Back from the dead...

Ok, so i've been really, REALLy bad about not posting. I used to post everyday and now, its not happening. Maybe because I use facebook now to do the daily stuff and honestly, school and masters have taken over my life. Yes, i have time to hangout and do nothing but blogging isn't something that comes in mind to get the stress out. lo siento...

so the past four weekends- its been nuts. 1st weekend in october- went to one of my girl's weddings. I lived with her junior year of college and even though we weren't the closest when we lived together, we've remained good friends all these years- even closer i think then we were back in college. I barely made it to the wedding since the traffic in marin was nuts and i came in running into the chapel while she was lining up. In classic 'me' style, i wore flip flops on the way there and decided i would change into heals there(since it was a good hour drive)... yea, i ran in without any shoes(gross...) and then put them on in the church. the people next to me were understanding and i saw my girl walk down the aisle...

the next weekend- went to mendicino- which was the highlight of my october. had an awesome time going hiking and going sea kayaking in the caves. i was going NUTS with all the thoughts of my masters future and what i want to do next year and it was stressing me out. that weekend, i did what I wanted to do and just got to relax and be with myself and do the things i love. it was a great mini-vacay and i definitely recommend it to anyone that needs it! :)

after that- went to OC- great weekend with my best friend and other people and just got to hang out and do some chill things. the sun was off/on but it just felt awesome to be back in so. cal and be with people that i love.

Then this last weekend- went to fresno where it was the big homecoming for my sister who hadn't been home since April. It was a big deal for that and my brother was home studying- but it was a nice get away and seeing my sister home was a special treat. We got to hang out, shop, and then take my mom's new car out for a spin- always good times.

Now, this week is Halloween- and yes, i'm being a scrooge in all terms- i'm not really going to dress up for my students- nor do i have plans... yes, on purpose. yes, i got invited to things and i've pretty much avoided all invitations... i'm planning on having a relaxing weekend at home filled with watching movies- yes, doing some masters work(boo) and then probably doing some hikes that I wanted to do. LOVE it...and no travel plans till thanksgiving- we'll see how i do. My masters program is pretty much kicking my butt right now since its the end of the quarter but i figure- work hard now and get it over with, right??

Ok, thats it from me- sorry i've been MIA- as always- life takes over. oh yes, i forgot- i was dating for a while but then the guy turned out to be a loser(same old story...)- so i was happy that i was on the dating scene again. I also have a 'crush' on a guy- but thats not gong to go anywhere just because of circumstances- but its always nice to flirt and just have fun in the dating game... me out- hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!(even though I won't be partaking in the festivities!)

caffeine detox

so for awhile, i've been really looking at my intake of diet soda(aka diet pepsi) and decided that enough is enough. people were starting to notice that I had a really bad habit and even i was seeing that a couple of hours without it, i was dying for it/needed the caffeine/started having withdrawals. i think the big motivator for me was that my brother, who I thought would never get off the juice- did it and I figured, you know what- if he did it- so can i... so i'm now on day 3... its rough. these last 3 days have been filled with headaches, tiredness, and some irritability but all in all, its not sooo rough as I thought it would be. I can't imagine what people with REAL issues have to go through to get 'sober' but this no caffeine thing is something else. I don't know how long it'll last but hopefully, one day at a time... we'll see...

school is going well- love all my classes so far. no real complaints. masters has now begun- i have really set myself up for a doozy this quarter with taking two classes instead of one- but hey, i figure, get it done and you'll be happier in the end, right? not excited- just looking forward to getting through to thanksgiving...blehh...

labor day is fast approaching too... so excited to get 3 full days off. i'm prepping so that I dont have to look at work AT ALL until I get back. I'm almost there...so excited and its only tuesday. i have one class already there... another class i just have to get the notes done- so i'm excited. such a welcome relief to all the work that i've been doing lately trying to be a better teacher- i've realized its overrated to a point- haha...

ok me out- i'll try to blog soon... :)

There is No Place like Home...

