Maine-ia!

Jack and I drove up to Maine on Friday. It was a LONG drive putting it midly.
We arrived to our site 505 and it was all GRAVEL & Rocks, huh? Where was the
grass? Lucky for us Eddie and Blondie site was a lot nicer and more private that
we drove our stuff with the tent on top of the car to their site 407. The sun was
setting by the time we fired up the grill. Hamburgers and bratwurst was on the menu. The photos in this post were taken by Knob, I have a few on Jack's laptop to transfer later on tonight or tmw.


Then we went down to join the other deafies. I was so happy to see everyone,
Lori, Michelle, Amy and ofc Ronnie. Her son is so much bigger and looks like a
toddler now, not a baby. Wow how time flies. We didn't stay very long bc we were
all tired from the drive up there.


Saturday, the 4 of us (Jack, Eddie & Blondie) we all went to look for break-
fast and ended up at Friendlys, delish! I was a bad girl and had a happy ending
Peanut Butter sundea at 1030-11am. Its never too early for the following
3 things in my book
1. Diet coke (aka coffee)
2. Chocolate
3. Ice cream!
Afterwards we hit the local wal-mart to pickup some more items for our camp.
Next we went to a flea market which was cool and had a lot of memoriablia and it was HOT!
Butt
it wasn't so nice when Eddie was looking at coin collections at one table when some local idiot came up to him and the coin dealer to inquire about "Klan" coins. Yep can you believe how outwardly racist this was?! And until that happened I never even knew of Klan coins or that each state has their own edition, that's pretty f*cked up in my book!

After that we headed back to camp and I got the chance to spend some 1:1 time with
Ronnie.

Then Jack and I went to the lake and wadded with the duckies. It was very nice.

For dinner Jack and I had filet Miagon w/bacon wrapped around it courtesy of wal-mart. Blondie and Eddie, NY steaks, ofc!

We all then went back to the main area where Ronnie and the others were. It
didn't go as well as the night before when we first arrived. Jack was sitting in a dark area, making it hard to see him. Plus 1 of the campers who's known for mooching was getting on Jacks last nerve. Because right before that Eddie & Jack went to the restroom area and as they were leaving some jackasses called their attention over and promptly bent over to fart really loud and laugh at them. So when they got back to the rest of us, they both were on edge. One girl asked Jack what nationality he was and that was the final straw, plus I snapped at him when he tried to tell me the moocher undercooked the hot dogs or whatever and I replied I wouldn't eat it but Jack didn't hear me and kept repeating how I shouldn't eat it and I snapped because I felt like he was being way too serious for what was suppose to be a fun night around the camp fire. I didn't realize how rattled Jack was by the several racist experience until he told me in details the next day. I wish he had told me when they occurred so I would've kept that in mind and interacted with him in a more supportive, caring way. He ended up leaving and I stayed behind but the mood was killed for me. I felt bad because I felt like I was a downer bringing the others down with me.
Sunday we drove back, we argued some and made up. Nothing to really elaborate, we just know that Jack and Maine do not mix. I will go back next year for their Timberfest with the girls because I had fun when I went a few years ago. The trip was tooooooo short for such a looooong drive.

This week I am finally getting some serious job inquiries. I even found out one of my old jobs back in MD is hiring and even though I do not want to move, if they interview me and offer me a decent salary, I may have to consider moving. This though is a long shot and I am not really thinking about it unless they contact me for an interview and then go from there.

Saw Blondie and Szymanski last night, it was nice to be with the girls. I missed Szymanski and we recently became friends again. We haven't talked about the issues yet but when the time is right, I do want to sit down and just hammer out some key areas for both of us so that we don't have more problems/drama in the future. I know a few people who aren't happy with this decision but its my decision to choose my friends accordingly and I am happier with her in my life than without.

Lately I have been working on doing things the way I like to and increasing my over all sense of happiness and peace. I just was stuck in a rut for a while now and I am determine not to continue living in a way that makes me miserable.

This weekend I must go to storage and put some things away as well as retrieve some things. Nothing exciting but it has to be done. Saturday night I will meet up with the girls to do something fun. Kinda reward myself for working all day Saturday.

A light at the end of the tunnel...

No matter what situations life throws at you...
No matter how long and treacherous your journey may seem...
Remember, there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Thank you Rich for sending me this, it brought a HUGE grin to my face!

Car Sex

Saw this on the net and thought it was hilarious!

