Crazy Eights!

I stole this from Jennelle at jennellesadventures.blogspot.com

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To (not in order):

1. Finals being over (next week)
2. Going to China (in July!)
3. Actually graduating from college (next May)
4. The baby's birthday (November)
5. One of my best friends getting married (not sure yet, but she's engaged!)
6. Getting a job (someday maybe) and likewise, quitting the crappy one I have now
7. Getting a new car (my lease is up in Jan. but I might not get a new car right away)
8. Building the baby a swing set and finishing the housework we've started (who knows)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Went to classes: Environmental Journalism, Free Expression and the First Amendment, and Advanced Reporting
2. Took the baby swimming at the Y
3. Went to see my boo's sister's new place
4. Made Kielbasa, cooked carrots, and biscuits for dinner
5. Got a copy of Webster's biannual magazine "The Ampersand" and enjoyed reading it
6. Discovered that my shorts that go just below my knees roll up and have a button to snap them in place (I've had the shorts over a year...)
7. Found out what hotel I needed to book reservations for in China
8. Fell asleep on the couch :s

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Pay off student loans
2. Move
3. Be independently wealthy
4. Write a book
5. Win a Pulitzer Prize
6. Dance
7. Sew
8. Afford to have another baby

8 Shows I Enjoy:

1. America's Next Top Model
2. Scrubs
3. House Hunters
4. Income Property
5. The Conner Chronicles
6. Days of Our Lives (which I haven't watched in months)
7. Tyra (also haven't seen in months)
8. The Office

Potty training...

...sucks!

But to be fair, my baby is doing fairly well. Or, he was.
Recently, he lost all interest in using the bathroom. He would go through 2-3 pull-ups an hour until finally, I just put him in a diaper. If He would fight and cry if I even suggested going to the bathroom. Usually, if I put him in a diaper and tell him he can't wear a pull-up until he uses the potty he will go ahead and use the potty. But not this time.

He didn't care. He was like, 'Great, a diaper. Now I can pee all I want.'

A friend of mine has a baby 1 day younger than him and she had a similar problem. She told me that she read it was normal for a 2 year-old, once they know how to use the potty, just to not want to anymore. For a few weeks, she reverted totally back to diapers. Now, she punishes her daughter for going in her pants. But I can't really do that.

So I decided to spice up potty-time! I gave the babe a chart with his name at the top and each day of the week. I got some smiley face stickers, Spongebob stickers, and dinosaur stickers (which were just laying around the house) and told him each time he used the potty he got to put a sticker on his chart.

The first day he went 3 times, which is okay, but still not too great. The second day he used the potty 8 times. The third I think was 7, and I think yesterday was somewhere around there. After each time, he excitedly picks out his sticker (or I do it for him if he has something better to do). At the end of the day we count all of his stickers and I tell him what a big boy he is.

We also let him get some new "big-boy underwear." He picked solid colors with a dinosaur on the butt. Now, instead of him taking 5 minutes to pick from the 3 pairs he had, he takes twice as long to pick from the 10 pairs he has. Then, he decides he wants a different color. It's cute.

Yesterday, his dad took him out of the house in his underwear for the first time. They just went to the grocery store, but it was a big step for him. And each time someone comes to the house, he shows them his potty chart :)

I think we're back on track, and probably doing better than ever!

Road Rage...

Ugh! I used to always make fun of my sister, because she has some major road rage. But the other day, I caught myself in a rage of fury as some a-hole drove like an idiot. I'll tell you the story.

I was getting ready to merge onto the interstate, and right when I got over (because the lane ends) this guy sped up real fast from the off ramp and got in front of (and by this I mean, almost cut me off) me. It was a little stupid, but I was just like... whatever.

Then, I get over into the fast lane. I'm driving about 10 over the speed limit (bad, bad!) and the same guy speeds up behind me, gets over and passes me on the right... honking like I'm some idiot. He didn't even give me a chance to get out of the way for him to drive 90 mph. So I got over and honked at him for a good 15 seconds. I wanted to call the cops for him driving like such a jerk, but I figure those things always come back to bite you in the butt. It happened Friday, and I'm still mad thinking about it.

I seriously hate driving in the city.

Work Tonight

I didn't have any significant problems at work tonight. I didn't even have any re-cook orders. My customers were nice. Woah. Must be the glorious weather getting to them.

