Break Time

    Hello everyone.  Sorry the blog's late again, but I'll be getting to that issue shortly.  I've realized that since starting camp while simultaneously trying to plan at least the first couple weeks of classes before school starts I've had a hard time keeping to my blogging schedule.  I know I've cut down to only one day, but I think it's time to take a little break, only until September.  I will be working nonstop almost with almost no breaks, save for when I take a week off at the end of this month.  Needless to say I'll be sad, but I'm hoping to start back up again in the fall with a new perspective.  There will be more TV on and I would've started my first teaching internship, which I plan on chronicling through here.  The entire year should be really interesting, eye-opening and beneficial to my future career.  To put more focus on making sure I'm prepared, I'm giving up blogging for the remainder of the summer.  Come September I will hopefully be better prepared to blog more often about different things, including things of an educational nature.  I hope this doesn't disappoint any of my frequent readers, (if any), but I'd rather just take a break straight away rather than be late or non-existent every week.  This is for the good of everyone involved and I'll be re-energized to hop back on the blogging bandwagon in September.
    That being said, this will be my last entry for awhile, so I will try to update as much as I can, (including my past couple recaps for The Bachelorette!)  Camp has been great so far, with only a few hardships.  I've been having trouble adjusting to the constant heat and humidity so my body is rebelling in every way possible.  Right now my left knee is killing me and my joints in general have been terrible.  Unfortunately I'm currently out of meds, so I'll have to wait until my next shipment arrives, but I'll be fine until then.  I'm just hoping my breathing gets easier after the fact this time...  Although it's been mentally and physically draining at times, I've enjoyed coming back to camp.  I missed interacting with the kids and having fun during the summer.  I couldn't have done that behind a desk at a retail store, that's for sure.

    As for The Bachelorette, (SPOILERS PEOPLE), I'm pretty comfortable with my predictions this season.  So sorry about Dylan, but he really wasn't the right fit for her anyway.  I'm sure he'll find a nice Boston lady.  Anyway, the rest of my Top 5 seemed to have made the cut, save for Brian and Marcus.  Nick is completely unnecessary at this point seeing as he's just playing this game instead of actually falling in love, but knowing this show Andi will probably end up picking the guy everyone doesn't like.  I'm still rooting for Chris overall now that poor Marcus is gone...he really was a great guy.  I don't particularly like Josh at all and I find him incredibly dull.  I've barely been watching because the dates have been kind of repetitive, but I'm keeping track of who's left and I'm not surprised.  Can't wait to see who she actually ends up with!  GO CHRIS, THE SEXY FARMER GUY!!

    Besides The Bachelorette, my husband and I have been watching the third season of Legend of Korra, which is a spin off cartoon series based on Avatar.  It takes place years after Aang, the last Avatar.  It has been great so far and we've seen some familiar faces from the Avatar series, so I'm looking forward to seeing where they take this season.  It's one of the best cartoon series I've ever seen!  Other than that, I'll be eagerly waiting the premier of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, coming out August 1st, and then the new TMNT movie on the 8th.  I will be getting midnight showing tickets and I could not be more excited!!
    Well that's it!  I hope everyone enjoys their summer and has time to get out and enjoy the sunshine!  I'll be counting the days until I can write back again.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Sauce, Cheese and Anchovies

    Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  My husband and I went to go see How to Train Your Dragon 2 on Sunday night and it was AWESOME!  Even if you haven't seen the first one, go see it, (although it would be great if you could see the first one beforehand).  Even if you're an adult, it's still a great movie.

    We also went out to dinner with my parents for sushi, (one of our favorite foods), to chat about some things, one being moving in with them next year when our lease is up.  My husband and I had been discussing plans to build our own house and how we would go about doing that.  We don't want to settle and I'd like to make sure the next place we move to is at least somewhat more permanent.  In order to save up the money we'd need and plan out our strategy, we believe this is our best chance to really live our ideal life.  They would be converting almost the entire upstairs into a livable space, complete with a common area, full bathroom and bedroom.  We can even park in the same driveway, which we haven't been able to do for as long as we've known each other.  So by this time next year, we will be moving in with my mother in our own little "apartment" upstairs.  I'm excited about the opportunity and I can't wait to see what's in store for us in the future, as usual.