This past weekend was a rough one for Jack and me. Sometimes we get along so well, and other times we're each other's worst enemy. Relationships are hard work and never-ending. I won't go into specifics but I do know things need to change in order for us to have a happy future together. We've both been under a lot of stress. And instead of being supportive with one another, we've been lashing out at one another. Not good. I feel bad for my behavior and I vow to work on that and my approach to other people when I am stress.

Last night I watched Real Life Divas on BET channel. It was a good episode about a woman name Susan L. Taylor who started the National Cares Mentoring Movement. She spoke of her life, about her own Mother and about how she was as a mother and wife. She said something that struck me as a nugget of gem, "always keep tenderness alive in your relationships. Say things gently, in a soft voice." And generally people will respond favorably to that. I was just blown away by this woman and plan to look for used books by this woman. I deafinitely consider her to be a role model. She spoke of how the Black community has gone awry but that doesn't mean you give up and walk away. Instead you address the problems head first. You become a part of the solution rather than the problem, totally my motto in life.

Yesterday I worked both jobs, the class last night went well. My students are easy to please and very easy to work with. I am fortunate I got a good class. I've met some ASL teachers who say their classes are terrible. But you know what I think? I think its a reflection on them. As a teacher you have to bring good energy to the class and radiate expectations and be reasonable. I don't like how some ASL teachers are "mean" or "unapproachable" to their students. And I also don't believe in telling my students "English is bad." but instead try to stick to the point which is simply, they are using their 1st language and not the right word order. I try to get my students to focus on word order the usage of topic-comment structure. Rather than say "its too English."

I also accepted my job back at the same University where I taught undergrad students this past year. It will be 2 classes back to back on Mondays and Thursdays evenings. While I know its not full time, I LOVE working there and plan on seeing if Deaf Studies can be added for the following school year '09-'10? Plus Eddie says he can give me up to 25 hrs a week at Media during the fall/spring semester so I may just make enough to get by and have a little money left over. There just doesn't seem to be any FT ASL jobs right now, including LI.

Overall while I am still not feeling super great about the rough weekend, I am feeling better in general and I have to move forward. Life goes on, and no use sitting/living in the past, eh?

Job hunting has been a real drag...

These past 3 weeks I have been sending out to what I refer to as "bundles" of resumes to all levels, and numerous departments within the education sector. The 1st week I focused primarily on K-12 as an ASL, Teacher's Assts, Dean/behavioral modifications etc., etc.. The 2nd week on residential, after school programs, more non-traditional roles within K-12 schools and this past week I focused on College/Universities and grad school level employments.

So now of course everyday I've been checking 3 of my email accounts for replies from possible employers. Most of the responses I've received have been "the position has been filled. We will keep your resume on file..." Another one disqualified me because I was not currently a new teacher therefore this school was aimed for teachers with little experience and in grad school right now. I myself only have my thesis left to write. (Which I havent even started due to the stress of job hunting!)

I've also learned that using a telephone number on your resume as a Deaf person is a bad idea. See I recently started using a service that takes any voice mail left for you and transcribes it into texts which is emailed directly to you in a short amount of time. This is great for things like waiting for the cable man to show up, receiving a package from UPS, getting test results from your doctor, etc., etc..

BUTT

If you're using it on your resume and the potential boss/interviewer is calling you and leaving a msg for you to call them back. Which you do through relay, either one (VP or online/TTY) it blows up in your face. The caller is disoriented and caught off gaurd by what they usually think is a telemarketer calling and when and if you actually get through to the person before they hang up and leave a msg for the intended to EMAIL you, it NEVER happens. I have "returned" 3 calls in the past 2 weeks and none of them followed up with me :(

Don't get me wrong, relay is GREAT for people who already know us or have experience. It just when they have NO exposure to Deaf people there's no where for them to start. Luckily for us in this city, we're much more visible due to trains. And its expected here due to the diversity.

Anyways

Through Jack I learned a lot about hearing people and phones. I didn't realize how much the generation after me grew up with cell phones and it makes sense they would choose the mode of communication that comes easiest to them and majority rules. He explained to me that for some hearies emails are way too impersonal. This is not true for us Deafies. Email represents CLEAR communications and that is truly the heart of the Deaf Community. Equal access to information/communication! This has made me try to keep in mind and that once a hearing person meets you, they adjust quite quickly to the idea of text related communication because afterall that is their personal second choice next to phone/voicing. I think on the flip side we're equally as lucky that the generation after us grew up with texting that they too are open to that way of communication. I've meet some deafies who say some of their family members just do not care for emails. Not so much with the older crowds as they grew up writing letters.

