Home Stretch

    I hope everyone is having a good week so far.  Thursday happens to be one of my favorite days because it's that much closer to the weekend.  I definitely think next week should be just one giant weekend with all the work I have to complete.  The end of my semester is coming and I couldn't be more calm.  Usually I'd be extremely stressed thinking about all of the papers and projects I have to do before the beginning of May, but this year it's different.  I'm completely aware of the amount of work I have to do, but I'm not worried.  I have faith in myself to get everything done on time, or even early.  It's always nice to get a break for the summer.

    Three of my assignments are relatively large: a literature review, a unit plan and a multimedia narrative.  For the literature review I have to read an entire book and focus on a central issue regarding 21st century literacies.  I've created a unit plan surrounding one of my favorite movies, Harriet the Spy, using both the book and the film to draw conclusions around identity and character development.  For my multimedia narrative I'm supposed to reflect on my semester and make light of my experiences from the course using multimodal technologies.  I think I'm going to use Storify, which is a site dedicated to mashing up various aspects of social media to create a coherent story.  I'll be posting my thoughts and rough draft of this project tomorrow on my ENGL 889 page.  All of these projects are labor intensive and require a huge amount of reflection and organization.  I'm curious about what I'll discover while working on all of these simultaneously.  I've already found that some of the readings I've done in both classes have the potential for crossing over.  I'm looking forward to getting down to business and putting as much effort into these as I can muster.  I may even share one of these finished projects on here in my ENGL 889 page, so stay tuned for a finished product.

    On top of this school work, I've been working on finding a summer job.  So far I haven't had any bites yet, but I'm still waiting to hear back from two places that seemed promising at first.  Honestly, I don't know what will happen with either of them, but I'm still trying to keep my options open.  Hopefully I'll hear something from one of them by next week, but who knows.  Honestly, I didn't think I would be on the job hunt again so soon.  I've also never applied for summer jobs before, so most of the application deadlines for opportunities in my area have been closed since mid-March.  It's actually more stressful than my projects.  The good news is that the after school program goes until mid-June, so I have some time left, but not much.  I'm praying for some much-needed beach time, so fingers crossed.
    As for TV reviews, they're very similar to last week.  Heads up for some SPOILERS...

  The Amazing Race brought the laughs this weekend with the Globetrotters attempting to ride the smallest donkey's in Italy.  Or maybe they just looked tiny underneath Big Easy?  Needless to say it was another frustrating week for me, being a fan of the Globetrotters.  I didn't like that they went home, but I have to say I can't really defend them this week.  They've been having trouble reading the directions on their road block cards...or maybe just with common sense.  Besides screaming at my television every time the Globetrotters were on screen, it was a decent episode.  I didn't like that Brenchel won again, but I have to give Rachel props on her calligraphy skills.  Is it sad that that road block was one of my favorites?  I would've loved to have taken that one on, but alas, I don't think my dad and I will ever make it to the Amazing Race.  I can still dream though.

  Once Upon a Time answered some questions for us this time around.  We finally found out what Zelena is planning to do with all her body parts, why she wants to go back in time and who's brain she needs.  How she plans on getting it is a whole other story...and it's probably not pretty.  You know what else wasn't pretty?  Rumple and Zelena's make-out session...EW.  There was a time when I thought any romanticism with Rumple would've been gross, but I'd give anything for Brumple to be whole again, without Zelena.  She's becoming an annoying wicked thorn in everyone's side, so I hope her demise is quick and painful.  My favorite person from this week was definitely Regina.  With her acting brave and working hard to help everyone, it's obvious that she's turned over a new leaf.  Also, her kiss with Robin was AMAZING! (and so over due).  Needless to say I can't wait to see what next week has to offer.  Especially with Hook being so shady, now that he's pissed about the curse.  Still hoping for a Emma/Hook ship to happen!

  Game of Thrones was also great this week.  I don't think I'm the only one who loves the dynamic between Arya and The Hound.  It won't last, but I like that they hinted at Bravos as a potential ending point.  I would like to know what Baelish wants to do with Sansa, but honestly I think she's safer with him.  I wouldn't want to go back to King's Landing under any circumstances, even to save poor Tyrion.  I definitely don't think he'll die, but his dialogue with Podrick was so moving!  He really is the best squire ever.  We're still not sure who actually killed Joffrey, but at this point I'm just glad he's dead.  Obviously, if you've read the books, you do know who killed him, but I haven't gotten that far yet, so I think we'll find out soon.  Another one of my favorite relationships is the one between Daenarys and Daario, who proved he was as badass as he claimed to be this week.  From the look in her eyes at the end of that miserable excuse for a showdown, she likes what she sees.  I'd ship them.  There were a lot of things I didn't like about this episode though: Sam sending Gilly to that nasty brothel, Jaimie raping his sister near their dead son's body, (c'mon man, even Cersei wouldn't do that...), and those damn cannibals killing and eating everyone.  Poor Stanis doesn't have a leg to stand on anymore, so I don't know why they even bothered giving him a two minute scene.  Who knows what will happen next week, but from the looks of things it's going to be good.

