Wednesday, October 17, 2007

OK...so it took me awhile...

but I'm here. I'm not writing where I should be...totally in class right now, but this is the class that I haven't yet discovered the point of, so I don't feel incredibly guilty! I know I have a lot to write about, and to be honest, it's a bit overwelming when I think about it, but here I go.

School:
As I said, my last week of summer school was kinda out of control...but I made it through. And by the end of it, I had a ton of great teaching resources, including lesson plans and unit plans that I created. I think that these resources will really help during my first year in the classroom.
I am now in three classes, all of them "PC" master classes...meaning, I'm not sure any of them are really necessary (at least they haven't yet proved to be), but they look good on my credentials. Let's put it this way...the title of one of my classes is "Social Justice in Education." now come on...what do you think goes on in there besides a bunch of complaining???? HOWEVER, I have met some great people and I have fun during all of my classes...the fun may be nothing related to the class material, but it's fun regardless!
I've been very blessed to be surrounded by people who respect me and my opinions and I really feel like I am where I'm supposed to be. For those of you who haven't struggled with that, after not knowing what you were doing for an extended amount of time, it's a great relief!!! One of my instructors told me last night that she wished her son had a teacher like me. This woman has 2 PhD's, and she's not one to give away compliments, so I was incredibly touched.


Harry Potter Book Fair:
Well, it was almost 3 months ago, but I was the 75th person in the Hastings on Montano to get the 7th and last insallment of Harry Potter. I got it in the middle of my summer classes, so I had to lay it down until classes were over. Then once classes were over, it was time for officials clinic, coaches clinic, and athletic director's meeting. I FINALLY read the first page of the book on August 5th, after driving into Des Moines, Iowa, for my annual summer road trip.
Remember how I said that the necklace I wore to the movie premier was the most dressed up I would ever get? I lied...I took my coworker's 12 year old daughter and when I found out that she was going to be dressing up, I couldn't be left out...


The book was great! And that's all I'm really going to day because it has been awhile and I don't want to make any comments that aren't an key. I am going to reread the series when I'm done school, but for now I am happy to know that the series ends in a way I was happy with.









Iowa/Pennsylvania:
Carrissa and I took our annual summer road trip from August 4-18. We had a blast as usual and I'll give you a quick breakdown of the trip...

Day 1: Drive to Denver and have dinner with Rissa's dad and step mom...yummy...Nancy made us cherry pie! Then we watched a snow-mobiling video with Bob...that was fun!
Day 2: Drive to Des Moines. Bob and Nancy allowed is to borrow their radios so that Riss and I, could communicate with Laura and Annie in the other car. I was banned from the radio after a while because I'm told I talk about pointless things...why do we have radios if we're not going to use them? THEN...the same people who told me I was talking on the radio too much came on the radio and dared me to swallow a gobstopper whole...OK...done, now what? They didn't believe me, so they dared me to do it again while they drove by and watched. Never a dull moment!!! We packed food so that we didn't have to spend money on the way and had 2 nice breaks for food throughout the day. We got into Des Moines and relaxed at the hotel for the rest of the night.
Day 3: Riss and I started at the mall and then joined the family for a meal. This day was nice and easy...
Day 4: Amana baby! If you ever go to Iowa, you need to make it a point to travel to the Amana Colonies. Amana is a cluster of old German colonies that still function as small communities. There is a great wool mill, family dining, and a cellar winery ever 100 feet. It's great fun! on our way back, I decided that I knew the way to go, and although I was wrong...the locals in the car didn't feel like telling me so. So, not only did we go off the beaten path (which was actually a blast), but we were running out of gas at an alarming rate. We barely made it to a gas station in time, but we did, and the experience was totally memorable!
Day 5: State Fair day 1. The Iowa State Fair really is the greatest state fair in the country. I was so bummed that my ankle kept me from covering as much of the fair as I normally do, but it was still great to be at the fair. Every year the "butter lady" carves a lifesize cow out of butter as well as something that is relevant to the pop culture of the year. So of course, I saw a lifesized Harry Potter, his broom, chest, and the fat lady, all carved out of butter. Check out the preying mantis that jumped onto the car when we got back to the hotel...she's HUGE!
















Day 6: The Fair again. I didn't spend much time at the Fair this day due to the heat and my ankle. Strangely enough, during the hour that I was there, I was spotted!
After getting back to the hotel that night, I hopped onto myspace and saw that I had a message. Gina had emailed me saying..."You have a twin and I saw her at the Iowa State Fair today. The resemblance was so strong I almost ran over and said hi." I couldn't believe it! I emailed her back and told her that I didn't have a twin and that I had been at the Fair that day.
Day 7: Gina called me early and we laughed about the strange circumstances of the day before. I told her that if she didn't mind me packing while we talked, she should bring Cassie to the hotel so that we could catch up. We ate breakfast together and enjoyed about an hour of catch up time before Riss and I had to get on the road.







Riss and I drove to the St. Louis (stopping for Dutch Letters in Pella on the way) and stayed at her family's for the evening.
Day 8: I met Rissa's grandfather this day, who is truly a one of a kind man. He is an expert on big band music and has an incredible library of music in his self made recording studio. He is 92 years old ( if I remember correctly) and needs a magnifying computer system to see anything. It was an honor and a special memory to meet him and I can't wait for the CD that he has promised to make me!!
Day 9: Riss and I added a leg to Pennsylvania to our trip this year and we decided to take a train out that direction. We had a connection in Chicago and then got on our train that would travel throughout the night. We had splurged for a sleeper car, were able to get a great upgrade, and were treated like queens for the evening. I had lamb for dinner! Yummy!
Day 10: Pennsylvania here we come! My uncle was over an hour late picking us up at the train station...not incredibly surprised...and then we made it to my grandparent's house. We enjoyed the evening with them and went to bed!
Day 11: We drove around the towns that I grew up in and around and visited some old friends. I tried to show Riss as much as I could, but by this time we were getting pretty tired of travelling and we were missing our animals A LOT!!!
I couldn't introduce Riss to my family without a game of Pit, so we played cards for a couple hours before going to bed.
Day 12: We visited a coal mine and went on a tour into the mine. My uncle and cousin joined us and it was a fun time. Riss and I then drove to Hershey and went through the free Hershey's chocolate tour. We were told that we were the millionth customers to park at the museum, but later found out that the parking attendants were just bored! No complaints...good story and free parking!


















At this point we met up with my uncle and drove to the train station to get back on the tracks
















We were SO ready to get off the train and get back home!
Day 13:
We arrived back in the St. Louis area and stayed this evening with Rissa's family again. I made the family individual cobblers to go with dinner and I think I'm golden with them forever!
Day 14:
We drove all the way home this day, stopping only for necessities and to do about a 30 minute shopping spree at Ulta...Love that place!
OK...DONE with the travelling.
I think I'll end this post here and write another one to include details about work, the reunion and my upcoming fun later! Thanks for bearing with me.
PS Shannon...see what you get when you ask for a post!!!

2 comments:

Kate said...

Totally can't find your e-mail address from this computer, and it's too early to call you--just found out you really are in for this cruise with me! Call me! E-mail me! Have you planned any excursions? Wanna be my buddy on the ship? I'm hoping that being at sea together will force us to see each other :)

Shannon said...

HAHAHA! I've enjoyed every word...BUT you're missing some essential AI news??? How did auditions go for you and Mike? I think I'll send a mummy after you on facebook... :)