one goal may be crossed out

Whew, I've finally completed my Teach For America application! The deadline that I'm applying for is tomorrow at 8 pm. Glad to have it done. Now to cook and then eat with Jesse when he gets home from class. 1 year and 8 months today!!

So much has been happening lately. Much to catch up on, eh?

stuff and goals, silver-lined clouds

I just got back from running, down the Carrollton tracks and around Audubon Park. Jes had a Skills class this morning so I rode with him to Loyola and then walked to the park. I'm not going to the Hollygrove Market today, partially because I'm broke until payday this week and also because I had no one to go with me. I usually don't mind, even like, going places by myself, but for some reason, I think it would more enjoyable to go with Jesse, Mia or a friend. So maybe I'll go with Mia or someone next weekend since Jes has another Skills class. Later this afternoon we're going to the Tulane homecoming game to see Neill perform. Though I don't care for football, he's excited about the half-time show, and he has a solo. And, I like marching band shows; I really like drum corps shows. Plus, of course, he got us free tickets. After, we're going to a play with Lydia (or we're supposed to--I haven't heard from her yet...). I thought that the "A Fresh Air Affair" concert in Palmer Park was yesterday, but I realized yesterday was the 9th, not the 10th, so I don't know if we'll have time to make the 5 o'clock performance. Yesterday I was off of work for the teacher's professional development day. Monday, McGehee also has fall break so I'll be off then; not sure what I'm doing yet. Jes has work so I may go to BR for the day. Mia was upset with me for not doing anything with her yesterday (I haven't really seen her for more than a few minutes since maybe Sunday?), but I've been keeping pretty busy with McGehee and teaching ESL that I haven't done much with Jes lately. My dad was also disappointed that I cancelled going to BR again since Mia could just bring Marisa's stuff (she has stuff at our house from when she lived their post-Katrina), but I would have only seen them for like 30 minutes anyway, and it's a waste of gas since Mia offered to bring the stuff anyway. I would have liked to spend time with them, but I want weekends, too. Anyhow, instead of going to BR, I hung out with Marisa, her boyfriend, and Neill. We went and saw Zombieland in theatres, which was stupid, but pretty funny in that horror-comedy and somewhat cheesey way. Jesse and I started watching Dexter again since the fourth season just began; we want to kind of refresh our minds on the plots so we did the first 2 episodes of season 1 last night. We also played Rock Band when he got home from work. Maybe not worth mentioning, but I've begun playing the "Hard" level on guitar. I suck, but I remember when I used to fail out of easy.

Hmm, so I still have some goals to finish. Hopefully, Monday I can finish writing my TFA letter of intent. I also want to start reading another book or resume studying for the GRE. Must decide which... My ESL class is going well. I think I'm actually starting to engage my students, and last week was better. But, on Thursday we had someone come in from United way to speak about H1N1 so I had about 30-40 minutes to teach my regularly 2-hour class; now, I feel I need to catch up. Writing lesson plans Monday, too!

The other day I was walking to Robert's Market. I was doing it so I could stretch my gas since I'm trying to save money. It was nearing dusk, barely raining, and the sky was beautiful. I wore my rainboots and had Jesse's big, black Forman Perry umbrella. I was reminded of Guatemala because it rained there 3-5 times a week or more, in the afternoon, and I walked most places. Luckily here, I have my rainboots because the water came halfway up a lot of the time. But, it was nice to notice each channel of water on its way to the street and the differences in land height from sidewalk to sidewalk and house frontyard to the next.

So I like walking in the rain. That was the point of the last paragraph. I also like laying in my room when it's raining. I like listening to it, but the new Muse album, The Resistance goes along pretty well, too.

Oh bread!