    I'd like to take this opportunity to mention something I'd like to start for the summer.  I'll be reopening my book reviews page and starting a summer reading list.  Now that I'll have more time to read, I can keep you guys updated on my progress and what books I'm reading through my GoodReads page, which has become severely neglected since I started classes.  I'm not sure about how much time I will give myself to read each book, but I don't really believe anyone should put a limit on reading time, so I think we'll leave that up to chance.  I will be reviewing each book once I finish them, so be on the lookout for which book I will start reading first, starting as soon as I finish all my projects.
    That's all for reviews this week.  I think it would be good for me and all the work I have to do to take a break next week, so unless something ridiculous or miraculous happens, there won't be a blog.  Sometimes you need to take a break in order to get stuff done, so that's what I'll be doing.  I'll have my recaps and reviews of next week's shows and hopefully more interesting information regarding my life for May 8th.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Oh, and this...

Sorry Not Sorry

    Hey guys, I understand that it's Friday and I missed yesterday's post.  Just be thankful that I'm here because I was considering not posting at all after the week I've had...  Early mornings, long days and late nights coupled with papers, unit plans and watching elementary school children every day has made me hate the world at this point.  Let's just say I'm glad next week is April Vacation.

    With less than two weeks left until the end of the semester, things are looking pretty tight.  I finished my case study, but now have to revise it, on top of the already scheduled term paper due at the end of finals week.  I also have to finish leading the discussion we were supposed to have Wednesday, but because of case study work shopping, it got pushed back.  In my other class, I just finished up my gaming and literacy unit with my friend Jess, so that's one less thing I have to worry about.  We still have a multimodal reflection due by May 1st as well as a unit plan due by the end of the semester, so I have to get cracking on those.  I was supposed to revise and resubmit my interview research paper, but I really don't think that's going to happen.  With everything else I have on my plate, I may barely scrape by with what I have to do now.  As for my new job, I now have to create three lesson plans for them and have them in by Monday.  I've resigned myself to a few facts: I can't be great at everything I do, I have to make sacrifices to stay sane, and I can't keep stressing about everything.  Hopefully I'll get a good chunk of work done while I don't have to see my kids next week until Friday, but we'll see.
    As I've been pretty swamped, I managed to finish all the TV shows I usually watch that were on this week so far by last night, so I could talk about them today in my reviews.  SPOILERS AHEAD...

    The Amazing Race was great last weekend solely because of the change in scenery.  The only part I found difficult to watch was when the Globe Trotters were at the Spanish Steps and were trying to count them and write the number down, but they forgot to do it in Roman numerals.  He never thought to check the Road Block instructions to see if maybe he was doing something else wrong besides guessing the wrong number.  The other groups seemed to fare well in all of the challenges and no one really stood out to me as doing a brilliant job, mostly because everyone caved and got help from some locals, or even tourists, (which is sad really, when you think about it).  Even the team who went home weren't really that exciting to me, so I'm still waiting for Brenchel to disappear...  Hopefully next week will be more exciting because I just wasn't feeling the vibes this week.

    Once Upon a Time, however, turned up the volume on some stuff this weekend.  I loved seeing more of Hook because, let's face it, he's dreamy in an evil kind of way, (IE: the best kind).  His tangled past with Ariel was a good back story to add to the betrayal Zelena pulled at the end.  Now Hook can't have Emma or tell her the truth without hurting everyone she loves, which right now doesn't really include him.  Sure, she cares about him, but she doesn't love him...at least not yet.  So I'm thinking he's going to go back to keeping his distance from her so that he doesn't ruin her chances of beating Zelena.  He may even take Smee's offer to go back to pirating, just to get away.  Who knows, but I hope he doesn't just sulk in a lonely corner at Granny's blaming himself for everything that goes wrong from in on out.  I also loved seeing Snow and Charming trying to be "cool grandparents" to Henry, even though he doesn't remember them that way.  Driving the truck through town probably wasn't the best idea, but I don't think anyone really cared that much, (except Regina...oops).  Can't wait for Sunday's episode!  I'm hoping we finally found out what else Zelena needs for her spell.  There's also talk of a Frozen crossover involving Kristin Bell, so that might be interesting, (although it seems like Frozen is taking over every aspect of our lives as human beings at this point...).

