Monday, August 28, 2006

I am back at PBU.

Had a good weekend. Friday was fun. Bryan's parents came in and did a presentation on the Philippines for culture week. The kids decorated cut-out jeepneys and we all had a lot of fun just goofing off. I'll miss all the kids so much. Then Friday night Kait and I went to Rachel's house for a BBQ.

Saturday I managed to pack (eventually!) and then went with Kait and Susie to pick Danae up from the airport. Susie and Kait stayed for dinner. Sunday was good. Pretty interesting. Danae and I stayed for the church lunch. After the evening service, Kait came over for dinner and we had a great time.

We managed to leave at quarter to nine this morning. At first I thought there would be a lot of traffic because of the rain, but it let up and we made it in about an hour and forty-five minutes. It took us 2 hours to move our stuff into the rooms because first we had to get my stuff into my dorm and then remove the stuff Danae stored in Memorial's basement (which was a TON) and got that into my car and drove down to Heritage to unload it all in Danae's room. Haha. But we eventually finished.

At 2:30, we took advantage of the unlimited cafeteria access (actually, the limit is 17 times...) and had a nice very quiet lunch. Woot. The cafeteria looks great but the food is all the same. (They rennovated.) There's a big sign above one of the food bars and it says "Home Cookin'" I'm taking that sign down. =p

My night class was canceled because the grad students messed it up. That means we have to teach our lessons during finals week. Icky. Oh well.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Today we took the kids to the Wilson School playground. I was walking all over counting heads and keep track of kids... with a little boy attached to my leg. Everywhere I went he was pulling on my leg yelling "Mama! Mama!" and making other strange noises. He's like a little puppy. I'm gonna miss him.



P.S. Coolness -- I just found that it is 1.7 miles to work! So when I bike twice (which isn't that often because I often have stuff to do and end up driving for the second time) I go 6.8 miles! Woot! I'm gonna miss biking so much. Waah! I'll bring my bike to school eventually. Oh yes, Tuesday I biked twice and then got the great idea to bike to the park too so yeah! I biked a lot that day.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Ugh

There is a reason why I wear skirts to school. I now have no really presentable black pants, and jeans with a rip on the side cuz of my bike gears. So I should probably go to the thrift store or somewhere and look for pants. Except... I like THESE pants. I am very picky and I get attached to my pants. Sniff.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

For the lack of anything better to do...

Let me introduce my wonderful kiddies to you:

James -- this is my boy who gets quoted most. He is 3 years old, half-Chinese, very smart, and very funny. He has a tendency to sing songs that he only knows the first line of and then makes up the rest in sounds of "boop beep bah" with the sunniest smile on his face. He is a bit of a cry baby and often says "But I wanted to have it!" and can drive me nuts, but he has improved and does listen when you sit down and talk to him one on one.

Nicholas -- I remember when I met him on my first day, I think. He was sick so he wasn't taking a nap. He loves to bounce around and act like a rock star and often makes growling noises and says "arrrrgh!!!" He is going through some problems right now ever since he stopped taking a nap. He thinks it means he's a big boy and he has turned into a little hot shot. The other day he and James were clogging up the toilet with paper towels and I gave him a little lecture on what it means to be a big boy. He can have a bad temper, but generally he's a nice kid and he's loved by all the other kids. (When he was sick for a week, the kids couldn't stop asking about him. Whenever they arrive, their first question is, "Where's Nick?")

Shahan -- He's a very big four-year-old. He is basically a gangster-wanna-be who calls Nick "bro" and talks about his "bling bling" and brags about how he is getting "5 little puppy dogs" for his birthday. He gets mad very easily, doesn't listen very well, and cries a lot. He used to drive me nuts, but I've gotten to like him a lot more in spite of it all. =)

Bryan -- He's my little Filipino boy. He has a pretty strong accent and tends to use some Filipino English like "I like to have this." He used to be a big pushover, but now he's becoming quite makulit. He comes up with the funniest things and is so energetic. Unlike many 3 year olds, you can actually hold a sensible conversation with him. His obsession is whales. He has definitely begun to express himself more and take things from kids and put up a fuss when they take things from him.