I made this bread and it came out pretty good...It's realy good with pesto. Neill's roommate made it last week or the week before and after she took it out, Neill and I tasted it. Last night, Jes and I had slices from the loaf (or broken slices as it's a dense, thinner loaf with a funny shape) with avocado, alfalfa sprouts and scrambled egg the first time (he added pesto, too). And, today for lunch, I spread some pesto on a couple of slices and finished each with a piece of mozzarella and a slice of tomato. Drew, I still want your challah recipe :)

I enjoy baking bread sometimes by hand much more than I do with the breadmaker. The breadmaker is really nice and convenient, definitely working more for uniformity-sake. But, there's something quite organic about the process of kneading and rolling, etc.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Herb-Bread-I/Detail.aspx

In other news, I'm finishing up my Teach for America application. So I'm in the process of writing my letter of intent. As for ESL, I was very prepared for my Monday class (and it only took me a couple of hours that afternoon since I was off from Little Gate). Consequently, the class went very well. I'm sure some of my students probably have reservations about me and don't take me seriously, but I hope this subsides during the semester as I acquire more and more experince. It's interesting working with infants and three-year-olds during the day and then going to adult learners twice a week in the evening. This weekend, Mia wants to go to Republic because she's never been so I'll have to talk to Jesse, Neill, and Lydia about that. I think Mia's going to BR Saturday morning, and Jesse has a skills class, too. Since we're postponing doing Habitat, I can either go to the Hollygrove Market ($25) for an entire bag of fruits nad vegetables. Or, I can volunteer with a group from Loyola going to Broadmoor to restore/rebuild houses with Annunciation Mission. I haven't decided yet. Jes and I are going to BR the following weekend to see my family and the newest edition to the Perret family (Jesse's bestfirend and his wife), Cadence Rose.

My friend Drew is offically starting up her family photography business. If you're reading this and have a child, I'd highly recommend giving Drew's page a looksee and calling her if you like what's there. I'm really happy for her, and if I had a child (which I'm thankful right now that I don't), I'd get her to do some for me. I'd link her page, but I don't know how to use blogger quite that well yet. But, just go to http://dumainephotography.blogger.com/

Play-by-play much?

Well, the last few days have been busy, pleasantly so though. Friday, after I got off of work, I headed to my apartment where Jesse was waiting. He stayed home since we both woke up late. He had a sore throat. *cough cough* Pun intended. I was originally planning on going straight to BR, but lucky me, my aunt flo decided to visit so I had to lay down off and on for probably an hour. Once I took a shower and headed out (leaving Jesse to bachelorhood that evening), it took me a while to get around the city (really just Uptown in general). I needed to stop by the bank, fill up the gas tank, and bring Mia her pillow for her bus ride to Florida, where she would have a meet on Saturday. Amidst doing those errands, I decided I'd stop at Praline's by Jean to get Mia a couple of good luck cupcakes. I ended up getting my parents a couple of pralines (though proundly without the $3+ cardstock box with fleur-de-lis ribbon). I got Mia coconut cream and red velvet, but my stomach was still bothering me so I didn't get any for myself. The jolly lady at the counter wrapped the brown box with a pretty ribbon and placed it in a translucent polka-dot bag. I rushed to see Mia after getting 2.15/gallon gas on Louisiana. But, more than usual, Xavier's on-campus traffic was a nightmare so I ended up getting to the charter bus in front of the gym with less than 30 seconds to spare. She was happy though to get her pillow and the surprise cupcakes. So then I drove to BR. It was great to see my dad, and he was obviously happy to see me, but my mom had gone to work, to return around midnight. My dad had a neighbor over fixing a part of the dining room wall (which needed to be fixed because of my dad's poor construction sense and the poor work of his previously hired contractors). I am now automatically unable to give anyone my dad brings home the benefit of the doubt because he seems to attract so many creepers. But, when I found out that this guy was a neighbor, I was a little relieved. He seemed nice and friendly enough, but I still have to wonder, why's he hanging out with my dad? My wierd father. But, I was happy to see my dad too. I ended up going to the grocery store to get the ingredients my parents didn't already have. I went to A-Z International as well for some mango juice, mango pulp, lychee juice and I decided to buy some natural soaps for Christina for a her birthday. By the time I was done making the coconut, red-curry soup (the same one Drew and I made) for my dad and my mom, Neill picked me up and we headed to Kona Grill for Christina's surprise party. Of course, were were an hour late since he had to come from NOLA so we missed the surprise part. It was fun though; I haven't spent so much time with Neill's family in a long time so it was nice to catch up and reminisce. After the party, Neill took me to my parents' and he headed back to NOLA. I chatted with my dad and waited for my mom to come home from work. When she got home, she had some of my soup and she said it reminded her of a soup they ate in the Philippines. I was happy to hear that, and though I didn't use fresh basil (used dried) and I used regular salt (over kosher or sea since I couldn't find any at their house), I think my one taste was pretty good. I wish I had the stomach to eat more. I didn't eat very much while I was at home, but now, laying in bed, that soup sounds really good. So the next morning, I didnt not cook because I work up at a whopping 11! I never sleep in that late, but it was nice. I did feel like I had wasted half my dad, but I can't complain. Next time, I'll have to be better about waking up at a decent hour becasue my time with my parents was cut short as a result. I even left almost 3 hours later than I had anticipated, which cut time with Jesse. I was supposed to be home before so we could head to Lydia's around then, but I got back at 4. We still had to prepare a ocuple of things for the party. Mango lassi and hummus was what we ended up doing. I'm so tired so, well, I will update more later. This may seem boring, but I enjoy writing about my days like play-by-plays. I feel funny doing it, but I like to recount them. I did a lot more this weekend, but I'm getting tired and I have to be at work at 7:30.

