Jazzmin's ELA Test Results

Jazzmin got her ELA test results back yesterday. This is the test given in 4th grade to see if kids can be promoted to the 5th grade. Being that Jazzmin is ALREADY in 5th grade, the results are a bit slow in being delivered. But public school kids are really the ones who have to worry about being held back if they don't pass, catholic schools get to make the judgement call.

The score is from 1-4 - 1 you fail, 2 below standard, 3 meets standard, 4 above standard. Jazzmin got a 3 in reading and 3.5 in math. When Jazzmin would do the practice tests - her teacher would always give her a 2. So I was worried about the out come of the actual ELA test.

But I've come to realize that Jazzmin's 4th grade teacher is not the greatest. "Ironic" how everybody's grades went down when they went into her class and now in 5th grade Jazzmin's grades are back to being in the 90s. And, thankfully, Jazzmin's dizzy spells are gone now that she's not in her class anymore.

I'd tell the principal about the situation but I've dealt with her before. Just a waste of time.

.

No Money, No Fun

I hate this time of year - I am always broke. First it starts with the school supplies, uniform and school shoes. Then the school wants a $200 general fee - don't know why they don't just spread it out in the monthly tuition. Then when I finally recover toward the end of October - it's time to start buying Christmas presents for Jazzmin. I always want to make sure she gets plenty of presents so that Christmas is as special for her as it was for me when I was a kid.

I hate being broke. :(

Latest SNL Spoof on Palin

The recent SNL skit on Sarah Palin skit. Sarah gives SNL so much material to work with - you can hardly call spoofing her 'work'. Sorry for the short advertisement at the beginning - the full version of the skit isn't available on youtube.

Another Sign of Palin's Incompetence

Is this the kind of person you want helping run this country? It's not even a republican/democrat thing - even if she were a democrat I wouldn't want or trust her to be Vice President.

Baby Daddy Drama

I found out from Jazzmin's grandmother that her father is running from the FBI. The FBI has been to visit her as well as the mother of his eldest daughter. It seems as though he's either going to flee the country or eventually get caught. Either way I am left having to tell Jazzmin that she will either never see her dad again or she gets to see him in a jail cell. That is, if the jail he's in is even close enough for us to travel to.

I feel bad for Jazzmin. I think she'll deal with it OK because she's used to not having him around but I think she deserves to have a good father. I know she'd love to have one.
.

Asthma going away?

Isn't it amazing how I could find clip art of a girl who looks just like me? lol Since Saturday I've noticed that I am able to do more during my workout. For example, I can do 50 jumping jacks without stopping where as before I'd have to stop after ten and then continue. Last night I jogged 10 laps in class instead of having to go at a slow pace. This makes me hopeful that my asthma is going away!!


But I've had a period of time before where I felt I was getting better only to have it go back to how it was. Though this time is different because I've never been able to workout like that with my asthma. I was thinking about it - my pulmonary doctor said it would take about 4 months before I'd start to notice improvement (re: from the time I gave Nova up). It reminded me that I am also feeling the affects of the 2 cats I got rid of in April - so that means in August is when I should've started to improve from not having them around. Maybe I am feeling the affects of those 2 cats not being around and next month will be even better (when predicted I'll start to feel better without Nova).


I am crossing my fingers that I do finally make a full recovery from asthma. I'm afraid that it's going to be a permanent thing - though I know it's an irrational fear. I can't wait to feel what it feels like to be normal again - it feels like forever since I've felt 'normal'. I will be so happy to be symptom free!


And an added bonus is I'll get in shape faster since I'll be able to do more during my workouts since I won't have asthma hindering my performance. Yeah!
.

McCain - Liar, Liar - Pants on Fire!

David Letterman gets on McCain's case for cancelling as a guest last minute - McCain had said was running to the airport to help fix the US' financial problem. And then McCain is seen doing a live interview with a different show based in NYC, proving he lied to Letterman. Letterman hates when guest cancel last minute and rags on them during the show as a result - McCain is no different. Though there is a portion of it where he praises McCain's actions when he was prisoner of war years ago. Check out the video:

Officially ADDICTED!

Jazzmin bought 2 new games for her DS with the birthday money she had left over. I decided to check out this game ("Age of Empires") as Jazzmin was more interested in trying out the other game. I ended up spending hours, upon hours playing it this weekend. Yesterday I started in the morning and by approx. 1pm I was starting to feel light headed because I was so hungry. But I didn't want to stop playing to take the time to eat. I ended getting a snack though, in lieu of fainting.

Time passes so quickly when I play this game and when I am not playing it, I'm looking forward to the next time I can play it again! lol The only bad thing about it is only one person can play and save their progress. Would be better if Jazz could have her separate account.
.

Alaska Residents Protest Palin's Nomination

When have you ever heard of a VP or Presidential nominee being protested by people in their home state? Here is a link to an article about it and at the bottom are photos of the protest.

.

