Blue Roses

I AM A LIBRARIAN!! I am! A real live librarian! Me! Your favorite neighborhood Rina. EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

So it was billed as a second interview, right? 'Cause library lady knew she wanted me hired, but director guy hadn't said. But! He started the conversation with, "So library lady wants you to start on Monday." !!! So we all chatted, and I get to be on a committe right away, and yay! I start Monday! I work Monday afternoon/eveing, Wednesday afternoon/evening, Friday morning and every other Saturday. I get to do the weekly pajama story time! With craft! And OMG I have ideas and I'm so excited and oh my gosh!

Library lady said that, you know, she wouldn't have been happy unless she hired me because I reminded her so much of herself and I was so enthusiastic and excited about it all and she knew she had to make it work. And then it turned out that the scheduler had already printed out a schedule for me, with me on the schedule, so they were all expecting this! And then she stopped, turned and said, "I almost forgot! Do you want the job?" I said, "Yes! Yes, yes, yes." And we laughed and she hugged me goodbye and I'm a librarian!

This is so wild. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! I got the job!

I'm gonna go dance around like a goof now.

Posted by Rina at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Work has been delightful so far. I suppose we're still in our honeymoon period, but Noneck and I have been together since December, so I think we're out of that period. LOL But really, she just blossomed over the summer. She's so much taller and more attentive and outgoing. It's so cool to see. I'm really proud of her.

C is equally delightful. We hung out last night while her parents were out - did the dinner scene, some homework, and watched Gilmore Girls. LOL She's in love with Luke/Lorelai, which I, naturally, encouraged. <.g> She's so funny. She was dancing around, planning their wedding after I told her that Lorelai had proposed to Luke. That's all she needed to hear - didn't matter if Luke said no, she was sure that eventually he'd be putting on that bow tie and Lorelai would have a veil and they'd get married. She's so entertaining. LOL She also walked Trixie for me and played with her. Too cute.

Now I just need an afternoon job. I have the library interview tomorrow...eek! I'm nervous. Must prepare tonight. Or this afternoon. Amazon says Nightlife will be delivered tomorrow, but it's in my state currently, in Addison, so you never know!

Posted by Rina at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Job crisis. Again. Do I ever not have one? It's a running theme this semester.

Bookstore just called to offer me a job, slightly pro-marijuana statements and all. <.g> Now the rub - I would prefer the ECE job which is better hours and better pay, but, obviously, I have not interviewed for it or been offered it. Do I accept this only to turn it down soon? I feel wretched doing that. Do I say no up front and potentially screw myself over?

Oh. Did I mention that I applied for an ECE position? Mornings, 4 days a week, $9 an hour, meshes perfectly with the pm preschool job I have. Much nicer than scattered bookstore hours at $6.50 an hour. I would love the ECE. I have previously worked in this ECE. But, I e-mailed my resume last night and woke up to an e-mail saying she would contact me shortly and I've been awake for a long long time now.

Advice? I have until 9 tonight.

Posted by Rina at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, I think I have a job again. I did a pseudo-interview type thing, and she finished it off with, "Well, as far as I'm concerned, you have the job." (She also already joined the chorus of, "Are you *sure you want to be a librarian?!") I'm going to observe tomorrow afternoon, figure out paperwork, and plan other observations before starting in January. It sounds like a fantastic job. Sadly it's been downgraded to three days a week, but that could bounce back up to five. It's at a local school where I worked a few years back (the summer Krissy was married, actually). I'm also going to apply to work at books a million a town over. Looking good.

I set up my own town in Sims last night. I called it Avonlea, although it's going to be a collision of fandoms. I love the area I set it in, but it's so hilly and bumpy!! I keep leveling everything, and there are stairs everywhere. LOL I made two families so far - Cuthberts (Marilla, Matthew, Bertha and teen Anne) and Blythes (John, teen Gilbert and teen Diana). I wanna see if I can get Anne and Gil in love again. <.g> They wouldn't let me make the Cuthberts without an adult to be Anne's parent, so I guess Bertha will have to move out somewhere. I'll call her house Heaven. LOL

I also played some of my original town, with Rilla and Ginny. I totally remodeled their house for them to adopt, but I want them to have a girl, so I didn't save when little Glen came, but I hadn't saved for a goodly amount of time before then either, so I lost everything. Whoops. LOL! Oh, well, I'll just try again later, maybe do something better with their house. I wish they could adopt a teenager.

