A Little Perspective :)

My very dear friend Jeannine sent me this and I thought it was pretty fitting for my blog:
One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, 'How was the trip?'
'It was great, Dad.'
'Did you see how poor people live?' the father asked.
'Oh yeah,' said the son.
'So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?', asked the father
The son answered:
'I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them. '
The boy’s father was speechless.
Then his son added, 'Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.'
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing?
Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.

A Beary Good Present

So the staff at the elementary school plays a very fun Christmas game. If you participate, you give $2 to the winner of the game from last year. That person wraps every one's $2. Then you wrap a gift of $10. Then for a week we all trade presents, trying to get the one that has the big bucks. You can't go wrong as you will still end up with $10... and this year the winning prize was $70+
So we have been swapping all week, and I've had my eye on this very VERY cute bear. I thought it probably wasn't the winner, but that my chances of getting the big prize were probably less than my chances of ending up with a bear AND $10. So this afternoon (while my kids were at a swim party) I fought for my prize. He got stolen from me like 5 times, but I found him, and when the bell rang... he was mine!! :) My good friend Terry Leija won the grand prize, and it turned out that I never even saw the box that it was in... so I was VERY happy with my bear (and $10!)
Only one more day before a two week break!!!!!!

My Neighbor

This nice gentleman is at my house many afternoons when I get home. However, he never seems to listen to me when I tell him that a certain puppy dog is about to come outside and chase him (the picture was pre-Sherlock).

BRRRR!!!

OH MY GOODNESS it is cold!! It's like 3 degrees right now and my little toes are COLD! If it is going to be this cold, I demand snow! And hot apple cider :) Even the pooper dog doesn't want to go outside.
So I'm in the last stretch before the heavenly two week Christmas break! Thanksgiving was good... drove home to see the family and eat some superbly yummy Mommy-food. Then on the way home I stopped to see my Marci and the Eckles crew. Nathan is now obsessed with hockey which was funny, and Alex was very grumpy but still awfully darn cute. I also got to see "UP" which is now in a tie for favorite cartoon movie (tied with Ratatouille). SQUIRREL!
Today I had to drive down to Denver for a standout math training. It's a program full of chants that are used to expose kids to math vocabulary... and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it yet... but I am excited to give it a shot. The neat thing was getting compliments from other teachers about how smoothly I could pick up the pace of the instruction (it's suppose to be a fast thing) and still modify my questions and such. It means a lot when the praise comes from people that have been doing this a lot longer than I have!
I have to get through Friday (which I am not looking forward to after having a sub yesterday), and then this weekend is our elementary Christmas party which should be a fun time :) After that there is only two weeks left!! On one hand I feel like it is a big time-crunch for all the stuff I want to fit in before then. On the other hand that is 10 days until I have two whole weeks off!! Actually it is more like 9 days, as the 18th will be "Polar Express Day" where kids wear their pajamas to school, bring books, pillows, and blankets to have a reading party, get hot coco from student council, and of course watch the Polar Express!! :)
In the mean time I think it is time to go dig out the electric blanket! Hope your toes are warmer than mine!

Absolute Genius!

So yesterday a student came in and brought me a "pancake on a stick." Now I get offered kid-food almost every single day, and while I almost always take it (I wouldn't want to hurt any feelings!) I do NOT always eat it (I'm sorry, but sometimes it is slightly questionable) However - this was... simply put... GENIUS. It was a sausage on a stick surrounded by a pancake (think corndog for breakfast). I don't know how they did it, but I could have eaten a bunch of them :)

Today the best part of my day was: "Ms. Frostman, you are the best teacher I've had in my whole life."

Yup. It just doesn't get better than that.

Off with the hair!!

Yup - I chopped it off!! (well, I didn't - the stylist did) It was getting tooooo long and was definitely long enough to donate so it was time! 12 inches later and I like it! It ended up a bit shorter than I had planned, but it still (barely) fits into a pony tail, so all is well :) One of the teachers at our school is out for several months to get treatment for breast cancer, so I am going to donate it in her name.
The new "do" is fitting for how things have been going for the past week. I made it through conferences and report cards and am starting to feel just a wee bit more confident that I CAN actually handle juggling the 327 balls in the air at the same time. There are certainly days (like Monday) where I want to just drop them all and go read a book... but most of the time I feel like I have most of them going the right directions! Tuesday I went to yoga (my teacher is back, so that is helping me feel more accountable for going every week) and as I was the only one who showed up, I got a private yoga lesson. It was really good, but on Wednesday I was really sore. Thursday I had a technology training after school, and Friday I chopped off the hair! Tonight I am going to go show off my hair and have dinner with friends :)
I am happy to report that, as insanely non-stop as it still is, I still really love teaching. We have started grouping kids for math and I have the high group which is a lot of fun. We do extra challenge problems, and brain teasers, and it is really fun to help them learn the THINKING skills that go with higher level math. We are studying the human body in science, and I love the random questions that the kids come up with. One of my kiddos is just obsessed with kidneys and it cracks me up since he wants to know how everything else is connected to kidneys. I have found that one of the down-sides of a small community is that other teachers have known these kids for a long time. While this can definitely be a good thing and give you great insight... sometimes the teachers have let a kid get away with something for so long, that it's really an uphill battle to try to hold that kid to higher expectations. But most of the time I feel like my students really enjoy the challenge of learning new things :)
It is also nice that Thanksgiving and Christmas break are not too far down the tunnel :) I'm going to head to the parents' for some Mommy-food and then stop by and see my Marci and the crew on the way back to EP.
Well it was suppose to snow today, but the sun is currently shining, so I'm off with the pooper for some fresh mountain air. Hope the day is bright in your corner of the world too :)

Happy Halloween

So for Halloween Estes Park closes off downtown for a big block party. I met some friends there and we enjoyed watching the kiddos, eating the free carmel apples and some candy, and seeing some very cute costumes. This one was my very favorite :)



Afterwards we went out for some dinner, dancing, and fun! :) The extra hour of sleep was also much appreciated. So Happy November! And a very happy birthday to my Stephnerninny!! Your card is in the mail :)

Snow Day! Snow Day! Snowy snowy snow day!!

Yay snow! Sorry for the lack of blogging... weeks full of getting report cards and ILPs ready has led up to a week of parent-teacher conferences. But now I have a whole day to do nothing but be lazy and enjoy the winter wonder land! :) YAY SNOW!!

I left school at 8:00 last night after my last conference and it was a bit of a scary drive home. Cujo doesn't have his winter tires on yet, and we only made it part of the way up the hill. I parked in a neighbor's (summer cabin) driveway and walked the rest of the way.


So far there is a little over a foot on the porch. Here's the unshoveled half :)


Sherlock LOVES being a mountain snow dog :)

Elk don't moo.

While driving home the other evening after going back to school for a couple of hours, I passed a heard of elk and said "Hi elk! Moooo!" and then I thought, "hang on... elk don't moo!"
I was a little tired :) Yes... I am silly :)
It's an awfully good thing I can laugh at myself.

Seriously Guys.... it's Sunday.

Will someone please tell these guys that you are suppose to sleep in on Sunday?!?

Squeaky-snorting and fighting can be saved for after 10am!

Snow! :)

Where did the mountain go?! :) It's under the snow clouds! I took this Thursday afternoon and, although some of it melted yesterday, it snowed a little more last night. I wasn't feeling quite ready for winter... but I do love snow!! Sherlock does too... he's a goofy snow-dog :) This morning he woke me up whining and when I got up I saw fresh bunny tracks on the porch!

