Under Construction...

Will be back soon...Life's been crazy! Promise to blog within this week!

here we go

What a busy month it's been! Finally, I can rest and blog in comfort as we have begun our spring break! A whole week off? What will I do with myself!
Since the last posts, the ones about the insatiable itch, I've take my interest in trying new things to a new level. My bff Hilda and I signed up to take oil painting classes via the adult school. I'm so nervous, I could pee myself. What if I'm terrible at painting?? What if I freeze up and nothing comes to me!? As you have noticed, the neurotic in me tends to take over and causes me to fidget incessantly. Relax....relax...What I'm even more excited about is that I will get to buy supplies! The first steps...exciting indeed.

It seems as though everywhere I turn, there is inspiration. Friends, and even my own students, have delved into the world of the arts and it has me curious enough to fall into the rabbit hole after them (channeling Alice in Wonderland). I mentioned my friend Narineh's blog a few posts ago. She started taking up sewing, which she does a lovely job. She also does some photography. My student Colby, a budding young photographer, got me into making my own Flickr account. My uncle is going to help me learn how to use photoshop, and shop for a decent beginners camera.

The first step was becoming interested. The second step is to now be inspired by those around me and to initiate my own entry into the unventured territories.

vanilla super sundae

I've been told time and time again that it takes a minimum of 5-7 years to be a fully competent teacher in your area. I'm rounding out my second year, and I'm trying to digest everything that is thrown in my direction. My mind is on constant overdrive, trying to figure out not just what I'm teaching, but why/how I'm teaching the subject. I mean, is it engaging enough? Are they even learning? Have I checked that they're learning enough? Question after question.
I have a habit of trying (key word-trying) to categorize everything I'm learning through experience so that I can internalize it rather than what it feels like I'm doing now, which is just trying to get from one day to the next. Going through the motions, so to speak.
I'm told the curriculum I teach looks fine and that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing...but it's so vanilla compared to the super sundae it could be. How do I make my super sundae!?

UGH!

Why do I feel like I make no sense today...

yes, there's been a change

The last template started to bug my eyes...

i've got an itch! (and not the kind that you need to see a doctor for)

The season of decay is almost over and the trail of gorgeous white blossoms alongside highway 99 now greet me on my drive back home from work! What does this mean??? Summer is not too far away! "Whoa there cowgirl, hold your horses. It's not even Spring yet." Ugh, I know...but the point is that it IS almost Spring, which means my days will be elongated, and my thirst to be out and about discovering new and wonderful things will soon be quenched. Summer and Spring mean days off, which ALSO means (insert drum roll here), free time to do cool stuff and travel to even cooler places! Each season has it's beauty, but Winter has run its course for me and I'm soooo ready for change.

Ok...so you're probably wondering what this itch is all about. A few entries ago, I mentioned how I wanted to start painting. For as long as I can remember, there are a few of us in our family who have a natural talent for the arts. My uncle, for example, is an excellent photographer. He sold his studio after the world turned digital, and went expatriate of sorts from the land of photography. He told me that though he doesn't mind digital photography, the art behind the process of photography is lost in modern translation. Those hours and summers spent with him in the dark-room of his studio, watching him carefully dip negatives into chemicals, and producing beautiful portraits instilled in me an appreciation for such a delicate and raw artform.

So anyway, the point of my rambling is that I'm ready to not only take up painting, but now I want to try my hand in photography- both digital and old-school. Then, I want to take it to the next level and see how well I do in graphic art. My uncle installed Photoshop programs on my desktop (I didn't say he wouldn't work with digital for fun, just not commercially), and I've been deliciously bookmarking photoshop tutorials online. So nervous, yet so excited about this!
My good friend Narineh, who's blog I've been loooving lately, also inspires me to tap back into my creative side, and start producing.

That's it for now! See? I've been blogging again. :)

i'm the worst blogger ever...

Ok! I realize it has been...oh...about a million years since my last entry. I'm like the boyfriend who has excuse after excuse; and yet, you still believe me, right?! I tried...I did.

I suppose the first thing I should do is update you on the shenanigans of this newbie teacher. In my last blog, I made a brief list of things I wanted to start doing, despite my heinous schedule. I did actually start cooking a bit more than I usually do! Two nights ago I made Eggplant Parmesan. After mastering this feat, I eagerly search for the next pallet-pleasing recipe. In my current endeavors of becoming "TOP CHEF," I perused many a cook book in Borders and settled upon purchasing one of Indian cuisine and another of Italian. How great my samosas will turn out, only time will tell!

Next item in question: Health and Fitness. It took some time.....quite a bit of time, actually.... but my good friend Hilda and I have morphed into gym rats. We decided to try an alternate approach to the banal and utterly tedious task of running on the treadmill to reach our ultimate goal of physical fitness. What used to be a teeth-pulling experience, has, much to my astonishment, become really fun! Today, for example, we chose to participate in the Steps class. After an hour of sweat-galore, we felt truly accomplished. Wednesday afternoons, it's all about Zumbaaaaaa (emphasis on "aaaaaa")! So much fun! Plus, we love our gym because of how friendly the staff and other members are, AND because it's not a chain-gym. No Bally's meatheads here.

I haven't taken up painting yet, nor have I been reading more often. Do student papers count? Working on these two.

Here's another item to add to the list (besides your suggestion of going hiking, Joanne!...which of course, I will be doing hopefully as soon as this Spring): Blogging more than once every twenty years. I am going to attempt to become the better blogger. I will try and post as often as two to three times a week. I will do this even if all I'm posting consists of something cool I noticed that day!

Here's to a new start...

note to self...

The new year fast approaches and it's already got me gnawing at my cuticles, destroying the work of my last manicure. Ah well. Similar to (I'm assuming) many others around the world and across this town, feelings of equanimity flee, while feelings of guilt and remorse for not maintaining LAST years resolutions seep in in it's place. We take so much time to do things for others yet hardly take the time to do the little things, however important or unimportant they may be, for ourselves. I scratch my head and ponder on what I could be doing to improve myself, or better yet, to enjoy my life a little more!

Here are a few ideas I've thought about, in no particular order of importance:

• Cook more. Believe it or not, I can cook. Do I cook often? Not often enough. I love trying to new foods and occasionally making them. When I do actually cook, I feel like I'm in a "Top Chef"-like zone and I'm on a quest to make the ultimate yummy dish! Here's one I made yesterday. It's pasta shells stuffed with chicken, zucchini, broccoli, and celery (sauteed in garlic), topped with parmesan and brushetta. I'd never eaten or cooked it before, so it was a blind adventure. My taste-tester (my fiance) loved it! He said it was scrumptious. It encouraged me to try other dishes. My attempts will not be limited to entrees. I will definitely be venturing into pastry and patisserie territories.

• Read more. Read newspapers, magazines, blogs, books, short stories, poems, etc. I don't read enough anymore. So much goes on and I can't be so inactive and uninformed. I want to read non-fiction especially because I feel like that's a genre I've never given enough attention to.
• Eat/Live healthier. There was a time when I was physically fit and active. I was toned and trim. "Was" being the key word here. So cliche to add a workout regime to my list of things I want to change in the upcoming year. Yet, a goal I still want to achieve.
• Take up painting. I've sketched as far back as I can remember and still have not mustered up the courage to try painting. It's intimidating, but something I really want to try this year.

These are all I can think of at this point. I'm sure I'll come up with more, in which case I will begin a different entry and fill you in!

Any other suggestions for things I MUST try/do in the new year?