I have not fallen off the face of the earth. My body was recovering from the clean up job from the storm and my brain has not been able to stay on one topic for longer than 30 seconds lately. It's amazing I am prepped as I am for school.
I want to write a post about the cooking classes I have been going to. They really are fun and if your local grocery store offers one you should really try going. I think this is a new trend because I don't remember there being supermarkets that did that a couple of years ago.
Silvio is mad at me. I had my first day back to be professionally developed. He was alone for the whole day. He has been giving me evil looks all night. Not that I blame him - I would rather have been at home the whole day today.
So no post tonight - maybe I will be coherent enough to write one tomorrow or over the weekend. Sorry.
Day 216
Today's events are the reasons why I miss my husband.
At 11:30 am, a thunderstorm hit our area. Wind gusts of about 30 - 40 mph. I was actually quite excited for this one. It had cooled things down considerably - except that lasted all of 20 minutes. I did get worried enough that I brought our outdoor rocking chairs on the front porch inside the house. Thank the lord I did not put them back out.
At about 4:10 pm, the weather radio went. Thank goodness I got this new weather radio. I love it. It tells me a severe thunderstorm watch, then 2 minutes later it goes off again saying it has switched to a warning. The storm is noted as having 60 mph winds and quarter-size hail. As an observer of the weather, it is quite normal to be able to see most approaching storms coming from the west through our dining room window. Oh yes, weather radio you were right. There was a massive gray/black cloud. I give another minute - watching by the window. Then what seems like hell - breaks loose. I watch two cars pull onto our street and park. It's raining - more like pelting. My neighbor is outside on her deck trying to get something secure. I watch her swing set swings go nearly vertical. Small toys are being bounced along down the street. Another neighbors basketball hoop is down and has slid down their driveway and up the street about 7-8 feet. I look back to the dinning room window - branches, not from my trees - up in the air. 15 - 20 feet in the air, swirling. OH Shit! I won't even try to bleep that out. I run to the bedroom grab our emergency lantern, grab phone, and frantically start pulling down every blind in the house. I go to turn off the computer and at about 8:16 ~ 8:17, there is no need to worry because the computer is dead and all the lights are out. I make sure the front door is locked, grab my purse, Silvio's leash, a toy, phone, lantern, and scream at Silvio to follow me down the stairs. He's way out of it. I throw the stuff down in our workout room by our "safety" closet. (The "safety" closet - has all of Andrew's extra army gear - which is a lot, and I have added to it cases of bottled water, first aid kit, meals that are not canned, but don't need heat to eat.) Silvio is running up and down the stairs, I pick him up off the landing as I hear a massive boom as it shakes the house. I run into the workout room and plop on the floor. I watch through the underground window as rain, branches, and later hail come bouncing down. In the dark with our little lantern - you can hear the wind cause the windows to rattle, the walls to creak, and the thunder that shakes everything. More thanks to goodness, I chose to charge my phone last night. I had a full battery. Texting my mother. Who else would I call?? I estimate at 4:20 - 4:25 she tells me that there was an alert at 4:17 for quarter size hail and 80 mph winds. I reply that is hailing as we speak. At 4:34, she texts again, this time a better message, warning until 4:45, wind speeds clocked in excess of 90 mph at the Manhattan airport. The airport - shit. That is down the hill from me. The planes descend over our house all the time - it's so close you can make out all the windows in the aircraft. It isn't even a 2 minute drive from our house. Thanks - just give me the willies all over again. I notice through the underground window that the wind is starting to slow around 4:45. It's still raining like a crazy person so I come out a little into other areas of the basement. No damage down here. A little bit of water came in through the windows though because they are side opening. I decided to venture upstairs and everything is in tact. Again just a little water came through the side-sliding windows. I see my neighbors outside assessing - so I figure it is safe to do that same. Only one thing outside did not make it.
