Staple it together and call it bad weather...

Good night moon will find the mouse and I love you…

       December 6, 2010

Happy St. Nicholas day!  I celebrated it a little myself by opening some early Christmas presents…they were calling to me from under the tree!

So much has happened since I last posted. I really need to try to keep up with this.

Well where shall I begin?  In my last post I introduced you to the animals that live in our zoo…I mean house. Well this summer our dear cat Bobos went to go live with my roommate Susie’s parents.  We loved him a lot but he was really not content here; unable to go outside and be let in when he pleased. He let this be known by peeing on our couch and laundry. We couldn’t bear to give him to strangers so Susie’s parents who are avid animal lovers, kindly offered to take him.

We have since visited Bobos at their home and he is much happier. In fact he has gained a good ten pounds- as if he wasn’t big enough already!

This summer marked my entry into second semester of Fleming College’s ECE program. Because I chose January intake, this meant that we would continue classes through the summer and then enter third semester in the fall with the September intake group.

What a summer it was!  The college began renovations and there was dust  everywhere!  Our classes really started to become more intense and definitely fast paced as our semester was condensed to 13 weeks as oppose to 15. This is done for the ECE program so that we have the opportunity for a straight 10 day placement at the end of the semester. This gives us a good taste of what we will be experiencing in the field.

I was placed in a Toddler room and while like any other age range this had it’s challenges, I really enjoyed my time with the children. It was hard to leave them at the end of the placement but I was looking forward to having some time off to organize myself for Fall.

In October, my good friend from High School got married and I was thrilled to be a part of her special day by being her bridesmaid. Her wedding was beautiful and everyone had a wonderful time!

This fall was definitely a learning experience school wise as we merged with the September intake students. It was strange to go from a small tight night group of 30 to a larger group of 45-50 (sadly, some students chose not to return to the program in the fall). However, we soon made new friends and the semester carried on.  One of the great things about this semester is the Toddler Program.

The Toddler Program has been in existence in the ECE program for over 20 years in one capacity or another. The Toddler Program is a short 2.5 hour program in which we ECE students (split in to two groups of around 20) provide a fun time for toddlers who are matched one on one with an ECE student.  The program also provides time for parents to talk with other children and learn about important issues surrounding raising a toddler.

The program focuses initially on separation. The toddler teacher works together to form a plan with the parents to implement for the best possible separation of parent and child. Many parents with young toddlers or toddlers who are not often separated from their parents find this to be very helpful.  The program is one day a week and we end each session with a fun circle time for parents, their children and us students.

The neat thing about the toddler program is that for the most part- it is student lead. We as students are formed into teams and each hold different positions. We are responsible for finding our resources (toys for the children, tea and coffee for the parents) within a limited budget.

So, the toddler program has now come to a close and we students are being asked to reflect on what we have learned. Well- that is a lot!

It is hard to believe that not only has the program ended but that this semester is also nearing it’s end. Next week are final tests and then winter break!

It will be a busy one for me, I will be taking my Standard First Aid & CPR Level C and then returning to my hometown of Elmira to spend some time with my family.  I will be updating my Criminal Reference Check, my professional portfolio and setting up binders for January.

When I return to school, we will have a two day orientation session at school and then it will be off to placement for 7 whole weeks! This will be a huge learning experience for us and really allow us to hone our skills for the future.

I think that is all I have to update about, if you want to read more frequent updates (as I tend to get pulled under the tide of schoolwork and forget about this blog) you can follow me on twitter. I’m @jrvandenb .

Current Music: Just The Way You Are - GLEE Cast

Just for one thing…

(Wed. Feb 10, 2010)

Warning: entry not safe for evil dial-up!

Hola! I’ve finally found a theme that I like that is fun and actually easy to read! The downside (and perhaps it’s the teacher in me but…) is that it doesn’t show you the actual date, only how long ago the entry was posted.   Well that really annoyed me, so I’m now adding the date to any entries as long as …well I have to I guess!

It’s 5 weeks into the semester and I am muchly busy! (ha, I’m such a hypocrite… using made up words and earlier i was informing Susie that ‘yonward’ is not a word, haha)   ANYWAY… I’m currently avoiding my two least favourite things; homework and cleaning! This is the first night this week I’ve been home (and i was gone all weekend) so I’m kind of reveling in the moment, enjoying being in my room (which is now purple!!!) with my things and having food (a strange concept compared to the summer) and not breaking up preteen fights!

Well, I had a bunch of awesome pics I was going to share-unfortunately my computer is being a jerk and seems to think the pictures have viruses and won’t let me open them *grrrr*…but I will just have to share older ones i guess.

Now, most of you know that Susie owns the condo in which we live with her boyfriend and a roommate. But I’m not sure you’ve been properly introduced to our little…zoo.

This is Abby. Or cathead #1. Susie has had for years (she’s about 11 or 12) and Susie freely admits Abby is her favourite.

This is Bobos.  Bobos (who’s real name is Boo, but somehow got called bobos bear and it’s stuck ever since) is our whiny/cranky macho kitty. We’ve had Bobos for about 2 years I think.  He is constantly meowing and generally hates being cuddled (or so he thinks). He’s the general terrorist and enjoys stealing your milk and escaping outside whenever possible.

Cathead #3 is Cleo or “kee-oh” as our friend’s 2 year old calls her.  Cleo is our pretty kitty. She’s absolutely gorgeous but usually too scared of her own shadow to be much fun. For the most part she’d rather be the spectator when Bobos and Abby are at fighting or are terrorizing the dog.

Which brings me to…Annie.

