Coming at you from left to right on your screen...

Pondering

2009-11-29T17:24:53Z

How do you know when it is time to walk away from a project that you have been in love with for quite some time?
How do you do it?
What do you say?

Top Ten Tidbits on Michelle Tonight

2009-03-17T03:44:28Z

1. I did a yoga DVD tonight. I really liked it and plan on doing it again some night soon.

2. My interview was postponed. I am pretty bummed b/c I am really excited to get into the interview and hopefully wow them into giving me a great teaching opportunity for this summer!

3. Last night, I booked my April vacation! I'm going to visit my Aunt Jane and her family in Portland, Oregon! I leave on the 17th and come back on the 25th! OH! And my flight home is totally in first class! And all I had to pay was $266.00 for the roundtrip tickets. SCORE!

4. I am going for a long-ish walk on Wednesday and am super excited because I just heard it is supposed to be really beautiful out that day!

5. We're getting an alarm installed at our apartment b/c of the burgularies that have been happening in our neighborhood over the past few weeks... it will make me feel a little better; I got a bit spooked by a strange noise last night... it just makes people kind of jumpy, you know?

6. Have David Letterman ever been funny? I don't think he has, but I cannot remember anymore.

7. Saw the Tool Academy Reunion tonight... that show is amazing! I am glad they plan on doing a second season. I am also glad for Tough Love, which is taking the Tools place.

8. If I do not do laundry tomorrow night, I am going to have to go and buy new clothing/underwear/bras/socks. I should probably just do the laundry... but who has the time to do that?

9. I will probably be asking you all if you have any leads for me over the next few days b/c I'm looking for donations for raffle prizes for the benefit that is in Weymouth on April 10th... all the proceeds go to our Walk Team, so we can hopefully all meet our goals of $1,800. I have three or four prizes already, but I have lots more work to do before the 10th of April.

10. I am super duper getting nervous because my kiddies are gearing up to begin their MCAS on March 31st. I worry that I was not a good enough teacher for them this year, so they will not do well on the exam.

I have an interview today!

2009-03-16T10:06:47Z

Today I am going to interview for a summer job that I really want and I am super nervous... please think good, happy, employed thoughts for me this afternoon from 4-5 when I am meeting with the woman who is doing the hiring!!!

Thank you in advance. You are a doll!

Now I'm driving to work - freaking out already! :P

Its sixteen miles, to the promise land...

2009-03-04T04:37:15Z

I am sick again. I don't know how it happened, really... I mean, I know my body realizes that it is okay to fall apart when I am on vacation week, but it came in late and now I am stuck working through my cold. I want to rip my face off.

Speaking of face ripping off, tonight at stage combat training, I did flips onto a mat, kneed people in the stomach, and took out my professor with a roundhouse, slide kick... I am totally like one step away from being Jean Claude Van Dam!

Tomorrow afternoon, I am meeting my professor at UMass to talk about the class she came to observe last week. I am excited and nervous about it... after the meeting, I have about three hours of grading to get through... it is going to be a long day and night is what I'm saying. I want to become an even better teacher, but it is scary to realize that you have been doing something for years and it is your career and you don't know what you are doing.

Lastly, I went to see Taylor Mali at the Lizard Lounge on Sunday night. He is an amazing poet and spent a good many years as a teacher, so much of his poetry deals with teachers and students and such. He is one of my heroes and I got to meet him on Sunday night. I am quite certain I sounded like an idiot, but I don't even care! He signed my book and was just lovely. He didn't even laugh at me when I told him how incredibly excited I was to see him. He performed six poems, five of his and one called "Lanyard" by Billy Collins. I feel honored to have been there for it. I need to get more poetry into my life again. Anyone want to come to the Lizard Lounge some Sunday night with me? For $5.00 you can hang with me and see some really good (and some not so good) slam poetry.

Musical Rut

2009-02-24T02:24:40Z

Can I haz some knew muzack sugestionz frum youz?
kthxbyebye.

Quickie Top Five Before Bed

2009-02-20T05:25:00Z

1. I colored and cut my hair in the past two weeks... I like both very much.
2. I found my wine guy crush on Myspace and he is 23. I am going to bed feeling like a cougar.
3. I really need to stop cyber stalking random boys who do not actual factor into my real life at all.
4. My favorite sports talk radio show was canceled last week. I am super upset, especially because it means that someone I know in the real world is out of a job, despite being incredibly talented... I hope all of them get new jobs very soon b/c all three major players are very good at what they do.
5. My bedroom is adorable and I love it... and am going into it to go to bed as soon as I post this.

