides, as he was afraid of them and didn't like them or whatever. I felt bad, as this was a boy who didn't have many friends, was often made fun of cuz he stutters...but at the same time, he DOES bring it on to himself - he is not very considerate, can be somewhat mean, and offends others very quickly as well. =Þ However, he would not leave my side, and I was starting to see how and why people didn't like him...>_< Later on, he wanted to go get food, and I didn't want him to be all by himself, so I went with him. In the process, we lost the rest of the group, and I got to hang out with him...he who would not go on any rides, and who only wanted to do things that costs a lot of money, like the Go Karts ($6...!). Later on, we ran into some girls...many of them being the loud, attention-needy girls that are found in my class after school (though not as of late, and I'll explain why later) that are incredibly high pitched and loud, and think that all the guys are looking at them (when I personally see that they are not...???), etc...It was nice to hang out with them, but at the same time, I was getting so tired of them "Ms. Lau-ing" me constantly, and I was getting tired of them talking about practically nothing else but boys and the supposedly hot guys that were following them around everywhere. =Þ

Plus, this one girl, she kept getting those Dippin' Dots ice creams...I've never had them before, so I did buy one to try it out...it's alright...but it's a whole fad thing and this one girls kept buying one whenever we'd pass a Dippin' Dots ice cream stand...each costs almost $4, and she had bought like FIVE already when, at the end of the day, while I was standing in line for my tradition at Six Flags (funnel cake...mmm), she asked me for money to buy another one cuz all she had was $1 left...!!! I was like, NO! You must learn to conserve your money...you had five already!!! (well, I said it nicer than that, hee hee). Besides all the high pitched attention needy girls that I spent practically the whole day with, I didn't get to ride a few rides with some of the other students that I promised I would ride with, as there was this whole confusion of finding people, and when I did, I didn't have the heart to just up and leave the girls, high pitched as they are. Ack.

Anyways, I was glad to get home, eat my dinner, and rest. ^_^

The rest of the week so far? Well, as it has been, lately. But things started feeling a little, though very little, better after watching Buffy and Smallville last night (Eric has gotten me into Smallville...this is the third time I've seen it in a row...it's actually pretty good...!). This morning, I went to school slightly cheerier, almost back to my normal self, until fourth period...while building our roller coasters, some students were playing around and one of them (unfortunately, I couldn't tell who, as that is a huge class of 35) knocked my yellow box to the ground. =( That was my "Ms. Lau's Homework Box", the wooden box that Giang decorated for me for my bday! There was only a little chip in one of the corners, though I was still sad a bit. I know that whatever is put in the classroom has the chance of getting hurt, but still...*sigh* I'm glad it wasn't chipped too noticeably, and by the time lunch came around, I had something of a headache. Oh yeah...in terms of why I have less students in my room lately...I've limited the numbers of students that come in at lunch - no food at all, and they must get a lunch pass from me to be admitted into the halls from the lunch area. So anyone that comes in without a pass, or without a sound reason (like if they got a pass but are goofing off), I sent them out, so that the room can be more calm, and I can have some calm time to get some work done. As a result, students who just come to my room to hang out, though they still like me, find the room a little more boring, which is nice for me, as they decide to not stay as long, or leave. I'm not pushing them away, but I do need my quiet time now...I've explained to some, and they understand perfectly, and are even supportive of it, as they see that lately, I've just been tired out. But things are getting a little better now...I think that I'm finally edging out of that J curve...yay...I never thought I would hit it...but I'm glad I'm getting out...slow and steady! ^_^

Thanks for hearing me vent...^_^

05.04.02, Saturday

Yesterday was fun! School ended earlier, and we had our Cinco de Mayo festival for about 4 hours. I helped out at the Gladiator Joust booth, where I was challenged by a student, who so wanted to challenge me that he paid for my tickets to take part in it! Heh heh...I lost of course...but it was still fun! =) There was music from our school's rock band, and we had cotton candy, tamales, menudo (pretty good!), and other good stuff. Some kids had put me in jail, and the "cop" was looking for me, only he never found me, hee hee...kids kept telling me to watch my back! ^_^ YF was at church last night...and we talked about...Dinosaurs!!! Heh heh...it was really cool! See, we got this new book for our YF Library, and it has all kinds of interesting stuff in there. One of the chapters was on dinosaurs, so we studied that...it was cool! Besides that, and a game of Go (Wei Chi) with Jason in which I mercifully and generously let him defeat me...we all went for boba afterwards! Mmm...

