Okay, so the last post was a bunch of complaining. This is one of the pictures that did actually turn out.I love graduations. It feels like being at Hogwarts.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Happy day after all
Okay, so the last post was a bunch of complaining. This is one of the pictures that did actually turn out.I love graduations. It feels like being at Hogwarts.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Graduation
I know that for the last three years, Kevin has loved and hated law school. He loves to read, to think, and to discuss ideas with people. He's good at all those things, and he's only become better as he practiced and worked. He's excited for all the possibilities that are open to him now that he's finished with law school, and it's always fun to take the next step into the future.
And even though he really enjoyed it, the biggest smile I've seen in a long time (and this is Kevin we're talking about) was when he walked up on that stage and received his hood and his diploma. Part of him was obviously saying, "Yes! I've done it! I have a law degree!" but an equal part of him I knew was saying, "Yes! It's finally over!!!"
I am really happy for him and really proud of him. He's been stressed and busy, knowing that even if he understands the material clearly and completely, his grade depends on understanding it and presenting it more clearly and completely than his classmates. Thankfully, though, he has a really cool class; they are bright and intelligent, but not cut-throat or too competitive.
At the actual graduation ceremony, it was a little stressful to find seats. I wanted to stop and talk to a few of my friends I saw in the audience, but I was in charge of finding seats for my mom, Kevin's parents, and myself. The Provo tabernacle was filling up quickly, so I had to blow off my friends and try and get all 4 people in one place at one time. This was nearly impossible. Basically, we walked into the building and everyone took off in their own direction, planning to meet up where we'd seen some empty seats. Then certain people had ideas to find other seats, but we couldn't get a hold of everyone else, and by the time we got up to the empty seats in the stupid balcony, they were covered with strollers and purses and grandmas, obviously being saved for people who had planned ahead a little better than we had.
We eventually got seats along the wooden benches on the corridor-- they're about half the depth of the regular wooden benches, and I knew I wouldn't last long in those seats, being pregnant and uncomfortable. But they were open and there was room for all four of us. But then the ushers came by and said that the cushy blue seats were open, and we moved there. In some ways, those are the most comfortable seats in the house, the only ones with any cushion on them. But on the other hand, they are the most uncomfortable seats in the house in that everyone watches you the whole time, or at least when the speakers get boring. Which they did. But even knowing people might have been staring at us, I was still so happy not to be sitting on the hard wooden benches!
Once Kevin got his hood and diploma, I had to leave. In the balcony, it was about 140 degrees, and I was still all stressed from herding parents, and to top it off, the pictures I took turned out like this:
And even though he really enjoyed it, the biggest smile I've seen in a long time (and this is Kevin we're talking about) was when he walked up on that stage and received his hood and his diploma. Part of him was obviously saying, "Yes! I've done it! I have a law degree!" but an equal part of him I knew was saying, "Yes! It's finally over!!!"
I am really happy for him and really proud of him. He's been stressed and busy, knowing that even if he understands the material clearly and completely, his grade depends on understanding it and presenting it more clearly and completely than his classmates. Thankfully, though, he has a really cool class; they are bright and intelligent, but not cut-throat or too competitive.
At the actual graduation ceremony, it was a little stressful to find seats. I wanted to stop and talk to a few of my friends I saw in the audience, but I was in charge of finding seats for my mom, Kevin's parents, and myself. The Provo tabernacle was filling up quickly, so I had to blow off my friends and try and get all 4 people in one place at one time. This was nearly impossible. Basically, we walked into the building and everyone took off in their own direction, planning to meet up where we'd seen some empty seats. Then certain people had ideas to find other seats, but we couldn't get a hold of everyone else, and by the time we got up to the empty seats in the stupid balcony, they were covered with strollers and purses and grandmas, obviously being saved for people who had planned ahead a little better than we had.
We eventually got seats along the wooden benches on the corridor-- they're about half the depth of the regular wooden benches, and I knew I wouldn't last long in those seats, being pregnant and uncomfortable. But they were open and there was room for all four of us. But then the ushers came by and said that the cushy blue seats were open, and we moved there. In some ways, those are the most comfortable seats in the house, the only ones with any cushion on them. But on the other hand, they are the most uncomfortable seats in the house in that everyone watches you the whole time, or at least when the speakers get boring. Which they did. But even knowing people might have been staring at us, I was still so happy not to be sitting on the hard wooden benches!