Posted by Rina at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, my gosh! I was getting all set to post about how I quit my job today, but then I realized I don't think I posted that I had a job! LOL

So, I had a job. <.g> I started Monday. It was, uh, not for me. Segregated classroom, 7 hours of drills, almost no interkid communication, or communication period, all this stuff that gives me shivers thinking about them. My girl was sweet and cute and clapped for herself and me all the time, and gave me a standing ovation for my rendition of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" but it's not fair to her to have an aide who doesn't have the skills or ideology to best help her. I would get so frustrated, and I felt so bad for that, and I don't think I ever let her see it, but still. It wasn't fair to her at all.

So I called my boss and left a voicemail quitting today. Three days. Wow. But honestly, if I had been able to observe the class before he offered me the job, as he said I would, I wouldn't have taken it. Not in a million years.

I feel rather like a drifter this fall. Not exactly a pleasant feeling, but I'd rather feel at loose ends than be miserable. Well, I've earned about $100 to date, and we'll see how many more days I'm here (I offered to give 2 weeks notice, of course). $100 isn't enough for the 5 items currently waiting in my old navy cart, but it is enough for Gilmore Girls S1, and that's something. <.g>

Posted by Rina at 09:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got my letter today from the district, saying I've officially been re-hired. Yay! I have a job! And it's with my same little girl, which I'm excited about.

Did I mention that I'm working with her again? I've told/typed it to so many people I forget where I've announced it. You know who would know if I'd mentioned it here? My mom! Because she found me here last week. Searching for, of all things, an AAC society she works for. ::waves:: hi, mom! <.g>

Last weekend was *NSYNC's Challenge for the Children. I didn't get to go, but Jennie did, and she stayed with Karey and Noora. I'm wildly jealous. <.g> But! She had a fabulous time AND she called me from the basketball game so I could hear the boys sing live for the first time in a year and a half, the second time in two and a half years. Thanks, Jennie! It totally made my day. They sounded so beautiful. I had this huge grin on my face.

I made a Sports Night soundtrack. Drop me a line if you want one. 14 songs from the show and 4 bonus tracks. 5 bonus tracks if I decide to add in what I've begun to think of as Natalie and Jeremy's theme. <.g>

Friday, we see Hilary Duff. Yay? I now own turquoise/royal blue/pink Diesel gym shoes to wear. LOL It should prove interesting.

Posted by Rina at 07:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have a job for the fall! I'll be back working with my same little girl again. I'm excited. And nervous and worried and the first night the doubts aready started creeping in. LOL But I am happy about it. I love that kid, and we work well together. It should prove to be an interesting year.

Mom and Josh intended to go to an AAC camp in Wisconsin this week, starting tomorrow, but have since changed their minds. Like, this afternoon. <.g> Oh, well. I was looking forward to a week alone (watching movies, writing stories, lounging about a great deal), but it would have been very weird without them here. It'll still be a nice week. : ) My first week of summer vacation, since summer school ended last Thursday. And! Karey's coming on Friday for our weekend. I think, anyway.

I watched Girl with a Pearl Earring. I liked the book better, but ooh. Colin Firth. Can't go wrong there.

I got my new bathing suit, since our pool is up. Cute pink tankini with a little black skirt. And the skirt? A size 8. 8! I just do not understand the sizing scale. I am in no way an 8 <.g>

I am hugely back into Sports Night. Heaven help me. LOL Now I even want to write fic for it. Me! Sorkin!fic! But I adore Dan and Casey, a thousand times over, and especially love Danny. And Josh Charles. A lot. To the point where I ordered one of his early movies from amazon. <.g> And, okay, I plan on going back to Blockbuster to pick up season 1 of Six Feet Under, Peter Krause (Casey's) new show. <.g> Previously viewed DVDs, $10 each, 4 discs. Half the price on Amazon, so yay! It's a good show.

We spent Fourth of July at this neat resort (did I share that already? It feels like I did. but I don't remember), where we saw amazing fireworks and had a lovely lovely lovely time. And I watched an episode of Six Feet Under. <.g> I can't wait until we have HDTV service, and I can watch it and Queer as Folk every week.

