Being a Teacher

Dave & Karen

2011-08-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

Summer's almost over. Shoot.

This is summer!
We're enjoying it thoroughly right now!!

Summer vacation

2011-08-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Finally I'm having my summer vacation! I don't want to think about school starting in 3.5 weeks, or getting back into my classroom to get everything organized and ready to go in 2.5 weeks. Shoot.

Instead I'll think about what's going on now. I spent a wonderful week at home and now I'm back with Dave. He was home for 4 days but had to come back early to get back to work. If I could I think I would stay down here with him for the next year or so. However long the job takes.

Kristin and her boys are on their way here to visit for a few days. Company!

It really was the best!

2011-08-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

Dave and I spent a weekend in New York City at the end of June. My favorite trips there have involved relaxing around different parts of the city, taking lots of photos, and good food. That's what this trip was all about. Lucky me, Dave likes the same (well, checking out different parts of the city and good food... I don't know if he likes so much me with my camera, especially when he has to be on the other side of it sometimes).

We flew in early Saturday morning, took a bus into the city, and started walking.

An easy starting point in midtown is the NY Public Library. We stopped here to people watch and generally take in the bustle of the city.

We walked and I took pictures. I love this car!!

He was really patient when I wanted to stop and take pictures. And take more pictures. And more. This is in Columbus Circle.

We went into Central Park from the southwest corner and checked out some areas I don't always see, including this sweet bridge. I love the textures!

We walked on and saw a few baseball games in progress. This batter is about to hit a home run (inside the park)!

One of the things I love about the city is the markets, fairs, and events. This time there was some kind of adventure fair in the middle of Central Park. There was a chalk artist drawing on the sidewalk.

These next two guys were showing off on a trampoline. Sweet background elements, hey? :)

I had quite a few of these guys on their snowboards, and when I saw this one on my computer I couldn't not post it.

This next one's for Liz. She and I have been to NY together five (?) times and every time we go to this (the Bethesda Fountain) because she's determined to see it with water in it. The first two times we were there together was winter so it made sense that it didn't have water. After that, though, we went in the spring and summer. There really should've been water. Now every time I see it with water, I have to take a picture for her.

The adventure fair was going on up here, too. We could've kayaked around "The Lake" but it was really hot and we didn't feel like waiting in line. It was more fun to get in the shade and watch all of the activity.

We started venturing back to the city (and out of the park) and saw this guy making his living. The girls were laughing, so it must've been a good guarantee. :)
Later that day we went up to the Empire State Building and those photos are on another post.

We woke up the next morning and made our way downtown to Battery Park to get on a ferry to go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Check out this bridge. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connects south Brooklyn and Staten Island. I biked across this bridge at the end of the 42-mile bike tour I did with my nanny friends when I lived in Connecticut.

Lady Liberty! I learned a lot more about her this past school year. I got some dvds from the History Channel of a show they produced, "America: The Story of Us" and the episode about the Industrial Revolution tells the story of the Statue of Liberty's journey to completion once it was shipped to the United States. I highly recommend the series. (Not just for history buffs, either. All of my students enjoyed the episodes and they even voted to watch an episode on a free day when they had other options.)

After our ferry trip, we ventured around lower Manhattan. Here's the progress of the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero. I was amazed at how high it has gotten since last summer. I didn't have my wide angle lens and I couldn't get far enough away to show the whole thing.

After that we headed to the South Street Seaport for lunch. We dined on a second floor patio with this as our view:

Later that day we walked around midtown some more. We found this fountain and Dave decided to take the camera.

After I got the camera back I was experimenting with some settings and got this shot. It was hot out so I don't blame him for trying to cool off. :) Right after I took the photo, the bird fluttered away. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a better, clearer shot of him sitting on the edge.

I must've put my camera away for the rest of the weekend.

Oh, what a fun time!

Fun Times!

2011-08-01T09:44:00.001-07:00

It has really been a great summer so far! I've been buried in schoolwork for my Master's Degree but that's almost finished. I'm so excited to have three weeks really off - with no school or schoolwork! We took a trip at the end of last month around our first anniversary. We're taking advantages of opportunities to travel because we never know when we will get a chance to go again.

These pictures are from our trip and are probably my favorite series that I took all weekend. We decided to go to the top of the Empire State Building for the sunset and it was gorgeous!!! I highly recommend going up there for the sunset. I've been up there in the middle of the day and at night before and nothing compares to this time with the sunset. Wow!! The sun was so radiant and shined off of buildings, roads, the river, and everything!

If I'm on the ball again later I'll post more pictures from our weekend. I have to get back to my school work and finish. I only have three assignments left!

Part 1

2011-06-23T07:16:00.000-07:00

Sights around Andy and Laura's last Friday night.

Quick Preview

2011-06-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

of our weekend home.

There was a big birthday party at my mom and dad's for my dad, Dave (husband), Jason, and Michelle's two-year-olds.

Andy and Laura invited us over for supper and sauna/swimming on Friday night. I took out my new camera for about an hour and snapped some photos of some of the things the kids were doing. That included this - some kind of game they were getting ready to start.

I tried uploading a lot more photos but the Internet here is really slow right now so it timed out. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a chance to go somewhere that has better Internet so I can share some more photos.

Wrap-up

2011-06-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

I just looked back at what I was talking about the last few times I blogged and realized there were some cool things that happened at the end of the school year that I haven't mentioned.

The seniors finished :) Well, most of them. They had a big service learning project to do before they were done and after lots of hard work and many extra hours, it turned out pretty good. I learned a lot for next year (the biggest thing is to start it as soon as the term begins and finish as early as possible) so hopefully next year's project will be even better.

We had ZERO snow days the whole year, but to make up for it in the end, we had a power outage day in May (on a beautiful day, no less) and one again in June. It was like a dream having two beautiful spring days off! I got lots of yard work and painting done on my two extra days off.

My students tested well in March so it was fun to get the results back. I told the 11th graders that if the average ACT score for the whole class was higher than last year's average, I'd give them a pizza party. They did it! and collected on the pizza party one afternoon.
I coached a team at a Local History competition and we placed 2nd! I was so proud of my students! The best we had done before that was 7th or 8th so we were really pumped.

Year Three was definitely better than my first and second years so we will see what Year Four brings. If the tenure laws don't change in Michigan, I should have tenure after next year, and I also have to renew my certification to become a Professional teacher (rather than the Provisional teacher I am right now). The tenure thing doesn't mean too much but the re-certification means that I'll have paid thousands of dollars to a university while spending (way too much) lots of time working on higher learning.

Back!

2011-06-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

I've tried to post a few times from my phone but that hasn't worked for me. I guess that's my only excuse for taking three months off. Wow, three months.

Happy first day of Summer! Hopefully you're somewhere that is getting summer today. I am - it's 90 degrees here.

It should be a wonderful summer being off for three months, but right in the middle of it I have to take three courses for my Master's Degree. :( I've been looking at the syllabus for each class and all the work I have to do for just one class is looking overwhelming. Not to mention adding the other two. Shoot. The fun starts on June 27 and lasts until August 5th. It doesn't sound right (looking toward the end of the summer), but I might start to really look forward to August 5th.

Aside from that, it's almost our first anniversary. In some ways it feels like we've been married longer than a year because some of those stretches when we were apart went by r e a l l y
s l o w l y. At the same time, a YEAR already?!

We're going to New York for a couple of nights this weekend before we head home for a two week vacation (full of getting stuff done like home repairs, making wood, and tons of homework). We're hoping to camp for four nights in the middle of all that but we'll see. I just may bring my school books with me for some "leisurely," entertaining reading material.

I hope you're all enjoying "summer!"

Mañana

2011-03-13T16:29:00.000-07:00

(Tomorrow)

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow and I'm already hoping this week will go by quickly. That doesn't sound like a very good combination already.

Tomorrow we start a new term so I have some new classes. That includes one that I've never taught before so it means lots of work. I'm going to complain for a minute. It also includes a class that has 90% of the senior class. Booo-hoooo. Remember when you were a senior? You thought you had it so rough and couldn't wait until it got to that one very important day... I'm not talking about graduation, but the last day you had to go to high school. The last day you had to put up with school (for now anyway).
Well, I can tell you (from a few years' worth of experience) that the teachers were probably looking forward to that day even more than you. Senioritis? Really? Do you want to pass this class (and graduate)?

Maybe it's been too long for me to remember "what it was like" being a senior. Whatever it is, I don't care... Those seniors still have (at least) one more class to pass before they can collect that diploma and move on. If you're in my class, you still have a lot of work left before you're done.

On a much more lovely note, we leave for our vacation in 11 days! :)

I attempted bread again and it's better but not as good as I want it to be. I think try #3 will be next weekend.

One week down, one week left until my hubby's home again. I try not to think about how long he's gone for during the first half of it, then really start counting down during the second half. It's starting to feel long so I hope this week goes by quickly!!

2011-03-07T15:18:00.001-08:00

I'm always counting down to something. I don't set out to do it or anything but I always find myself thinking "only _ _ days until _ _ _ _." Or "Wow, I can't believe _ _ _ _ _ _ is only _ weeks away!" or whatever.
I'm not counting my life away or anything. I don't think. It's just the way my mind works.

That being said...
This is exam week, which means Friday off! Even better: we're 2/3 of the way done with this school year!! I looked at my calendar the other day and realized between now and May, I only have three regular (as in I'll be there all 5 days) weeks of school.

Caribbean vacation: we leave in 17 days and cruise in 19 days! Woo-whoooo!!
It's snowing right now. I hear we're supposed to get a "significant" amount on Wednesday. I'm not sure what that means but probably more than one inch. Shoot. It makes that number up there (17, 19) that much sweeter!

One of my goals

2011-03-05T19:51:00.000-08:00

I like bread. More and more I can't find bread at the store that I like so it's been a goal for about four or five months to start making bread. I don't have a bread machine but I have a Kitchen Aid mixer and today I finally put the hook to some use.

Here is the result...

It was alright. Dave liked it (or at least he said he did). I learned a few things so maybe next time it'll be better... It's actually probably better than store bread but Dave's mom's bread is so much better. So is my mom's (when she makes it). And everyone else that makes their own bread.

