I made soup!

So, you might remember my last attempt at a Sunday-after-church-what's-in-my-fridge meal. It turned out something like a sloppy joe stew. It was odd, but not too bad. Today was a much bigger success.

Veggie soup! My upstairs neighbor was making soup when I got home, and I thought sounded so great, so I pulled out all my left over veggies from the cheese soup I made for the murder mystery and did pretty much the same thing, but without cheese and with more broth (I had a box of chicken broth just waiting to be used...) And with peas = ) It turned out really well! I used a big handful of Italian seasoning instead of parsley, and I think I could've gone with just a small handful instead since at the bottom of each bowl I was left with some broth and lots of  flakes of spices. I didn't have any meat on hand so it's just veggies, I didn't even think to add noodles, but that's ok. It's great on it's own. I'm so excited that I made something really quite tasty without a recipe. I don't really consider myself much of a cooker so this was a triumph.

A Permutation

There are n! ways to permute n objects. That means if I have 3 objects there are 3*2*1=6 ways that I can organize them in a line. If I have 8 objects, say people, and I want to put them in a line there are 8! = 40320 different ways. Now, if there are 8 books, numbered 1-8, and they are distributed to these 8 people and these 8 people sit down in a room in basically a semi-circle beginning at the door and following the wall around (there was a big TV on the other wall, hence the semi-circle) here are a few interesting stats-

There are 16 ways for the people to have sat in order 1 thru 8 beginning anywhere in the circle and going either direction around it. That makes a 1 in 2520 chance of that happening.

There are 2 ways for the people to have sat in order 1-8 beginning at either end of the semi-circle and going around the room (avoiding the break in the circle made by the tv). This makes a 1 in 20160 chance of that happening.

There is only one way for the 8 people to sit in order 1-8 beginning at the door and going around the semi-circle. A 1 in 40320 chance.

Guess what happened at the murder mystery last night...

P.S. It was a really fun evening. We did "The Wattersdown Affair." My character was an author who's murder mystery novels were praised for their incredible view into the mind of a murderer, naturally that means my character was in fact a murderer and had the audacity to write a "fictional" book based on it. Ha. In fact there were 2 characters who were confirmed murderers in the group and neither of us did it. In fact we were numbers 1 and 2 at the first. My friend Alycen has done 2 of these with me and each time her character has ended up being an American hussy. (We do not do that on purpose! You don't know until you get there all the dirt on your character) It was pretty funny. The game takes place in 1936 England, so we all got to dress up fancy and wear hats and talk with phony English accents. It was great! If I ever get a hold of some of the pictures I'll post them.

Why I love my job!

Lately I've been having a really big problem being motivated to actually get jobs. If any one who reads this doesn't know, I am currently employed as a substitute teacher for the Logan & Cache school districts. This means that, unless I am contacted by a teacher beforehand to teach their class, I get to get up at 5:30 or 6 am to get online and try and snag a job. Some days there just aren't jobs to be had, some days there's a lot. It depends a lot on the time of year and day of the week. Mondays are usually pretty slim pickings. Anyway, I've found that it's been hard lately to get myself up and not just let myself sleep in and do whatever all day long. So, since I have my prep hour right now for the class I'm subbing, I thought I would remind myself as to why I like being a sub.

• I get days off whenever I want them. No prior notice required.
• To some extent I get to choose where I work, and with what age group. (I avoid elementary school... the kids are swell, but they can't pay attention for more than 3 min, and I'm supposed to do things just like their teacher whom I've never met... It's stressful!)
• Even if the kids are brats and the day goes horribly, 99% chance I don't have to see them again tomorrow. Or maybe ever.
• I have nights, weekends, and holidays off, always.
• I get out of the school while it's still daylight. (Big thing during the winter in Logan. Didn't always see the daylight when I was student teaching...)
• I've never seen people so excited when I tell them I can do math as do the students in the math classes I sub, especially if they have a test coming up.
• It's actually pretty good pay.
• I get to know teachers at the schools and can see how they run their classrooms and lessons.
• I get to write on the whiteboard.
• I get to watch interesting videos and learn new things from the different classes I'm over.
• You learn a lot of interesting things when you have nothing to do besides read bbc.com and wikipedia.com for several hours.
• I never have to take my work home with me.
• I get a good laugh almost every day I sub. Students are sooo funny. Especially the middle school kids.
• I can deffer difficult questions to their teacher. "I don't know. You'll have to ask your teacher when they get back" is so lovely.
• Good days remind me why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place. Helping people learn to do math is fun!

So in summary: That's what substituting is, you know. It's not just a lesson plan and a roll and a whiteboard and markers, that's what a sub needs but what subbing is... what it really is... is freedom.
And that's why I love my job.
...Today.

Stuff that has happened within the last week II

Sugared bacon wrapped water chestnuts.
Holy smokes. So good.

I never realized what cut-throat business it was trying to get someone called to a calling. I had to rock-paper-scissors the RS 2nd counselor today over a sister in our ward (for who got her for their committee). We were sitting next to each other and the said sister was speaking and we learned that we both were requesting her for a calling. I totally won, but the RS is heavy and they're reluctant give her up...

I got sick Thursady. I'm better now. Shout out to ShaReece who went and got me some Canada Dry even though it was the day before her wedding and her family was coming over soon. Also to Nate who left work to come give me a blessing. Good people!

Pearl cotton thread doesn't fit in a regular cross stitch needle. Hmm.

"Just Like Heaven"- strange movie. She's not dead, but she's haunting her apartment? And they just let him walk away after he tries to steal her body? I mean really? Even if she did wake up from a 3 month coma they still wouldn't just let him walk away. I'm just sayin...

For those not on fb- I totally won a RSL jersey with my name on the back. I entered some Gatorade-RSL sweepstakes thing through text over a month ago one day while I was grocery shopping. I was hoping for RSL tickets, but I'll take the jersey for sure! I can't wait for it to come = )

We had a stake RS meeting today. One of the stake RS counselors talked to us about being good a good wife. I realize that it's a very important thing, but doesn't it seem like a strange topic for an entire stake of single women?

At some point I would really like the opportunity to see Ashley and I at the gym from an outsider's view. I think we're pretty funny to listen to, I hope they think the same. (Who has two thumbs and is a Hufflepuff? I'm a Hufflepuff!) ((youtube it.))

Um. that's all. Have a lovely day!