My Uncle: The Update

2009-02-09T00:33:05Z

So my uncle is still in ICU, but he has now spoken and was really coherent for the past two days. He isn't completely better by any means, but it is a start and we are all super happy about it.

I Just Do Not Understand It

2009-02-06T10:48:59Z

So my uncle has been in the hospital now for a week. His triple by-pass surgery was more like six-by-passes, but went off really without a hitch. He had a stroke about 36 hours-ish after the surgery though and has been unwell since. So that sucks, but we knew it was a possibility... what really makes me super angry though is the bed-side manner of the doctors from this hospital.

I understand that they are probably the best in the country at their jobs, but would it kill the medical team to have at least one person come in to see my family without being called by the nurse three times? Would it really hurt the doctors to pick one or two of them to actually come in a second time, instead of sending in someone new each time someone came into Johnny's room? When we ask one doctor to page the neurologist, would it really be that difficult for that doctor to come back into the room and say, "He hasn't returned my page, but I will let you know when I hear from him". I am not even talking about how he should continue to re-page the effin' doctor until that d-bag effin' picks up the phone and returns the page. Because three hours and not one, single re-page is also stupid.

I know that these doctors are very busy, but my uncle just had a catastrophic event in his life while sitting in their hospital. Would it eff kill them to support my family a smidge - instead of telling them on day A that he pretty much has no chance of even really waking up again to the next telling them that he could even get back to almost normal?

Because to be honest, I really cannot handle sitting there holding my uncle's hand, watching my mum cry because the doctors do not realize that all my family needs to hear is "We actually have no idea what will happen next. We just need to give it time." and then to listen to my family's concerns and allow them to ask questions. Why is the doctors' time worth more than my family's collective concern and grief?

UGH, it makes me want to junk punch a plethora of people!!!

Inauguration Day

2009-01-21T04:13:48Z

Today, I witnessed history in the making. President Obama, as V said, is OUR Kennedy. He represents hope and change in a way that I never realized was possible... I cried throughout the day today and it was tears of happiness and relief and excitement. Words do not do justice to how proud I am to be an American today. I did not realize before today just how much I love my country and how strongly I have felt about the past eight years. It sounds incredibly cheesy, but I love our new President and am filled with so much hope and positivity that I feel like I am going to burst!

Tonight, V and I watched the coverage of the balls and I am falling more and more in love with Barack and Michelle Obama with every stop along the way. I am so impressed with how easily the President moves within the different groups of people he is addressing at the different balls.

I am incredibly tired tonight. It has been an emotional day... a happily emotional day.

Today's the Day

2009-01-19T15:41:19Z

that I finish that gosh darn rough draft of the paper! I am going to get a latte and then I begin writing. I even have a back up plan if my dining room table does not get the job done! I am feeling well-rested and much better than I did yesterday.

I just want this paper to be over with! So here I go!

Funny before 6am

2009-01-14T10:52:55Z

The news' update that there is a water main break in Quincy that is going to freeze over quite quickly was brought to you by Disney ON ICE!

Okay, off to work... smooches, Me.

Um... okay... er... So I have something to say

2009-01-07T04:21:51Z

Hi LJ... so it has been quite a long time now since I have legit written and a lot has happened that caused that:

~ My two graduate classes were quite overwhelming this semester.
~ I hired myself a personal trainer for three months... that meant three days at the gym a week, at least.
~ I bartend on Friday nights still.
~ and with my free time, I hung out with my mum and aunts and cousins, because Leslie was dying... slowly and heartbreakingly and unnecessarily.

Leslie was misdiagnosed at first, because her asshole doctor somehow did not realize that her stage one breast cancer was breast cancer. By the time doctors figured out what was going on with her, she had stage four cancer and it had spread through her body. The doctors told her she did not have much time left. So she packed up her husband and two daughters (both in their mid-twenties) and went for two weeks to Hawaii, because she had been waiting until she retired to go and she no longer was going to reach retirement. That was two years ago. In May of 2008, Leslie got really weak and things looked really bad. They put a shunt into her brain and she again was doing well... Leslie was quite the quiet fighter. In October, things again took a turn for the worse and this time, Leslie could not bounce back. On December 14th, after a heroic battle, the cancer took Leslie away from us.