My ultimate goal is gluten-free bread. I'm looking for a good recipe!

Hiatus

2011-02-28T13:20:00.001-08:00

(Crazy thought) This winter is going by really quickly. Somehow.
Tomorrow's March already. We're finishing up our second trimester this week with exam week next week... that means we're almost 2/3 of the way done with the year. It's been a great year and I have some new challenges coming with the start of the third trimester. I'll be teaching a math class for the first time at this job. I'm really looking forward to that but I know it's going to be lots of work.

Dave was traveling a lot at the end of 2010 and beginning of this year. He's been home quite a bit since the middle of January, though, so it's been really really nice! He's leaving again in a couple of days and I'm not looking forward to it. The good thing about the end of the school year coming up (quickly) is that over summer I'll be able to travel with him again.

Speaking of travel, in a few weeks (at the end of March) we're going on a Caribbean cruise vacation! Seven days of cruising plus a couple days in Florida :) :) :)

Hope you're enjoying the sun these days!

'Tis the Christmas Season

2010-12-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

We don't have Internet so I get online rarely. Therefore, this is the thing that suffers. Well, everything I used to do online suffers.

Are you ready for the holidays? I wish we were on vacation already but unfortunately we go until the day before Christmas Eve. Two years ago we had two full weeks. This year a week and a day. What do you say, should we do some free days this week? Forget about the lessons I have planned... "Slack off?" I think about that but when it comes down to it, I can never do it.

Dave's gone again. He was home for Thanksgiving and the first couple of weeks of December. He's supposed to be back late on the 23rd or early the 24th. He had problems on his way there last week. A four hour drive ended up taking about 17 because of road closures and a blizzard. I'm really hoping nothing like that happens on the way home so he'll be home in time for Christmas.

Merry Christmas, all!

Politics & Mice

2010-11-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

I might as well warn you in advance: this post is about government/politics/history. If you're not into that, maybe just skip to the bottom for a pretty humorous tale about some mice.

I generally dislike politics. I think most politicians who have been in government for more than a few years are dishonest and power-hungry. I think being in Lansing or Washington will make anyone lose (or change) their vision and their connectivity with their constituents....
Anyway. I'm happy for the *change* that's happening in our government and I'm cautiously hopeful that fresh, new faces and minds that haven't been (too) corrupted by politics can help out our state and country. Like I said, though, cautiously hopeful.

I don't usually talk about history/government on here because I don't think too many people really care about that stuff, but I'm going to add a couple more things to what I said above. In US History I've been teaching about the Great Depression and the New Deal. Have you ever heard of the book "Lies My Teacher Taught Me" or something like that? I brought that book up with my students while talking about the New Deal because I teach a side of that era that I only learned on my own, outside of any history or economics class. I feel it's really important to talk about with the students, too.
Contrary to popular opinion, President FDR (Franklin Roosevelt) did not end the Great Depression. He actually made it worse. If you made $200,000 or more during that time, your income tax was 94%. His programs caused unemployment to drop for one or two years, but then to skyrocket up to around 25%. He thought that competition caused the Great Depression, so he did his best to eliminate it. Yes, eliminate competition. During World War II he came up with some more "New Deal"-like programs that he wanted enacted once the war was over so that the Depression wouldn't continue. He drafted ideas to make government bigger and more in control of people's lives. FDR died before the end of the war and when his VP Harry Truman took over, he proposed all of FDR's ideas. FINALLY, after 12+ years of the government making the Depression continue, Congress said NO. They lowered taxes, allowed companies to make things for consumers rather than for the government, and our market returned to a free-market economy. (The framework for this free-market economy was set up in our Constitution.)
This caused the depression to end.

If you're still reading and you pay any attention to what the government has been up to over the last few years, you might think the same thing I thought. Wow, government now is remarkably similar to FDR's time. and the decisions the government made then caused the depression to last for over a decade.

Returning to what I said earlier, I'm cautiously hopeful that the new crop of lawmakers entering Washington and Lansing know the lesson of FDR's effect on the Depression and go the way of the 1946 Congress and say no to new taxes and laws that create more government control. Then we might return to a free market economy where the government isn't involved in every big (and small) business, unemployment will go down, and our economy will be doing well again.

MICE STORY
Heather's been staying with me because Dave's been working out of town. The other night Liz was over and we were making some cookies. Liz started laughing and pointing and jumped up on a chair. I looked and saw the (almost-dead) mouse sitting in the corner of the kitchen, watching us and leaped onto the counter. I admit I might've squealed a little... Heather was in the living room and wanted to know what all the fuss was about, so she ran over and promptly jumped onto another kitchen chair.
[I don't mind spiders, ants, or almost any other bug. Chipmunks don't bother me. But there's something about mice. Yuck.]
After a couple of minutes of laughing and freaking out, Liz and Heather managed to get the thing into a bucket. [It seemed dead but moved its head and blinked its eyes once or twice.] Heather threw the whole bucket out the door. Since I didn't help in getting the thing out of the house, I was in charge of retrieving the bucket. I have to say, I handled that job quite well. It was still in there and I think it was dead this time.

Fast forward ten or twenty minutes. I was packing to go out of town and had to find a bag. We've been organizing and putting things away lately so I had to look a little for the right bag. Jokingly, Liz said she'd come with me and be on the lookout for mice. I found my bag in one of the spare rooms almost right away. As I was turning around to leave the room, Liz told me to slowly walk out the door and don't look toward the rest of the room. I thought she was kidding so I looked anyway and sure enough, another mouse! This one was dead, mid-stride, in its attempt to scurry across the room. This time I helped getting it outside (but again it was mostly Liz and Heather). I think Heather and I both had a really tough time sleeping that night. Every little noise could've been another mouse. :S
You might be wondering why we these mice were dead/almost dead. Before we moved in I saw a mouse a couple of times so we've been putting Decon out. Every week or so I have to put another one out because it's gone but this was the first time I actually saw a mouse since we've been in.

Still around, sort of

2010-10-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

We're all moved in and unpacked in our "home." Except that Dave's on his way up here right now with the contents of his house which we're renting out starting tomorrow... So it's going to be another, longer round of unpacking and organizing.

Thus continues a very busy year for us. Our goal is to be all unpacked and organized by the beginning of November and pretty much just in time for the holidays.

School's going great these days. I really love my schedule and for the most part my students are doing well.

Mom and Dad are HOME!!!!

2010-10-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

Just because

2010-09-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

July 2, 2010

Progress

2010-09-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

It feels really good sitting here with a couple of minutes of free time. I looked at my computer the other day and realized I have not gone on for non-work stuff in about two weeks.
My last couple of weeks have included:
A move back to the other end of the state (home)
Getting my classroom reorganized. They painted it over the summer so everything from the walls was piled on my desk and the desks around the classroom. I had quite a bit of rearranging to do to get it back in working order (but it's there now).
Two full-day inservices.
Lesson planning like crazy.
A cousin's wedding (I got to help Liz photograph it - very fun but freezing cold outside)
Scrape, unscrew, spackle, prime, paint, repeat (many times)...
Our goal to move in is October 1 but I'm really hoping its sooner. I can't wait to unpack our things and be settled in one place for the first time since we got married. We made a lot of progress this week and if we can do the same next week, we just might be in sooner. :)
School, more lesson plans, grading, and everything that goes with being a teacher. It feels good to be done with the first week. It was fun seeing the students again and getting back into a routine but by Friday I was so exhausted (mentally and physically) it was wonderful knowing I didn't have to go back for a couple of days.

2010-08-27T20:05:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I come on here to write and I can't think of a title so I don't write a post at all.
I can't think of a title but I guess I can still update this page...

Dad's making progress. Today was a big milestone: day 15 after the initial bleed. They say the biggest risk for re-bleeds, strokes, and seizures is during the first 14 days after the initial event.
He was doing great after the initial bleed but then the stroke occurred 6 days later. That's what he's in the intense rehab program for - the stroke. His left side is weaker than his right but they're working on that in PT. His fine motor skills have been affected so he's also working on that. His balance is getting better the more he walks and does all of the exercises. He has a great PT; dad loves a challenge and he feels like every exercise his PT has him do is challenging him. His OT is going well, too. Yesterday he had a pasty for lunch and he thoroughly enjoyed it! Said it was the best food he'd had the whole time he's been at the hospital. We brought him one today too.

Thank you to everyone who has stopped by for a visit, called, texted, sent cards, and posted messages on the care page. The outpouring of support has been tremendous and so comforting during these difficult weeks.

I can hardly believe it but school's about to start again. WHERE did this summer go? I'll be spending most of next week in my classroom getting it (and my lessons!) ready for students on September 7th. Also we have teacher inservices so those are always busy days.
On the last day of school in June the students said "This is your last day as Miss H! Next year you'll be Mrs. K!" That's about to be a reality; I'm now a Mrs.

I have so many ideas running through my head for things I want to do. When I think about it, I get excited for the new year; there are so many fun things to do with my students! Whenever I get excited, though, I think about all of the work ahead. We switched to block schedules and trimesters so I have to reorganize all of my lessons.

I'm up late waiting for company to get here. David, Greta, and Katz came to town today. They along with Peter are at the hospital or on their way here.

Have a great weekend!

tough

2010-08-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

Stroke. Aneurysm. Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. NICU. Visospasm. Angiogram.

Some of these I'd heard of, some not until this week. Now they're all words we use in every other sentence, in every conversation, in every thought.

He was doing so well. He knew he wasn't out of the woods, but he was feeling good! They scheduled another angiogram to make sure they didn't miss the aneurysm the first time through last Friday.
Things were going well all morning, they brought him down, prepped him... then something went wrong. He knew something was wrong.

Yesterday turned into the worst day of his life.

He had a stroke.
A small one
but still a stroke.

He said it was worse than even the original episode that brought him down here to the hospital in the first place (bleeding in his brain).

The prognosis is good but there's a lot he has to get through to start feeling better.

Thank you for your support, love, and prayers; we really appreciate it!

