I spent most of this week working or working on projects for school, and I still have some papers/studying to do, so this’ll be a short one .

Monday evening I’d parked my car and started walking to Children’s Lit when I spotted a group of gals from the class standing in the parking lot talking.  I thought they might be just hanging out, but then I saw others from my class walking back to the lot – class was cancelled.  This teacher hasn’t exactly been the most regular or organized this semester, so it wasn’t exactly unexpected.  Of course, this was the last class before our final, so that was a little somethin’ extra .  I stood around talking with some of my lovely classmates for a bit before returning right back home.

This week my body gave me some issues… a little gas that woke me up in the middle of the night, dizziness that stopped a workout, etc..  We played a team game in class Tuesday night, and after guessing a number of our group’s questions right, the pressure jokingly fell to me.. but, of course, that resulted in my heart pounding nearly right out of my chest .  I’d made plans with Korkie to go see a movie and hang out Friday, but the aforementioned dizziness took me down, and though it didn’t last too long, I felt pretty worn and tired after, so I had to cancel.  I’m working hard at improving my health and taking care of myself.. but one day it’d be nice to be beyond most of these issues, I tell ya .

I’ve still had a hard time focusing on my schoolwork, so I’ve used Omegle as a background distraction (like having the TV or radio on).. and I’ve met a few interesting folks.  It’s still more juvenile and silly most of the time, but occasionally ya come across someone decent.

This coming week is my last of the Spring semester.  I have a paper to put the finishing touches on, a take-home test from Children’s Lit (since she wasn’t able to help us review) that appears to be pretty annoying, and my 3 other in-class tests.. and then I’ll take a big ol’ breather.  Friday I get to record voices for Danny’s computer animated version of a short movie we started making (and re-making) a long time ago, Saturday afternoon Katy McCrory is having a graduation celebration, and Korkie invited me to Legoland in a couple of weeks with a friend who can get us in for free, so I have a bunch of nice things to look forward to right off the bat .  Now, I have to get back to work for just a LITTLE while longer…

So, how was your week?

Monday I woke up after about 4.5 hours of sleep, and boy was I dead.  Apparently, my BFF David had even less sleep, so the truck shift moved a little slower than usual that morning .  Still, though, we had a pretty good time together.  Haha, when the truck driver went to the wrong dock, we told him where he had to go, and went outside to wait for him.  While standing out there,  Davey referred to us original Lego Store hires as original.. then immediately called us “The Originables.”  Later he said “ele-VAHtur,” so tiredness was definitely in the air.  I headed home to finish up rewriting my paper for Speech, along with some other work, and then headed back up to school.  I actually had to go to a SOCCCD Board of Trustees meeting at Saddleback, as part of an assignment for Political Science to attend some type of public/government meeting, and let’s just say that my lack of sleep didn’t exactly make it easy to sit in there .  I fought off sleep so hard, my head did that jerking drop thing you see in sitcoms, but eventually I got a second wind and was able to sit through most of it before ducking out and heading over to my class that I was already an hour late for.  It’s my Children’s Lit class, though, so I knew I wouldn’t be missing anything too valuable .  We let out a bit earlier than usual, so I came home and ended up crashing not too long after.

