Kittens

Like cats or kittens?
Looking for a time waster?
Look no further than Kittenwar!

I'm ashamed to say I wasted quite a bit of time on this website today:) They are just so many pictures of adorable kitties!

Today we're having a Thanksgiving feast at the afterschool program that I work at for the YMCA. Turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies. Granted, it's not a whole turkey and we're making what we can with the resources we have available (my kitchen that's 5 minutes from the school and the microwave at the school). But! It's going to be a blast! I'm excited to hear what our kids are thankful for and really hope some of the parents come to share in the meal as well!

Tomorrow, we leave for Thanksgiving in South Bend, IN! I can't wait to see my parents, grandma and whatever other Sullivan clan members are in the Bend for the weekend:) It's going to be wonderful! Not to mention that Matthew gets to meet a lot of my extended family (I'm super excited but I think he's a little nervous...)!

I'm still hoping for a sub job for tomorrow but if there aren't any, I could be content with getting things done around the house, like laundry and cleaning, picking Matthew up from school around 3 and leaving for South Bend. We'll see:)

Happy Thanksgiving to all you blog readers! Think about what you're thankful for this year:)

Pearl and the Beard!

Last night, Jessi, Pallas and I went to see Pearl and the Beard! It was amazing!! Their music is a wonderful mix of cello, guitar, percussion and wonderfully passionate voices. Pittsburgh was the last stop on their "Black Vessel" tour and I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to see them. I bought their CDs and they are wonderful! We also heard Judith Avers, a local Pittsburgh artist and her voice gave me goosebumps.

Thanks to Jessi and her cousin Abby for sharing this music with me!

A personal favorite: Douglas Douglass

Great news!

So, in January, I finally received my PA teaching certificate, however it was a only a Temporary Teaching Permit (TTP) because I was missing 3 credits of college math (aka one class). I called the PA Department of Education on Monday and left a message for my evaluator. She called me back today with excellent news! They changed their Math/English policy so if I send in $80 and one form, I'll be getting my Instructional 1 certification!! Hooray!! I'm glad things worked out! I did get all the necessary documentation to have one of my classes at UMD count as my math requirement (like it did when I was in undergrad) but it's no longer necessary! Hooray!! I'm so excited! Not to mention that since it's a re-evaluation, I should get my full teaching license in about two weeks!! I probably thanked her about 50 times in the span of the 10 (or less) minutes I was on the phone with her!


Matthew took his Qual today. I've got my fingers crossed until Friday afternoon. Think good thoughts for him!

Well, here I am keeping up with posting on my blog but really, nothing much happened to me since Thursday. I have a pretty lame life:) Matthew is taking is Qual on Wednesday so he's been studying/papering/preparing all day today and doing pretty much nothing else for the next two days as well. I think he's in good shape for the Qual on Wednesday, but all I can do is hope for the best and cross my fingers. Black Friday (as the grad students call it) is on Friday so there's a happy hour at CMU which should be fun:) Black Friday (the non-retail one) is the day when people find out if they passed their Qual or not. The Happy Hour is for celebration or consolation:)

I can't wait for Thanksgiving in South Bend! It's going to be wonderful to see Mom, Dad and the rest of the Sullivan clan who will be in town. It'll be Matthew's first time meeting almost all of them, so I'm also crossing my fingers for that.

We did not get any snow here in Pittsburgh, unlike the 8 inches in Minneapolis. I'm a little jealous, just because I want an excuse to curl up in bed with tea and a good book and not go anywhere:) I know that winter is coming soon and I shouldn't get ahead of myself since we'll have winter until March. Hopefully, no snowpacolypse this year:)

Man, I'm really bad about keeping up with this thing! I need to work it into my day better. I wish I had access to blogs at school because then I would update all the time when I'm on a prep hour while subbing. Sadly, not the case:)

Over Halloween weekend, Matthew and I headed out to Etna to go out for an Oktoberfest celebration at "club" (it's like the Moose Lodge in Eau Claire...not that kind of a club, just one in which people have to be members and you can pretty much do whatever you want in there, like smoke) which had delicious German food, German beer and a polka band! It was a blast! We went with my coworker (and friend) Meribeth and her husband. Matthew and I were easily the youngest people in the room but it was such a blast! Meribeth and Rich may have children who are almost my age, but they sure know how to have a good time!

Last weekend, we packed up the car for a trip to Michigan State University to watch the Gophers and the Spartans. It was a wonderful weekend with great friends and great weather (the football team at least 1. beat the spread and 2. didn't get shut out)! I love living closer to other Big Ten schools. Next year's trip is going to be Michigan which is only 5 hours from Pittsburgh AND we have a friend who lives there! She's going to grad school there and the law quad seriously looks like Hogwarts. I would want to study there all the time!

I just want to say, in the spirit of Jessi's recent posts, how thankful I am for the opportunities I've been given in the last year. When I look back and think of where I was in November 2009 and where I am right now, it truly amazes me. I've got great friends, a very consistent job, a loving boyfriend, a different "after school" job which I love so much more (go YMCA, boo Kohl's) and a truly supportive group of friends back in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I miss you all terribly each day but I know that we'll all get to catch up at Christmas time:)

So yes, I'm thankful for what I've accomplished here and for all the people who believe in me! Thank you!