More updates

2010-08-19T09:42:00.001-07:00

Click

HERE

for more updates on my dad and all of us here.

Thanks :)

Emotional Weekend

2010-08-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a rollercoaster of a weekend to say the least.

Thursday was as close as you can imagine to a perfect day. Family, free time, company, beautiful weather, beautiful place, enough activity to feel energized, boating, water skiing, tubing, delicious food, sauna and swimming.... and an amazing fireworks show to top it off. We were together with Greta's family, celebrating and anticipating (brother) David and Greta's upcoming wedding (Saturday!).
Many times that day I looked over at (my husband) Dave and asked if life really was that good, if it could get any better.

It didn't last.

Friday morning my dad and brothers went to the golf course and a little while later I got a phone call that they brought my dad to the Emergency Room and there would be more details later. We went to the hospital to see him and found out some of what was going on... more people showed up... results came in... plans were made to fly him to the best neurology center in the state ASAP... lots of hugs, tears, prayers, phone calls to family members.... more visitors... and then goodbye to my dad and mom. An ambulance picked them up to bring them to the airport.

Meanwhile, David and Greta's wedding festivities. Rehearsal went great, dinner was lots of fun, followed by lots of laughs at her party. I hear his party was lots of fun too. In the midst of this we were glued to our cellphones to make sure we didn't miss out on an update.

Saturday morning and no new news but at that point it was good news.

The wedding on Saturday was beautiful and fun! Much of it was bittersweet because I kept looking for my mom and dad. I know it was really really tough for them to not be there. Everyone there was so supportive; we all really felt the love and support from our family and friends there.
Dave (my husband) video-taped the wedding. That was my dad's one request as he was being brought to the ambulance.

Most of us drove to see mom and dad today. He's looking great! It's a subarachnoid hemorrhage and he'll be here for at least fourteen days. The first 14 days after this have high risks so they have to monitor him very closely. They're doing everything they can to help him so we are hoping and praying for a full recovery within the next few weeks.

Thank you to everyone for your support, love, and prayers. Continue to keep us in your prayers.

Changing modes already?

2010-08-10T06:19:00.000-07:00

The past two nights I've had dreams about school. The kind where class is starting and I'm not ready and it takes half of the hour to figure out what's going on and the kids are getting loud, etc. That has never happened in real life but that's pretty much what kind of bad dreams I have. I still have four weeks until school starts so I'm not quite ready for my mind to be switching from vacation mode to school mode. Ahh!

Going up north tomorrow! David and Greta are getting married on Saturday and it should be lots of fun! I'm really looking forward to seeing all of my family. When everyone was up for my wedding I didn't get to see them a whole lot because I was so busy with wedding stuff.

Fb, reunion, new hobby

2010-08-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

I uploaded a whole big photo album of wedding pictures to facebook so if you want to see some, check it out on there...

In other news, we were home last weekend for Dave's family reunion and oh, was it fun! We got there on Thursday and stayed in town until Tuesday - what a great weekend! Lots of family fun outside, camping, visiting, bonfires, a very successful auction, volleyball, visiting, baseball, swimming, sauna & swimming, boating, water skiing, visiting, the best lake in the world :)
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I may have picked up a new hobby. Dave's working long days in Canada (again) so I decided to come up with something new to do. I walked around Michaels for about an hour, checking out some of my options and left the store with a set of oil pastels and a sketch pad. I was in art class in high school and really enjoyed it but I'm not an artist so I haven't done anything like it since then. I have tons of free time right now so we'll see what comes of it.

Have a great weekend!

This is what we've been up to lately

2010-07-28T08:44:00.001-07:00

When we got back from our trip we had to pack our bags again and head out of town for Dave's work. We've been in a suburb of Toronto since July 14th, although last weekend Dave had Sunday off so we went home for a night and got to visit with some people. That was really nice.

Besides that, we had a fire alarm one night at our hotel. and the following morning at 6:05am.

Niagara Falls is a short drive away so one evening after I finished the last of my schoolwork for the summer (Yea!!) we drove down there to check out the falls. I'd been there but just on the American side so I figured it was going to be cool checking them out from the Canadian side. If you've ever gone, the American side is a state park, there's free parking, trails to walk, etc. It's really nice. On the Canadian side, it's one big tourist trap. Tons of people, concrete, buildings, you have to pay for everything. So so busy.
I prefer the American side.

We've tried going to some parks around here but haven't been too successful. One night we wanted to go and throw a frisbee around but it would have cost $13 to get into the park.
Canada's a lot different than the U.S. Everything is so expensive!

We've found a couple of restaurants we like. We went to Rogers Centre on Monday evening and watched a Blue Jays game. They beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-5 and it was 80s night!! Made for some laughs.

The most American thing we've found here is Starbucks :) The prices aren't too much more expensive and it feels like you're in the states. I think I went there six or seven days in a row, just to read my book and do something while Dave was at work.

And now the best part: tomorrow's his last day! We get to go back home tomorrow!

NYC Adventures

2010-07-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

We left St. Thomas and headed north to New York City for a couple of days. We went there on a "date" back in October and wanted to return sometime when we could stay for longer than a few hours. We figured if we didn't do it right away, it might take ten years... so it became part of our honeymoon. We arrived late at night and had a delicious dinner at Junior's. YUM! If you ever go to NY, I highly recommend Junior's for dinner and cheesecake. Or just dinner. Or just cheesecake. I dream about their cheesecake, it's that good. (and I don't really even eat dessert.)

Now to the photos.
Here's the southeast corner of Central Park. The pond is kind of low...

There's a lake in the park (named "The Lake") where you can rent rowboats for an hour. Dave wasn't super pumped about this but still brought me for a ride.

The Mets got a new field last summer so we decided to head out to Queens to check it out. They played the Braves that day and won 3-0. It's a really nice field, a huge upgrade from Shea Stadium.

There's a new Forever 21 store in Times Square with this huge screen above it. Dave and I are in this picture - can you see us?

We checked out Bryant Park one evening and saw a couple get engaged. Kinda fun!

This is the inside of Federal Hall. I'd been outside before but never ventured in. I didn't realize there were exhibits inside. Lucky us, Alexander Hamilton was there and we got to listen to a speech by him.

If you've ever been to New York with me, you know a visit isn't quite complete without the Brooklyn Bridge. Sometimes it's from the pier or mall or sometimes it's a walk across (or halfway there and back...). Oh, how I love this bridge! It's definitely one of my favorite things about New York City.
We walked across to Brooklyn and found Grimaldi's, very well-known for their pizza. YUM!!!

Then we ventured to a park on the Brooklyn side with awesome views of the bridge. Wow!

It was so much fun to spend a few days in the city, walking around, no real agenda in mind.

What a great way to start our new life together :)

Next up, (hopefully!!!) some wedding pictures.

A Wonderful Week in St. Thomas

2010-07-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some honeymoon pictures I promised.

We arrived in St. Thomas late at night and drove through the city to our hotel amidst the lights. Once we got to the resort, we were curious about our surroundings but everything looks different during the day so we had to wait.

We woke up in the morning to this sight from our balcony:

It was a beautiful day so we headed out to explore and make our way to the beach at the other end of the resort. On our way we found this waterfall.

We were pumped to see such a beautiful beach just a short walk from our room. The water in the Caribbean Sea was perfect and there were some good waves a few of the days.

On that first day we spent some more time figuring out our way around the resort and happened upon a few of these...

Here's some more of the resort.

We talked to some of the workers and found out there was a festival going on in St. John that day and there was going to be fireworks that evening. We spent most of July 4th in airports and in the air so we didn't see any fireworks so here was our chance.

On our way to St. John (a short ferry ride away) it started raining.
Once we got there it stopped for awhile and the sun came out. Here's Cruz Bay, St. John.
Unfortunately the rain didn't stay away for long and we decided not to spend hours in the rain waiting for the fireworks.

The next day we went on a day sail around St. Thomas, St. John, and other islands in the area.
It was oh so relaxing being on this little sailboat with 6 other people (including the crew), no motor running, and no itinerary in mind.

We stopped at Hawksnest Bay in St. John (part of the national park there) to snorkel, check out the beach, and eat lunch.

After the sail we checked out some of the town (Charlotte Amalie) and found this cool alley on our way to a really great restaurant.

The next day it was back to St. John! Except this time we took the ferry. It was so hot and humid that our camera was fogging up...

Trunk Bay, St. John. I had been here a few times before and it was every bit as beautiful as I remembered it.

The next day we relaxed more at our resort. We had spent the previous few days going to different places so it was nice to stay in one place.

Beachside dining at our resort. Yum!

On our last full day in St. Thomas we went on a dinner/sunset sail around the islands. This is at the marina, waiting to depart.
They sailed this one with up to 40 people but (lucky for us!) there were only 9 passengers the night we went!

Unfortunately we forgot to charge the battery for our camera so this was pretty much the only picture we got on the sailboat.

On our last day we went to the beach for a few more hours, then took the scenic trail back up to our room.
By the waterfall again.

One last picture on our fun, relaxing, wonderful Caribbean vacation.

Next up, Part 2 of our honeymoon :)

Just one for now

2010-07-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

Dave's sister Kristine emailed some photos from our wedding day... here's one.

Thanks Kristine!

Done! Finished! :)

2010-07-17T11:31:00.001-07:00

I just turned in the last assignment for the two master's courses I've been working on since early May. YEA!!
I'm done with homework and can enjoy and appreciate the rest of the summer carefree!

Woo-whooooo!!

Not a good combination (or oh my, sore legs!)

2010-07-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

I learned a new lesson today and yesterday. Starting a new workout + finishing up homework = not good.
Especially when the new workout is with my husband who likes to do these really intense workouts right from the start. No easing in.
and it's the end of the semester so all of the homework has to get done now.

So basically I'm talking about sitting in front of a computer writing, doing research, and reading for hours on end with extremely sore legs. Whenever I stand up it takes a little bit before I can actually walk because my legs aren't working with me right now. I'm trying to get up at least once an hour and stretch out but every time it hurts.
I just have to get past these first couple weeks where every workout hurts and takes some recovery time. Then it'll be easier. Right?