Justin -- This kid goes nuts. He is 2 or 3 and runs around screaming and yelling and acting just plain insane. He is very good at remembering names. He also refers to himself in the third person and says, "Bus coming" every morning. (He goes to another school and gets picked up by the bus after lunch.) He is very bad with sharing and screams and howls when he wants something. When asked what is wrong, he often says "Justin's!"

Ethan -- He just had his last day yesterday. He only comes for the summer. He is 4 and talks pretty well. He has huge blue eyes and often thinks he knows more than everybody. He is quite full of himself and goes around saying, "EXCUUUUSE ME! I said STOP THAT! You're going in time out!" and then he'll come up to me and say, "Um.. EXCUUSE me but I don't like what they're doing." He constantly refers to Veggie Tales and his "Crash" book. In spite of his huge ego, I will miss him. He always gives me hugs when he leaves.

Brandon -- This kid doesn't come very often. He has beautiful curls and he doesn't talk very much. He's pretty cute too.

Bedros -- Trish calls me his girlfriend. Bedros is my screamy boy who SCREAMS non-stop at times. His screams can either be happy or angry. Often in his happiest moments, his scream is very chirpy, accompanied by an adorable smile and odd sounds like "dagish da! da!" He runs up to me to sit on my lap, constantly calling me "Mama!" He is 2 and can't talk yet, but I think I'll miss his strange language when he does learn how to talk. He gets a picture cuz it's a cute picture

Timothy -- He's never there, but he's older.

Richard -- He left, but he was there when I started. He's a pretty cute kid and got along really well with Willow.

PJ -- the oldest of all the kids. He went through a phase when he constantly used "rubbish" in place of "nonsense." He also would throw in thees and thous wherever he thought they fit (and they usually didn't). He is quite full of himself and his new line is "Aren't I swell!" He drives me nuts, but somehow we get along.

Kassie -- She has beautiful long hair. She's pretty mature for 7. She sometimes whines and gets mad when she doesn't get her way, but somehow she still loves me and wants me to stay forever. She can drive me mad when she gets into her "I know what I'm doing" moods, but I love her just the same.

Taylor -- She's Kassie's best friend. She is very big on fairness and often likes to argue with me, "But Miss Becky that's not fair that she gets to do it and I don't." I have learned to love her just as much as Kassie and watching light dawn on her face as I helped her with her piano lesson and hear her say, "OH!!! That's so easy! THANK YOU, MISS BECKY!!!" was just great.

Willow and Allana -- These two left for the summer because their mom is a school teacher. They are both really cute kids. Allana is very motherly and very mature. Willow is motherly, but she acts so much younger than Allana even though she is older. Both girls are very sweet and it was Willow who told Richard and Shahan that they'd have to fight for her because they both liked her.

Natalie -- She's Richard's sister. She is simply a handful. She never listens and finds every way to get around rules. In spite of it all, she was hysterically funny.

Nicole -- She only comes for summer. Although only 5, she's going into 1st grade. She is very mature and acts like she's 7. She giggles a lot and is pretty responsible.

Hannah -- She's new. She's Korean and she's 7 but tries to act like she's 14. She is all into the lives of celebrities and she is often very mischievous. I'm learning how to crack down on her and not treat her like Kassie and Taylor who are more mature and responsible.

Parisa -- This girl is funny. She puts everything in her mouth. She also doesn't get along well in big groups, but with one-on-one, she's incredibly talkative and constantly asks "What's this for? What are you doing? Who's is that? Why?" When she doesn't want to do something, she whines and blinks her eyes and says, "I'm tiiiired." She is hard to get to sleep at naptime because she pulls her eyes open and crawls around trying to stay awake. Rubbing her back is ineffective because she's ticklish everywhere. The only way to get her to sleep is to stroke her hair.

Kelssie -- This is the little stinker. She screams and yells constantly and says "NO WAY! LEAVE ME ALONE! I WANT BABA!" She can be really sweet, but if she doesn't get what she wants, she goes ballistic, screaming, kicking, yelling, crying. I have had to succumb to the art of distraction with her just because she takes up too much time.