Now back to my exciting career seeking adventures. Its been depressing to have to deal with the uncertainty of what I'll be doing in the fall and will I finally earn enough to stop barely getting by? I know July is way to early to expect any answers but my brain just won't compute that and let it slide off. I want to know now. I am so exciting because a week from today Prometheus (Jack) and I and possibly King (to be decided early next week) will be in a car on our way to Maine for a weekend of camping, whee! I just gotta keep reminding myself that. It is gonna be so good to be out of the same old environment and just with a lot of other deafies for a change. Blondie says she misses DC/MD because Deafies are always getting together, its a larger community down there than up here. Then again sticking to the old sterotype of NYers, we're just too busy to be on top of each other. *winks and sticks out tongue* I'll always be happy to visit DC/MD but I have zero desire to live there. Its too played out fot me, the environment itself, how depressing DC is, etc., etc.. I'm grateful for the 15 year span I was there but I love NYC way more. Its hard to believe I've been living here almost 4 years and I'm still as happy to be here as I was when I first arrived.

Need a chuckle?

Mom's friend Rich always sends me the funniest emails, read below and enjoy;

A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa, taking her faithful aged poodle named Cuddles, along for the company.
One day the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long, Cuddles discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading
Rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.


The old poodle thinks, 'Oh, oh! I'm in deep doo-doo now!' Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap the old poodle exclaims loudly, 'Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?'

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. 'Whew!' says the leopard, 'That was close! That old poodle nearly had me!'

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he goes, but the old poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, 'Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!

Now, the old poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, 'What am I going to do now?', but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old poodle says.

'Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!

Moral of this story....

Don't mess with old farts .. Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! Bullshit and brilliance only come with age and experience.

Acronyms mania!

Funny todays kids can't spell for sh*t but boy do they know acronyms! I copied and pasted the most commonly used acronyms when texting from a bit in AOL, a lot of these even I didn't know. The ones I knew are in bold (12 out of 25).

1. ADN = Any Day Now
2. AYS? = Are You Serious?
3. BFF = Best Friends Forever

4. BRB = Be Right Back
5. IDK= I Don't Know
6. IRL = In Real Life
7. ISO = In Search Of
8. JK = Just Kidding

9. K = OK
10. L8R = Later
11. LOL = Laughing Out Loud
12. MYOB = Mind Your Own Business
13. NIMBY = Not In My Back Yard
14. NP = No Problem
15. NW = No Way
16. OIC = Oh, I See
17. OMG = Oh My God
18. OMW = On My Way
19. POV = Point Of View
20. RBTL = Read Between The Lines
21. STBY = Sucks to be You
22. SWAK = Sealed With A Kiss
23. TTYL = Talk To You Later
24. UT? = You there?

25. WYWH= Wish You Were here

Earlier I read the most disturbing article about how the Lama is planning to bless critically ill cat which I think is great but in the article it included how someone tried to microwave a kitten! MY GOD! What is wrong with these sickos! I actually felt sick when I read it and I hope some day that monster gets toasted too. I just don't understand how these crazies can harm innocent animals, children and plants. It makes me so sad when I see stuff like this.

Speaking of cats during my recent visit with the family, we came to a decision that Tom my bastard kitty will remain with my Mom indefinitely. He's 12 years old now and my Mom can give him the attention he deserves. There's another cat there name Jupiter that he can play with and there's more room in my Mom's apt than there is in mine. At 1st I felt lousy at that idea as he's been by my side for 11 years. I felt like a parent who divorced and remarried and had new kids to forget about the old ones. But as Baba, Mom and Jack all pointed out, Tom wouldn't be happy returning to NYC. My apt is a lot smaller than Moms. He's used to having someone home all the time and he enjoys his life there. So Jack and I will adopt a new kitten in the fall. I want very much a deaf cat but Jack knows the odds are small. All I can do is contact the adoption places and see if they have any. It seems from what I've read/research most often deaf cats are albino. Jack wants a grey cat. I like them all as long as they have short hair due to my allergies. And as much as I love and miss Tom, he was NEVER a cuddly cat that you could hug and not worry about getting your arms/hands/face gnawed off. Besides Mom always updates me on Tom whenever she emails me so I know he's in good hands. I still feel like somewhat of a traitor but a real parent does whats best for their kids er in my case, cat.

New recruits...