Tuesday I was able to sleep in a bit, didn’t get up until a little before 11.  It was very welcome .  I was going to leave for my noon class and not get back home until after my night class, so I went downstairs to figure out what/when I’d be eating throughout the day.  I sent Korkie a text, seeing if she was free for lunch at the mall, and she was game.  I was downstairs talking with my mom a bit, and I was a bit friendlier than I usually might be.  We have an odd relationship, but at least we have one… unlike with my dad.  Small steps .  On my way to class, I changed radio stations and came across Aerosmith’s “Crazy” midway through, and I ended up singing, smiling, and rocking out along with it.  It’s not only one of my favorite songs, but probably my favorite of theirs (yes, even considering “Dream On”), too, and it’s so rare to hear it on the radio.  This is my class with the hot teacher, but she looked rather cute today… little button up striped sweater and jeans.  She’s interesting, I tells ya.. never know what I’m gonna get .  Partway through class, I started to feel a little bad.  The last few days have found me feeling some of those odd chest/overall sensations I had about a year ago (the things that prompted my doctor visit, resulting in a clean bill of health on my heart).  Anxiety.  A little bit ago I read a forum post from someone asking about “anxiety symptoms without being anxious” and every response said they experience the same.  One guy likened it to being overweight or having smoked… even if you start living healthy, your body will still be dealing with those issues over time.  There are also other potential influences for me, water-intake, allergy-season, general fatigue, hunger, etc., so who knows… but it’s definitely out of the blue.  Anyway,  I called KB and set up our lunch date at the mall (since I only had an hour and a half before work).  I was still feeling pretty lame when I got there, but after awhile I was fine and dandy.  Tuesday was the 1st of the month,  so that meant it was mini-build day at Lego.  This month’s build was REALLY simple, so we plowed through the line fast.  I don’t like that, though, because people are moving through so quickly, that I don’t really get to chat with them much – and that’s most of the fun, getting to talk with the kids and moms.  Haha, there’s one gal who now comes each month that I know from years and years ago, and she’s lovely as heck.. but at this speed we don’t get to speak for very long as I stand next to the line.  I really do have the best job in the world, I tell ya .  There are always a few kids coming in after we’ve wrapped up the outside line, so I joined one of these stragglers at a table and built this month’s item – a tulip.  I’d made the joke earlier, with the line of moms and kids, “I wonder how many moms are going to be getting these Lego flowers for Mother’s Day.”  I wasn’t planning on it then, but I can tell ya at least ONE mom will be .  I hopped over to my Tuesday night class afterward, where we were just spending the night playing the games of all the other groups.  Ours was titled “30 Seconds or Less… Sports Edition.”  Basically, you split into two teams, and one person from each has to pick a card (depending on where on the playing path their piece lands after a die roll) and describe what’s on the card to get their teammates to guess.  There were 3 degrees of difficulty (sports items, team cities, and player names), and I think our group really made a pretty fun game – even for someone like me who has no interest in or knowledge of sports.  A couple of the other games were pretty fun, too, and it was a rather entertaining night.  I turned in my term paper rewrite that I did, and with my group’s good grade on our game, I have officially bumped my grade up to an A.  It’s a low A, and I’ll still have to study hard for the final, but I can do it .  Tuesday night, I came home feeling pretty great about the day, and did nothing but relax with some Netflix and a little Warp on PS3 (review still pending.. not a long game, but I haven’t had time to get to it much).

The oft-mentioned cute gal in my Wednesday night class was especially captivating this week.  Apparently she’s a dancer, performing in the show that Korkie saw last week (now I kinda wish we’d gone), but there are certain qualities that I always find very sexy.  Her long hair is casually tousled and naturally unkempt (very Kristen Stewart), she’s a t-shirt and jeans kinda gal (who usually removes her sandals and sits in her chair barefoot), and more than anything, she’s very, very sexy in how she moves and holds herself.  I always have, and always will, prefer my girls a little bit hippie .

Thursday afternoon I actually skipped my class, instead staying home to work on a paper and rest up for a long night ahead.  James’ wife, Katy, had invited me to surprise James for his 30th birthday at a midnight showing of The Avengers.  I wasn’t dying to see the movie, but I was interested… and more than enough to join the group for the surprise .  My physical anxiety was still taking its toll, off and on, and while at work for a 6-10 shift, it hit again.  It’s really very annoying, because I am pretty darn certain there’s nothing serious wrong with me, and there’s no viable solution (like drinking more water, exercise, etc.)… so I’m stuck having these mini little bouts of panic smack me right in the chest out of the blue.  It could certainly be allergy related, as I’ve said, since it started about this time last year, but that’s probably only an influencing factor.  I’ve had anxious energy for a very long time, in many forms, so this is nothing new.. it’s just trickier, because it starts dealing with feelings in the chest – and that can seem scary.  The store was pretty dead, so I spent some time reading about anxiety online through the computers at the register until it eventually calmed down later on.  I was glad, too… because I had a movie to go watch .

