Ow.

So, I have a garage. YAY! Unfortunalty, it is manual, so as I was closing it today, I accidentally grabbed a seam and smashed three of my fingers. Silly me, I kept pulling the darn thing down even after I was in pain, because I didn't realize what was going on. Sigh.

I just mowed my lawn for the first time EVER. I did it mostly for the neighbors. It wasn't pretty. Melissa had to come down to turn the darn thing on for me, and she stayed with the dogs (hers and sadie) while I did the mowing. Sadie was terrified. It was cute!

So, I've been in the new house with a working phone for about 24 hours. I've already had 3 junk calls, all trying to get me to buy something. Sigh.

School has been going well. I'm in a science classroom tomorrow and Monday. That will be fun. At least it isn't math!

I'm off to DC tomorrow, to watch Wicked with Mr. Sean Meloy. Wheee!

Chatham was wonderful. I have some writing to do for next Friday, and I'm hoping to get a lot of that done tonight. I'm so excited. I have my loans, and I'm ready to go!

:)

So, OMG my life!

Hey all!

So, here's what happened! I was going to be moving in to my duplex next week, and Mom was going to come back down and we were going to set up my house. I was going to start the Success Academy on August 8th, and be ready for school.

And then I got accepted to Chatham!

So, here's what's going on with my life now.

I am still moving next week, on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday. Daddio is coming up to help me move, and then maybe we will hit the beach? I am now going to be going home to Pittsburgh with him to start my residency, which is a fancy way of saying that I am going to be in classes for 10 days for 12 hours a day. Luckily, I will be taking classes from August 1-August 8; I'm leaving on the 8th to come right back to Delaware to start the Success Academy. So, I'm missing a little bit of both things, but I'm really happy to get Chatham started ASAP. I'm going to DC to see Wicked! on August 12, and then I come back for a second week of the Success Academy. Then we have two days of inservice, and school starts.

I went to set up my class room today, and tomorrow I've got a meeting with the Freshman Academy English Department. I'm going to spend whatever time I've got trying to clean and finish packing --which is mostly done due to my awesome momma coming down and helping me pack--and then chilling in the +110 heat index.

Speaking of: Sadie got really angry today that we weren't going outside. It was in the 100s (heat index wise) so I did not want to take her on walks or leave her outside for any extended period of time. I would put her on her leash and let her out; she would cry almost immediately to come back in, but she would run down the stairs to her little spot and act like she was going to do her business. I did this about three times this afternoon. She still peed in my bedroom. TWICE. I was quite upset with her. Here's hoping tomorrow goes better, since it is supposed to be even hotter. Ugh.

That's about it for now. Momma and I had a great time going to Cape May via the ferry on Monday, and we had two very nice beach days while she was here. Check out my picasa link on facebook for more info!

Ciao! - b

I can has house plz? k thnx.

https://picasaweb.google.com/e.l.blumer/MyNewHouse

I stalk people on facebook and found this blog and I love this post.

You should too!

http://themonicabird.com/post/3273155431/date-a-girl-who-reads-date-a-girl-who-spends-her

Long time, no see!

Hi all!

It has been a while since a real update, so here goes!

1. School. It's going alright. This last week off was a Godsend. The week after such a late Easter is not a good time for a Spring Break. The musical is over (obviously). See "Drama!" down below for an update on that. We are preparing for a huge round of state testing now, and there are only 7 weeks of school left, if even that many. Our last day is June 16th; I will be leaving straight away for Turkeyfest '11, and then I unfortunately have to come straight back for training for the Freshman Academy. This brings us to the Freshman Academy! Things are going really well with planning for this. I am extremely excited. Nothing is official-official yet, as I haven't technically interviewed for my job, but I'm all prepared to apply and go through the process. Meanwhile, I'm still taking part in all of the prep work for the academy: we are planning curriculum, having professional development days where we learn how to teach in 90 minute blocks, and generally planning ourselves out for next year. As I'm sure you can imagine, I'm thrilled! This is so much fun!

