Am I a good teacher or not?

These are snippets from two different student evaluations in one of my online classes. Keep in mind, both of these students were in the same class:

#1 - This instructor is probably the best I've had at UOP. While she had a lot of requirements and particulary picky about assigments she also took the time to provide feedback and interact in the class with the students, unlike many other instructors, I've had. This was the most enjoyable communications course I've had and she made it enjoyable.

#2 - I was looking forward to taking this class and did not enjoy it at all. I have a good grade, this is not some angry student seeking revenge. I have never left a negative review for a teacher, I DID NOT LIKE THIS INSTRUCTOR!! She didn't fulfil her duties in my opinion, and I have not taken anything from this class. To be honest, looking back and trying to remember what I learned is all a blur, nothing stands out.

Please Read!

Dear Friends,

This year, I am helping save lives from cancer by taking part in the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, and I’m hoping you will support me.

The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives people in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.

In addition to helping people celebrate, remember, and fight back, Relay For Life also helps raise much-needed funds and awareness to help the American Cancer Society save lives from cancer and create more birthdays.

Please support me in my efforts by visiting my personal web page to make a secure, tax-deductible online donation.

Every donation really does make a difference. I know that times are tighter than normal for many of us, but any amount you can give truly can help save lives.

You see, thanks to your support, the American Cancer Society can:

• Help people stay well by helping them take steps to prevent cancer or detect it early, when it’s most treatable
• Help people get well by being in their corner around the clock to guide them through every step of their cancer experience
• Find cures by funding groundbreaking research that helps us understand cancer’s causes, determine how best to prevent it, and discover new ways to cure it
• Fight back by working with lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and rally communities worldwide to join the fight

Each of us has our own reasons for caring about the fight against cancer … whatever your reasons, I hope you’ll choose to make a difference by making a donation online to support my efforts. I’m so grateful to have great people like you in my life who want to see an end to cancer in our lifetime. Together we can save lives.

Thank you, and I will keep you updated on my progress.

To learn more about Relay For Life, please visit our Relay For Life information page.

Fall Garden

This last year, I've become very interested in gardening, composting, and rain water harvesting. Brandon and I built a rain barrel that collects water from the roof when it rains and have cooked some great compost. I planted some pumpkins for Halloween, which grew into a huge, beautiful plant, but yielded no pumpkins. :( Then, I planted a fall garden. So far, I've only been able to get radishes and lettuce, but I sure do think it's pretty! :)

LASIK!!!!!

I feel like a child on Christmas Eve!!! I had my final pre-op appointment for LASIK surgery. Apparently, I'm an ideal candidate for LASIK, so I am on for surgery next Saturday. I have been so blind for so long that I can't even imagine being able to see without contacts or glasses. I'm a little nervous to have a flap cut out of my eye, but it's a small price to pay for vision!!! Wish me luck!

Every four months?

I can't believe I've gotten to the place where I blog every four months. I really want to do better! Just for an update about the beautiful chair. It now resides in my living room! Yay! Brandon surprised me with it a few days after my blog post about it. It's still pretty.

I guess a lot has happened since my last posting. I got laid off in January and started a new job in the middle of April. It's going good and luckily, I don't anticipate losing it any time soon. I also teach online business law classes for the University of Phoenix. I'm still in the Primary Presidency and am trying to get the primary program written. Blah!

I'm trying to get into gardening. My friend, Emily, and I did a 4 week vegetable gardening class, but then it got really hot, so I haven't been able to put my newfound gardening brilliance to work yet. Brandon and I have cooked up a bunch of good compost though, so I am optimistic. I did plant pumpkins a couple of weeks ago. Wish me luck! The problem with growing things is that I have dogs. They destroy everything! Because of this, we are installing an electric fence around the garden. Don't worry, it's specifically made for pets, so it won't really hurt them, it will just remind them not to ruin my plants!!! Wish me (and them) luck on that too.

So that's all of the update I have time for right now. I have to grade papers for my class. I promise I won't go another 4 months!

So beautiful!!!