"Home" again

2010-07-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

We're home from a wonderful vacation in St. Thomas and New York City. It was fun & relaxing and we enjoyed every single minute of it!

Our wedding day went by in such a flash. When I think back on it, I can remember lots of details from throughout the day but my overwhelming sense is that it went by so so quickly. Luckily we have lots and lots of pictures to look at. Liz gave a sneak peek but that's all I've seen so far. I can't wait to see more!!

I'll post some when I get them and some of our honeymoon when I get a chance.

Updated to-do list

2010-06-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

On Monday, June 21st I made a list on here of everything I need to accomplish. I'm putting the list onto this post and updating it...

DONE!!!! :) (Unfortunately this has to be at the top of the list.) Homework: 8 assignments. Some are small, three are quite large, including a research paper. It's going to take lots of time to do it all and submit it. :( My goal is to have all of this done by 11:59pm on Monday, June 28th. If that happens, I can forget about homework for the rest of the wedding week & our honeymoon.
Done. Organize some things at Dave's house. I'm down here visiting him and my sister & her family so I brought some things I'll need after the wedding when we're living here. I wasn't organized enough when I was packing it, so now I need to work on that here. I have until Friday, June 25th for this.
Working on this: Finish packing up things at home.
Done. (A beautiful wedding and fun day!) A cousin's wedding ~ Kate and Chris's big day is on Saturday!
Done - fun seeing everyone! Two (cousin) bridal showers ~ Liisa on Saturday and Sally on Monday.
Done. (I hope! If you're wondering, just ask!) Let everyone know what's going on next week. I can hardly believe I'm saying that. NEXT WEEK!!
Done. Thanks Kristin! Get my hair cut. I was going to this past weekend but we just ran out of time.
Done. Finish buying gifts. I have to finish just a couple more.
Working on it: Wrap gifts.
Working on it: Pack for our honeymoon ~ a week (or so) in the Caribbean!
I think we did this: Run through the schedule with my sisters and mom to make sure we're not forgetting anything. (This should go before #6...)
Set up the church, prepare food, make bouquets & centerpieces (Thursday, July 1st)
Trying to: Relax so I can enjoy it all.

Not bad, hey?
Lots of fun, fun, fun stuff left!!

P.S. Number two says I'm downstate but that's from last week. I came home on Friday and I'm here to stay until the wedding.

I'm Getting MARRIED this week!!

2010-06-27T15:29:00.001-07:00

He's getting old ;)

2010-06-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

Today is Dave's birthday! He's working this evening so we got to spend this morning/early afternoon together. I made panukkuka (I never know how to spell it!) for him for breakfast then we went outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Have a great day!

I'm learning

2010-06-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here under a pile of homework. Seriously. It's so high I can't see out. I think the thing I need the most right now is motivation. That's possibly the biggest hurdle I'm facing over the next 5 days. I don't have enough of it. I feel like I'm organizing my days enough that I should have enough time to get somewhere on this mound... but to no avail. It just isn't happening. For awhile today I felt like I actually got somewhere. I had this great feeling of accomplishment, I was on a roll, I was going to finish and submit a couple of assignments. It was a great feeling! Until I realized I was hungry. I looked at my clock and sure enough, it was dinner time. So I called Michelle and we made a plan for dinner, I met up with her, we had dinner... then I thought of some errands I needed to do. This is where the problem came in today. Those errands (which I thought wouldn't take more than an hour) turned into four hours of running around. Seriously, four hours.

Now I'm on my computer, supposed to be finishing up those assignments I actually got somewhere on earlier and now I'm getting nowhere on them. I don't remember where I was going with my thoughts and can't figure out how to start over. So that = I'm stuck.

Oh yeah, I'm learning. Except it has nothing to do with Theoretical Foundations of Education or Curriculum Development.
I'm learning that I do my best work in the morning, can get some stuff done in the afternoon and get nowhere in the evening. Some people like mornings and others are night owls. I never claimed to be a night owl although I don't like getting up early like some people... If I get my best work done in the morning, does that mean I'm a morning person? Crazy thought.

Case in point - I'm posting on here instead of working on homework. Shoot.

My to-do list

2010-06-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

Over the next eleven(!) days, here's what I need to accomplish or what's going on:

(Unfortunately this has to be at the top of the list.) Homework: 8 assignments. Some are small, three are quite large, including a research paper. It's going to take lots of time to do it all and submit it. :( My goal is to have all of this done by 11:59pm on Monday, June 28th. If that happens, I can forget about homework for the rest of the wedding week & our honeymoon.
Organize some things at Dave's house. I'm down here visiting him and my sister & her family so I brought some things I'll need after the wedding when we're living here. I wasn't organized enough when I was packing it, so now I need to work on that here. I have until Friday, June 25th for this.
Finish packing up things at home.
A cousin's wedding ~ Kate and Chris's big day is on Saturday!
Two (cousin) bridal showers ~ Liisa on Saturday and Sally on Monday.
Let everyone know what's going on next week. I can hardly believe I'm saying that. NEXT WEEK!!
Get my hair cut. I was going to this past weekend but we just ran out of time.
Finish buying gifts. I have to finish just a couple more.
Wrap gifts.
Pack for our honeymoon ~ a week (or so) in the Caribbean!
Run through the schedule with my sisters and mom to make sure we're not forgetting anything. (This should go before #6...)
Set up the church, prepare food, make bouquets & centerpieces (Thursday, July 1st)
Relax so I can enjoy it all.

What am I forgetting?

A busy week

2010-06-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

I've thought of updating this quite a few times in the past week but every time I was in the car.

Thanks to everyone for the gifts, food, and company at my bridal shower! It was such a fun morning and so wonderful to share this exciting time. Dave and I are very grateful for the support.
(I'll post more pictures when I get them. I've been really slow with pictures lately.)

The day after the shower, I drove across the state to see Dave for a few days. Then I drove home on Wednesday, went to Minnesota on Thursday, attended and took photos at a wedding there on Friday and then drove home (got home around midnight), and got in the car at 4:30am on Saturday and came back to this end of the state. It was Kenny and Henrik's first birthday party yesterday so my mom and I came for that.

I'm supposed to go to NYC and CT tomorrow for the night but my flight was cancelled. :(
I can't believe it. :(

Besides that, less than three weeks until the big day! Pretty much everything is ready, aside from the last-minute things you can't do ahead of time.

This summer is flying by already and I have a feeling it's not going to slow down.

Woo-whoooo!

2010-06-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm DONE!

That's all. :)

Dave's gonna love this

2010-06-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

He's going to be my husband in one month!

He's probably not going to be too pumped about this solo pic of him but I really like it.
30 days to go!

Congratulations David and Greta!!

2010-06-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

They're getting married!!

August 14th is going to be the big day!

Just about there

2010-06-01T19:11:00.001-07:00

1.5 more days of students!!
3 total days until this year is history!
I can't WAIT to be done with all of this grading. Seriously. You should see the pile. When I sit next to it, I kind of disappear. That's how high it is. That's not a good sign when I'm about to start giving exams... the US History exam is ten pages long. Ten pages that I have to grade, times 26 students. Shoot. What was I thinking? If I see you in the next few days, I might hand over a green pen and ask you to mark up some papers.

Haha. Just kidding. Maybe.

Have a good week!

Congratulations Kelly!

2010-05-28T17:03:00.000-07:00

I've been friends with Kelly since college.... well, that's not saying a lot because she's been in college for many, many years. I should say since we were both in college together.

We graduated together (me - Bachelor's Degree in Social Sciences - Education, Kelly - [her second degree] Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences) in December 2005 and she had her sights higher. Much higher. Since then she's been working on her goal of becoming an optometrist.

Friday, May 7th marked the end of that road for her.

When you officially become a doctor, you get "hooded." Here's the only picture I got of her on stage during this part of the ceremony.
Dave came with me and we both agreed that it was a cool ceremony. Different than any high school or college graduation we've been to. It was such a celebration of all of the hard work they had to put in for the past four years in Optometry School (and the years before that, too).

Her mom, dad, and youngest sister came to celebrate with her.

Dr. A!!!!
Congratulations, Kelly!! I'm so proud of you and excited that you get to "be" what you've been working so hard on for all these years.
She's an eye doctor! :)

Just because I like it so much

2010-05-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I took a day off to go downstate to attend an important ceremony for a special friend. (More on that in my next post.)

One of the bonuses of this being down there was I got to see my fiance :)
He took a couple of days off of work, too, so we could actually see each other. We had a great weekend together; a mixture of relaxing and getting things done. I may have talked about this in another post.

My computer hasn't been letting me put pictures from my camera on here lately so it took me this long to get the pictures...

There were lots of good ones and this is one of my favorites.

I'm going to marry him in five weeks!

It came!

2010-05-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

My dress finally came yesterday!
It fits perfectly, no alterations needed :)
My sisters and mom helped me figure out what I'm wearing with it. I had some ideas so it was really good to (finally!) try them out and decide what goes the best.

Six more weeks!

Until then: finish school (no more seniors!, 8 days of class, 3 days of exams), work really hard on my 2 Master's classes, travel back and forth across the state a lot, and finish up a few wedding details.

Feeling really lucky: Our story

2010-05-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

I helped Liz photograph a wedding today and even though it was a long and busy day, it was SO.MUCH.FUN! Many times throughout the day, the bride's personal attendant told us that we're so lucky and our job is so much fun. On days like today, we are lucky. Everything just seemed to work out perfectly and we captured some really great moments.

I hope my and Dave's big day goes so well!

***Warning: Long story ahead.***

I'm really lucky for another reason, the main thing on my mind. I'm so lucky because Dave and I "found" each other. We went to the same high school, except he was a senior when I was in ninth grade so we didn't know each other. We also went to the same college and overlapped there for a year and a half. Again, we didn't know each other. (We knew who each other was but that was about it.) After he graduated from college, he moved ~9 hours away for his career, I finished college, moved across the country, and came back. That was when we started to get to know each other. When he would come home to visit, he would hang out with my group of friends so we'd say hi or talk a little bit.