    So far my health has been much better, considering the conditions I've had to work in.  Camp has been stressful, but great these past few days.  Sometimes I can't wait until the weekend, but I've met a ton of cool kids and I will miss them next session.  The bus route has been the most stressful and problematic part of my day, what with all the kids, less help and constant noise and interruptions, (sometimes from fellow staff members...), sometimes it's difficult to sustain my patience.  I'm hoping this week will serve as somewhat of a practice round and I will be better prepared for the two week session that starts next week.  I'm hoping to find my camp spirit sometime soon, since it's been buried for several years.

    This week it's only The Bachelorette I have reviews for, so keep reading for some SPOILERS.  This week they were in Italy and I feel like they did every stereotypical thing you should do in Italy.  Nothing overly exciting, but Italy is still one of my top places to visit.  I was sad to see Cody go, (even though he's dull as dirt, he was still really cute with the way he hoped for love).  Nick annoyed me almost the entire time, as usual, and Josh made me regret putting him in my top 5 list.  I didn't like the lie detector test solely based on the fact that she didn't even bother reading the results.  Total waste of time!  I would've been all over that if I were her, but alas, I'm not.  I was also sad to see JJ go, but you really couldn't see him getting any farther anyway.  My top 3 is still Chris, Marcus and probably Brian or Josh, (I don't really like Brian either, but Josh seems to be more her type, so he's still in there, unfortunately).  I'm still holding out for Dylan to be a bit more interesting, or perhaps even less like a piece of wood, but just because he's my Bostonian guy.  We'll see what next week holds I guess.
    That's it for me this week.  I've been really busy again, (get used to hearing that all summer), so you're lucky I even posted.  I just didn't want to slack off on it again.  There is a brand new trailer, (FINALLY), for the new Ninja Turtle movie, so I've linked that video below.  It was the highlight of my day, so I hope it eases your suspicions just a little.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

My Bad.

    Hey guys, so I'm sorry that I took an unforeseen week off, but it ended up working out in my favor anyway, seeing as there was literally nothing going on, including no Bachelorette.  I have been really busy clearing out my site for the summer while simultaneously preparing myself for the first day of camp training, which was today.  Even though I still wasn't prepared, (no food or water, which we had to bring ourselves), I had a great first day!  Met a lot of my coworkers, (good and obnoxious), played some team-building games and took a tour of camp, which I hadn't seen in about 16 years.  It was nice to see things that have lasted that long along side newer structures and attractions.  Luckily I avoided the swim test because of the issues I've been having with my heart...

    I always anticipated that my pericarditis would come back, but not so soon.  I came home Sunday night, tired and not feeling well after a long day out with both my father and my father-in-law.  Monday morning I woke up around 1:30am sweating, shivering and writhing in pain, my chest tight.  I couldn't breathe and I didn't know what was wrong or how it happened.  Luckily it hasn't happened again, but the chest pain has increased, along with the temperature, so unfortunately I think I might have to make an impromptu call to my rheumatologist.  I didn't like the older medication she had me on because of the side effects related to reproduction, but it did work quickly to stem the pain from my chest.  At least I could breathe, without taking steroids or pain killers, (which also work, but are more dangerous to take for extended periods).  Needless to say I'm torn, but I do know I haven't been able to do as much because I haven't been able to breathe correctly.  I'll update you guys as soon as I know what's going to happen, but it looks like I might have to cave for the sake of my heart.

    I did have a great last week of school though, before all this crappy stuff came out of nowhere.  I even got gifts from some of the parents, which blew my mind because I've only been there since March.  It was nice to see everyone getting excited for summer and next year, especially the 5th graders moving on to middle school.  I told them I may run into them someday, but honestly I hope I don't.  Some of them I'd rather never seen again!  But in all seriousness, it's nice to know your patience and hard work is appreciated by the parents, even if you've only been there a short time.  I was even more glad to see parents whose kids weren't in our program ask when it would be ok to sign them up.  I can't wait to see how many kids we have next year and I look forward to switching off between my Freshman and my elementary school kids.

