Thursday, June 29, 2006

Please welcome the blog of Bernard and Karl, the EX-Parrots!

Saturday, June 24, 2006

CJ's grad party was great. LOTS of kids running all over. And we threw CJ in the pool. Yay for CJ! More pics eventually. (Oh yeah, the Orchard School grad was good too and I have pics as well.)


Awww... m,e love "little" cousin CJ

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Early to bed... early to rise???

I am so tired... went to Kait's last night and slept over. That meant I slept at 1... and then got up at 6:15 and went bike riding on those ridiculous hills. Kait and I are going to try to do it 3 times a week to train for biking somewhere in Maine... whatever it's called. So we are dieting and exercising. Go us!!! (Not to mention cheating and part of it is Kait's fault *cough*)
It's 9pm. I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

But before that, let me leave you with this interesting conversation I overheard while playing "lifeguard" at the pool at The Orchard School:

"Shahan, who do you love?" -- Willow
"I love you." -- Shahan
"You do???" *giggle giggle* -- Willow
"Richard, who do you love?" -- Willow
"I love you." -- Richard
"Shahan, Richard loves me too." -- Willow
"Shahan, if you both love me, you have to fight over me." -- Willow
....
"Shahan, who do you want to marry?" -- Willow
"Huh?" -- Shahan
"Who do you want to marry? Marry means the same thing as love." -- Willow
*Me cracking up silently*

Please note that Willow is 7 and Shahan and Richard are 5 or 6.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

The Bible's version of child rearing:

Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Pro 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Pro 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son; But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

Pro 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child; For if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.

Pro 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.

Pro 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom; But a child left to himself causeth shame to his mother.

Pro 12:1 Whoso loveth correction loveth knowledge; But he that hateth reproof is brutish.

Pro 15:5 A fool despiseth his father's correction; But he that regardeth reproof getteth prudence.

Pro 15:32 He that refuseth correction despiseth his own soul; But he that hearkeneth to reproof getteth understanding.

The world's version of child rearing:

"Your hands are not for hitting. Say you're sorry." (Missing: The reason why hands are not for hitting and what sorry actually means.)

"That's not nice to take his toy. You need to ask for your turn..." (WHY is it not nice?)

The art of diversion: "No that's not nice to do that. Here, take this instead." (And that accomplishes what?)

Persuasion: "You can't have his lollipop. Go to mommy and say "Mommy, I need a lollipop." (NO COMMENT)

"Don't jump off the pool!"
"Leave me alone!"
"That's not very nice."
*Jumps off pool*

=================================

Pro 3:12 For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth; Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
=================================

At the Orchard School, even the owner's kids are obnoxious. The parents' packet advertises "Positive Discipline" and how well it works. Take a look at the owner's three kids -- it's not working.

James' dad: Put on your shorts. It's time to go.
*James' dad goes outside for a second*
*James drops the shorts and goes over to the toys*
*James' dad comes back in*
James: "You didn't see me playing with that toy."
James' dad: Just put on your shorts.

OR

Kelsey's dad: Don't take the bucket from Bedros!
*Kelsey keeps pulling at the bucket*
Kelsey's dad: Play with that other bucket. It's even bigger!
*Kelsey starts crying and throws the bigger bucket and keeps crying*
*Dad ignores and walks away*

All the same, they don't fight as much as those innercity Philly kids.

I'm definitely beginning to like 1st and 2nd grade a lot more than I thought I would. I thought kinder-2nd grade kids were kinda dumb and teaching would be boring. Some of them are really cute! I get along with older kids, but I don't think they'd respect me as a teacher yet. (Then again, PJ doesn't respect anyone and thinks he's the boss of all the kids just because he's TEN.) I've changed diapers and worked on potty training the kids. 'Tis interesting.

Oh yeah, one of the twins was going out the gate around the pool and I told her to go back inside. She's very quiet, but she gave me a look out of her eye that was in total rebellion. I thought about throwing her in the pool to teach her a lesson, but I'm more mature than that. (I'm kidding -- I didn't think that. I actually thought that her eyes were fascinating in spite of the rebellion behind them.) HAHA! I actually realized yesterday that the twins weren't as quiet as they looked. They were putting up a fuss for their mother yesterday. A lot of the kids get even worse when their parents show up.

The South Beach Diet... well, I've taken on a cheat every other day diet. I kept it faithfully yesterday and today... until dinnertime. HAHA!!! Oh well.