Our patio furniture. I assume it was lifted or dragged sideways about 20 - 30 feet into our neighbors yard. The glass top shattered. Not sure if any of the chairs are still in tact but thank goodness again, this time for Andy. He used a crazy (I say that now but really I'm so glad he did) reinforced metal cable to connect all of the chairs and table together. He then bought a 30 pound weight and connected to the table by means of the umbrella. No the umbrella was not attached but the metal bottom part was. So right now the table and chairs is one tangled mess - but all accounted for. I can't imagine what would have happened if they were still loose patio furniture. I'd probably be sobbing on the phone with our insurer right now. Here is an after picture:
It continued to rain for another half hour or so. Around 5:45 it had stopped raining. At a quarter to 7, the electricity turned back on. Thank you Westar for working so quickly. After I walked Silvio at 8, this is the sky view that we had:
Tomorrow is day to clean up and I think everyone in our neighborhood is glad nothing more than some patio furniture or loose gardening supplies had any damage. Everyone was safe.
So yes, today I miss Andy. Because my stress level has gone through the roof. I was going to have done a bunch of lesson planning but that doesn't help if it's dark, you have like no light, and your head is calculating the probability of the roof coming off your house. Andy would have kept me calm. Or more likely than not, he would have scared the crap out of me by going outside and checking the patio furniture or something crazy. But maybe not in this situation. But it would be sooo nice if he was here to help when I have to clean up this table and chairs. No idea where I will put them while I wait for garbage day to roll around.
Guess I can't complain, I'm still here with both feet planted firmly on the ground. But I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight.
At 11:30 am, a thunderstorm hit our area. Wind gusts of about 30 - 40 mph. I was actually quite excited for this one. It had cooled things down considerably - except that lasted all of 20 minutes. I did get worried enough that I brought our outdoor rocking chairs on the front porch inside the house. Thank the lord I did not put them back out.
At about 4:10 pm, the weather radio went. Thank goodness I got this new weather radio. I love it. It tells me a severe thunderstorm watch, then 2 minutes later it goes off again saying it has switched to a warning. The storm is noted as having 60 mph winds and quarter-size hail. As an observer of the weather, it is quite normal to be able to see most approaching storms coming from the west through our dining room window. Oh yes, weather radio you were right. There was a massive gray/black cloud. I give another minute - watching by the window. Then what seems like hell - breaks loose. I watch two cars pull onto our street and park. It's raining - more like pelting. My neighbor is outside on her deck trying to get something secure. I watch her swing set swings go nearly vertical. Small toys are being bounced along down the street. Another neighbors basketball hoop is down and has slid down their driveway and up the street about 7-8 feet. I look back to the dinning room window - branches, not from my trees - up in the air. 15 - 20 feet in the air, swirling. OH Shit! I won't even try to bleep that out. I run to the bedroom grab our emergency lantern, grab phone, and frantically start pulling down every blind in the house. I go to turn off the computer and at about 8:16 ~ 8:17, there is no need to worry because the computer is dead and all the lights are out. I make sure the front door is locked, grab my purse, Silvio's leash, a toy, phone, lantern, and scream at Silvio to follow me down the stairs. He's way out of it. I throw the stuff down in our workout room by our "safety" closet. (The "safety" closet - has all of Andrew's extra army gear - which is a lot, and I have added to it cases of bottled water, first aid kit, meals that are not canned, but don't need heat to eat.) Silvio is running up and down the stairs, I pick him up off the landing as I hear a massive boom as it shakes the house. I run into the workout room and plop on the floor. I watch through the underground window as rain, branches, and later hail come bouncing down. In the dark with our little lantern - you can hear the wind cause the windows to rattle, the walls to creak, and the thunder that shakes everything. More thanks to goodness, I chose to charge my phone last night. I had a full battery. Texting my mother. Who else would I call?? I estimate at 4:20 - 4:25 she tells me that there was an alert at 4:17 for quarter size hail and 80 mph winds. I reply that is hailing as we speak. At 4:34, she texts again, this time a better message, warning until 4:45, wind speeds clocked in excess of 90 mph at the Manhattan airport. The airport - shit. That is down the hill from me. The planes descend over our house all the time - it's so close you can make out all the windows in the aircraft. It isn't even a 2 minute drive from our house. Thanks - just give me the willies all over again. I notice through the underground window that the wind is starting to slow around 4:45. It's still raining like a crazy person so I come out a little into other areas of the basement. No damage down here. A little bit of water came in through the windows though because they are side opening. I decided to venture upstairs and everything is in tact. Again just a little water came through the side-sliding windows. I see my neighbors outside assessing - so I figure it is safe to do that same. Only one thing outside did not make it.