Then May last year :) He was home for Memorial Day weekend and came to Liz's with some guys when she was having people over. He and his friends stayed and visited with Liz and me for a few hours after everyone else had left that night. That's when I found out he was going to Mexico for the summer. I remember thinking "Wow, that really stinks. I get the whole summer off and he has to go and work in Mexico..." I was also planning on spending some time in his area of the state since my sister was having twins there. I thought it would've been fun to see him there but no such luck; he was going to Mexico. A couple of nights later he came to a bonfire my friends and I had and we ended up talking for a long time. Again I thought what a bummer that he was going to Mexico. We kept in touch after he left that weekend, and even more so when he went down to Mexico. It became a daily thing - sending and reading messages.

To make a long story short (or rather, to shorten up this long story), I was in the area when he flew back from Mexico for the July 4th weekend and he took me out on our first date. This picture is from that first weekend when we started dating.

I guess I could say that you know the rest of the story. Basically it comes down to this: we're getting married and it just so happens that it's going to be on the July 4th weekend. :)

It took quite a few times of us crossing paths, talking to each other, and seeing each other (over many years!) until we realized there was "something there." Now I'm back to how I started this story: I'm really lucky that we found each other.

Whataday

2010-05-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today was a DAY at school. Students in third hour were giving me attitude for the first couple of minutes so I decided I wasn't going to put up with it and try to teach them... and I gave them tons of work to do instead.
Later that day a girl asked if that's what I was planning on doing today and I told her that no, we were going to watch a movie (we're studying September 11th). She was so annoyed. All day I heard about how the girls were annoyed at the boys who were giving me grief... I have a feeling it's not going to happen again. (It better not!!) It's one of the only times (maybe second?) I've ever had to do that so I guess that's good. But I was truly mad. Contrary to what most people probably think, teachers don't truly get mad very often. Or at least I don't.

The rest of the day was fun. Every other hour was great and productive so I'm not sure what happened in those few minutes.

Three more days for the seniors! Yea!!!
For me: 12 days, then 3 days of exams :)
We're wrapping things up!

But I start two classes in a few days. The kind where I'm the student and have to do tons of reading and writing. Hopefully my brain isn't too fried by the end of the school year because I have to be able to produce some good work.

I went this long without mentioning the wedding. Pretty good, don't you think? :) Our invitations are picked out and the order is going out for them tomorrow. Hopefully by the end of next week we'll be working on addressing them. I have to say, though, that I don't plan on sending them until the end of this month/beginning of June.

2010-05-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

I think I'm in a contemplative mood tonight. Not sure if that's the right word but I've been thinking a lot. Reminiscing.
I'm going to Connecticut for a couple of days in June to visit "my boys" - the family I lived with and nannied for for close to a year. {That's when this whole blog started, and why it has "inct" [in connecticut] in the address.} They have three boys who were 6, 9, and 12 when I moved there. I cannot even believe this, but they are now 10, 13, and 16!! They are no longer the young boys I helped with math problems and with learning how to read. The squirt and peewee hockey games I drove them to and watched are no more. The oldest one is halfway through high school. I can't even begin to imagine how much they've grown since I lived there. I have gone back a couple of times to visit but it's been over a year. It looks like they're going to have a really busy summer so I don't think they'll be able to make it to the wedding so I wanted to go there before the wedding so I could see them again. I'm not sure when it will be after that. I really want Dave to meet them sometime but he has to work when I'm going... hopefully we'll be able to go together before too long.

It's strange going back to the small town I lived in. I made some great friendships while I was there and it seems like the girls should still be there (even though I'm gone). They're not. They were all there temporarily, too, nannying for a year. It's going to be weird driving past their streets or seeing our old spots (the train station for the city, Starbucks, the mall, Wendy's, IHop, etc.) without them being around.

I'm also going to spend a few hours in my favorite city :) Have I mentioned I really love NYC?!

Survivor

2010-05-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that I enjoy Survivor? I got into it a few years ago and it's pretty much the one thing I watch. I usually have to catch it online...

Ergh

2010-05-10T19:24:00.001-07:00

I was excited to come on here and post some photos from this past weekend but for some reason my computer isn't recognizing the connection to my camera so I can't upload any photos onto my computer. Shoot.

Kelly graduated from optometry school on Friday/Saturday! Dave and I went to her hooding ceremony on Friday evening and it was so cool. She's a doctor! I'm so proud of her! Way to go, Kelly!

It was a great weekend, but like always, too short. Dave took the weekend off of work so we got some quality time together. I also got to see Michelle, Ed, and the babies and Jules (!) for a few hours. On Saturday evening we went out for coffee with Dave's sister and brother-in-law. It was fun visiting and catching up with them. Just an awesome weekend!!

Back to school today. 14 days of school left, followed by 3 days of exams. {and the seniors only have five days left} Year 2 is almost history for me!

Once again

2010-05-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

During second hour today some students came into my room with a "thank you letter" and a bag of treats. :) The letter contained words/phrases like "100 Grand," "Payday," "Extra" and "Rocks" etc... and the corresponding candy was in the bag. It was really cute and so thoughtful.

The students were not awesome today but that's been typical lately, especially since the seniors have less than two weeks left and the underclassmen feel like they should be done soon too. Last year I had heard about this attitude so I scheduled projects for the end of the year so I wasn't trying to keep their attention and keep them motivated. They have projects they have to work on so it's up to them to get it done. That time is coming up in all of my classes (and it has already started with the seniors)... and I know that means the end of the year!! :) Yea!

I ordered my wedding cake today. It was a lot of fun and ended up being easy... the hard part was the past few weeks looking, trying to decide what I wanted. When my mom and I got there and looked at the pictures, I knew right away what I liked (and she agreed). One more step done!

Katz and I are heading out of town right after school on Thursday. I told my students in one class today that I was going to be gone on Friday so they'd have a substitute. One girl said "Where are you going this time?" So I told her and she said "Wow, you have an awesome life! Someday that's going to be me..." I guess she thinks I travel a lot.

Have I mentioned I get to see my fiance on Thursday?! :)

A great day to be a teacher at **HS!

2010-05-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

I found out this morning that it's Teacher Appreciation Week. When I got to school there was a thank you card and bag of goodies from our principal. Then during second hour students in National Honor Society came around with a cart to deliver breakfast to all of the teachers. We got muffins, fresh fruit, coffee, and juice! What a great morning! To top it off, the students were well-behaved. :)

I'm heading out of town on Thursday to see Dave for the weekend and to go to Kelly's graduation from optometry school. She'll be a doctor! I took Friday off of work and Dave has Friday and Saturday off so this time we'll get to see each other. I can't wait!

Finally found

2010-04-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

I found something yesterday that I've been looking for for about three months. Apparently I never looked hard enough because it was in a fairly obvious place. It's the battery charger for my camera. I've been without a camera for about a month now because of a dead battery and I've really missed it. I've been using Dave's camera and that's been really convenient but it'll definitely be nice to have my own again.

I think I'm going out on Sunday to take some photos. If they turn out all right, maybe I'll even post a few.

Have a great weekend!

Two days in a row, what's going on?

2010-04-28T18:58:00.000-07:00

I've been hearing some comments that I should update this more often. I used to be much better (I think) so I'll try again.

This picture is from Dave's phone when we were doing our engagement shoot with Liz.

He's working 7 days a week, 10 hour days right now. The afternoon shift (4pm until 2:30am). I'm not a huge fan of this but I know it's only for a few weeks (I keep reminding myself of this) so we can do it. I have to tell you, it's not a lot of fun and I'm not even the one doing it. I don't have too many more weeks of school left, then the countdown to the wedding will be nice and low... like less than a month :) People tell me that they look back at their engagements and it goes by really quickly but that's not how it feels right now.

Anyway. It was a productive day at school today! That's a huge bonus this time of year. It's difficult to stay on track and get a lot accomplished when the students are in the "it's the end of the year, we don't have to work anymore" mode. {even though we still have 5 or so weeks left}
Wednesday in my class is map day, my favorite day of the week. That makes it an easy day to teach because every class starts off with the map and in some cases, the presidents too. I'm meant to be a (history and) geography teacher because I just really enjoy maps. {Yes, I do realize I'm a nerd.}

It's called "Being a Teacher"...

2010-04-26T16:35:00.001-07:00

Maybe I've forgotten I call this blog "Being a Teacher." Maybe I'm distracted with more exciting things in my life. Maybe I'll try to show that the wedding isn't the only thing I think about these days.... maybe.

Speaking of the wedding, I got the vases this weekend. Michelle and I spent some quality time at IKEA and filled up a cart with vases. Then we had to figure out how we were going to fit them in her car (we had the boys with us). When we got to her house we moved them into the garage... Sunday I had to transfer them to Karen J's car for the ride home. Today I had to transfer them to my car to come the rest of the way home (we didn't feel like doing it last night at 11:20 when we were pulling in to town). Finally this afternoon my brother Peter helped me bring them in the house. I found a spot for them and they're not moving! They're staying put until July. I'm making a big deal out of this, but it was a lot of vases!! Luckily I had help every step of the way.
No dress yet... I'm being patient. (Sort of.)

During the day I'm still a teacher :) The countdown is on: 15 days left for seniors and 24+exams for the rest of us! Year 2 is almost over ~ yea! We're making a big change for next year - we'll have block scheduling (5 different 77-minute classes per day) and trimesters. Sounds like it's going to be a lot of work but worth it in the end. One thing I'm excited about is a new class I get to teach: Wars in American History. I've started planning it a little and it's going to be a lot of fun!

Speaking of wars, the students made projects when we were studying the Vietnam War. This was one of them. I thought it was pretty creative. Can you tell what it is?

Some of my students have been realizing lately that I have a life outside of school. One (senior) student the other day told me "I saw you in Wal-Mart with your friends and you were laughing. It seemed really strange." Me: "The laugh?" Him: "No, that you have a life outside of school."
Someone else: "Miss H, we decided you must have a life besides being a teacher because you're engaged."
Another student: "Does your fiance like econ? Is that what you talk about with him in your free time?" (Ummm, yeah, that's exactly what we like to talk about... the US's free trade/tariff policies.)