So it was a start of a nice, relaxing weekend, despite the hectic madness at school. One of my students asked me on Friday - "Ms. Lau, you're getting a headache, aren't you?" =Þ

Tonight is Melody's prom!!! Woo hoo! I hope you have fun girlie!!! ^_^ CF is going to head to Nick's graduation party at Sarah's! Should be lots of fun...food, volleyball, and such. Plus, I gotta head out in a bit to get his gift from all of us...hee hee...^_^

04.30.02, Tuesday

As my away message says...I'm getting burnt...extra-crispy...=( The second day this week...soooo hard to get through...I tried to have an optimistic outlook like yesterday, but it was even harder today. Getting my new books through the book order (The Missing Piece (Shel Silverstein), and The Names of the Harp - Irish Myths and Legends), though exciting, as they were both nice and hardcovers, were still not enough to cheer me up. Even when a student gave me a book, The Te of Piglet (cuz he knew I am reading the Tao of Pooh book), I still wasn't so looking forward for the day. I love books...three books in a day? What a treat...!!! And yet...

After school, I had almost a billion people in class...okay, it more like less than 10...a few for detentions, others that normally stay to help out and hang out, others that were doing their work, and a parent that was dropping off some more hamsters. I love them all...but each and every single one of them were vying for my attention...! They wanted me to see how they could raise their grade, what work they were missing, if they can help do this or that, to hear what they did this weekend, or what they will be doing this coming weekend, to know what things they liked to do and what they liked to listen to, the latest news of the students on campus...and I love talking to them and giving them the attention they want and need...after all, the core of teaching is to build relationships...and yet, currently, I'm just kinda drained out of these people that want me to be so aware of their needs, and unconsciously not allow me to take care of what I really need...

04.29.02, Monday

[09:45pm] Hello-ello! This past weekend was really nice! I didn't have too many things to do...so I think that was why. On Friday night, I went to praise practice, where Edwin, Eym-Soon, and Mark tried to play their guitar and jump around at the same time, and Fred tried out the electric drum set. Somewhat chaotic, yet still organized, and fun as always. ^_^ After, Fred and Edwin came over, and Fred made his famous egg custard ("dun daan") dessert for us...mmm....! On Saturday night, the gang and I went to PM...after an unintended tour of Burbank in our jam packed van, we finally got to LACAC, where we got to hear an inspirational message about God's love...a simple message, yet found every day in the most unexpected places, and always, always, a wonder. After, we went to the $1.88 wonton noodles place again...accompanied again with the Deep Fried Tofu in XO Sauce. Yummm. ^_^ Sunday was church (CCF led worship and the congregation said it was mighty good!) and a bit of household shopping at Wal-Mart. I spent the rest of the weekend working on lesson planning, chatting to friends online (finally) and well, more lesson planning (okay, this was like 70% of my weekend...but see, it wasn't as bad since I didn't have to do other things). That was it...and it was the least activity-filled weekend in a long time. Nice. =) 

It was hard to start class again today. Five minutes before the bell rang, I was like, noooo...I can't...I just wanna rest a bit...just a bit...but then I readjusted myself. With that attitude, I'd get nowhere, and nothing would be done, and the day would just be tiring for me to get through. (Only six weeks of school left...teachers get it as bad as students do, heh heh...) So I shifted it and thought of why I do love this job, and it worked pretty well. ^_^ Plus once the bell rang and the ball is rolling, I got so busy and so involved with fifty million decisions every second that I forget about how I feel until afterwards. Afterwards today wasn't too bad though - I had my detention kids do a lot of work for me, and they did them pretty cheerfully, and there was no grumbling - they totally cleaned my room spotless, erased pencil markings on some of the furniture, cleaned my windows, desks, put in new bedding and food for our class hamster's cage, sorted the trash in my recycle box, got giant sheets of cardboard from the recycle trash bin at the back of the school, and cut them up for me. Not bad. 

I'm still reading The Tao of Pooh during my silent reading class. I like it, and sometimes read excerpts to my students. They seem to enjoy that. =) And they like when I put one of my Disney musical CD's for them to listen to while they are reading. It's sort of a treat, as I usually play classical music - they complained about it at first, but after a while, they got used to it so they work pretty well when I have it playing. =)

You know those Nielsen Ratings? They sent me a TV Diary, to record what I watch on TV, and so I could be part of their national survey. Hmm. I could fill it out right now...Tuesday nights...UPN...Buffy the Vampire Slayer...and that would be about it. =Þ As a prize, they sent me a nice new $1 bill. Woah. 

Actually, it's not new. It was made in 1999. But it's flat and doesn't have a wrinkle on it! ^_^ I wonder if they stockpile stacks of $1 bills and put one in every envelope? 