This weekend, right after school, i drove to my 'home'(at least one of my homes)... Fresno. Love Fresno as an oasis, remind me where I came from, and as always seeing my parents and my siblings is always fun. This time around we had guests and so we got to show around the city... including good 'ol Edison High. We all drove to Edison and were shocked at all the new buildings and the new quad. looked like a new school- also- a new track- no dirt...wtf... so yea, it was awesome to go and see that. we also went to my old house that I spent my majority of my childhood/college/etc and apparently there is a lot of construction going on- we don't want to ask to go in because I think it ruins what we remember...

other than that- it was a weekend of food also- i haven't ate soo much in one weekend as i did this one. went to BJ's pizza- had appetizers(spinich/artichoke dip), with my sandwich, and then shared not one, but TWO pazookies... including one that is giradelli chocolate pazooki WITH chocolate ice cream. went to campagnia- awesome food- then had prontas in the morning this morning. wtf-- gives me a stomach ache just thinking about it...

now, i'm fighting a cold... the havoc that teaching has done on my voice is now going toward a cold... so trying to rest and just take care of myself is very important..

hope everyone had a good weekend...

first day of school...

oh yes, today was the 1st day of school... so you're all probably wondering- what happened/how'd it go? it was aok... for the most part, it went well. my students seemed to amped up and mostly silent and my advanced classes are going to be fun. I really am laid back in advanced and its a welcome break after lunch to have 2 periods straight of 'good' kids. it makes the 2 periods after lunch a LOT faster and just more rewarding... so i was excited about that.

even though i downed probably a good 5-6 bottles worth of water- i still have a sore throat from talking too much. it happens each year and even though I know it happens and i do everything in my power to make it go away... it still happens. oh well. also, i wasn't used to being in work clothes and in work shoes. gone are the flip flops- and even though I have comfy work shoes- they still don't compare to flip flops or my sandles... oh well.

i'm exhausted today. I was going to do work but after a 1.5 hour meeting AFTER school today, i'm spent. I'm barely writing this already and i just don't have any brain cells to do something productive. thank god i made all my lesson plans ahead of time so that i can slack for a little bit...

other than that- life is good. i'm soo lucky to teach where i'm at and have a staff that is amazing all around. its also nice being a 'veteran' now and just knowing how things run. ok, going to rest up more and get ready for tomorrow...

Baby Mania...is it something in the water that I don't know about??

Lately, everyone and their mother is having a baby, pregnant, or in labor. I'm soo excited for all of them because I know that they are all going to be awesome parents and those kids are lucky to have them. I just feel like, whoa, what happened?? I was telling my friend this realization and she was like, um, we're at that age where people are having babies... its just that we've hit that cusp age range. That makes sense... before, it was a slew of weddings and now that I've gotten older, now its all about kids. Too bad I don't want them.

Yes, I'm a teacher and I don't want kids.

Most people when I tell them that say (1) oh, you'll change your mind when you find someone special, (2) you'll want them soon enough, (3) you'll change your mind once you get older. Um, I've pretty much had this thought for a good 5 years at least and I just don't see it happening anytime soon. Let me preface this whole thing... I love kids--OTHER people's kids. Love playing with them, love hanging out with them(to a point), and I think that I would make an excellent mom(and I've had MANY people tell me so)... I just don't want to give up my life for them- plain and simple.

Here are my main reasons for why I don't want kids:
(1) I've worked WAYYY too hard in my career- aka kicking ass in high school- college- grad school- etc. to give up my life for another person. Yes, I can go back- blah blah... I can always work, not raise a child(trust me, i've heard it all)... but yea, don't see the point of me even trying when I'm really going to give up my career aspirations/goals that i've known ALL my life

(2) Working in after school programs-- it really started to bother me that 99% of the parents that were there to pick up the child were moms. No dads. There was maybe 1 dad. I started wondering, um, if this is 50/50 partnership where the dad is supposed to do some of the work(and not all the moms were stay at home moms...)--where were the dads... bothered the shit out of me... I've heard soo many of my friends say, well the guy wants the baby--um, what changes for the guy really? he still will go to the job, but now, he comes home to kid/mom...versus just mom. Yes, his weekends are too booked... but who's life is really changed? oh yes, that would be the mom- not the dad...(unless you are doing the house husband thing- which I would consider if the offer is right- haha...)

(3) I've realized that I'm not a big fan of kids that are of elementary school age. I teach high school... there's a reason for it. I'm just not into kids that are about tattletaling, into more menial convos, or just going through the process of helping kids with homework that would bore me to tears. Again, let me preface again- I love hanging out with kids for a little bit, but I can't handle hanging out with this age group for a long period of time.

(4) I don't want to relive my childhood... I could go deeper but that would be another blog entry...