I had thought of swinging by In-N-Out on my way to wait in line for the movie, but since I needed a bottle of water (accidentally touched the lip of mine with my hands at work, and those aren’t hands you want to stick in your mouth.. even if you’re NOT as clean as me), I stopped by McDonald’s.  I was surprised to find a bit of a line, which I said to the guy at the window, and we talked about it a bit.. because he was surprised, too.  He also said “You like to smile, don’t ya?  I like you.. you’re okay.”  He was okay by me, too .  I got to the theater and had some fun with those who were already there, but we had to go in with no sign of the birthday boy.  His mom waited outside, while the rest of us went in and saved nearly an entire row for our giant group.  I had a good time, both with the movie and the folks I was there with (started singing Happy Birthday to James after we were all seated, and the whole theater joined in)… though the highlight of the night might just have been the last trailer for The Dark Knight Rises.  I watched, wide-eyed and almost teary, and when Batman responds to the line that he’s already given them everything by saying, “Not everything… not yet,” my hand rose up to my hand in a silent gasp.  I’m excited, you see .  The movie and group sent me home in pretty good spirits, and whenever I spend time with the McCrory’s, especially James and his dad, I have an increased desire to improve my own family relationship.  They’re probably the best family unit I know.. something to aspire to.  I thought of taking my folks to see The Avengers in a little while.. we’ll see.

Friday and Saturday were spent trying to work on my Children’s Lit lesson-plan project, though my motivation’s really dropped.  Not like in a “I just want to quit school” kinda way, but more like a “very tired and ready for summer vacation” kinda way .  I did make some headway, though, and I think I have a decent handle on how to incorporate my ideas with standards.  I ended up taking some breaks, and for some reason felt compelled to visit omegle.com.  I’d been there before, but I started getting into it.  Most of the folks I was talking with were young.. of course, they could be lying, since it’s an anonymous chat site, but I had no reason to not believe them.  We weren’t exactly talking dirty, and I’m not some hot young girl they have to connect with.. I’m an old man dispensing wisdom .

So, how was your week?

I spent most of Sunday homeworking (surprise), but was able to cap off with a couple of great episodes.  When Mad Men ended, I just said, “Wow,” with a big grin on my face.  I think it’s really fascinating to watch Peggy more and more proving herself to be the younger, female version of Don.  It stood out, more than ever, this time around… meanwhile, ol’ Donald seems like he just might somehow fall apart this season.

Monday I did my truck shift with one of my favorite people there.  He’s been doing truck with me for a little while, now, but he’s one of those folks that I can laugh really hard with.. to the point of tears.  I gave one Korkie Bullard a call after I was off (another person with whom teary-laughter occurs), and I suggested my bringing some Panda Express over.  Of course, when you get up at 6am, you don’t realize that 10am is still a bit early for that to someone who’s only been up for an hour… as her laughter informed me .  We decided to meet at the Coco’s right next to the mall, and since it takes me all of a few minutes to get there, I easily beat her.  While I was sitting at the table, waiting, that little earthquake jolted the restaurant.  Apparently it was based in San Juan, and it felt like it was over almost before it began.  It was funny to watch a nearby dad almost panic as he grabbed for his son standing in the booth next to him.. of course, the kid didn’t even realize anything had happened.  I spent the rest of my time waiting talking with folks about the earthquake and playing peek-a-boo with a cute little girl over the short wall across from me.  KB showed up and we had a gay old time.  She and I headed over to her place for a little bit after, so I could help her study for a Japanese test, and then I was off to study a bit for my OWN upcoming test and do some more homework.

In class that night, we finished up watching The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.. and I joked after that I’m glad it took us a few classes to get through it, because it always makes me cry.  It may not be a perfectly strict allegory, but what IS there is one of the most beautiful representations of Christianity and Jesus’ sacrifice I know of.  It’s wonderful .

I’m still adjusting to the testosterone boost that comes with lifting weights again, so Tuesday’s afternoon class was a bit distracting.  Really.. this teacher is nice and all, but it’s like the setup for a cheap porn shoot.  That day’s outfit was a black pencil skirt and a blue button-up top.  She’s hot, and she knows it… and she’s definitely a flirt.  I’m hoping my testosterone levels even out sooner rather than later .  Back home, I filled my afternoon with my homework, then it was off to my evening class.  I actually didn’t have to go to this class.. he was offering us a few bonus points for doing a mock interview for a job position he’d had us apply to as an earlier assignment.  This is the one class I currently have a B in, so I’m fighting hard to push it up to an A – it’ll be close, for sure,  so I definitely didn’t want to miss these extra points.. and I’ll be re-writing a paper for another, potential point-boost.  I was actually only there for about 15-20 minutes, and I’d brought my kid’s book with me that I’m doing a project on for my Children’s Lit class… so I figured I’d walk over and wait outside of KB’s class for her to get out and maybe grab some Taco Tuesday pleasures.  She always got out of this class earlier than I would mine, and more so on test days, so I figured I wouldn’t be waiting around too long.  I finished the book and had some new ideas for the project (have to create a unit plan, as if I was teaching from it), got to see one heck of a rainbow, and shared a smile with plenty of cute ladies.. but as the sun dropped and Korkie was still not free, it got a bit too cold and I headed home.  I calculated the bonus points I’d earned that night in my class, and even though it was only 3, his point scale is so minimal that it jumped me up from an 86% to an 88%.  Viva!

