Summer...Summer.....Summertime..............

Wall Art in the calming area of my classroom

So I have officially finished my first school year. This year has been filled with challenges and I spent a lot of time working on school related stuff associated with the GTAPP program that I am in, which in the end will leave me with a certification in Art Education. On top of all the requirements for GTAPP I also have been learning about all the paperwork associated with Special Education. Wow it has been a lot, but I have really learned a lot.

Now I am moving on this summer and focusing on passing the Art Education Gace which is the test you need to pass here in the state of GA. This whole year I spent studying for the Basic Skills Math portion of the GACE. I could not pass it. I failed three times and those tests are not cheap. I had to take it because 15 years ago in high school I never cared enough to take my SAT's more than once and got a terrible score the first time. No college that I ever went to ever asked me for the scores of my SAT's and now only this year was I required to even find out and turn in my scores for the SAT's. I hate tests and never have been a good test taker. So this year when I found out that I had gotten into the GTAPP program and would secure an awesome job but would have to take the Basic Skills test which involved all the Math I learned through high school because I did terrible on my SAT's, I was not happy.

I studied for months while learning all the things you learn coming into education without a formal education background and boy was it hard. I used Khan Academy and Quizlet for months all while using the study guides taken out from the local library.

When the fourth time came around to take the test I was so nervous, but I was focused. I was determined to pass the test. Any time you take the GACE tests and they can be scored immediately they give you the unofficial score at then of the test. Now the thing to know about the Basic Skills Test is that you need to at least get a passing score of 250. All other tests you can either get a 220 or a 250 and still pass. If you get either of the scores,it just credits you to the specific level depending on your score. This time around I got a 251. I passed by one point after failing that specific section three other times. That onepoint that is all it took. Then it was done.

Student artwork

So with that I am relived that this school year is over and I will have time to focus on Art, studying art, making art, all the things I had to put off this first year in teaching because after I was done with one thing another thing came up relating to school. Hopefully this summer will allow for the art to flow.

Buying a car on ebay..... buying a car while at a yard sale (Tag Sale if you're from Connecticut)

It all started on eBay. I have sold two cars on eBay that were fixer uppers that were given to me by my parents. Normally they are already fixer uppers when I receive them. I them drive them until it seems like its not a good idea anymore. I had two pleasant eBay transactions and had two happy customers who knew how to fix the car. After a while I started looking around for another vehicle on eBay.

I was looking for a wagon specifically a Volvo wagon. I get updates from eBay all the time when new Volvo listings are posted. One day I came across a Volvo wagon in Connecticut for super cheap. It was located a little ways away from where my parents live. I called up my dad and asked him if he could take a look. The car report online was amazing. Not everything worked in the car or was in perfect condition but the people claimed that it was a vehicle that ran and sure enough when my dad went down it checked out.

I really wanted this car. It was cheap, it was vintage and it was a Volvo. Now the only problem was the people who owned the car had taken and handed in the licence plates for the car to the DMV. In Connecticut the DMV is very strict about license plates and how many you should have on your car and makes sure your turn in your plates when you are not using them. It all seems very organized but in my case this wasn't a real help.

My dad was able to take the car on a few quick test drives. The car like I said had a few problems but for 700.00 I wasn't looking for perfection. The day came for my dad to complete the transaction. The couple who had been selling the car on eBay were on a cruise so they had arraigned for their neighbor who happens to be the original owner of the car to give my dad the keys. When my dad arrives at the house after being at the DMV for four hours he learns that they keys had been left with the neighbor's roommate, the neighbor was no longer there at the moment. It was pouring down rain. My dad get's into the car, and put the key into the ignition and the car will not start.

So that transaction did not work out.

Moving on to a two months later. My dad was at a tag sale (yard sale if you are not from CT) and stumbled across a Subaru wagon. It was sitting in a driveway with a sign. Later on that week my dad took it for a drive. Not only was is startable, it was standard, another quality that was a plus. From what I understand you can not get a current brand new outback that is standard, boo! Like with the first car there were minor things with the car, dings , rust and typical things that might not matter in the south. The car drove smooth. So at a cheap price only a little more than the first almost car purchase, a new used car was on the road once again. With a good eye my dad seemed to find a wagon that still had some life left. at 138,000 he drove it around for a while after getting plates I sent him in the mail, and soon made his way down south. The car drove fine cruise control and all until the day after he got down here. The check engine light came on and the cruise control  stopped working. All problems I find that are common in Subaru, but hey I live in the south and have never had a use for cruise control so oh well. Hopefully this car lasts at least a year and it will be well worth the price paid.

dumpster diving at the end of the semester

Dumpster, dumpster, dumpster diving is the best. I have heard rumors that at the end of the semester in New Haven at Yale University you can find awesome things in the dumpster from all the students moving out. Hopefully they are a little more thoughtful than your average college student, but I have never been there to verify what kind of things they throw out. I have only read an article in the Connecticut news talking about all their awesome junk.

Then three years ago, a new friend of mine told me about dumpster diving at the local university here in town. It was a brilliant idea! Now I look forward to the end of the semester in May to go through the dumpster and find amazing treasures. Things that I need and I would pay money for still have the tags on them, and are still useful, the students just throw them away. Every year the finds are different but each year I feel satisfied with my finds.

Often times someone asks me hey where did you get... and it feels awesome to tell them yeah, oh that thing I got it in the dumpster.

saturday night from a long time ago saved as a draft...

so i am sitting at my desk on this saturday night and trying to get inspiration from the internet for my senior project, listening to music, drinking coffee, not sure how to start my project, i think tomorrow I will film some b-roll out of my car via the VHS camera and a power converter and take it from there

A new post

So I have started organizing my online life. That means updating and making sure that all of my stuff is linked correctly and what not. For example, I still had Newington Connecticut still listed as my current location. Wrong! I have been in Athens for almost 5 years.

Some people say that blogging forces (or makes you) want to write more. So I am going to try this blog again. I have expanded the blogs name to include a few more zip codes, even though I really like the old 06105 but I don't live in Hartford anymore. When I get my Hartford vacation house then it can be legit, but for now I am an Athenian in the south.

Summer starts at the end of the week officially for me. I will have completed my first year as a teacher! So many more art projects are planned for next year.

I also am excited to sell some awesome stuff online this summer through my Ebay account, help my husband launch his kick-starter for his board-game mid-June all while reading Moby Dick, learning to play the guitar finally and repairing the Diva Den in my back yard so it can become my art studio.

So let the summer begin soon. I will start to re-enter the blogging world and see what it becomes.

Check out my site of sites of me around the web

http://roxymonoxide15.tripod.com/maudebravinsmind/brain.html