Our patio furniture. I assume it was lifted or dragged sideways about 20 - 30 feet into our neighbors yard. The glass top shattered. Not sure if any of the chairs are still in tact but thank goodness again, this time for Andy. He used a crazy (I say that now but really I'm so glad he did) reinforced metal cable to connect all of the chairs and table together. He then bought a 30 pound weight and connected to the table by means of the umbrella. No the umbrella was not attached but the metal bottom part was. So right now the table and chairs is one tangled mess - but all accounted for. I can't imagine what would have happened if they were still loose patio furniture. I'd probably be sobbing on the phone with our insurer right now. Here is an after picture:
It continued to rain for another half hour or so. Around 5:45 it had stopped raining. At a quarter to 7, the electricity turned back on. Thank you Westar for working so quickly. After I walked Silvio at 8, this is the sky view that we had:
So yes, today I miss Andy. Because my stress level has gone through the roof. I was going to have done a bunch of lesson planning but that doesn't help if it's dark, you have like no light, and your head is calculating the probability of the roof coming off your house. Andy would have kept me calm. Or more likely than not, he would have scared the crap out of me by going outside and checking the patio furniture or something crazy. But maybe not in this situation. But it would be sooo nice if he was here to help when I have to clean up this table and chairs. No idea where I will put them while I wait for garbage day to roll around.
Guess I can't complain, I'm still here with both feet planted firmly on the ground. But I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight.
Day 214
Well I am starting to feel the crunch. I finished my required teacher float day in the building. I find it a little absurd with all the construction going on. Sometimes the network works, sometimes the air conditioning works, sometimes my stapler works... Yes I throw in the stapler because I spent an hour and half decorating a 5 x 4 bulletin board. This shouldn't be a hard task but the stapler inevitably would jam every third time I pressed down on it.
On the upside, my classroom is relatively ready to go - with the exception of my projector. I can get away with not using the first few days - but I need to scrounge up an extension cord (which disappeared sometime over the summer) and put the whole thing back together again. I spent today proofing my Expectations and Policies and its corresponding homework assignment. I mapped out the first few weeks - through the first chapter test. I plan on giving a pre-assessment to see if I will need to review how to solve linear equations and the like. I have one from last year that I gave to my Geometry class. I am pretty sure I could get away with giving both the Geometry and Algebra 2 classes the same pre-assessment. I need to go through it though and make some adjustments though. I'd really like to speed through the first chapter without hitting any major road bumps in both classes - it should help greatly. All that leaves left to do is actually write out some lessons for my Algebra 2 classes. Thankfully, I have a binder filled with every lesson I ever did last year in Geometry - including worksheets and notesheets I handed out. So score on not having to do work on that front. In that respect, this year should be infinitely easier than last year. I can bust out lessons like nobodies beeswax if need be plus this group of students should be able to handle doing homework out of the book. No more sitting at the copy machine every morning to make 60 copies of the homework.
I am intrigued by the Algebra 2 book. Almost like I was the Geometry book last year. I had not done any geometry in almost 10 years - since I took it in high school. The only thing I remember about it is having to explain things to the rest of the class because our teacher that year was :oP. I'll leave it at that. I don't remember much about Algebra 2 either - except that I took it with a teacher who was in fact shorter in stature than I was. God, that made me feel good. I know we learned about a whole bunch of different functions but that's about it. It will be neat to talk about lines, quadratics, polynomials, matrices, logs, exponentials, rational, radical, piecewise, inverse, conic sections, some probability, and some sequences and series. Hold Moly - did I say sequences and series? That should be fun - like calculus fun. Now that I write that all out - I have no idea how I will cover all of it. I guess I need to try to fit six topics into this very short 1st semester and the move like heck through the rest of it. Tomorrow starts the lesson writing insanity!