    One child I will miss terribly is Caroline.  I was drawn to her initially because she was about my height, (which is tall for her and short for me, being 5 feet tall), with glasses and very studious and quiet, much like myself.  I thought I could be someone she could actually relate to, unlike all the other more immature students around her.  Then I found out she had been diagnosed with juvenile arthritis.  I never thought I'd be a role model to anyone.  I remember a time when I was 11 years old, struggling with an uncommon diagnosis that is incurable and not knowing who to talk to except my mother.  I didn't have anybody I could relate to because I was the only one who had heard of what I had.  My friends didn't understand my illness, in fact, some were scared of me, thinking it might be contagious.  I had no one to talk to or vent to about any of my pain and I wish I had.  For me, being that person for another 11 year old girl struggling with a similar illness makes me the happiest person in the world.  I always wondered what it would be like to write my younger self a letter, explaining what was going to happen to me and how it will progress, how I'll feel and if I'll ever get a hold on it.  I've taken everything I would've told myself and gave that advice to Caroline, so that she might not feel so alone.  I wish I could meet more kids like Caroline and help them realize that they aren't alone, their pain is real and that they will overcome it someday, like I'm working on every day.

    Now that the sap story is done, let's get on to TV!  I've got Bachelorette and Game of Thrones finale SPOILERS for you today:

  First up is the Game of Thrones finale and, while it did not disappoint, left many fans disappointed.  I myself am guilty of this, but a lot of fans had expected the appearance of Lady Stoneheart, which never happened.  I thought the season ended on a very high note, so I'm even more excited now for the next season, which will most likely begin with Lady Stoneheart and her story, but we'll just have to wait and see.  I did enjoy the little funeral Jon had for his lady friend, the one who got ran through by an arrow-wielding child.  I don't know how Stanis' presence here at the Wall will effect comradery among the soldiers, but I can see the sorceress being a HUGE pain in the ass, as usual.  Jon seems to trust him for now, having found out Stanis supported his father, but I could see a look of unease about him, so I'm sure Stanis will screw everything up by being a crazy lunatic.  Is it sad that I cried too when Daenerys chained two of her dragons?  Those are not just dragons, they are her BABIES!  I'm also looking forward to Drogon's return and how devastating that will turn out to be.  Obviously I loved when Tyrion shot his father on the toilet, but that was clearly going to happen.  This episode had my favorite ending by far, which was when Arya, after watching the Hound get killed, (basically), by Brienne of Tarth, boarded a ship to Braavos to reunite with her assassin friends.  I'm so excited for her character to train with them more broadly and come back with a vengeance.  I'm starting to realize that a Stark reunion, although they came SO CLOSE this season, is inevitably not going to happen.  At least not any time soon.  I'll keep waiting, but next season should be awesome!

  The Bachelorette had it's ups and downs this week.  One "up" was that they were in the south of France, which is BEAUTIFUL!  I've wanted to travel to Europe for awhile now and France is definitely one of those places I'd love to visit, (even though I've heard from multiple sources that they are rude to Americans).  Marquel was SO GOOD at miming, I think he should do it full time, (especially now that he's been sent home...oops).  I'm still on the fence about Josh, but I think more of the truth will unfold between the next couple episodes.  I also didn't really like Brian's date either.  Both were rather boring with little to no sex appeal, so I kind of tuned out everything but the gorgeous scenery until the final rose ceremony.  I'm glad she got rid of Andrew and Patrick too because they were just taking up space for the other guys to breathe.  So far, I'm keep my Top 3 at Marcus, Chris and Brian, (only because Brian had a strong impression on Andi during their date), with Dylan and Josh taking up the rear as a close 4th and 5th pick.  We'll see how the lie detector pans out when they go to Venice next week.  I'm hoping for someone to have a girlfriend or a bad credit history.
    Well, that's about it.  Next week I should be posting, however it will probably not be up until later at night, considering I will have started camp and will not get home until close to 5pm.  I am excited to start my summer with a bunch of middle schoolers in my village and ready to have a great time.  I will also be attending my old Newmarket 8th graders' graduation ceremony this Thursday, which will be fun as well.  This may be the last time I might see any of them, so I'll have to make it count.  Hopefully I can find something to wear before then!  I've realized through cleaning out my closet that I have absolutely no cute sundresses or anything summer professional in my wardrobe, so there will have to be some sort of shopping trip in my future.  Summer vacation has officially started, so I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to spare!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.