I'm Sick :(

Jazzmin started to feel sick on Monday - thankfully her grandmother was able to pick her up from school. She ended up staying out on Tuesday with her grandmother as well. Tuesday is when I started feeling sick with my ear and throat hurting. I thought by Wed. the gland in my neck would be the size of a golf ball. While my gland didn't swell, I did feel worse on Wednesday so Jazzmin and I stayed home sick.

I had heard that if you put hydrogen peroxide in your ear that it will help ward off a cold. When I used it on Tuesday night it was really bubbling in my ear so I figured it must be killing some germs. But, obviously, not enough germs to prevent me from feeling worse the next day. Who knows if it helped stop it from getting worse then it already did, don't know.

I came into work today thinking that if I suck down lots of lemon tea that I would be fine. Now I'm starting to think that was a bad idea. But I might as well stay since I'm here. We'll see how I feel tomorrow morning.
.

Haidong Gumdo Testing

I took my Gumdo belt promotion test this past Saturday. I was super nervous because I was testing before my teacher's instructor, Master Estrada. For the past 3 years all I've heard about him was how tough he was and how much tougher on his students he is then my teacher is with us. And my teacher can be harsh. But he turned out to be a sweet, nurturing kind of guy. He had his nephew sitting at the judging table with him - he looked to be in his late 20s early 30s. He was nice in his own way as he flirted a little with me by winking and smiling at me from across the room. It caught me off guard so I just politely smiled and turned my head. The guy was cute but it's not like I'm going to be seeing him again anytime soon.

Before class my mouth started getting dry and I was afraid I was going to forget some of the moves just because I was nervous. It was pretty obvious to anyone who looked at me how nervous I was. People were trying to be encouraging and tell me it was going to be ok. What I didn't know prior was that most of the techniques and forms we did was done as a group instead of alone in front of the instructor. That makes it much easier because if you're unsure you can just follow along. When testing started and we were doing warm ups - the combo of having a dry mouth due to nerves and asthma caused me to gag a few times but, thankfully, I didn't throw up. I could hear Master Estrada asking my teacher what was wrong with me after I did that.

I made a mistake with the paper cutting - you're only supposed to bring the sword down level to your waist but I kept bringing it all the way down to the floor. I was just nervous - that's the problem. When my teacher was telling me to use the proper stance - I was too nervous to comprehend the words coming out of his mouth. So he said it in English. But Master Estrada was very sweet about it saying, "It's OK, you're only a white belt. You just have to keep practicing." He was so nice, in fact, when this one kid was doing the candle snuffing (putting out candle by the wind your sword movement creates) and having a hard time - he let him continue to do it until he put the candle out. The kid tried about 30 times. I thought we were only allowed 10-15 tries. I did the paper cutting in lieu of candle snuffing because I was a white belt. Next belt promotion test I'll have to snuff the candle. Not looking forward to that as it's not easy. You have to swing the sword from behind your back and bring it over the candle without knocking the candle over yet getting close enough to the flame that it goes out. You end up stopping just short of getting close enough to the flame, which was the kid's problem.

Now that I've met Master Estrada I won't be so nervous during testing next time.
.

Palin skit on Saturday Night Live

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on SNL, she got Sarah's accent down so well!

Tae Yang sings Chris Brown's "With You"

He sounds great!

Sarah Palin Hypocrisy Re: A Woman's Right to Choose

The Daily Show is poking fun at the fact Sarah Palin was afforded the luxury of being able to choose to keep her baby while Sara is seeking to take that choice away from everybody esle.

Media's Hypocrisy to Support Sarah Palin

...THE DAILY SHOW...

Ode to My Big Toe

A week or so ago I sparred for the first time in Taekwondo and I hurt my big toe. I didn't think it was a big deal even though it appeared bruised around the edge of my toe nail. I thought it might be black and blue under my nail but because I had nail polish on I wasn't sure. I thought that was the extent of my injury though.

I got a pedicure on Saturday and it looked as though my nail was completely torn from the nail bed. But my nail still felt securely in place. Last night a little blood started coming out of the side of my nail while I was in Gumdo class.

OK, maybe my injurred toe is not appropriate fodder for a blog but I am bummed about it. It could take about 6 months for things to be resolved. If the nail stays on I have to worry about water getting underneath and creating fungus (which is resolved by soaking in white vinegar). Or will it, in fact, come off and then I have to walk around with no toe nail. Gross! As of last night I've started wearing bandaids on my toe so as to ensure nothing pulls at my toenail to encourage it to come off further.

And who is to blame for this? My former pedicure guy - he cut the sides of my nail at the top that were connected to the edges of the nail bed. He said it was to prevent ingrown toenails and I thought nothing of it. But obviously when kicking in sparring the fact that part of the edges weren't attached made the force of the kick pull up my nail. Had he not cut the sides I doubt I'd be in this situation.

So annoying!
.

Super Powers

Barack Obama's 2008 DNC Speech

Dilbert

Click image to view larger version...