Other news - I'm pretty sure Silvio picked up a cold at this new place I boarded him at. His breathing sounds all "stuffy" like if you had a stuffy nose. Plus, his nose is running and that means he is creating these funny snot bubbles. Plus, he seems very tired and has shorter bouts of energetic running around. I might be calling up the vet if it doesn't improve. :o(
On the upside, my classroom is relatively ready to go - with the exception of my projector. I can get away with not using the first few days - but I need to scrounge up an extension cord (which disappeared sometime over the summer) and put the whole thing back together again. I spent today proofing my Expectations and Policies and its corresponding homework assignment. I mapped out the first few weeks - through the first chapter test. I plan on giving a pre-assessment to see if I will need to review how to solve linear equations and the like. I have one from last year that I gave to my Geometry class. I am pretty sure I could get away with giving both the Geometry and Algebra 2 classes the same pre-assessment. I need to go through it though and make some adjustments though. I'd really like to speed through the first chapter without hitting any major road bumps in both classes - it should help greatly. All that leaves left to do is actually write out some lessons for my Algebra 2 classes. Thankfully, I have a binder filled with every lesson I ever did last year in Geometry - including worksheets and notesheets I handed out. So score on not having to do work on that front. In that respect, this year should be infinitely easier than last year. I can bust out lessons like nobodies beeswax if need be plus this group of students should be able to handle doing homework out of the book. No more sitting at the copy machine every morning to make 60 copies of the homework.
I am intrigued by the Algebra 2 book. Almost like I was the Geometry book last year. I had not done any geometry in almost 10 years - since I took it in high school. The only thing I remember about it is having to explain things to the rest of the class because our teacher that year was :oP. I'll leave it at that. I don't remember much about Algebra 2 either - except that I took it with a teacher who was in fact shorter in stature than I was. God, that made me feel good. I know we learned about a whole bunch of different functions but that's about it. It will be neat to talk about lines, quadratics, polynomials, matrices, logs, exponentials, rational, radical, piecewise, inverse, conic sections, some probability, and some sequences and series. Hold Moly - did I say sequences and series? That should be fun - like calculus fun. Now that I write that all out - I have no idea how I will cover all of it. I guess I need to try to fit six topics into this very short 1st semester and the move like heck through the rest of it. Tomorrow starts the lesson writing insanity!
Other news - I'm pretty sure Silvio picked up a cold at this new place I boarded him at. His breathing sounds all "stuffy" like if you had a stuffy nose. Plus, his nose is running and that means he is creating these funny snot bubbles. Plus, he seems very tired and has shorter bouts of energetic running around. I might be calling up the vet if it doesn't improve. :o(
Day 210
210 days = 7 thirty-day months
That means there are only 5 thirty day months left in this deployment. Even better (or maybe worse) we are closing on in the school year starting up. Plus it is the fall semester and the fall semester is always shorter than the spring one. This should be flying by.
It doesn't mean that I feel good today. In fact we are celebrated today with an awful sinus headache (I really am allergic to Kansas) and body aches. It is definitely a curl up in a ball day - which I have done and will continue to do.
On the bright side, Silvio and I should have a few visitors this month. :o) Also, I signed up for a few cooking classes at the local Hyvee. I am very excited about this - as I am all things cooking.
Other big news - The No Crate Experiment has begun. Since returning from the wedding and baptism, I have ventured to allow Silvio to stay out of his crate while I leave the house to go on errands. We have worked our way to about 4 hours without being in the crate. I am proud to say I have returned home each time to find the house in tact. I hope we can keep this up during the school year. That also means if we get another pug puppy - I shouldn't need to buy a new crate - because Silvio can stay out and the new puppy can get crate trained.
Well, I can no longer sit in this computer chair, so I guess I am headed back to the curl up in a ball position.
That means there are only 5 thirty day months left in this deployment. Even better (or maybe worse) we are closing on in the school year starting up. Plus it is the fall semester and the fall semester is always shorter than the spring one. This should be flying by.
It doesn't mean that I feel good today. In fact we are celebrated today with an awful sinus headache (I really am allergic to Kansas) and body aches. It is definitely a curl up in a ball day - which I have done and will continue to do.
On the bright side, Silvio and I should have a few visitors this month. :o) Also, I signed up for a few cooking classes at the local Hyvee. I am very excited about this - as I am all things cooking.
Other big news - The No Crate Experiment has begun. Since returning from the wedding and baptism, I have ventured to allow Silvio to stay out of his crate while I leave the house to go on errands. We have worked our way to about 4 hours without being in the crate. I am proud to say I have returned home each time to find the house in tact. I hope we can keep this up during the school year. That also means if we get another pug puppy - I shouldn't need to buy a new crate - because Silvio can stay out and the new puppy can get crate trained.