So it has been a super-busy couple of weeks. The end of October is parent-teacher conferences, so that means a lot of extra meetings and such to make sure everything is on track at this point. My first official observation went really well! I designed a power-point jeopardy game for my students to review for the math test and the principal liked the engaging and inter-active style. yay me! :)

The kids are good... we are getting into the routine of things and I feel so good about the relationship I have with my class. My principal said "There is just this really good vibe in your room, and when you ask the kids to do something, they do it!" Unfortunately there is an awful bug (some say flu... I don't know if anyone has been diagnosed) going around and I have had to deal with some long absences... but so far I haven't gotten sick (*knock on wood*)

Right now I am getting ready to go hang out with my most favoritest Marci and her family who are up in Estes Park for the weekend!! It's so wonderful to see her and Nathan and little Alex!!!! I'm sure I'll have pictures to post soon :)

Just like old times...

So here I am, taking a break from writing another paper... ok not really, but it sure feels like it! Tomorrow is my first conference with the principal which will include a pre-observation meeting (before my first formal observation, thus the "pre-observation terminology - get it?) as well as establishing a goal for the school year, and other student stuff. So I am writing up all the formalized steps, lesson plans, evaluation questions, etc.

I'm not nervous because I actually feel like (and have been told) that I am doing a good job.... but so far the hardest part about being a teacher is the fact that I KNOW what I could do better, I just am not there yet. Sometimes perspective is a hard thing to have, even though I know it is good. I wouldn't want to fastforward through the next couple years because I know there will be many moments to treasure... i just wish I had a time-vacuum and could suck all the experience from then to now :)

In other news... the stupid elk are very annoying (not just because stupid tourists stop in the middle of the road to stare at them) because they are so freaking loud with their squeaky snorty buglely noises at all hours of the night. It is cool to listen to during the day and the evening, but NOT at 3am. I might have to send Sherlock out on noise ordinance patrol!!

Thanks for the break... back to work!

My dog peed on a tree.

Well we did NOT get the foot of snow that the stupid weatherman predicted. We did get a frickin' cold cloudy day with icy rain. Booo.

Also boo was my yoga teacher's substitute not showing up for class. Boo!

The best part of my day however, was making my kids laugh while we were working on subject and predicate. My example sentece: My dog peed on a tree. (Followed by lots of laughter) Who did it? "My dog!" What did he do? "Peed on a tree!" (lots more laughter). It's a good thing I get to be around kids all day :)

SNOW?!

That's right! Snow! This morning I got to school a little after 7:00 and it was very cold and rainy. About 5 minutes later it was hailing so hard I couldn't see the playground outside my room. There was HUGE lightening and thunder, and then the hail turned into snow. It was crazy!! All day it's been snowing on and off, and while there is only little piles of white here and there... the mountains are frosty!! I love it... but I need some fall before we hit winter!!

Ahhhhhhhh :)

So tonight I put all the work aside and went to my first yoga class up here. It was soooooooo good to completely take my mind off of everything and focus on my body. I feel more relaxed and happy. I also was able to appreciate walking back to my car along the river and breathing the fresh air. Then on the way home I passed a big herd of elk and enjoyed watching the little ones play and the males sparring. And of course waiting for me was a pooperdog and a fat kitty :)
Even though I knew that this year was going to be hard... it's been wearing me down fast. Hopefully this is a way that I can keep balanced and optimistic!

TGFM (Thank God for Marci)

So this week hasn't been great... and I don't feel like reliving it via blog... but I just HAD to share this email from my bestest friend Marci, because it was the best part of my entire week :)


"Take THAT crappy day! Love, Bug"


I bet it made you smile too :)
I love my Bug!! And My Marci!!!
And it's Friday :)

How about a 4 day weekend??

So I have had a perfectly lovely three day weekend... I am just not ready for it to be over!

Saturday morning I woke up at 5:00 and really enjoyed the 3 seconds I was awake before rolling over and falling asleep again. Fat Kitty finally got me out of bed to feed him around 7:00, so I let the pooperdog out and fed him too. After being awake for about 30 minutes, I decided I was still tired and went back to bed until 11:00 :) Then I pooped around the house, putting up some more pictures, laying in the hammock, and reading Calvin and Hobbes. Around 5:00 I headed over to my friend's house to hang out with their kiddos and do some laundry while they had a date night. We (me and the kids) had a lot of fun coloring, playing video games, blocks, and dinosaurs!

Sunday I went downtown and played tourist at the local arts and crafts fair. It was nice to just wander and enjoy :) I bought a pair of earrings and a beautiful silk painting by the middle-school art teacher. Then I came home and took a 3 hour nap :)

Today I was at school for most of the day except for a few hours over lunch when Sherlock and I went to the lake for a while. I got quite a bit done and feel ready for the coming week... especially since its only 4 days!

It's the small stuff.

So this has been a long week already. I thought it was Thursday all day today... which also meant I thought tomorrow was Friday. *sigh* My main frustration is the fact that I am really bamboozled about the kids being pulled out of my room. I don't know enough about where they are going and who is teaching them what. I don't want to assume they are getting "something" somewhere else and for the teacher taking them to assume I am teaching "something" and the kid actually never gets taught that thing!! Unfortunately there is not enough time, schedules don't mesh, and there are other things that need to be taken care of first... so it probably won't get worked out for a while. It's not an emergency situation I guess, but...

I also continue to be confronted with the questions I didn't know I was suppose to ask. I love that there are so many supportive people around me... but many of them have been doing this for a long time. Thus, so many things are second nature that they forget that I don't know, and I don't know to ask! This usually ends up in a frantic change of plans on my part - which again is not the end of the world, but is frustrating and wearing.

Luckily... it's the small stuff that makes me know I'm still in the right place. Wilted wildflowers picked from recess, hugs, extra snacks, etc. Today I had the kids do a "chain of events" from the story we were reading by making a paper chain of sentences to summarize the story. It was funny to hear them say "that was fun!" in such a surprised way :) I heard them quizzing each other on the states in the northeast region over lunch, and even one of my "challenging" kids hugged me today and thanked me for making science so cool. I might not love all the mumbo-jumbo and paper-work stuff.... but I love getting kids excited about learning.

Unfortunately, tomorrow is not Friday. But when it gets here, it will be a 3-day weekend!! :) And until then... I'll keep treasuring the small stuff.

First Week... Check!

I made it through the first week!! :) Actually, although it felt really long... it was a good week. The kids are starting to get into the routine of things, and were excited to actually start some of the reading/math/science work in class. After all, you can only play so many get-to-know-you-games! I already have them all pumped up about science, which is really fun for me :) Next week many of the kids will get pulled out for Sped, ELL, and GT.... so I will have a much better idea of who I am really teaching and when.
Part of what made the week so long was the fact that I spent 3 of the 5 evenings after school back at school for 2+ hours. Even though I had time before school started, a) I did not have enough time and b) I didn't know what I needed to do with that time. I have a feeling that this is going to be a long year in general in the realm of preparation time, but the plan is to keep uber-organized so that next year it will be a little easier. Luckily, I also am comfortable "winging it" when I need to :)
It continues to just be delightful to work with people who are happy about being at school. My fourth grade team is really supportive, all of the specialists are so excited to talk about how I can help individual kiddos, and everyone else is great about checking in to make sure I'm doing ok! I found a good place to be :)
On the non-school side of life, I had fun yesterday at my friend Hollyn's wedding. She got married down in Evergreen, CO and it was an unusual ceremony to say the least. Before the ceremony started a herd of elk started crossing the road down to the meadow where the ceremony was being held. Unfortunately one of them got hit by a car :( We saw it get up, but didn't see where it went after that. But the rest of the elk (at least 20 of them) decided to come attend the wedding. They stayed on the other side of the creek, but them seemed pretty curious about what we were doing there!! Then, one of her bridesmaids fainted during the vows and fell backwards headfirst into the creek!! She ended up being ok, but they took her to the emergency room to make sure. Crazy!!! Luckily, even the unexpected couldn't spoil the happiness, and it was lots of fun to see my friend so happy. I think her cheeks are going to be sore from smiling!! :)
So today, as you can probably guess, I am headed back to school... but not before my puppy dog gets some serious play time! :)

Alex Landon

Here's my new love-nephew :) (aka my bff Marci's new baby boy!)
And I love love LOVE him!!!