04.25.02, Thursday

[08:25pm] Just another day in the life of a teacher...always an adventure or two, heh heh. ^_^ After school today, as I was grading things and updating the gradebook, I realized that one of my students, Chuck, who've never really achieved anything higher than an F, has a C in class now!! I was so happy! I had just commended him earlier in the day for doing better lately. Oh, necessary background: after I yelled at him one day in class, there seemed to be some improvement...he was whining that class was boring - and mind you, he does absolutely NOTHING in there, while those who do don't find it boring, but instead, rather fun - and I just got really tired and angry of his whining, so I pretty much yelled (okay, raised my voice in a tired, angry tone) that of course it was boring to him, cuz he never does anything in class, was not even writing down ONE word of the things in class that we do, that I have to tell him to get to work every single day, and that he wasn't even trying to learn, and so of course he was bored. The class was like, "Ohhh, she's right Chuck! She got you...!!!" I was just so tired of it coming from him every day. And from that second on and after, I've seen him starting to write in class and do some stuff...and you know what? WOW, he has a C!!! I was sooo excited, I gave a super positive phone call home...and that just really, made my day. I hope that he keeps it up. It's a low C, but a C nonetheless...and if he wants to keep it, he's gonna have to keep working hard, and putting in effort (there is room for more effort, heh heh, but he can keep working on that)...so I hope that he will pull it off. He's so lazy, but now, I'm seeing some pretty good improvement (besides grades, more positive participation in class, etc...), so I hope it keeps up. He can be smart if he really wanted to, and I hope that he will keep on trying. So I did, really, forget about all the "bottom of the J curve" stuff, and that one phone call really made me feel soooooo good to know that I could tell him and his parents something so positive, hopeful and good. I forgot so much about schoolwork that just a while ago, I was playing a ton of video games (click here) and forgetting about schoolwork...which I really have to get back to right about now...=Þ

04.24.02, Wednesday

[09:25pm] Soooo cuute...87 woke up and was walking around in his aquarium a bit...so I looked through the glass and he saw me, and started walking towards me...so I took him out and let him walk around...and as he walked around a bit, he came towards me, found my hand...crawled into a comfy spot...cuddled and slept there...*awwwwww* ^_^ He's the cutest lil' California Desert Tortoise around! ^_^

[07:50pm] ARG!!! My sub yesterday was horrible...and I had to come back today to deal with it. Students came up and turned on the radio LOUD in one of the classes, and he let them pretty much have a dance party in the class (and some went OUTside) half the time. In another class, there was this whole dispute that was going on, as well as some of the kids going outdoors again, and another class was just utter chaos, according to my good students, and he let them do pretty much whatever they wanted. What the heck??? 

I had a parent meeting as well...I had talked to one of the parents about a student who cheated on his quiz on Friday, and she pretty much was angry with me that I wouldn't let him retake it, and that he would get a 0 on it, and that he got a referral for it. Hmm. Those were the rules for my classroom...the rules that, in fact, she had signed and agreed to. I had talked to the student, and he had admitted to cheating, had agreed with the punishment and thought it was fair as well. Plus, this is actually a student who does try hard in class...I personally believed that he felt too much pressure, and that's why he cheated (he was doing the problems correctly too), and someone that I really do like. His mom spoke Spanish only, and the translator had to translate for me. The thing that got me though, was that she never ONCE spoke to me. Only to the translator. It was always "Ella, Ella, Ella..." instead of talking to me. Aiya...Yo soy una persona tambien, senora...y yo soy la maestra de su hijo...por supuesto, su puede usted hablar conmigo! Si, mi espanol is muy malo, y su ingles no es muy bueno tambien, pero nosotros estamas hablando con...each other...and yo quiero trabajar contigo por este problema...My spanish sucks, but I can figure out what they were talking about, and I didn't like it how I knew that the translator seemed to be saying more than what I and the Vice Principal were saying. In the end, things worked out great and fine for all parties, but I so wanted to scream out at times to rebutt her remarks. 

