Updates all around

Wow. It's been a while since I posted, hasn't it. I don't have too much to report, so I suppose that's why I haven't written. Right now I'm doing the oh so exciting task of writing an employee review. Whoever thought I'd be good for management, clearly never read one of my self reviews, because seriously, I have no idea what I'm doing.

But anyway, to update on several small things:

1. I made a 98 on my Spanish test, though I do not know how. The two mistakes I made that she counted off for, were probably ones I would have caught had I CAREFULLY read back over my test, instead of just glancing through it. I did however, in one of my sentences write "hiver" — the French word for winter — instead of invierno, which confused my teacher mightily. But she did not take off for it, since that wasn't really the point of the exercise. These professors grade so much easier than my French professors did in high school or at LSU.

2. The first big snow storm came and went. They said that about a foot fell. Now we're gearing up for snow fall number two, which is supposed to begin after midnight. I wonder if classes will be canceled tomorrow? Nothing would make me happier than to spend the day in bed.

3. I went to the dentist last week. It's my first time since moving here, so it's been about a year since I was last at the dentist. I haven't had a cavity in 10 years. I have a very acute fear of dentists stemming from some horror-movie type experiences in my childhood. And since I had quite a bit of work done in college (with a dentist I actually liked and more importantly trusted), I have been very careful with my teeth. I have had my wisdom teeth removed and one dentist replaced some of my fillings (he also gave me a bruise on the side of my face that lasted over a month — I never went back to him again) and that is it. My dental hygienists complain they have nothing to do when I go in for cleanings. Then I got to the dentist last week and she says, "You have great teeth, except you have a lot of little cavities." Ten cavities to be exact. Well, two she keeps calling "old cavities" and I finally got it out of her that what she means is I have two old silver fillings that she wants to replace. The eight new cavities are in my premolars - the only teeth currently without fillings. I can't help be suspicious. One cavity, maybe two, I could see but eight?! I plan to call my old dentist on Monday and talk to him about it. After that, I might just postpone my follow up appointment set for a week from Monday till after Easter. I'm going home for Easter and I think I might go by my old dentist and have him take a look in my mouth before I start letting this new one drill holes in there. What do you think?

Oh and the Oscars are tonight. Can you believe it — I haven't seen a single film that's nominated in the major categories? Normally it's odd if there's one I haven't seen. It's been a bad year for me in every sense, it seems.

Mounds of Laundry

That's the focus of my life right now - laundry and other household chores. I don't understand how it's just me and I can't keep up with the amount of cleaning that needs to be done. I have countless loads of laundry ahead of me tomorrow and I desperately need to vacuum and clean the toilet (and the dog!). Plus I have to get it all done in like six hours so I can go into the city and meet a friend of mine who's only in town for 24 hours.

I have to work on Monday, so what I was planning to stretch over two days, I must now finish in one. Blah. Not much of weekend - seems like more work than my actual work.

(By the way, got my first tutoring check. It was for $7.14 - covering just my one hour of job training. I got a good laugh from that. My first "real" check will come in two weeks...not a moment too soon. Oh, and I have a third student to tutor. This girl is in 101 and has my professor from last semester. I'm sure after I get my first exam back on Monday, I'm going to wish I were back in his class or in 101!)

En Todo El Mundo

Good news! I am apparently the best tutor in the whole world.

At least that's my tutoree told my Spanish teacher yesterday (we share the same teacher, just different levels). And my teacher told me today just before she handed out our first exam. I was already feeling great stress because the chapter was so hard and also she is a much tougher professor than my last, so what I really needed just before the first exam is for the expectations of my performance to be ramped up to "world's greatest tutor" status. My tutoree told the professor that I taught her almost all of the vocabulary for chapter 5 in two hours, to which my professor said she responded, "If she's that good, I should just let her teach the class for me!"

The girl in question took Spanish from seventh to 10th grade and then got to college and signed up for 102 and now needs me to essentially reteach her basic Spanish. I think I have my work cut out for me. So we're meeting again tomorrow. I think we'll try and meet at least twice a week, if I'm to catch her up.

I don't meet with my other student until Friday. She was scheduled for Monday but called in sick and asked if we could reschedule to Friday. I wonder what stories, she'll tell the professor (same professor again) about me.