Jill: Mrs. Haugland was my fourth grade teacher and Mr. Haugland was my PE teacher. He gave me my first ever C.
Luke: Did you deserve it?
Jill: No, he just didn't like me.
Luke: I'm sure. Did you pay attention in PE?
Jill: Yeah, but we didn't do fun things. He made us play volleyball. And I'm afraid of volleyballs.
Luke: Haha.
Jill: They really shouldn't grade people on how good they are at specific sports. I sucked at volleyball, but I was really good at square dancing and tinikling and parachutes.
Luke: Parachutes?
Jill: Yes! They were awesome!
Luke: We didn't play with parachutes after we were five. There's really only one game you can play.
Jill: Whatever. Parachutes are awesome. Besides, you shouldn't grade a fourth grader on how good they are at volleyball.
Luke: Did you pay attention?
Jill: I figured out how to do the funky feet.
Luke: What are the funky feet?
Jill gets up and shows him really cool footwork.
Luke: You weren't paying attention. I give you a B.
(Later.)
Luke: Okay, show me the funky feet again. I wasn't really paying attention.
Jill: You get a B.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Oy with the poodles already!
I received Gilmore Girls, Season 7, for Christmas this year, but I put off watching it until this past month because my watching it back in 2006-07 was so painful. Originally, my plan was to start watching with Season 1 and work my way to 7, but I decided that I needed to give Season 7 a chance to catch up with my multiple viewings of Seasons 1-6 (mostly 1-3, though). As I started to watch Season 7, I remembered how poorly it was written compared to the beginning of the series and how I constantly compared it to the caliber the show was in its early days. I spent a lot of time comparing the Rory we see in Seasons 5-7 with Seasons 1 & 2 Rory. When the show was on, I just couldn't reconcile the high maintenance Rory of the later seasons with the over-sized sweater wearing Rory in the beginning.
When Season 7 first came out on DVD, I told my friend Andrea that I didn't even want to own it because of the bad memories of being disappointed week after week. She told me that it was much better the second time through, because you're not expecting as much. There are a lot of things that I still don't like about Season 7. I still wonder what Amy Sherman-Palladino would have done with the Season 6 cliffhanger. Mostly, though, Andrea was right. It is better the second time. I think one of the reasons is because it's been so long since I've watched a lot of Gilmore Girls, so seeing any of my good friends in Stars Hollow was very nostalgic.
On Friday, I got to the series finale. I've been wishing for a movie to sum things all up for a couple of years. I don't need that anymore. I think that the last episode (even if it was written as the last episode) ended the show respectfully. I gave up missing the Rory of the earlier seasons because I didn't want her to grow up and change. When the show started she was a sophomore in high school and ended with her graduating from college. Of course she changed! She had to!
I also found myself crying at several points in the episode. There are so many moments that define what this show is about. The moment with Lane and Rory on the swing is so sweet. And Lorelai telling her parents that they would definitely stay for after dinner drinks shows how much the characters have changed even in the last couple of seasons. I love the final scene of the show. It is so fitting that it ends exactly where it started, with Lorelai and Rory in Luke's Diner.
No words that I write could adequately express my delight in this show. The characters make mistakes, repeatedly. However, I still love them because they are true to themselves. And My Luke is just going to have to deal with the constant Gilmore references and random episode watching (we went to a debutant ball, off course we had to watch Rory's coming out party!) with the same gruff manor the Lorelai's Luke would watch the show.
When Season 7 first came out on DVD, I told my friend Andrea that I didn't even want to own it because of the bad memories of being disappointed week after week. She told me that it was much better the second time through, because you're not expecting as much. There are a lot of things that I still don't like about Season 7. I still wonder what Amy Sherman-Palladino would have done with the Season 6 cliffhanger. Mostly, though, Andrea was right. It is better the second time. I think one of the reasons is because it's been so long since I've watched a lot of Gilmore Girls, so seeing any of my good friends in Stars Hollow was very nostalgic.
On Friday, I got to the series finale. I've been wishing for a movie to sum things all up for a couple of years. I don't need that anymore. I think that the last episode (even if it was written as the last episode) ended the show respectfully. I gave up missing the Rory of the earlier seasons because I didn't want her to grow up and change. When the show started she was a sophomore in high school and ended with her graduating from college. Of course she changed! She had to!