Once Kevin got his hood and diploma, I had to leave. In the balcony, it was about 140 degrees, and I was still all stressed from herding parents, and to top it off, the pictures I took turned out like this:
We have a new camera, and apparently I don't know how to use it. Ugh! But my mom was there, and hers turned out nicely. She said she'd send them to us. Good thing for moms!
I tried to last a while longer but eventually had to leave. It was too hot! Outside on the lawn, it was like a pregnant lady parade. They really need to have left the doors open. Stupid balcony.
Anyway, but Kevin graduated and was the happiest man in the world. We had a graduation party for him and his brother, who graduated with his Bachelor's also this weekend. It was great to know Kevin is done with school, and it was great to be with our families. So even though the pictures look like they do, and even though it was hot and stressful, many parts of the weekend were nice.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Blog as I go
I would love to post pictures, since I actually took some, but I'm too tired right now. Later.
It's going to be a busy week, so I'll post a little here and there so I don't have to put everything in some mega post, which would inevitably be boring.
So tonight our ward's YM and YW came to our house and worked in our yard for an hour. It was only an hour, but there was so much that got done! The biggest thing was this fallen tree and a pile of logs that I couldn't move even if I wasn't pregnant. They got taken care of and moved-- not quite to where I wanted them, but to an acceptable place. :) I'm moving in a month anyway.
I'll post pictures when I can. There are some great kids in my ward! I'm really impressed, in the last 3 years here, how much they've grown up and how cool they are.
And as for my last post, I totally tattled on that guy! I was fairly professional and straightforward without making too many personal attacks on him, but I explained how he'd just copied other peoples' work and asked our teacher to evaluate that team member for what his input was, not including him in the grade for the entire team.
And I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates group assignments! Really, the only reason I can see for them is that the teacher has to grade 1/4 of the number of assignments as otherwise. And on my online classes, coming to a consensus on ANYTHING takes about 30 times as long as it would otherwise. Just simply deciding on a topic and who should do what part takes DAYS, where in real life it would take a minute or two.
But that was my last class. The next one I'll take next January when I do my student teaching. In the mean time... just finishing up this baby. :)
It's going to be a busy week, so I'll post a little here and there so I don't have to put everything in some mega post, which would inevitably be boring.
So tonight our ward's YM and YW came to our house and worked in our yard for an hour. It was only an hour, but there was so much that got done! The biggest thing was this fallen tree and a pile of logs that I couldn't move even if I wasn't pregnant. They got taken care of and moved-- not quite to where I wanted them, but to an acceptable place. :) I'm moving in a month anyway.
I'll post pictures when I can. There are some great kids in my ward! I'm really impressed, in the last 3 years here, how much they've grown up and how cool they are.
And as for my last post, I totally tattled on that guy! I was fairly professional and straightforward without making too many personal attacks on him, but I explained how he'd just copied other peoples' work and asked our teacher to evaluate that team member for what his input was, not including him in the grade for the entire team.
And I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates group assignments! Really, the only reason I can see for them is that the teacher has to grade 1/4 of the number of assignments as otherwise. And on my online classes, coming to a consensus on ANYTHING takes about 30 times as long as it would otherwise. Just simply deciding on a topic and who should do what part takes DAYS, where in real life it would take a minute or two.
But that was my last class. The next one I'll take next January when I do my student teaching. In the mean time... just finishing up this baby. :)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Strong Feelings
I haven't blogged anything lately, and I think it's because I really only have something to say when I have strong feelings about something. And I haven't really been that riled up lately. I mean, I made another dress and put it on Howie, but this time I didn't even take a picture.
Though I might....
However, tonight I got super angry/annoyed/insulted/disappointed, and I just wanted to share.
So my class that I'm taking is over today. We had this group project due on Sunday, and I finished all my bits on Saturday. I posted them along with my sources so that the compilers could easily do their jobs.
I logged in earlier today and flipped through the posts and got the general idea that people had been working on the project. I figured they'd finished it and turned it in. But I was wrong.
