Today

We were talking about energy, and how ultimately all of our energy (at least the edible kind) comes from the sun. We were talking about where our food gets its energy. We had a conversation like this:

"Ok french fries, what are those"

class:"Potatoes"

"alright, where do potatoes get their energy?"

class: "..."

"Well, do they make their energy or eat it?"

Class:"..."

"*heave sigh* Are they plants or animals?"

"a-ni-mals?"

"What?? You don't know if a potato is a plant or an animal???"

Kids, its time to get back to nature. You will not need to spear hunt potatoes. Get a shovel.


Yeesh.

The other day...

Someone threw up in my class. Without warning. All over himself, the table, the floor...

And here I thought I taught in a high school.

I felt really bad for the kid. He must have felt miserable.

But then I reminded everyone that in that case it is OK to run out of the room without explanation.

Really. Its ok.

Destruct-O-Doggie

I used to be somewhat prideful about my dog. She's so smart, she potty trained so quickly, she doesn't run away, she doesn't bark, no major behavioral issues. All of which are still true. BUT. She has a nasty chewing habit. It used to be no big deal, but then last week she ate the remote, and today it was my sunglasses. So we did a tally. From the time we brought her home until now:

Cell phone charger*
wall
molding around wall
part of door
first crate
second crate*
first bed*
dresser
bookcase
chair leg
bed boxspring
sweater organizer
down comforter storage case*
another wall
geology teacher's manual
more molding
Graddad's tree
LouAnn's coffee table
2 nice water bottles*
2 pairs of my flip flops*
a REALLY nice sweater*
DVD player remote*
1 pair sunglasses*
and numberless stuffed toys*.

Those listed with an asterix (*) were a total loss.

All wooden and drywall surfaces within reasonable reach have been coated with bitter apple. Also all cloth corners on the couch and bed. I have become an expert with wood filler and spackle. She is an adolescent.

When do labs grow out of this phase?

New Favorite Song

When I called Alex on Friday afternoon to let him know I was on my way home, he got really excited and told me he had a surprise for me. He wouldn't even let me guess! When I got in the door he had me sit down and played me this song. It was so sweet, and just the perfect song.

I love my sweet sweet man!

Cascade Springs

This week was long, tiring, and full of late nights, grading, and back to school night for me. It wasn't much better for Hubby, he has a couple long days each week too. So we decided that since we didn't see much of each other, we would go on a drive after cleaning the house on Saturday. So around 4:30 we headed up to Cascade Springs in the mountains. It took us almost an hour and a half to get there through some of the most beautiful twisty mountain roads. We didn't mind the time at all because we got to sit together and look at this the whole drive:

Once we got there we walked down this steep path to the springs. It was pool after pool of cool water that was trickling everywhere. So relaxing and pretty.

When we got to the back of the loop we sat on a bench for a minute just to look around, and a couple walked by to tell us what we would find around the corner...

MOOSE! Thats numbers 2 and 3 for me- never seen them in the wild before this summer. Hubby hadn't seen them before, and neither had Luna (she was a little fidgety, but didn't scare them at all). So we stood and watched mama and baby eat for a while. We probably watched for 5 or 10 minutes before they decided to take off up the path. I'd hate to be surprised by a moose in the path in front of me...

The day was cool and beautiful, and even though we weren't allowed in the stream per se, we still took some time to walk around and enjoy the sounds of the water.

We definitely enjoyed the beautiful leaves, and the sun, and the boardwalk and the water and being together. I'm sure Luna had fun too.

We drove a different way home and stopped for dinner in Midway. I like that town alot. It has a Swiss type theme, and many of the homes have that mountain-lodge appearance. We ate at this place called The Grill (across the street from The Store) and had the best milkshake ever....

It was a much needed day off for all 3 of us. :)

Let me Tell You...

A little bit about how I got my job. If I was feeling poetic it would be like the Fresh Prince rap... but no such luck.

I lost my job last May. It was a non-renewal of contract, so not as serious as getting fired, but I still don't know why it happened. Well, I do on my end... Anyway, after I got the news I frantically started pulling together my resume, updated work info, and my letters of recommendation because I was going to get the best job out there immidiately. I felt like this for a couple of days, then suddenly I didn't feel like it was the right thing to do. So I stopped. I didn't apply for that good part time position down the road. Now I generally like to follow this gut feeling when I have it because I am a firm believer in divine inspiration. And I believe it told me to stop looking. So I did that.

Fast forward to summer time: My old job at the nursery wasn't available because I finished the school year late, so I had alot of time on my hands. It could have been alot of time to work on my resume and chase jobs, but I still didn't feel like it was the right time. So I read, and biked, and ran, and gardened, and fixed furniature, but I didn't touch anything to do with work. I remember trying to explain this to hubby. I'm sure he was frustrated with me, but he was very understanding and knew I needed to follow this feeling. So I waited.

Until about mid July. Then this sense of urgency hit me. My gut kicked in, and I believe it was more divine inspiration. Within 2 days I polished my resume, got my letters together, updated info and posted it all on a 'for teacher and schools' website. I sent everything out to all the public schools in the area with listings, and searched within a 40 mile radius. Minus one. I didn't apply to this little charter school because my past experience made me wary. So they emailed me. With a few questions they'd like me to answer.

I called a good friend who knew something about every school in the area. He said he'd heard good things about it, so I figured why not. So I responded to the questions. They called me for an interview. I have never felt so comfortable in an interview before. I was nervous at first for sure, but these people put me at ease. We were laughing and talking and it was a good interview. At the end they said there were two more people who needed to meet with me.

So I waited for the call. I was nervous because it was just a week before we headed to NY for the wedding. But they called. I went to the second interview which went just as well as the first. They told me I was their top canidate (which flattered me because they said they had searched all summer long). At the end of the interview they asked me if I had other prospects. Normally I would have been a little evasive, but I was totally honest and said no. I didn't have any other prospects and if they offered me a job, I would take it. So they asked for 5 mintues to confer, then offered me a salary. It was glorious. One of them (the director) even went to say "I'm so glad [that school] canned you"! Well, me too.

I am so much happier at this job. Yeah its a long commute (40 min in the morning, 50+ in the afternoon) but I get to listen to NPR and feel sophistocated. And I'm busy, and I have alot to do, but I feel like my task is doable. I don't just feel like I'm treading water, I'm actually swimming and getting somewhere good. Yes its still a difficult job, but thats because it is a difficult job by nature, not compounded by difficult circumstances.

The day I got the job I told another good friend of mine about my position, and it just so happened that they had an opening in math which is her subject. So she was curious, she applied and got the job. It has been so fun to have a good friend here. It would have been good without her too because I've already made some other friends, but it has been that much better having her here with me. I can tell she's feeling much better too.

Needless to say, I'm glad I got 'canned' (though it was really just a non-renew), and I'm very happy to be at my new school.

Do you remember?

Do you remember where you were on this day nine years ago?

Do you remember what you were doing?

Do you remember watching them fall?

I do.