Sunday, December 13, 2015
Dec. 13th, 2015 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bearshortyThis week was the last week of the semester so it was a bit hectic. I needed to finish grading all papers and final exams by Friday afternoon. The students finished their final exam on Thursday afternoon. Since I was staying at my parents since Wednesday though, my Dad drove me to work and I had all Thursday to do a lot. My brain stopped working after grading 10 papers (it takes about 30 minutes per paper with all the comments) but luckily the finals didn't require brains. They are Pass/Fail with no comments needed. By the end of the day Thursday, I only had three papers left and of my smart A students, so I knocked them off by Friday morning and still had time to go to the playground with Tanya.
And the final handover of grades went well. I successfully argued with my director for higher grades for two of my students and everyone passed. And the students were mostly happy when they came to pick up their folders with their final grade on Friday afternoon. I do love seeing them improve over the course of the semester and they end up realizing how much they did need the class - it is a required class for them, so many resist.
On top of all the grading, Bear and I took Tanya to her pediatrician on Wednesday for one more vaccine shot. Now she just needs a booster flu shot in a months and a Hepatitis A shot at some point next year. And that's it for a while. Yay. We brought some toys with us and a book and she did pretty well. She still hates being weighted and measured and shots, of course, but there was less fuss than last time.
She is such a girl. Her new favorite game is to go to the closet where all my necklaces are hanging on the jewelry organizer. She wants to be lifted up so she could reach them and then I point to various ones and she says either "no" or "da" (yes in Russian). She tries some on or wants me to try them and this can go on for a while. Occasionally she goes in my closet where her fancy birthday dress is and wants to wear that for a bit. And she loves scarves and hats.
In less than pleasant news, in this hectic work week where I did not need more stress, we had to pull out of the apartment contract. Our realtor called on Tuesday afternoon, wanting us to switch mortgage brokers. Then not even two hours later he called again to say that he spoke to the president of the board and that the board doesn't want to let my Dad and I be co-owners since it would go against their occupancy rules (even though my parents have a house and have no intention in leaving it).
When we first came to see the place, he reassured us that our situation would not be a problem, that the board makes exceptions all the time, that the president is his friend and all. My parents were giving us half the downpayment so we wanted to co-own. My Dad also has a high income. The board wouldn't let just Bear and I get it because our income is not high enough for them - I work part-time since it makes the most financial sense right now with a baby and I don't have to pay for childcare this way, and how can I give definitive proof that I will have a full time job soon? No one can guarantee their job. Anyway, that judgment on us based solely on income pissed me off more than anything. The bank had no issue giving us a mortgage with our current combined salary, I have a very high credit score, we have a lot of savings, no debt, we rarely eat out, we don't buy alcohol, we don't qualify for any assistance programs, we can do more on our salary than people who make twice as much - but that really doesn't count here. I wrote the realtor a lengthy email on Friday because he should have checked with the board before we signed the contract and wasted these three weeks in putting together all the documents. Argh. He did write back to apologize but it did cause us a lot of stress. We got our deposit back (I checked with the lawyer and even put a stop on the check, just in case) and the lawyer reimbursed half of his fee so I at least didn't lose any money.
It was nice to have a weekend with no grading looming over it. On Saturday I cleaned the bathroom, finally ordered photos for my photo album and went to the dentist to finish with the crown. I order photos once a year - I like having a physical album and I get to look through all the pictures and pick the best ones that represent the year. Then I order it in December because of all the holiday discounts.
And this morning I went to the Chinese supermarket to get Jasmine rice and Udon noodles and a did a couple of more chores. Then I came home and made spinach pie.
I had a box of spinach in my freezer for a while and I was determined to used it and not to waste it. I looked up a bunch of recipes online and picked this recipe . I bought the puff pastry dough yesterday on the walk back from the dentist. I added mushrooms to the onion saute and didn't use garlic. My Parmesan cheese was a bit old so I used some smoked cheese. It came out well - Bear already ate like half of it - but next time I will use less salt and I will roll the pastry more to really cover the middle of the top more tightly.
And in the evening we drove to Brighton Beach so I could go get Tanya some Russian books for New Year presents and also some puzzle blocks. I got a book of fables and a learning book for learning concepts like "up/down" "left/right" etc. Bear already taught her "on/off" when turning the lights on or off. In the car today, she saw me in glasses (I don't always wear them when I'm not at work or not watching TV or computer) and said "ochki off" (glasses off). So she's getting it! It was nice to get out and go somewhere all together.