2. Drama: The musical is over, and in case I didn't mention it, my title was "Assistant to the Director," which made me feel very Dwight. No one else seeems to think this is funny. I had "An Evening of One Acts," to which we got about 90 people. The first night, we had 8? I think? Anyway, it was three nights of audience-induced torture, but the kids did amazing. My drama III kids directed a show each, and I had one student do a monologue. They all really pulled it together and did some amazing work. Now the only not-class-related thing I have to do is Thespian inductions on the 14th; it is going to be torture for me. I'll sit in the school for 7 hours while the kids run everything. Originally, this started at 7:00 AM and went until 9:00 PM. When I said that I could not imagine that they are doing worthwhile things for 14 hours, I got mean stares and lots of attitude. So, I told them I would open the school at 11, and I wanted to be out of there by 9:00. apparently, I get to sit in the auditorium and watch movies on the big screen for the day. We've had three meetings about this so far, and I have not seen a whole lot to make me feel confident. At least after this I am done with extra curriculars. In terms of class, things aren't going so well. My drama 1s have essentially stopped trying, which is making me insane. My drama 2s were writing a play, but they decided they couldn't and I was unwilling to let one person write the whole show. Drama 3 and 4 are done with their jobs, so I don't know what to do with those kids. And please, let's just not talk about stage tech. The sooner we're done with this year, the better.

3. General Life: I've decided to go back to school for an MFA in creative writing from Chatham. It's a low-residency program, which means I get to do it online. It sounds AMAZING. I'm in the process of building up the confidence to e-mail professors that I had 4-5 years ago and ask for recommendation letters, as the committee wants recs about my writing. I have 5 really good rec letters, but they mostly discuss my teaching ability. So, I am trying to decide how to approach these e-mails. I'm tempted to send a picture of myself, and the papers that I wrote for them to help jog some memory. Would that be inappropriate?

I'm also looking for a new apartment, preferably on the second floor with a balcony and free heat for the winter. I was wandering the apartment today and realizing I'm going to have to pack up everything again soon, and that makes me really really sad. I think I'm going to have a packing party: I get lots of food and booze and bribe my friends here to come and help me pack it all up. *cheezy thumbs up grin.* I cannot see that not working.

4. Health: I'm OK health wise, except for my left knee. It has been bothering me A LOT for a while, and I'm going to an orthopedist on Friday. I'll keep you updated! My biggest fear is that I'm going to have to get surgery or something and then I won't be able to walk well for a while and Sadie will hate me cause of short walks and how will I get around all by my lonesome and lions and tigers and bears oh my! ;)

5. Sadie: Sadie is still a sweetie. In a wonderful show of solidarity, Sadie's back left knee keeps popping out of alignment, so we'll be on a walk and she'll start being a hopper, just sort of bouncing along as she lifts her back leg to give her knee a break. According to the vet, this is pretty normal for little dogs, and I should be giving her daily vitamin supplements to help her knee stay strong. I firmly believe that my dog already eats better than I do, so rather than pills I give her special doggie treats for joints. She hates them.

That's my life in a nutshell, people. I was supposed to get my hair cut today, but my lady has strep throat. I might head down to the mall anyway, just for some human contact, but we'll see what happens. Until I make up my mind, I'm going to read "A Raisin in the Sun," which I start teaching on Monday, and then watch some more Leverage or other equally awesome show on Netflix. Oh, for all you instant queuers out there, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is only available until Friday, so watch it again now! :-D

Ciao! -Bethie

6. Anything else?

Another choice, and I like it!

http://www.liveatfriendshipvillage.com/default.asp

I'm looking at some apartments.

Cast your vote!

http://middletownapartments.net/Features.html (38 minutes away from current home, about 42 minutes away from school then...)

http://www.liveatbaytree.com/pages/floor-plan.asp?ID=15 Pretty much right down the street from where I am now...

http://www.forrent.com/apartment-community-profile/1042352.php Looks pretty! 51 minutes, making me about an hour closer to art and home! I really like the 1 bedroom with den set up.

A job is wayyy better than drugs.

I've been on anti-depressants for how long? And for the last four ish months I could barely scrape myself off the couch. I found out about the freshman academy approx 28 hours ago, and I've already attacked my clothes, done a ton of laundry, SWEPT, and danced around my apartment.

Yep! Seriously, I am SO FRICKEN HAPPY!

Looks like I'm staying Dover, kiddies!

I was asked yesterday to be a part of the Freshman Academy! It's my dream job, if I haven't written about it before, and even better, it will be a CONTRACT! Like, I won't have to desperately look for a job every year!

