Because I Didn't Learn My Lesson The First Time (Nor The Second)

When I volunteered at the daycare there was a day where we were supposed to go on a field trip to see How To Train Your Dragon. I wrote about this day a while back. In the end I walked 30 minutes through an incredible downpour only to be told the field trip was canceled. I sat indoors in the air conditioning, dripping wet for the next few hours. I had to distance myself from the kids because I didn't want any of them getting wet from leaning on me or anything.

Today the Philadelphia area awoke to a similar storm. I was considering, on my drive to the train station, to drive in. The walk through the train station parking lot takes a good 5-7 minutes. Then its another 10 or so from Suburban Station to the office. In this kind of rain, it only takes a minute to have you soaked through.

Ultimately, I stuck with my normal routine. The rain was coming down so hard while I was driving that visibility was almost 0. I was literally following brake lights to stay on the road. I realized that driving in those conditions was far too dangerous. It made more sense to take the train and brave the rain.

When I got to the station the rain slowed enough that I was barely wet from my walk. The same went for my walk from the train station to work. I was definitely wet, and wished I had an umbrella, but I had made it to work. Then, looking at the calendar, I realized that we had a birthday. I was told when I was hired that we celebrate birthdays by bringing in bagels to the nearest lab meeting. Two days ago one of the grad students had a birthday. I felt way too guilty about using the rain as my excuse for not getting them. I could have picked them up in Suburban. The fact was, I forgot to check.

I, with an RA, headed back out into the rain to get the bagels. As if the lesson from the field trip of "know when to call it quits" / "sometimes its not worth it" was not enough and the fact that I had gotten lucky that just as I got out of my car, and off the train, the rain slowed, I opened the doors and trudged out into the rain. Guess what - the skies opened up about a block away. I spent the rest of the day cold and wet. My jacket was still wet when I got home from work as were my shoes and socks. My shirt was soaked through despite having had a coat on.

I think that will be the last time I try fighting mother nature, especially for something that is probably not worth it. Either that or I should bring a change of clothes with me on bad weather days, just in case.

We All Fall Down

Man, when it's hot, it can be exhausting. Today's heat was nice, but maybe a bit too hot. In a few months from now, at the same temperature, I wouldn't think twice. But when the first day it breaks into the 80s, it almost reached the 90s, it is definitely an adjustment.

I am tempted to turn on the air conditioning, but I am going to try to avoid doing so as it will cool off very soon. It's a funny thing, the air and heat, and how I view it. My parents try to only turn them on when they can let it run for a long period of time. I don't mean hours or days, but if it is not going to become consistently cold or warm for at least a week in a row, they don't see the need for it.

Even though I think this a strange and ridiculous stance to have, it seems to have rubbed off a bit. It won't take a week of hot weather for me to turn the air on, but if its going to be more bearable in a day or two, I won't bother. Is that normal, or do people turn on their air or heat soon as it becomes necessary?

Anyway, I did not hide from the heat today. Instead, myself and a pretty decent crowd of friends who I don't see enough of (some of them) spent a large chunk of our day light hours out on Eddies parade, the campus quad. Days like today are ones where you are all sitting there, knowing you have hours, if not days, of work to get done but if you are going to be distracted by how nice it is outside anyway, might as well just soak it up and worry about the school work later. It's why the attendance rates in classes once April comes around seem to never be full capacity.

Field trip tomorrow is cancelled. The deal we get is day-specific, and so all the parents would have had to okay paying more money for their kids to go on the same trip. I'm guessing by the email I received a few hours ago saying it was not happening means enough parents were not up for that. Bummer, but I can understand the logic - why would you pay double what you were initially meant to pay for the exact same trip? I guess I will have to find time on my own to go see How To Train Your Dragon.

Singin', Laughin', Dancin'

Today was a day that could have had more of that, had it not been for the rain. When I walked out my doors today I thought - given the distance we have to walk with the kids from subway to theater, I bet they are going to cancel it. But in case they didn't, given the weather, they are definitely going to need the help with all of the kids.