Arianna -- She's the oldest of the twins. She has very bright eyes and is developing a sense of humor. She often does the talking for her sister. She's taller, a better eater, more adventurous, and more active. But she can be incredibly stubborn as well, although not as bad as her sister.

Morgan -- She's the other twin. She is a very poor eater, more prone to staring into space and ignoring you, refuses to talk when upset, gets very upset about bugs, and is very easily frustrated. She can be very funny and giggly with her sister, but she's also more moody and has a way of tipping her head and saying "Uh uh" that is positively annoying.

Samantha -- She's Bedros's sister. She's 4 and big for her age. She is very responsible and a big helper. She makes me laugh and talks about how she's a good little girl and a big helper. Praise makes her so happy and she tries very hard to please. She takes very good care of Bedros and greets him with "Hello my big boy!" when he wakes up from his nap. Opposite from Bedros, she eats a lot!

Today I...

...bought more books! Agh... stupid PE book costs too much.

I bought:

Lifetime Physical Fitness and Wellness

and...

Introduction to Postmodernism

In the mail today I got...

Literature for Children

I am definitely happier with my Church History and Integrated Language Arts book deals. Those were bargains. These were semi-bargains. *sigh* Besides, the Church History and Integrated Language Arts books were in basically brand new condition.

Today I also...

*Printed out syllabi and wrote out all the assigments and things due in my planner
*Finally did my laundry and caught up on ironing
*Did not touch an unhealthy thing once yet and it's 4:41pm
*Woke up wide awake at 6:45 (cuz I heard CJ's beeeeep beeeeep alarm in his room... yes, I am that sensitive to alarms) and had to gargle cuz my throat was TERRIBLY sore. I was going to get up, but figured it was my last day to sleep in for a long time, so I went back to sleep. HAHA
*Started to sort out stuff for school
*Put stuff up for sale on Half.com hoping somebody will buy some textbooks off of me

Oh yes, yesterday I went minigolfing with Gmother and Gfather. I have pics but they are not on my computer yet. I also backed Andy's car up the driveway. Woohoo for finally getting the hang of backing up.

EDIT// WOAH! I just sold my sociology book! Sweeeet!

Thursday, August 17, 2006

A conversation with Ethan

"My mom said I should lego myego," said Ethan, as he watched me cut up his waffles for breakfast.
"What?" I asked, wanting to know if I had heard right.
"My mom said I should lego myego," he insisted.
Now I know Ethan and he has the biggest ego ever. I was cracking up inside, but I had to clarify this one.
"Do you mean let go your ego?"
"No!" he said, turning his huge blue eyes on me. "Lego myego!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Larry boy!" he insisted, as if I was some dumb person.
"Larry boy?" I asked, knowing it was something to do with Veggie Tales.
"Yes! See they were shrinks."
"Shrinks?" I asked, slightly coughing, guessing he didn't really mean shrinks.
"Yeah. And they got big but then they all got small," said Ethan, in his typical manner of explaining something that only if you have a clue as to what he's referring to can you understand what he means.
"Ah... " I said, guessing it must have been a Veggie Tales lesson on pride.
"So my mom said I should lego myego."

================================
Too bad Ethan doesn't know what "lego myego" really means. He obviously doesn't learn much from his "Larry Boy" lessons.

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

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RockYou slideshow

So on Tuesday night, I got out of class early and Susie and I decided to spite Kait and go to Rita's! Kait was at work anyway. So Susie and I headed off, and then remembered we didn't really know exactly how to get there. So Susie called Julie and she told us. Rita's Italian ices are sugar-free and fat-free. Woot. Susie got custard.