Wednesday I brought my laptop and a couple of books with me to school, because I was planning on staying there all day.  I had my afternoon class, then a meeting with a Fullerton transfer counselor, and then my night class.  The transfer meeting went fine, but everything is still completely up in the air as to if they’ll be accepting students for a Spring semester in 2013.. which is when I’d be ready to go.  As we all know, California’s financial situation isn’t grand, so public education is feeling the pinch everywhere and in every way.  The gal gave me some info on a meeting Fullerton has for future teachers, and some other stuff, but I’ll still be waiting until probably July to find out for sure about admissions.  There are a lot of other things going on.. new school president, potential funding cut-offs for Saddleback, a system where you can take some classes for an extra fee before getting into a school that may or may not still be around… so all I can do is pray, wait, and see.  And pray I certainly did.. and will continue to do   There isn’t much question of whether or not I can get into Fullerton (they may be raising the GPA requirement again, which would only serve to help me since mine’s plenty high enough), but I’d love to get in this next Spring… otherwise I’ll have to just sit around without anything to do until Fall.  I’ve started thinking about what I could potentially do to fill that time productively, in terms of my career, if that happens.. so maybe I can still make good use of the time.  The counselor meeting was done soon enough for me to just head home, and my mom had made beef stew, so I was happy to get back and eat it fresh.  I’d suggested it the other week, since she’s always asking for dinner ideas, and boy.. had I missed it .  I may be unique, but I can still be a rather simple man to make happy: some beef stew on a cold day, video games/a good movie, beautiful breasts.  Simple .

Thursday I asked KB if she was free on Friday.. I was taking her out.  Her birthday was Saturday, but I was working that evening.  She had to go to a recital at school as an assignment for class, so we were going to go to that, but as I left my closing shift Thursday night, I had a message saying that she was going to a performance that night, instead, so we could keep our date for something actually fun.

Friday was a full day.  Korkie absolutely loves my mom’s peanut-butter cookies, so I made her a batch (even manager to carve a “K” into each one that turned out pretty well after baking).  It was my first time doing it, so my mom was my assistant.  I put them in plastic ziplock bags and wrapped them all up in fancy newspaper gift-wrap (the Mark Mushakian way) and appended a quick little card to the top.  The cookies were actually a later thought, as the main present I had for her was the Lego nameplate you see in the top image of this post.  I had some other ideas of things I wanted to do for her, but they were all a bit out of my price-range, so I set about coming up with something made of Lego – I know a guy there who can get a discount, ya see.  The minifig hair was actually recently added, so that’s kind of what sparked the whole idea, and it grew from there.  I used Lego’s online designer to figure out how many of each piece I would need, and experimented with layouts.  The exclamation point was actually added to even out the spacing (since I was working with just what we had in the store, and we only had a certain length for the top pieces.  It’s solid all the way through, wraps completely around, and is dated with “2012″ on the back.  I like it .

As a brief interlude, though, Friday afternoon I dropped off my voter registration card in the mail – so I’m officially just about ready to vote for the first time in my life.  I actually picked it up from a gal who was desperately trying to hand them out at Saddleback Wednesday afternoon, and when I mentioned that I had to for Ron Paul, she laughed and said, “EVERYone’s voting for Ron Paul.”  You may think it’s over and it doesn’t matter (which is technically very not true), but even if it’s the only time I ever vote in my entire life.. it’ll mean something to me that I did this time .