In World History today a student asked why I have dry-erase markers on the ledge of my (green) chalkboard. I told her that they actually write really well on the green board, and you just have to use a wet cloth to erase it. I had a whole class looking at me with strange expressions on their faces and saying things like "whoa, that's cool! I've never heard of that before..."
I had to explain to them that I was joking and that the markers were for the white sticky easel paper I use sometimes over the board if I want to save something. I think I don't joke around with them enough because they didn't really know what to think.

Watching my email

2010-04-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

I've started this habit of checking my email over and over wishing, hoping, waiting to see an email from the bridal shop saying my dress is in. Michelle's came in about a month early and Heidi's just came in too. The eta for mine is about a week away (or so) but I'm thinking (or hoping!) that it just might make it in early.

Happy Birthday Liz!

2010-04-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

If you see this girl today, wish her a Happy Birthday!

Also, she did engagement photos for Dave and me on Saturday and I love how they turned out! I'm used to being on the other side of her camera, helping out or taking pictures along side of her. It took a little bit of getting used to being the subject, but it was a lot of fun!

7:18

2010-04-13T16:39:00.001-07:00

That's what time I got up this morning. Talk about a panic!! I usually get up around 6:45 so I had some scrambling to do. I was out the door by 7:36 and I think that's record time for me getting ready. I didn't skip anything, either... well, except the contacts. I wore glasses for the second time since January.

I've been busy looking at houses in the evenings. I think so far there are two maybes. Dave's most likely coming up this weekend so we're going to try to check them out together and see what he thinks. It would be really nice to close on a house before the end of the school year. That would give me a month before the wedding to work on it and move some stuff in.

Wedding plans are coming along. I'm having a lot of fun with it and I think that's how it's supposed to be :)
I'm still looking for glass vases for the tables. I would really like square or rectangle ones with a large opening and I'm not having the easiest time finding them (for a good price). Any ideas for me? I know I have lots of time left so I'm not worried yet. Besides that, I think almost everything is figured out. There's probably things I haven't thought of yet so we'll see as the time goes by.

My countdowns: six and a half weeks of school followed by one week of exams and (more importantly!) 11.5 weeks until the wedding!

Fun, relaxing vacation

2010-04-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

It was so awesome! Fun, hot sun, relaxing, beautiful scenery, lots of reading (9 books!), good food, etc.

I kind of don't feel like organizing these and they are definitely not in chronological order. Better now unorganized than in two weeks and by then I'd forget it and probably never post them. So here they are...

Mambo Beach in Curacao. We spent three hours relaxing here, enjoying the heat and the water.

Deserted island somewhere in the Caribbean. It was cool to see after nothing but the wide open sea.

The waitstaff did the napkin ballet one night. It was pretty funny. I have a video clip of some of the other entertainment at the dining room. I've never attempted to put videos on here.... maybe another day.

Mambo Beach, Curacao again

Floating market in Wilemstad, Curacao.

The floating, swinging bridge in Wilemstad, Curacao. There were sweet colorful houses/buildings all over the island.

Market in Wilemstad, Curacao. YUM! They get all of their fresh fruit and veggies from nearby (48 miles away!) Venezuela. That was probably the closest I'll ever be to Venezuela as it's not on my list of places to see anytime soon. (or ever)

Eagle Beach, Aruba

Karen and Heidi on the catamaran in Aruba. Our ship the Westerdam in the background.

The catamaran.

Our home for 7 days

It did!

2010-03-25T18:57:00.001-07:00

Slow down, I mean. I can handle the rest of the week from here. (Piece of cake!!)

4 hours of school, 9-ish hours in the car, then I get to see Dave! Also Michelle, Ed, and the babies. Hopefully Julie but she's going on vacation too and I don't know when she flies out.

Yippeee! :)

Florida

Bahamas

Aruba

Curacao

Here I come!!

(Starting Sunday)

SLOW down!!

2010-03-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

It would be awesome if life could just slow down for a minute.
This week...

Looking for a house (and everything that goes with that), whew.
Last week of the marking period (all of my stacks of papers have to be graded. shoot.).
Can't get the wedding off my mind :) I should be thinking about other things but it's hard.
Packing for the big trip
Driving 9 hours on Friday and I then get to see Dave!!!! He's busy redoing his roof this week - sunup to sundown. I wish I was down there helping (not sure what I could do but...).
The kids are just as ready to be on spring break as I am.
Whew!
Whew.
It's almost April.

Progress!

2010-03-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

After just having ideas for our wedding swirling around in my mind for the last week and a half, I now have some actual progress on the plans! I found my dress yesterday and the bridesmaids' dresses, decided on flowers and a bunch of other stuff.

I had help from my sisters, mom, and some friends and that made it so much fun! It was just a (long) relaxing day, figuring out wedding stuff.

My sister Heidi and I are going to the Caribbean in a week! I've been so busy thinking about wedding stuff I haven't really thought about this vacation and now it's only a few days away. :)

March 9th

2010-03-11T19:43:00.001-08:00

We're engaged!!

My mom and sisters put together a quick "engagement party" for Dave and me on Tuesday while we were out telling other family and friends. We came home to this... what fun!

Yes :)

2010-03-11T04:28:00.000-08:00

Dave and I are engaged!!!

Tuesday evening he came back early and surprised me (wasn't supposed to be back until Friday) and on top of that, he brought a ring with him. :)

July 2nd is the big day!

Enjoying the Moments

2010-02-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

Dave is working out of the country for the next couple of weeks. It's going to be rough because we don't even get to talk on the phone. He had to go back to a regular (for him) work schedule at some point. That's now. We've gotten used to seeing each other almost every day over the last five months but now it's back to long distance.

School this time of year isn't that fun. There's a reason we had a couple of days off for "Midwinter break" back when we were in school. There's no such thing anymore. Around here at least... I heard they still have them at some schools downstate. I'll be happy to be getting out of school before most people again but a break right about now would be WONDERFUL for me and the students. They just aren't on top of their game and I'm probably not either. Four weeks until Spring Break!! I'm definitely counting down because I have an awesome Caribbean vacation planned (and booked - finally!) with my sister Heidi. We were looking for some travel partners but it didn't work out for anyone else. We'll still definitely enjoy it - mostly the heat and nothing to do but relax for 7 days.

Both of my brothers and their wives are heading up here soon!! That means I get to meet my newest nephew and niece! I can't wait to see them finally and hold them and enjoy them. Some quality family time is upcoming this week. I'm sad that Dave had to leave for work right when they're coming. It would've been fun to have him here with my family that we never get to see. He met Bob and Maria a few months ago but still hasn't met Lynne (he knows Jim from high school).

#301

2010-02-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

I didn't realize last time I wrote on here was my 300th post. Seems like a pretty big accomplishment, don't you think? :) Especially these days when I'm averaging about one per week...

We went to Chicago awhile back. A kind passer-by took this picture for us after watching us attempt to capture ourselves with a glimpse of Chicago in the background (it wasn't working so well).

And in school news, a senior asked me the other day if I ever considered running for president. I told him that I'd never be interested so he said I should at least think about running for governor of Michigan. Again I said no thanks. It was in econ class so I guess he liked what I was saying about economics.

Running, contacts, school

2010-02-06T20:12:00.001-08:00

It's been awhile since I came on and I guess I have a few things to update. I went for a run today. Kind of a big deal for me even though it was very short. Dave's trying to get me into running so I'm trying to be willing. It just isn't that easy when it's not very fun. :)

I finally got my contacts about a week ago. I've had glasses for about 14 years so I guess it was time for a change. I haven't decided if I like them or not. On the first day at school when I didn't have my glasses on the students made a lot of comments like "You look weird. but I can't figure out what's different." ... "I like your glasses better. I mean, if you like contacts, that's fine, do whatever makes you happy, but I like your glasses." (From a 15 year-old girl.) Good thing she didn't shatter my self-confidence, hey?

All week the students were feeling really free with comments about me. On Thursday I found out some of the seniors keep track of what I drink... whether it's water, PowerAde Zero, Diet Green Tea, or Diet Mountain Dew. That day they asked me if I've been feeling okay because it was the second day in a row of DMD. and they knew on Monday and Tuesday I had had the tea.
A girl in another class commented on my shoes. I think she realized I wear one of two pairs at school. I wear my boots to school and leave my shoes there.

In US History the students are having their last World War II test on Monday. Kind of sad for me because it's one of my favorite things to teach and for the most part the students really enjoy the lessons. Time to move on though. In World History we just finished a really fun unit on the French Revolution and Napoleon. {At least I thought it was fun!}

I have a niece!!

2010-01-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

I got an awesome phone call this afternoon from my brother Bob. He and Maria are parents! :) A baby girl, born this afternoon. Everyone's doing great!

After four nephews, there's now a girl in the picture :) It's going to be fun!
The sad part is I don't know when I get to meet her. They live pretty far away but I'm hoping that before too long I can get out there.

Whirlwind weekend

2010-01-24T19:05:00.001-08:00

We're back home again after a whirlwind weekend in the car. We left on Thursday after school and headed south to visit M, E, and the boys and Julie. Plus Dave had to get some stuff done at his house. Friday we went to the Windy City, then out to the suburbs to visit Dave's sister and her family. (Thanks E and K!) Saturday Dave worked and I hung out with his sister and nieces. Had sauna and visited with some friends in the evening and came home today.

Our weekend in 2 words: Family, Car. Good thing we travel together so well :)

I figured out that since we've been dating, we've gone on a trip together every month except August. Pretty good, hey?

Tomorrow the second semester starts. Halfway done, folks! The countdown is on now until spring break (March 27th btw) which hopefully will include a tropical vacation with my sister(s) and friend(s).

Sick :(

2010-01-18T18:53:00.001-08:00

I got sick last night around 6:00 and thought it might just be a few hour thing (pretty much everyone in my family has been sick and most of them were better after 6 - 8 hours). No such luck. I threw up everything I ate yesterday. Lucky for me the throwing up is over but it's changed to aches and pains, a headache, a stomach ache, and a fever.

This is exam week so it is literally the worst days of the year to be absent :( I'm hoping I'll be ready to go back on Wednesday.