Back to day care: On Thursday, the older kids have half day since it's the last day of school. The afternoons will be very busy then. Now, I go in and don't do much until around 3 when the kids start waking up. Instead I talk to Shashi and learn more about Indian culture. =)

Essex County College news: I registered for my summer class and payed online, but it didn't seem to clear from my account. The deadline is July 5, so I called the bursar's office. They said it was in the records, so I checked my account again and saw it there. The thing was, though, that it also had refunded and therefore I actually didn't get anything taken out. So I called again and talked to this other guy who told me that something when wrong that day and everybody was charged twice, so they refunded me once. Tonight I went back to balance it with my written log and it didn't total right -- I had only been charged once AND refunded once which means I didn't pay after all. So I have to call tomorrow. How dumb is that! Stupid online payment.

CJ came last night. He was here for dinner and then we went to WalMart. He hit the sack at 9:30 and was off again at around 6:30. He went to bed early again tonight.

The water heater broke and flooded the basement. We didn't have gas and water for a while. John came over and installed the new water heater. I went down and bothered him for a while. (Actually I went down and bothered him the night before when he was in his workshed.) He misses me. HAHA!!!

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Happy Father's Day

The Blairstown cousins stopped in just in time for desert.






Saturday, June 17, 2006

Trip down memory lane

I worked at The Orchard School yesterday. Some of the kids are cute and some are annoying, but not anywhere close to the innercity kids I worked with during my ministry last semester. Funny, I remember being that age... and it doesn't seem so long ago. I was one of those know-it-all wanna-be-grownup kids who tattled on everyone.

Here are a few then and now (or more recent) pics!

1987 and 2005


1991 and 2005 -- Calvin exchanges places with me


1991 or 1992 and then 2002 or 2003



Not that we've matured any in 13 years...

Friday, June 16, 2006

All I have to say is...

"My name is Shahan. I'm lactose intollerant."
"Can you drink milk?"
"Yes. Lactose intollerant milk."

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Hmm...

I have a job. Yeah... It's at Orchard School. I quit the whole temp idea cuz it wasn't going anywhere. So anyway! I'm working with little kiddies, playing games with them, and changing diapers! HAHA! Looks like a really neat place. I'll be working 1-6 M-F for $7. I'll be working longer on certain days to fill in for people. The music teacher knows some Philosophy teacher who used to teach at PBU. She was very thrilled that I played flute and piano and she hopes I can motivate the kids to practice... um... yeah. HAHA!!! I liked the place, plus, it will give me experience.

Oh yeah, I need a physical and a mantoux test... but I just had that done!!! I don't know if I made a copy of the physical for school, so they can't count it. Heh. And I have to get fingerprinting.

I need to exercise my creativity for an hour and a half to come up with things to do with the kids while the little ones are sleeping. Time for patintero outside. Wheee!!! The son of the owner (he's 10) saw that I was homeschooled and he said "Oh you're so lucky!" The owner was very impressed with my background -- being from the Philippines and stuff. So? One of the kids is Filipino.

So I work tomorrow 1-6. I think this job will give me experience, especially what it's like to deal with non-Christian kid things. Here's a quote from the handout for parents: "Children are given three chances to comply with verbal requests or redirection (Watch the '1-2-3 Magic' Video for more details). We utilize positive reinforcement and time out as necessary for older children (one minute for each year alive). Time out is a time to calm down and discuss what went wrong and ways to change hte behavior or repair behavior (ex. Saying sorry to our friend). We NEVER tell a child they are bad. We are specifically addressing a behavior that is not acceptable. We find this approach to be very helpful and request that you try this at home. As children get older you will find that you do not have to count at all because they will comply on the first request."

RIIIIIIIIIGHT. This should be interesting.

Here's some more on "Positive Discipline"

"Positive discipline is a process of teaching children how to behave appropriately. Positive discipline respects the rights of the individual, the group, and the adult."

"You can use positive discipline by intervening when necessary:

Re-direct to a new activity to change the focus of a child's behavior.
Divert the child and remove from the area of conflict.
Criticize the behavior, not the child. Don't say "bad boy" or "bad girl." Instead you might say "That is not allowed here."

Revolting. HAHA. This could be interesting. Actually, it's kinda sad. Whenever parents show up, the kids run away cuz they don't want to go. They advertise the place as "home away from home." They provide 24/7 care to meet the needs of "our hurried world of working parents." "We believe that the Orchard School can be your child's home away form home. Your child's second home. A place where they are comfortable, belong, feel loved, and are happy."

Oh yeah, this pamphlet thing I'm reading has a lot of grammatical errors. I just thought I'd mention that. The owner's husband (he's Indian) asked where I went to school and I told him and he said "Biblical... is that religious?" He didn't say anything, but he seemed a bit not too happy about it.

