Blunt

(playing pool as a freshman...Helaman Halls, the brick warehouse!)

When I was a kid, my mom used to always tell me that I was "reserved." Pointing out the the fact that I was NOT shy, just reserved. As a kid, I was a little confused...I mean, they sounded like the same thing! I was quiet in class, I was not super outgoing, my friends tended to find me instead of me finding them...what was the difference?

I think that to people I don't know well, I come off as a bit shy...I'm not particularly funny, I don't tell the best jokes, or wear the craziest outfits, or have the most intriguing hobbies or talents. And then even when I am with friends...I'm not THE kookiest, or THE silliest.

But I am NOT shy among friends.



I think as the years have progressed, and I have settled into some relationships that are deep and lasting--friends from college, immediate and extended family members, and especially Todd--I have become more blunt.

I have the tendency (weakness?) of being at times, very blunt. For example, last night I told Todd that I did NOT like cleaning. And I would probably NEVER be one of those women that enjoyed cleaning (I think I mentioned sewing in that bundle as well). Luckily, he said he knew that going into marriage, and then he laughed at me because I was so blunt. I mean, I can't lie and say, "Yes, I want to clean my whole life, it gives me such a joy to see a clean house." Blech. Cleaning stinks. I would rather be doing SO MANY OTHER THINGS. I will do it, but blech.

I speak my mind. Around people I know really well, my voice filter switches to off. Sometimes in the morning when I listen to AggravatingSNBC (oops, I mean, MSNBC the only biased news station we get over here) I yell at the TV. That way, they can't talk back either! I told Todd once that some people shouldn't have children (some people shouldn't!) He told me that probably wouldn't fly (legally, of course). I probably shouldn't say things like that out loud, but sometimes I do!

Todd probably won't appreciate this story, but I'm being blunt, right? When we had our first kiss, I said, "Hey, I was really bad, can we do that again?" I'm willing to admit my weaknesses :) (We are much better now, by the way). I call things like I see them.

Sometimes Todd will read my blog and say, "Are you sure you aren't sharing too much information?" In my mind, the only people reading my blog are people who already like me, so I don't have any worries about speaking my mind most of the time. I think because Todd knows I can be blunt, he cringes when he hears I've posted a new blog post. When I posted about my student that called another student a not so nice name, he asked me if I really should have posted that on the internet. My response was, "Well, that's what he said! It's not funny if I sugarcoat it!" I am SO not a sugarcoater. When my VT's came over the other night, I told them I wasn't a huge fan of a certain conference talk by a female. But I was more specific. But I didn't like it, so why pretend?

I'm not blunt in a mean way, I don't think. I don't direct my bluntness towards people I know, (most of the time?). I think I am very kind and forgiving towards others, because that's how I want them to treat me.

But everything else is up for a Megan-spun opinion.



(I really just wanted to post a picture of this feast, plus it was a day last year when Todd did ZERO studying! Those are always good, but rare, days! And I hope we get to eat in Heaven or I will be sorely disappointed)

Updates

(where did my bulleting option go? Silly Blogger)


Todd has started studying for finals already, booo!!! That means I see him for dinner rarely, and usually only if I travel to campus. He comes home after I'm asleep or in bed. Law school stinks.



I survived parent-teacher conferences. It is humbling to have a parent call you, a few minutes late, explaining she has two jobs and she's really sorry she's late, and can she come in now? And then she goes home to two kids! Ahhh!! I would go crazy! And also humbling to offer to get a homework folder for a parent who tells you she has no money to buy a new folder. I take my paychecks for granted, that's for sure!


I got a Cricut. I am so happy. I also bid on two cartridges and got them really cheap and they came only a few days later. Thank you ebay! I have been cutting up a storm. Todd finds it amusing.


I started the new Jodi Picoult book, Handle with Care. It's only an "eh" for me so far. Usually I get really into her books, but this issue, I don't know. I don't really like any of the main characters yet. I will keep reading and see if she can change my mind!


I'm really enjoying So You Think You Can Dance. And I'm not into contemporary dance. I try and try to like it, and most of the time, it makes me uncomfortable. It's weird. Ugh. And some parts of the hip-hop too. Yikes. I'm no Molly, but the crotch-grabbing is really unnecessary, in my opinion.


That's all my brain can handle for now :)

more tech class fun!

probably shouldn't repeat this, but...

Today a very indignant student came up to me today, and said,

"K called me a ho-bag!"

at which I wanted to laugh, because hey, it's not everyday you have 8 year olds calling each other names such as those mentioned above.

Apparently, K's remark was in response to the indignant student's spoken decision that she

"didn't want to stand behind a retard."

Oh brotha.

I bet I can one-up "my dog ate my homework"

I had this conversation with one of my female students on Friday:

T: I'm having a bad morning.

Me: Why's that?

T: Well, I didn't get my homework done las night because my uncle was trying to set my dad on fire.

Me: (just kidding. What could I possibly say at this point?)

T: Yeah, my uncle and my dad were in a fight and uncle was trying to set him on fire, and then my dad was going to stab my uncle with a knife. Now I can't talk to my uncle anymore.

Me: Well, don't worry about the homework.



The sad thing is, I don't think she was making that up.

Winter Quarters Temple Trip

We made it to the temple a few Saturdays ago, and even saw some snow on the way there. The temple looked like it had quite a few inches the night before...brrrr!!! After that, we had to stop at Cheesecake Factory for some calamari and pasta. It was nice to spend the whole day with Todd (going to the temple is a whole day thing here!)