Geez

2010-01-16T13:13:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is having a good January! I've been hearing lots of comments lately about how people hate (or strongly dislike) this month... I'm hoping you all are finding ways to enjoy the middle of the winter rather than get down about it. The past couple of days we've had up here have been unreal for getting outside and being active. I'm loving the sun! Just a couple of minutes out there does a body (and mind) good :)

Exams are coming up this week and last year this was my most difficult week of the year. I've tried to get some work done ahead of time to help myself out for next week but it's only possible to some extent. There's still the matter of grading over 100 exams in a three day period. But then it's worth it because if all of my grading is done by Thursday I can take Friday off!!

Have a great weekend!

My 2010... so far

2010-01-10T19:16:00.000-08:00

One of my random posts...

Dave's working weekends again so we're pretty lucky. We get to see each other for most of the week. I'm enjoying this for now because his work schedule is so unpredictable he may be leaving town at any point... for any amount of time.
I've had a huge appetite lately. That's weird for me. I've started working out so maybe that's connected?
I'm so into World War 2 right now. Dave got Band of Brothers for me for Christmas so we've watched a couple of episodes. I'm teaching WW2 in US History right now and Band of Brothers is helping me with some of my lessons. Might be weird but I love teaching this unit. It's something I feel I know a lot about so I'm really relaxed and I'm working on keeping the kids involved. They're getting excited about it so 3rd hour has been really fun lately. I sometimes wish I could teach this unit for an entire year. Wouldn't that be a fun class?!
My government students are at a great point right now. I wish they came into their senior year at this point - it would make for a really great semester. Right now they have the background knowledge to really discuss things, have opinions and back them up with the facts :) Unfortunately we have government for one more week, then it's econ so it's kind of like starting over.
That's all for now

11 states in 5 days!

2010-01-10T18:40:00.001-08:00

Kelly and I went to: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana in 4 days... and on the 5th I added Minnesota to that list. It was a whirlwind few days but definitely fun! We had some quality time in the car to visit, unlike the one hour here and there we've gotten for the past few years since she's been in Optometry school.

These are in random order because I'm too lazy to move them around...

I liked the matching {old!} lights. There is so much old-style detail all over the French Quarter in New Orleans.
We didn't eat here but checked out the courtyard that leads to the restaurant. Cool textures.

Kelly and Elvis in Nashville.

Back to New Orleans. See, I told you they're in a messed-up order. {Old} French Quarter on the bottom, {new} disappearing sky-scrapers above. It's a cool city if you ever have a chance to go. I was there before Katrina and going back I could see that the city has changed. Lots of positive energy though... jazz on the street corners, tourists checking out the city. We were there a couple of days before the Sugar Bowl {between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Florida Gators [Florida won]} so there were tons of football fans walking the streets.

I don't think I had seen cotton fields before this trip. I don't know if I really captured it in this picture, but they are beautiful. After passing by many in southern Alabama, I convinced Kelly to stop so I could take some pictures. I would've taken more but the farmer was across the field {singing a song I didn't recognize}.

And back in Nashville on Legends Corner.

Thanks Kelly for a great time!

From December

2010-01-06T19:11:00.000-08:00

Merry Holidays to you all

2009-12-26T20:39:00.001-08:00

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have a safe and happy new year.

This Christmas went by so quickly. It was really busy between my family and Dave's and we had a great time everywhere we went.

I'm heading south in the morning. My friend Kelly (Ab) and I are going on a roadtrip to Florida and then I'm flying home. She's staying there for the winter, lucky girl :)

Now I'm super tired and exhausted. Not the best way to start a trip but 7 hours of sleep will hopefully energize me for the start of the drive tomorrow.

School's (just about) out for Christmas :)

2009-12-22T20:06:00.000-08:00

Four more hours of school! I just might be counting down even more than the students.

I wore a (beautiful) Christmas sweater to school today, complete with a Christmas tree, beads, bows, and bells. One student, a girl who is rarely in a good mood, said "You just totally made my day when I saw you have bells on your sweater! My dad used to have one like that." (huh?)

Other students snickered, some said they thought it was really cute, another teacher said "Wow, your sweater is..... busy..." That one made me laugh. During one class a student asked his classmate where the ringing was coming from. He must not have noticed the (beautiful) sweater yet.

Tomorrow is the annual Christmas assembly, complete with letters to Santa, a Christmas play, and some caroling. Last year they kind of picked on me in the play and the Student Council Advisor told me today that I showed up in the play again. So we'll see how it goes...

Not Christmas related, but I had a great teacher moment today. The students (in pairs) had to choose a religion and write in a paragraph or two (concisely) how the religion spread. Two students were taking a long time with it and told me they were making it creative. I was looking forward to grading theirs and they surpassed my expectations. by far.

It's a song in the style of the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" tv show theme song describing the beginnings of Islam. I think I'm going to ask them to perform it so I can tape it and show future classes when we're discussing the foundations of Islam.

Sarah's Day

2009-12-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

If you happen to see Sarah today or stop by her blog, wish her a very Happy Birthday!!

Sarah, I hope you're having a chance today to relax and enjoy your day. Happy Happy Birthday!

My first deer

2009-12-12T19:01:00.000-08:00

I got my first deer yesterday, an 8-pointer. With my car :( Hit it, dragged it a hundred or so feet and then deposited it back on the ground. I couldn't stop right when I hit it because a car was coming up behind me super quickly and was about to rear-end us.

Luckily there were no ill effects (for me and my passenger or my car, the deer wasn't so lucky). I don't even have a scratch or a ding on my car from it. Can't quite figure out how that happened but I am THANKFUL!

Yay!!

2009-12-06T11:13:00.000-08:00

I finished my final analysis paper so that means I'm done with homework for the next month. :) I'm pumped about that! It gives me a few extra hours every weekend to spend enjoying this snow.

Happy Birthday Heather!

2009-12-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

Today is Heather's 22nd.... Happy Birthday to you!! We went out for dinner to celebrate and had some great laughs. What a fun night :)

In other news

It was soooo nice having a few days off for Thanksgiving. Dave and I ended up going out of town to visit some family on Friday for the rest of the weekend so it went by waaaay too quickly.
Back to school. and formal observation #1 for year 2. It's over, all of the meetings are over and it was successful. He (the principal) likes what I'm doing, I get to keep my job ;) Kidding. Not about keeping my job because yes, I still have it. But the stakes for this observation were not that high. Last year I got so nervous about them. This one I was able to relax and do my thing. Glad it's over and I'm hoping nothing out of the ordinary comes up before Christmas. Highly unlikely, but a girl can hope!
I put up some Christmas lights in my room and the students are loving it. I like 'em too. If I don't get sick of them I just may keep them up longer. It makes my classroom cozier or something.
This week is dragging by.
Tomorrow DII basketball starts in these parts. Heidi and I got season tickets - can't wait!

Hope you're all taking some time to enjoy the season. I'm afraid it's going to go by way too quickly.

Thankful

2009-11-24T14:44:00.001-08:00

Today I brought my United States History class to a welcome home ceremony for some local soldiers (they were in Afghanistan for the past year). It's one of the greatest things I've ever witnessed. There was so much joy and emotion - everyone made it back safely :) Wow! A great day to be an American! Sometimes it's hard to tell if things make an impact on high school students but today I know made an impression on them.

AMAZING! I'm so thankful to have brave, courageous soldiers serving our country and protecting us and our freedoms. THANK YOU!

The first break

2009-11-22T12:12:00.000-08:00

We just about made it to the first break of the year -- three more days of work. Life sure is good. :)

I don't really have a post in me but here are a few randoms

Dave worked this weekend but he's on his way back so I have a date tonight :)
I scheduled my first formal observation with the principal the other day. It's going to be on December 1st. It's nice to get those over with and relax and enjoy being a teacher.
Did I mention we have a contract? We settled a few weeks ago and it's the first one since I started working at my school. It wasn't the best but it sure is nice having one.
I have two assignments left to complete for my online class. One is due next weekend and the last one the following weekend. It'll be nice to have a month or so off from doing that kind of homework.
What's with this weather? and the apples on the trees. Has anyone noticed that - no leaves left but tons of apples still on the trees?
Evenings this time of year are so cozy. They're long because it gets dark so early but I enjoy that when I'm inside and warm...
Have you started your Christmas shopping? I've been working on it.
I'm jealous of Katz, Heidi, and Greta. They're going east for five days on Thursday. They get to see David, Peter, Jim, Lynne, Braedy :) :), Bob, and Maria.

ENJOY your week!!

Happy Opening Day

2009-11-15T11:17:00.000-08:00

Oops, it's been awhile. I've been really busy but today I have some free time so here I am...

For a minute I'm going to tell you what I've been up to in the last week. Wednesday was Veteran's Day and our school puts on a ceremony for the local veterans and community as a whole. That's one of the jobs of the high school social studies teacher, so that means me. This is my second year doing it and I really wanted to make sure it was heartfelt and meaningful so that the veterans could see that so many of us are really appreciative and thankful to them. It's a big task because you don't want it to be "so-so" or "okay." Needless to say, I was completely focused on that until it was over at noon on Wednesday. It went really really well. My students did an awesome job ~ I was so proud of them. There were many different pieces that had to come together to make it successful and all of the practice and preparation was worth it because it all did come together.

That was the big thing for the week, but once that was over I had to focus on training some of my students for a presentation the principal wanted for some parents on Thursday and Friday. Then I had two more presentations to do on Thursday afternoon and parent-teacher conferences were Thursday evening and Friday afternoon. Plus all the regular teaching, preparing, and grading. I was exhausted on Wednesday, hit a wall on Thursday, and by Friday my head wasn't really into it anymore.

Then Dave came home :) It's been a great weekend!! He was away for two weeks this time but might be here for longer than a few days (I'm crossing my fingers).

Michelle was up here for a week with the babies. It was so wonderful coming home from work to hold them and visit with Michelle. She went back today.

Now, happy hunting to anyone who is going out.