I'm still downtairs in the office. I'm actually settling in nicely, although it's kinda annoying. I miss my room. But I'll be quite fine down here. But it is a pain in the nexk to type and such. And beyond that, I don't know, I haven't felt like sharing a lot lately. Usually I *plan on posting and mentally write out what I want to talk about, but lately, haven't even been doing that much. Not that many people even read here (my only comments are from spammers on this one poor little entry from a few years back), so I'm really only sharing with myself, but still. Something holds me back. Then I go and write this marathon entry. Guess I'm getting over it.

And.....that's me, I guess. Nothing much else to say. I had been tired and wanting sleep during "Girl" but now it's 12:30 and I'm only moderately sleepy. I have such bizarre sleeping habits.

Oooh! Tomorrow I can watch Silent Sunday on TCM! Oh, I'm so excited. I hope I don't forget!

Posted by Rina at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Every time I load a new webpage, a popup pops up. What is with THAT? It's really making me cranky. I turned on my firewall; I thought I should be safe? All this started after the firewall. Grrrrr.

I can't believe that I'm seeing JC on Friday. That means Lead Awareness Day* is less than a week away, which is only 3 weeks from the wedding, which is only a few days from the last day of school, and WHERE DID THE YEAR GO?!?!?

I'm going to miss these kids something fierce. Four of 'em asked me today if I was going to third grade with my kid/them. Wahhhh! They are so cool and so special and I love them all. They all make me laugh. It's been a good year. A hard, challenging, stressful, crazy, wonderful year.

*I don't think I'll ever be able to refer to my birthday as anything but Lead Awareness Day. It'll never be not amusing to me. <.g>

Posted by Rina at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hate being sick. I can't even remember the last time I was sick. I felt kinda icky last week, but Saturday? Damn, man. I ended up calling in sick Monday and Tuesday, and went in today because it was only a half day. My kid saw me, smiled huge, and started petting my arm. "Miss ____, all better now?" Awwwww! So sweet, I thought. Then she proceeded to give me a tail with her hand and say "gobble gobble!" ::rolls eyes:: I couldn't help it, I started cracking up, which made her just gleeful. Such a cute girl! I've missed her.

Mom's internet friend from FL came in today. I picked her up at Midway. Would have been absolutely perfect timing, except I turned one light too early and drove around the neighborhood for a few blocks, getting my bearings. LOL Ooops. It was mostly successful, though. After all, I found a Liz to bring back. <.g>

I'm ready for Christmas now. (Oh, HUSH, Lady K.) Most of the stores agree with me, so I can just ogle the pretty. I signed up for the popslash secret santa on Halloween. I am SO EXCITED. Dude! Pretty boys and snow is what I get, and what's not to love there? I had the best time writing a story for my secret santa last year, and I can't wait to do it again. Also, I buy one Christmas romance novel per trip to Borders. Heeee! So dorky. But I love it, man. Love it.

Posted by Rina at 03:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been a Cubs fan my entire life, even though I grew up on the North Side of Chicago. I have always loved the Cubs. This. This is my reward. Tied for first, yo. Scores keep up in this and Houston's games, and we'll be sole first. I'd love 'em if they were dead last, but this is quite good enough for me. Go, boys!

Tomorrow, I get to multi-task. I not only get to work as an aide, I get to teach all afternoon! Teacher's going to be out for a doctor's appt, so I'm teaching even with my kidlet also there. Bless that sub's certificate! I think. LOL Going to be a challenge, juggling too jobs at once. But I can't wait!

Back to my cubbies.

Posted by Rina at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One day of school down, 200 or so left. <.g> It went well. I love my kid, I love the teacher, I love the class. Adorable munchkins. Of course, first verse of "Why working in your hometown district is a bad idea" is well under way. Knowing people can be a Very Not Useful Thing. But I'm sure things will even out with me and my boss. I'm actually not sure if she *is having a problem with me, or if I'm just projecting. I'm still kind of upset about Friday, when we talked. The whole time, I felt like I had done something wrong, when I hadn't. And I'm sure she didn't want to seem accusing, or mean to; she's under stress with the start of the school year, too. But it's still sticking with me.

We're all allergy-ified over here. Mom's completely zonked, and Josh is trying to go to sleep but is having breathing issues. So every five minutes, it's:

Josh: (whines pitifully) Maaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Mom: (half asleep) Rina?
Rina: (gets up and goes into Josh's room, glares in direction of father who is reading newspaper)
Josh: (slurpy noises)
Rina: Lovely.

I'm sleepy. Tomorrow's going to be horrificly hot (why NOW?!?!?), plus a full day. Heaven help me.

