Did some photographing over the weekend for the Athens For Everyone event! Informative session about what to do next, how to get involved in the community. Lots of things going on in town. Space had to be moved to accommodate all who said they would attend. For me next stop local town meetings.

I thought the universe didn't need my computer

I thought I couldn't find tomorrow

I feel asleep and threw up pencils

Untitled: A Florida Poem

Champaign Illinois food service

Marta run into a wall

Steal a cooler

Give me a dollar

Lymmo

Lynx

35 dollars

Stolen cooler

San Diego

New haven

New York

Phoenix

Buying pallets

Dos huevos ........................

So how do I feel after this week. I feel tired, I feel scared, I feel like I should have done more. I feel like I was already nervous but then I became very nervous.

It makes me want to become more vocal on my opinions, and really talk about the issues and be ready to have a real discussion with people. Not be afraid for a difference in opinion, but be open and just talk.

This makes me want to learn more about taxes, learn more about investments, learn more about infrastructure development and what the positives and negatives can, will, would could be.

I am just disappointed that the world I live in needs a warning sign about calories that they are consuming at the condiment counter.  Its kinda too late they already have their food at that point.
Hopefully the sign is big enough for them to see, but they might not see it.

I hope that everything will be ok, I hope.

eating crappy... craving juice

So it is the beginning of the summer. I have been all year trying to maintain a healthy diet and at least watch mostly what I eat, unless it is a random candy bar or bag of chips dangled in-front of me or a free Friday Kroger item that I can not pass up, although I have passed up a few things because they just looked straight up nasty.

For teacher appreciation week, the first week of May we had a share of tasty treats offered to us at school. I was able to get burritos donated to the school from Chipotle. Chicken burritos for the meat lovers and veggie burritos for the veggie lovers. Also that week we had some celebrations for students and I can say in order to avoid eating meat or not avoiding but wanting to eat at all I ate my fair share of snacks or pie or nacho cheese maybe twice that week.     :)

Then right before the week was over I was handed a free sandwich coupon from McDonald's. Only for teachers I was told. Oh boy isn't that special. Well, I got real hungry soon after school got out. I was out shopping getting some last minute items before my dad would arrive in town. I remembered about the free sandwich coupon tucked into my wallet. Now I am embarrassed to say what I ate at McDonald's but let's just say I felt like I was recovering from it for about three days.  I did not really eat anything else that would make up a meal. All I really wanted is juice. I recovered from this experience by using my Juiceman Jr. with celery juice, carrot juice and lemon juice. After a ton of juice I felt much better.

I am writing this down so I can reflect on this experience and remind myself that I should really not eat anymore gross food that my body can not handle. I always know this but tend to ignore it every so often. Last time was about 5 years ago and the same thing happened. So lesson learned, I think :)

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.