Towards the end of the night I actually had fun. There weren't any customers in the store, and I got to act goofy. I was talking to a co-worker about something and eating clam chowder (my favorite Friday night food from work). She said something I totally didn't expect from her, and for the first time ever I shot something out of my nose. Clam Chowder. Ewww! It was disgusting and then my nose bled a little bit afterward. I laughed so hard that I couldn't even tell people why I was laughing. My face was red and I couldn't breathe. The other girl was laughing at me, of course. And the fact that there was clam chowder on her shoes. No more customers came (which would have put them coming in just a few minutes before we close, which happens all the time), and I got out on time!

What will Sunday have in store for me?

post script: I have more stuff, but I'm going to bed for tonight.

Work last week

There was one story about last week Friday at work that made me very angry. We were very busy, and I got two tables orders transposed (46 and 47).

Where I work, the servers don't actually take the order. The cashier takes the order then we write our names on the tickets and where they go. Both tables sat down at the same time. At first, I actually thought they were together. Anyways, I switched the tickets.

Since they got there at exactly the same time, their food both arrived at the same time. I'll take this time to mention that the drinks were similar too. Okay, so since I had 2 orders another girl decided to grab one and bring it out for me. This was a mistake. I'm convinced that if I would have brought it myself I would have figured it out. One table had 2 prime ribs, the other had 2 ribeyes. So the other girl gives the two ribeyes to the prime rib people and I say, "prime rib medium well?" and they say, no, we got prime ribs. Yep. The other table apparently didn't even know what they ordered, which drives me nuts. I figured out what happened really quickly, and I hadn't given out my steaks yet. The other people, however, were already cutting into the wrong steaks. I gave them the correct steaks and of course the first people didn't want steaks someone else had cut in to. I don't blame them. I went back and got 2 new steaks on the grill, but I could tell the tables weren't too happy about the mix up.

Remind you... I have probably 11 tables going at this time, the biggest section in the store. I asked my manager to go talk to the tables and he made some snide comment about how he was going to say his server wasn't very bright.

All that for this...
The table that got the right steaks, and didn't have to wait for new ones, complained so much that they got their money back. And not just the money for the steaks. They got their money back for the buffet too, which they totally ate. My manager doesn't do that very often (actually almost never), but he was convinced they wouldn't have it any other way. I apologized. It was an honest mistake, made during rush hour on a Friday night. To top it off, I didn't feel well, and by the end of the night I had totally lost my voice and my head was throbbing.

I wouldn't have minded the table that had to wait complaining. In fact, I would have deserved it. It made me mad that the ones who got everything they wanted at the right time complained. What jerks. Just a side note: the other table said it was okay. Everyone makes mistakes, and they tipped me.

Easter... Yes, I'm behind

Easter. Dang. It seems so long ago. I will quickly recap Easter.
My babe decided he was scared of the Easter Bunny. We went to Purina Farms and he wouldn't even unbury his head from my shoulder to look at the big furry creature. He cried when we walked near. He even told me he was scared. I went over and sat by the bunny, baby leached on me, thinking he would warm up--nope. When we went home I showed him previous pictures of the two old pals together (baby and bunny) and he kept talking about the Easter Bunny. But when I asked if he wanted to sit on his lap he just simply stated, "no." One thing that is consistent with this boy is that he knows what he wants. Even worse, I thought I traumatized him. For the rest of the day, he wouldn't even look at any bunny, even real ones. :(

The next weekend we decided to go to Aholt's Farm. I had my 10 year old niece with me, who also hates the Easter Bunny. I told her that if she could pretend she liked the bunny, smile in a picture, and get the baby to sit with him that I would give her $2. My mom told her she would take her to the movies (She really wanted a picture of my niece with him too). And apparently, my sister told her she would give her $3. So she thought she had a pretty sweet deal. So, we get to the farm and do some other things first. They had little chicks and duckings to play with, awesome vintage cars, a really cool homemade slide going down from haystack stairs, an egg "hunt" (they were just spread around), a maze that was actually pretty dark (our flashlight was super dim, and I just had to feel my way around most of the really short hay maze), and some animals to pet (piggys, goats, chickens, etc). We also painted a wooden egg. Finally, it was time (this would be an appropriate place for a sound effect). My niece just grabbed my baby and drug him up there. Ha! It was easy for her! Don't get me wrong, he still cried, but at least there wasn't a death grip! I went up and sat by the two little monsters and he stopped crying. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that he was picking his nose.... yeah, really. Well, his finger is pretty close, it looks like if he's not he's definitely getting ready to.

Oh well. Maybe next year.
Easter morning we had a little egg hunt outside for the baby, just the 3 of us (mama, dada, baby:)) and then we went to my moms and had a hunt at her house too. We came home, at a ton of candy, had the boo's sister over for lunch, and then went back to my mom's for dinner. It was an exhausting day, but babe loved it. Mainly because he got candy. I tried really hard not to go overboard, and I think I did a good job. I may have made a few too many real eggs, but only because I don't think lil babe liked them. I only dyed 2 dozen (1 was for my mom, one dozen was for us).