I didn’t tell Korkie where we were going or what we were doing, other than letting her know she should bring a jacket and not wear heels.  My plan was to pick her up, hand her the cookies at her place, take her out to my car where the Lego creation would greet her from my dashboard, take her to Ruby’s, and then up to Irvine for an evening of bowling/Boomer’s fun.  It MOSTLY worked that way .  Neither of us was very hungry when we headed out, so we bypassed Ruby’s.  She really enjoys bowling, but I haven’t done it for years.  I was decent as a young kid, but then I recall becoming pretty bad (probably just being hard on myself) and so that obviously kept me from enjoying it.  I’ve grown up a bit, so I thought it’d be fun and interesting to give it a whirl again… plus, she likes it, so it wouldn’t be miserable .  I paid for an hour, which ended up flying by.  She sought out a 9lb ball, but only found 10′s that fit her fingers.  I picked up a 12lb and decided to go with the 10lb since we’d be at it for awhile.  She gathered a few balls, a couple 10′s, a 9, and one bright pink 8lb ball… until I eventually found her one in the middle of game 2.  My first couple of turns were nothing but gutter, but I got back into the swing of it and only hit the gutter a few other times.  On one turn, I decided to give the pink 8lb a whirl, and I ended up nailing it.  Pinky was my ball for the rest of the hour .  She beat me all 3 games (though I had her topped in the first few frames of the last game we played to run out our time), but I kept improving.  More importantly, we had a fun time.. and I could definitely do this again .  We were pretty hungry by the time our hour was up, so I drove us down to the Ruby’s at the Spectrum, and then finally back to her place.  At dinner and on the way home we ended up talking about the Bible and then the subject of current lunacy regarding gender and a need by some to seemingly ignore and eradicate any difference between the sexes (inspired by my current class, CD105).  This is why I’m a bit stumped on what I could possibly do for my upcoming birthday, because Friday night was one of the loveliest I’ve had in some time… but it was all just because I spent time hang out with and talking to a good friend.  I don’t exactly know how to shift that into some type of party atmosphere or event .

Saturday night after a closing shift, I ended up joining Korkie and two of her friends (Lauren and Audrey) for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.  I’d already come home before I heard from her, so they picked me up.  Fun was had, of course, I enjoyed some fantastic spaghetti, I saw a beautiful waitress who was in my Psychology class from a couple of years ago, and we eventually ended up at Korkie’s other friend’s house.  This is the place KB was living in when I first met her, and while it’s the dwelling place of my greatest enemy (an evil bird), it is also the home of one of my favorite beings on Earth.. the hilarious dog, Mochi.  I love that dog, and we had a wonderful and joyous reunion .

The upcoming week is going to be a little busier than this one, in terms of schoolwork (not that this week was void of it) and just having a full schedule.  I usually write these late at night… and now it’s late and I’m darn tired, so I apologize for any typos you have come across, but I ain’t proofreading this week .

So, how was your week?

Sunday was lovely.  I’d been walking long/hard the last couple of days and warming my body back up to start weightlifting on Monday, and it was nice to be able to get out there and be physical after my previous attempt was interrupted by the allergy season violating my body.  I completely missed getting to watch The Killing until Sunday afternoon, but it was great.  Where the heck that show is going, I haven’t a clue… and the fact that it’s season 2 and we haven’t even reached 20 days after the murder makes me smile .  I’m still really keen on getting myself a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor’s Slims.. but I really wish they had more color options.  They’re the same shoe as what I wear now, just with a thinner sole, which we ALL know I’m interested in.  The only all-black option they have is leather, though, so I’d want to see it in person first since I’d prefer only wearing one style or the other at a time.  I figured I might go on a short hunt Monday after work, if I had time.  I also spent my afternoon perusing 3rd-grade-level books for an upcoming project for my Children’s Lit class, so a visit to the library had a priority.  Shoes can wait .  I headed into work, scheduled 5-9pm for a big display change-out… but I was very happy to get out by 8:30, which meant (dun-dun-DUN), I was able to watch both The Killing and Mad Men live.  Both were great, but a scene near the end of Mad Men had me do an LOL… when my favorite character finally puts someone in their place by unexpectedly calling them a “grimy little pimp” it’s the mark of a great night .  The next couple of Thursdays have me closing at work, so I’m missing those shows.. but at least I have Sundays.

