Thursday, February 25, 2010

Changes are Coming

big changes to this and my other blog. I don't want to give away all my secrets now. But my birthday is in less than a month, and I will no longer be "26, now what". I'll officially be 27, and enter my late 20's. Scary thought, but exciting at the same time. Stay tuned.

TV/Books/Movies

Lost

So I decided to jump on the Lost bandwagon. Now that I know the series is ending in May I felt like it was time to watch all the old seasons and sit tight for the final episode. I will say I love JJ Abrams. His shows are so genius. He really thinks outside the box. He also was the executive producer and creator of Alias, another show I watched after it had finished airing.
Once Lost is over I'm going to watch "The Wire". I hear great things about it, and it's also no longer aired. Totally my cup of tea.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

HTML

So those of you who follow my twitter know that for the last 2 days I have been taking classes in HTML. My suitability (aka clearance like stuff) hasn't gone thru yet so I'm trying to keep busy. My work suggested I take some classes over at Softek. They just happened to be offering classes in HMTL so I jumped at the chance.
I cannot speak highly enough of these classes. The instructor was very hands on, and thorough. We went thru basic and intermediate HTML coding, CSS, and basic javascript. At times it seemed incredible that I was looking at long pages of code, and understanding everything that I was looking at. They also provided me with 2 great manuals (one for each day) that I got to keep. I can look back on these as a great reference point. I totally intend on taking the Dreamweaver class as soon as it's offered.

High School Experience

Bishop Dunne Catholic School

I always seem to argue with people about the public versus private option of school. So here is a warning, though I'm not usually controversial on my site, if you were public school educated, you might want to skip this section. That being said, I know every public school is different, and has different funding and support, and I can only speak to my personal experience.

So on to my point. I LOVED private school. I attended public school through 7th grade. My elementary school was K-6. I was a part of the Talented and Gifted Program (TAG) and in the advanced classes. I made straight A's and was a huge teacher's pet (more on this later). I really loved my 6th grade teacher, and still email with him today to let him know how I'm doing.

In 7th grade I moved on to middle school. I attended an Academy of the exploratory arts. I had to apply to get in. I was in all advanced classes here too. It was this year, that I was offered a scholarship for 8th grade at Bishop Dunne Catholic School. the scholarship was offered to me by my church. Before I could be enrolled at Bishop Dunne I had to apply. This process included a personal interview and all sorts of tests.

I was super nervous for a few reasons. First of all, bishop Dunne was a high school. My incoming year was the first year they had an 8th grade class. It was a pilot program and enrollment was limited to 25 students. Second of all I was coming from a public school, whereas most of the other applicants were coming from private schools. Finally, I was leaving behind all my friends, and I knew that I was no longer going to be the smartest kid in the class.

I was accepted to BD. I was elated. That first year was ridiculously hard for me. I was so far behind the other kids in my class. Amusingly enough English was my hardest subject (for all my jerk friends out there, save the Mexican jokes). I say amusingly because I always loved English. I love reading, but this was so much more than reading. I had never written a research paper. I had never learned all my parts of speech. I had never learned how to diagram a sentence. The list went on and on. I caught up that year though. It was super tough, but I caught up. I started 9th grade ahead of most of the other students (as our 8th grade curriculum was built to lead us into the advanced 9th grade classes).

In 9th grade I took AP Chemistry, Honors English, Honors Algebra, Honors Geometry, and Honors History. By 9th grade I was taking all advanced placement classes.

Not to toot my own horn, but part of my education was due tot the fact that I was adamant that I was going to take advantage of every opportunity that was afforded to me. I worked as hard as I could to gt the best grades that I could, to take the hardest classes that I could with the most advanced curriculum offered. As hard as I worked though, it wouldn't have been possible for me to do so well without the help of my teachers. They worked tirelessly to help me in any way that they could. My guidance counselor and I were on a first name basis. She personally sat down with me for hours and helped me apply to colleges. The school had days set aside for all juniors to work on their college applications. We would sit and write out essays and our teachers would moderate and help us in any way they could. The school offered free SAT classes (which were mandatory unless you tested out of it -- which I did). This was the same course Kaplan offered for thousands of dollars. We were taught every aspect of MS Suite. I know word, excel, PowerPoint, and access like the back of my hand... to this day.

The education I received at Bishop Dunne was superior to anything I ever experienced in public school. I find myself looking back and realizing, though I matured and learned a lot in college, most of the skills I use today I learned in high school. I'm a firm believer in a private versus public school experience. I simply don't think I would be where I am today without the guidance, help, and encouragement I received from the faculty, staff, parents and peers and Bishop Dunne.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Tis the Lenten Season

Wednesday was the beginning of lent. I don't know how many of you know what Lent is, it's a religious season in the Catholic church (I think Anglicans celebrate as well). During Lent we are gearing up for Easter, and the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (yay Jesus!).
During Lent it is customary for Catholics to give something up in order to ready ourselves for the resurrection. Common things a person might give up are cokes, fried food, meat, sex, etc etc. The point is it's supposed to be something that will actually take some effort. I've been thinking for days about what I could do during this season. I decided that I would attend mass every Sunday without fail. However, I wanted to do more. Attending mass is something I should be doing anyways. As of this morning I still hadn't thought of anything else. I missed morning mass but I made it out to St. James in Falls Church for what the priest called "last chance mass" at 7pm. During the father's homily I became inspired. The thing I am truly addicted to is my blackberry. I'm totally one of those awful people who check their blackberry every 30 seconds. Although I can't give up my blackberry altogether, because I need it for work, I can give up Gchat on blackberry. That's right, I'm giving up being logged in 24/7. GChat is totally what really causes me to check my phone every minute. So, as of this evening, I turned off my blackberry GChat, and if you need to contact me, you can do it the old fashioned way... and text me (or call).
Wish me luck!