Well, I can no longer sit in this computer chair, so I guess I am headed back to the curl up in a ball position.
Day 207 - Of a Girl and Her Brother's Hound Dog
My parents' new home is part of a community. You know, those communities that have age limits from below and do all the landscaping and snow shoveling for you. It just so happens that their backyard looks out onto a nice little pond. It is very peaceful. More peaceful than the road our back yard looks out to, but that is neither here nor there.
It has been a relatively quiet summer. Well, that is unless Murphy is howling. The picture above is Murphy, my brother's hound dog/beagle mix. I think he is more coon hound than beagle. Needless to say, the neighbors are okay with it - but sometimes the Murph-dog's howling can be a bit annoying.
Let us get to the juicy stuff. I was glad Murphy is staying with my parents. Why not my brother? Well, Murphy is there to participate in the Parental Unit run Dog Weight-loss Summer Camp. By the way, it has been quite effective. I felt so horrible leaving Silvio at some other boarding place it felt good to have another dog around.
While I was there, the Canadian geese arrived at the pond. There were a total of 23 of them. They arrived mid-morning on the day of my goddaughter's christening. We returned from the christening to find that the geese had made themselves at home. They were eating and pooping and swimming and pooping. Doing whatever they please. This large group had separated into a group of 17 and a group of 6 on opposite ends of the pond.
After feeding Murphy, I take him for a walk out back. He howled. He crouched down as if he was going to attack. Then he gave 3 more howls. The group of 17 began flapping their wings and took off. I noticed the 6 geese that were left over on the other side of the pond. They apparently did not pay much attention to their friends leaving. So I ask Murphy if he wants to get those last stragglers. He gives me that look that says - yeah, lemme at 'em. We start to run around the edge of the pond. The remaining geese start to get anxious. Honking ensues and they begin to move in the opposite direction as we make our way closer. Two howls and the remainder of the geese take off.
The neighbors come out applauding. Murphy, we knew that barking would be good for something.
But the next day a new group descends onto the pond. A small group of about 14 geese. We wait until the afternoon to go for round two. This time we had a little help. Since the neighbors had noticed how well Murphy had done yesterday, there was another dog, Muffin, already out walking around the pond. So these geese were already a little on edge - moving in the opposite direction of where Muffin was. Murphy makes his way outside giving a few barks. These geese seem less intimidated. Muffin moves around to our side of the pond and all of a sudden the geese make a beeline to the opposite side of the pond. We leave them for few minutes. Then we walk, Murph dog being very interested, towards the new goose position. I imitate a howl and the geese all turn their heads at me. One even stands on a rock and starts flapping his wings like get out of here girl. But it was just enough to set Murphy off into his stance and three long howls. Bye bye Geese.
It was so great to Murphy in action. I've never really seen a dog doing anything remotely close to what they are bred for except on television. It was exhilarating. I almost wish I could take a class on how to give them commands. I think Murphy would seriously enjoy doing that sort of work. It really isn't something I would expect Silvio to be able to do. But I love my Silvio. It was just a special time with me and Murphy.
Day 206 - A Wedding and A Baptism
I just returned from my last trip of the summer. Maybe even for the whole year unless I work out something for the holidays. Back to the recap.
I headed back to NJ for a very old family friends' wedding. The day was absolutely gorgeous. Given the fact that it is hot everywhere this year, the bride and groom lucked out and got a day with very little humidity and no blistering sun. The colors were great. I never would have thought of black and yellow. But it was perfect. The ceremony was sweet. It reminded me of my wedding. It was not so long ago. I missed Andy even more. But you can't cry at a wedding because you miss your husband. So I dialed on the charm and took out the camera. It was great to be back home with family and with friends who are so much like family. There was dancing, food, drinks, and lots of fun.
Then that very next day we all trekked out for my goddaughter's christening. It was such a personal ceremony. I am so glad that I get a chance to be part of this little one's life. I may be far away - which is a pain *thanks army* - but she is always in my heart.
My only wish really - to be closer to all the people that I love so much.
I headed back to NJ for a very old family friends' wedding. The day was absolutely gorgeous. Given the fact that it is hot everywhere this year, the bride and groom lucked out and got a day with very little humidity and no blistering sun. The colors were great. I never would have thought of black and yellow. But it was perfect. The ceremony was sweet. It reminded me of my wedding. It was not so long ago. I missed Andy even more. But you can't cry at a wedding because you miss your husband. So I dialed on the charm and took out the camera. It was great to be back home with family and with friends who are so much like family. There was dancing, food, drinks, and lots of fun.