Too tired to blog much... although the highlight of my day today was reading Yertle the Turtle :)

The First Day of School!

Is it Christmas yet? Just kidding :) My first day of school was actually really good. I got back from meeting Alex (a picture to follow as soon as Marci sends it to me) yesterday evening (by the way he is SO STINKIN' CUTE!!) and decided not to go to school, since it would probably just make me feel stressed. So I slept really well, got up (too early!) and was at school at about 6:45.

I think I was a little nervous this morning... but I wonder if it was because I thought I should feel nervous, because once the kids came I was totally fine. They were definitely squirrely today, but I think I handled it well because I kept mixing things up... even though I did a lot of talking. For the most part I think the class is going to be wonderful. I already have kiddos that I love to pieces, and a few that I would put up for trade... but I am sure by the end of the year I wouldn't have traded any of them :) (Or at least that's my story for now!)

My legs hurt, and I'm pooped... but I think I'll probably veg for a bit while the pooperdog runs around, eat some dinner, and head back over to work on the behind-the-scenes organization stuff.

Now if only I had someone to go grocery shopping for me....

Can I have an extra day please?

So Friday was a blur of rushing to get my room ready for the open house. My mom will laugh when I say that I resorted to my childhood habits of shoving piles of things in drawers and cupboards so that it looked nice and clean!! :) Luckily none of the students' parents looked in the cupboards!

The open house was good. I was a little nervous beforehand, but the first mom that came was really wonderful and from then it just flew by. I think a little more than half of my 22 kiddos showed up to say hi and put their school supplies in their desks. Most of the parents were welcoming and the kids seemed excited for school to start. Since it is such a small town, many of them know each other, so I am a little worried for the couple of new kiddos that I have... but I think they will probably end up adapting faster than I do!

I got up this morning and met up with Keri (my mentor) to brainstorm some "plans" for the first couple of days. It was more like a list of activities to do in between explaining the expectations and getting settled in the routine of things... but I think it will go well. I still have quite a bit of "behind the scenes" work to do in my room - organizing some files on the kids and such... but I am taking tomorrow off to head back down to Colorado Springs because MARCI HAD THE BABY!!! :) Alex Landon Eckles was born on Friday and I can't wait to meet him :)

So while that means I won't get a jump on school stuff for Monday... some things are more important!

Teacher Training Day 6

Ok... I'm a little tired of teacher training now...can you just send me the kiddos? You might think that education people might be good at making boring presentations a little less boring - but most of them don't. Luckily, as those who know me understand well (mischievous grin), I am pretty good at entertaining myself... and I have already found fun people to be shenanigans with :) Admittedly not up to the Marci & I standards of shenanigans, but that is pretty hard to match!! :)

Seriously though, I think I probably would have become comatose with boredom without the fun people up here. My mentor, Keri, is just awesome, funny, and a goofball like me. She is also my 4th grade teammate and next door neighbor. My principal rocks (especially because he is pretty young and so remembers very much what it is like to be in the classroom). Which means today and tomorrow should be a little less boring as the meetings are now specific to the elementary crew (instead of new teacher and/or district-wide stuff).

My room is still a work in progress, although its getting there. It will probably be done by Christmas :)

Here we go!

So tomorrow is the first day of new-teacher training!! I got a key to the building on Monday, so I have spent a couple hours each day Monday and today fiddling around in my classroom. I am just starting to get an idea of what I actually need to do... so it's a good thing I have two more weekends before the kiddos come! Once I have everything mostly done I'll post some pictures. So Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Mon are all new-teacher stuff, and then Tues starts the district-wide staff stuff. Friday the 21st is a teacher work day with a mini-open-house for the kiddos to stop by and drop off their school supplies and say hi... and then Monday the 24th is day 1. Wow... am I ready for this? I hope so!! :)

The best part so far is the people. While I haven't met tons of people yet (which is ok as I have already forgotten 80% of the names of the people I did meet), everyone has been amazingly nice, friendly, and welcoming. Everywhere I turn someone is offering to help me carry something, asking if I need anything, or telling me how excited they are that I am here. It's really nice :)

In the meantime I have enjoyed hanging out with my pooperdog and enjoying being back in a small mountain town. Sunshine, mountains, trees, and lots and lots of blue sky.

Unfortunately.... I have to get up early tomorrow :( Ahh well... Wish me luck!

Happy house to me!

So I walked around Ketchum to do a little shopping during my visit, and as I had been on the lookout for a little lamp for my new house I just had to buy this:


I love it! :)

To Idaho and back again!

The first day of school is creeping up quickly, so I figured I would go visit the friends in Idaho before I got buried under another school year. While the 13 hour drive (12ish hours + dog play time) each way was not so fun... the visit certainly was! I got to see Bronwyn (and Sherlock got to hang with Indiana and Dakota), Nichole, Justin, Michele (and her whole furry crew), Kyle and Brooke (and their furry crew), and it randomly worked out that Scott and Anna and their kiddos were in town from Seattle at the same time! I also saw some random locals who said it had been a long time since they had seen me around - to which I said, "yah, probably because I don't live here anymore!"

I ate at all my favorite places, shopped a little bit (another house warming present will be posted once I unpack it), dealt with a stupid flat tire, played some putt putt golf, tubed on a river, visited one of my absolute favorite places on earth (Redfish Lake), and most of all spent time with good friends.

It was a nice vacation and while sometimes bittersweet, it was fun to see the Idaho crew.

Check out some of the pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22139&id=1641470927&l=9964170b72

Now it's nice to be back in the new place and see the Fat Kitty. It's starting to feel like home :)

Welcome to my house!

So it is rainy and cloudy outside... but I am about 80% unpacked so I thought I would post some pictures of my cute little house :)




This was my house-warming present to myself from playing tourist today in town :)

This is where the other 20% of the stuff is. There is a guest bed under there somewhere :)




More pictures will follow sometime :)

I'm here!!!

Here being Estes Park :) My wonderful parents helped me Uhaul it up here (yes, Uhaul is a verb!) yesterday. Special big huge thanks to them!!!!

So I have a new address and a new cell phone number. If you didn't get it in your email... then let me know and I'll send it to you!

I'll update more soon -- but currently need to make an island in the chaos :)

Happy Birthday Aimes!

Today is my sister-in-law's birthday! In honor of what a wonderful woman she is... here is the drawing I did during my art class of her and my nephew Sam:

Thanks for Coming!! :)

So I am still working on collecting graduation pictures from my sources... but here are a few extra special ones :)

Old family friends the Weidmans came :)


My Aunt Shirley gave me this bell which was my grandmother's when she was a teacher in a one room school house (almost 100 years old!) My granny isn't with us anymore, but I'll never forget her!