Between October and December, my family would spend whole weekends and evenings and days off sitting at Leslie's house. I did not know that my already close family could possibly BE any closer, but that is what happened. I just wish it didn't have to be for the reasons it was.

Because of Leslie, my family first began trying to help fight against breast cancer. The day after Leslie's shunt was put in in May, her two daughters walked in the Avon Two-Day Walk for Breast Cancer... my mum and I worked on the crew for the event and it was a life changing experience.

Last week, while hanging out with Kristin, Leslie's daughter closest to my age, I registered for the Avon Walk 2009. This May, I am going to try to walk 39 miles in two days. I am petrified, but am also looking forward to being able to feel like I am doing a small part in honor of Leslie.

So that is what has happened in my life lately. And now I have one more, tiny thing to discuss:

It is a new year and I am determined that THIS is the year I lose the crackhead Olsen twin that has attached herself to my ass! But I also want to challenge myself to push my comfort zone. I am wrapping up with graduate school and want to experience some new things, but I need your help. What should I attempt to dabble in during 2009? Right now, the only things besides goodbye Mary Kate that I know I want to do is travel; I want to go to NYC more often and to get down to DC to visit my friend Marlisa and her beautiful little girl. The other thing is that I would like to learn how to cook, like legit be able to make a meal for myself.

The rest is up for suggestions... what do you think I should do, LJ world?

MEME for ME!

2009-01-06T23:42:15Z

01. My uncle once: told me to get the fuck out of his house. (Sidenote, he's a dick.)

02. Never in my life: have I been in love with someone who loves me as well... at least not at the same time.

03. When I was five: I would dance around my house, pretending I was JEM... I still sometimes do this, yelling/singing, "Truly, truly, truly outrageous!"

04. High school was: productive. I was always very busy.

05. I will never forget: how painful the past few months were for my family, I mean and me too, but their grief is very cemented in my mind and heart.

06. Once I met: the band members of Guster.

07. There’s this girl I know: who is TOTALLY bringing me to the Celtics game with her tomorrow night!!! I think she is fantastic - and already did before we made plans for the game.

08. Once, at a bar: I judged a kissing contest and two other guys came up and asked if they could sign up.

09. By noon, I’m usually: attempting to mentally prepare for my period five class.

10. Last night: I experienced the fantastic-ness that is Bromance and I loved it!

11. If only I had: enough money to hire myself a legit personal trainer.

12. Next time I go to church: I hope it is for a wedding and not a funeral.

13. What worries me most: currently it is this 20-paged paper that I still have hanging over my head.

14. When I turn my head left I see: the big window in my living room.

15. When I turn my head right I see: my roommate! sitting in a very cozy quilt!

16. You know I’m telling the truth when: I knot my hair. (Thank you, V, for that insight into my personality!)

17. What I miss most about the Eighties is: those plastic things that look like a no smoking sign that would hold your shirt in place for you... do you know what I mean? They were great!

18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be: Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing.

19. If I ever go back to school: it will be a weekday.

So hi...

2008-12-25T04:36:49Z

Hi LJ... I know it has been a long time. Yeah, months... it wasn't you. It was me. But I think I am coming back around. I just needed some time.

The past three months have been probably some of the hardest times in my whole life, but I am hoping things are on an up swing from here on out... I will catch you up another time on what's been going on. For now, I am heading to bed at my parents' so we can wake up early, clean the house, head to my aunt's for breakfast, and then we're going to hang out with my brother... hopefully he will be able to come home with us for an early evening Christmas dinner.

I really just signed on tonight to tell you that I love you all very much and hope your holidays are as wonderful as I think you are. Please hug your family members for me because it is really easy to forget just how often we don't tell/show each other we love one another.

Okay, cheesy Michelle out. I love you.

Interviewed!

2008-10-06T19:10:09Z

Hey everyone,

I have awesome questions from people and have them answered, but I have effed up the typing of them... so I need to wait until I get home tonight to really fix stuffs! :)

If you want me to ask you five questions though, comment now and I'll get those out to you asap!!!

SEPTEMBER CD TRACK LISTING!!!

2008-10-02T11:48:20Z

So here is the track listing for the September 2008 CD. Let me know what people's schedules are like, so I can get them to people. :) I hope you enjoy the mix; they are all songs that either make me think about my life or songs that have something inside of them that is a thought I have quite often.

And she ponders...