Then that very next day we all trekked out for my goddaughter's christening. It was such a personal ceremony. I am so glad that I get a chance to be part of this little one's life. I may be far away - which is a pain *thanks army* - but she is always in my heart.
My only wish really - to be closer to all the people that I love so much.
Day 200
Go us!!! 200 days since Andrew has deployed. Only about 5 more months to go. Silvio and I can make it easy. Why?
Because starting next month, school kicks in. The days and the weeks fly by. I will try to be a bit more active with after - school activities. Root on my students in whatever they are doing.
I will attend cooking classes at our local grocery store. I am super excited about this. It may only be 2 times a month but I am sure I will have some yummy tidbits to disperse to everyone.
I will be trying to complete my knitting project - it went on hold as we hit the summer.
I will spend some time trying to learn a new language.
Other big news -
I completed Lego Harry Potter. Well, sort of. I managed to complete all the stages, but I have not unlocked all the characters, spells or other neat stuff. The game tells me I have 50% complete. Go me.
Stay Cool!
Because starting next month, school kicks in. The days and the weeks fly by. I will try to be a bit more active with after - school activities. Root on my students in whatever they are doing.
I will attend cooking classes at our local grocery store. I am super excited about this. It may only be 2 times a month but I am sure I will have some yummy tidbits to disperse to everyone.
I will be trying to complete my knitting project - it went on hold as we hit the summer.
I will spend some time trying to learn a new language.
Other big news -
I completed Lego Harry Potter. Well, sort of. I managed to complete all the stages, but I have not unlocked all the characters, spells or other neat stuff. The game tells me I have 50% complete. Go me.
Stay Cool!
Day 198
Just some random thoughts for today.
I started to get to work for the upcoming school year. Started is the important word. Updated my gradebook, expectations and policies, and signed up for wikispaces. I think a couple of weeks is more than enough time to get it up and running. I feel like I can do it now. I'm ready to work - or more aptly stated - get to work.
I learned something while reading What Einstein Told His Cook. Ever wonder how M&M's melt in your mouth and not in your hand? While at room temperature the chocolate is nice and hard. It melts in your mouth because the fat in the chocolate will melt at just below your body temperature. How crazy is that? You know if my chemistry course at school was more like Cooking Chemistry. I would have loved it.
Acura came out with a new commercial. See below:
Reminds me of my physics research project. Ah the old college days.
I started to get to work for the upcoming school year. Started is the important word. Updated my gradebook, expectations and policies, and signed up for wikispaces. I think a couple of weeks is more than enough time to get it up and running. I feel like I can do it now. I'm ready to work - or more aptly stated - get to work.
I learned something while reading What Einstein Told His Cook. Ever wonder how M&M's melt in your mouth and not in your hand? While at room temperature the chocolate is nice and hard. It melts in your mouth because the fat in the chocolate will melt at just below your body temperature. How crazy is that? You know if my chemistry course at school was more like Cooking Chemistry. I would have loved it.
Acura came out with a new commercial. See below:
Reminds me of my physics research project. Ah the old college days.
Day 197 - A Day for the Dogs
For the Weener dogs, that is. Silvio and I invaded went behind enemy lines to check out the Weenie Dog Races.
Silvio was so happy to get outside. He could hardly contain himself. All eyes were on him. Everyone was so surprised to see a pug dog. Silvio got lovin' from all corners - little kids, big kids, adults, grandparents, and even the Weener dogs!
Silvio participated in the Mutt Strut. Sorry no pictures because Mom took the walk with him. After all that OOOing and AHHHing, we needed to find a spot to watch the exciting races. Silvio thought this spot was perfect.
Always thinking ahead that dog. We had such a fun day, but it started to get really hot. Even though we wanted to stay for the contests (biggest, smallest, best dressed), we decided to hightail it out of there. Tail...hahah.
I wonder if Silvio will have made it onto any news or radio station websites. Lots of people around taking lots of pictures.