Me and Grandma! :)

Graduation Eve

That's right!

The classes are over, the papers are done!
The tests are all finished, it's time for some fun!
A silly black robe and a funny square hat,
A few little speeches 'bout this and 'bout that.

A toast to our efforts,
and hugs for dear friends,
off to the next chapter
'cause this one soon ends.

Sooooo close!

Tomorrow is my last day of class. THE last day. The LAST day. I cannot actually believe that it is almost here. I have this weird empty feeling where all this stress has been over the past 14 months.... like it's almost hard to NOT have something to think/worry/stress about. No more homework, no more papers, no more chapters or articles to read, no more books. What will I do with myself?? :)

I know that before I blink I will have a whole new ballgame at my new school with lessons to plan and papers to grade and many new worries and stresses for my kiddos... but I think (I hope) that I will be able to balance that all a little more and enjoy having a life again. Besides... teaching is now part of my life! :)

I'm putting it in my speech (my classmates elected me to speak at graduation)... but for those of you who can't be there Saturday to hear it... I've got to thank people that supported me this past year during this crazy process. It is almost insane to consider the work I have put into this program, and I couldn't have survived it without people to love me and cheer me on. So thanks! I love you!

Colorado Weather

Gotta love Colorado summer weather! Bright sunny skies, hot but not humid, and the 4:00 afternoon thunderstorm. Here are a few pictures... one from a late evening thunderstorm (cool huh?... there was A TON of lighting)



And the other from a different day where the setting sun was making a rainbow


Love it! :)

Estes Park here I come! :)

So I went up to Estes today in hopes of finding a perfect little home and I DID!! It isn't the little blue house that I wanted to buy, because I decided I really needed to get up there and get settled and such before I go through the whole home-purchase-process. I seriously lucked out and found a great little cabin on the west side of town right on the edge of the National Park. It's PERFECT!! :)

Looking north/east up the hill at the back (which is really the front)



My FAVORITE part is the view... (this is from the deck looking south and a little west at Long's Peak)



Welcome to my house!! :) The door you can see here opens into the kitchen:



Looking from the living room through the kitchen out to the porch:



You can also come through another door into the living room (sorry... this lovely furniture will be gone when you come visit me):



The living room, fireplace, and the door to one of the bedrooms:



A closet, and the doors to the other bedroom and the bathroom:



I am sure I will have many more to post once I am settled and its all Polly-ified! :) I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Summer!

So I took a break from reading Plato today to take my pupperdog on a hike. It's the first real hike we have been on for a long time and we both enjoyed it!!

This flower won :)

Apparently Colorado is being infested with ladybugs. I think they should come up with a different word than "infested" because I like ladybugs!! How many can you see?

Confessions

So my friend Jessica (Lotz not Ricks) did this on her blog and I thought it was fun:

1) I love watering my plants. I love plants in general, I love owning them, picking out cute pots for them, and watering them. I can't do super-high-maintenance plants because I have a life (or right now I have school)... but I can see when I am old and pottering around having a greenhouse and spending all day with my animals and plants :)

2) I hate cooking. Really. I really do not like it. At all. Even when something I make turns out well... I still don't like doing it. Not my thing. You cook, I'll do the dishes.

3) Sometimes I don't empty the lint-thingy in the dryer at my apartment complex. Yup... I'm the one.

4)I do however leave coupons that I won't use on the grocery shelf for other people, offer to return their grocery cart to the cart corral, help people carry heavy stuff, and hold doors open for people. I think this stuff is more important than lint.

5)I love the outside of my fridge (see previous blog entry) Can you imagine what it will be like when I have kids? I might have to get another fridge just to have the display-space! :)

6)I talk to trees. Yup. Blame it on my friend Kathy... but they are really good listeners. Dogs and cats also work well... but they can walk away. Trees are there for the long haul.

7)I still sleep with a stuffed animal. Puppy (he's a dog - original huh?) I usually use him as an extra pillow... but if I can't find him when I wake up I worry about where he went :)

8)Speaking of my bed.... I'm a hog. I like to sprawl. Your side of the bed is really your 1/4th of the bed. Deal with it.

9)Sometimes I look at things upsidedown. It's good to change your perspective :)

10)For a really long time I thought the phrase was "pigment of your imagination" Doesn't pigment make more sense anyway?

11) I can't spell. You might think that as a teacher this might pose a problem... I think it just gives my students the chance to understand that I am not perfect.

12) I laugh when people do stupid things... but I also laugh at myself when I do stupid things :)

I am sure I could come up with lots more... but I also:
13)procrastinate doing things I don't feel like doing (aka homework)
So I'll stop and go do my homework (after I water my plants)

1 Week Down.... 4 to Go

So I am done with the first week of my last summer of classes (for a long time at least!!) I have four weeks left to go... YAYAYAYAYAYY!!! This last week was the second half of an art class (we did the first half last summer) and while I LOVE the professor... the class was kind of lacking. I got a lot out of her first class and was looking forward to taking that stuff a step further, but she spent more time reviewing, which I found boring. Also we had a huge project that is due Monday AND the next class gave us pre-homework (that should be illegal!!) for Monday... I have had not-much weekend this weekend.

One thing that I did find amazing was a project that I did for the class. We had to take a black and white photograph and turn it into a pencil-drawing. My brother is by far the artist in the family, and I honestly have always felt that I didn't get any of those genes...so to say that I think my drawing is awesome is saying a lot! It is being graded right now, but I will try to post pictures of it (I know I keep saying that, but I actually found my camera, so I WILL do it sometime!)

The other thing I loved about having class again is getting to hang out with my friends every day. With Jessica going to Africa and Marci having a newborn soon, and me moving to Estes... I know we aren't going to get this kind of friend time anytime again soon. So I am definitely enjoying it while I can! I also enjoyed my homework-break to go to Jeffeckle's birthday party this weekend. Marci threw a suprise party and it was awesome!! Happy Birthday Snarf!!! :) Yay for Famous Dave's!!

So the other excitement around here was my poor Pupperdog getting a sliver in his eyeball. Yes it was as icky as it sounds. Friday morning I noticed it was kinda weepy and he was pawing at it. He's had doggy-pinkeye in the past, so I didn't think much of it, but when I went to put the gook in his eye that afternoon I noticed what I thought was a scratch on his eye. I'm ok with cut paws and such... but eyes I don't mess around with, so off to the vet we went. She stained his eye and saw there was actually a sliver in the cut so she had to sedate him and get it out. He was NOT a happy camper. Luckily the eye is looking much better now (although the medicine for the inflamation gave him upset tummy!) so hopefully he will get a clean bill of health when she checks it again on Friday.

The only other thing around here is dreaming/planning for Estes Park. I have been looking at real estate online and found this adorable house.
http://www.cohomefinder.com/p/80515/727781.htm
It is 16 miles from the elementary school, and I have no idea what kind of drive that is in the mountains... so I will have to go up and explore. I also was not planning on buying something right away... but who knows! It is certainly much more fun to think about than school :)

Ok... I should stop procrastinating and get on with reading the crap for tomorrow. The end is in sight!! :)

Vacation Day!!

