Tonight Sara, Emily, Kaarin, and I enjoyed our first “Diva’s” dinner. These fine ladies also work at Forestview – Sara and I are on the same team, while Kaarin and Emily teach on 6A downstairs.
Emily hosted with a tasty dinner of chili and breadsticks with apple strudle for dessert. Next week it’s my turn… it’ll be a hard act to follow.
Well, I finally bought my bike. I got a great deal on a used one from my co-worker, Robin. It’s a pretty orangish-red color with a “granny” seat, so it’s super comfy. I couldn’t resist a little ride tonight, so Bill and I headed out just before dark… not realizing the slight drizzle had become a full fledged rain. We went anyway (yeah, probably not great for the gears), and got soaked (still fun!). Now I can truly get on my plan to ride to work a couple times a week! Looking forward to it…
It is my mission to create a birthday present for Grandma Aune, and I’ve only got 10 days to do it. I’d had this idea rolling in my brain, and today I took on the task of collecting and photographing as many of her paintings as I could find. I’m in the process of uploading them into an Apple iPhoto book. On the computer, the design looks great.
Gram started painting well into her adult life. I remember when she used to go to some community ed classes and how she’d work at the latest technique. Gram always let April, Andy, and I mess around with her paints… never worried that we would ruin anything – always so patient!
I grabbed the painting that’s hung in my bedroom at home for years and Bill hung it in our hallway tonight. It’s another reminder of home, of my grandparents, and for all I have to be thankful for.
Here are a few of my favorites she’s done:
For a few years now I’ve had the idea that it would be fun to decorate a cake. I’d somewhere been introduced to the beautiful finish that fondant (rollable frosting) provides, though I’d never actually seen such a cake in person. Well, I’ve since looked at recipes and had good intentions to try it out. Frankly, every recipe I’d found was either extremely complicated or included ingredients I’d never even heard of.
By chance, I ran across easy directions for my project this morning. I decided that today would be the debut of my cake decorating career. It’s certainly not perfect, but it was fun. I think this is another hobby I could get into.
In the beginning, the fondant is just a sticky ball of goo.
Eventually, it’s rollable.
Then it’s ready to cover the cake. (which actually is already frosted with a buttercream frosting to help the fondant stick and create a smooth surface)
And then I added just a little color by using additional fondant, food coloring, and cutters.
The cake came just in time to celebrate “baby” Jack’s first birthday from afar… and, of course, April’s 1/2 birthday. 🙂
There is always room to learn something new.
Now, what exactly do I have in common with the aforementioned? Really nothing other than our location the past couple of days. Former President Bush and I were residing on the same block… he at the Mayo, me at the neighboring hotel. Funny we didn’t bump into each other. 😉
I’ve decided to write this entry on the bus ride back to Brainerd. Certainly because I’m bored and anxious to be done with the sitting, but also because I want to write while it’s all fresh. Two days of conferences will fill a person’s head, and it seems after a night’s sleep I lose half of what happened the previous days.
I boarded a charter bus with 32 other teachers Wednesday after school. We headed down to Rochester for a Response to Intervention Leadership Summit. The conference itself was great – but I won’t bore you with those details.
Last night I joined Sarah and Sue, two teachers from the eighth grade wing. We first stopped at a nearby establishment to socialize a bit, and then headed off to Barnes and Noble. It’s been so long since I’ve just browsed around a bookshop – I usually just order online. So, I picked up The Homework Myth, as I’ve been meaning to read it for a couple of years now and happened upon it last night. After the book shopping we found a little Irish sounding place (turned out to be fairly mainstream) and grabbed dinner. It was so nice to get to know a couple of new people. It’s amazing that we work in the very same building, but chances are we won’t run into each other again for some time.
I roomed with Trudi (our 5/6 counselor) and Tammy (our assistant principal) who motivated me to wake up early enough to get a workout in before heading to the conference at 7:15. I always LOVE the day so much more when I start out like that, but so often I can’t muster up the energy to do it on my own. Of course, this allowed me to feel like I had a license to eat every sweet thing nearby – which always seem to be abundant at educational conferences! I even made the mistake of stopping at Starbucks before we walked down and found that the seasonal pumpkin spice latte is out. Yum! (Okay coffee friends, give it a try!)
I’m anxious to get back to Brainerd. I think we’ll still try to drive up to Cook tonight – we’ll see how alert Bill is, and how organized I am. It’s really starting to feel like fall – and I can’t think of a place I’d enjoy more than the bay before Black Bay. (nice alliteration, don’t you think?)
Doesn’t it seem they almost always are?