1. Begin - Ben Lee
2. Spaghetti Streetwalker - Speechwriters LLC
3. Sing - Travis
4. Silver City - Ghostland Observatory
5. Blood and Peanut Butter - BC Camplight
6. Here I Am (Come and Take Me) - Al Green
7. Guest Check - Tristan Prettyman
8. Why Should You Come When I Call - Counting Crows
9. Push Over - The Long Winters
10. Scars and Stitches - Guster
11. A Question Mark - Elliot Smith
12. Pretty Thing - Charlotte Martin
13. Shameless - Ani DiFranco
14. Sad Songs - Matt Nathanson
15. Can You Tell - Ra Ra Riot
16. Brand New Colony - The Postal Service
17. Rough Around the Edges - Teitur
18. Stay (Wasting Time) - Dave Matthews Band
19. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel

OMG!

2008-10-01T06:08:17Z

Hi LiveJournal! How are you? I have missed you... we have so much to catch up on! Life has been rushing by and I have been enjoying almost all of it quite a lot! I will write more on it all when I have some slumber in me, but I wanted to give a shout out to all of my CDing peeps before I headed to bed.

Dear people who have made me 10 awesome CDs over the past year, I have finished my contribution. It took me the whole month because I dropped my computer right after I moved and thus had to do it all over again. The CD was burned at 10pm on September 30th... nothing like down to the wire, eh? I will bring them to Razzy's tomorrow night after class for those of you who may be there and I need addresses for those of you who have left us! :)

okay, bed time!

Shhh, be very, very quiet...

2008-09-22T16:21:26Z

I am writing from work! The powers above appear to have taken the firewall blocker off of Livejournal for at least today! I am so happy, I could scream, but I won't because then they might hear me and take it away again!

I love you LJ and I am happy we are reunited... and yes, it feels so good.

What Ifs...

2008-09-22T09:37:54Z

I do not regret anything that I have done in my life because it has all added up into making me who I am today and that is someone I genuinely like overall... but sometimes I wonder who I would have been if I had made a different decision at certain points along the way. Does this ever happen to you?

Shiny indeed!

2008-09-20T03:40:07Z

I am bartending tonight at Improv Boston (I really enjoy spending my Friday nights bartending here... I get to see people I enjoy and everyone is always happy to see the girl who gives them beers!) and it is pretty slow right now, so I decided to write a little post.

I am slowly figuring out a routine for my life through the autumn... teaching Monday through Fridays, grad class on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and trying to go to the gym Sunday - Tuesday and Fridays. On top of that, at IB on Friday nights, I am not going to have much of a social life, but that I guess is okay,,, come January, I will have one semester of graduate school left and it will be all good! :)

I have been struck lately with how tired I am all the time, but also with how overall happy I am. I love my family, friends, apartment, job, and my flatmate doesn't suck either :P How lucky for me?

This weekend will be consisting of homework, grading, hanging out with Grace, watching Emma's soccer game, and watching football - so effin' great!

Random Thoughts...

2008-09-12T09:56:31Z

I have made a discovery this year about myself. I am getting older… now I know that I am not even thirty yet and that I am going to get older still that is not what I am saying at all. I guess this year I have just noticed things that I never thought of before. There were two cute guys in my graduate class last night that were not there last week. For literally three seconds, I got excited to meet cute new boys; then I looked at their hands. Both are married. "Of course you are!" filled my brain. This is now something I do though, I check for wedding bands. I never remember doing this before! But since I have had a long history of the fellas neglecting to tell me about girlfriends, I have adopted a "don't get excited until there is no tan line on the fingers" rule. Last night, it both saved and disappointed me.

The other day, I found the Facebook page of a boy that I fancied myself in love with a long time ago and it was so strange to see him in photographs, happily with his arm around his very adorably tiny wife. I wasn't sad because he picked her. I wasn't upset by their happiness. I wasn't even feeling sorry for myself because I have never had someone to take a photo with me like that. It just made me feel older. And perhaps that is a good thing. The older I get, the more comfortable with myself I am becoming (or at least I think/hope this is the case). Looking back over the past decade has really made me think about how ridiculous of a girl I was… I have picked fights with boys I liked for reasons now unknown, I have pushed away really wonderful guys because they scared me, and I always placed the blame for my lack of a love life on men. But it has been me all along.