TV
Supernatural S11E9
The episode was a bit slow for a winter finale. I really didn't like the kissing between the Darkness and Dean - is it really necessary? Why do you need to go there, show? She is God's sister, why would she make out with a human? I like their dynamic otherwise, I just want them to cut it out with "romance". Otherwise I do continue to like her as a villain. I did like Sam's storyline more, though. There was talk online that the visions were Lucifer's. (and I barely follow the Supernatural fandom and I still read that somewhere). So that wasn't a surprise. But it was really good to have Lucifer back and their conversation was quite fun. Poor Sam, back in his old nightmare. Will they address Adam/Michael, I wonder. Looking forward to more after the winter break.
Grimm S5E6
I saw the "twist" at the end coming a mile away. Since the end of last season. So that wasn't really that shocking. I read an interview with the actress who plays Juliette today. I didn't realize she was dating the actor who plays Nick in real life. This episode overall was much better than last week. I actually really liked the conversation between Adalind and Trouble. The actress who plays Trouble was great with her reactions when Adalind mentioned both Diana and Juliette. Told a lot in just facial expressions,.
Supergirl S1E7
I like the idea of being a hero without powers and what it means. And I liked how Cat took over in the hope department. The reveal about Hank was speculated and not a surprise but it was pretty cool. I really liked that they didn't drag out the whole "father's death" mystery for too many episodes. I saw Luke MacFarlaine in the previous episode and was pleasantly surprised to see him. But I didn't expect the actor at his level to be a background extra so I knew he would get a bigger story. I wished he stayed for longer. I miss his face on my TV. What I didn't like is Winn being all righteous about Kara and James. She wasn't really doing anything and if you can't stop being hung up on her, how can she just stop liking someone too, just because they are unavailable. I do wish this show would stop with stupid romantic things, especially triangles of various kinds. Just stick with learning how to be a superhero right now.
Jessica Jones E4-7"
I'm not binging this show. I'm slowly savoring. The subject matter is often heavy enough that I can't watch more than two episodes at once anyway. But I'm really loving it. I really love the main character and all the other characters too. And Kilgrave just upped his creepiness level by buying that house and proclaiming him love, just because Jessica once dared to walk away. Yuck. I do want to see what happens next. On to another episode right now.
And the final handover of grades went well. I successfully argued with my director for higher grades for two of my students and everyone passed. And the students were mostly happy when they came to pick up their folders with their final grade on Friday afternoon. I do love seeing them improve over the course of the semester and they end up realizing how much they did need the class - it is a required class for them, so many resist.
On top of all the grading, Bear and I took Tanya to her pediatrician on Wednesday for one more vaccine shot. Now she just needs a booster flu shot in a months and a Hepatitis A shot at some point next year. And that's it for a while. Yay. We brought some toys with us and a book and she did pretty well. She still hates being weighted and measured and shots, of course, but there was less fuss than last time.
She is such a girl. Her new favorite game is to go to the closet where all my necklaces are hanging on the jewelry organizer. She wants to be lifted up so she could reach them and then I point to various ones and she says either "no" or "da" (yes in Russian). She tries some on or wants me to try them and this can go on for a while. Occasionally she goes in my closet where her fancy birthday dress is and wants to wear that for a bit. And she loves scarves and hats.
In less than pleasant news, in this hectic work week where I did not need more stress, we had to pull out of the apartment contract. Our realtor called on Tuesday afternoon, wanting us to switch mortgage brokers. Then not even two hours later he called again to say that he spoke to the president of the board and that the board doesn't want to let my Dad and I be co-owners since it would go against their occupancy rules (even though my parents have a house and have no intention in leaving it).