She said that we, as teachers, NEVER provide any good input for students when they are doing well (her son, though quiet, knows that it's not true, with me anyways...I've written him enough notes to say that he's doing well in class and how it's a great joy to have him in my class, etc...and I've called several times before, only that no one was home, or that I'd talk to the son, about something positive.). Plus, I have 180 students. It's hard to get to all 180 when you're dealing with discipline, good things, bad things, reminders, emailing parents and calling parents, seeing what is going on with each of these kids, who needs what kind of attention and assistance for success...etc....The father also said at one point that I was picking on his son. On him??? One of my best students??? Uh-HUH. And they only said so cuz they were Mexican, and they said they felt neglected and uncared for because they were Mexican. That the school is NOT courteous to them and never greets them (and there I was...sitting right there...I was the first and only to greet her, shake her hands and say hello...and at Open House, I had greeted the father. Hmm.) simply because we don't care about their needs. Perhaps she was talking about the other teachers - but you know what??? Most of the teachers I know here at Sierra are supportive of the Hispanic families, etc...and we work closely with them in many programs, etc. Anyways, the whole time, the mom (who did most of the talking) never once looked at me or responded to me as a person. She just kept talking to the translator. When I talked to her, I looked at her - even though I know that there may be a thing of avoiding eye contact in their culture, I expected her to at least to acknowledge me as her son's teacher. Which she did not - she just kept talking to the translator, who has never once been in my classroom nor knows the student that we were conferencing about. Arg. When we shook hands in the end, she again, only looked at the translator. What the heck (again)?!? 

Despite all this karaziness...I'm feeling a little better. Maybe cuz I went to step class yesterday - it's always so much fun, heh heh! Perhaps I'm at that slight rise, though still flattened, in the J curve. I still don't know what I'll be teaching next week, but I do kinda have this week's planned out. Mostly just book work and discussions...I am buckling them down so that I can continue to have this control over the classroom, in terms of management. But next week,  I'll let them relax a bit with boat races, I think...heh heh...

In the meantime...I changed it back to a dark background...dunno, the light one, I didn't like it toooooo much. It was cute, but that was it.  Still testing webpage possibilities, though less time lately. =Þ

04.22.02, Monday

[11:00pm]I just want to be free from all my karazy responsibilities and all stress-inducing things for a few moments. I'm involved in too many things. I feel like that blob on the left...like it's head is just gonna explode, heh heh...*POP* I want free time. Recess. A recess from life's hassles. Thanks for the prayers everyone, again. You guys rock, and I feel special because of everyone's little encouragements. ^_^ Wanna hear a good thing though, that I'm doing to relax and de-stress a bit? For those of you that call me some psycho workaholic first year teacher that is doing too much for her students, you should be happy to hear that...I'm taking a day off tomorrow! Not an "official" day off though - I still have to be on campus, but I won't have to teach, and I'll be either observing other teachers, working on my lesson plans, and catching up on work and ideas for class. Yep. It'll be nice...I can dress down, hide in the library with my laptop, and work away. I like the kids I teach, but it's also nice to have some free time from them. ^_^

I got a manicure/pedicure last week. It was neat. I got pampered! They had my feet in some bubbly massage thing, and I got to sit in a massaging chair, and they massaged my feet. I didn't really care what color they put on my nails. I just wanted to relax and get that cool massage, heh heh. So I let the lady choose. But she first chose this really hot pink...I HAD to say no to that...and then she picked this baby kinda pink and I was like, um, okay (though for those of you that know me, pink is not my favorite color. It's nice, but not something I'd normally choose!). She even put some flower design on my nails. They even gave me lemonade. Wow huh??? But in the end, they kinda piled up the bill - I was like HUH??? I almost choked when she gave me the bill, but I might as well...heh heh....once in a lifetime...or in 23 years and some anyways. =Þ My mom says I'm not lady-like enough. Maybe these nails will make her think otherwise? heh heh...but of course...I spent part of Sunday after church helping out in our Annual Spring Cleaning...and did a lot of work out with the grass in the back...and so the tip of my nails were tinged slightly green with grass stains??? But I think it's mostly gone now. ^_^

Wanna hear more good things that are making my days better? I'm going to the AVID Conference in August! My principal asked me today if I wanted to go...I was like, suuure!!! It's a for almost a week down in San Diego, and we all get to learn AVID things...The school pays for everything, yay! I get to go with John, Lucia and Louie...and whoever else from our school that will be going, though I'm not sure who else at the moment...it should be tons of fun! And in a few weeks...Cinco de Mayo...is the Physics Day Field Trip that I'm taking my students to, up at Magic Mountain! Woo hoo! So despite the overwhelming-ness of responsibilities, there are still good things going on...God has His ways to keep me from being toooo burnt-out and toasted...^_^

04.18.02, Thursday

[09:00pm] We have a cool forum for College/Career and Youth! ^_^ Link's at the right. Finally. It's here! 

[06:30am]There's this thing called a "J Curve" for first year teachers. According to this well-known "theory", you start off enthusiastic, ambitious and energized...but as the work piles on,  planning meaningful lessons every day, and the responsibilities that come with dealing with kids and their lives, their problems, their different abilities, etc...first year teachers hit a bottom just before winter break. I have never hit this J Curve. In fact, I've always been enthusiastic, loved my kids, wanted to teach every single day and actually deal with all their problems. I didn't mind all TOO much that I spent my every free moments on work for them. Yeah, I'd rather be out playing, but it was part of my job, and of course, as a first year teacher, I know that it's a lot tougher. 