(5) I'm a traveler... always will be. It's hard to picture my life totting my kids around and being responsible for someone else. Yes, you can call me selfish- but honestly, I've met soo many couples/older folks that are in the same boat as I am and seriously have encouraged me to stick to my guns and just go with my gut.

(6) I don't have a romantized view of raising children. I think that a lot of couples go in thinking its going to be peachy keen and that everything will work out in the end. I don't have that view. Kids are expensive- they take a lot of work- and you give up your life for your kids(at least thats what you are supposed to do). I know that a lot of couples(not necessarily my friends) have kids because they are bored in their life and get pressure from their families to have children, and then think, why not? um, yea, good reason to have a kid...

Again, I LOVE KIDS and a lot of people might be pissed off that I wrote this entry but I figured I would explain myself a little coming from a girl that doesn't want kids. Especially coming from an indian girl- you should see the looks on aunties faces when I tell them(now I just don't tell them...)... If you are pregnant, just had a kid, or thinking about a kid- good for you. I'm going to be really excited for you- hell, i'll throw you an awesome baby shower. It's just not in the cards for me... I could go on, but yea, i figure that I'll just piss people off more so I'll stop- hope everyone had a good Monday and wish me luck on my 1st official day of school!! :)

Summer=Officially Over?!??!

So, I'm going to try to write more often on this since I miss writing and I need to get back in the work mode. I've been SUPER busy with orientation- it is now officially done! I had to talk to 400+ freshmen and memorize this speech that was somewhat complicated. Didn't memorize it word for word- but I think I got all the main points across to the best of my ability and I tried to read the audience so that I wouldn't bore them too much. I was lucky to have one of my other staff members help me out so it made it a LOTTT easier and not as crazy.

Other than that, school starts on Tuesday... um, I haven't worked on curriculum at ALL- don't have a syllabus done or even the first week planned out. I have everything 'done' but just not organized per se... thats why i have experience on me, right???? Plus, i'm actually getting textbooks the first day of school and that takes a good 15 minutes out of my period... i guess i just got lucky.

I'm looking forward to the new school year to some degree. Have an awesome schedule and just am comfortable at work now. Ok, well I figured I would just say hii and write a little so that I get into the habit. Hope everyone has a good weekend...

Yes, I'm Still Here...

I took a 2 month hiatus obviously. I didn't realize that people still check my blog until one of my friends told me yesterday- hey, what happened to your blog entries... oops. I've been doing the facebook thing and therefore, thought, hey, thats where people will read what I've been up to, right? I guess this is something that I still need to put up and need to work on- so I'm here- whoo hoo!

So what did I do? Well, the big thing is that I went to Peru for a good month with my friend, A*. We had an awesome time and we went with GAP adventures which is a big touring company. My friend recommended the company and I said- yea, know what- I'm going to try it. Had an awesome time with Contiki(another tour company) in Europe so why not try another? Me and A had an awesome 12 person group- we were the only two Americans- and then the rest were primarily from Great Britain, Austrailia(1), and then 2 from Canada. It was a trip filled with different climates, lots to see- and of course, Machhu Picchu. Amazing site and I recommend to all. The people in Peru are really nice(even though Costa Ricans by FAR are the friendliest I've met so far!) and the country is vast in its history of Inca history and nature in general.

I also did my annual California tour- going to Sacramento(for a school conference)- then to UC Santa Barbara to help a friend out with his leadership kids- then went to LA and then to my 'home'- San Diego. Its exhausting just typing it out but it was an awesome trip to see a lot of my friends and get to do a lot of things in a short amount of time.

Other than that, now I'm in school mode. Signed up for being one of the advisors for Freshmen Orientation(Link Crew) and now overwhelmed with all that has to be done. Why did I do this again? oh yea, cause I thought it would be fun. It is fun- just a lot of work- and talking to 450 freshmen- is a little scary... so we'll see how that goes. Tomorrow, its 80 students... so I'm starting slow. Just double the amount in my classes right? I can do this...

School starts the 17th-- whoo hoo(!) and then I have my masters class up in running(taking two classes and I think I'm going to pass out on the amount of work...thats double my usual load). SOOO yea, I'm trying to maintain my sanity, trying to enjoy my last minutes of summer vacation, and hopefully, just enjoy being back in the swing of things. I had an awesome summer, so I can't complain. I'll be on much more here on the blog ! :)