I also found myself crying at several points in the episode. There are so many moments that define what this show is about. The moment with Lane and Rory on the swing is so sweet. And Lorelai telling her parents that they would definitely stay for after dinner drinks shows how much the characters have changed even in the last couple of seasons. I love the final scene of the show. It is so fitting that it ends exactly where it started, with Lorelai and Rory in Luke's Diner.
No words that I write could adequately express my delight in this show. The characters make mistakes, repeatedly. However, I still love them because they are true to themselves. And My Luke is just going to have to deal with the constant Gilmore references and random episode watching (we went to a debutant ball, off course we had to watch Rory's coming out party!) with the same gruff manor the Lorelai's Luke would watch the show.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Electronic Materials Processing Assistant
I started my new job this week. The title of my job is the same as the title of this post, but it's too long to write out again, so from here on out, I am an EMPA. When I talk to people, they want to know what I will be doing at my new job. I'll try to explain.
I work for Indiana University's Center for Survey Research. They conduct surveys for various clients. I (and 5 others) were hired to work on the annual National Survey for Student Engagement (NSSE). Over 600 colleges and universities participate in the survey every year, and our job is to process all of the materials that come in from the colleges and universities and are sent out to respondents.
We are spending this week learning more about NSSE and some of the tasks that we will perform. We spent this afternoon pouring over sample spreadsheets of student information "cleaning" them. Our job was to practice finding all of the capitalization, punctuation, and address formatting errors so that we can e-mail and mail the surveys successfully. It was very quiet and very tedious.
Yesterday, the EMPAs had to wait around for the PowerPoint presentation to be set up and we discovered that of the 6 new hires, 5 of us recently moved to Bloomington because a significant other is attending IU for grad school. It sounds like the other grad school spouses are spending their time a lot like me: watching lots of television and movies.
It's nice to start a job with lots of other new people. Even though there are still awkward silences during our break times, we're all learning together and have the shared experience of being in Bloomington because of someone else's education. Hopefully, it will lead to something a little bit more exciting next year!
I work for Indiana University's Center for Survey Research. They conduct surveys for various clients. I (and 5 others) were hired to work on the annual National Survey for Student Engagement (NSSE). Over 600 colleges and universities participate in the survey every year, and our job is to process all of the materials that come in from the colleges and universities and are sent out to respondents.
We are spending this week learning more about NSSE and some of the tasks that we will perform. We spent this afternoon pouring over sample spreadsheets of student information "cleaning" them. Our job was to practice finding all of the capitalization, punctuation, and address formatting errors so that we can e-mail and mail the surveys successfully. It was very quiet and very tedious.
Yesterday, the EMPAs had to wait around for the PowerPoint presentation to be set up and we discovered that of the 6 new hires, 5 of us recently moved to Bloomington because a significant other is attending IU for grad school. It sounds like the other grad school spouses are spending their time a lot like me: watching lots of television and movies.
It's nice to start a job with lots of other new people. Even though there are still awkward silences during our break times, we're all learning together and have the shared experience of being in Bloomington because of someone else's education. Hopefully, it will lead to something a little bit more exciting next year!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
One car
Luke and I only have one car. We decided that we would sell one of our cars when we got married since Bloomington has pretty good public transportation and we would save money. Being a one car family hasn't been too rough yet since I've been home and can pick Luke up if he needs a ride.
Today, I'm taking the car to Effingham, Illinois, to hang out with Michelle. Luke will be staying in Bloomington to work on homework and watch the Colts.
Luke just saw a local Wendy's commercial. They are having a contest for 4 free Colts home game tickets. Luke says, "Guess what I'm having for supper!?" And I reply, "Are you going to walk?" Luke is sad now.
Today, I'm taking the car to Effingham, Illinois, to hang out with Michelle. Luke will be staying in Bloomington to work on homework and watch the Colts.