However...right now...I'm at the bottom...>_< It's been overwhelming with the amount of work that I have to do, I've been losing my patience with the kids that continually whine or those who just do nothing, despite the fact that they are certainly bright enough and have enough to say in class. We're dealing with physics, my least favorite subject - and though it's not that bad teaching, to tell you the truth, it's tough finding the right kind of activities for them, and knowing just WHAT to teach them. The math I have to teach them for physics, I would expect them to know by now, but because our district is so screwed when it comes to retaining kids (they don't start until 7th grade!!! That is way TOO late...!!! They should be retaining them younger...like in 2nd grade or whatever, so that they can pick up the basics then, before they move on. Plus when they're younger, age is not AS much as a big deal as when one is in middle school and higher), many of my kids have no idea how to do some of the math and I find that I'm reteaching them math that they should know. Our math department does an awesome job, but they are also stuck at the moment with some mandatory algebra classes that all 8th graders must take. It's working, but at the same time, kids that aren't ready for it are taking it. Despite the module program, some are still just developmentally not there, because they lack the basics from elementary school. But anyways. 

I didn't really get a Spring Break for my break...I never got that chance to relax and be absolutely free for a day, at the minimum. And so maybe I am feeling a little deprived, and that mixed with all my other responsibilities (I think I am involved in too many things, heh heh...I like them all though, but just at this point...) it's really overwhelming. Ah, but I am not one to stay down for long. I hope that this "bottom of the J-curve syndrome" does not last too long for me. ^_^ My department head says that EVERY February and March, she gets depressed, but that this year, it was only for two weeks, so she was happy. TWO WEEKS??? That's a long time to be down teaching...aiya...I surely hope it won't be like that. It's been building up like two weeks BEFORE break for me, and I just barely hit it coming back from break...I don't wanna be down for two weeks! That ain't gummystylin', I tell ya. ^_^ I'm trying to remedy it by going to sleep really early whenever possible and getting my 8 hours of sleep, and I intended on going to get a pedicure last night (I've only gotten one before and it was sooooo nice, hee hee, though slightly ticklish) but the store was closed...I didn't get off school last night till almost 7:30pm!!! I think I will take a BTSA day next week, before SAT 9 testing begins (the week after). 

All the encouragement has really helped. Mr. Phil, I haven't talked to you in AGES, so thanks for that little IM of encouragement! Heidi, my best teacher-friend at Sierra, has been awesome, letting me vent forever and bringing me a flower, and yesterday, we came up with this neat (more like HILARIOUS) idea for "Bowman Bucks/Lau Loot", a common $currency$ that we will start using for our students next week...as funny as it is, it'll work well and it helped me take my mind off of things...And for those that have prayed for me (youth and parents!) when I shared with them my current situation. And just everyone else out there that sends me encouragement and support, it's just awesome! Thanks, I needed it! ^_^ 

04.15.02, Monday

[07:35pm] Where do I even begin??? It's been one hectic couple of days...First of all, I do have a prayer request...my nephew had a liver transplant yesterday night! It was so sudden...just a few weeks ago, he was taken into the hospital...something about only 30% of his blood left, not being sure if it was the liver or bone marrow, not even really knowing WHY it happened. He got a liver from a 19 year old girl...

...the surgery was successful, and so he is now recovering. I hope the recovery process goes well too...my nephew is only 13 years old...that's a lot for a kid to be going through...! At the same time, two people from my church each had siblings that had just died recently of liver complications. Yikes. It's kinda scary, all these things happening at once...!

Giang, I hope you had fun on your research trip! ^_^ Oh! And for April 13th, Saturday...^_^

Happy Birthday Gilbert! & Happy Birthday Eric!

