Oy Vey!

1. I decided to dye my hair after not doing anything to it for 8 years. I wanted to make it somewhat lighter and so I bought this hair dye: http://www.amazon.com/Palty-Hair-Color-Ganache-COLOR/dp/B001R23U8O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309451353&sr=8-1
I did not buy it from Amazon, but from a Japanese supermarket. The person's hair on the box is actually lighter than advertised on Amazon. Interestingly enough, I think my hair is now darker due to dyeing my hair!! I am seriously thinking of buying a dark blonde hair dye and leaving it on for 20 minutes just to see what happens. I think I have too much time on my hands and should start reading all the books on my to-do list instead of thinking about this!

2. There is a chipmunk in the garage and it refuses to leave. I am really worried it will die in the garage and make the whole garage smell. Last September, there was a half-eaten chipmunk in front of the doorstep. There were all these flies swarming around it and I originally thought it was dog poop. Some coyote, raccoon, or wild dog must have started eating the poor thing and just left it there!

Ah, back in NJ

So last week I went to Los Angeles and stayed with lovely K. We did so many things during my time there and I had a great time due to her being such a wonderful hostess!

Monday: Pizzeria Mozza for late lunch, Coffee Bean (oh how I miss Coffee Bean - so much better than Starbucks!) for an Earl Grey latte, dinner at Open Sesame. That day was all about the potatoes. For lunch I ordered a pizza with bacon, a fried egg, cheese (forgot what type), and sliced potatoes. It was very good but a bit oily. Since I was so full from lunch for dinner I ordered a fattoush salad with grilled chicken (I generally never order salad as a main course). We ordered a side of their famous pan-fried potatoes. I think you could have rolled me over based on how round I felt! The effect of eating lots of potatoes!

Tuesday: We met J for lunch at Sirinat Thai in San Pedro. I have not eaten really good Thai food (or at least a really good drunken noodle) in a long time so it definitely hit the spot for me. Later that day we went to Abbott Kinney to check out the hipster scene and eat at Jin Patisserie. Such cute cakes, chocolates, and macarons! I ordered a passion fruit/mango cake and K ordered a dark chocolate/berry cake. After that we strolled 3rd St. Promenade and had fun playing around in Sephora. I think I can always entertain myself in Sephora. Afterwards, we met up with D and her family and ate at Rock Sugar. Then we had some more drinks at Obika Mozzarella Bar. Good times.

Wednesday: We went to the Getty Villa in Malibu. That place is so stunning. I was more in awe of the villa itself than the Greek and Roman art. Afterwards we took a break and then headed out downtown to meet C and eat sushi at Sushi Gen. I was surprised how desolate the area became around 11. Apparently the downtown area is still in development and in the past it was even more dangerous!

Thursday: We met up with K's friend H and went to Huntington Gardens/Library/Gallery in Pasadena. What a lovely place set in such a cute city! We then proceeded to the California Science Center to meet up with some of K's college friends. For dinner, we went to Lucques and met up with P and his colleague from work. The food was great and now I already want to try Tavern and AOC.

Friday - it was all about going to the airport. Overall a very full week! Going home was a bit yucky since there was so much traffic due to construction that was taking place on all the major highways around NYC at 11:30 PM!

I originally thought I would have a somewhat restful break once I returned, but then found out from my supervisor that my schedule has changed. Tomorrow I will find out what those changes are!

One more day. . . or rather two

Okay this is my last post (well for a few months) of complaining about work. Tonight will be the last night I will stay up awhile to do work (I hope). Grades are due tomorrow at 9 AM and I have one more batch of essays to grade. Tomorrow we actually review the final exam with them (we never did this in high school, plus it gives them an opportunity to do devious things with it, so I have to be extra vigilant, grrr. . .) The day after is graduation and clean up. I really wonder if I will have the energy to go over 70 multiple choice questions and DBQ analysis with them in a 30 minute period.

Yay!

I foresee I won't be sleeping much tonight or tomorrow night due to all the grading I have to do and how slow I am. I also hate using the computer while I am grading. (I have to since I am grading papers and need to type in stuff to see if anyone plagiarized.) Some districts have the program called Turn It In where students send in their papers to this program and it looks up on the internet for you whether the student plagiarized and where the student did it in his/her paper. Our district does not have the money for it, but there is money for other initiatives. . . Major priorities for the superintendent are technology and using fewer book-based materials. That's a bit hard in an English or social studies class.

*College/Grad School habits die hard. I prefer working at night than during the day. I also procrastinate. Urgh.

Countdown

Two more days of review, four days of finals, and two days of administrative stuff. EIGHT DAYS. And then I will be temporarily free. Temporarily in that I have the summer free of students, but I still will be thinking and preparing for school this coming fall so I will have a life next year.