Good Habit, Bad Habit

It is just after 6am right now, as I write this. I went to bed at 10pm last night, after watching Jeopardy with Kristen of course. This is pretty insane for me. I never go to bed that early unless I'm sick or recovering from a string of late nights - not the case this time. I worked 3 opens in a row at Tim Horton's, normally I just do the two weekend days. The store opens at 5am, which means the opener has to get there for 4:30am; I wake up at 4am when I am doing this shift. Now my sleeping pattern has changed to bed early and up early for the first time in my life! I am going to be productive before my office job starts this morning too! I need to do some things for it, my MRP, and TAing. It seems like a good sleep pattern to be in but I doubt it will last.

A Kitten Nap

Two Doesn't Let Me Rest
"I only lay down for a second!"

5:00am - All Night Marking
Self-Portrait Online

By Christine Sweeton

Some Quick Updates

There have been some posts recently that I realise I should quickly return to...

Update on TA Feedback:
When I finally braved reading the TA Feedback from my two tutorials it was very nice. For the most part they had nothing negative to say, which in fact was a tad detrimental because I couldn't learn anything from these glowing reviews. The few notes of criticism were really helpful and I hope to adjust my teaching slightly accordingly. However, yesterday was my TA Assessment when the professor comes in so I will be dealing with more feedback from that shortly. Though I'm looking forward to it because I enjoy how she teaches and would like to learn how to improve. I think it will be a positive experience when we meet to discuss my review.

Update on the Ad Banner:
I don't like the look of the banner and totally agree with Taylor's comment that it deters from the look of the blog. However, in comparison to the $0.02 I made last month, thus far this month I am up to $0.60, so that is a huge increase. You may think that is just a tiny amount of change, and it is, but remember it is basically free money. (If I ever make it up to the $100 it takes to get a pay out.) The banner stays for now.

Update on My New Facebook App:
I have not had the time to update it and add all my trips. I'm looking forward to completing to though when my MRP draft is done.

Update on Much Overdue Congratulations:
I know that at the end of this post I said, "More details on all of the above to follow, at some point. I promise." Well, some may not get much more mention just because that means a lot of posts and for some a lot of time has past. However, for those big exciting ones stay tuned, I will be posting details and probably pictures and lots of good stuff. I am proud of all my friends for all of their accomplishments and am very excited to talk more about them.

TA Feedback

I asked for feedback from my two English tutorials this morning. (Something positive about tutorials, something negative about tutorials, and a general comment.) I have them all stuffed into my backpack at the moment and am saving them to read at home. Sometimes feedback is really hard to take, I'm worried that they are unhappy with my teaching style or my attitude or my lesson plans or anything really. I want to improve but at the same time I fear criticism. I asked for it, so I will man up and read them. I will learn from them and work to make the tutorials better but I really hope they aren't too mean.

Pros & Cons of Tims

I worked my first shift at Tim Horton's this morning. Yes, I have returned to the food-service industry after quite a few years away. It fits well with being a TA and finishing my MRP. Here is a quick Pro & Con list from my first day:

Cons
-Slip resistant shoes are really ugly
-Waking up at 4am for a 5am shift
-Sore feet from standing all day
-Carb temptations
-Doesn't pay particularly well
-Working weekends

Pros
-Fast paced, won't get bored too quickly
-Co-workers seem really great
-Location is very close to home
-I'm pretty good at it
-Canadian company
-Lots to learn

To A 'T'

To double the 't' or not to double the 't', that is the question...
-write
-wrote
-written
-writing
-writer
More reasons why I can't spell!

This Month

This is my life for the next month:
-researching
-writing papers
-marking exams
-marking final papers
-invigilating exams

Walked Home!