I had a nice day :) I have been going through nephew withdrawal (really? "awal?" whatever spellchecker) since I got home on Wednesday... so it is a good thing that my brother sent me home with a bunch of DVDs of the boys! It is also nice to be home with my Fat Kitty (who has been in my lap loving on me every time I sit down) and my pupper dog! Yesterday was a nice day too as I got my hair cut and then had lunch with my favorite Marci at Famous Daves (MMMMMMMmmmmmmm!!) We laughed off the calories :) Now I only have two more days before classes start again, but today was definitely a nice relaxing vacation day.

Here is a list of things I did today:

1) Slept in (ahhh... vacation!) Another nice thing about being gone is that Fatness is off of his 5:30am breakfast schedule and he let me sleep until 7:30! (I also went back to sleep after I fed him)
2) Stopped by CC to drop off some form that someone needed to bind my MR paper... this was only nice because it gave me an excuse to get breakfast out :)
3) Stopped by Sharla's to get Sherlock's leash (she was dog-sitting him while I was gone) She also gave me the inside scoop on a used bookstore where I might be able to start my classroom library.
4) Went to Petsmart - this might not sound like a very exciting thing, but I got to pet all the out-for-adoption kitties (one of which was a Big Fat Grey Kitten!! He was ooooh so cute!) I also had a coupon AND almost all the things I needed were on sale too!! I did good :)
5) Got my snow tires off... yah I figured it was about time :) I walked across the street to Walmart while I was waiting and bought myself a new plant. New plants make me especially happy!! I might put a picture on the blog if I ever find my camera.
6) Took a nap (ahhhh... vacation!)
7) Went for a nice hike with the pooperdog. We went up to the reservoir and I chatted with a super-cute guy while Sherlock played.
8) Did NOT get icecream on the way home.... I thought about it, but I didn't!
9) Made myself a yummy pasta dinner... tomorrow I am going to the store to get some groceries including peaches, spinach, feta, and onion to make my most favoritest salad (thanks to my friend Bronwyn!!)
10) Started writing a grant to get money to buy all kinds of fun school stuff for my new classroom (I figure I should get it done before class starts and I have homework - blah!!)

See? Productive, relaxing, stress-free.... ahhh vacation! :)

Boys and Aunt Polly ONLY!

So my nephews and I had a boys and Aunt Polly ONLY night! (aka I sent my brother and his wife out to dinner to have some alone time) Sam and I built a fort earlier in the week and we played in that a lot. We hid from the monsters that live in his train table (Jack, Sara, and Fara) who are furry and green, yellow, and blue (but they do NOT have sharp teeth or claws). Then I invented a great game where he threw Nose (a stuffed animal) down the slide (the back of the airbed which was also the wall of the fort) into a bin and then jumped off the launch chair into a pile of pillows. Great fun :)

Max is feeling a little under the weather today, but he was still great. He has this little book where you put your finger in and you are the puppet of a lady bug. He thought it was great fun to try to eat the lady bug (ouch!) He might only have 6 teeth, but they are sharp! He also is just an explorer and it is fun to just watch him go!

I can't believe I have to leave tomorrow :( Sam said "I wish you could stay and play with me for all of these weeks!!!" Ahh... my cup runnith over. But it is still definitely too soon to go. Oh well. Another good thing about being a teacher is lots of vacation time to visit the boys!

Hopefully tomorrow is an un-eventful trip home!

Silly Aunt Polly

We crack each other up! :)

How much do I love them?

It is impossible to put into words how much I love my nephews! I'm having a wonderful time here in Vermont. Max (who just turned 1) was not sure what to think of me at first. I got a delightful scowl from him that just made me laugh... and now he has warmed up to me and the goofy grin makes me laugh even more!! He is so stinkin' cute! Sam is definitely three (almost four) and loves to ask "why?" The favorite game currently is garbage truck... as he has a new toy truck. I am the lion and the elephant and the turtle (other toys) who put out their garbage (aka Lego pieces) for the garbage truck to pick up. The challenging part is coming up with places that my animals have gotten their garbage from... to answer the question, "Lion where is YOUR garbage from?" We also have played Legos (I made the flower delivery spaceship) and marble tower and hide and seek and trucks.

I also have sore thumbs from playing video games with my brother :) We are playing a super-fun shoot-'em game. I am the sniper (aka... I am not really good at the game so I hang back and pick off the occasional bad guy while Daniel kills everyone else.) It's fun :)

Today me and the sister-in-law are going to have a girls afternoon of lunch and shopping and grownup time!

I love my family :)

Life is good...even if United SUCKS

So while it is true that I prefer sitting in my living room to sitting in an airport... I do NOT prefer it when it means that my flight has been canceled and I wasted an entire day sitting in an airport AND didn't get anywhere. United SUCKS.
I was suppose to get to Vermont tonight to spend a week with my nephews, and instead I am home and grumpy. At least I got stuck here and not in Chicago... but I am still grumpy. Apparently some sensor on some door wouldn't go off and so they couldn't fly the plane... didn't really sound like a flight-canceling dilemma to me, but what do I know. I am on a flight tomorrow morning, with an additional stop in Denver and about 4 more hours of airport/flying time... but hopefully I will GET there. At least United rescheduled my return trip another day so that I am not losing out on nephew-time. Oh well.

Since I am blogging... I should catch you up on the non-sucky pieces of life! :)
SCHOOL IS OVER!!! Or at least the teaching part is. The trip to the zoo was awesome... although I would have rather skipped the "tour" and just taken the kiddos all by myself... but since most teachers don't have my background in biology, I am sure for the other groups it was worth it. I definitely need to go back there myself. My favorite part was feeding the giraffes (they have prehensile tongues ya know!) The day after that we had field day - a pointless day of playing games outside all day -- but it was still fun.

That weekend I got steamrolled by a bad cold which lasted the entire week. The kids were awful... not as awful as they could have been because they are great kids... but still awful... so it was a looooong last week. The last day was good though! I finished reading them "The Phantom Tollbooth" (my all time favorite book) and then I read them "The Rainbow Goblins" which they all loved. I got lots of hugs :) I will never forget those kiddos!

The last day with the kids was Thursday, so Friday was clean-up-the-room day. It was also a day to hang out with the teacher-friends and say goodbye. I got some beautiful presents (might get around to taking pictures of those at some point) and a lot of teacher-supplies!! Most of all I got a lot of heartfelt "good luck" and "we'll miss you" and hugs. As much as I would not want to work for that district... the staff at my school was a bunch of wonderful people and I will miss them.

So... as much as I will miss my kids and the staff... I'M OFFICIALLY DONE! At least with the teaching part :) The next time I teach it will be in MY OWN classroom in my school in Estes Park!! I do have 5 weeks of summer classes which start in another week and a half....and I don't really know where I will find the motivation to get through them... but I'm sure I will somehow. I'm looking forward to spending the time with my friends :) Then I will get to start hunting for a place to live in Estes Park. Yay!

In the meantime I have been enjoying my vacation time. I have slept, slept, slept, slept, went shopping with my Marci (we found this wonderful shirt... I will have to take a picture of it later too), slept, slept, slept, had ice cream and saw a movie with my Jessica, slept, slept, slept... and when I got tired of sleeping I took a nap! Speaking of which... I might just need another nap soon :)

Anyway, I need to go figure out what I need to do to re-arrange the rest of my traveling plans. I should be updating the blog from Vermont soon... hopefully United won't be sucking tomorrow!!!!

Snot

The lack of blogging is due to copious amounts of excess snot. I have a cold :(

Thankfully tomorrow is the last day of school with the kids... and the plan is to be out of the building around 10am on Friday. After I catch up on sleep, I'll catch up on the blog.