I got a phone call this evening from Antwoine, one of the guys in my class. He was pretty upset that it hadn't been done and hadn't been turned in. I tried to sympathize while frantically logging on to the class to see that it, indeed, hadn't been finished or turned in.
The guy who was supposed to compile the project had misread the syllabus and thought it was due on Monday.
This did not make me mad. I have done plenty of dumb stuff, and I always feel horrible afterwards-- especially when it affects other people, like a group project. This guy apologized and explained his mixup. No biggie-- to me.
Since he hadn't done it, though, I felt like I could step up and do some final editing. I'm good at it and I like it-- and it's what I do all day anyway. So I start the final comb-through of our group's paper. Some people are stronger writers than others, and some people had just put a list of information instead of a couple paragraphs. I can deal with that. I didn't rewrite the entire thing (congrats to self for such restraint), but I did make it flow a bit better.
However, I got to one of the last sections, and instead of sounding like a research paper on our videoconferencing system we'd chosen, it sounded like a cheesy advertisement for an electronic classroom enhancement program. I did a quick google search, and lo and behold! it WAS a cheesy advertisement for some other program.
Ok, I've written before about how much I hate it when my students turn in plagiarized crap as if they'd written it. I feel insulted that they've tried to pull the wool over my eyes and get by with doing nothing. It's also frustrating because it takes just like 5 minutes longer to read the stupid material and then summarize it in your own words.
So imagine how I felt when I realized that had I not done some major editing at the last minute, MY NAME would have been written on this project with a huge, stupid, mismatching plagiarized section in it! It had nothing to do with the rest of the paper, except that they were both made up of words. It was very clear that this team member had never even visited the videoconferencing website-- because if he had spent one minute there he would have known how off-base he was submitting what he did.
And this guy wants to get a Master's degree and become a teacher! I am horrified.
In addition, this guy was supposed to write our paper's conclusion. His original conclusion had been just a rip-off of the introduction. Yeah, our teammate who wrote the introduction had a few words for him then! So this guy rewrote the conclusion, taking bits of random paragraphs throughout the paper and stringing them together as if they were a conclusion.
What a loser! I hope he doesn't get his degree. We don't need teachers like this. There are enough students like this already.
Though I might....
However, tonight I got super angry/annoyed/insulted/disappointed, and I just wanted to share.
So my class that I'm taking is over today. We had this group project due on Sunday, and I finished all my bits on Saturday. I posted them along with my sources so that the compilers could easily do their jobs.
I logged in earlier today and flipped through the posts and got the general idea that people had been working on the project. I figured they'd finished it and turned it in. But I was wrong.
I got a phone call this evening from Antwoine, one of the guys in my class. He was pretty upset that it hadn't been done and hadn't been turned in. I tried to sympathize while frantically logging on to the class to see that it, indeed, hadn't been finished or turned in.
The guy who was supposed to compile the project had misread the syllabus and thought it was due on Monday.
This did not make me mad. I have done plenty of dumb stuff, and I always feel horrible afterwards-- especially when it affects other people, like a group project. This guy apologized and explained his mixup. No biggie-- to me.
Since he hadn't done it, though, I felt like I could step up and do some final editing. I'm good at it and I like it-- and it's what I do all day anyway. So I start the final comb-through of our group's paper. Some people are stronger writers than others, and some people had just put a list of information instead of a couple paragraphs. I can deal with that. I didn't rewrite the entire thing (congrats to self for such restraint), but I did make it flow a bit better.
However, I got to one of the last sections, and instead of sounding like a research paper on our videoconferencing system we'd chosen, it sounded like a cheesy advertisement for an electronic classroom enhancement program. I did a quick google search, and lo and behold! it WAS a cheesy advertisement for some other program.
Ok, I've written before about how much I hate it when my students turn in plagiarized crap as if they'd written it. I feel insulted that they've tried to pull the wool over my eyes and get by with doing nothing. It's also frustrating because it takes just like 5 minutes longer to read the stupid material and then summarize it in your own words.
So imagine how I felt when I realized that had I not done some major editing at the last minute, MY NAME would have been written on this project with a huge, stupid, mismatching plagiarized section in it! It had nothing to do with the rest of the paper, except that they were both made up of words. It was very clear that this team member had never even visited the videoconferencing website-- because if he had spent one minute there he would have known how off-base he was submitting what he did.
