A couple weeks ago, I was cleaning my bathroom when I realized that I am completely out of contact lenses. Normally, that just means I have to get my prescription from the fridge, go to Walmart, and get some contacts. However, I didn't have my prescription at the apartment. Figuring it was with the parents from the move, I ask my mom about it, and she says that it has expired and I'll have to schedule an eye appointment to get a new script.
Now, I don't see this as too big of a deal; I'm fine with calling and scheduling appointments. I was lucky enough to find out that our vision insurance is the same as it was before the move, so I didn't have to find a new optometrist, yay! However, due to teaching, I could only schedule one in the afternoon, and not even the early afternoon, so I couldn't even schedule one until March 31st! (Did I mention that I need contacts now...?) I went ahead and scheduled the appointment, hoping that the pair I've been wearing since mid-December continues to hold up trying not to think of the cost of the appointment not to mention the cost of the contacts on top of that.
Well then, I started doing some research. 1800contacts says on all their ads that the only prescription you need is the one printed on your contact lens box. I went to their site and saw that I could order contacts right then and there...for $50. I did the math and I'll probably spend that much if not a little more by going in and getting an exam and a script...but I'd still have to wait the month and a half.
I just about bought them when I thought to do some more research to see if anyone else was offering them cheaper (I still use Acuvue 2, which has been out since I was in middle school so I find it hard to believe they have to be so expensive. Low and behold, I found them! They were not only cheaper, but first time users got a $15 off coupon on their order! So I got the contacts I needed plus shipping for less than $35! THat's barely more than the copay for the appointment!
The internet is awesome :)
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
To My Valentine
Chris and I first met when I was in kindergarten. He's my brother's age so he was in 2nd grade. Our moms were both on PTO for the elementary school and they became friends. Chris has a younger brother my age, and so the moms started setting up play dates for us all. A beautiful friendship ensued.
When I was in 7th grade, Chris's family was moving. I was upset that they all were moving, especially since Chris's little brother Kevin was very much like a brother/best friend to me. Thankfully with the marvels of never outdated technology like AOL Instant Messenger, Kevin and I were able to stay in contact throughout the years.
When I was in 9th grade, I was in an ensemble that had made it to ISSMA state solo & ensemble contest. The contest took place at a high school in northern Indianapolis, and all the choirs that qualified throughout the state went to that contest. As my ensemble was getting ready to perform, we saw the last group come out. I accidentally bumped into someone, and while trying to say sorry, alarms went off. It was Chris. Only a few words were able to be exchanged, but it was a surprise and a good one.
Also in 9th grade, I went to the Indy 500 for the first time in my life. This was an event that Chris's family always attended, and I knew this. My friend who invited me and I found a way to get to the house where Chris and his family were going to be. We arranged this all through Kevin, as he was who we wanted to see. While there, I ended up on the back porch where I found Chris and we started talking. Looking back, I actually spent more time talking to Chris than Kevin, even though my stories were only of Kevin.
The summer after 9th grade was when Chris and I started talking on AIM. He talked to me on there more often than Kevin did, and that was a year where I needed a friend because of some serious family things going on at home. Chris became a confidant, and then so much more. We started talking less about the past and more about the present, and then talking became flirting and flirting became longing. 15 at the time, I was "falling in love" with this boy.
September 2006, into the start of my sophomore year, Chris and his family had come to Indianapolis for a colts game. Not one for sports, Chris was going to stay at a relatives house when I invited him over. The original intention was to go down to the local parks and hang out, but with hormones raging and the whole "absence makes the heart grow fonder" thing, we definitely enjoyed each other's company more than any sibling or park could. I'm sure looking from the outside in it probably looked gross and teen-movie esque, but I was in heaven.
We didn't see each other until almost exactly a year later. We remained in contact but not with some promise to stay with each other (much to my dislike). Chris graduated high school and was off to college in the fall, a college that was only an hour and a half away from where I lived rather than the four hours away his previous home was. Over the summer we talked about getting together officially in the abstract, but knew that it was not the most ideal situation. However in the end, wanting to be with each other won in the end. September 17th, 2007; he asked me to be his girlfriend.
There were some good times and some not so good times to be had. I--as a high schooler--had a busy drama-filled life where I wanted more someone to be by me rather than a communication device away. But we managed to make it work through the distance, which at one point was 4100 miles of distance when I spent the summer in France. We made it through a lot, until we couldn't make it through anything anymore.
