Well, tomorrow, is the big day. I am leaving for Putney tomorrow. I am nervous and excited at the same time.

-Excited because it will be a new opportunity for me, I will gain teaching experience, I will be away from Ohio this summer, and I will be spending my summer in beautiful Vermont.
-Nervous because I don't know what to expect, what the students will be like, what my supervisor/lead teacher will be like, if I can compentently teach, control students, if I packed enough/too much, etc. I know that I will be fine in the end, but of course, I have to (always) worry.

We're leaving early in the morning, driving all the way to Albany, New York tomorrow, and then arriving in Vermont on Saturday. I don't start work until Sunday.

This may be my last blog post for awhile. i will try to keep updating my blog periodically throughout the summer.

Until then, TTFN-Ta ta for now!

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Oh, Polish football team! First losing miserably to Ecuador, then the heart-breaking game yesterday against Germany.

We were so close until the last minute! Alas, there is the next World Cup four years from now!

I know that people are trying to be nice and polite, but so many people have been commenting about how much weight I lost. The people range from friends, family members, acquaintances, and even my doctor. On the one hand, since I was 12, when I was overweight/borderline obese, people have been telling me how important it is for me to lose weight.

Now, I have lost the weight and people have been acting either jealous, strange, too enthusiastic for me. Some start complaining how fat they are in front of me and comparing themselves to me. Some indirectly start feeding me more food, acting "worried" that I have lost so much weight (this was so true for me in Poland--fattening me up, yet admonishing me that I have gained weight). One person has told me that I look rather "dainty" lately. Another person told me that "you look great, you've lost so much weight--not that you looked bad before or anything".

I know that I am healthy. My doctor has told me so. And I trust him. He told me that I am in a healthy weight range for someone my height and body weight. It makes me feel better, knowing that I am in an ideal weight range. (I only plan on losing 5-10 more pounds anyway). However, these comments just bother me and some people get testy with me. They expect me to have a solution that would work for them.

It gets worse in terms of dating. Some men are starting to look at me as an attractive person, and it makes me feel good. But, my lingering doubts makes me question if they would feel the same way when I was heavier. I am still the same person underneath my skin, albeit with more confidence and more patience with myself. Can others see the same thing as I do? It makes me feel sick that looks still matter in this superficial world.

I am starting to doubt that above quote, but ok...

Well, yesterday, was the much hyped and over-anticipated garage sale. It was an interesting experience, I don't know if I would ever do something like this again. It was just so funny thinking that we would be able to earn so much money from this experience. It was also funny believing that we had to "outdo" our neighbors, looking at them as competitors instead of as people who want to give up their junk to other people.

At first, people showed up early, but they bought something. The most heaviest traffic was early in the morning, where people spent their time brousing for goodies. I know that I am not a born saleswoman, but it was frustrating the first few hours. Trying to convince people to buy my junk was an ardous task. They either were looking for something specific or they were just extremely picky. It's hard for people to look at something that you once loved and treasured and viewed it as junk themselves. In fact, some people were just downright stingy. We priced one item as $2.50 and one woman would only pay 50 cents for it. I am open to bartering, but there are some items that should not be lowered at all. Otherwise, the item will start losing its value and worth. As one of my neighbor pointed out, she had her items set up for free and still people wouldn't take anything.

By the time the afternoon came around, traffic became really slow. I was amazed at which items sold and which items didn't. But, all in all, I think that we did a decent job for our first (maybe last!) time trying to sell items. (Key note to selves: try to sell knick-knacks, baby clothes, and furniture next time, as those items were extremely popular).

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What I overheard while I was waiting in line at Marc's:

(An irate woman who was pissed off about something and the manager tried to intervene. The manager walked away and started packing bags at the next cashier):
"Oh, no, you're ok. It's the managers at these stores. They SUCK!"

Gee, tell us what you truly think!

Some useless, random thoughts of the day!

Yesterday, I visited the doctors office for my annual physical exam. I really hate going to the doctor, dentist, anything medical related. I hate going to clinics and hospitals. Luckily, I am in good health, but my doctor still felt the need to find something wrong with me. He is a really great family physician, so i don't mind too much. I had a TB skin test, which I have to return to the clinic tomorrow to get my results read. Plus, my blood was drawn, and this time, the nurse found my vein, so we didn't have to repeat it several times! However, perhaps the highlight of this trip was the nurse's comment "I wish I have your eyes!" I passed the vision test with flying colors!

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TOMORROW is our neighborhood's garage sale!
My family has been very busy preparing itself for it. Considering that this is the first garage sale that my family has ever participated in, it should be an interesting experience. I've noticed some of our neighbors preparing for it as well (competition!). My poor sister is under considerable pressure because this is one of the first times that she has to show us what she learned from her business education.
So, we'll see what it will be like tomorrow.
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Groan! I have to go through the entrance counseling for my student loans. Sometimes these student loan companies think we are extremely stupid. I know that I have to pay back my student loans and that I have to notify my lenders if I have any problems.

If only we had good jobs to pay off these student loans......