we gave my parents a photo book, it features emily's nose

Merry Christmas Everybody!

emily sent this link, it's Bing and Bowie. Hope you all have a good holiday!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKTHvW2JcAA

Jobed

oh my goodness jr. high is crazy business! no time for lunch! I am like a full-blown "Miss Plewe" on a plaque, desk closest to the front reception jr. high secretary, which is not what I expected! today I made PA announcements, opened a stuck locker with a key and pliers, took sick notes, tried to remember about 12 names, helped student assistants, etc. it's going to be such a struggle to figure out all the attendance rules and how to explain them to parents and record them in the computer and use the computer as a cash register. I'm a little scared to be honest. but it felt right being there, unlike the puppy place, so I guess I'll push through and try and sort all this out. I did manage to block up the computer I was borrowing but it was solved with a control-alt-delete luckily, I think that's the worst thing I did today. not bad I guess.
crazy busy though! the day flew by. whew. they need more help so I'm going in the rest of the week too.
and if you call me at work, it's Miss Plewe to you!

Part-time job, take two

well, the bank account is suffering from the whole "jobless" situation, so to provide apples and tapioca for myself while finishing up the book I applied for a part-time job again, this time working in the office at a local Jr. High. luckily they hired me, so I'll start working thursdays and fridays and half-day wednesdays in the office there. it should be a challenge in a way I've not been challenged so far, helping out those kids and teachers and office people. I just hope there's enough jars of candy around that I can sooth any angry parent or picked-on kid with cherry flavored sugar. it works magic. let's hope I'm better at corralling kids than cats!
but I do think it'll give me more interesting stories to post here. :) I've now got to go get my uniform, a festive red holiday sweater. luckily my sweater skills are honed from shopping in Laramie for an outfit to wear partying this weekend. I possibly might also be required to get a feathered haircut, from the looks of things, but am putting that off for now.
I'm excited to see how this goes!

it's winter!

ward took me to Laramie

and Dennis took me to a place where the hot cocoa is as thick as bubble gum. mmm.

Interesting article in the Washington Post today-

Study: Monthly fasting may help heart

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer1 hour, 38 minutes ago

Mormons have less heart disease — something doctors have long chalked up to their religion's ban on smoking. New research suggests that another of their "clean living" habits also may be helping their hearts: fasting for one day each month.

A study in Utah, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is based, found that people who skipped meals once a month were about 40 percent less likely to be diagnosed with clogged arteries than those who did not regularly fast.

People did not have to "get religion" to benefit: non-Mormons who regularly took breaks from food also were less likely to have clogged arteries, scientists found.

They concede that their study is far from proof that periodic fasting is good for anyone, but said the benefit they observed poses a theory that deserves further testing.

"It might suggest these are people who just control eating habits better," and that this discipline extends to other areas of their lives that improves their health, said Benjamin Horne, a heart disease researcher from Intermountain Medical Center and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

He led the study and reported results at a recent American Heart Association conference. The research was partly funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Roughly 70 percent of Utah residents are Mormons, whose religion advises abstaining from food on the first Sunday of each month, Horne said.

Researchers got the idea to study fasting after analyzing medical records of patients who had X-ray exams to check for blocked heart arteries between 1994 and 2002 in the Intermountain Health Collaborative Study, a health registry. Of these patients, 4,629 could be diagnosed as clearly having or lacking heart disease — an artery at least 70 percent clogged.

Researchers saw a typical pattern: only 61 percent of Mormons had heart disease compared to 66 percent of non-Mormons. They thought tobacco use probably accounted for the difference. But after taking smoking into account, they still saw a lower rate of heart disease among Mormons and designed a survey to explore why.

It asked about Mormons' religious practices: monthly fasting; avoiding tea, coffee and alcohol; taking a weekly day of rest; going to church, and donating time or money to charity.

Among the 515 people surveyed, only fasting made a significant difference in heart risks: 59 percent of periodic meal skippers were diagnosed with heart disease versus 67 percent of the others.

