and the winner is . . .

okay, so maybe i complain about school. i might even dread the thought of driving down to class two times a day. hey and i am not even close to being thrilled about being in debt again. oh wait. i never got out of debt. well, now that the first semester is over i have had a chance to view how i came out at the end of one semester. and the verdict is in!!!! i still got it!!! three classes equals three A's. yep you read that correctly. i got strait A's!!

fine, i will quit bragging. yes the classes were easy. it helps that i took a biology class where the prof was not returning after this semester. he was a nice guy (interesting) but he didn't like the dept. micromanaging his time. can't really blame him. i wouldn't like someone looking over my shoulder at every turn. so for that class it was pretty easy to get an A as long as you went to class and actually listened to the lecture instead of playing around on facebook. as for my other science class all i had to do was go to class. seriously, there were no books to buy, no tests to take, and no really big projects to accomplish. just show up, teach a little lesson and go home with an A. the primary grade class actually did require me to do work. i had to read a book, do silly little assignments, and create a two week unit. it took some brain power.

so with one semester down i got one to go and a little bit of summer school to get out of the way. hopefully i will be able to maintain my stellar grades.

a shrinking family

six years ago i brought home a surprise gift for gianna. it was a budgie, or for those who do not purchase birds, a parakeet. it was a small yellow bird, rather unassuming. soon after that an explosion of animals in our home occurred. at one point we had two rabbits, five birds, and a large tank of fish. over time we have had birds and fish die. the rabbits have a new home, and once my pleko died the fish tank was simply too much work. so now we are back to having one bird. sundrop. who would have thought that we would come full circle and be back to where we all started. strange.
francis

smokey and sundrop

carmel

duster

azul

out of date

okay, so school has started, and i don't think i have to worry about looking like the old man on campus. unfortunately there is one thing that will make me stand out. i do not have a laptop. if i was a full time student then i would be issued a laptop as part of the tuition package, but i am not full time. i have been told that i don't need to have one as long as i have access to the internet. just the same i don't like being the odd man out.
being back in class is hard, but the anxiety of projects, paper, and tests isn't really the same. yes it does seem to loom on the horizon, but seeings that i have already been there and done that i am not really stressed out. as i was sitting in biology today there were people sitting around me talking about how they need to drop the class because it is too hard. gee whiz, it is only the second class and the first one was simply an intro!! oh well, it is kinda nice to not be panicked about what is to come.

school

well the ball is finally rolling for my return to that dreaded place that sucks up all the money a person owns. college. bleh.

i don't really want to go back. i guess i am in a catch 22. you see i don't really want to go back to school, but at the same time i have to go back to school if i want to pursue a job that interests me. okay so there are a few jobs out there that don't require me to go back to school, but i don't have the resources to go out and buy a 15,000 dollar fishing boat and start a guide service. tho it would be nice. and no andrew, i wouldn't hit the fish with a hammer, i would use my fish bat :)

aaaaaaanyway,

it looks like i will be attending Concordia University in St. Paul this fall. I have to make an appointment with an admissions counselor to get everything straightened out, but that shouldn't be too hard. then i get to deal with the juggling of schedules: school, work, family, me time. that will take some work. if i am lucky i can be done in a year. we will see. from then on the sky is the limit. will we stay or will be go, that is the million dollar question. shoot if i can get a job somewhere in the north woods of WI, then i can be a fishing guide in the summer.

yeah! that sounds good.

HEY!

i can dream can't i!!

ugh! i have to run to menards again!

so lately our home has been filled with these many phrases:
"look at my tree house!"
"ur building my tree house"
"i need to go up there"
"this is my slide"
"that's my tree house."

about three and a half weeks ago i received all the lumber from the marsh play house. as it sat in my garage i was excited to get moving on my project for two reasons:
1. i really wanted to build a tree house
2. i needed to get my garage back!!
so for the last few weeks i have slowly been constructing maya's (and someday brin's) tree house. i didn't get any plans to follow. i haven't drawn out any sketches. i simply got an idea in my head and started. so far things are moving along well, granted i haven't gotten to the roof just yet. so due to inquisitive minds and people who simply have a hard time visualizing my project i will give you some pics to show you what has been accomplished thus far.

and then there was one

i quit my job today. huntington that is. i can't say that i have quit very many jobs because it wasn't working out. there is a little disappointment since there were some kids i enjoyed working with, but that is about it. there comes a point when a person gets tired of not getting any hours scheduled and having absolutely no consistency. so based on that, i quit. end of story.