Luke just saw a local Wendy's commercial. They are having a contest for 4 free Colts home game tickets. Luke says, "Guess what I'm having for supper!?" And I reply, "Are you going to walk?" Luke is sad now.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Our thing
It only makes sense that Luke and I would spend a lot of our time together watching movies, especially since we met and started to get to know each other through our movie watching, but it has gotten a little extreme since we have moved. I guess that not knowing many people has something to do with it. However, this is more than just simple movie watching. We have a goal.
Anyone who had ever visited Luke's apartment knows that he has a pretty large DVD collection (let's estimate somewhere in the 200s). Then Luke got married and came to be co-owner of all of my DVDs (whether he wants to be or not). One day, Luke decided that we both have to see all of the movies in our ownership. So we went through our (alphabetized) collection and pulled out all of the movies one or both of us has not viewed. I counted somewhere around 80 movies that we now have in queue to watch...in alphabetical order. After we watch each movie, the person who added the movie to the collection has to explain what they like about it and why they bought it.
Whether I want to or not, I had to watch Brotherhood of the Wolf and I will have to watch From Hell.
Now I, being the kind and gracious person I am, have given Luke the opportunity to stop a movie. He was obviously not enjoying Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason. And I did not blame him at all; the first movie was done much better and this one strays so far from the book it's barely recognizable. Ten minutes into the movie he was obviously in pain. I told him that if it didn't improve in 15 minutes that we could stop the movie. Luke is incapable of doing this, though. He has a goal. He will do everything to complete this goal. So Luke sat through the entire movie and complained about it. If I was on the fence about this movie before, Luke has now completely ruined it for me.
The next movie that was formerly mine was Chasing Liberty. Okay, small confession here: most of the movies I added to the collection are chick flicks (Luke also had a chick flick to add to the collection, though!). Chasing Liberty is one of my guilty pleasures. Watching it brings back fond memories of living with Michelle and checking this movie out from the Vinita Park library over and over and over until Michelle finally gave it to me for Christmas. I didn't want Luke to ruin it for me.
FYI (and Luke's), I know that most chick flicks have completely implausible story lines and that there are scenes that are cheesy. I can smell cheese. Trust me. However, Luke feels the need to point these things out in the movies I love. So each time one of these scenes came on, I had to remind tell Luke, "Don't ruin this for me."
He did pretty well with Chasing Liberty. Anyone want a copy of Bridget Jones 2?
Anyone who had ever visited Luke's apartment knows that he has a pretty large DVD collection (let's estimate somewhere in the 200s). Then Luke got married and came to be co-owner of all of my DVDs (whether he wants to be or not). One day, Luke decided that we both have to see all of the movies in our ownership. So we went through our (alphabetized) collection and pulled out all of the movies one or both of us has not viewed. I counted somewhere around 80 movies that we now have in queue to watch...in alphabetical order. After we watch each movie, the person who added the movie to the collection has to explain what they like about it and why they bought it.
Whether I want to or not, I had to watch Brotherhood of the Wolf and I will have to watch From Hell.
Now I, being the kind and gracious person I am, have given Luke the opportunity to stop a movie. He was obviously not enjoying Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason. And I did not blame him at all; the first movie was done much better and this one strays so far from the book it's barely recognizable. Ten minutes into the movie he was obviously in pain. I told him that if it didn't improve in 15 minutes that we could stop the movie. Luke is incapable of doing this, though. He has a goal. He will do everything to complete this goal. So Luke sat through the entire movie and complained about it. If I was on the fence about this movie before, Luke has now completely ruined it for me.
The next movie that was formerly mine was Chasing Liberty. Okay, small confession here: most of the movies I added to the collection are chick flicks (Luke also had a chick flick to add to the collection, though!). Chasing Liberty is one of my guilty pleasures. Watching it brings back fond memories of living with Michelle and checking this movie out from the Vinita Park library over and over and over until Michelle finally gave it to me for Christmas. I didn't want Luke to ruin it for me.
FYI (and Luke's), I know that most chick flicks have completely implausible story lines and that there are scenes that are cheesy. I can smell cheese. Trust me. However, Luke feels the need to point these things out in the movies I love. So each time one of these scenes came on, I had to remind tell Luke, "Don't ruin this for me."
He did pretty well with Chasing Liberty. Anyone want a copy of Bridget Jones 2?