Silvio was so happy to get outside. He could hardly contain himself. All eyes were on him. Everyone was so surprised to see a pug dog. Silvio got lovin' from all corners - little kids, big kids, adults, grandparents, and even the Weener dogs!
Silvio participated in the Mutt Strut. Sorry no pictures because Mom took the walk with him. After all that OOOing and AHHHing, we needed to find a spot to watch the exciting races. Silvio thought this spot was perfect.
Always thinking ahead that dog. We had such a fun day, but it started to get really hot. Even though we wanted to stay for the contests (biggest, smallest, best dressed), we decided to hightail it out of there. Tail...hahah.
I wonder if Silvio will have made it onto any news or radio station websites. Lots of people around taking lots of pictures.
Day 194 - Cause it is never to early to think about your birthday or Christmas...
or another wonderful title:
How Not to prepare a new course for the upcoming school year.
For some reason I can not peel myself away from my personal computer to work on my school computer. In all honesty, I have a month to start prepping for a totally new course that I will be teaching next year. Thank goodness, I have all my geometry work from last year. I just need to edit it, because these students might actually do the work out of their textbooks this year. If they actually do homework, I might actually have things to discuss with them rather than blank stares for a majority of the day.
Anyway back to the task at hand. It is just about 5 weeks from my birthday - too bad it does not actually fall on Labor Day then it would seem like a holiday. Not far down the road is Christmas, yikes. There do happen to be some items that I would love to have - in no particular order:
There you have it. I successfully managed to stay away from my school computer for a good hour.
How Not to prepare a new course for the upcoming school year.
For some reason I can not peel myself away from my personal computer to work on my school computer. In all honesty, I have a month to start prepping for a totally new course that I will be teaching next year. Thank goodness, I have all my geometry work from last year. I just need to edit it, because these students might actually do the work out of their textbooks this year. If they actually do homework, I might actually have things to discuss with them rather than blank stares for a majority of the day.
Anyway back to the task at hand. It is just about 5 weeks from my birthday - too bad it does not actually fall on Labor Day then it would seem like a holiday. Not far down the road is Christmas, yikes. There do happen to be some items that I would love to have - in no particular order:
- A new kitchen faucet. When Andy is home he does most of the washing but I do help now and again. The faucet the builder's installed is totally useless. It is only 3 inches above the sink - so no tall pots and pans fit. Plus the reach is less than 5 inches. So I can only reach a portion of whatever needs to be clean. Would totally love a faucet like this Gerber one. It has a higher clearance- hurray for the sauce pot fitting in the sink and a detachable hose so I can get those hard to reach places. Only major issue - I have no idea how to install one. But it would totally make my day.
- A different camera case. Don't get me wrong I love my Lowepro. Simple fact is - with only one strap, I tend to get some massive shoulder/back issues when I carry it all day - like I did in Disney. My solution - a Lowepro beltpack. Okay, so it looks a lot like a fanny pack. Sue me. It won't weigh down my shoulders and back. Plus I like to think my hips can handle that sort of weight so it would be a win win situation.
- My neighbors to grow a lawn. It just isn't pretty to look at.
- EDIT (I totally forgot this): A large 9 or 13 qt Le Creuset pot. I would love to try making sauce in it. I'll leave it at that right now. If someone wanted to replace my entire cooking set with Le Creuset cook and bake ware, I would be in heaven. Any takers???
- For the hubby to come home, that would be an awesome birthday present. Not going to happen though.
- An Ipad - with the new OS4 loaded on it. Why? So I am not playing my fun games on my Iphone and using up all of it's juice. Two, I love books - but we literally have no more bookshelf space. It isn't my fault that one whole shelf is filled with 3 copies of Harry Potter (hardback, softcover, and UK version). The others are filled with childhood and my other favorite books. No space for those great beach-y reads. Plus, I then have to sell them back due to the lack of space - even if i would think about keeping them. I think a great idea would be to have another library of books on the ipad for vacations and such. Plus, ebooks are cheaper than buying hardcover new books. Lastly, I would like a little portability. I hate being chained into the office to be online.
- Both a 5 inch and 7 inch Santoku Knife. I think this would be great for our knife collection - there are really only 3 knives that I use on a consistent basis. The rest are dead to me. Plus, we don't really have a cutlery set. We just have a bunch of mixed up knives.
There you have it. I successfully managed to stay away from my school computer for a good hour.
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