grass clippings

i know, i know. its been a really long time. well my response to that is that i have been tired for a really long time. after working in the retail world for about two months now, i have learned a few things. one: the turnover rate is unbelievable!! i think there have been at least 10 people that have left or been let go since i have been there. that is just crazy. two: the pay stinks. nuff said. three: i enjoy working in the back room. a lot of people complain about work, but i have found that i genuinly enjoy it. i get lots of exercise, i like being a person who "knows" whats going on in the place, and hey i get to leave work by 1:30 in the pm. (granted i start at 6 am) as i sit here and write about how i like my job, i must also admit that i am looking to get a new job as well. i have gone through the interview process at huntington (my other job) to take a position of assistant director for one of the centers. i think all the interviews went well, but i really don't know. i am in the waiting game right now. getting that position would be a lot of work, but it would allow me to pay the bills with a little more ease. i guess that is all i have. i haven't been on any big alaskan vacations lately so i can't comment on that. oh wait, i have never been on a big alaskan vacation anyway. ummm, i mowed the lawn today, that is always exciting. i get to go fishing next weekend so that is going to be fun. a bunch of guys sitting on a boat, catching fish, drinking a beverage of choice, getting sunburned. how great is that!! okay well i will end this dribble now. later

an array of interesting pictures with a little commentary

we got lots of snow in a weeks time at the end of february. the bummer is that once again i had snow blower issues and had to shovel. bleah.

maya's first big snowman!!

practice makes perfect.

the kitchen that maya got for her b-day. apparently you can cook eggs in the dish storage area!

job progress

it has been a long and sometimes painful job search, but it is over for now. i was offered and accepted a position at ------- today. it isn't the highest paying job, but i did push them for more pay and they gave me an extra .75 per hour. i think i am going to get about 30 hrs a week there so combine that with huntington i should be right around 40 hrs. (at least i hope so) i will be working in the shipping and receiving for part of the day and then moving to the furniture department to finish my shift. the only real bummer is that it starts at 6 am. so i am off to experience my first retail job. who knows maybe they will really like me and what to promote me to a manager spot. best of all i get an employee discount now!! i bet it works at -------- too!!

job update

well, the job search hasn't been all that much fun but i am making progress. i have an interview on monday with huntington learning center. it is a tutoring establishment. it would only be part time, but i don't know what part time means. i could end up working 30 hrs a week, who knows. at least it is a start and i am still doing something in the world of teaching, which is where i feel most confident.

almost done

well i have two days left of my current job. i don't really have any feelings one way or the other about this job being done. the only thing that is a bummer is that i have to find a new job. there are plenty of jobs out there, so i simply need to make up my mind and decide what to do. i do know that i am going to go back to school either this summer or this fall (or both). if i want be able to teach the subject area that interests me the most then i need to change my teaching license. it shouldn't be too hard.
on friday the office is buying lunch for everyone in my honor. its nice of them but at the same i am being kicked out on friday. i have a few things that i though would be nice if i could wrap them up, but i was told to leave it for someone else. oh well, not my problem i guess. it kinda makes me lose any motivation to work hard these last few days. i mean come on, what are they gunna do, fire me.

new toy!!

there aren't a whole lot of things that i purchase that get me really excited. once in a while this does happen, as it did this week. using xmas money that i got this year i researched and decided to purchase a fish finder. i was able to find a handheld portable fish finder, made by norcross, that fit within my budget. i know it isn't as fancy as a hummingbird or eagle brand, but i think it will do the job for me. a nice feature is the fact that the transducer comes with a float so you can use it anywhere!! if you don't have a boat no problem. i am so excited to try out my new gadget that i am willing to go ice fishing. that is huge.

a rant on interviews

i have decided that with today's technology the current practice of applying for jobs and interviewing for jobs sucks. it has been my experience in applying for jobs that you have to apply for jobs on the internet. this if fine and dandy and doesn't consume too much time, but it is flawed. the problem is that once you click the magical button that says apply there is nothing more you can do. websites will even put a disclaimer on their website that states you are not to contact them. how in the world are you supposed to even know if they read your application!!! kinda annoying if you ask me. as for interviews, this is even more frustrating. how often do you have an interview (think it was a good one) and then never hear anything back. granted a "thanks but no thanks" letter will eventually come in the mail, but sometimes you don't even get that. for example, i interviewed for a job a year and a half ago and thought i did pretty good. i didn't get hired. no big deal, there could have been any number of reasons for it. okay, so a week ago i applied with the same company again (its been 1.5 yrs later) and thought i had a good shot at it since i have a friend working there and i applied three days after the position was posted. i come to find out that i will not even be considered for the position because i didn't pass the phone interview a year and a half ago! talk about being pissed off. i could have spared myself the time and energy with even applying. if it wasn't for my friend on the inside who looked into my ap., i would have never known that i failed the phone interview. i could have been applying for months to come and doing it all in vain! so now that i know this i will never waste my time with them again. too bad i currently use this company or i would write them off completely. (no ruhama it isn't walmart) i better quit writing before i get my blood pressure too high.

until next time - the FRUSTRATED gardener

ugh. . . not again!

change is sometimes good and sometimes change is not good. for me i am staring at a time of not good change. i like my ducks in a row, although they can be skewed. in approx. three weeks i have to find a new job. i knew that this day would come, but i still don't have to like it. what to do, what to do. ack! sometimes i wonder if i should just deliver pizza or something like the sort. most everybody likes the pizza guy. do i work at a temp agency until i can get back into teaching? when do i go back to school? why does the best tasting pop have to rot your teeth so bad!!!! so many questions, not much time.

oh well, life goes on.