    Game of Thrones was the big one this weekend with the Purple Wedding shenanigans.  Everyone was talking about it so much that the spoiler disputes made the news.  Luckily, now there's an app for that.  Needless to say we all really wanted that ending to happen, but Joffrey's death wasn't the only embarrassingly disgusting thing that happened.  Joffrey's treatment of Tyrion made me and my husband cringe through that entire scene, so I can't imagine how everyone else felt watching that humiliation unfold.  I felt bad for Tyrion, but I also knew what was coming, so I knew he would get retribution for his mistreatment.  The big question still remains: who really killed Joffrey?  I have only read the first book so far, (my funds and time are both severely limited), so those who read know the truth, but luckily I haven't heard any spoilers for that yet.  Everyone has their own theory and they all seem valid, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.  I think we'll find out sooner rather than later, but my money is on Cersei.  She who blames the imp must be guilty of foul play!

    Agents of Shield didn't really impress me this week.  I liked seeing Patton Oswalt in the cast, but the fake Ward act meshing with the "real" Ward is already starting to bug me.  The saddest part was when Coulson was giving up his badge, telling everyone that it "means something."  It's disheartening to know that they don't have anywhere else to really go at this point, and now Ward is on his way to them.  Hopefully everything works out, but as of right now everything is up in the air.  I am curious to see what Ms. Flowers ends up doing with all of that technology they gave her.  She could just as easily turn on Hydra and use the stuff to enact her revenge for their lies, but she could also genuinely be on their side now, so who knows?  Her character confuses me the most, so I'd like to see her become more developed.  I'm excited to see Cobie Smulders reprise her role as Agent Hill in an upcoming episode.  Also, can we just ship Fitzsimmons already?  This petty back-and-forth is getting old.
    Something cool that also happened this week occurred during the MTV Movie Awards, in which they showed a TV spot featuring the TMNT with none other than SPLINTER in some very brief new footage, added to the already released trailer.  There were flashes of Raphael pushing a guy out of his way with just a forearm and Splinter from behind, adding a new voice-over to the action.  Mikey also apparently has his rocket skateboard back, so that should be cool.  I CAN'T EVEN.  Let me know what you think of the spot below!

    Welp, that's all folks.  As I stated above, I'm extremely tired and severely drained from this week, so I didn't really enjoy anything I watched, besides maybe GOT.  Hopefully this weekend will give me the much-needed rest and recuperation I need to re-energize before next week starts.  I have some fun things planned for this weekend, including a Harry Potter night with one of my favorite Phi Mu's and some Easter family time.  I'll be baking my brownies for a second time in order to contribute to the dessert feast, so they should go over well if they come out like they did last time.  Easter for Italians is basically like the Spring equivalent of Christmas dinner, so it should be a good time!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Nerd Alert

    Welcome back to Thursday!  I can't believe it's been a full week already, but I guess time seems to move a lot faster towards the end of the semester.  As you probably could've guessed, I've been neck-deep in readings and writing assignments for both of my classes with even more on the way.  Not to mention I may be taking on more responsibility at work, meaning more hours for me, but less for subbing.  In fact, I will most likely have to give up substituting all together, seeing as I won't be able to return next year.  It's bittersweet because I love those kids and I will miss them terribly, but I will probably see them again.  They were the ones who made teaching fun for me, so I owe them a lot, including the credit for how I teach in the future.  I'm currently trying to get in to two different summer camp opportunities, one right in town, so if both of those fail, I have a few back-up options available.  Hopefully something works out because I definitely need some sort of summer job.
    As promised, I have almost a full week of reviews lined up from the latest batch of shows and I'm ready to get started!  If you don't know by now that there are SPOILERS ahead, you don't deserve the ability to read.

    1. Once Upon a Time this past Sunday was very informative.  We got to learn a little more about the witch, where she came from and how she fit into the Oz story line.  What I wasn't expecting was the reasoning for her skin condition, ("green with envy" seemed a bit too cliche for my taste, but that's just me...), and the fact that Walsh, Emma's ex-fiance, was once the Great and Powerful Oz before being turned into a flying monkey by the vengeful Zelena.  I am curious about how Charming's courage and Regina's heart will play into Zelena's secret spell, as well as where she will ultimately find the brain she undoubtedly needs.  My money is on Rumple, but obviously anything goes now, so we'll just have to wait and see.  Where will Zelena find the brain she needs for her spell?  Will Regina finally let the the people ship Robina?  WHY does the witch still want Snow's baby?  Sound off in the comments below.