They can use me until I go back to school and then in December during Christmas break. Sooo if I stay one more semester at PBU or even a year, I can work when I come back, and if I stay at WPU, they'll be glad for long-term help. (Provided I can handle the job.)

Ok, over and out.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Yippee

Dear Rebecca,

Congratulations! It is my pleasure [Chick-fil-A?!?!] to inform you that, based upon your academic performance [sounds like a play] for the 2006 Spring semester, you have been named to the 2006 Fal Dean's List. PBU rejoices with you for your academic success. We trust this honor will be an encouragement as God continues to work in your life through your studies.

For details concerning the criteria and privileges associated with the Dean's List, please view the Student Handbook, available online at www.pbu.edu/life/handbook/index.htm.

Again, congratulations, and may God continue to bless your pursuit of academic excellence.

Sincerely,
Dr. Martha MacCullough
Dean, School of Education

YAY!!! So the privileges are *ahem*

Students wishing to take 19-21
credits may do so with permission from their faculty advisor, provided their GPA is 3.0
or above. Students may not take 22 or more credits unless their GPA is 3.5 or above.


Honor Roll
Matriculated students who are carrying a minimum of 12 hours, whose grade point
average for the semester is 3.5 or above and who are approved by SDD and the Student
Ministries Department, will be placed on the Honor Roll the succeeding semester.

Dean’s List Status
Matriculated students who are carrying a minimum of 12 hours, whose semester and
cumulative grade point average are both 3.5 or above, and who are approved by SDD and
Student Ministries Department, will be placed on the Dean’s List the succeeding
semester and receive Dean’s List recognition. Dean’s List students have no regulations
regarding work hours.

YAY! That means... I CAN WORK MORE! How nice. How bout "So we're increasing your scholarship!!!" Hah, oh well.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

"Who gave the Sto. Nino to the people of Cebu?"
"According to our lolo, si Magellan kuno!"
"Who killed Magellan?"
"Si Yoyoy Villame!"
"Oh no."
"Ay, si Lapu Lapu, pala. Ay, si Lapu Lapu."
.............
"What is Iran?"
"Iran ay tatakbo!"
"No! What is Iraq?"
"Iraq, malaking bato."
===========================================

The guy has the best accent ever. Funniness!!! Butse Kik is so pointless it's funny. Yeah yeah...

Sooo I went bike riding yesterday. I biked to ShopRite and then back up whatever that street is that JCHS is on... it starts with W.

I have to get oil to change my car oil.

EDIT// I smell powder. My hair is all wet. I feel like I just showered and I'm at camp. Weird!!! Whatever. Anyway! Funny quote time:

At lunchtime, the Evernhams were over and they were talking about some guy that came up with Mr. Evernham from Florida. Anyway, Gmother and Gfather know his parents or something...

"We had him for dinner once." -- Gmother
"Oh... I don't know. I don't think he would be very tasty." -- Gfather

If I were drinking, I would have choked on it. At least I thought it was hilarious and would have gone into a fit of gigglations had not there been guests. Besides, I have learned to exercise self control and only chortle to myself.

Check the tattle blog

Two pics -- a daisy (Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true. I'm half crazy all for the love of you....) and a cactus flower.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Philippine Independence Day Picnic

They were celebrating the centenniel of the first Filipino immigrants to America.



There, since I didn't feel like typing. Graphics are bad... cuz it's so reduced. Oh well.

Friday, June 09, 2006

What's in a name...

HAH!!! I was looking up names and their definitions today. Remember my post about that guy at the gas station who asked if I was Indian and called me what sounded like "Rivka" and it took me a while to realize it was a mispronunciation of "Rebecca"? Well, the Hebrew version of Rebecca is "Rivka." You may now call me Rivy... NOT!!!

Today I went to Ace with Grandfather... oh yes, and Happy Birthday to him too. Then Andy and I went on a long joy ride to get something and also pick up his car. At one point he thought he had left his keys at home and as we were driving back, he remembered he left them with the guy when he dropped the car off! SOOO after a big circlular route, we eventually made it.

And I went biking today. I think I saw my guinea pig's namesake... when he said he was a hippie in training a year a half ago, I guess he's graduated to hippie. I think it was Anthony -- he was wearing huge glasses. I didn't say anything though, in case it wasn't him, but it certainly looked like him. I almost fell off my bike too -- just kidding. He did look very hippie-ish... and he was carrying a guitar. (Connection?) That's the second time I think I've seen Anthony.

