Twilight Party

So I love Twilight. I kinda feel like a 14 year old girl obsessed with it. It is a guilty pleasure that I am sadly not feeling guilty about yet.  I never read the books, but probably will now.  Which will be crazy because I have never been able to read a book after watching the movie. But this story line appeals to me big time. I know the movie has its shortcomings, Like the actress that plays Bella has this really annoying stuttering thing going on the whole movie.... I could do with out that. And you can tell it is not the most "Hollywood" of movies, but I think I like it that way better. I sill love it though.  

Anyway. I went to babysit my wonderful nieces and nephew this weekend. And because I had to find any excuse to watch the movie again I decided to have a Twilight party with them. 

It was FUN!!!! 

I let Benjamin, Ella and Maiya make a "B" and "E" out of pepperonis on two pizzas. One for Edward and one for Bella. And then we consumed them with the appetite of a vampire.

And of course we had to wear our Twilight pins to show our dedication!!!

The best part was......... We got to Twi-Dye t-shirts.  I have wanted to tye-dye.... oops I mean twi-dye for a while now, and it was fun to get the kids involved and do it with them. Here are the results. 

Ella's Shirt: It says "Edward + Bella"  "Twilight"

My Shirt says Twilight

Maiya's Shirt says Twilight as well. 

And Benjamin's says : "Team James"   "Twilight"

Of course Benjamin liked the "bad" vampires of the movie. His reaction at the end of the movie. 

" I like the baseball and the fight scene, but I could have done without all that talking." 

Maiya fell asleep pretty early in the film, but watched it will Ella the next morning. I think she like it. She was very concerned about Bella and the end, but seemed to zone out for most of the movie. 

Ella and I of course loved it, and think Edward is a major hottie!!! But all in all it was just great to spend time with my little children that call my sister mom. I have missed them while being away at school. 

Now I am just wondering how often Janie is gonna let them wear their shirts. I didn't get to see them on them before I had to leave because the words were still drying.  Hopefully I will see them soon. 

BTW: For any of you who care... or who love music or even Twilight for that matter: Robert Pattinson(who plays Edward) sings two of the songs on the soundtrack and they are amazing.  "Never think" is my favorite and the other is " Let me Sign" 

Graduation????

I know this day will come.... BUT.... right this moment it feels like a million miles away. I just looked over my degree audit, and started making a schedule for next fall. And it just all hit me....

I 

have

a 

long

way

to

go.

As my mother likes to say: If it were easy everyone would have a degree. 

And this all makes me think of a story by Robert Hastings that my sister once gave me called "The Station" if you have never read it you should check it out here. 

Ignorance is Apparently Bliss

So...I just went to a social gathering for a group that I am kinda getting involved with on campus. It is similar to Habitat for Humanity, kinda like a spin off. I haven't gotten to do a lot of things with the groups, because of conflict of schedule and lack of opportunities for the group to help with. 

I thought it was interesting that they had a social night, and I thought it would be a good chance to meet other people that liked helping others in need. My night did not go as well as planned. 

There was a low turn out, and that sucks. It is a new group so it is still in the up and running stages, but it already has a high member volume. Why do more people not show up? I will admit it took me a long time to learn that if I commit to something I need to follow through.... my mother tried her hardest to instill that in me from the start. But I truly feel that too many people drop that ball now-a-days. They had a sign up sheet go around in meetings, about 25+ signed up saying they would come. About 10 people came(including the 4 group leaders). I think people take for granted the time and effort people put in to events like this. It is amazing people still try.

Also....while there I learned about a opportunity to volunteer with Special Olympics which are coming to our campus in April. I am super excited. While talking to some people a heard one of the girls say " That is cool, but retarded people and down syndrome people freak me out." 

......really!!! really!!!...... can comments like that not be kept to ourselves. They are people too, and I just feel that you belittle yourself when you show how little you understand about other people.

Again talking in conversation, same said girl insulted a friend of mine when asking her why she was thinking about changing her major to social work ( which happens to be my major). I say insulted her because the question was posed like this:

"Why would you go from up here(hold right hand up high) to down here( hold left hand extremely lower)?"

I then ask "What is wrong with social work"

To which she replies  " It is just cha-ching to blah"

My degree is not BLAH!!!

 

At this point I wanted to scream. I had to really hold back the verbal diarrhea that was churning in my mind. So many things that could be said, but probably so little that would be understood by someone who doesn't have the slightest clue on how to  work for a degree that you have discovered to be your calling, no matter the pay. 

Again later in the evening she let her ignorance show by stating she doesn't know why anyone would get an associate nursing degree. Of course she doesn't know..... because ignorance is bliss.  