    Happy Thursday!  It's been a crazy week so far, so I haven't had a lot of time to myself.  It's been super hectic at work, going from site to site, preparing to close down for the summer.  It is a meticulous process that will probably take me longer than the few hours they're giving me, but I will have to get it done by the end of next week.  All paperwork has to be filed, each child accounted for and everything inventoried and stored for the next year.  I have a two-sided check list I have to go through and it doesn't look easy, but I have faith that I'll get it done.  That being said, I'm also simultaneously preparing myself for summer camp.  Coordinating around that at the same time will be difficult, but doable for sure.  I'm excited and nervous at the same time, but I think I'm ready.

    My health has been steadily climbing and rebelling since joining the gym.  My Lupus is putting up one Hell of a fight, but I'm trying to take it in stride and work through it.  Despite my issues, I've been making obvious progress.  Between losing a little weight and building a little muscle, I'm getting there.  I enjoy going to the gym every week and look forward to my sessions with my personal trainer.  That's more than I ever could have hoped for in a gym membership.  I expect nothing but good things to come in the coming months as I continue my journey to a better self.

    I also learned a little more about my teaching internship next year.  My cooperating teacher got almost all Freshman classes for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year, so I will be taking on one of her English College Prep classes in tandem with her other one.  This means that she will teach one section of the class first, then I will follow.  I will also be helping her with her other classes, which are an American Lit. class as well as a reading specific course to help struggling students.  This looks like it's going to be a great upcoming year, so I'm super excited! (and extremely anxious, but that is to be expected)  I have another book to add to my summer reading list as well called, Book Love, by Penny Kittle, a well-known education author.  We will be using this book to help construct our English curriculum for next year, so I have to read it to get information regarding her teaching methods.  I was also thinking about reading Lord of the Flies, since we may be teaching that text as well, which I've never read.  Let me know in the comments what you thought of your experience with Lord of the Flies.
    TV this week was epic!  Game of Thrones didn't disappoint and the Bachelorette made it to New England FINALLY.  Here are my week recaps for those two shows, including SPOILERS:

    Game of Thrones really picked up this week.  I liked how they left Tyrion's trial by combat to the very end to build suspense.  I also loved Arya's laugh, which has been seriously lacking since the show started years ago.  It's nice to see the kids smile every once in awhile when they're not too busy killing everyone in sight.  I was mad that we didn't get to see Arya and the Hound make it inside the castle, but I'm sure we'll get a peek on Sunday.  It'll be interesting to see how Sansa feels about having her sister back in her life, but at this point I think she'd be ready to see any familiar face, even Arya's.  I'm desperate for a Stark reunion, so however it happens I hope it's soon.  I LOVED Sansa in this episode, the way she conned the council into believing she was a victim, (which she technically is, but lying for Baelish seems like a bad idea all around).  He was looking at her like he had taught her everything she knows, like a proud father, (even creepier...).  Then she kind of brushed him off when he went to thank her, proving she really has grown colder in the last few seasons.  She really looked like a grown woman and I'm actually beginning to like her now.  We'll see how long that lasts.  Obviously, everyone remembers the fight between the Viper and the Mountain being the most memorable, (and gruesome), part of this episode.  I had to walk away at the end because I couldn't take the gore, but the fight was spectacular.  I'm really sad to see Oberyn go like that, but at least he took the Mountain with him.  He finally got the revenge he wanted.  I'm looking forward to the last two episodes of this season to see if my predictions come true or if I'll be disappointed until next season comes around.  Praying for Lady Stoneheart!