Monday morning was a bigger truck delivery at work than we’d been used to lately, but it wasn’t too big a deal.  I grabbed a few boxes for Korkie’s car (makeshift purse-holder between the seats), and headed off to the library after calling her and getting voicemail.  I hadn’t written any book titles down, but planned on just perusing the children’s section and seeing what I could find.  I asked a librarian if they had any kind of list of 3rd grade appropriate books, and she and I ended up talking for over an hour – first about good book sources for me to check out online, then we walked around the library as she picked out and told me about books for that age range, and we just had a splendid time talking about kids (hers and in general) and school.  Of course, the idea once again came up of just how great it is that I’m doing this, and that the age I only started casually mentioning as my intended teaching level (3rd grade) is perfect.  The fact that I’m a guy keen on doing this really brings a spark to so many gals’ eyes when we talk about this… even the librarian mentioned how her oldest daughter still talks about her male 4th grade teacher far more than any other teacher she had in elementary school.  I thank God for these constant and continual encouragements all of the time… it’s definitely a new experience to be on a path that just clicks – with me and everyone I ever mention it to.

I walked out of the library with a stack of kids’ books, and I’m really rather excited about this project.  It’s a bit daunting, in that I have to create a unit lesson plan around the book (7 individual lessons, which would span the course of the kids reading the book), but especially after my chat with the librarian and seeing what’s out there, this is one potentially tough assignment that I’m definitely looking forward to .  There’s an “easier” option of just analyzing a book in a regular essay paper… but what’s the fun in that?   KB actually called me back while I was in the library (I had my phone on vibrate,  and felt it while I was still in the early part of my chat with the librarian), so before going through the books to figure out what I wanted to take home, I dashed outside to give her a call back.  She came over for a little while after I got home.. found the right box to fit in her car, talked in my room for awhile, showed her the pictures James and Katy had sent me from the murder mystery party (we both agree that it’s impossible to decide which we like best between the two that we’re in together), and examined why her driver’s side door doesn’t close well enough to keep rain out.  I had enough time before class to eat and workout (even though I cut it pretty close), but I’d been so excited to finally start lifting weights again, that I MADE time, by golly.  And boy, did it feel good .  I’ve been out of it for so long, I’m starting with some fairly light weights… but it’s a good workout plan, and I definitely felt it .  That night in class, the gal who suggested the book to me the other week came up during the break to talk about an upcoming group presentation (I’d completely forgotten she was in our group.  I knew she was Nicole, and I knew there was a Nicole in our group – but I couldn’t remember that she was OUR Nicole), and I told her I’d just started reading it.  Haha, she got so excited – it was pretty darn adorable.  We talked a bit about it, and I’m actually really enjoying it for how little I’ve gone into it, so she felt proud that she apparently had chosen well.

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling the joys of allergy-season again, but unlike the initial hit, I was able to maintain just fine.  As I alluded to last week (but haven’t had time to write about with school and work), my relationship with God has been great lately, and a big part of that is due to constant communication.  Throughout the day, I’m in prayer (big things, small things, and humorous things), and this was certainly a major topic of the day, especially since it was a long one.  I had a group presentation in my afternoon class, and that went fine – of course, as I do, I approached it very casually.  These kids don’t want to really hear what we have to say, so I make it conversational and talk about the broad points and the major ideas… details are for those who are actually interested .  My nose was really stuffed and I was a bit feverish, but I made it through fine, and was mostly okay for the rest of the day.  I went to work for a 2-6 shift between classes, and I don’t know if it was purely coincidental or a result of the increase of testosterone from working out again… but the mall seemed to be absolutely teeming with GREAT looking women.  I’m guessing it was more me than coincidence .  In my night class, we just worked on our group project, and fun was definitely had, but I got back my term paper with a very low B, which all but confirms me a B in the class.  My lowest grade is going to be in a speech class.. madness!  I can actually re-write the paper, and there is a chance for extra points I’m doing next week, so I’m fighting hard to pull an A… I’m right on the cusp, so it’ll be tricky for sure.

In my Wednesday afternoon class, during the break, my teacher walked by my desk and asked if I get A’s in all of my classes.. if it just comes easily.  At the beginning of the day, she was rather disheartened by the writing abilities of the majority of the class and went on about it for awhile, and when passing our tests back later, she mentioned that she’d put a star on mine as a reminder to read it as a good example.  So, back to her question, I answered with a shrugged (mostly) affirmative, and she asked what I was in school for.  We talked about teaching, and the patience that comes with it, but as always… her response to my career endeavor was a warm, positive one.  I had my second workout of the week early that evening, and it felt great.  Class that night was nice to be in again, too, after her absence last week.  I had an odd thought of asking this gal to be my mentor, since she’s had child education experience, we share a lot of the same ideas on how best to work with and raise kids, and she’s pretty swell.  Not sure, but it was a thought that suddenly crossed my mind.  At the end of the evening the few folks who were left (so many always leave at the break, or earlier) split into two teams for a little quiz for next week’s test – winning team gets 3 extra points.  The cute gal in there that I’ve mentioned before (I don’t expect you to remember) sat behind me, and we had fun… whispering the answers, or our lack of answer, back and forth as each person took their turn answering a question.  She smelled lovely and has a heck of a satisfying laugh, and boy do I love women .  Oh, and we definitely got the 3 extra points.