    2. Game of Thrones premiered this past Sunday as well, but I only watched it yesterday.  I have to say, it didn't wow me, but it did provide the perfect transition into the new season.  The recap was surprisingly tame with hints of the slaughter at the Red Wedding.  We haven't gotten a close up of those traitors yet, so who knows what'll happen to them.  My guess is nothing, so long as the Lanisters remain in power and no one stands to oppose them.  There is also a wedding on the rise as Joffrey and Margaery Tyrell prepare to tie the knot, (possibly physically as well as figuratively...hopefully).  We all see how this could potentially be his undoing, but we'll see if this minx can sink her claws into him.  I have a feeling that they're both going to be around for a while, so get comfortable with that.  I'm glad we got to see a little more of Jon Snow's dark side, coming back from the wildling ambush last season.  He's bitter and hopeless, exactly what you want to fight a raid of wild people and some frozen zombies headed your way.  He seems a lot stronger, now that he has no need to worry about what might be left of his family.  I'm sure he'd be mighty proud of Arya if he saw her now, but who knows if we'll ever get that tearful reunion, (I would sob).  I hope they build her character into the warrior she should be because she's probably my favorite character of this entire show.  I know she makes it pretty far, so we'll see.  What do you think will happen to Sansa?  Or Shae, for that matter?  How about the sudden repulsion from sexual contact by more than one couple?

    3. Bones this week impressed me greatly.  I don't usually talk about Bones, but it has been one of my Monday night shows for a very long time.  The scenario was that a murdered woman worked at a cannabis dispensary, growing her own super-medicinal strain on the side for terminally ill patients.  This woman also had Lupus, which is something I've struggled with for the majority of my life.  These two facts bring together some legal and moral issues that I don't think any show has tackled so far.  They are very touchy subjects with very little positive messages attached.  There is minimal research and known treatments for Lupus, so having cannabis provide the relief not only for the terminally ill, like Wendell, who came back for this episode after starting chemotherapy, (I cried seeing him because I love his character so much!), was great to see.  This episode brought to light some issues regarding holistic cancer treatments and the legal use of cannabis as a medicinal aid for joint pain and other maladies associated with Lupus and other chronic illnesses.  It just made me really happy to see those issues addressed in a public forum, even if it was a television show.  Best episode of the season so far!

    4. Agents of Shield brought the WOW factor this week, as we come back from watching Captain America: Winter Soldier.  The events of this episode coincide directly with the events of the movie; everything is happening all at once.  If you didn't get to see the movie before Tuesday, you may have been totally lost, but it was still an eye-opener to be sure.  We see S.H.I.E.L.D. overrun with Hydra forces, allowing two of Coulson's close friends to become moles within his team.  We didn't get to see who the Clairvoyant was until the end, but I had an immediate feeling that Agent Hand, although a huge bitch, was not the bad guy.  She would've been too obvious!  I think the fact that it was Coulson's friend Garrett made it even harder for him to take, considering all they had been through together up until that point.  Garrett gave absolutely no sympathy, but was promptly arrested and taken into custody by Hand and Ward, who forced himself into that situation by claiming he needed to take revenge on his role model.  Needless to say I wasn't surprised when Ward pulled the trigger on everyone but Garrett.  I'm disappointed with Ward, after all he did for Skye and Coulson, to turn on them like that.  I have a feeling that he will switch sides again by the end of the season, but we'll see.  Where do they go from here?  Will FitzSimmons EVER become a thing?  Will Simmons's dark, handsome friend be joining the team now that Ward has defected?  You can't trust anyone...

    Those are all the reviews I have for this week.  If there is a particular show that you'd like me to check out, (if I haven't already), let me know in the comments below.  At the moment, I'm creating a unit to teach to one of my classes next week on gaming and identity practices using RPGs.  It's been an interesting ride so far and I've learned a lot about my own game play decisions.  We'll be using Skyrim, Balder's Gate and Pokemon as references.  I'm pretty excited about this lesson and hope that it'll shed some light on different teaching ideas when combating similar situation in an English setting.  I'll also be completing a close-read of a public figure for my Friday class blog post this week.  I think I'm going to do Tyler Oakley, seeing as he's the most spread out over social media.  I'll be looking closely at how Tyler portrays himself in public as well as through his various social media outlets in order to gain a deeper look into his true persona.  All of the work I'm doing right now in my classes is super fun and imaginative, so I highly recommend going to grad school if you have the chance.  I never thought I'd get this much agency into what I learn about and how I learn it, even though it can be difficult at times, (seriously, when is school not difficult?), I've enjoyed every minute of this experience and don't regret a thing.  I'm looking forward to May and the teacher I will become next year.
    Speaking of teaching, I've reconnected with my advisor and I've been set up with a few prospective teachers in different areas who haven't been placed yet.  First stop is a high school, which isn't really where I thought I'd be, but at this point, I'll take it.  I may very well end up in an eighth grade classroom, but for now I can't be picky.  I'll keep you all updated on how that's going and as soon as I know my placement I'll be shouting it from the rooftops.  Until then, I just have to keep trucking on this reading assignment.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Changes

    Hello all!  As you might have noticed, I didn't post on Tuesday this week.  This was slightly because of pure laziness, but as I was debating whether or not to post at 11:30pm I realized that maybe I shouldn't.  Maybe I should post once a week instead of twice.  So I've decided to limit my blog posts to just Thursdays because of my lack of interesting educational content and the fact that my semester is ending, so my work load will only increase.  Plus, by Thursday I would've watched all my important shows so I can talk more about them.  So basically what I'm saying is that I'm downgrading for now.  Hopefully this summer I can update and expand my book list to include more reviews.

