Sorry It's taken so long to write. For some reason, I couldn't make a new entry, but now it seems to be fixed. Unfortunately, I have to leave work, so this will have to be continued tomorrow maybe.

For those interested in my internship, here's the scoop....  I have a saturday internship, it is a fun program for the students, not for those behind or discipline problems, the program coordinators had to actually turn students away. A partner and I are in charge of our own classroom with 8 students (right now, anyway. We may end up with up to 12.) Our group are 5th graders. Each team comes up with a theme based on Grade Level Expectations and we are responsible for lesson plans in communication arts, math, science, and social studies for each of the saturdays. The theme that my partner and I chose is the American Revolution. I think we are going to have a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to getting started. The program is eight weeks long and then I will complete the rest of my hours in one of the area's educational institutions. (the zoo, science center, history museum, etc.) I will probably be working in the St. Louis Science Center, though I haven't found out for sure that it is available this semester.  http://www.slsc.org/ is the link if anyone wants to check it out. I haven't been in years, but it was a favorite attraction for my family when I was little. If anyone has an questions, feel free to ask. I'll let you know how things go.

..sucks. This past weekend, the St. Louis area received its third round of destructive storms in the last 7 months. Only around 300,000 people lost power on this go around, which is a big improvement over the more than 500,000 in december and the 600,000 in july but when you lose power for several days in below freezing weather, there's no such thing as an improvement. We were fortunate on the Illinois side this time to avoid another power outage, but there were plenty in Missouri who weren't so lucky. I won't be renting another apartment without a fireplace again. Sleeping under every blanket I own is not fun, neither is running out of clean clothes and being unable to take a shower for five days. Luckily, I had plenty of friends during the december storm who were willing to help me out.

I started the winter/spring semester with little fanfare yesterday (or sleep for that matter). The only class I'm really worried about is "teaching math in the elementary classroom". The assignments don't look too bad, but there is a lot of reading and the book hasn't arrived from amazon yet.

My first meeting for the internship is this saturday, on campus. I did find out that a guy from one of my classes last semester is also taking the same internship and we are hoping to be paired up together. The actual internship isn't supposed to start til next month, but hopefully our faculty advisor will be able to answer all our questions, cuz I have a lot of questions.

The boyfriend and I had a long chat a few days ago where we revealed how we really feel about all the people we hang out with. You know, what you really think rather than the polite, don't want to be mean, version. He had noticed that something was going on between me and my closest girlfriend, S.  So, I admitted the awful truth. I am trying to gently break off our relationship. (With her, not the boyfriend) The sad truth of the matter is that when we first became friends three years ago, we worked together in a dead end job and I had just been dumped by my boyfriend of nine years (yeah, that's right, nine). I went a little crazy for a while and regressed a bit, agewise. She was a perfect companion for that version of me that was selfish and reckless and a tiny bit wild, but I'm not that person anymore. I feel bad about pulling away but more and more often I spend time with her just to fulfill an obligation that I feel rather than for any desire to be around her. That sounds kind of harsh, I know, but I'm not sure what else to do. I'm not looking to cut her completely out of my life, just urge her to focus her energy on someone new.

Things are about to get busy again. The semester starts next week and I should be getting info on my internship in the next few days. I'm in the home stretch, internship this semester, student teaching in the fall and then graduation in december. Yay! I am eager to get started on this phase of my life, where I get real experience to prepare me for my chosen career. Though I know I can stand on my own, it's nice to know that I have the boyfriend to stand beside me and occasionally hold my hand through the hard parts.

I HAVE NEWS!!!
The boyfriend called me today. The army called him and his exemption has been approved for the year!!!! So, he is safe to graduate, then they may try to recall him again. He is still trying to decide what direction to take, he may reenlist after graduation, that is one of our options that we are still discussing. I am so relieved, I actually almost cried, it's like a huge weight has been lifted from my chest. I told him that I would support him in any career choice he chose to make, and I meant it, I'm just glad that we don't have to be separated yet in such a dangerous way.

.... that commercial for the online dating service where a guy goes on a series of truly horrible first dates? Supposedly, the service is going to eliminate bad dates by "accurately" matching you with your perfect mate based on your profile. Come on, how many people accurately portray themselves on these sites? I played around with match.com a couple of years ago and it was my experience that people either don't know how to describe themselves past the superficial surface or are too afraid of what others may see if they really expose themselves. I only managed to arrange one date in this way and it was a complete bust, although I did get a request from an older gentleman who was looking for a mistress. Hee. I didn't respond, of course, but that was sort of fun. The point I'm trying to make here (I promise there is one), is that while online dating may work for some, I found it more difficult than just hanging out at Denny's, which is where I found the boyfriend.

The boyfriend calls me every night before going to bed if we haven't seen each other to catch up on the day and discuss anything that came up or plans that need to be made. Last night he was cursing me for being right. Don't worry, he'll get used to it.  :)

 Here's the story:
A girl and guy like each other, flirting ensues
Things are going well, then suddenly stall for no apparent reason
The girl claims affection for the guy "but isn't interested in dating at this time"
My Theory?
Two things could have happened:
1. guy did or said something that revealed a terrible character flaw previously unseen
2. the sex was bad
Since she hadn't said anything, I assumed it was the later and she was being nice.
Turns out I was right, I love when that happens. But....well....eww
Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why he was cursing me, maybe for planting the idea in his head in the first place. Hee. I was laughing too hard at the time to question.