Group Work

I realize that group work is a part of life,schools, and in the workplace.... but let me go ahead and state:

I DON'T LIKE IT!

In life we work with friends, because they share the same values and already know how what your strengths are and is doesn't really feel like you are working on something, more like you are on a crazy adventure with someone you have fun with. 

At work, you may not like the people you are stuck with but you are both working toward a common goal, so divide and conquer may work because no one wants to get fired. 

At school is seems like all of this logic is thrown out the window. I hate being forced to work with complete strangers on a project/paper that is already difficult.  I have now been in college for 4 semesters and had to deal with some sort of group work at least once a semester. The group always consist of 

- leader/ worker/writer-person who actually does project

- the space head/follower/ starer of desk -this person usually does help a little with the work load)

- idiot/jerk/ pothead-- this person usually is vocal about not contributing in anyway, or leaves before discussion begins

- disappearing act/ overly ambitious one/ fly by the seat of their pants/loud one/ antagonist-- this person is usually a combination of any of the previous mentioned things. They love to argue the ideas presented, claimed they are going to do so much for the project but seem to disappear when work needs to be done and show up due day and make entire group look stupid by scrambling words together. 

now sometimes groups are lucky and work wonderful, I guess I just haven't been that lucky. So I will continue to do my work ( the groups work) so I can ensure my good grades, so I can graduate and get the raises they hope for!

This is what I/we are working on now:

English1302: The class was divided in between 3 groups. Group 1: discuss the negative aspects of video games on kids. Group 2: opposite of group 1. Group 3: write a solution for both sides including points given by both sides.  

I am in group 3, and the day that groups were assigned I already knew I would hate this assignment. I am in a group of 5, and the debate was given today, so my group has until tomorrow evening to meet and write a response. Yeah, everyone is busy!!!! BUSY!!!umm I'm sorry I was aiming for a A in this class.I am so glad everyone could take time out of their schedule for school!!! So we are trying to do email meetings while everyone writes something and I try to make sense out of it all. Plus I seriously think I have a stoner in my group because he talks with drawn out words and abnormally long pauses in between each word. This is his stance: "Video games are not bad, I play video games all the time, and look at me I turned out fine."

ummm. I would beg to differ. 

So while I try not to stress because no one has emailed me back yet, and try not to curse the person that thought group work in school was a brilliant idea to help us learn how to teamwork, I will listen to music and write the paper anyway. 

Her Morning Elegance

Pause the music if you were listening and watch this awesome video:P

I was featured in a article

Its nothing big, but in the Collin College Community Newletter I am mentioned regarding my ideas on the college's core values. Here is the article:  (and yes they called me Megan! but atleast they spelled my last name right!)

Core Values lead Collin College 

The college Mace.

It is challenging to put a face on institutions of higher education because colleges are more than buildings; they are a myriad of diverse, living beings and evolving, intangible ideas. However, it is surprisingly simple to describe Collin College because the professors, students and staff exude its core values. We have a passion for Learning, Service & Involvement, Creativity & Innovation, Academic Excellence, Dignity & Respect and Integrity.

Dr. Bob Collins, chair of the college’s Board of Trustees, carries a card with these core values in his coat pocket because he believes it is important to review and practice values like Integrity daily. “Integrity can be thought of in mathematical terms; Integrity and integral have the same root. They are both wholeness. It means our actions and words correspond; what we say and what we do are integrated. Another one of our core values is Academic Excellence. The evidence is that our students who transfer do well at universities, many at tier one universities. The college has garnered numerous academic awards. We are one of the few colleges that have more than one U.S. professor of the year,” Dr. Collins said.

The core values were developed in 2000 through a group effort by the trustees, faculty, staff and administrators. Since then, these values have become a guiding force.

They are the selection criteria for the Living Legends of Collin County. The college measures outstanding faculty and employees by their demonstration of the core values. These values are the basis for employee evaluations. The core values are even emblazoned on the college seal, and they lead each year’s commencement procession as they are embossed on the college mace.

Perhaps the best illustration of the college’s core values is seen in the actions of the college’s students. For example, service and involvement were demonstrated recently when students and faculty contributed 731 pounds of food, equaling 935 meals, through a program chaired by Professor Cheryl Wiltse and sponsored by faculty with the Book in Common* program.

According to student Megan Grinels, who recently led a relief drive for victims of Hurricane Ike, “Donating a bag of blankets or canned goods gives people a sense of purpose. We give to others in gratitude for what the college does for us. The core values are not just words; they are actions that the college accomplishes. We have pride in those words,” Grinels said.