I closed at work Thursday night, and since the manager had to be back early the next morning, she was sure to keep up on stocking the shelves and doing things before I even got there, so we stayed on it and were out of there just a few minutes after closing.  I wouldn’t get to see The Office, of course, because we close at 9pm, but I’d get to see Awake .  It’s been too long since I’ve watched that on TV, it seems.  As I was walking out, I saw a missed call from KB, so I gave her a ring and she ended up coming over to my house to hang out and watch my show.  She’d been dealing with some personal and school things, so we did our best to get through it and have some fun.. because that’s what friends do .

Friday morning I got in my next workout, a bit of a longer one than the others, but still great.  I was certainly tired and a bit shaky by the end, but happy for it.  I went off to do an interview with a teacher at Saddleback’s Child Development Center, and ended up doing said interview with one of the office guys there, Wes, instead.  He was a pretty fun guy, and I was in and out of there pretty quickly.. which was nice.  I gave Korkie a call, but she wasn’t picking up.  I was out, so I drove up to the Laguna Hills Mall in search for the Converse slim.  There’s a place there that has them, but what I really wanted to see were the all-black leather ones.. and I found ‘em.  They don’t look too bad, actually, so I just might be treating myself to a few pair this summer.  Speaking of summer, I’ve thought a bit about my birthday.  Over the last many months, actually, I’ve toyed with the idea of maybe wanting to do something special for my 30th, but I never really land on anything I’d necessarily want to do – nothing big or with a big guest list, at least.  Later that day, work called and asked if I could change my 4-8 shift to a 12-8 and work over at South Coast Plaza for that Lego Store’s 1 year anniversary.. they were doing a weekend build event, kinda like we did for our grand opening.

Saturday morning, Korkie called (waking me up, technically, but my alarm was set to go off soon anyway.. and I’d already woken up an hour earlier, too), getting out of her tap class and driving down here, but had to call back when she was off the freeway again.  She called, but then got a call (the personal matters I mentioned) and had to take it.  This issue isn’t exactly good news (she’s okay, no worries), so as I was getting ready for work and going downstairs to get food, I kept my phone on me in case she was going to call.  Heck, I did the same thing all of Friday evening, too.  That’s just how I am… like a bridge over troubled waters .  I didn’t hear from her, so I sent a text letting her know I was off for work, then headed out.  I had to stop by and grab my apron from MY store first, but I made it to Costa Mesa and had a pretty fun day.  A couple of my other fellow Mission Viejo employees were there, so we had a good time.  The build they were doing for this event, unlike our grand opening, wasn’t huge… so they build it a couple of times a day.  That means they have to take it down a couple of times a day.  That means someone gets to hide away in a back room breaking apart hundreds and thousands of little bricks into their color/size appropriate bins a couple of times a day.  That means my hands are very tired right now .  I was breaking down for probably half the time I was there, and it’s one of those tasks that really zaps the energy from ya – repetitive and tiring, so the brain just shuts off.  What do I need that thing for, anyway?

And, on the chance that you’re reading this (you know who you are), I love ya .

So, how was your week?

I spent the majority of this week working or studying, so this may be an abridged (and possibly incorrect [and possibly full of dirty, dirty lies... but not likely]) version of events, as I wasn’t writing every night.

Sunday was Easter, but I spent my day working on homework.  This week, as you may have seen by the lack of visitation time with the stick men, I had 3 papers to finish, 2 tests to take, and a surprise Powerpoint presentation I had to pull outta my butt by mid-week.  Sunday’s paper was a horribly rough one for me, wherein I had to try and apply my past to a child development theory by giving a few personal examples of each stage – a task I found nearly impossible to do.  I finally made it through, interspersed with some Korkie text/phone support .  We were actually on the phone when The Killing started, but I did get to watch Mad Men… and it felt like an older episode, which was a little welcome .