After this one, at least. ;)

The only catch is that I have to re-apply for my job *this* year, and then they can offer me the actual contract. I think I'm not going to have a problem getting rehired, so I am just on cloud nine right now.

Other things that are kicking butt right now:
1. Just did round 3 of caramel; made a HORRIBLE mess, but the caramel is perfect! So, either I need to spill a ton of it, I need to not let it get to 240 degrees, or I need to add too much vanilla and/or salt. We'll see!

2. Just did three pages of writing. At this risk of sounding pretentious, I'm trying to write a memior-esqu type thing. I'm calling it "The Pro from Dover: How I learned to live alone, kind of." Yeah, I'm awesome. And to quote Neil Gaiman:
"Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day, and on the good writing days nothing else matters."
— Neil Gaiman

3. Sadie is learning! She is still peeing in the wrong spots, but she knows that when I say "Mat!" she is supposed to go to the pee pad and sit down. So, baby steps? Kind of?

4. Reading! I'm doing good. I finished a book on Thursday, and I spent last night reading and organizing my Kindle books into collections. I have more nonfiction than romance, and more romance than scifi/fantasy, and more scifi/fantasy than fiction. I think this is an accurate cross section of what free books you can get from Kindle, as that I where I get all my books from!

I'm just so really really happy for once, guys! WOHOO!

Crap.

My electric bill this month? $303.28. My estimated average temperature in my apartment? 63 degrees.

I'm really, really, really cranky.

Walkin in a winter wonderland

Yay! School has been called off for tomorrow!

When I still lived at home, Mom and I used to take walks in the snow before the plow came. There would be just enough to coat the ground and make a crunch when you stepped. It was light outside, like an odd light was coming from everything around you, like the world was glowing. Normally, there was no one else around, and the snow would hit your face, but it wasn't cold. It was just peaceful.

Sadie and I went for a nice walk when I got the phone call, and that's what it felt like all over again. It was so peaceful outside, although I think I one point I could really hear the kids in the neighborhood over cheering because school was canceled. We walked down Kings Highway (not a highway, the side street I live on) and Sadie was just so excited to be outside, I don't think she even noticed the snow. It was just a nice, calming feeling for me. I felt centered and grounded for the first time in a while.

On a mundane note: my locks are fixed, and have been since Friday. No death! :)

Enjoy the snow, ladies and gentlemen! I intend to spend tomorrow reading, doing laundry, and grading papers. :)

Someone stole my Hide-a-key

Which just hits home what has always bothered me: I don't like this apartment. I don't like living on the first floor. I don't like the bugs. I don't like the electricity. I love my landlords (kind of), so I'm looking to see if there is an apartment available next door that I can move in to. There are no other apartments available in my building, so that is not helpful. No matter what, I probably won't be able to transfer my lease, which is a huge bummer.

Update: there is an apartment available behind me. It is 2 bedroom 2 full baths, washer and dryer included, with my own balcony or porch (2nd or 1st floor). Better parking, in theory--at least off the road. Newer apartments. You need a key to get into the building AND to get into your apartment, which makes me feel better anyway. I've never liked that just anyone can walk into the apartment. Probably more efficient everything. Gosh, I wish I could talk to my landlord *rightnow* about this.

I already called the landlord, and the on-call answering service said they would have the landlord call me tomorrow. I'm just worried that I am going to get stuck with paying to change the locks. Which I guess, in the grand scheme of things, isn't too big of a deal. BUT STILL. Frustration.

Yay! Caramel!

Wow, what a productive day. I took Sadie to get her toes did (read: cut her claws, which is what her paws actually looked like), and she *freaked out.* She normally is excited to see the people, and actually wants to go back, but today she was so very upset. Then, of course, I remembered that the last time I took her somewhere and left her with random people, she got fixed. So, her crankiness and general freaking was to be expected. Rather than have them give her a bath too, I just had them do her toes. The bath is a two hour process, and I didn't want to traumatize her again. :-P

So, I came home and made caramel. It's delicious! Unfortunately, I need a hammer and pick axe to break it apart. I think I let it go just a little too long this time. Last time, it was soup. So, I figure next time I make caramel, it will be perfect! I wanted to make caramel last night, but I didn't have the right stuff, so I made fudge instead. So right now I have a lot of delicious sugar in my house right now.

I don't have much else to say. Just thought I'd check in, say hello. :)