    The Bachelorette had a two-parter this week and it definitely needed it.  The gang hung out in California for the Sunday night episode, alluding to drama between the guys and Andrew getting a waitress's number at a restaurant.  Nothing really exciting happened, besides singing a horrible rendition of a Boyz II Men song WITH Boyz II Men!  I was fan-girling wicked hard, but not for the guys and their terrible voices, (sorry Opera Guy, you still don't really get the R&B vibe).  Monday night saw the group enter New England territory by way of Mohegan Sun, an over-priced gambling hot-spot.  I'm glad Dylan got the first one-on-one date because it is his "hometown," (even though they're in Connecticut, not Massachusetts).  They went on a depressing train ride to talk about his siblings overdoses and it was difficult to watch, to be honest.  Luckily, he got a rose out of it so he's safe, for now.  Honestly, unless he starts showing some emotion, I don't see his stark, quiet persona lasting that much longer.  The date with Marcus was my favorite because you can tell she really likes him already.  If he's not in the final four, I'd be really surprised.  I also really liked Brian's chance to shine on the basketball court.  The nice, quiet, no-drama guys are winning this week!  The worst part of this episode was the fight between Eric and Andi.  It was really uncomfortable to watch, especially since we've only really seen good things from him so far.  It was sucky the way he left so quickly, but it was for the best.  I didn't stay to watch the memorial for him after the show, but I know Tasos went home.  So far, I've constructed a Top 5 based solely on what I've seen of the show so far, and they are: Marcus, Chris, Josh, Brian and Dylan.  Fingers crossed that most of them don't turn out to be assholes!
    That's it for TV.  For next week, and until further notice, in order to stay as relevant as possible with what's going on in my life at the moment, I've decided to move my blog entries back to just Tuesdays instead of Thursdays.  Thursdays are difficult for me because they're the end of the week and I don't want to do anything, so to stay on task with everything and be relevant to the shows I'm currently watching, we're moving to Tuesdays!  That being said, I hope everyone enjoys their weekends.  I'm planning on cooking dinner and dessert with my mother tomorrow night, spending the entirety of Saturday spoiling my husband for his birthday, (HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY BEAR!!), and Sunday I'm meeting up with a friend in town before hanging out with my dad.  This is why I look forward to the weekend!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Blah

    Hey all, it's another Thursday closer to June!  This weekend is big for me because it's my first wedding anniversary, (although the actual day isn't until Monday).  We don't really have any fancy plans, but we are going out to dinner and treating ourselves to a much-needed night out together.  Even though we've been together for a long time already, I'm very happy and I can't wait to spend many more years with my Bear:)  Here's to us! (I know I'm toasting myself, so what?)
    This week I started working out at a new fitness center.  I decided to take hold of my future self and get a grip on my health.  I'm not an entirely unhealthy person, but I do have tendencies to let go of willpower and stray from the path I should be on.  I haven't been able to kick start my own workout regimen in the last few years, so I thought it was about time to have someone else help me start it.  So far, after the first week, I'm getting along really well with my trainer.  We have a lot in common and we never run out of things to talk about.  We're also taking it slow, which is nice for me and my knees.  I'm looking forward to going forward and improving my willpower, my strength and my weight overall.
    TV this week was even more scarce yet again.  SPOILERS, obviously...

    The Bachelorette was literally the only thing on that I watched this week so far.  The finale season has ruined my TV schedule, having more than half my shows ending in the span of a week.  Bare with me as I scrape by on this lone review.  The good news is that we got a more in-depth look at the guys this week as we maneuver through a couple one-on-one dates and an x-tra sexy group date.  Some girls might've found the strip teases pleasing to the eye, but that display of packages was all but lost on me.  I did enjoy the date between Andi and Chris, the impossibly-sexy and huge farmer.  Who makes farmers like that anyway?!  Seriously, the guy is like Paul Bunyan incarnate...  Sweet as a button and such a gentleman, I can't think of anything I don't like about this guy, (yet).  Honestly, I don't think I could ever be disappointed with him; he seems to have a decent head on his shoulders, so I can't see him ganging up on the other guys in petty useless arguments that are bound to happen.  Obviously Eric's date was great too, but I will spend the entire season feeling bad for him because he's gone.  It makes it even more difficult to watch, knowing he was a great person with little to no flaws to speak of.  The unfortunate circumstances around how he died were surpassed by the happiness he was experiencing while he was with Andi.  Everyone would want to know that he passed doing what he loved with people he cared about.  I was really surprised that they introduced the drunken idiot this close to the beginning of the season.  I'm glad she didn't waste any time getting rid of his sorry ass.  We ended the episode on a high note with next weeks exciting double feature event.  Let's see how much drama we can fit into TWO full episodes!
    So far, at this point in the competition, the pickings are plenty, so it's still difficult to pick a top 5, let alone a top 3.  I would obviously put Chris the Farmer as my top choice, followed by Dylan from Boston, (the only reason I'm rooting for him at all, seeing as he hasn't gotten much air time), and then Josh M. the baseball player, solely because he was the only other person to get a kiss from Andi.  We'll see how this list develops, but I have a feeling I'm not going to like Josh within the next few episodes.  Other than that, I'm looking forward to the newest installment of Game of Thrones, having had a weekend off last week.  I have a bunch of plans to get to this weekend, so I hope everyone enjoys theirs too!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Short but Sweet