Arizona Trip: Woo...! I sooooooo love Arizona...maybe one day I'll move there...the land called to me as UCI once called me, when I first visited the campus, deciding where I would apply to. I remember that I didn't even think of going to UCI until I saw it...and then, I knew I wanted to go there. Arizona has that same sense of something to me...! ^_^ On Thursday night, my parents and I left on an almost 5 hour drive down to Phoenix. The cool thing was, there was absolutely nothing until we were at the cities in the area...it was neat...Phoenix looked cool, with the big skyscrapers and stuff. Stephen, you nerd! I tried to call you to tell you that "Yo! I'm in Arizona!" but your cell wasn't being too nice...arg...technology...! ^_^ We then rested at the Motel 6 (bleah, I don't recommend this one!!!). The next morning, after having breakfast at the Village Inn and wandering at the Big K-Mart (what a vacation huh?), we headed off to the Grand Canyon. En route, we passed by the Coconino National Forest...OooOOoooo...that place is soooooo lovely...most of Arizona, from that point on it seems, from there through the San Francisco Mountains and Kaibab National Forest, had this beautiful yellow colored grass. It wasn't a dirty yellow, or brown yellow, or weedy yellow...but it was this beeeeeeeautiful golden grass that grew wild and free all over the place, with trees and mountains that grew around and amongst it. *sigh* We then reached Flagstaff and went around Route 66...something that we did a lot of on our trip. Route 66 may have a lot of "nothingness", but at the same time, it has whole lot of "somethingness", passing through old towns and showing us God's glory in His handiwork all around us! 

When we arrived at Grand Canyon...WOW...I've seen it before, but I think when I was little (like 7?) it was big and pretty but really, just big pretty rocks, and nothing else. This time...it was just soooo big...it made me realized just HOW tiny we all are...itty bitty specks amidst this great big canyon...And not only that, but it was just SO awesome and beautiful that it looked like an absolute still picture, a painting of different colors, shapes, edges, shadows, blending, haze...all that glorified God for His creativity, intelligence, and artistry. It was just magnificently cool. On the side of the watchtower at one observation point, it was appropriately emblazoned on a little wooden plaque:

"All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." 
~Psalm 66:4

After, we headed to Williams, where we stayed Friday night at another Motel 6 (this one I truly would recommend), and had dinner at Denny's. Right before we got to Williams, it was around sunset time, and oooo...it was soooo nice...the sky and clouds themselves were this lavendar-blush pink color, and the clouds were like reaching down to the earth, kinda like how stalagnites reach down from the top of a cave, though less forboding, and more peaceful-like. I took a picture! I hope it comes out! Oh yeah...on the way there, we saw some Flintstone's playground type place with giant dinosaurs and rides...interesting...

On Saturday, we headed again on Route 66...we took a short detour in Seligman, I think, where we had a few dozen (okay, I'm exaggerating) U-Turns looking for cheap gas, hee hee...and finally arrived at the Grand Canyon Caverns (aka Dinosaur Caverns in the olden days). Ooo, it was cool! 220 feet under the surface, we toured the largest cavern in the U.S. With only 6% humidity, our tour guide, Pete, said that the bacteria on our bodies would be dead within 72 hours. We saw some Helicitite, a rare form of Selenite that would practically melt with any human touch (so it was behind a glass cover, heh heh), and we saw the snowball caverns, which had unfortunately, in years, turned slightly brown because of curious tourists who could not resist touching the snow-white walls (arg, oils and acids from our hands can be harmful to things that have existed for thousands of years!). The cavern was and is still a national bomb shelter, and food/medical reserves from the 60's are still there...there was also a replica of a Giant Ground Sloth...which many years ago (they existed the time of the sabre tooth tiger, so it's been a while!) had fallen into the cavern and tried to get out. We could still see the scratch markings in the wall...and they even found a claw stuck in the wall. Karazy. 

On the way to Kingman, we saw some really funny yet neat mountains...I think they were the Grand Wash Cliffs and the Cottonwood Cliffs. Hmm. We had lunch at our beloved Jack in the Box when we finally got to the city. 

Our next destination was Lake Havasu! We saw the city, the lake, and the London Bridge. It was incredibly hot there...and it's not even summer yet...! Yikes! The bridge was nice...though not ALL great, heh heh...but it was nice, and pretty amazing that it's still in hecka good condition, despite it being moved from England. We drove by Parker Dam (not much worth stopping for, heh heh), and got gas at Parker. After that, we took the 62 into California...that's the fun roller coaster road, heh heh...weeeeeee! ^_^ However, we did end up having some sort of Gas Misadventure...one of the cars traveling with us DIDN'T fill up with gas at Parker...there was some miscommunication in which David and his dad had thought that the other had filled up gas, and it wasn't till later on the 62 when they realized that neither had filled up gas and the gas meter wasn't any higher than before! Heh heh, but my dad got to play hero. ^_^ He happened to have a tank of gas in the trunk...about a week ago, my mom had run out of gas on the freeway, so he had that gas tank with him... they were all pretty much worried crazy that they would be stranded on that endless stretch of no man's land, heh heh, and the mom even started to pray about it (she was sweating too! Hee hee, but that was cuz they turned off the a/c. ^_^ Anyways....God works in interesting ways, eh? ^_^