In the meantime... pass the kleenex.

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!!

Tomorrow is the zoo field trip! I am probably more excited than my kiddos!!
The fun part today was that they all wanted to know if they were going to get to be in MY group tomorrow :)
Apparently I am a super-cool teacher! :)
Yay for the zoo!

P.S. Monday was awesome. I got up to Estes Park a little early so I treated myself to a carmel apple (yay for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory!) and walked around the lake. I kept pinching myself because I cannot believe that I actually get to live in such an amazing, gorgeous place! Then I went over to the school and the principal walked me around and introduced me... of course I don't remember any names, but everyone was incredibly nice and welcoming. I saw my probably-will-be-my-classroom (which looks south/east with a view of the mountains and the lake!) Then I signed a bunch of papers for the HR person (also extremely nice)... and then headed home. I can't wait until THAT is home!!!!!!!!!

Ode to my fridge

So I was thinking the blog needed a little light-hearted fun... so I am blogging about my fridge. Not the inside (boring!) The outside!! It is hard to make an apartment feel like home when you move around a lot, but the one thing that makes it instantly homey for me is to decorate my fridge! It's the first thing I put up in a new place... and while I can't show you my new fridge in Estes Park (as I have no idea where it will be yet) I figured I would show you my fridge now :)




As you can see it is quite the eclectic collection of things. I have LOTS of pictures of my wonderful nephews, fun magnets, cards from friends, and other things that make me smile! The most recent addition is a congratulations card from my Idaho friend Bronwyn on my new job! Thanks B!! :)

In life news... I had a very nice weekend so far. Friday, my Mom came and did her astronomy presentation for the 3rd grade, and she was awesome :) Then I took her out to ice cream for Mommy's Day. On Saturday I met up with the Daddy for lunch and some REI shopping. I got new hiking boots (in periwinkle!) and Dad got a new backpack and I got him some hiking socks for his birthday. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon with Marci and fam. We went to Lowes to get them some garden plants so Nathan and I explored, ran around, and played on the tractor/lawn mowers. Then we had pizza for dinner and watched Bolt. Fun times :)

Tomorrow I am headed up to Estes Park to meet up with the HR person for some paperwork fun and also visit the school. Yay!! Then when I come back I have two days of regular school followed by a field trip to the zoo on Thursday and our school field day on Friday. I think I am more excited for the zoo than my kiddos :) It should be a good week... and will probably go by fast. Then there is only one more week until I'm done! Wow!! :)

Stick a fork in my paper 'cause it is DONE!!!

That's right, baby... DONE. D. O. N. E. Finished. Kaput. Done. Over. Final. Concluded. Ended. Completed. Through. Finite!

I got the word from my paper advisor that I was ready to print a last copy on acid-free paper so he can sign it and it can be sent off to be bound and stuck on some shelf in a library. Maybe someday I will go back and look it up.... but for now.... I'm done!

WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!! :)

Officially Official!

It is now officially official! My future principal called and said that my references told him he better snatch me up quick :)!! (thanks guys!) So, while it sill has to be voted on by the school board, my next step is to make an appoitment with the HR person and head up to do some paperwork and visit my new school!!!

You should all go google Estes Park and see what an amazing place I will be living in! I AM SO EXCITED!!! I can't wait to get there... and then you are all welcome to come visit! :)

Parent/Teacher Conferences down and 3 weeks to go!

So I still have not heard the "official" word from Estes Park... the principal was suppose to call my references this week, and as far as I know, he didn't. Maybe he is just taking their word (letters of rec) without calling them, or maybe he didn't get to it. I am still suppose to hear something from him by the end of today... but I suppose if he didn't get to it, then it still won't be official. Not that I think there is something that is going to change, but I just want it to be officially official so I can stop worrying!!

This week was busy (what week isn't busy?!). And the kids are about as stir crazy as I am. Luckily we have field trips, special events, field days, and other fun stuff to fill the next couple of weeks, so hopefully they will go by fast! Friday I had parent/teacher conferences (which I did on my own!) and they went pretty well. It was sometimes hard to tell parents that their student really isn't where they need to be, but I focused more on the positive and ways they can help their child. Overall it was exhausting, but I still think it went well.

Yesterday I got up and took the 4-legged furry kids to the vet. Fat Kitty complained the entire way, but then he had a little fun spelunking around the room. The vet was very nice and Sherlock loved him! They both got their shots and a clean bill of health! :) When I got home I showered (excess fur!) and then met up with my mommy as she was in town with her academic team. She is going to do a star-presentation for our 3rd grade this coming week, so she gave me a starchart to copy for the kiddos. I didn't feel very good, so I went home and went back to bed for a lovely 3 hour nap. Then I spent the rest of the day catching up on my 6 loads of laundry!

Today I am being very productive, already have my piles of papers graded, did my April Americorps hours so I can get a bit of scholarship money from them, and am off to revise my Chapter 4 so I can be FINISHED with that stinkin paper!! Then I hope it will stay clear so my pooperdog and I can have an afternoon hike. Hopefully sometime in there I will get a phone call (official or not!) and let me know what the next step is!

3 weeks of school left... and then off to Vermont!! :) Yay!!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got it!! :)

It is still unofficial as they will be checking my references and there is all the paperwork and such. I'm suppose to hear back from the principal for the official word by next weekend. So if you're a reference for me... say nice things!! :)

I cannot put into words how I feel right now.... but some that come to mind are extactic and exhausted! It feels like the sun is definately shining on me today.

Thank you to everyone who has cheered me on, let me cry on their shoulder, and loved me through all of this! I hope you all come visit me in Estes Park!!!!!!!

Ring phone.... ring!

Ok... so the interview went well. Thinking back I wish I had told them more specific details and MORE stuff that I didn't think of on the spot, but I still think I did well. There were 7 people interviewing me at the same time (just a tiny bit intimidating) but I think my overall confidence and postive attitude were strong.

Anyway!! I am suppose to hear something (yes, no, or 2nd interview) by the end of the weekend.... so continue to keep everything crossed and send the good vibes my way please :)

Wish Me Luck!! :)

I got a call today for an interview up in Estes Park!! It is this Friday... so please send me lots of good thoughts, luck, prayers, whatever... and keep your fingers and toes crossed too :)

Chapter 4.... CHECK!

So I have just finished the fourth and final chapter of my masters paper. WOOOO HOOOO! It is just the rough draft, but I don't foresee any major changes needed. I had an extension because I was in Durango, so it feels really good to be stick-a-fork-in-it-DONE!

Speaking of Durango, Wednesday I made it back just fine... it was sunny all the way home so it was a beautiful drive. I was really bummed to have to leave :(

Thursday was a very...long...day. Apparently the kids were not very well behaved for their field trip on Wednesday, so there was a lot of things to deal with. Then on Friday it was snowing like crazy and all the school districts were closed EXCEPT ours. Frickin Morons. Almost half of my class was absent so it was pointless to try to do anything. I guess it made the day relatively easy from a teaching perspective... but I would have rather stayed in bed!!

Saturday I slept late, and then spent most of the day working on the paper. It was rainy/snowy/yucky outside... so I got quite a bit accomplished. Today was a beautiful day, so Sherlock and I took a long walk. We went up to the reservoir which was finally open after the winter and he swam and swam and swam! Then I came home and cleaned the house in between working on the paper and taking a nap :)

I'm low on energy, so I am glad that tomorrow is a teacher-work-day. Then we have district testing most of the week after that. I feel sorry for the kids who are burnt out on testing, but it makes it an easy week for me. 25 work days until school is out!