2008 has been a wake-up call kind of year for me. With my family falling apart at the boobs, I really began to examine my priorities in life and think that slowly but surely, I'm becoming a better version of myself. Six months ago, I quit smoking. I still have a cigarette now and again, but haven't bought a pack since March. I have mostly cut soda out of my world for the past few months. Now it is a little reward to myself that I have once a week or so. In June, I began walking. A few times a week, I would walk Wollaston Beach; it is a 4.2 mile walk. I have decided that I really need to commit myself to getting my body healthy again, so a month ago, I hired a personal trainer. I haven't lost any weight yet, but I am now also eating healthier than I have in probably my whole life. I am proud of myself most of the time. I am currently juggling living in an apartment, teaching, being a graduate student, the gym, and family/friend commitments. And I haven't even been so frazzled that I have cried about anything yet!

It has also been a year that I have realized that I would like to eventually meet a cute boy that would equally like to make out with me... but that I am not ready quite yet for him to come along and that is okay. I am going to keep working on me and that way, if Dream Boat never comes along, that will be okay too...

A Sad Day

2008-09-08T23:26:50Z

So today, my car got me more attention than most days. The color is Patriot Blue; the car's name is Brady; there is a giant sticker on both doors of Pat the Patriot... I even have an air freshener that is Patriots.

I had two different cars pull up beside me on my afternoon's travels and both male drivers shook their heads solemnly at me, in commiseration for the loss of Tom Brady for the season. The third time a car pulled up next to me, I had the windows down and a guy who was around my age, looked right at me and said "This fucking sucks!" My sentiments exactly, random dude.

Now of course I was listening to sports talk radio, as I do each afternoon in my world, and I genuinely got mad. I am just as upset as anyone about Brady being out, but I still am excited for a football season. I will still watch every weekend and hope that my team plays better than the opponent. But to listen to the radio, we should forfeit the rest of the season now and hope that Brady's back for the 2009 season. More reasons I hate (and love) sports talk radio.

A Quickie from Me to You

2008-09-02T01:49:21Z

Hello internets,

I am now moved into Davis Square. I am super excited about it all, but this past week has been uber busy. Things are starting to settle down now moving-wise, but I have teacher meetings starting tomorrow... then I meet my students on Wednesday. I also start my first of two grad classes on Wed.

This stuff is all pretty awesome overall though... the non-awesome thing in my life is that I dropped my computer today and think I broke the LCD bulb. I don't know how much it will cost to get it fixed, but I am not excited about it! :(

I would like to thank Danny and Lynne, even though neither of them are really on LJ. They both helped me move and were awesome!!!

Time for Teacher Girl to head to bed...

Smooches,
Michelle

Life Updated

2008-08-27T16:44:48Z

Hello LJ! I love you and am sorry that I have not had a lot of time for you lately... it isn't you; it has been me.
A lot has been going on in my world, so I wanted to catch you up briefly.

~ I start the moving process tomorrow; V and I are painting and getting her stuff out of the Porter Square house tomorrow. My stuff will be brought over on Friday and my bed should be done by Saturday. Saturday, we're going to get the stuff from Beverly and then we will spend the rest of the weekend unpacking! I am so incredibly excited!

~ I giggle everytime I think about how happy I am to be moving to an awesome apartment with my best friend... and it is SO much closer to all of my friends!!!

~ I met the boy of my dreams, and his fiancee... it was sad, but I'm okay, everyone. :P

~ I have just finished three weeks of personal training. I am hoping to start seeing results soon, especially because I will be eating more healthily starting this weekend, when I'm not living with my parents and brother anymore. Too much temptation in the fridge! I feel pretty good about this whole gym venture overall, but on a daily basis sometimes I am ridiculous about it. And my body is almost never not at least partially sore.

~ I have been bartending at Improv Boston on Friday nights for a while now and I love it! I am not going to be able to be there this week (the move is consuming my life! YAY!) but hope to continue doing it throughout the school year as well.

~ I have three graduate classes left before I can graduate. I start two classes next week. I am kind of getting super excited about it!

~ I got into my car today at 11:50 and I really dislike Colin Cowherd, so I turned to WEEI for the ten minutes before Salk and Halloran starts (because it is my favorite show now, although Mike and Mike in the Morning is a close second) and Felger's voice flooded into my car. Without thinking about it, I just starting yelling at him. Now, I know that he cannot hear me and I know that he most definitely doesn't CARE that I hate him for ruining my afternoons, but it still felt good to get it out. Holding things in like that is not healthy!

~ I have recently developed an obsession with the SciFi network. I have been watching Tru Calling, Dark Angel, and today was Level 9... I am even starting to think about watching Eureka, even though I still want to say the word Castle after the show's title! :)

This was FUN!

2008-08-25T21:21:28Z

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