It wasn't long after Easter that we finished the candy, including what my mom gave the baby and us. So, yay. There was my Easter.

Man, time flies

... so that's why I haven't been on here recently.
The weekends have been packed, and the week, even worse. I just keep telling myself that there are only 4 weeks left until I get a summer break. aaah! That sounds nice!

Last weekend I attended my first China meeting. Yes! I am going to China! I wasn't qualified to do the Teacher Training program that everyone else is doing. I did get accepted to do the Student Training program though. I am the only one in our group of 22 that is not already a teacher. I am also the youngest. I feel a little intimidated, but I don't know why. I guess mainly, because our advisor lady can't really tell me anything about the program because she doesn't know. lol. But when I get back I will be able to tell everyone all about it. Personally, I think it will be more fun to teach children than adults. They will all know some English.

There will be at least 3 other American teachers in my school, and I think we will be staying at the same hotels. We can swap classes, combine classes, and trade tips. I've been looking over the teaching material, and trying to think of ways to make it fun. I've also been trying to add a little more to each day, since I will be in the same school for 3 weeks. All of the other teachers will be in one school for 2 weeks, and then move to another school for the third week. That is, if they do the 3 week program. There is also a 2 week program. I'm pretty sure I'm teaching all 3 weeks. Apparently the Chinese aren't in any hurry to tell us where we are going to be or too many details of the trip. Until May. Which I guess is plenty of time to get things in order before July.

I just realized I'm going to miss the 4th of July with my family. I wonder if the baby will like it this year? Or if he'll even be able to stay awake? Last year it started really late, and he didn't make it. O well. There's always next year. I am also going to miss my 23rd birthday. That isn't so bad, but I will miss my sister since we always do something fun together on our birthday. Maybe we can plan something for when I get back.

I still have a TON of planning to do for China. But I think I will be able to get more accomplished when I finish this semester at school. This week my goal is to apply for my Visa. I already have the application filled out.

At the meeting we were supposed to do an hour of orientation, and then go through the lesson plans our advisor provided for us. We didn't get to go through the plans really, because there were so many questions. I might see if she can go through them with me sometime before we go. Also, we are supposed to bring small gifts for our class (of 30!) and larger gifts for our classroom helper and the instructor of the program. Remember, I'm the only one that's still in college, so I'm really, really broke. I need something cost efficient. Any ideas? I have a few, and I'll post them on here, but not right now.

I need to do a lot more posting, but for now, I'm off to class.

Good News...

On Friday I got a letter from the The Journalism Foundation of Metropolitan St. Louis. I was awarded a $1000 scholarship from the Society of Professional Journalists.

I filled out the application over the summer, actually I filled out several scholarship applications. I remember this particular application being especially cumbersome. I looked up the requirements and now I remember why. Here's what I had to include:

1. A transcript from the college I was attending
2. A letter of recommendation
3. A statement of 300 to 500 words explaining why you are applying for this scholarship including a plan for completing your education, the number of hours each semester you plan to
take, proposed date of graduation, the school you have chosen and why, your long-term career goals, and how you learned about this scholarship.
4. A financial statement, including an estimated budget for completion of your study, whether you are now employed and if the job is full-time or part-time, whether you plan to work during the school year and what income you expect from that job, the tuition cost at the school where you will enroll in the fall, the percentage of your education cost being contributed by your parents or spouse, any unusual family expenses or circumstances (other children in college, medical expenses, unemployment, etc.) and exactly how the scholarship money would be used (tuition, living costs, supplies, etc.)
5. List of school activities, position held on school newspaper or broadcast station, any awards and honors.
6. A recent photo of yourself, head and shoulders, to be distributed with a news release if you are selected for a scholarship. Also, a list of newspapers/publications to which you would like such a release sent.

Once I sent the scholarship I kind-of forgot about it, until now.

The Chairman of the organization is a really good friend and coworker of a teacher I had last semester. I can't help but wonder if she had something to do with my winning? I don't know, and I can't really say I would expect something like that from her. After all, she encouraged our whole class to apply in the fall once class started.

I know it said I had to say how I would spend the money, but I honestly don't remember. I think I said living expenses, since I have a child and have to commute to school.

I am so excited, and I must admit, proud of myself. I know the money won't put a dent in my student loans, but anything is better than nothing and I really appreciate it. I think I will send the chairman a thank you email or letter. Is that appropriate?

I was just thinking that I am becoming a better writer, and something like this just gives me a boost.