I'm here wanting to talk about the positives. The truth of the matter is if we hadn't have broken up 20 months into our relationship, there's no way we could have gotten back together at all. We beat the odds, we lasted for a good while despite our age and our distance, and I had even sent in my acceptance at the same college he was attending. But because we broke up when we did, we were able to take some time to heal and grow into our own people, and no matter how I reference those years in the present, I am forever grateful that we did, for the sake of our current relationship.
We spent a little more than four years apart. Granted, not all of that was *completely* apart (hey some things are hard to let go lol) but again, everything happens for a reason. If we had gotten back together my freshman or sophomore year of college when we were heading in that direction again I don't think we'd be here today. Waiting until neither of us were in Muncie anymore, I was basically graduated, he had a job and lived less than 20 minutes away, we both had cars and our own income so it didn't feel like one was leaning on the other...that's what we needed. We needed the stability of our own lives in order to succeed combining them again.
This relationship was one of those where we kind of just...happened. Neither of us knows exactly when we started dating again and that actually kind of makes it better. The whole "monthaversary" thing seems behind us and this just feels more...adult. More mature. More...what you look for in a significant other leading towards marriage.
I know I've said all this before. But sometimes...you just know. I like to say I've known since 2006...but I know I know now.
I love him.
When I was in 7th grade, Chris's family was moving. I was upset that they all were moving, especially since Chris's little brother Kevin was very much like a brother/best friend to me. Thankfully with the marvels of never outdated technology like AOL Instant Messenger, Kevin and I were able to stay in contact throughout the years.
When I was in 9th grade, I was in an ensemble that had made it to ISSMA state solo & ensemble contest. The contest took place at a high school in northern Indianapolis, and all the choirs that qualified throughout the state went to that contest. As my ensemble was getting ready to perform, we saw the last group come out. I accidentally bumped into someone, and while trying to say sorry, alarms went off. It was Chris. Only a few words were able to be exchanged, but it was a surprise and a good one.
Also in 9th grade, I went to the Indy 500 for the first time in my life. This was an event that Chris's family always attended, and I knew this. My friend who invited me and I found a way to get to the house where Chris and his family were going to be. We arranged this all through Kevin, as he was who we wanted to see. While there, I ended up on the back porch where I found Chris and we started talking. Looking back, I actually spent more time talking to Chris than Kevin, even though my stories were only of Kevin.
The summer after 9th grade was when Chris and I started talking on AIM. He talked to me on there more often than Kevin did, and that was a year where I needed a friend because of some serious family things going on at home. Chris became a confidant, and then so much more. We started talking less about the past and more about the present, and then talking became flirting and flirting became longing. 15 at the time, I was "falling in love" with this boy.
September 2006, into the start of my sophomore year, Chris and his family had come to Indianapolis for a colts game. Not one for sports, Chris was going to stay at a relatives house when I invited him over. The original intention was to go down to the local parks and hang out, but with hormones raging and the whole "absence makes the heart grow fonder" thing, we definitely enjoyed each other's company more than any sibling or park could. I'm sure looking from the outside in it probably looked gross and teen-movie esque, but I was in heaven.
We didn't see each other until almost exactly a year later. We remained in contact but not with some promise to stay with each other (much to my dislike). Chris graduated high school and was off to college in the fall, a college that was only an hour and a half away from where I lived rather than the four hours away his previous home was. Over the summer we talked about getting together officially in the abstract, but knew that it was not the most ideal situation. However in the end, wanting to be with each other won in the end. September 17th, 2007; he asked me to be his girlfriend.
There were some good times and some not so good times to be had. I--as a high schooler--had a busy drama-filled life where I wanted more someone to be by me rather than a communication device away. But we managed to make it work through the distance, which at one point was 4100 miles of distance when I spent the summer in France. We made it through a lot, until we couldn't make it through anything anymore.
I'm here wanting to talk about the positives. The truth of the matter is if we hadn't have broken up 20 months into our relationship, there's no way we could have gotten back together at all. We beat the odds, we lasted for a good while despite our age and our distance, and I had even sent in my acceptance at the same college he was attending. But because we broke up when we did, we were able to take some time to heal and grow into our own people, and no matter how I reference those years in the present, I am forever grateful that we did, for the sake of our current relationship.
We spent a little more than four years apart. Granted, not all of that was *completely* apart (hey some things are hard to let go lol) but again, everything happens for a reason. If we had gotten back together my freshman or sophomore year of college when we were heading in that direction again I don't think we'd be here today. Waiting until neither of us were in Muncie anymore, I was basically graduated, he had a job and lived less than 20 minutes away, we both had cars and our own income so it didn't feel like one was leaning on the other...that's what we needed. We needed the stability of our own lives in order to succeed combining them again.