So back to the bike ride -- I biked the loop of the park and then started to go back. After reaching the avenue, I decided to turn down one street and eventually found Park and kept going and going and going and I certainly had no idea where I was, but I figured it would be hard to get lost. Anyway, I finally found myself at the George Washington school on Central and wove back around and took random streets until I finally got home. Twas fun. And then I went to Jack's to get sour cream for Grandmother and there wasn't a bike rack, so I biked back home and walked instead. Oh yes -- when I was checking out at the counter, I asked the guy if they had bike racks and he said, "You mean like... for sale?" OF COURSE FOR SALE!!! THIS IS A HARDWARE STORE!!! No, really, I didn't say that, but if we were playing "The Brain" game and I were the brain, that's what I'd say. He said they didn't and I'd just have to loop it (the bike?!) around a tree.

That is my interesting morning and afternoon.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Rainy summer... huh?!

Today I finished (finished?!) "organizing" everything. (In other words, putting everything in random boxes, wondering why on earth I brought stuff over from the Philippines anyway, and thinking about just moving back home to save the trouble...) It is definitely a little neater. =) Andy's room is very dusty -- especially his desk. He would fail white glove. Tsk tsk. I should have put that on the tattle blog... the tattle blog is so dead now. I was going to post what he said last night about needing a wife, but I never got around to doing it. But yeah -- we were talking about how men need their wives to keep track of them and Andy said something like "I need one of those." HAHAHA!!! In the words of David, "The bud is blossoming!" -- or to make it more Keena-ish, "The bud is blommosing." ANYWAY!!! What was I talking about?! (A lot of nothing, probably)

It's rainy and cold out. It reminds me of Baguio -- in rainy season. It's 60ish out.

So getting a job is definitely looking more inviting. I spent $484.50 today. Before you freak out -- it was ALL SCHOOL RELATED! It's a SIGN!!! TIME TO QUIT SCHOOL!!! I payed for my summer sociology class ($339.50) and then for the Praxis exam (which I can't take at Caldwell College cuz they don't offer the tests there, so I'm going to take it at the "QUEEN OF PEACE HIGH SCHOOL" in North Arlington, supposedly 24 minutes away... I think... depending on the getting lost factor) which was $145. And because of that, there is no way I am going to the Philippines Independence Day Festival in Camden with Audrey and Kim!!! Gas is ridiculous. Andy filled my nearly completely empty gas tank for $36.89 and complained about how bad my milleage was -- I TOLD HIM SO!!! Now he knows why I'm so tipid on my gas and keep such careful track of the miles to my destinations! See if he borrows my car again. HAHA. So yeah, much as I want to see them dance "Pandango sa Ilaw" (cuz I haven't seen it ever -- only pictures and I really really really want to see it... no, actually I really really really want to learn it, except I might start a fire) but I am not driving 80 miles one way to school cuz 80 + 80 = 160 which also equals almost half a tank which also equals something like $27. NO THANKS!!! Sorry, Philippines, I am patriotic, but too kuripot to go. HAHA!!!

I called the Baker temp agency today -- I have to go in personally to apply. (I'm doing that tomorrow) I freaked out on the phone and didn't sound confident at all. I kept saying "um" too -- even though I was very conscious of it after a man who prayed in prayer meeting and had 21 "um's" and "uh's" not counting the first minute of his prayer. True, I should not have been counting, but I couldn't help it.

I stood over the vent on the floor at church... it was great. It made my skirt poof out. HAHA. I amuse myself. I was having way too much fun and Kaitlyn was embarrassed by me.

Oh yesh... I'm back on the road!!! Last night I drove to prayer meeting (with Andy and the Evernhams, minus Mr. Evernham) and I was a little insecure cuz everyone was going so fast. HAHA!!! Just when I got used to the Philippines, I come back. And then today I drove Andy to Georgie's pie's (actually, it's George's -- I added the "pie" and the "i" in "George") which is a VW repair shop to get his Jetta repaired.

This is boring. Ok bye

Heeden i-Sfreng --> In English, "Hidden Spring"

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

In the i-States

Written while in the airport:

Having just eaten Cracker Jacks (with a "prize" as well – woot woot) from my finals week survivor kit (from a family I don’t know), I now sit in the Detroit airport at The Coffee Beanery, drinking a carmelatte (that I thought would be cold) and eating a Tootsie Roll from the end-of-the-year MuKappa treat bag. I am so healthy. Oh well – South Beach here I come! I just attempted calling random people in my phonebook, but I am being ignored.

NW has wonder bread. I guess they write the day last in Japan cuz the bun I had had the expiration date as 06-06-08. Ha! Wonder bread.