So that was a late night Tuesday. Then Wednesday, I didn't have class cuz it was a "study night" (as if I used it for that purpose). So I went to prayer meeting, and then Laura wanted to go to Rita's. Soooo we gathered together Kait and Christiana as well. We asked Julie and Ronda, but Ronda didn't want to do that to Sheryl and Andrew because she didn't think it was fair. So the rest of us went off. Now, I still didn't know how to get to Rita's. I was the only one with a cellphone and I told Kait I'd follow her. Kait, being really smart, did not bother to check behind her. We got stuck 2 cars behind, then she put her blinker on and then turned it off so we didn't know if she turned or not. I knew it was somewhere near the Carlson's, so we started heading that way. Laura then called Ronda, but she must have had her phone on silent. Then she called her dad... and in the middle, Ronda called back and told us we were on the right track. So for the record, I do know how to get to Rita's now. (Probably not the quickest way, but oh well.) ANYWAY! Kaitlyn and Christiana eventually realized they had lost us so they went back home to get Kait's cellphone. They arrived at Rita's about 5 minutes after us.

So as we were happily standing around with our gelatis, (the other three got mango gelatis, but I got chocolate... DUH! I tasted Kait's mango gelati -- SO NOT MANGO!!!) Ronda drove up with Julie! They had gone home and told Mrs C what was going on and she insisted that they go and not worry about Sheryl and Andrew. Haha. So that was funness. I had left the directions to Laura's at home. Actually, I probably could have gotten to her house, but I was insecure about getting from her home to mine. So Kait took her home (and got slightly lost as well... but Kait got home ok, cuz she's like a homing pigeon... so she says) and I dropped Christiana off.

Then today was the clown visitor day. Ethan's mom was supposed to be the clown, but she got sick. Tracie tried to get me to be the clown, but the costume was falling off me. And I'm not a good clown. Sarita walked in to drop of Samantha and Bedros and was all ready to be a clown. YAY! So she was the clown. I did a lot of face painting. Twas fun. Hence all the pictures. Yes, I'm obsessed.

I love Bedros' happy picture. Especially cuz he had previously been screaming his little head off. He loves me. Even if I did drag him through the pool against his will.

Now I think I'm catching CJ's cold... or the twins'. They sneezed and coughed in my face countless times.

So that is that. Tata!!!

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

James: "What about Nicholas?" (referring to why Nick wasn't taking a nap)
Me: "Nick is a big boy."
James: "Can Nick drive?"
Me: "No."
James: "Then why is Nicholas a big boy?"

Sociology notes from August 14:


Pretty deep, huh?

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Meh

'Tis raining out. I can't ride Schwinny. =( Oh well, I took him twice yesterday. Maybe I'll take him in the afternoon.

My sociology notes last night were so interesting. I'll post a picture later.

Who's "Oily" and "Greasy"? My memory fails me

Monday, August 14, 2006

Hullo

Had a really good day yesterday. (I have a few pics, but I didn't put them on my comp yet) Three baptisms -- Josh, Catherine, and "Susan." Susie didn't canonball, so that was good. *coughSusiecough* I stayed at church for lunch -- twas good. Rich joined us at our table (which consisted of Julie, Corinne, Sheryl, Holly, and Heidi D. (visiting for Susie's baptism) , and me. Anyway, Rich told Sheryl to try to stay quiet for a long time, and I didn't realize EVERYONE was doing it, so I started talking to Julie. Haha. Rich said "Wow, I thought Becky would be the last to talk." Heh, I didn't even know I was playing! Interesting times... I told him to bring his snake into day care since he said it makes kids shut up. "Now [insert snake's name cuz I forgot what it is] likes it very quiet, so you all have to be as quiet as you can be!" THEY ALL DO IT!!! I'm getting a snake!!!!!! (It's a boa actually)

Went to Josh's afterwards. Laura was with me... I wonder if she'll ever ride with me again. *cough* Don't ask... managed to squeeze Josh's fridge in the Jetta. (I rented his fridge for the semester... when you go to PBU, you should have your own food to back up the cafeteria food.)

Speaking of food, Mr B was talking to me about Ashley's experience at Csehy. She liked PBU, but didn't like the food AT ALL. HAHA!!! PBU is getting famous for their food. (famous?)

Anyway, we have a new teacher at TOS. Her name is Miriam and she's from Peru. She's nice... she came over 6 years ago I think. She married an American ("I like Gringos").