This relationship was one of those where we kind of just...happened. Neither of us knows exactly when we started dating again and that actually kind of makes it better. The whole "monthaversary" thing seems behind us and this just feels more...adult. More mature. More...what you look for in a significant other leading towards marriage.
I know I've said all this before. But sometimes...you just know. I like to say I've known since 2006...but I know I know now.
I love him.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
It's a shame
It's a shame when I work at a movie theater where there is copious amounts of oil, butter, and colored syrups along with careless teenagers working very closely around me...yet I'm more likely to ruin my professional clothes because I keep slipping on the damn ice in the parking lot of the school.
OH IRONY.
OH IRONY.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Highs and Lows
That feeling you get when you see FOUR NEW JOB POSTINGS in the World Language category of IDOE
And when you find out that none of them are for French or ENL
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Nickname turned Alias?
When I was in 7th grade, I was inducted into National Junior Honor Society. Before the induction, we were asked if there was something wrong with the way our name was printed on the program. I raised my hand and asked if mine could be changed from Ellen to Emma. The advisor then asked what name was on my birth certificate, and I regrettably said Ellen, to which she replied "Well then that's what is going to be announced".
When I was in high school, I was known for my last name before I was known for myself. It was "Oh you're Tony's sister" this, and "Oh you're Chris's daughter" that. I had teachers that knew me as Emma personally and when I was in their class and they saw Ellen they had no idea it was me. However, in high school, I realized that it was necessary to use Ellen more often for the more official things in my life: driver's license, induction into national honor society, standardized tests, graduation, and college applications.
The funny thing about college applications though is that I'd have colleges sending mail to both Ellen and Emma trying to get me to apply. For a time I wanted to apply under both Ellen and Emma to see if one would get in over the other, but then I realized that only Ellen had taken the SAT/ACT and only Ellen had a high school transcript.
When I first got to Ball State I seriously contemplated dropping Emma altogether, and just go by Ellen to make introductions easier. The school only knew me as Ellen, and I had no relatives or previous relationships with anyone to instigate Emma to come out. However it only took 48 hours for me to grow tired of people trying to get my attention by calling me Ellen and failing miserably because I wasn't used to peers calling me that name. Yes by day 2 freshman year I reverted back to Emma and spent the effort each year going up to professors each first day and introducing myself and saying I prefer to be called Emma when in class.
Once in college Ellen was never very far from me. Every job I applied for, every recognition I received, every organization I joined and every conference I attended started out with me being Ellen. Some transitioned over to Emma like my professors, but some always remained Ellen.
When I began teaching in college I had to get more background checks than I can remember. Every single one asked if I was known by any other name. I knew this was looking more for last name changes, but I always wondered if I should have put Emma as another name just because it is another name I go by. Granted, I have a clean record so it didn't matter. We were also educated on internet safety, making sure that 1) we don't post something we wouldn't want a school to see and 2) we make ourselves unfindable to our students. For most people, this meant just taking off their last name off of social media in order to be unsearchable by students. I wondered if just changing my first name to whichever one I don't use in the school would be enough.
Now I'm in adult world. I have my own apartment, loans and bills in my own name, and my own adult teaching job. It's been exactly a month and I've already run into problems with the whole Emma/Ellen thing. My apartment questioned some mail I got because it was addressed to Emma rather than Ellen (which is funny because when my roommate and I started looking for apartments and I referred to myself as Ellen and she's known me since first grade as Emma so it threw her through a loop). My school e-mail is under Ellen but I introduce myself as Emma, and typically don't give my last name in such an informal setting. But when I'm expecting e-mails from people, I wonder if they are searching the system for Emma instead of Ellen and not finding anyone, and then proceed to become entirely too confused for just a name.
It makes me wonder if it is worth it to try and go back to Ellen again. Obviously I wouldn't get my long time friends, coworkers, family, or boyfriend to switch over, but maybe professionally introducing myself as Ellen would solve a lot of issues.
...or it would just put me through an identity crisis. Who knows?
When I was in high school, I was known for my last name before I was known for myself. It was "Oh you're Tony's sister" this, and "Oh you're Chris's daughter" that. I had teachers that knew me as Emma personally and when I was in their class and they saw Ellen they had no idea it was me. However, in high school, I realized that it was necessary to use Ellen more often for the more official things in my life: driver's license, induction into national honor society, standardized tests, graduation, and college applications.
The funny thing about college applications though is that I'd have colleges sending mail to both Ellen and Emma trying to get me to apply. For a time I wanted to apply under both Ellen and Emma to see if one would get in over the other, but then I realized that only Ellen had taken the SAT/ACT and only Ellen had a high school transcript.