    I haven't really been up to much lately, just getting caught up in my work and praying that this last month of school goes by quickly.  As I have mentioned before, I started my new job on Monday and even though the weather was a bit dreary it was still fun.  I can't wait to go back tomorrow and I can't wait until May when I can be promoted to Site Director at a different location.  More hours and more money would make me very happy!  I also have another interview next Tuesday with the summer camp in this area, so hopefully I will come out of it with a summer job as well.  I'm feeling really good about this opportunity and getting to work with children is a lot more fun than retail, so I'll take it!

    Speaking of working with children, I've been working one-on-one with one kid in particular for a case study I'm doing in one of my courses, of which I'm supposed to be working on right now.  She goes to my local school where I substitute and she's one of my favorite kids.  I've made a good impression on the eighth grade class and I'm glad they know me and think that I'm the coolest sub ever.  It makes me feel great to know that they look forward to seeing me.  The kids at my local school have made such an impact on me and my outlook on teaching, so I don't know where I would be without them.  The case study has been a complete success and I'm going to be really sad when I don't get to see them anymore next year when I'm doing my internship.

    As for television this week, (from Sunday onward), I have a lot to review, so SPOILERS ahead...  First up is The Amazing Race, in which after all that hard work pushing the blonde country singers down to last place, it was a non-elimination round, (DAMN you Phil!).  It seems as though every time there's a team that should obviously go home or really needs to go home they do not go home.  First they saved Team "Brenchel,"which was a travesty, and now this.  All I know is that I hope the Globetrotters make it to the end because they are literally the best part of this show so far.  I am happy about their upcoming trip to Italy though.  Finally, somewhere that's not a third-world country!

    Next is Once Upon a Time, and BOY was it a doozy...  I mean really?  Did you HAVE to kill off Neal?  I understand the concept of "a life for a life" but WHY does it always have to be Rumple or Neal?!?  I'm betting that they will bring him back somehow, (probably another death...), but where and when I cannot say.  I just know that without that event, this episode probably would've been pretty boring.  Although I do like the relationship between Regina and Robin now that she finally realized he's her OTP.  Again, not sure when that will end up actually happening, but I'm looking forward to it.  Next OTP should definitely be Emma and Hook, now that Neal is dead.  I'm predicting some vulnerable consoling to happen within the next two episodes.

    How I Met Your Mother finally ended on Monday and there were mixed reviews on the ending.  It was bittersweet to see it end and you could tell that at times the actors were not acting when addressing their feelings about leaving each other.  There were a lot of tears shed by me that night.  My opinion of the finale was that it was good.  It filled in the holes and closed all the gaps that we needed to see closed.  I think everyone hoped a little on the inside that Ted and Robin would end up together, but it just seemed impossible.  Looking back, I would have noticed that this whole story was about Robin, but it took until Ted's kids noticed it for me to really think about it.  Although the mother was an important character, (as in no one would've been where they are now without her), and she made Ted happy, Robin was really the main lady in his life.  I had a feeling it should end the way it did when she panicked about the locket, but like everyone else, I knew she would marry Barney and be "Aunt Robin," so I didn't think anything of it.  But in the back of my mind I thought, that's strange, it feels wrong for her to not be with Ted right now...  I guess I should have seen it from then on, but I wasn't disappointed with the finale at all.  Also, if you didn't cry when Barney held his daughter for the first time then YOU HAVE NO SOUL.  I'm just sad it's over and they're trying to do it again with different people.  We'll see how that goes.

    Lastly, Agents of Shield was very interesting this week as we see Agent May get caught up in some drama.  I also had a bad feeling about the other lady at The Hub with red bits in her hair, (her name escapes me, but it's bad news bears).  I think she'll play some sort of role with compromising S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America, but we'll have to wait and see.  I don't know how I feel about Skye and Ward either...maybe it's the age difference?  Ward and May looked even worse together, so I'll give it a shot, (if it even happens).  Deathlok's character is getting really intense too.  What did they do to him?  It doesn't sound like he's doing these things against his will anymore, so who knows who he's working for and what made him change.  Coulson went crazy in this episode and understandably so; he's paranoid about everyone knowing things that he doesn't.  I wish someone, (mainly May), would give the poor guy some answers!  The "clairvoyant" didn't help either, (can you say creepy?).  I'm curious to see how this episode will play into Winter Soldier and also next week after it happens.