The difference persisted even when researchers took weight, age and conditions like diabetes or high cholesterol or blood pressure into account. About 8 percent of those surveyed were not Mormons, and those who regularly fasted had lower rates of heart disease, too.

Horne speculated that when people take a break from food, it forces the body to dip into fat reserves to burn calories. It also keeps the body from being constantly exposed to sugar and having to make insulin to metabolize it. When people develop diabetes, insulin-producing cells become less sensitive to cues from eating, so fasting may provide brief rests that resensitize these cells and make them work better, he said.

But he and other doctors cautioned that skipping meals is not advised for diabetics — it could cause dangerous swings in blood sugar.

Also for dieters, "the news is not as good as you might think" on fasting, said Dr. Raymond Gibbons of the Mayo Clinic, a former heart association president.

"Fasting resets the metabolic rate," slowing it down to adjust to less food and forcing the body to store calories as soon as people resume eating, Gibbons said.

made it!

made it to Laramie! blue skies and windmills all the way. and a vibrant greeting via dogs. (better photos on ward's blog)

space filler

soon ward and I will be taking off for a weekend adventure, so I thought since I won't post again until next week that I'd put something entertaining here in the meantime. staying in the same vein as adventure, this is an excerpt from Bill Bryson's "Notes From A Small Island: An Affectionate Portrait of Britain". I was sitting and finishing reading the book this morning over my raisin bran, and this passage had me laughing out loud repeatedly between bites. it's a simple case of miscommunication due to heavy Scottish accent, and maybe it's just my mood, nonetheless I post it here, and hope it is entertaining to all. If anyone has not visited Britain, I think reading this book gives about the same feeling as actually going, and it's much much cheaper (especially if you get it at DI for .50$ like the tag on this one says).
Anyhow, this is Bill upon getting lost in the Gorbals section of Glasgow and deciding to stop in a pub for a drink:

I wandered inside. It was a dark place, and battered, and there were only two other customers, a pair of men sitting side by side at the bar drinking in silence. There was no one behind the bar. I took a stance at the far end of the counter and waited for a bit, but no one came. I drummed my fingers on the counter and puffed my cheeks and made assorted puckerey shapes with my lips the way you do when you are waiting. I cleaned my nails with a thumbnail and puffed my cheeks some more, but still no one came. Eventually I noticed one of the men at the bar eyeing me.
"Hae ya nae hook ma dooky?" he said.
"I'm sorry?" I replied.
"He'll nay be doon a mooning." He hoicked his head in the direction of a back room.
"Oh, ah," I said and nodded sagely, as if that explained it.
I noticed that they were both still looking at me.
"D'ye hae a hoo and a poo?" said the first man to me.
"I'm sorry?" I said.
"D'ye hae a hoo and a poo?" he repeated. It appeared that he was a trifle intoxicated.
I gave a small, apologetic smile and explained that I came from the English-speaking world.
"D'ye nae hae in May?" the man went on. "If ye dinna dock ma donny."
"Doon in Troon they croon in June," said his mate, then added, "Wi a spoon".
"Oh, ah." I nodded thoughtfully again, pushing my lower lip out slightly, as if it were all very nearly clear to me now. Just then, to my small relief, the barman appeared, looking unhappy and wiping his hands on a tea towel... he said to me in a weary voice, "Ah hae the noo." I couldn't tell if it was a question or a statement.
"A pint of Tennent's, please," I said hopefully.
He made an impatient noise, as if I were avoiding his question. "Hae ye nae hook ma dooky?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Ah hae the noo," said the first customer, who apparently saw himself as my interpreter.
I stood for some moments with my mouth open, trying to imagine what they were saying to me, wondering what mad impulse had bidden me to enter a pub in a district like this, and said in a quiet voice, "Just a pint of Tennent's, I think."
The barman sighed heavily and got me a pint. A minute later, I realized that what they were saying to me was that this was the worst pub in the world in which to order lager, since all I would get was a glass of warm soapsuds, dispensed from a gasping, reluctant tap, and that really I should flee with my life while I could. I drank two sips of this interesting concoction, and, making as if I were going to the Gents, slipped out a side door.