And this guy wants to get a Master's degree and become a teacher! I am horrified.
In addition, this guy was supposed to write our paper's conclusion. His original conclusion had been just a rip-off of the introduction. Yeah, our teammate who wrote the introduction had a few words for him then! So this guy rewrote the conclusion, taking bits of random paragraphs throughout the paper and stringing them together as if they were a conclusion.
What a loser! I hope he doesn't get his degree. We don't need teachers like this. There are enough students like this already.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
More fun with Toby
Toby loves it when I sew!
Today I have a paper due, a review of an online course-- which I haven't started.
But look at what I HAVE been doing today:
Today's fashion is being modeled by the lovely Toby.
He loves his new pajamas! He doesn't mind that I haven't put the snaps in yet, as that's where his tail comes out.
Aren't these PJs so cute?! I got the fabric in Beijing. It has little blue and yellow chickies on it, and they're saying, "Start of new," and "Are you born?" It doesn't make sense, and it wouldn't make sense in Chinese either, so I'm not sure how they chose that. But I thought it was pretty awesome!
And contrary to what it looks like, this is Toby's happy face.Thursday, April 09, 2009
Useful for me
Hey folks,
I know a lot of you who read this are moms and/or opinionated. So it's time to help me out.
I started a baby gift registry at Target, and I really don't know what else to put on it. I know I need some things, but I really have no idea what stuff is necessary, unnecessary, convenient, nice, wasteful, whatever. If you'd like, please go look at my registry and tell me what else I need to put on there. Or if you hate what I've put on there, please let me know why. :)
Thanks!
Chelsea
I know a lot of you who read this are moms and/or opinionated. So it's time to help me out.
I started a baby gift registry at Target, and I really don't know what else to put on it. I know I need some things, but I really have no idea what stuff is necessary, unnecessary, convenient, nice, wasteful, whatever. If you'd like, please go look at my registry and tell me what else I need to put on there. Or if you hate what I've put on there, please let me know why. :)
Thanks!
Chelsea
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
For my parents
I have a couple of parents who don't believe that I look pregnant.
Well, I do. And here's proof.
And that's what I would look like without my arms emphasizing how big my belly is.
And that's to prove that I still look normal.
Well, I do. And here's proof.
And that's what I would look like without my arms emphasizing how big my belly is.
And that's to prove that I still look normal.Monday, April 06, 2009
Empathetic
I like to read the New York Times while I'm at work. Sometimes I learn things, and other times I'm amused. Today was an "amused" day. This is from an article about middle schools teaching empathy. Yes, and our next lesson will be on herding cats
"In the cafeteria, Alex Primavera, 12, described empathy as putting himself in someone else’s shoes. He said he had been trying not to put down his classmates or call them 'moron' and 'idiot.' Then he yelled at another student to shut up.
“'He tries but he doesn’t get very far,' said Alan Zhong, 12, adding that Alex had just kicked him in English class."Darn that tail
I also made a set of frilly underpants/diaper cover thingie to match the yellow dress. Unfortunately, Toby and Howie have tails that wouldn't fit so well, so you'll just have to imagine how cute they'd be in them!
I also learned (from my bilingual sewing pattern) how to say panties in Spanish: Pantaloncita. Yay, now I'm bilingual!
I also learned (from my bilingual sewing pattern) how to say panties in Spanish: Pantaloncita. Yay, now I'm bilingual!
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Octobina
Here are some shots of our lovely October modeling some new baby clothes. The clothes are for babies 18-22 pounds, and Toby is only 17 pounds, so it's a bit big. Otherwise he said he'd be happy to wear them every day.
I'm going to add lace to the bottom of the dress and then hem it. Otherwise it's pretty much finished. I made it using the same Simplicity pattern I used for the black and red ensemble, only this is the dress version and that was the skirt. It's super simple, and I really like the pattern.
The yellow fabrics were both in the remnant bin at Joann's. That's seriously the only place I go for fabric-- actually having them cut your fabric takes soooo long because there is ALWAYS a line of at least 10 people waiting for fabric to be cut. Booo. But the remnant bin has cute fabrics, they don't need to be cut, AND they're half price. For now, I'm sticking with remnants!And Toby totally reminds me of a Beatrix Potter story. What a cute little girl cat he makes!
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