We went to the mall in Palm Desert, where we had another short misadventure...we lost Mr. Chris Chan for a bit, and almost were going to send Cookie in to fetch him, heh heh...^_^ We had a good dinner at the Hometown Buffet (only $8.99! We feared it was going to be pricey, being that it was in Palm Desert/Palm Springs)...and then finally...finally...arrived home a little after 10pm...^_^

Not bad for two days worth of traveling. So you must understand why it was hard to get up this morning and go back to teaching...^_^ Just one more day would have been nice...heh heh...^_^

04.10.02, Thursday

[2:00pm] Last post till I'm back...just a bit more cleaning up and takin' care of business here before we go! Bye all! Till I return...^_^

04.10.02, Wednesday

[7:30pm] I found something neat today...^_^

hope (hOHp)
1. To look forward to with confidence or expectation.
2. To expect and desire.
3. The feeling in your heart that tells you that not ALL is lost.
4. Something intangible that gives you the strength to go on.
5. YOU, Lord.

Yesterday, Effie and I had lunch, and got to catch up on sooo many things! I miss that girl! ^_^ After that, I went with Mark to Eym-Soon's and Li-Yin's, as planned, where we also hung out with Keen-Yong and Marsha. We were there till like 11pm...suuuch a tiring day, I was barely even home...and it wasn't done yet...I had to prep and get all the stuff ready for today's trip. 

Forest Falls was AWESOME! ^_^ We took about a one hour hike up the river (which was...not much of a river at this time...but still fun!) where we chased and caught lizards, jumped all over the place, migrated like a herd of animals onward, found cool rocks, journeyed across sand, rocks, deciduous mini forest, mini swamps, and ended up in a clearing in the forest, where we ate our lunch and had our Bible Study. ^_^ It was sooo quiet up there, as Wendy remarked...in a way, it's strange, cuz we're always used to some noise, whether it be the TV downstairs, the computer, neighbors, people, cars, etc...and up there, there was absolutely nothing except for occasional birds chirping and bees buzzing about.

But really...the quietness allowed us to see God's glory...in all the beauty that He created...the glittering river rocks...the colors of those rocks, sky, trees, land...the water that He provides for us as our Water of Life...the power of His glory, and the love He has for all He has made. You could practically see the trees lifting their arms up to Him, and the little lizards and water bugs and even those scary bees being taken care of by Him. On our hike up, at first it was all barren and rocky and full of nothingness. The river was dry, the sun scorched us, and since you saw nothing but rocks and trees in front of you, it felt like it would just go on forever! But after a while, we'd see a trickle of water...hear the water...see the little river that was before us...and when we were with the water, it brought us comfort, relief, as it cooled us and as we got to touch it and play a bit in it.  Such is how He is the Living Water...In spite of whatever circumstances we come across, we have hope in Him, hope because we know that He will take care of things and settle matters for us. That with Him, nothing is ever lost. 

Of course, after all that, we had to walk back...and we thought were lost for a while...due to Theo's skillful leadership? ^_^ (but then again, it wasn't leadership...in our Bible study, we defined leadership not as the world would define it, but by God's rules: servant-hood and obedience...).

When I got back, the FIRST thing I did was take a bath!!! Heh heh...I was grimy and dirty, and it was fun, but it's nice to be cleaned up. ^_^ I'm getting a bunch of things ready tonight...tomorrow night, we're going to Phoenix! Grand Canyon trip...woo hoo! ^_^

04.09.02, Tuesday

[11:05am] I finished grading everything a little before 2am! Heh heh...so I went to school this morning, dropped off boxes and boxes of journals, and picked up their Three Laws of Motion Posters just in case I do have time to grade some of them. I just got back and had "breakfast" with Emily...actually, that bird will eat almost anything. ^_^ I'll be off to lunch with Effie later, and then tennis with Li-Yin! I think Eym-Soon and Li-Yin will serve dinner as well, heh heh. It's always nice to eat with friends. ^_^