    That's all I have for this week.  As for Winter Soldier, I'll be seeing it this weekend with some friends and I cannot be more excited!  I'm looking forward to expanding my knowledge of the Marvel cinematic universe and I'm also excited to potentially see another trailer for the TMNT.  To prepare ourselves, my husband and I are having a Marvel Movie Marathon, (say that five times fast), starting today to lead up to Saturday night.  Everything from Iron Man to The Hulk to The Avengers will be watched.  Another exciting thing happening this weekend is Game of Thrones is FINALLY BACK and I can't even watch it because I don't have HBO, but I will find a way!  Hopefully I haven't forgotten what happened last season already, but I don't feel like watching the Red Wedding again, so I'll deal with the recap that's bound to come before.  Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and I'll talk to you again next Thursday!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Burn Out

    Welcome to Thursday everyone!  I really could use a weekend right about now, so I'm glad it's finally here.  Not to do fun, exciting things one would normally do on a weekend, but mostly to catch up and finish/start all the work I have to do by next week...

    For starters, I have not one, but TWO heavy-duty revisions to do, one of which is due by tomorrow, so I better hustle.  I also have a rough draft of my 10-page case study due Wednesday as well as a proposal for a unit plan due next week as well.  On top of all that, I still have to read another book before Wednesday and stuff to get done for my new job, (testing, fingerprints, etc.).  I felt so overwhelmed yesterday I thought I might cry, but I stuck it out.  Meanwhile, my body decided to play a cruel trick on me and make me feel like I got hit by a car...  Needless to say it wasn't the best time for a flare, but I feel better today, thankfully, and hopefully it won't come back anytime soon.

    That being said, I had a lot of fun filling out paperwork today for my new job, (that's funny, isn't it? "Fun" and "paperwork" in the same sentence...)  I have no doubt that my new superiors as well as the other staff members are really fun, caring and genuinely good people.  I was even reunited with one of my old friends from summer camp, who now runs the local branch summer camp.  Hopefully we'll be working together this summer because I'd really love a chance to get back into summer camp, even if it's only day camp.  I have no idea what I would do, whether I would just be a basic counselor, or if I could potentially fit into one of the program areas.  I was thinking about my strengths and realized that camp really isn't a good place for reading or writing, it's more about the outdoor activities.  I think since I've already done recreation that I would be good at that, but I'd like to try something new, (but relatively easy), like arts and crafts or drama, something I might be good at but have little to no experience in.  We'll see, but I hope my summer is just as fun as my new job should be!
    All the work I've been doing has kept me pretty busy, but at least it's mostly good news.  Unfortunately, that means I really don't have a lot to report on today...  I didn't get to meet with my favorite focus child this week, some of my shows weren't on or I haven't gotten to them yet, (like Arrow, which I heard was really good), and it's just been a really hectic week.  I did, however, learn about a premier of the first trailer for the new TMNT movie coming out this August, (SQUEEE), so I've linked that video below.  I can't tell just yet whether or not it'll be great from a TMNT fandom standpoint, but I do know that I'm really excited about it!  Even if it might be bad, I HAVE to see it.

    That's it for me.  Time to get cracking on some stuff before I run out of time.  I'll be posting another blog post tomorrow about a lesson on cyber-bullying we did in class today and Tuesday.  That will be in my ENGL 889 tab, so look out for that!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

The Dark Days Are Over

    Happy Tuesday everyone!  I'm very pleased to announce that after last week's depressing post I have good news!  Although I've still been sick and it's not all happy-fun-town over here, I'm really glad things are finally starting to look up and get better, (hopefully).

    The first big thing is that I FINALLY got a call back from the coordinator at the YMCA and they officially offered me the job as a Group Leader!  I will be employed as of Thursday after signing all the necessary paperwork.  I'm excited and glad to be starting a new chapter in my work life outside of retail and, even though the money is not terribly great, I know I'll be a lot happier and a lot less stressed here than I would be anywhere else.  I've always wanted to use my educational degree towards my job and now I get to do that.  It won't be a lot of time, just two days a week, which may or may not kill our finances and drive my husband crazy, but I'm hoping that I can grow with this company and next year move up to a higher paid position for more hours.  I'll just be glad to get out of the house and play with kids after school!  I'm super pumped and I can sort-of relax for now.
    Speaking of my husband, I do feel bad about not pulling my weight around here.  It's not that he minds, but I can see how much pressure he's under to provide for us while I've been out of work and I just wanted to take the time to let him know how much I appreciate all of the support he's given me during this difficult time and all the praise he's given me for sticking to it.  I have no idea what I would do without him pushing me and reassuring me that everything will be alright.  He has been the absolute best and I hope that someday I can repay him for all the kindness he's shown me, but for now I just love him unconditionally like any wife would.  I love you Bear:)