next update
- Saturday and Lydia's 25th
- babysitting, $45 for watching tv
- photography
- no work today (or next monday)
- esl class coming together

Stream-lined?

What am I still doing up? Jess and I watched the first episode of Dexter on hulu a little earlier, and after I went to bed, I had the urge to get up, go back to the living room and internet gaze. Anyhow, I want to keep this short since I do have to be at work tomorrow for 8:30.

My dad's back in town so after I get off tomorrw, I'm going straight to the BR for fun family time (though Mia will be going to Florida for her CC meet). I will be cooking the same soup that Drew and I cooked a week ago, as well as making mango lassi (I'm excited because I'll get to pay since LSU paid me my last today). Hopefully, my mom and dad won't be bored of me. I haven't hung out with just them in so long. My dad wants to go to the Walking Dinosaurs exhibit in downtown BR, but it's really expensive. I told him that we should go see Chicago play at the Gretna Heritage Fest, but I doubt he'll budge.
Anyhow, after an early dinner, I'm going to Kona Grill for an hour or so for a *surpise* birthday party. Won't say whose.
I'll return to NOLA and my Jesse Saturday afternoon because Lydia's having her birthday international dinner. Not sure what Jes and I are bringing yet, but I'm sure the whole thing will be fun. Sunday, I'm babysitting Holli's daughter, Adele; I worked with Holli on the LSU Early Reading First study. Later that evening, Jes and I might meet up for dinner with Kayla and her boyfriend (and Neill too?) because she and he are planning on going to Audubon Zoo. Why are my days so filled? My Wednesday and Friday afternoons are the best because I get off by 11:30 and then I can do whatever, but I haven't made time for GRE prepwork, and I feel like I'm constantly behind on housework.

Little Gate finally quoted me a salary, and while it's not that generous, it's [more than] decent for the hours that I'm there. I also began teaching ESL on the Westbank. Well, I want to write more about that, but I'm getting sleepy. So far it's a little nerve-racking and fulfiling though I've only taught two classes (I will write more; I also need to work on my next lesson plans). I like being around school and classroom atmospheres though, and consequently, I've begun my Teach For America application so we'll see. New chapter? I don't know, but I'm trying to figure out this adulthood thing!