You Could Resurrect A Thousand Words To Deceive Me

You know that awkward moment in a conversation when the other person used a word that you don't understand? Luckily (assumingly because I work with teenagers) that doesn't happen to me too often, but it could! I'm actually more likely to come across a new word in a book, or on TV (watch Dawson's Creek, its full of pretentious big words). So I signed up for a Word of the Day email and started a list of new words and their definitions.

I was pretty picky; I had to like the look and sound of the word, be able to pronounce it, and be a word I could actually potentially use. It was a cool learning experience, and I did add those words that I often struggle with (I could never remember what ubiquitous meant).

I don't know that I've managed to integrate all (or any) of those new words into my daily conversations; maybe that's a goal for my next list.

As I Recall I Think We Both Kinda Liked It

I felt like I was missing out on cultural references because I hadn't seen certain movies. I mean seriously, do you know how often Citizen Kane is referred to?? It's ridiculous. Just the other day, the guy on the radio was making a joke about Fast 6 and called it the Citizen Kane of 6th movies (it was the Edge, it's not exactly an intelligent station). And I'm pretty sure it's mentioned in Dawson's Creek at some point. So I felt like I wanted to be part of the crowd that actually understood all the references.

I still don't get all the Citizen Kane references though. It was an ok movie, ripe for analysis of symbolism. It must have been phenomenal when it was released because it didn't seem that spectacular now. But having seen it, I still feel like I'm missing the point. Maybe it's not so much the movie that people are always referring to, but the aura of it? The length of it, the awards it won? I don't know but at least I get the Rosebud references now =)

I also watched a Marilyn Munroe movie, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; it nicely matched the biography of her I read.

I also threw in Breakfast At Tiffany's (not that exciting sadly), Psycho (kinda fun, plus I get Bates references now), and Carrie (yea for pig blood!).

I feel a bit more cultured now!

The Colors Conflicted As The Flames Climbed Into The Clouds

There's a scene in Surviving Christmas where a slightly neurotic Ben Affleck writes down all the moments in his life that wronged him and burned the list as a way to let go. It seemed like a therapeutic idea (plus it came from a Christmas movie, it had to be legit).

So I made the list and pinned it to our clothesline and brought out the lighter.

 

While I don't think I've forgotten the things I wrote, it did have a certain cathartic effect. And it looked cool; I like watching fire =)

I felt bad that I charred the clothesline but the tree yanked it down in an ice storm last winter, so no one will ever know.

Swallow It Down, What A Jagged Little Pill

My original goal was to take an AQ purely out of interest and not just because it would look good on a resume. Although I've enjoyed the courses I have taken so far, I definitely chose them largely because they would help me get a job (hopefully). I wanted to take one because I wanted to, not because I should. I was eyeing the Outdoor Ed course, or maybe Guidance. But time (and mostly money) slipped away and the next thing I knew we were buying a house and I had a lot more important places to sink $700.

So I had to find a replacement goal that was somewhat similar. That was a challenge, until I stumbled upon Coursera. Tons and tons of free online courses through universities around the world. My new goal was born: take two courses that I could put on my resume. Two because it was a substitution and wasn't quite as valuable as an AQ. I realize that seems contradictory that the courses had to benefit my resume whereas the AQ was to be taken specifically not to. But I figured an AQ helps my resume no matter which one I take, whereas I could take Coursera courses that would be meaningless and ridiculous to put on my resume. It was my best attempt at something equivalent that I could afford.

I ended up choosing E-Learning and Digital Cultures, and Science from Superheroes to Global Warming, both of which I could easily link to teaching.

The technology course was short, only one assignment, and dealt basically with utopian and dystopian viewpoints of an evolving technological world. I figured the science course would give me ideas on how to better connect students with scientific information. It was a longer course with weekly quizzes, two assignments and a final exam. It got a bit overwhelming near the end, especially when all the house-buying stuff came up, so my effort dwindled in the last couple of weeks but I fared ok since it was basically science content for the non-science person.

Overall both courses were a good experience; I've already completed others and am signed up for a few more, including one on genetics and another on nutrition. I love that I can continue to learn about subjects that interest me. The website was a fabulous find.

I'm Stronger, Than I Ever Thought That I Could Be

Pushups are the devil. I'm pretty sure only really sadist exercisers truly enjoy them. But I can't deny that they are an excellent display of upper body strength, something I typically lack. So this 100 Pushups Challenge was indeed going to be a challenge.

Pushups remind me of the karate classes I took when I was younger. They remind me of military punishment. They do not make me think of having a good time.

The first day I had to do the test, to see where I was stating from. I tried to do them from my toes and squeaked out a pathetic 2 pushups. On my knees, I managed 17. So I would be doing the challenge with modified pushups. I was ok with that (at 187 lbs, I was ok with that). Nick was even going to do the challenge with me.

By the second day of week 5, I did 101 pushups. Not all at once, in smaller sets, but in my mind, it was goal accomplished right there. There was still another week to go, but to me, I had succeeded.

I did get through week 6 (I was actually surprised how quickly I progressed, but miss one day and it felt like you were back to square one). On the final test, I did two sets of 50 pushups, and that made me very happy.

A tougher goal for me, but I stuck to it and finished it.

Take Me Away, A Secret Place, A Sweet Excape

We went camping with some friends last weekend, and it seemed like the perfect setting to watch a sunset and a sunrise. Somehow the weather cooperated, and we had a beautiful evening/morning. The only part that wasn't so fun was getting up at 4:30am; I wanted to see the sunrise from complete darkness onward (I have no idea why).

The lake we were on wasn't quite perfect for sunset viewing, but Nick managed to find a decent spot for us, and we almost ended up in the same spot in the morning.

We were tired, and somewhat impatient, but we were paid off, especially in the morning with some amazing views, and I ended up about 15 ft away from a family of deer eating breakfast!

Time Is Going By So Much Faster Than I

I quite clearly have a thing for nostalgia, so a time capsule makes perfect sense. Although it was surprisingly a bit of a challenge to come up with ideas for a short term time capsule just for us. I only wanted to do about 5 years, basically to compare being at the end of living at this house to the end of our first mortgage term at our new house. Originally we thought we might only be buying a 5 year house, so it made more sense, but now I'm pretty sure we'll be at this house for longer than 5 years.

It seems that most time capsules are for much longer (like 50 years) and are intended for someone else to discover. I guess that makes sense, I just wanted to do something different. I spent a couple of months thinking about what I wanted in it and collecting things like a movie ticket and a gas receipt. With closing day coming up, I had to get it done ASAP. I finally pieced it all together and sealed it up.

And so we wait, until April 21, 2018.