Our couple of days off were very low key. We did get some pictures hung and a few more items for the apartment purchased. (gulp!) I suppose by the time we’re actually settled we’ll be moving again! Lets hope not.
Friday night Bill was sweet enough to let me finish watching the first season of Ugly Betty. Since we don’t have cable, we’ve been taking advantage of the free shows on abc.com. I decided (while April was here and Bill was in AK) to give Ugly Betty a try. So, I enjoyed it enough to want to watch the whole season, but of course I didn’t get through it while Bill was away – hence, he was stuck watching a few episodes. (Secretly, I think he loved it – I mean, fashion and melodrama – what guy wouldn’t?) 😉
Yesterday I ended up in my classroom all day… it’s amazing how quickly the time goes when you can work on a project sans interruptions. Unfortunately, my tinkering around prevented us from doing anything really exciting with our Saturday. While I know it was work that had to be done, I’m going to work very hard in the future to not spend half of our weekend stuffed away in the school. That said, it’s good to feel ready for the week ahead.
Today we worked on hanging some pictures – thank heavens for a patient husband. I am NOT a decorator, and well – trying to make the place look cute frustrates me. We got one wall done and decided we’ll need to get another frame for one of our pictures to make the other wall symmetrical. I’m hoping, too, to get a couple of my grandma’s paintings to hang around the place. THAT will certainly make me feel more at home.
Speaking of my grandparents… it was grandparents day today. I was a little bummed that I wasn’t back home to celebrate with them. I guess, though, any day can be grandparents day if you make it so. I am looking forward to the next chance for a visit.
Well, it’s almost 10:00, and I’m actually still awake! I think my body is beginning to adjust to a new routine. Yea for that! Here’s wishing you a fantastic Monday!
It’s been a very fast week – certainly due to the fact that we’ve been busy!
Bill watched Axton a couple of times this week. Seems to be going very well… of course, this little guy is so calm, it’d be hard to expect anything else!
We’ve been trying to get a little socializing in as we begin our fall here in Baxter. Tuesday Bill graciously accompanied me to the Back to School picnic. There are around a thousand employees in this district, so a ton of people were mingling about. Lucky for us, we followed the Svirs over, and we arrived just in time to catch my co-workers before they took off. Last night we had our first official dinner guests over for a real homecooked meal. Mike and Amanda were brave enough to test our cooking – and I suppose it payed off because Bill was in charge. He made a tasty roast, garlic new potatoes, onions, and carrots. I threw together a spinach salad (recipe compliments of Barb), and dinner was ready. Of course I was also in charge of dessert, and let me tell you – there’s nothing wrong with a bucket of ice cream. 🙂
We decided to stay in Baxter this weekend, though I was leaning towards heading home. I’ll already have a sub in my room this Thursday and Friday – yikes! So, I thought it best to spend a little extra time this weekend setting up my lessons. (Don’t worry, my dear Alaskan friends… I am not going to revert to the “work all the time” mentality!)
It sounds as though the other teachers in my life had good first weeks back to school, as well.
Enjoy your weekend everybody! (Even you nurses that have to be at work!) 😉
Well, I cannot let the first day of school go unnoticed. It happened. It’s over. I’m still alive. 🙂
I only met my “homeroom” group of students today – 31 of the roughly 120 I will see each day. They are an amazing group of kids! I am anxious to begin working with them.
I cannot help but think of how lucky I am, though, to be in 6th grade and not the primary grades! Don’t get me wrong, I love little kids. I am just completely amazed by Kindergarten teachers. Not only will these fine folks have many of their kids READING by May (!), right now, they’ve got to teach their students how to be in school. Kindergarten teachers (and primary teachers in general) have my greatest respect!
The day only got better when I was able to come home to my hubby. I love having him here, and though I know there is still travel in our future, I’m enjoying every minute until that time comes! Tonight we had the added bonus of Mike and Axton joining us for dinner. Bill made delicious halibut and rice. I’m way too spoiled.
I hope your Tuesday was great, folks! Lots of love heading your direction!!!
What an incredible summer we’ve had. It’s been packed, and we’ve loved it all!
We put 10,000 miles on our car this summer… not exactly environmentally friendly, but certainly a testament to the fun we had with folks all over the region. We’ll work at using our bikes this fall to make up some of those carbon emission units. (That must be close to what they’re called…right?) I’m serious about this, as I have found myself becoming slightly “greener” these days. Ah, yes, a far cry from where I ought to be, but still moving in the right direction.
I guess it’s time to move into a new season… now on to other exciting adventures! Best of luck to each of you as you close out summer and jump into fall. ENJOY!
I was informed, this evening, that chipmunks got into the hazelnuts.