04.08.02, Monday

[3:20pm] Okay...since the last time I posted...let me think of what I can add to it since...um...I cut my hair like two weeks ago? It's not really cut...just a little shorter than before, though not a significant change...on Saturday, a bunch of us went to Garden Cafe in RH for Nick and Eym-Soon's bday. Mmm, I got these korean grilled short ribs...only $5.25! I was stuffed full! At night, I met up with Mimi Tran (I have to say last names, as there are two of them!) and Giang to the Block, where we pretty much dominated different tables in the area, catching up and talking about stuff, heh heh. ^_^ It was fun though! I haven't seen Giang in a looong while, and Mimi since..well, since graduation I think!!! ^_^ Last night was CF at Ralm's...Sally came! I haven't seen her in a long time too! ^_^ This is like my catching up time I think...tomorrow, I'll hang out with Effie! ^_^ Okay...I know this is not like my usual post...short and choppy...but then again, I've been grading journals all day, and have even more to do, and I intend on finishing it ALL today!!! So my mind is a little nutso. ^_^ I still do not like using the file manager...I originally had these cool little java pop-up captions for most of the links on the right. Like when you put your mouse over it, a little pop-up square would show up to describe the site or whatever. It was cool! And I spent SOO much time this morning getting it all ready. And then after I loaded it into geocities, it won't work on the site. =( It worked in Frontpage. =( Ay, so there goes a cool effect for now...I'll try to update as much as before though...despite these complications. =) 

[12:00pm] Wow! Revamped webpage and everything...! ^_^ Still somewhat under construction, and it will be slooow because I can't use ftp on geocities anymore...*sigh*...plus, after using all morning on this, I should get to grading classwork and lesson planning again. ^_^ In case you're wondering though...Spring Break is starting off nicely! I woke up at 10am this morning!!! I intend to sleep in every day, on purpose. ^_^

04.02.02, Tuesday
[06:55 pm]

Ah...today was the start of our Hot Wheels Challenge!!! ^_^ I only had periods 1, 2, and 3 today (due to Language Arts testing, our schedule is blocked for today and Thursday)...so 4 and 6 (5 is my conference period!) will have to wait till Thursday. So far though, it's going awesome! I give them only half of a manila folder, all the masking tape they need...and they must make their ramps! ^_^ There were a lot of really cool ramps, heh heh...on Friday, all the classes will be doing the Hot Wheels Race-Off, where we can all see everyone's ramp perform wonders to amplify the speed of their cars. ^_^ The rest of the week is done and planned out! Tomorrow, we'll be working on posters for the Three Laws of Motion...and Th and Fri, as you see, are taken care of. Ahhh...finally, some respite...! ^_^ And since Spring Break starts at 2:45pm on Friday, I will go see my friends in Irvine. Yay! I haven't seen them in sooooo long!!!! ^_^

Dang it...Buffy's a rerun tonight. =Þ

Monday

Isaac Newton's Three Laws of Motion...I demonstrated and taught them this with one of those giant poppers sitting on my overhead projector's top...they kids loved it...hee hee, not only was it educational and demonstrated all three laws, but they also got a kick out of seeing it pop into the ceiling, heh heh. Sometimes, it is so easy to please my kids! ^_^

Sunday

It's Easter! That amazing, awesome day! I wish people didn't just go to church on Easter. Like you know how an "extra effort" is made to go just cuz it's Easter. After all,  God didn't sacrifice His Son for us only on that day. We sacrifice Him every single day through our actions and mind...yeah, I know, the act of going to church doesn't mean anything. It's the heart that counts. And our hearts need to be on Him all the time. Not just on Easter should we remember what was done for us. ^_^

After church, we had the Youth Core Meeting...successfully chaired by Thomas, who did a professional job. The rest of the youth were pretty professional too...bringing in their papers, pens and pencils, ideas, suggestions...it was cool seeing them in action. I want to let them run it more and let them direct the path of YF. And it's cool cuz they're willing to take up the challenge! ^_^ After that...the gang and I went to watch Blade 2. Eeewww...horrendously disgusting movie!!! Hee hee...not quite SO scary as Resident Evil. It was more on the gross side. And you KNOW that I don't get grossed out easily! ^_^ 

After, Fred and David came over for dinner...and Fred made us his specialty, "Dun Dan"...it's like the egg custard, the part that is in those yummy Egg Tarts. Mmm...it was pretty good! Okay, I've had a weekend of lots of good eatin', can ya tell? ^_^

Saturday

Dim-Sum in the morning!!! Yummy yummy yummy! I haven't dim-summed in a while, hee hee...we went down to Monterey Park and ate lots of good food. ^_^ At night, Fred came over as he had nothing else to do (j/k) and we all had my mom's homemade bao's for dinner. Ooo, they were sooooo good...! I wanna learn!!! ^_^

Friday

End of another busy week at school...and went to the Good Friday Service at church after. Shelton came back from Vegas too, so he's back at home with us now. After, we all watched the much anticipated Fly Me to Polaris movie (it's a Chinese movie). 

Thursday

We took spring photos at school today. I got to take them too...and of course, as staff, they are free!!! ^_^ But it is too bad...school pictures never come out right, no matter if you're a student or not.

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