The better countdown however is that I officially have tickets to go see my nephews in Vermont after school is out!!!!!!!!!!!! yay :)

I don't wanna go back...

So last night I met up with Cass (my other older non-related-brother) and his family for dinner and some hang-out time which was wonderful. His 4 year old daughter is a hoot!!

Then this morning I got up and went back to Ft. Lewis for interviews. They all went really really well... but these school systems are in the same boat as many others with not knowing how their budget will fall for next year and/or what positions they will be hiring for. Soooo.... not a waste of time for sure, but still frustrating.

Then I had lunch with my (non-related) Aunt Jane and Uncle Jim and got caught up with them. It is just so nice to be around people that have known and loved me forever... and to be in a place that I know and love... this really is so much "home" for me. I don't have my heart set on landing back here for a job, but it would be wonderful to be closer.

After lunch I walked around town a little, and then came back out to camp for another long rambling hike with the dogs. We went up the valley to a waterfall that has drastically changed from what I remember as a kid... but there was a large forest fire here several years ago which could have affected it also. Anyway, it was still another delightful, quiet, long dog-walk.

I'm headed back to the Springs tomorrow, and other than missing my Fat Kitty... I really don't want to go back. :(

Perfect Day for a Walk!

It was a perfect day for a walk today. Mojo and Sherlock and I went rambling through camp in the mud and had a wonderful time :)


Sherlock was delighted to be a camp dog for a day!! Mojo showed him how it was done :)


Mojo, who does not swim and does not fetch, thinks Sherlock is a little crazy...



But they both had a fun time getting muddy!


It was a perfect day :)

home....

Sorry for the lack of blogging... I got a ride from Marci to the rental car place on Monday morning, had my masters presentation on Tuesday (which went well... the best part is that it is over!) got Cujo back on Wednesday (not as painful as the original estimate, but still quite painful) and then spent Thursday getting plans ready for the upcoming week as I have a job fair in Durango... which is where I am now! Home :) Or still what feels like home to me (for those of you who might be reading this and not know... I grew up here)

The drive over was quite poopy. The weather was snowy and blowing and yucky for a big chunk of the way. Good thing Cujo was in tiptop shape! I left around 11 and got here around 5... so I still made good time. Then I took Mojo (the Colvig dog) and Sherlock for a walk around part of camp. Sherlock was soooo happy to a) be out of the car b) be on a walk c) have mud and snow to play in and d) have a dog-friend to play with. After dinner I helped Conner (my friends' son) with his homework. He's one smart 7 year old!

Tomorrow I have some job-fair stuff in the late afternoon, so I am going to spend a good chunk of the day rambling down memory lane with the dogs. I brought my camera, so if I remember... I'll post some pictures :)

Busy busy busy!

It was quite a long week! It wasn't bad considering it was the first week after spring break, but it was super-busy. We are starting a science unit on animals (yay!) and this past week we got African pygmy frogs to study. The kiddos were almost as excited as I was to get them! They are very cute. Part of teaching the kids how to observe animal behavior includes getting them to start looking at actions instead of physical characteristics. So to help them, I had them observe me pretending to be an animal. I walked around the classroom doing different behaviors in different areas of the room. When I went by the plants I sneezed, I read a book, I pretended to eat the frogs, I slept on my desk, and I was afraid of our tree sculpture. They did a great job making observations, and I think it will help them make better inferences about frog behavior. In another week or so we also get fiddler crabs and snails. Science is so cool :)

Also I found out that there is an elementary position open in Estes Park. I think this has moved to the top of my job-wish-list!! I turned all my stuff in so I am just waiting to hear from them. Fingers and toes crossed!!!!

On the downside... Cujo (my car) is in the shop. It had been a while since he'd had a checkup and he was making some funny noises. So I took him in and he needs some (expensive) surgery. Since I am driving down to Durango for a job fair next weekend, I figured I might as well just do it all and make sure he is in ship-shape!

So tomorrow is Monday... then Tuesday I have to make my Masters Paper presentation. This is of the last things to clear off the plate of the things to do for the paper and I am going to be so glad to get it over with.

And...(not that I am counting)... there are only 35 work days until the end of school!! Then I have two whole weeks off before summer classes start. Woo hoo!!

Second to last day...

So on my second to last day of spring break... I had another very nice day :) Sherlock and I went out and played in the snow some more! He is such a silly dog. It was actually pretty warm, so he got very wet rolling and playing in the slushy snow. He chased snowballs, slid down the hill on the snow, and buried his kong and dug it out again. He makes me laugh :)

Then I had a wonderful belated-birthday lunch with my local-Jessica. (I have to clarify because there is St. Louis Jessica from college, and then local Jessica from CC. Next year, she will NOT be local in Africa, but... hopefully I won't be here either! Either way I love both my Jessicas :) hee hee) She took me to a super-yummy BBQ place in Manitou Springs. MMMMmmmmmmm meat :) We had a fun lunch and then I spent the afternoon grading papers, cleaning up the apartment, and playing with the puppers some more.

This evening I was delighted to find that the Disney Channel is doing a movie marathon!! LOVE IT!! So far I have watched Tarzan, Hercules, and now Aladdin. Is it wrong that I know the words to all the songs? :) Of course I am also grading papers, so I AM getting something done too! Tomorrow is the last day of freedom before the stress starts again... it's been delightful but too short!!

Fun Birthday :)

So yesterday I met Marci and Jeff and Nathan and Pat (Marci's mom) at the movie theatre to see Monsters vs. Aliens. It was pretty cute :) I also enjoyed the popcorn, soda, and candy (those Eckles do movies right!!) Then we went to Old Chicago where Nathan treated everyone to birthday-pizza dinner. YUM!! :) I also LOVED the multiple rounds of the birthday song. Here's how it would go:

Marci and Jeff: Happy Birthday to...
Nathan: YOU!
Marci and Jeff: Happy Birthday to...
Nathan: YOU!
Marci and Jeff: Happy Birthday dear Poll...
Nathan: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Marci and Jeff: Happy Birthday to...
Nathan: YOU!
*clapping clapping clapping*
Nathan: HAPPY DAY!! HAPPY DAY!!

Marci got a video of it, so i will have to see if I can get it on here eventually :)
It was a very nice birthday!

Twenty-ten!

So I just can't bring myself to say I'm th---y. I'm twenty-ten :) Maybe when I have a job and am feeling like I am ready to step into the next adventure of life I will be ok being th---y... but for today... I'm just not quite there yet.

However, I am totally ok with it being my birthday!! :) It's snowing like crazy outside, so I am not venturing out for a while, so I think I will watch my birthday present from my nephews - Horton Hears a Who! I might have a piece of cake for breakfast too :)

A Better Checklist :)

sleep late (check!)
play with my pupper dog (check!)
paint my toes (check!)
go shopping with my bff Marci (check!)
have dinner and watch Ratatoullie with my favorite Nathan (check!)
sleep late again (check!)
have lunch with my Mums (check!)
find some cute shoes while shopping with my Mums (check!)
be lazy all afternoon (check!)

I'm on spring break :)

Hey Spring Break! Nice to meetchya!