Monday, August 31, 2009
I kind of forgot about this!
I need to work on remembering that I have to keep you all updated on my life!
Okay, that's a lie. I remembered that I have this little corner of cyberspace devoted entirely to my life, but my life is so boring right now, that I've been too ashamed to write anything. Here's a rundown of the month of August:
1. Lived with the Huseby's for over a week.
2. Moved into our own house! YAY!
3. Unpacked, unpacked, and unpacked.
4. Luke went to math camp.
5. Jill dropped Luke off at math camp.
6. Jill picked Luke up from math camp.
7. We've written thank you notes.
8. Cooked. For real, I haven't cooked this much in a long time.
9. Went to an interview today!
10. Tried to talk Luke out of buying a deep freeze to put in our storage closet.
11. Hosted our first overnight guests since moving in: Ruth (Luke's sister) and Melissa.
I'll hopefully be able to maintain number 10 and add a number 12 soon: Went to work.
Okay, that's a lie. I remembered that I have this little corner of cyberspace devoted entirely to my life, but my life is so boring right now, that I've been too ashamed to write anything. Here's a rundown of the month of August:
1. Lived with the Huseby's for over a week.
2. Moved into our own house! YAY!
3. Unpacked, unpacked, and unpacked.
4. Luke went to math camp.
5. Jill dropped Luke off at math camp.
6. Jill picked Luke up from math camp.
7. We've written thank you notes.
8. Cooked. For real, I haven't cooked this much in a long time.
9. Went to an interview today!
10. Tried to talk Luke out of buying a deep freeze to put in our storage closet.
11. Hosted our first overnight guests since moving in: Ruth (Luke's sister) and Melissa.
I'll hopefully be able to maintain number 10 and add a number 12 soon: Went to work.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Naturally Curly
One of the things Luke and I are working on is cutting back our lifestyle. Since we were both working full-time and living with other people, we had lots of expendable income. And now...we don't.
My big spending area tends to be my hair. A couple of years ago I started actually spending money on haircuts and hair products. I'd been using a line of products called Deva Concepts. I really like this line of products and they've been working really well on my hair, but my current problem is twofold: they cost a lot of money (even when I can use my 20% off card) and there are no retailers in a 25 mile radius of Bloomington.
So I've been searching this website for other options. It's been very helpful, along with slightly confusing. I've been using the routine from the book Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey, which helps you figure out your hair type pretty simply. NaturallyCurly.com goes further in breaking down the hair types and has what appears to be a much more elaborate care routine.
The website has helped me find much less expensive product. I tried the new gel this morning and it held up through the humidity pretty well, but it looks pretty awful after driving with the windows open. It has a fair amount of alcohol in it, but the store I went to was out of the kind I really wanted, so we'll try that one the next time. I'm hoping that the conditioner is good.
I'm still trying to figure out what to do about a haircut. I want one pretty badly right now, even though I don't need one yet. I'm thinking of just going to the place in the mall to see if they will at least cut it dry. That would save about $20.
Any suggestions for an inexpensive curly haircut? Let me know!
My big spending area tends to be my hair. A couple of years ago I started actually spending money on haircuts and hair products. I'd been using a line of products called Deva Concepts. I really like this line of products and they've been working really well on my hair, but my current problem is twofold: they cost a lot of money (even when I can use my 20% off card) and there are no retailers in a 25 mile radius of Bloomington.
So I've been searching this website for other options. It's been very helpful, along with slightly confusing. I've been using the routine from the book Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey, which helps you figure out your hair type pretty simply. NaturallyCurly.com goes further in breaking down the hair types and has what appears to be a much more elaborate care routine.
The website has helped me find much less expensive product. I tried the new gel this morning and it held up through the humidity pretty well, but it looks pretty awful after driving with the windows open. It has a fair amount of alcohol in it, but the store I went to was out of the kind I really wanted, so we'll try that one the next time. I'm hoping that the conditioner is good.
I'm still trying to figure out what to do about a haircut. I want one pretty badly right now, even though I don't need one yet. I'm thinking of just going to the place in the mall to see if they will at least cut it dry. That would save about $20.
Any suggestions for an inexpensive curly haircut? Let me know!
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