Posted by Rina at 09:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So much work, so little time! And the school year hasn't even *started yet!

I had meetings all day Thursday and Friday. Thursday it was so hot - 110 in the shade. I walked to the meeting Friday morning (much cooler) and saw an egg on the sidewalk. LOL! I thought that was the funniest/neatest thing ever. Sadly, it did not, apparently, fry. Although it seemed like it should have. <.g>

Watched Monster's Inc tonight. Too cute for words.

Been playing Sims lately. I love Unleashed, man. My new couple is, I think, going to be Britney and Lance. If they like each other. Since, you know, Rina stepped in and married Joey. Lance didn't mind - he hasn't been in love with Joey for awhile (Joey flirted with too many people), although Joey is still in love with Lance. He just loves Rina more. We all live together, with their son Scott and their dog. <.g>

I'm nervous about school starting on MOnday. Only half a day, which is good, but still. Eeeep. Very worried. Happy thoughts would be appreciated : )

Posted by Rina at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hmm. In an odd twist, school stuff is now categorized as work. LOL Very weird, after 17 years of school being school. <.g>

Well, not all of it is work. Today's adventure was going to St. X University and registering for a grad level class. It went well! I only got lost twice, once going and once coming. Listened to my favorite car CD (well, it was more interactive than just listening, but whatever LOL) and managed to get myself there and back in one piece. (Oddly, even though the school's name had a "Saint" in it, I was still surprised to see nuns walking around. It's been a long time, yo.)

So, everything starts Thursday. I have orientation from 8:15-3:30, then my kidlet is coming for a tour at 3:30, I leave for SXU at 4, get there around 5 hopefully, class starts at 6:30, goes until 8:30, then I drive back home. This is my Thursdays all semester long. Eeep. But I have that hour or so before class to hang out on campus, do some studying, and probably some writing, too. And, well, I'll have lots of time to listen to my CDs. <.g>

Posted by Rina at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Work has been quit! Boss-lady was pleasant and understanding. I was stunned. <.g>

{{HUGS}} to miggie and holly - thanks for the well wishes, guys! And man, Holly, I've missed you. : )

Super cold again here, today, only less so. <.g> -6 when I woke up. Um, not conducive to class-doing. Bad me! But I figure this way, I'll have to meet someone on Monday to get notes. ::nods::

Jazz was....interesting. It was better than last time, but she seems to think we know more than we do. I think it's more hip hop than anything, but I love the music. But she'll show us part of a dance, ask if it's okay, and we say yes. Then she adds to it! A really lot! And then we go, and we all get messed up, and pretty much just fling our arms out and shake. <.g> At least I'm not the only frustrated one - most of the class was quietly freaking out. LOL But I love the dancing, so I think I'll stick with it.

Super tired and unproductive today. but I packed, because I am GOING HOME tonight!! Wheee! I can't wait to see my family again. I've missed them. I hated the short break.

So, today I pick up my last paycheck, most likely grab a sandwich at Panera, deposit said paycheck, and get ready for home. I'm excited, man.

Posted by Rina at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Work has been unbearable, decisions have been made. Moment of reckoning in about an hour. I haven't said much here because I can't lock posts.

Had my one class yesterday, archeology and ancient Egypt. Gonna love it, man. A really lot. ::nods:: I won't mind 8am for this class.

It's COLD. It's currently -4 with a windchill of -26. We're going up to 3 today! Wheeee? Fricking COLD.

So. Going to work at 9:30. Class at 10, class at 11:30, class at 1, class at 2:30, class at 5. LOL Doesn't that just sound fun? But it actually is. I hope I get into the 2:30 class!! Although the 10 class wouldn't be bad, either - more work, little less fun (movies rather than politics), but still a good class.

Tonight is my mom's chat with DynamicDuos - we're really looking forward to it. We're doing it in the s-d chat room -Lady K? Any way to save that you know of? Other than copying and pasting into an external document? <.g>

Okay, cold now. LOL Let's see, what I need to get done today:
get dressed, eat breakfast, pick up transcripts, talk to boss-lady, hit classes, stay warm, write blurb about SibShops, read for class. Really bearable, I think.

So. Of to get dressed. Need something cute and confidence inspiring today.