Tonight I start teaching a new class, level 1, which means from scratch basically. My focus will be on reviewing the syllabus, introducing the manual alphabet, the mirror game and basically introduction phrases such as
–A: HELLO, ME NAME (fingerspell your name) YOU NAME WHAT?
–B: ME NAME (your name), ME HEARING/DEAF. YOU DEAF/HEARING?
–A: ME (DEAF or HEARING) NICE MEET YOU
–B: NICE MEET YOU TOO
Its a 2 hour class but it will fly right by, it always does. I am excited because it has been 2 years since I last taught at this location. I arrived early to do paper work and to do last minute revisions to my syllabus and powerpoint for tonights 1st class.

The visit to PA as usual went by too quickly. Baba was so kind to Jack and me, she brought us a mighty powerful AC so that Jack and I can actually sleep through the night. And a killer microwave that blends in well with our living room set up next to Jack's copier/printer/fax/scanner machine. We got home around midnight last night and Jack went straight to work for the next hour and a half installing the new AC into the living room and the older, smaller one into the bedroom. We slept like the dead!

Jade sent me a msg through facebook that photos from the MICA kick-off party has been posted. I hate the 1st photo in the series, I am sitting there looking AWFUL. But this photo is a LOT better. We wore pink to raise awareness for Breast Cancer. I am proudly wearing my staff badge as you can see.

Only a week and a half to go before a bunch of us go camping in Maine! King, Jack and I will be driving up together, we will meet up with Eddie, Blondie, Ronnie, her son, Doogie Howsers, Knob and more... I am ready for a break outside of the city. Give me a major shot of trees, bees, flowers and grass!

Well I have 30 minutes to go before my class begins. I am feeling a little spacey today. Aunt flo came and Jack had no idea what pads with wings means :)

The Witch of Wall Street

Sorry for not posting sooner, been job hunting like there's no tmw...

So Jack and I decided to try somewhere new for our 4th of July this year. After some research, we opted for LI Jones Beach State Park's fireworks. It was pretty nice but afterwards was a nightmare. You see Jones beach is a little island next to LI and there are only 2 ways on and off the Island. We were bumper to bumper and didn't even move more than a few inches after almost an hour. What's worse was we were both STARVING and planning to use the applebees gift certificate I won at the MICA auction. Finally after an hour or more of bumper to bumper traffic we got to the restuarant and gorged ourselves stupid. They have a dessert called Blondie brownie and it was GOOD! It came topped with a rich buttery sauce, yummy. My stomach ached afterwards but we wanted to make the most out of the gift certificate. So what should've been a $60+ meal we spent a total of $27 ($20 for the gift certificate and $7 tip). Our waiter was kinda sucky so we gave him just a little over 10% tip, sowwy, lousy service = shitty tips.

I also watched the movie "Trolls" with Noah Hathaway. I remarked to Jack that the kid looked like Atreyu from the Never Ending Story. Sure enough according to the IMDB its the same guy. Made me wondered what he looks like now and found this article. Interesting guy, lots of tattoos now, I guess he wanted to rid himself of the "squeaky clean" image he had growing up.

I also read the book called WEIRD NEW YORK by Chris Gethard and its a great book. One chapter was called Heroes and Villians and I read the most interesting bit about a woman name Hetty Green aka The Witch (er bitch probably) of Wall Street, who was essentially the 1st female billionaire. But she was notorious as a miser. I went to wikipedia to read more and here's an example of what I found out about this woman...

"Her frugality extended to family life. Her son Ned broke his leg as a child, and Hetty tried to have him admitted in a hospital charity ward. When she was recognized, she stormed away vowing to treat the wounds herself. The leg contracted gangrene and had to be amputated – he ended up with a cork prosthesis." - eh, is that cheap or what?! I plan to see if there are any books/biographies on her? I'd be curious to read more, her being a quaker and super rich, what irony...

As many of you know, I LOVE free stuff! I joined a website called mysavings.com
they have a lot of free samples without the bs participation that most free samples or freebies required. Today I found a new website called shop for freebies which also has a great selection. I found one for free hearing aid batteries, go to this energizer bunny site and fill it out for free hearing aid batteries!

I started doing this last March and have acquired quite a lot of free samples of food related stuff, perfume samples, hair care products which are great for traveling! I got a free pedometer, calculator, recipe booklets, stickers, pads, tampons, detergents, temporary tattoos and so on.

Another great link to check out for your favorite stores weekly ads, click here.

Tmw Jack and I head to visit my folks back in PA. Its my nephew's 6th birthday party on Saturday. I can't wait to see everyone. I am fortunate to have such an awesome family!