    Ok, so moving on out of Sapville, I also have some not-so-good news regarding my internship.  For the past two months I've been visiting and observing teachers in their natural habitat, looking for a classroom to call my own for next year.  It felt a lot like The Bachelor in the sense that I was seeing all these potential matches and looking for one to give my final rose to, not knowing how the other teachers felt about me.  Well, it looks like I won't be proposing to anyone yet...  Out of the three top teachers I chose to move forward with, NONE of them wanted to pursue a relationship with me.  So I'm back to square one, scratching my list and waiting to hear from the internship coordinator about my options.  I have no idea who is left to chose from, or if I'll be outsourced to a completely different school district, but I'm so over this process that I just want to be done with it.  I spent all that time for nothing and now I don't even know where I'll be.  I don't know if anyone will like me, but this time around I will probably do things a little differently.  Before I was focusing more on the relationship between me and the teacher and I should have been focusing on what age group I prefer and the area I'd like to be in.  I need to put more of an emphasis on the educational aspects and less on the personal aspects in order to get a match and I feel bad that I ruined my chances with mostly everyone already...  Hopefully they can find me someone I'll enjoy spending a year with.  We shall see, but now I have to wait even longer, until the end of April, to find a match.  Wish me luck, I'm going to need it...

    That being said, I do have some TV reviews to get to, so strap on your spoiler helmet and let's get cracking.  First up is The Amazing Race!  I can't say I was sad to see Luke and his mother go, but they did alright.  I felt like it was their time to go and better now than further down the road when it gets even more difficult.  I think that for someone who is deaf they had a really great communication system, (only flawed by Luke's inability to keep his cool during certain situations).  Overall I feel bad for them, but my new favorite team is still in it!  The Globetrotters have made this race so much fun for everyone and they just keep bringing the smiles, so I hope they make it to the finale.  I would also love to see them get out of the third-world countries sometime in the near future, so hopefully that happens soon.

    Once Upon a Time was also new Sunday night and boy am I lost.  Rapunzel, although an important fairytale character, just felt kind of shoved in there and the whole thing with Zelena is getting weirder.  I was talking with someone last week about how Rumple is back and that must mean someone has his dagger, but I wasn't entirely sure.  Now it turns out that Zelena has it, but how did she get it?  Why is he spinning gold for her?  Where the hell did he go at the end of the episode?  Why does Zelena need David's courage sword thingy?  Where are all the flying monkeys being held?  What does Zelena want with Snow's baby?  WHAT'S GOING ON?!?  I'm just really confused now and this episode wasn't one of my favorites, but I'm sure the next one will answer at least one of my questions.  The whole scene with Regina and Henry was adorable, so I hope he gets his memories back before the end of the season, although I think they might need Rumple for that.  Who knows?  God knows I don't anymore.  This is really an interesting development.

    Finally, we're down to I think ONE episode left of How I Met Your Mother and I'M DYING.  We FINALLY get to see Barney and Robin's wedding and for a second I really though she would run away with Ted, but now Ted is a wise one and he talked her out of it.  Did anyone else think Robin looked stunning in her dress?!  Marshmallow and Lily pad made me cry a little, thinking about my own husband and how much like them we really are.  I'm sad we won't get to see little Daisy grow up like Marvin, but I'm glad things are getting settled.  I love how "the mother" has helped everyone in the group, (except Ted, obviously), find some balance in their own lives.  Hopefully I can keep it together next week for the finale...  All of this closure has to be bad for you, doesn't it?
    One last thing: there is a new trailer for X-Men: Days of Future's Past out now, so if you haven't seen it yet, the video is below.  Enjoy!  I know I did!

    That's it for today.  Along with my internship anxiety I also have about half a book to read, a four-page reflection to write and a couple revisions to spit out before the end of the week, so I'll be pretty busy by Thursday.  I'll be happy to start my new job soon and get back into the swing of things.  I'm not sure if I have a break in April, but I'm kind of hoping I do at this point.  After the semester I've had already, I can safely say I'll need a vacation ASAP.  If you have thoughts about this weeks TV recap, let me know in the comments below.  I'm nearing the end of my March photo challenge with the North East Blogger's Network, so if you're not following me on Instagram yet, now is the time.  Also, if you ever want to see me live-tweet The Amazing Race, I do every Sunday, so you can follow me there too.  All my links are up at the top!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Beware the Ides of March