So I am FINALLY on spring break! YAYAYAYYAYAY!!! I slept for 13 hours... not including the 3 hour nap I took when I got home yesterday. I was a little tired :)

So Friday I left school, came home and packed up and then drove up to Frisco. It was a gorgeous afternoon with the sun peaking through dark rain clouds, and it just reminded me how much I want to be living back in the mountains. We stopped at the top of the pass between Fairplay and Breckenridge for some play-stick-in-the-snow time and then met up with Aunt Barb at the hotel. She took Sherlock for a walk while I did some last minute reading up on interview stuff.

The next morning I got up and drove the rest of the way up to Edwards. Of the 5 districts I planned to interview with, my bottom two (Aspen and Steamboat) were not hiring any elementary people... so while I think it would have been good practice to interview, I was not really that disappointed. Summit County was only taking applications as they didn't know what they would have available yet, so I gave them my stuff. So first I interviewed with Roaring Fork (Glenwood Springs Area). I interviewed with one of the elementary school principals and I think I really impressed her. The only downside is how uber expensive it is to live in that area. Then I interviewed with Eagle County. I was suppose to interview with another one of the elementary principals, but she was very pregnant and apparently needed a break, so I interviewed with the head of the HR department instead. I don't think he was expecting to interview anyone, but he was really fun, and he flat-out said he liked me a lot. So overall I felt good about how the day went. I still don't have any concrete prospects, but I am glad I went! I think the combo of a good day and lots of sleep helped too :)

Sherlock had a super-fun day with Aunt Barb too! I met back up with them and then Sherlock and I drove back home. And now I am OFFICIALLY on spring break! WOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!

Last Lap....

Well the finish line (for this particular race at least) is in sight. I just finished researching and writing cover letters to the 5 districts I am interested in that will be at the job fair Saturday. I have to do a table of contents for my portfolio and print some resumes and these letters and then I think I am ready. I have to say I don't give a hoot what happens at school tomorrow as I will just be counting the hours until I can leave. Luckily we have an assembly in the morning, and specials in the afternoon, so it should go by fast. I will be leaving school early so I can come home, pack, feed the fat kitty, and drive up to Frisco. My wonderful Aunt Barb is meeting me up there and putting Sherlock and I up for the night in a hotel, so I don't have to drive through skier traffic on Saturday morning. Then my aunt will have a dog-day Saturday while I go job hunting. She rocks :)

I am enormously stressed, nervous, and really really tired... but 48 hours from now, I will be officially on spring break!! :)

One day at a time...

Report cards done (check!)
MR chapter turned in (check!)
Technology paper/project turned in (check!)
Last waste-of-my-time technology class (check!)

3 out of 6 researched and individualized cover letters to school districts (check!)
90+ % of my portfolio done (check!)

Haven't gone crazy on any kids (check!)
They have actually been pretty good so far this week :) I'm a lucky teacher!

Wonderful long chatty conversation with an old wonderful friend (check!)
Thanks for calling Stephnerninny! :)

Hey and it's only Tuesday night! Yay for productive-me!

Did you see my weekend?

Apparently I lost it because I sure did not get one :( Saturday I went to my second-to-last waste-of-my-time technology class. Then I had lunch with my friend Jessica (yay!) at Jimmy Johns (yay!) and then went to CC to work on stuff. I lucked out since one of the staff was there working also, which meant I had unexpected access to the copy machine and other helpful stuff. Sherlock came too and made me take breaks now and then to play frisbee with him :) I spent a very productive 4 hours working there and came home and worked for another 3 before going to bed. I got a lot done, but it wasn't exactly fun.
Today I was planning to stay in bed for a long time, but since I am so stressed, that didn't happen. So I got up and organized some stuff, then took the pupper dog outside (as it was beautiful!) to play in the park while I graded papers. After a couple of hours I was getting sunburned and he was pooped, so he took a nap while I worked on the computer. Then I took a nap too. This evening has been more work, and I am not going to get done before bed, so tomorrow will be another long day because:
1. Grades for report cards are due tomorrow
2. The third chapter (revised) of my MR paper is due Tuesday
3. The final project/paper for the tech class is also due Tuesday as the last class is that day
4. This is the last week before Spring Break, so the kids will be horrendous if I don't have interesting things for them to do.
5. Saturday is the Rocky Mountain job fair, so I have to have my portfolio, resume, and all my cover letters ready... and be prepared to interview my tail off. I have a meeting with Marsha (the queen of job-getting at CC) on Wednesday to make sure I am ready.

Well... a week from now, it will be over and I will have a whole week off! Let's hope I survive until then (and maybe even have a job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

There Goes Maximus!

Those were Max's first steps!!
Isn't he so stinkin' cute?!? :)

That's What Friends Are For :)

So while I was not super happy about having to go to another waste-of-time technology class, I was glad that my friend Marci was there with me. She makes me laugh so hard I cry. We were looking at Imovie in the Mac lab. While the teacher was getting stuff set up, we played with photobooth. It has all these different effects... kind of just like a fun-house set of mirrors. We were laughing so hard my tummy hurt!!! Ahhh... we had fun. Then when we got to play with the movie maker we made a hilarious mini-movie where Meckles (aka Marci) was attacked by a Pollysaurus (aka my hand). I have it on a DVD, but haven't figured out a way to put it on the blog. I hope I can because we are just too funny :)

Then we had pizza, after which I came home and took a snooze. Now I am making a dent in the stack of papers to grade as report cards are due in a week. At least I get to sleep in tomorrow! :)

I might have a cold, but I have PIZZA!

So today I decided that I deserved pizza for dinner! I ordered the pizza and then ran to the grocery store and the bank and then went to the pizza place. When I got there, there was only one guy running the whole show. He was making the pizza, answering the phones, folding the boxes, etc. So when he said "it'll be a minute," I figured it would be more than one minute... so I sat down. Next to me was a lady, yacking on her cell phone. Then she turns to me and starts ranting about how rude poor pizza guy has been to her and do I smell something burning and how it better not be her pizza, etc. So pizza guy finally brings out her 4 pizzas, and she starts in on him. Without going into the nasty things she said... she ended up storming out. So nice pizza dude thanks me for waiting and asks if I would like her 4 pizzas along with my one. So for $7 (I had a coupon) I got 5 large pizzas. Pretty good deal huh? :) I have another stupid-waste-of-time technology class tomorrow... but then me and the girls will be having a pizza party for lunch :)

All in all, other than the sniffles, it has been a pretty good week. The theme of our reading unit this week was "Making a Difference," so I had my reading class do a cool project. After reading a book about Fleming's discovery of penicillin, they had to come up with a project or invention that would do something to make a difference in the world. It had to be practical and possible, but not something that they actually had to make. I had them do a poster and write a paragraph to go with it. They were fantastic!!! We had a chameleon security robot who would blend into the building and then be activated when buildings (like banks) were broken into to capture the bad guys. I loved that one because the boys remembered an article from National Geographic about scientists getting ideas from nature, and combined it with another article we read about chameleons. It is so exciting to see their brains in motion!! Other cool inventions included a boat that had all kinds of water-pollution-cleaner-uper gadgets -- including motion sensors to stop if there were animals nearby. There was also a street-cleaning car robot that could separate trash into trash and recyclables. There was also a system to be built into parks that would sense litter on the ground, activate blowers which would push the litter towards tubes which would suck it into the ground and down into trash/recycling bins. A couple others did projects to raise money -- one for orphans and another for hospitals so they could treat poor people who needed help. These kids are so wonderful... it gives me faith that they will indeed grow up to make this world a better place!

Anyway... I am glad it is Friday... and now I am off to eat some pizza :)