The Olympics

USA Hockey

Why didn't anyone ever explain to me that hockey is awesome? I always was under the impression that hockey was like soccer... but with sticks on ice. I really don't like soccer, so I thought I wouldn't like hockey. Here is the difference: In hockey, the players can beat the crap out of each other! In fact, it's encouraged! I LOVE it when they shove each other into walls! Hockey is super interesting, and it's not as long as soccer. I think I'm a new hockey convert, which is good, as I need a sport to watch when it's not football season.

Ice Dancing

Lame. I'm sorry, but it is. I grew up watching and LOVING figure skating. I still do like to watch, but in ice dancing there are no jumps! What's the point of that? It's ballroom dancing on ice. Lame.

Monday, February 15, 2010

I Should be Drunk for These Kinds of Shenanigans

Thomas Jefferson Memorial... at nite!

As most of my readers know I have a wicked case of insomnia. Most nights I am awake really late. On Saturday night a friend of mine happened to be up really late as well. He was in town visiting for the weekend. So, we did the logical thing. I went to pick him up at 3am and we drove around the monuments at night. I really think the only way to see the monuments is at night. They are beautiful when they are all lit up. Also the monuments really make me remember why I moved to DC in the first place. I wanted to be where all the action was happening.


Mike at the TJ Memorial. At 4am, we were (shockingly) the only people there.

DC Anniversary

Today is my 4 year anniversary of moving to DC. When I moved here I had a plan. I was staying for 1 year, 2 max, gaining experience, and then moving back to Texas. It's now been 4 years and I don't see an end in sight. I think I really lucked out. I enjoy living here and have made some awesome friends. Amusingly enough, 4 years ago I started my job the day after President's Day. Tomorrow I will also start a new job. I'm really looking forward to it, but it's nice to not be 22 anymore. I've learned a lot these past 4 years and I intend to apply all I have learned to my future job.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Working...kinda

So I am finally starting my new job... kinda. I'll be in my contracting office for a week, then I'll start at DHS the following week. I'm SO excited to have income again. I also think it's always fun to start a new job. I enjoy learning new things and am very excited to start my new position.

What Not to Wear

Have you seen the show? With Clinton and Stacy? I love it, I wish they were here now. I'm having major issues choosing an outfit for my first day at work. Normally this wouldn't be an issue. I am a clothes horse, and love putting together outfits. The problem is the SNOW! We still have a few feet of snow on the ground, and come Tuesday it will still be there! (at least some of it will). I'll be walking from my house to the office, in Ballston. Walking normally means flats, but if I wear flats on Monday, I'll ruin them with all the ice and sludge that's on the ground.
I could wear tennis shoes and change, which would normally be option number two. However, I'll actually be leaving Ballston, VA on Monday and heading to McPherson Square, DC via metro accompanied by the VP of the company (for a staff meeting). I will be walking to the Ballston station, about 2 blocks from the VA office, and from the McPherson Metro to the DHS office on Vermont Ave, about 5 blocks away. I don't want the VP (or the client) to see me switching back and forth to sneakers as this is first impression time. I'm at such a loss. Should I switch shoes and carry a big purse or tote? Should I wear the flats and chance it? UGH. Such the dilemma!
I'd appreciate any and all opinions!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Diet of Champions

Today I had 4 chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs, half a serving of easy mac, and 9 bagel bites. I feel like I'm in college again. ( I hope Theo (losingweightinthecity.com) isn't reading this cause I've sucked at her challenge this week))
I do have an excuse... the snow.
I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing about how awful the snow is. If you fall into that boat you may want to scroll down some.

10 Reasons Snow Sucks

1. my car was towed
2. shoveling
3. falling/ face planting
4. wet socks/shoes/ jeans
5. having to wear socks in the first place
6. artificial heat gives me a headache
7. cabin fever/ stir crazy
8. was supposed to start my new job this week but the paperwork cant go thru because the government has been closed for days.
9. no new crafts/ or info for my blog
10. haven't had fruit in days cause the safeway is out of produce

I could easily go on, but I think I've made my point.

Football

THE SAINTS WON THE SUPERBOWL! Woo!
More than anything this made me miss living in the south. I think I am making the right decision staying in DC, but that doesn't keep me from missing Texas and NOLA like crazy.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Snowpocalypse 2K10

That's right. Its the second snowpocalypse of the season. I have to say I'm getting a bit tired of the snow, but here is my weekend recap, and I'll try to post some pics later on:

Friday

Went to babysit around 2pm. Played with the kids inside. The baby was great, but I'm convinced I'm going to give him a seizure... he LOVES watching TV.
Headed over to the Webbs house to be snowed in there. We stayed up drinking all night long. Dank nearly a bottle of rum.

Saturday
Hangover city. Helped Annie paint some, watched "The Hangover" at their neighbor's house (quite fitting). Everyone was in bed by midnight.

Sunday
Woke up, painted Annie and Frank's office. Walked to Lost Dog Cafe. It was closed. Walked to Bob and Edith's grabbed lunch for everyone to-go.
Ate lunch, took a nap while Dan and Frank FIFA'd it up (Annie and I had protested FIFA all weekend long). Woke up, drove home (Thanks to Dan and Frank shoveling out my car -- thanks guys!). Got within a block of my house, and realized my street wasnt plowed. Turned around. Parked at the safeway and walked 5 blocks back to my house...uphill... in the snow... barefoot.... okay, maybe not barefoot, but it still wasnt fun. Waiting for the Superbowl to start.
Woo, last day of football!

So, that was my snowpocalypse2K10. There is still about 2 feet of snow on the ground, and I don't think it's going anywhere. le sigh. Ill updatw with a superbowl post and pics later. Stay warm!