Posted by Rina at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I don't want to go to sleep. Except I do, but I don't want to have to wake up and go to work. :/

At least we're going in late tomorrow. Dorms open at 9, and some people here need to move out. <.g> So, yeah. Not so much with the leaving for work at 8:45 as usual, but at 9:15. Extra 30 minutes of sleep, yeah!!

Working tomorrow morning, Monday morning, Thursday and Friday night 6-10, in addition to pretty much whenever I'm not in classes. Can I, like, cry now? Since I signed up for the wrong class back in November, I'm still trying to find one to replace it. Which means, I warned Jamie, I'm visiting a few classes to decide which I like best. LOL Dude, at this point, though, anything but Pan-Chinese cinema is a winner.

Gah, must buy books tomorrow. I've been meaning to for days, and I keep forgetting! At least at this point, there's only three classes to buy for. Archeology, Mythology and Severe Weather. Hopefully it won't be too much. ::frets:: At least dance and the clinic won't have anything to buy.

All right. Must needs to bed now. Oh, saw About a Boy tonight - it was pretty good. Different from the novel. I think I liked this ending better, although it may have been pretty much the same as the book's, only toned down. I never had been sure I liked the book's ending, in regards to Marcus. Seemed like a pretty crappy theory about life to have. But this was good.

And now I sleep.

Posted by Rina at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, today's the day. I find out if I still have a job for th rest of the semester. I desperately, desperately want to keep it, but I have a feeling it's a no. I dont know why. So I guess we'll see. But send me some happy thoughts, please! Man, I don't even know how long I'm working today. From 8 until 5 or 8. Sucky.

I am SO TIRED. No matter what, I get to sleep in this weekend. There will be much sleeping this weekend. And GRE studying and quiz studying, as my first one is on Tuesday. That's probably the extent of what I'll do, outside of buying tap shoes. <.g>

Well, I can't keep my eyes open, and everything is still totally blurry, but I'm gonna go try and read new Lucy-fic. Maybe that will wake me up. LOL

Posted by Rina at 06:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Don't expect to see me for awhile. <.g> This is my schedule:

Tomorrow:
Work 7:45-10:30
Class 11-6:30, with some half hour breaks in between
Work 6:30-10

Thursday:
Class 8:30-2:30 with one break
work 2:30-6
Pray cable is upgraded so we can watch VMAs

Friday:
possibly work 8-8

Saturday:
work 7a-9p

Sunday:
Die of exhaustion

Monday:
work 7a-9p

and so on and so forth for the next two weeks, TTh being identical (except for a 6-8p class on Thursday) and MW identical. ::blinks:: Yeah. I so better love my paychecks. It'd be nice if FSaSu are broken into shifts, but I'm thinking that's less than likely. I can hope, though! You never know.

So. Bed now. I need to be up at 6. <.whimper>

Posted by Rina at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Whooo, updated my sidebar! Got a new quote, and three new songs for you all to download. <.g> Let me know what you think of them. I was gonna add Karey, too, but I lost the link! Resend, please? : )

Work was good, but so very tiring. I'm exhausted. From sitting and binding for 7.5 hours. Which, I know, is what I said I wanted to do today. Well. Be careful of what you wish for, and all that jazz. LOL My palm is one big bruise, as are several of my fingers, and my wrist aches something fierce. And I'll probably end up doing it all over again tomorrow. <.sigh>

Oh, and JC's birthday party? With the cake and doll? Surprise party, man. LOL I'm thinking he was probably pretty surprised, all right. <.g> I have to say, I'm kinda scared to think about it, but the doll is getting my curiosity piqued. LOL

URGH! My sounds keep going away! Drives me batty. I like having sounds. Lance, with a healthy dash of Mulder, talking to me keeps me happy, and they've left me now. : ( (edit - aha! Kazaa was running a stupid ad. Lance is back. : )

Mom's been at the hospital since 11am. Po's been mostly sleeping since yesterday. Grammy's been resting in bed with him the entire time, she doesn't go home anymore.

I think I'm going to go download some Elvis songs.

Posted by Rina at 06:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, as the title might imply, I'm waiting to hear from my Jennie-girl. Her flight was supposed to get in about an hour ago, and then she's calling when she gets to her hotel room, so I don't have to worry that she, you know, didn't get to her hotel room. <.g> I am SO very excited to meet her!!! I think we're going to have a blast on Sunday.