Week 9

2009-11-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow's the last day of the marking period... 1 down, 3 to go :) But that means that my mile-high stack of things to be graded has to somehow disappear and end up as scores in my gradebook. Students have been scrambling trying to turn in work, projects, or tests that they've missed since, oh, about September 8th. Every time I feel like my pile is going down, it goes back up. I'm definitely getting somewhere after some quality time marking with my green pen and I'll gladly put it away after this weekend.

Except not for that long because it'll be a new start and I should (at least try to) keep up.
That's all for now.

... : )

2009-11-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

Dave and I went on a "date" to NYC on Saturday. We were in Illinois visiting his sister and her family and we flew out early yesterday morning and got back late yesterday evening. It sure was a whirlwind day but so awesome!

Central Park in the fall. It's the first time I've seen it with the colored leaves -- beautiful!

I got to show him lots of my favorite places including this, the Brooklyn Bridge. This was our first stop - we walked across from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

I also received an awesome phone call on Friday night. Jim and Lynne had their baby!! A week early and everyone's doing great. I can't wait to see the little guy but I'm not sure when it's going to be.

What a great weekend!

I Love Fall

2009-10-25T16:18:00.001-07:00

Liz and I spent a couple of hours taking pictures yesterday and today... the colors are still looking beautiful! It seems like usually by now all of the leaves are gone so I'm soaking up every bit of color that's still out there. Pretty soon it's going to be a long, gray winter...

A week off

2009-10-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

We tried going back to school on Wednesday but there were not enough kids in school for the day to count. [Plus some of the kids that were there were definitely sick.] So we dismissed the students until Monday.

Pretty strange to have a week off in the middle of October. It kind of feels like Christmas break because I'm doing a lot of sleeping in and hanging out with Dave and my family.

Now I just have to figure out how to adjust my plans for the rest of the year to accommodate this week off. I'll have to wait and see how/if we're going to make it up.

Hope you're all staying healthy!!

Monday morning at home

2009-10-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

This is really weird... it's Monday morning and I'm sitting at home relaxing. No school and there's no snow outside. A couple posts back I talked about school on Friday and how everyone was sick or getting sick. I guess our principal and/or superintendent talked to the Health Department and they said it would be a good idea to close school for a couple of days. So that means I'm off today and tomorrow.

I just hope all of my students are okay.
Take your vitamins or do whatever you have to to stay healthy everyone!

4 Wheeling

2009-10-18T19:14:00.001-07:00

Check out the bottom of my pants and shoes. Tons of mud. Out of eight people I was the only one with any more than a speck of mud... thanks Dave :)

They were "dropping like flies"

2009-10-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

School today was pretty crazy. First hour about half of the students were absent and there were some rumors about kids being sick. Second hour, same thing. Only half a class and more rumors. By third and fourth hour we (the teachers) were sending kids home because they were so sick. At lunchtime more than half of the high school was absent and I wasn't feeling so great myself. I stuck it out, though, and came home right when school was over. I had a fever :( and was pretty miserable.

Officially the strangest day of school so far.

Philosophy

2009-10-11T12:17:00.001-07:00

I'm enrolled in an online Theoretical and Philosophical Foundations of Education class for my Master's Degree and I'm halfway done :) with the class. (Not my degree.) Doesn't that sound like fun?? It's not so much, but I am (a little bit) enjoying being on the other side of education again... no grading, planning, answering questions, etc. Just learning.

Mentally I divide my school year up based on events going on throughout the year and on Friday we passed up the first one. The first part of the year is over :) The next one is early-mid November and I have a lot going on between now and then so I have a feeling it's going to go by pretty quickly. Have I mentioned this year is going a lot better than last year? I'm not nearly as overwhelmed, I feel like I have better lessons, and I can relate to the students a lot more (I know them and they know me).

Ready or not, here comes the second "chunk" of the year. Starting tomorrow.

up and down and down and up and...

2009-10-09T21:16:00.000-07:00

This has been one of those weeks. I don't even know where to begin (or end) so I'll keep it short and sweet and just say my emotions have been all over the place.

It's nothing big, nothing I can't handle, and it could be much worse.

So tonight I'm thankful for all of the people in my life who help me out, even if you don't realize it.

Thank you!

And I have a lot that I'm looking forward to. Life is good. :)

[Like I said, they're all over the place.]

So lucky :)

2009-10-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

I don't think this post needs any words. :)

Reminder of last year

2009-09-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today reminded me of how I felt last year every day. I'm thankful it's only the first time this has happened. I got home around 6:45 (early by last year's standards), with my brain completely fried.

I don't handle stress really well and I was completely stressed out today. I wasted over an hour on a problem that I didn't end up fixing. ergh. Plus I'm struggling with some lesson plans for next week and I'm starting some duties for an advising role that I picked up this year.
It's probably not a coincidence that it's cold and dreary out today but I've been looking forward to these cool temperatures. My classroom feels like a furnace on those 60-70-80 degree days so today was a very welcome relief from that.

On a positive note: two problems I asked multiple times to get fixed last year have gotten fixed within the last week! A screw on my projector screen was loose last year and pretty much every time I pulled it down it got looser. I asked a few times to get it fixed, to no avail. This year the students started getting worried that it was going to fall on me (or them) so they started asking the maintenance people to fix it (so did I). One of our maintenance men came and when he pulled it down, it fell on top of him. (not really on top of him - he caught it before it hit him)
Another computer issue was fixed sometime since I left work on Friday. :)

Monday, Monday, Monday. Almost over. Whew.

It must be fall

2009-09-27T15:04:00.001-07:00

Another photograph from our "hike" yesterday. I told them to try to jump and reach the branch above their heads. When they pulled down on it, all the water from the leaves fell onto Heather.

She looks pretty pumped about it, doesn't she?

Bad judgement/I don't do mud

2009-09-26T15:56:00.001-07:00

I think I learned my lesson this time.
For some reason when I see things raised from the ground I like to get on them and jump off... today a couple of my friends and I were exporing in the woods by a waterfall and I saw a tree that was uprooted down a hill and the trunk/base of it was sticking up like three feet. So I decided to jump off. My problem is I didn't check out the landing area before I jumped... and didn't think about the extra couple feet up I was jumping.

It was going great until I landed on a downward sloping sandy/rocky area. on my knee and hands.

Left me a little light-headed and with a massive knee.

and muddy pants/boots.

I've jumped off of things before and missed landings but none hurt quite this bad. Makes a girl feel young (and kind of stupid) again...

Dave&Karen

2009-09-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

A few people have asked for a picture. This is from a couple weeks ago when Dave was up for a week and a half. Just about three more weeks until he's done south of the border. :)

Two days in a row when I'm talking about quitting...

2009-09-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm not going anywhere...

The class I'm taking for my master's degree is online and everything is due on Sundays. I procrastinate so that means all yesterday (beautiful) afternoon I was working on homework. After dinner tonight I had the best intentions to come on and get some of my homework done so even if I procrastinate for the rest of the week, at least I'd have some of it done. I went online, checked out some of the discussion posts to see what I have to be thinking about and got completely confused. I guess technically I'm working on my homework because I'm thinking about the questions and discussions I have to reply to. The problem is that right now I don't get the questions so I can't start writing or replying. I'm all about working on critical thinking skills and higher-order thinking and all that jazz. Just not tonight. Maybe tomorrow?

I'll tell myself that I'm working on it because I'm thinking about it. But when it comes down to it, I'll probably be sitting here on my computer trying to formulate somewhat intelligent-sounding responses on Sunday afternoon. Shoot.

Update

2009-09-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

I love rock piles. I'm not sure why; maybe it's because I have some great memories of playing on them when I was younger (middle school at Tina's house). Does anyone else have a feeling one way or another about them? I've been asking people lately (recently I noticed that some are disappearing) what they think about rockpiles and I've been getting different thoughts.

Tonight Heather and I went out to a rock pile and took in the surroundings. It was a beautiful night, some great views, and totally relaxing. Pretty awesome.

On our way to the rockpile we contemplated going to the lake to watch the sunset but settled for checking it out as we were driving down the highway.

I've been thinking about quitting my blog. I just haven't felt like updating lately. I've gone through spurts like this before and come back to it so I guess I decided to keep it and see if I come back around.

School's been good. Like I mentioned before, completely different than last year. I get to see the sun and I'm not living in my classroom. I have a more balanced life than all of last year so life is good! There are definitely challenges that I have to work through but there's going to be some every single year I'm a teacher. I'm still getting used to having homework again. I enjoy learning and I liked being a student so it's okay. Just something new to get used to.

That's all. Pretty boring, I know.

What a difference a year makes

2009-09-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

I'm back!

Last week was the first week of school and Dave was in town so I took a little hiatus from this page. He was up here for ten days and for awhile there it didn't feel like long distance. He left this afternoon for one more month in Mexico (3 down, 1 to go!).

So far I can't believe the difference between a first year and second-year teacher. Last year (if you've been reading this for awhile you might remember) I worked from 7:30am until around 8 or 8:30 every night and on the weekends, had no social life and was just plain exhausted most of the time. Last week it felt like a whole new career. I was done by 4:00 every day, things went smoothly, and I didn't have to go in this weekend. I'm all caught up on my grading and I know what I'm doing during every class this week. :) :)
I put in some quality time the last couple weeks of summer so I'd be ready for these first two weeks so next week won't be quite so easy. But I'm loving it :)

There's no in between

2009-08-31T20:25:00.001-07:00

I just spent all summer relaxing and enjoying myself and truly being off. Last week one day, the switch in my mind was flipped to school-mode and I haven't been able to shut it off since then. It was crazy - I was completely relaxed, still in summer mode one day and the next day when I woke up I was back to Karen the teacher. Not just going to school for 4 or 5 hours to get stuff done, but more like 8 or 9 or 10 hours. So my summer vacation ended two weeks before the start of school. That's okay though because I feel so prepared for this year (I'm comparing it to last year....) and I'm really excited to see my students again. I got the class lists today and I can already tell there's going to be a couple of more challenging classes and one especially that's going to be awesome. The jury's still out on the other ones.

First day of school tomorrow!*

I'm ready!

*For teachers. Kids don't have to go back until September 8th. Are they lucky or what? :)