I found out James is only 3 and he's turning 4. WHAT?!?!? There are some very smart 3-year-olds out there... Bryan and James are good examples. They're Asian... must mean something... *stereotype stereotype* =) James is an interesting child. He cracks me up. He's often heard making nonsense sounds like "Bop boop bah bayyy" -- hence we get along. =)

TA-TA folksies! It's dinner time!

Saturday, August 12, 2006

A stupid post

Dear Diary,

Today is a sunny day. I wore a sweatshirt part of the day. It was cold.

STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is just too dumb for words.

Ok, so I am going to post some random pictures here. But first of all, let me tell you about my splendiferous day.

After going to bed at 1am, I slept in LATE LATE LATE! I woke up at 6:10 automatically, but then, happy thought, it is Saturday! Not only is it Saturday, but the Praxis is OVER and I don't have to go to that! So happy me went back to sleep (all the while thinking guiltily about that verse in Proverbs...) and eventually woke up at 8:30. Usually I'm working at 8:30! But anyway...

I got back to my paper writing. I do not like my paper, but that's ok. I'll turn it in as a rough draft. It's a little different from the original plan, but whatever.

I then proceeded to write up a study guide for the exam. I was on my 5th mini essay when I realized, to my dismay, that the chapter 9 questions are due on Monday! Grief overwhelmed me and my book slipped through my shaking hands. (NOT) I had no way out, no consoloation. My friends had deserted me to cleaning their rooms. (At least that was KAIT'S version of the story... I could have done something with SUSIE! So Susie and I are going to do something next week without Kait. *miffed* But that's another story...)

So I flipped to the chapter questions and began to slowly answer them. The effects of staring at a computer screen all day were taking their toll. In other words, I was ready to throw up. (To put it bluntly.) I ate dinner instead.

So thus has been my day. One more point -- I have discovered the beauty of Mozilla Firefox. (Applause, people) Why? You can customize themes. Woot.

Random statistic: the Philippines is the second highest in the percentages of the country of origin of Asian Americans. China is first with 24% followed by Philippines at 18%.


RockYou slideshow
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
That one may avoid the snares of death.

Proverbs 14:27
I need to be congratulated by all you sleep-deficient-and-proud people. It is 12:26am. I have been writing a paper since 9:45pm. This is the worst job I've had writing a paper. My last research paper, I managed to write very quickly once I got started. I think I should quit. It's a very boring, uninspiring paper. I feel like I need to change my whole thesis. Ahhh stupid paper.

Thursday, August 10, 2006


Ilaw

Pinto at ilaw

Ilaw sa dilim

I-stove

The kettle



"He took my blood. And it was my favorite blood. I like my blood." -- James, when another kid accidentally gave him a little scratch

P.S. Staring for a while at the word "blood" makes me think it's spelled wrong. And why is it spelled like that?! It doesn't sound like blood as in blued. It should be blud. *random*
===============================

"I want some!" -- Kelssie
"No!!!" -- Shahan
"But I want some! Want some!!!" -- Kelssie
"No!!!" -- Shahan
"Shahan, tell Kelssie, 'No cuz you already had 3 pieces!'" -- Tracie
"No, Kelssie, cuz you need to lose weight." -- Shahan
===============================



More random pictures







Monday, August 07, 2006

Hullo

I got out of class early tonight and should probably be writing my paper rather than sitting here writing this. Oh well! So much for that! I'm too tired anyway. I almost fell asleep putting kids to sleep.

So Friday I worked 9 hours. I only had 3 kids for half the time and then Parisa for the rest of the day. Ethan and Justin left at 12 and Parisa took a nap until 2:30. The reason I was left behind was technically so I could have some study time. Then Tracie gave me a 3+ hour project of sorting out their millions of videos. Oh well.