Liss and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade tonight. It was far more hysterical than I had anticipated. Why? They messed up the reels. <.g> It jumped all over the place....we were cracking up! My favorite scene is the end, where he's going through the tests to get to the Grail...Jehovah starts with an I, the path of believing, etc. I was rather confused to see it happen in the middle. <.g> So, yes. It was like seeing it for the first time....you never knew what was going to happen next. LOL

Dominic manages to confuse me daily. <.g> I don't know if I've come out and said this, but I like him. A lot. But he met this girl, and they went out for drinks on Tuesday, and he was SO adorably excited because he kissed her. Like, he was practically bouncing. And he said that she was going to his softball game last night. And she did. But when I asked him about her today, he was all, "Eh. It was okay. Yeah, she was there." And he was out until 4:30am, so obviously he was pretty much out of it this morning. <.g> But yeah. No idea what's going on with them, which is interfereing with my plans to, um, do nothing.

I'm pretty sure it's all on my part, the feelings, but the kids all try and put us together all the time. Telling me to kiss him, telling him to buy me things, asking when we're going out, when we're getting married, the whole "Dominic and Rina in a tree" bit, etc. And he eggs them on! "Yes, we're dating. We're getting married soon. SWAK - this is what I always write when I send Miss Rina a note," etc. <.g> It drives me batty, because it's funny, but damn, I want it to be true. LOL! Oh, well. <.g> And can I just say, I kinda like hearing him say "our kids." <.g> (I'm nuts. Certifiable.)

Oh, and today, we were out for recess. I had just gotten a soccer ball kicked at my head (OUCH, BTW), he laughed and asked if I was okay (NO, I just got hit in the head with a freaking soccer ball, you idiot!), and I moved to the other side of him so he could be the next to get hit. So we're on the picnic table, just kinda randomly chatting and watching the kids. The Pre-K teacher walks up and asks if I went to Northern. I explain that no, I go downstate. So she asks if we worked together last summer. Again, no, this is our first summer together. She said she was surprised, because we seem so close, and we're the perfect team....we're good together. I'm going, well, duh. <.g>

Oh, but he talks about me to his friends! LOL We were playing catch with some kids yesterday, and he asked about the party scene down at school, and I said I really just didn't know. He was blown away. I was blown away he was blown away. <.g> "Oh, come on. You've known me for over a month. Do I seem like the party scene type?" This just really confounded him. But honestly, I'm not. I enjoy parties and bars when I go out, but no one invites me out so I rarely go. I can live without it. But he was aghast and said that I should e-mail him from school, give him a date, and he'd bring the party to us. <.g> And later on, he was STILL on about that. "Not the partying type? There's a type? What makes you not the type to go out?" "Um, the fact that I don't?" "And I am the party type? What makes that?" "Well, the fact that you do?" Apparently not a good enough answer, as he had the same conversation about me with his friends last night. So. Kate, if we ever want a party, he and his friends are eager to present one. <.g>

What else happened today? One of the ladies from the main office has been in the last few days, making changes to our room. Dominic and I are both pissed about that...she keeps questioning everything we do and redoing everything. She is a nice lady, though, and I like her a lot, but it's OUR CLASSROOM, damn it. And what we do works nicely. We had $50 of petty cash left for the summer, and we planned to buy chapter books for the kids...they love to read. She took our money and bought bean bag chairs and clown noses. I'm VERY upset...we had a nice reading area already, and the kids don't NEED freaking clown noses, they need BOOKS! ARGH!!!!!! So now I have to buy the books myself, as does Dominic, and then I'll just give mine to Josh. Because they need more. <.sigh> I guess I'll go through my bookshelves and weed out my really old ones to rbing in.

Oh, but the lady from the office. So we're in the circus room, discussing placement of things (which is reminding me of the other huge problem we have with her....the jumpolene. I can feel my blood pressure rising even thinking the damn word! LOL), and we're laughing, when she just goes, "You know, you're very pretty. Did anyone every tell you that? You have a lovely smile." I was a bit thrown. LOL All I could say was something like, "Oh, um, uh, no, uh, I - huh?" <.g> Probably should have said a thank you, or something, but no, actually no one ever has said that. LOL I think she was just trying to be nice to get me less upset about the jumpolene, but it was a surprise. A nice one. <.g>

Well, the title said "too much on Dominic" and I think I've delivered. LOL Oh, one last tidbit from Dominic I learned today, before I do some more waiting for Jennie...apparently some Corona or wine and an Otis Redding CD (which is very good, BTW) is a great way to get people into bed. It works for him, and he's sure it will work for the ladies, as well. So, there you go. Use it as you will. <.g>