I know I haven't blogged forever and there are about 100 more important things that should have inspired me to blog, but this one is easy and only includes one picture. I was looking for a flower arrangement and found the most beautiful piece of furniture I've ever seen. It would go so well in my house and it is so comfortable, I can't even put it into words. I want it to go in front of my front bay window so bad! Too bad it's too expensive and I haven't had a job for 3 1/2 months. :( Here's the picture so I can memoralize it:

CVS Addiction - Ode to Holli

I was introduced to CVS'ing by littlest bird. Thanks Holli Jo!!! It's so fantastic and I'm totally addicted. Basically, CVS has this program with their card that lets you get tons of stuff for free. You have to make an initial investment (minimal), but then if you keep it up, you can get so much stuff for nothing or close to nothing. The basic premise is this - CVS will have a sale and advertise a few items a week that reward you with the same number of Extra Care Bucks (ECB's) as the item costs. Example: You purchase a tube of toothpaste for $3.00 and then $3 in ECB's prints out on your receipt. ECB's can be used as cash at CVS. So then you use your $3 ECB's to buy another tube of toothpaste, and get $3 new ECB's on that receipt. So now you have 2 tubes of toothpaste and $3 ECB's to use on anything else in the store, so for your next visit and the next sale, you won't have to make that initial $3 investment. It gets more valuable if you have a $1 off coupon for toothpaste. The same scenario - you buy toothpaste for $3, but you get a dollar of from your coupon and pay only $2, but you still get $3 in ECB's. You can imagine if you do this with enough items consistently, you can actually make money and get free stuff. Okay, not actual money, but ECB's are pretty good. If you are interested in actually doing this, and want a better explanation, visit littlestbird or Southern Savers. Do this before this weekend because there's a much better than normal sale on the 21st and 22nd!

Tonight was my first attempt and I know I will get better, but I spent $17.29 for all the stuff below, which was valued at $88.31. I also left CVS with $14 ECB's. Basically, that means I spent $3.29 for everything.


6 boxes of cereal, 2 bottles of contact solution, 5 deodorants, 2 tubes of toothpaste, 1 Ear Rinse, 1 box SleepMD, 1 bag M&M's

Anybody know anybody? I need a job - AGAIN!

It looks like I'm looking for a new job again.

Brief history...I was a law clerk for a mid-sized firm in law school, and then continued on as an attorney when I passed the bar. Five weeks after I got my license to practice law and 3 weeks after I closed on a house, the law firm basically went under. They still owe me thousands of dollars. Think I'll ever get paid? No, me either. So another (more experienced) attorney and I opened Buck & Miller, which was going well until we settled a bunch of cases and a big client decided not to pay us. I had to pay the bills, so after 9 months, Buck & Miller turned into Buck Law Firm and I went job searching again. I found a job at my current company, but unfortunately business depends on investors buying and selling real estate, so my division layed off 3 out of 10 employees and since I'm the newest, guess what - I won't have a job AGAIN after the end of the year.

So....not knowing who reads my blog and not knowing all of the people you all know, I figured I would see if anyone knew of any job openings that I might be eligible for. I have a background in mostly civil litigation and real estate law. For the past year I've been doing 1031 Exchanges. If anyone knows of any job openings, I would really appreciate an e-mail. I can send a resume if you need. Just e-mail me at tarakaym at yahoo.com. Thanks in advance!!!!!

What have you done?

This is an easy one - I tag everyone!

(Just copy and paste this to your blog and bold the ones that you HAVE done.)
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland ... and Disneyworld!
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Acupuncture Update

I've had several people ask me about acupuncture, so here's the update. The first round didn't work at all and round two was a traumatic experience! So I go in and tell them the treatment didn't work at all. They decide to do the same treatment again anyway to see if it just needed a couple of times to work. So they proceed to start sticking me with the same 17 needles as last time, only this time it hurts about 20 times worse!!!! I was actually laying there holding breath and squeezing my eyes closed while tears were streaming down my face. It was HORRIBLE!!! Then as they were finishing poking me, someone came in and said that the doctor changed his mind and wanted to do that treatment for about 5 minutes and then try something else. Well the something else consisted of me derobing, turning over on my stomach so that only my entire behind is showing while another doctor put about 15 more needles in my lower back and tail bone and a couple in my legs and behind my knees. This was actually much, much less painful. In fact, I hardly felt it. The horrifying part was that all of the students came in to see this go down! I could have died. I was just thankful that I was lying face down so none of them could see my face. After they took those needles out, they suctioned a glass cup to my tailbone for a while (called "Cupping") to stimulate my chi. The whole experience took about 2 1/2 hours and all of my pride and dignity. However, I felt great. It reduced my pain a lot and I was happy to go back again. I couldn't make it back for a couple weeks, but I just went in for my 3rd treatment this week. They did the same regimen as treatment 2, without an audience this time. It was much less painful, but it didn't seem to have the same effect. I will keep going, because I really don't have any other options at this point and it is working slowly. So that's the story...