I woke up at 5:30 on Saturday and I left 20 mins getting-lost time, yet still got lost. Where did I get lost?!? OFF OF BLOOMFIELD AVE. Well, technically not lost. I mean I know how to get back, but I missed the turn, so tried the next, and circled around and bumped into the road I was supposed to be on but didn't know whether to go right or left and ended back on Bloomfield and then turned the wrong way again and had to turn around at PathMark and started to go out a no-left-turn exit and backed up leaving a bewildered policeman staring at me in his giant SUV and then finally got there late, but we didn't start until 8:20 anyway. Ok, we were supposed to start before 8:20, but the very bad proctor told us to fill out all the info (like name, test codes, etc) and just start when we were done. SO we were all sitting there waiting for him to say go and he never did. But anyway, the test ended at 12:15.

As the previous post said, I went to the Resevoir Tavern for dinner.

CJ has jeepy back on the road. I backed his jeep in today. Sometimes I amaze myself. Really -- his jeep is nice cuz it is open and much higher up.

Here are some miscellaneous pics -- day care, birthday, etc.



RockYou slideshow

And now for two videos (we are on a roll today!)


Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing



Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Older


From my sociology book -- it, like, ya know, rocks

I study on my birthday.

19... wow. I guess I think this is where the excitement of getting older stops. Next year I'll be 20. I used to dream of being 18 and now it is gone forever. I guess I thought I'd be really old and mature at 18. HUH?! HAHA. Anyway, I woke up at 5:30, I went to my Praxis exam (and got slightly lost of course -- 19 and still can't figure out directions), got done at 12:15, got home, climbed a ladder and cleaned windows for Gfather (twas fun -- and I realized that a picture from the bottom of the ladder up into the sky is VERY photographic, but alas, I did not take a picture) and then I am studying. Woohoo. Getting older means working harder. I'm going out for pizza with Kait, Susie (hopefully), Ronda, and Julie.

I just had a thought: if I had the brains of Andy and the work ethic of me, what kind of grades would I get? Probably if I had the brains of Andy, I'd have the work ethic to match. *cough*

I still had my phone on SMS so I got lost of texts from peeps saying happy bday. YAY. And Gmom and Gpop called and so did CJ.

EDIT// Went out to eat at the Resevoir Tavern with Ronda, Kait, Susie, Julie, and Sheryl. HAHA -- the TAVERN. Just wait until I'm 21. Kidding!!! It was a fun time, topped off with Friendly's for desert (the waiters sang -- and I was a bit embarrassed.) HAHA. Good day!

Soooo the bday greetings:
Texts from Jobel, Hans, Chebong, Joash, Hapi, Tita Tetch, Andy, and parents
Calls from CJ and grandparents
Emails from Brigette, Bambam, Melisa, Tita Tetch, Tito Eddie, and Dan H.

Conclusion: we live in a high-tech society.

To finish it off, a bday message from a friend:

God has blessed you with so many blessings from your youth up, and His blessings even predate your birth. You have been dear to Him even before the world was made. May you, therefore, always live in the light of the goodness of God to you. And knowing God and His goodness to you, you would "honor Him as God and give thanks."

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Um... hello

Hi people.

1.) It's Kait's bday today. We ate lunch in between my shifts.
2.) I am madly pulling together a play on 3 of Aesop's fables. It's pretty stressful trying to get it together in 2 weeks.
3.) I got kicked out of Penndel and moved into freshmen housing with Meghan. She is a nice girl, we get along well, but she goes to bed at 3am. I am going to email the director since I already called Student Life.
4.) I went to the Carlson's and surprised Kaitlyn by showing up for her bday dinner.
5.) I got embarrassed in class cuz the prof told the entire class that I had the top score. I like community college cuz I feel smart. People don't work as hard, so it makes me look like a genius. Plus I did all the extra credit just in case. HAHA. The whole class was a little ticked off at me. (In a teasing way, though.)
6.) We got out of class early. And then I sat on the front porch and talked to CJ for 45 mins. It's cooler outside than in.
7.) Praxis coming up -- madly studying. Busy life.
8.) Tracie said that I have 4 days to decide whether to change schools and take the full-time teaching position because I would be taken before the other applicants. Haha I wish. She wanted me to go to Willy P at night and work full-time in the day. Not happening.
9.) I will be working 2 hours every Monday before driving back to PA this upcoming semester.