I sat next to a married couple. The man was a very friendly (and a bit mayabang and know-it-all and superior) American and his wife was a nice Visayan lady from Dipolog. They used to live in Michigan but now they live in Florida and she is studying elementary education and none of her three years of studying that in Dipolog transferred over... cuz the Philippines is woefully behind. And they’ve been married 8 years and she has been a citizen in the States for 3 years. All that without hardly any talking on my part! Such a good listening ear and excellent memory. Good thing I don’t stalk people. Hah.

On the flight from Manila to Japan, a stewardess rudely woke me up to ask if I wanted breakfast. I didn’t, but ate it anyway. On the way over, they were nice and let me sleep. The food was gross – especially breakfast. It looked like... well, use your imagination. Worse than cafeteria food. They don’t hand out ice cream sandwiches anymore.

I slept a good bit of the way and woke up when I was supposed to be waking up. I was bored and watched (mute) a stupid movie about a mermaid. Didn’t really watch it but figured out most of the (stupid) plot anyway. Too bad they weren’t playing Narnia or Cheaper by the Dozen or even the ridiculous Mary Poppins-ish spooky movie "Nanny McPhee." I was jealous of the baby that got a bassinet thingy to lie in.

So anyway, after sitting around for the longest time, I started thinking about blood clots that start in your leg (sometimes form sitting down for long periods of time) and can get into the lungs. So I got up. Last time, I never got up for 12 hours. (I thought about blood clots then too, but I was asleep for 11 of the hours.)

Some Filipina was ticked off at a Japanese woman (Japanesa?) directing US citizens and resident aliens through customs. The Japanese woman didn’t know that green cards were resident aliens and sent the Filipina down to the visitors place. She came back with a guard and was mumbling things like "How you explain you do not know?" She was mad and had bad English. Twas funny.
Woot! I just talked to Kait and Sun Hee. I realized I like having a cellphone plan for random calls - cuz it’s better than using up load texting. Haha. Never thought I’d see the day.

LATER – I am on the plane which finally took off. I’ve been reading the SkyMall catalogue for an hour. It is quite interesting. The inventions are veyr clever with big fat prices. Here’s a quote: "Persnickety kitties prefer water that’s constantly filtered and aerated in this Water Fountain with bowl. Cats have to drink plenty of water to avoid urinary tract disease." Haha!!! They also sell things for small animals to be able to get up on furniture.
=========
Now that I am through copying that, I am sitting here just typing, waiting for the plane to get to Newark. I’m kinda hungry. For lunch I had coffee, cracker jacks, and raisins. I ended up throwing away the chicken cheese wheel that Mom packed for me cuz it smelled funny and I was afraid it wouldn’t get through customs and I was worried it was bad. I couldn’t find a trashcan in the airport before I reached customs so I threw it out in the bathroom. HAHA. I make myself laugh. Huh?! Anyway... the customs thing was stupid. I turned in the little form, the guy barely looked at it, and I just dropped everything off at the scanner and went on. So much for that. Oh yeah, at the carousel thing, there were two. I stayed at the first one for a while until I decided my boxes weren’t going to show up there and went to the next one. I had to wait for one box to go around twice before I could retrieve it. Where are strong people when you need them. I also saw a sign that said something like "We pledge to treat you with dignity and respect. We pledge to welcome you to our country..." HAHA!!! There are so many rude people in that airport. "Ma’am! Please hurry up!" Riiiight. Dignity. Respect.

Um... so I when I woke up at 7:30, I stayed awake for 3 and a half boring hours. After the stupid mermaid thing, we had breakfast and then I started a "word study" on the word "love" by using Esword. That’s the first time I used Esword. I miss Logos – the program we use at school. Oh yeah, the reason I was doing that word was cuz one of my friends and I have been discussing what true love is and what it requires of us. Stuff like, "If Christ loved His neighbor as Himself, and He is perfect, how ought we to love?" and, "What does that say about God’s love?" We have discussed how love is in word and deed also, and how we fail miserably. The world says "I love you" and really means "I love me." Also, if we are to imitate Christ in how He loved His neighbor, how much more ought we to love our brethren! So anyway, long explanation for why I was doing the word study on love.

This is quite a cute little plane. I am actually sitting beneath the wing, not above. What I thought when I sat down was about how we are under the wings of the Father. He cares for us. Isn’t that comforting. At one point during the flight to Detroit, there was a lot of turbulence so that they had to postpone the food service for 45 mins. I was thinking that if the plane crashed then, it would shoot me up to glory, but what would I say to the people next to me who were obviously not Christians? Think about that – if you were in a crashing airplane, what would you say to your unconverted seatmate?

Time to shut down the laptop. It’s been so nice chewing your ear off. Haha. Bye.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

A new post for UC

That's all I have to say!