When I first got to Ball State I seriously contemplated dropping Emma altogether, and just go by Ellen to make introductions easier. The school only knew me as Ellen, and I had no relatives or previous relationships with anyone to instigate Emma to come out. However it only took 48 hours for me to grow tired of people trying to get my attention by calling me Ellen and failing miserably because I wasn't used to peers calling me that name. Yes by day 2 freshman year I reverted back to Emma and spent the effort each year going up to professors each first day and introducing myself and saying I prefer to be called Emma when in class.
Once in college Ellen was never very far from me. Every job I applied for, every recognition I received, every organization I joined and every conference I attended started out with me being Ellen. Some transitioned over to Emma like my professors, but some always remained Ellen.
When I began teaching in college I had to get more background checks than I can remember. Every single one asked if I was known by any other name. I knew this was looking more for last name changes, but I always wondered if I should have put Emma as another name just because it is another name I go by. Granted, I have a clean record so it didn't matter. We were also educated on internet safety, making sure that 1) we don't post something we wouldn't want a school to see and 2) we make ourselves unfindable to our students. For most people, this meant just taking off their last name off of social media in order to be unsearchable by students. I wondered if just changing my first name to whichever one I don't use in the school would be enough.
Now I'm in adult world. I have my own apartment, loans and bills in my own name, and my own adult teaching job. It's been exactly a month and I've already run into problems with the whole Emma/Ellen thing. My apartment questioned some mail I got because it was addressed to Emma rather than Ellen (which is funny because when my roommate and I started looking for apartments and I referred to myself as Ellen and she's known me since first grade as Emma so it threw her through a loop). My school e-mail is under Ellen but I introduce myself as Emma, and typically don't give my last name in such an informal setting. But when I'm expecting e-mails from people, I wonder if they are searching the system for Emma instead of Ellen and not finding anyone, and then proceed to become entirely too confused for just a name.
It makes me wonder if it is worth it to try and go back to Ellen again. Obviously I wouldn't get my long time friends, coworkers, family, or boyfriend to switch over, but maybe professionally introducing myself as Ellen would solve a lot of issues.
...or it would just put me through an identity crisis. Who knows?
Monday, February 3, 2014
Is Ex-Patriotism Still a Thing?
Because we all know that I want to kick righteousness in the face. Remember?
If any of you saw the Super Bowl last night, it's possible you saw this commercial:
When I saw this commercial I fell in love. I loved how Coca Cola went about showing that "America is Beautiful". I love all the cultures represented and the message that Coke is giving by showing those representations. We have all different kinds of cultures here in America and the sheer coexistence itself is beautiful. America IS beautiful!
Well...until ignorance bleeds through, that is.
I was listening to the radio this morning when I was driving to work. You know, that school where I work and teach non-native English speakers the correct mechanics and conventions to the English Language? The school where a fifth of their enrollment is English language learners? On the radio they were talking about how controversial this commercial was because it had different languages and "non-white" Americans portrayed.
Before I start ranting (because we all know I will), let's talk about my credentials:
I am a licensed English as a New Language teacher. I studied English linguistics for four years. I studied language analysis specifically for three years, but I have been doing so informally for several more. I am fluent in two languages. I have studied the interrelationships between language and culture for several years.
I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to approach my disgust for the ignorance of some people in this country. I've seen a lot of people rip on the grammar people have in their posts, the fact that some people thought that America the Beautiful was our national anthem, etc and so forth. While that all disgusts me, I finally realized why I was so enraged at the reaction to this commercial.
"Nothing is forever except the certainty of change." If life and culture didn't ever change, then the vast majority of us would be living in Europe because that is where our ancestors are from. We would not have technology advance, or at least not successfully. Several things might have been invented but they would never stick because people would be afraid of the change it would create.
Think about when Facebook made all these changes and there would be groups formed saying "change Facebook back we liked it the old way" or "I'm going to [insert other social media here] because Facebook changed and I don't like it". But then within a week you're used to it and things are back to normal. Change is an everyday part of life and you can either run from it...or learn from it...
...No that wasn't a Rafiki quote from the Lion King what are you talking about..... :P
My point being, our culture has changed. Not all Americans are white. Not all Americans speak English as their first language. Not all Americans come from families with one mother and one father. Not all Americans want to grow up, get married, have 2.5 children, and live in a house with a white picket fence. And the beauty of America is that you don't have to be the same or want the same in order to be considered American.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are showing hate towards those Americans in the Coca-Cola commercial--or to the Coca-Cola (American) company for making the commercial, it sounds to me that you are not embracing the reality of our American culture. So, would that not make you unpatriotic, instead of the commercial/company?
Just a thought.
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