Lake Shawnee on a Sunday

Teacher Oops

I like to play a hangman type game to introduce new words or concepts.

Yesterday's words were "classify" and "categorize."

So, of course, at one point, the board looked like this _ _ A S S _ _ _.

As soon as the kids began to giggle, I realized...

WHOOPS!!! We laughed about it together, and I "made" someone quickly choose an L!

As Told by a Third Grader

H: Hey, Mrs. Thomason, my mom and I are thinking about moving back to our old country.

Me: Oh, really?

H: Yeah, we miss our chickens and our yard and our neighbors.

Me: And what country was that?

H: Oh, Lawrence.


(for you non-Topekans, Lawrence is about 20 minutes away. Our 8 year olds have not yet learned the difference between a country and a city...or a state or a continent).

ity

Among other talks that I enjoyed, I have been briefly thinking about the "-ity" talk. The term "personal responsibility" came up a few times today, and while I don't want to launch into a rant of what I do and don't see in the world in terms of responsibility, I have a hilarious/not hilarious example of lack of personal responsibility!

One of the teachers at our school noticed that a bag of candy she had on her desk was missing after a parent had been in her room. When the parent was confronted, the parent's reaction was, "So? I'll give you a buck for it!"

Yes. This actually happened. What does that tell your kid? It's okay to steal as long as you pay for it afterwards? It's okay to steal, especially if no one calls you on it? You were hungry, and that's your excuse. You would pay it back later, and that's your excuse?

I have a student who will get in trouble, and try to offer up every excuse in the world for the reason that he couldn't possibly have obeyed that rule at that time. AN-NOY-ING. I hope he grows out of it, because some adults don't. In third grade, this sounds like, "Well he was talking to me, so I had to tell him to be quiet so he wouldn't talk to me, and he was talking first, and he wouldn't leave me alone, etc. etc."

There are people in my own life that could have said, well, hey, this happened to me, and my family was like this, so I don't have to behave appropriately, or make good choices, because that's my excuse. Instead, they decided they had the ability to choose the RIGHT regardless of family or other circumstances. I have been blessed by them because of their ability to take personal responsibility.

I'm just sayin', I agree, I think the world could use just a bit more personal responsibility. And now I will look at myself, and see how I can better incorporate personal responsibility, along with charity, honesty, etc. into my life.

Cards

These are some cards that I recently made. I was so excited for Halloween coming up...I have never made Halloween cards before, and I had found some cute cheap clear stamps at Jo-Ann's, and I had all of this random scrap paper that worked out great for the color schemes. I still want to make a few more!

Our theme for card swap group last month was get well soon. I had this really cute owl stamp I wanted to use, and it went well with these cards. The only question I have about clear stamps--which seem to be one of the IN things in scrapbooking right now--is what ink to use. I hear that you can use regular stamp ink, but the ink I have tends to pool and doesn't make a uniform coverage of the stamp area. Any suggestions from scrapbookers?

On another note, I discovered that I had bought some self-adhesive ribbon without realizing it. Best stuff ever! It's really expensive normally, but this I bought at a huge scrapbook garage sale in Topeka last year. I just feel sad when I use it because ribbon goes so fast!

The next thing I want to do is use up a few mini scrapbook albums that I got at Target and at Michaels. I'm just trying to figure out what kinds of things to put in there. I might make an "Ari" scrapbook of my nephew for my sister or my grandma, or something. I still have a 12 by 12 scrapbook that I need to finish of the different places we've lived, but I haven't worked on it in a while. After doing cards, finishing a 12 by 12 page is a little intimidating!

Washburn Fun Run

It has always been one of my goals to run a 5K (well, at least DO A 5k). So, this Saturday, Todd and I, along with our friend Danielle, ran the Washburn Alumni Association's 5k.

And yes, I have lived to tell about it.

Also, I am totally jealous of Nie Nie's blog header. I want.

Facebook is Awkward

So...sometimes when I read Facebook status updates, I cringe.

Not that I have NEVER shared TMI on a facebook status update, but where does TMI start and end?

Things that I find awkward on status updates:

• People talking about their miserable marriages, their pending divorces. That is awkward. I DO feel sorry for them (which is what they want, sympathy, if they put it on a facebook status, right?) But seriously. Facebook? Do we all need to know about recent fights, who's not around anymore, why you're divorcing?

• Weird, depressing, updates. "I hate myself today." "People used to laugh, but they will see." "I'm depressed." And then no explanation. If you are going for sympathy points, at least give us a sad, depressing story! I feel awkward reading these.
  

• Obscure references to songs and people that only that person and maybe TWO other people understand. Way to alienate everyone else (because that's the point of social networking?)!!

• Comprehensive lists of "what I did today." I'm not talking "Today I got some laundry done, what a miracle." Or, "Studying, then test, hope I make it." I'm talking, "Woke up, eggs and bacon for breakfast, meeting at 10, lunch with friends at 12, class til 3, homework tonight, hopefully sleeping." Also falling into this category is the TMI what I did today, such as "showering," "at the female doctor" "cleaning my child's excrement." Yuck-o.

Now that I've ranted a bit, I must check my facebook to make sure I'm not being a hypocrite :)

What things do you feel awkward about on facebook?