    Happy Thursday everyone!  I hope everyone has had a great week so far, with more good days to come.  It has finally started raining here, after what I feel was about a week of predicted rain with nothing to show for it.  On the not-so-bright side, it's going to be really gloomy for the next few days, so I'll have no excuse to go outside.  Bummer...  But getting to spend the day outside for my job has  been the biggest perk.  I finally found a job that I'm good at, (relatively speaking), and I love it.  It's fun to play with the kids and be active during the day.  Honestly, I'm still working on dealing with the kids because they're so young but it's gotten a lot better.  I've found that hard work really does pay off and eventually everything will fall into place.
    Let's just hop right into TV news.  Only two shows were on this weekend worth mentioning and they were Game of Thrones, as usual, and the new season of The Bachelorette!!  SPOILERS:

    Game of Thrones was awesome this week as we see Tyrion reeling from the aftershock of his speech.  He's visited by three spirits: his brother Jaimie, his sell-sword Bronn and the Prince of Dorne himself.  Oberyn ended up being the unlikely savior by proclaiming himself as Tyrion's much-needed champion against the Mountain.  We'll see how this plays out for him, but I'm betting it doesn't go well.  On the other side of Westeros, Arya, The Hound, Lady Brienne and Podrick are all on their way to The Vale to see if Sansa is there.  Guess what?  She is!  She's safe in Petyr's warm, creepy embrace, especially after he pushes that crazy bitch Lysa out of the Moon Door.  I feel bad for her son, who now has to sit on the throne and pretend to rule The Vale while Petyr actually calls the shots.  On the other hand, that sickly bastard will probably die soon anyway, so it's better this way.  At least Daenerys got some this week, FINALLY.  Lord knows we were all waiting for that to happen.  I'm secretly hoping that by the end of this season we will have confirmation of Lady Stoneheart's existence.

    The Bachelorette has begun and it might be the best bachelorette ever.  The lady is a fox, and a Phi Mu to boot, so she has my respect.  I have to say, the group of guys she has to chose from isn't bad either.  Andi will have her work cut out for her this season, but I already have a few favorites.  Obviously it would be stupid to come out with a top five at this point because every time I do that almost all of the guys on my list become jerks.  So in the spirit of competition, I will only point out two that I thought stood a fair chance with Andi this season: Dylan and Tasos.  I liked Dylan initially because he's from Boston so, you know, I have to stick by my New England guys.  Tasos, on the other hand, can speak French.  Also, his name is friggin Tasos, what's not to love?! (except his earrings...).  I'm excited to see how this season will work out, but from the looks of the previews it looks like your typical reality show dating roller coaster ride.  Rooting for Andi to find the love she deserves!

    That's it for TV reviews this week.  Sadly, because of all the finales that happened last week, I barely have any shows to watch now.  My reviews will most likely return to a more literal approach, having four books to read by the end of the summer.  I will say that my husband and I went to see Godzilla on Monday and it was AWESOME!!  I went into the movie having never seen a traditional or original Godzilla film, so I had no preconceived notions about what I should like or shouldn't like.  I loved the action and it was just a good old fashioned monster movie in my opinion.  The people involved didn't even matter, it was just all about the big guy.  I highly recommend it, from the point of view of someone who usually hates scary monster movies.  This weekend I'm hoping to see the new X-Men movie, so maybe I'll be able to review that one next week too.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.