Ultimately, it was cancelled, and I cannot make it to when it is being rescheduled. Bummer.

On the upside, one of the kids who left the program in the fall came back last week and today was the first day I got to see him. He was definitely a kid I connected with early on, and was pretty bummed when he left the school. Realizing I had only been at the school for about a month and a half or so before he left, I figured he wouldn't remember me. It has been 5 months since, and he is only four.

Wrong. He came right up to me, remembered my name (more than some of the kids who see me every week) and wanted to tell me all about his new house which is 'out of town'. It was awesome.

That is coupled with two quotes that totally remind me of why I love being there:
#1
Teacher: I am thinking of a number between 1 and 5 and whoever guesses it first can put a picture up on the board.
Kid 1: 5
Kid 2: 6
Kid 3: Iguana!
#2
Teacher: We are going to go around the room and say what our favorite season is.
Kid 1: Summer
Kid 2: I love everything
Teacher: But which season do you like the most?
Kid 2: But I like them all, I love everything.

Field Trip

Tomorrow we are going to see How To Train Your Dragon. I am really excited because field trips with the kids are a blast. In addition, I wanted to see this movie.

What a great way to start Easter Break.

its christmas season, embrace it!

no i don't actually believe that nor do i appreciate being hit with holiday commercials on november 1st. its like seeing back to school commercials in early july - why do you need to rush it?

but if it is going to get jammed down our throats - might as well benefit from it, right? from a consumer perspective - we can get things on sale already which means if you arent holiday shopping but just shopping you still benefit.

but more specific to myself - you can benefit by seeing a modern version of an old classic. today we took the kids to see A Christmas Carol. While there are elements in that story, well reflected in this film, that are frightening - especially for a 4 year old, the general consensus was 'awesome'. This is definitely a movie that would probably fall between the cracks due to its early release and all but I am glad i got to see it on the big screen and in 3D - definitely not the slapstick movie it appears to be with Jim Carrey's accent or the icicle -to-face scene in the trailers - it is very faithful to the book, the accents make sense, and it was just enjoyable to watch - Zemeckis really nailed the motion capture effects in this one.

The trip was a blast not just because of the film but because of the adventure - picture 4 adults traveling with and guiding twenty-five 4 year olds through the NY subway system. It was both challenging and fun.

Avatar - you may have heard of this film. I had previously be on the 'let's watch this backfire, it looks like halo the movie' boat. seeing it in theatres, and the cut that isnt just scenes but shows the general plot, has me totally on board. this movie looks huge and beautiful. you know how people saw planet earth and said - it has to be cg it just looks to amazing. yeah - thats this movie, except its the reverse - it looks so good it almost feels like it exists.

centenarian

today marks the 100th blogpost here at aptsonblmnt. surprising! i dont think id have ever gotten to 100 posts without this breadcrumb project both in that it has given me a reason to continue posting regularly and that it has increased the number of posts i make by a crazy percentage.

so today was the field trip and guess what - i should have packed a lunch. especially since i did not have enough time for breakfast. either way it was a beautiful day - and given the past week's worth of weather - we got lucky. had this been last week the kids would have been bundled, the ground would have been muddy, and that just makes it less enjoyable, keeping the kids from getting irritable or covered in mud would have overshadowed the day.

instead it was warm enough that alot of kids even left their coats on the bus. we had a tour guide who was basically a 65 year old white woman who was probably not paying attention to the age of the kids based on her delivery and questions - she was asking the kids how many stomachs do cows have and other questions that 4 year olds dont know nor do they care to learn about. regardless the kids got to hold chinese chickens, see a peacock (who was too stubborn to open up), ride ponies, go on a hay ride, get pumpkins, and see a bunch of other animals.

when i wasnt watching bags or taking pictures for the teachers i tried to nab a picture of them all together - one of them came out - and a few others i got a chance to take when the kids were all mesmorized by some animals enough that we didnt have to hold their hands to make sure no one wandered off.

after today id rather go there daily then have to go to class, but alas.