When we first came to see the place, he reassured us that our situation would not be a problem, that the board makes exceptions all the time, that the president is his friend and all. My parents were giving us half the downpayment so we wanted to co-own. My Dad also has a high income. The board wouldn't let just Bear and I get it because our income is not high enough for them - I work part-time since it makes the most financial sense right now with a baby and I don't have to pay for childcare this way, and how can I give definitive proof that I will have a full time job soon? No one can guarantee their job. Anyway, that judgment on us based solely on income pissed me off more than anything. The bank had no issue giving us a mortgage with our current combined salary, I have a very high credit score, we have a lot of savings, no debt, we rarely eat out, we don't buy alcohol, we don't qualify for any assistance programs, we can do more on our salary than people who make twice as much - but that really doesn't count here. I wrote the realtor a lengthy email on Friday because he should have checked with the board before we signed the contract and wasted these three weeks in putting together all the documents. Argh. He did write back to apologize but it did cause us a lot of stress. We got our deposit back (I checked with the lawyer and even put a stop on the check, just in case) and the lawyer reimbursed half of his fee so I at least didn't lose any money.
It was nice to have a weekend with no grading looming over it. On Saturday I cleaned the bathroom, finally ordered photos for my photo album and went to the dentist to finish with the crown. I order photos once a year - I like having a physical album and I get to look through all the pictures and pick the best ones that represent the year. Then I order it in December because of all the holiday discounts.
And this morning I went to the Chinese supermarket to get Jasmine rice and Udon noodles and a did a couple of more chores. Then I came home and made spinach pie.
I had a box of spinach in my freezer for a while and I was determined to used it and not to waste it. I looked up a bunch of recipes online and picked this recipe . I bought the puff pastry dough yesterday on the walk back from the dentist. I added mushrooms to the onion saute and didn't use garlic. My Parmesan cheese was a bit old so I used some smoked cheese. It came out well - Bear already ate like half of it - but next time I will use less salt and I will roll the pastry more to really cover the middle of the top more tightly.
And in the evening we drove to Brighton Beach so I could go get Tanya some Russian books for New Year presents and also some puzzle blocks. I got a book of fables and a learning book for learning concepts like "up/down" "left/right" etc. Bear already taught her "on/off" when turning the lights on or off. In the car today, she saw me in glasses (I don't always wear them when I'm not at work or not watching TV or computer) and said "ochki off" (glasses off). So she's getting it! It was nice to get out and go somewhere all together.
TV
Supernatural S11E9
The episode was a bit slow for a winter finale. I really didn't like the kissing between the Darkness and Dean - is it really necessary? Why do you need to go there, show? She is God's sister, why would she make out with a human? I like their dynamic otherwise, I just want them to cut it out with "romance". Otherwise I do continue to like her as a villain. I did like Sam's storyline more, though. There was talk online that the visions were Lucifer's. (and I barely follow the Supernatural fandom and I still read that somewhere). So that wasn't a surprise. But it was really good to have Lucifer back and their conversation was quite fun. Poor Sam, back in his old nightmare. Will they address Adam/Michael, I wonder. Looking forward to more after the winter break.
Grimm S5E6
I saw the "twist" at the end coming a mile away. Since the end of last season. So that wasn't really that shocking. I read an interview with the actress who plays Juliette today. I didn't realize she was dating the actor who plays Nick in real life. This episode overall was much better than last week. I actually really liked the conversation between Adalind and Trouble. The actress who plays Trouble was great with her reactions when Adalind mentioned both Diana and Juliette. Told a lot in just facial expressions,.
Supergirl S1E7
I like the idea of being a hero without powers and what it means. And I liked how Cat took over in the hope department. The reveal about Hank was speculated and not a surprise but it was pretty cool. I really liked that they didn't drag out the whole "father's death" mystery for too many episodes. I saw Luke MacFarlaine in the previous episode and was pleasantly surprised to see him. But I didn't expect the actor at his level to be a background extra so I knew he would get a bigger story. I wished he stayed for longer. I miss his face on my TV. What I didn't like is Winn being all righteous about Kara and James. She wasn't really doing anything and if you can't stop being hung up on her, how can she just stop liking someone too, just because they are unavailable. I do wish this show would stop with stupid romantic things, especially triangles of various kinds. Just stick with learning how to be a superhero right now.
Jessica Jones E4-7"
I'm not binging this show. I'm slowly savoring. The subject matter is often heavy enough that I can't watch more than two episodes at once anyway. But I'm really loving it. I really love the main character and all the other characters too. And Kilgrave just upped his creepiness level by buying that house and proclaiming him love, just because Jessica once dared to walk away. Yuck. I do want to see what happens next. On to another episode right now.