    Hello again!  It's Thursday already and oh, how the tides have turned.  Tuesday I was filled with hope and happiness and today not so much.  A lot has happened and by now I've already been able to remedy some of my situation, but even I can't work miracles.
    First off, I've had a sinus migraine for the last two days, which would've been great if I were still on vacation and didn't have stuff to do.  For instance, the two revisions I have to do on the papers I passed in before vacation, which I thought would be fine.  I always think my work is satisfactory and when I miss the mark on something I get frustrated and disheartened.  Who wants to do a revision?  Nobody.  Then, to add to my disappointment, one of my prospective teachers for my internship contacted me to let me know she was no longer interested in working with me.  Now I only have two teachers left in my remaining intern pool and I'm hoping they don't crap out on me because I have no other options.  I'm starting to panic because the form is due by next week and I'm already down by one.  What's to stop the other two teachers from backing out on me too?  This whole situation has been awkward from the start and only makes me more anxious.  I just want this to be over and know where I'm going already.

    On top of all THAT, I was (mis)informed about my eligibility for financial aid and REALLY started to panic because of the amount of money I would need to pay for my internship.  Thankfully I fixed everything with the financial aid office and am covered for next year with at least half time status.  With my job situation still in limbo, it was hard for me to envision paying off a personal loan without any money coming in.  Speaking of jobs, I found out through my potential employer that one of my references, (my old boss), got transferred, so his contact information I had been giving to other potential employers was invalid, which caused a lot more problems for me than he did originally...  With ALL of that stuff having happened in the last few days, this weekend will be a welcome relief, at least for a little while.  I went from elated to struggling within 24 hours and it wasn't fun.  At this point, I've accepted the fact that revisions are a necessary part of school and shouldn't be viewed as a punishment.  The fact that I don't have a particular due date helps too.  I'm in a much more positive mood now that I've assessed my situation and applied the necessary patchwork solutions for now.  You wouldn't think my life would be this hectic and stressful without a job to burden me even more.

Hidden Harley Quinn foreshadowing?

    All of that aside, I have two new television reviews for you this time.  As some of you might remember, I believe I've mentioned the fact that I watch Arrow on the CW every Thursday, (because it airs on Wednesday and I watch everything on Hulu Plus).  It's really one of the only good shows on that channel, which is frequently plagued by good-looking murderous teens who always seem to end up at a dark club.  Anyway, Arrow follows a traditional DC comic book storyline about a green-hooded vigilante figure protecting his city from injustice.  If you've been following the series, you should be caught up to what I'm about to say about this week's episode.  If you aren't, then I suggest you should start from the beginning, especially if you're looking for a new show to watch.  Watch out for these spoilers!  We left off with Oliver agonizing over the realization of Slade being alive and ready to kill his entire family, but we don't really focus on that in this episode.  It was all about the Suicide Squad, (another DC reference).  Including Diggle and his ex-wife/lover, (weird), there are also con men involved in this team of ruffians.  They end up dealing with an old terrorist "ally" of Diggles when they find out he's harboring some sort of chemical weapon that I'm still unsure about.  The whole story line was great, but the best part, by far, was one scene in the base where we hear one sentence uttered by what we can only assume is the Harley Quinn, judging by her very familiar tone.  Although it may just be a one-time gig for my favorite DC villain, there's always potential in these shows, so we'll see.

    The other show I watched tonight was The 100, which premiered its pilot episode this week.  According to the description and from what I gathered from the show, it centers on a small cluster of humans on a space shuttle almost a hundred years after a nuclear disaster destroyed the Earth.  Obviously some people escaped to form this group and they are attempting to maintain the population to keep themselves alive for as long as they can, (or until they find a habitable planet).  Cue the imprisoned teens, 100 of them, sent to Earth to test the environment, because they're "expendable."  The range of their crimes vary from serious murders to mindless pranks to just having been born.  The teens touch down on Earth, not knowing what they'll encounter or how much radiation they'll be exposed to, but their reactions were priceless.  Even though the premise seems very "Hunger Games" like, there were a few issues I spotted.  One being the obviously pretty cast, although that doesn't hold true for everyone this time.  I do like the fact that one of the original April O'Neils from the 80s TMNT movies is one of the main characters.  Unrealistic attack sequences left me scratching my head, (why didn't she lose her leg in that monster's mouth?).  And the kids' rebellion screamed Lord of the Flies.  It's only the pilot, so I will keep watching because it seems interesting and very unnatural for the CW, but I'm hopeful for it's success.  If anyone else wants to sound off on this or on the developments in Arrow thus far, you can do so in the comments below.
    Well, sadly that's all I have for this week.  Like I said, I'm looking forward to this weekend because I actually have plans.  I have a baby shower on Saturday and dinner with family Sunday, so it should be a good time.  Hopefully I'll have more good news by next week, but we'll see.  I'm getting tired of saying that and then coming up with nothing, so I won't be making any more promises.  I'm just going to enjoy the time I have to myself and keep looking forward.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.