Posted by Rina at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Nine hours. Nine straight hours of forty loud children. I am ready to curl up into a little ball and never come out of bed. Don't get me wrong...sweet kids. Cute kids. Have stories to tell (like the boy with the father who recently had a sex change operation). Love Dominic. Need sleep more though. My God, this was a hellish day. It could have been worse, but let's face it: Mary didn't buy us any games so the kids had almost nothing to play with. I have horrendous allergies and can't breathe, talk clearly, or move without my damn sinuses weighing my head down. Got no lunch hour or even a break, so I had to graze on my lunch throughout the day...some cantelope here, a granola bar there, half a sandwich on the train home. Had to fight for hours before we got playground time...they honestly wanted us to keep the kids in all daylong or walk them to a park. HA! 40 kids, two adults, and a 6 block walk? They must want lawsuits. We'd totally lose them. It's a wild bunch. I could cry, thinking about taking them on a field trip and then to the pool tomorrow. Please, God, let it rain. Please?

Meanwhile, I'm getting almost no e-mail on l-p from YG, and I'm pissed off. Dude, I posted a story and never got it in my mailbox. And these other lists get mail, but it doesn't get delivered to me! I hate that. I signed up for pretty boys stories, and I want them, damn it.

But, sadly, here I am at 7pm going to get my pajamas on and curl up with Josh. Tomorrow is another day. I'll get things done then.

Posted by Rina at 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, I survived. I am exhausted. And I only helped out in the classroom! I can see why the kids are called the demon class, but I also think part of that is the teachers. (One I liked a lot, one I hate...she was such a bitch to the kids. Obviously hated them and her profession. Treated them like crap, and although I'm not sure the kid heard, told one to go play in Ogden Ave. AKA the really busy street.) But, yes. Oh, God, are these kids a handful. And LOUD. My first order of business will be to teach them to be quieter and how to raise their hands to be called on to talk. (Dude, they're finishing kindergaten. They should know how to do that.)

I do love them, though. Alone, they're angels. Put them in some groups and they're terrors. One was so cute....he won't be in summer camp, as he's going to Park District, but he was like, "Miss Rina, I like you a lot. But I won't be in summer camp! Can't you go work in the park district?...Thanks for coming in today, Miss Rina. I'm really having fun with you." Then, he sealed his poisition in my heart by saying, "I like you a lot because you're nice and you're so beautiful. And I love your watch." LOL! He couldn't be, like, 15-20 years older? LOL I did have some great moments with a lot of them, but there were a great deal of times where I was just, "Oh, my GOD, what have I gotten myself into?" I had control of them a few times just me, and I was frazzled. Maybe I'll get used to it.

Oh, but yes, my watch went over very well. LOL The kids loved that it sings and dances, and a lot of them knew the words and sang along. And yeah, I did kinda teach them the "ain't no lie, baby bye bye bye" move. LOL I mean, they were watching the screen, it wasn't that big of a stretch. <.g> Oh, and two little girls kept begging to see JC on it, because Justin is featured so much in the video, and then Chris and Joey kept popping up on the clock. LOL They were cute.

So, that was kinda my day. I don't seem to have a set break time (which is lunch), so I didn't end up eating until 2. That was kind of annoying. But tomorrow, I only have to go in at 1 for a meeting to discuss curriculum and stuff, and then Thursday and Friday I'll work with Dominic to get the rooms ready.

Oh, Dominic! He's my partner...it's kind of weird to have a guy with such young kids, but he's really great. I think we'll have a lot of fun this summer...he's a total sweetheart, obviously loves the kids, loves playing with the toys (we were both having a little too much fun with the magnetic geo-connector things. LOL), and he's reading Harry Potter. <.g> He's about 25 (maybe), a little taller than me (5'5, maybe), and yeah, pretty cute. <.g> Double reason to enjoy working with him. But oh my God, those kids all to myself? There were times today when I could have burst into tears at the thought. But I'm the only one who seems to have a problem with me in this job...well, and my mom, who thinks it's too much responsibility for too little pay. And as a parent, thinks the ratio is horrifying. But everyone else I've talked to thinks this is the perfect job for me, and that I'll kick ass. I'm gonna try and trust them, but man, terrified. <.g>

Posted by Rina at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)