Kristen and I had intended to go to the gym this afternoon and she came to campus to meet me after I finished my meeting with one of the professors I mark for. It was a beautiful day so she suggested that we walk home. It is a long walk! I have always meant to do it but had really been procrastinating actually trying it. We walked for 55 minutes, though took a short break for a few minutes and sat down on a bench in a park. We had dinner at a pub on the way home. (I had salad with steak on it so was good and stuck to my diet.) It then took us 34 minutes to get home from dinner, though it was a short distance, it was up hill. It took an hour and 24 minutes of walking, I just mapped it and sadly it is only just over a distance of 5km. At one point I could run that in less than half that time. I need to start training again!!

Time In Texas

Here is a brief point-form summary of my week in Texas.
So in no particular order...

Location: Southcentral Texas
Dates: February 18th to 25th, 2011

-saw lots of birds: whopping cranes which are endangered with only 500 or so in the world; a roseate spoonbill that was pink and weird looking; pelicans; little things I call 'peeps' running along the sand; herons fishing; and a whole bunch of ducks
-I find it confusing that gas is measured in gallons and that the weather channel only uses Fahrenheit
-tried to eat healthy but ended up having ice cream pretty much every day
-it was so great to spend time with my parents, I had really missed them and the trip was very relaxing
-bought a bunch of clothes including white pants and capris that look like they should be worn by a 75 year old at a Tampa trailer park, I am going to try to rock this look which I am calling 'Florida Chic'
-took a ferry and saw dolphins playing in the bow-wave of an ocean liner passing in front of us
-ran 5km each day
-wore sunscreen but was still able to get a little bit of colour
-stayed at a place right on the water and fish were jumping all the time to the point that it was sometimes freaky
-got a Guess bikini for a wicked sale price
-spent some time in San Antonio; walked, ate, and took a boat ride along the Riverwalk which was mesmerizing beautiful, I can understand why it is the top attraction in Texas
-ate fresh shrimp every night with dinner
-visited The Alamo, and was surprised by a number of details in the story that I was not aware of
-got nearly attacked by seagulls who were trying to get the ice cream sandwich that I was eating while walking on the beach
-went to a BBQ restaurant in the middle of no where (Van's BBQ) that had the most amazing warm biscuits, melted in your mouth
-spent some time in flip flops and am now very much looking forward to spring/summer
-got my parents to take me to the San Antonio Zoo even though they were not keen on the idea, but it ended being a really good zoo and we had a great time
-watched the second half of the first season of Glee on DVD in the evenings
-ate a lot of tex-mex
-bought some cheap vodka to help stock the open bar at Taylor's wedding
-was surprised how warm Washington, D.C. was during the flight connection on the way down
-got to visit a bit with my grandparents to took me to and picked me up from the Buffalo airport
-caught a strange Canada vs. USA old-timers baseball game at a park were we went for a walk
-did marking every day but was still unable to finish it all

Being A TA

I'm marking papers. My respect for the TAs in my undergrad - going up. My respect for students IN undergard - going down.

In all seriousness the second part of that statement is not true at all. I am working with really great students this semester. This is my first experience being a Teaching Assistant and it has been so much fun. I have always had the upmost respect for all teachers but now that I have been behind the lens a little bit I also have so much sympathy for them. It is insanely hard work!! I am learning so much, from the lectures, from the text, from the lesson planning, from the students themselves. It is a rewarding experience and seeing the essays is a part of that.

Sci Fi Course

I had my first Science Fiction class today. This is a course that I have been trying to take for the last four years. It is sometimes not offered and when it is it never fit in my schedule. Finally I was able to take it compressed this summer (July-Aug Semester). I am so excited, the reading list is incredible and will be so much fun. The class is really varied too, it has people from all disciplines including 3 or 4 engineers. The prof is a former T.A. of mine who should be pretty good. When I showed up in class there was already a group of people I knew from my previous summer course so we all started talking. Then my MComm Friend who was thinking about taking it showed up which was super exciting because I love taking classes with her. Also, we are reading Science Fiction novels and short stories. This course is going to rock!