Annie is the hairy doghead in the house. She’s German Shepherd/Husky mix and sheds like nobody’s beeswax! Unfortunately i can’t find any good colour pics of Annie (except the awesome one i took today that my computer hates!…reason # three zillion i need a new computer)  Annie is usually a good cuddler and always good for entertainment.

(the cats had knocked over their cat food bin because they thought they didn’t get fed enough and Susie decided to just leave it out for them to eat out of and Annie was whining and barking at Bobos anytime he got near it…then she decided to snack out of it herself!)

so there you go- those are ‘Los Animales’ as I call them…really I should be calling them ‘El Zoologico’…oye. Our house is definitely

So this past weekend I took a trip back home to my mom’s house as my friend had wanted all her bridesmaids to get together and get the dresses ordered that weekend if possible. So to make the trip more interesting I brought Susie with me!  Well, we got into Guelph a couple hours earlier than expected (due to my awesome greyhound skills, it would appear :P)  So we ended up exploring for a bit and had lunch at a local pub.

here’s Susie being sleepy (which we were)

and here’s us being cold waiting for my mom to pick us up outside of the bus station!

Yes, pink IS a skin tone :P

So Saturday after helping plan the Stag & Doe, we met up with my friends Grace & Krystal and went shopping! I really lucked out and ended up getting a GIANT suitcase for 56.00, regular 169.00!  This was awesome timing because my old one died and all i had with me was a duffel bag that was packed. (I’m not so good at packing light)

While shopping, I was waiting in line and the woman in front of me kind of looked at me and I kind of looked back at her and only several minutes later after she had left the store did I realize it was La Palesh! My fantastica Spanish teacher from High School! I was so sad I didn’t get the chance to talk to her. (note to self, see if you still have her e-mail)

After we’d shopped til we dropped we went to dinner at East Side Mario’s!  Susie and I went to use the Little Girls Room just after ordering and while I was fighting with the tap this woman walked in and hello miracle! It was my wonderful grade 5/6 teacher! I hadn’t seen or talked to her in so many years!

To my amazement she recognized me right off the bat and I got to meet her 3 gorgeous kids! (I couldn’t believe how big they were…I remember seeing the oldest when he was a baby..but man sometimes I forget that time doesn’t freeze when you leave)  So we exchanged contact information and hopefully we’ll keep in touch. (note to self; get on that!)

Okay that is the end to this ridiculously long entry (I may or may not be known for talking a lot..*shifty eyes*  but hey, I don’t post much- think of it as tiding you over until I remember to post again!

Sorry for the massive pictures…for some weirdo reason it wouldn’t let me re-size them (Tumblr and I need to work on our friendship).

Okay to make this post somewhat more amusing…I leave you with..LINKAGE!  Here’s some links to some of my fave things on the interwebs!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ (Cakewrecks…just too awesome)

http://www.etsy.com/  (A site that sells all handmade things- some are just so incredible!)

http://www.myspace.com/missyknott  (ok sort of shameless promotion- I babysit for her mom sometimes, but Missy has an amazing voice and if you like what you hear- buy her CD it’s incredible!)

http://lostinadreamofjosh.blogspot.com/ (another promo, this is my friend Kimmy’s blog of all her scrapbooking pages- her pages will blow you away even just to look at!)

ok that’s all, I promise!

Later Days!

Current Mood: sleepy/hungry/thirsty

Current Music: something on the radio.

you are loved…

Looooong time no posty.

I have begun school again, though I was super sad to leave the two girls I was doing childcare for. Although I will definitely get to see them again, just much more sporadic.

Actually, I had  e-mailed their mom to ask if I could observe the older one for an assignment and she replied telling me this was fine. She said that they missed me and the older one had said to her the other day ‘Jena says no elbows on the table!’…I laughed so hard, nice to know that I am missed.

Okay back to my original topic here. I’ve started school-(Early Childhood Education) while I’m considered a full time student, I’m not taking a full course load. which is actually really great because it gives me some leeway with working and assignments. But I definitely keep busy enough.

I’m really enjoying it and am bound and determined to be a better student than last time and have already gotten Susie worried when she saw me making study notes!

I have a small placement that will begin after reading week and by small I mean small- a whole of 7 days (although over the rest of the semester not in a row).  Susie and I are not fond of our teacher/supervisor…she reminds us of Susie’s mom, oddly enough!

Um…in other news…well there really isn’t any, other than …I found my bedroom floor?

oh! I am going to be bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding this fall- so that’s kinda exciting — first one of my friends to get married- sort of strange actually to think we’re old enough to get married and stuff- oye!

okay, now that i just sat here for a good minute, staring into space at the monitor, I think I should go get my stuff together for tomorrow and head off to bed- as always so much to do!

Later days!

Current Mood: sleepy but strangely hungry

Current Music: We weren’t born to follow- Bon Jovi

shot down shot down, by the lady killer…

Well Susie and I had decided many moons ago to have ourselves a birthday party. Seeing as our birthdays are only 4 days apart we tend to have our own little celebration on the day that’s in between.  This year, though we decided since we had friends who lived in the area we should have an actual party.

And due to my love (okay slight obsession) with black and white (and often red) , we decided to have a black and white and red party.

Well it didn’t turn out quite as expected since over half the people invited didn’t come or didn’t respond to their invites. (grr) However, we still had a blast.

We started off at our house for dinner and then went out to Petrina’s/ Riley’s. (there’s a place downtown that has a pub, a billiard’s club and a nightclub all in one place)  So we went and played some pool and had some more food haha and just had a blast in general!

here we are!

Current Mood: Hungry

Current Music: Army Wives (Tv show)