[Ed. As I'm previewing this post I've realized... there are so many freaking smiley faces in this post.  Read on.]

Continuing on from last week’s beginning attempts to eat better (and more regularly) and drink, and by God’s strength, I found myself feeling very focused and at peace.  I’ll write about it later, perhaps, as it more so belongs in the My Christian Walk category, but it’s worth mentioning here.  It was how I managed the rest of this week’s steady workflow without going insane .  Nah, it wasn’t that bad, but still.

Monday I had my early truck shift, then spent the rest of my day working on the paper that was due Tuesday night.  That one was a little tricky, but not too bad.  After my Monday night class, I came home and began work on my paper that was due Wednesday night.

Tuesday, I finally returned to my afternoon class to find my teacher wearing an outfit that seemed a little risque even for her.  She’s an interesting gal .  It wasn’t a HORRIBLE lack of clothing, but I definitely now have a better understanding of her body.  Back at home, I spent the rest of my day working on Wednesday’s paper before my night class.  This is my Speech 5 class, and that night we split into groups to do a game-building project.  Our group is creating a pretty fun one, if I do say so myself.  It’s still in creation, even though it’s nailed down, so I’ll wait and tell ya about it after we make it.  Back home, again, to study for the next morning’s test.

Wednesday, after my history test, there was no lecture (there usually is), so I headed home for some much needed extra work time.  I still had to finish up the paper for that night (no problem), and get started on my presentation due Thursday afternoon.  Oh, and study for Thursday’s test .  I actually came home to an email saying Wednesday night’s class had been cancelled (due to a family emergency for the teacher, which I hope is nothing too bad, because I like this gal)… so I suddenly had the whole evening to work, which was a very welcome reprieve.  I wrapped up the paper just fine, but my presentation proved much harder.  This was for the same class as Sunday night’s paper that violated me… so we can easily say I’m less than a fan of this class .  This assignment was to share our culture and how it has influenced us, but I’m from here – I have no strongly influential culture.  I eventually went with that, exploring the fact that my experience in the U.S. is one of a non-culture… though I also pointed out that I have no culture because I have EVERY culture in this melting pot o’ ours.  It turned out fine, and after staying up for awhile studying for the final test of the week, I slept hard.

Thursday’s test went well enough, though 3 of the 5 classes I’ve had tests in so far have had questions on the tests that are just so poorly worded, it’s hard to tell if I’m even answering correctly – even though I know the answer.  As I walked out to my car, the long week of schoolin’ behind me, I gave KB a call and we met at In-N-Out.  I took a sigh of relief, enjoyed my food and the company, and went home before closing at work that night.  I’ve been scheduled on Thursday nights quite a bit, lately (this coming week, too), so there’s a lot of TV I’m not watching live… and for someone without a DVR, that’s not always easy .  With my Tuesday night class, I actually had to give up on keeping up with New Girl.  I missed one week’s episode online, then it piled up to two, and then I just got too far behind to bother.  I’m doing much better with Awake.

Friday and Saturday were self-prescribed for one thing: relaxation.  Friday I watched The X-Files, played Red Dead, finally went online to chat with people again, and had a splendid day inside while it stormed hard and loud outside.  I downloaded this week’s PS3 demos, and fell in love with one so much, I bought it that night.  Review coming soon, but I don’t see how it’ll be low .

Saturday afternoon, Korkie called after her morning tap class, and she came over for a bit.  I sat on my garage floor eating cereal as she practiced her tap routine, she being even more tired than I was… which is entertaining to watch in a tap dancer .  For how much I’ve been working and doing homework, it was really nice to just enjoy the weekend.. it’s rare I have two of those days off in a row.  She hung out until around 3, and I went in to watch The Office and lounge about for the rest of my day.  Well, I did do a little work, but it was still a day filled with games and relaxation.. and Korkie Bullard, of course.  I told her this while we sat on the voting booth cardboard she taps on here, I’m glad I know her – makes life nicer .  Oh, and I got our “official” pictures from the murder mystery party.  Those might be making an appearance on Facebook once I feel like turning my scanner on and taking care of that.

The week ahead is definitely going to be calmer, but with a month left of school, things aren’t exactly going to be lax for me .

So, how was your week?