At Last

I'm two days post pedicure, and all seems to be well on the toe-front. Either my expectations have fallen prey to the Colorado standard, or I have finally found a nail salon that does a semi decent job. My experience was not without incident, however. Once again, the labels had been removed from the nail polish leaving me to make a selection without proper introduction. I tried my best to get acquainted with each color before making a decision, and I thought I knew what I was getting into when I made my choice. Unfortunately, what I thought was a festive pink was, in fact, a cheerful orange. To be honest, the whole ordeal was eerily reminiscent of my dating life. Seriously, how many times have I been 45 seconds into a date when I was overwhelmed by the realization that I had mistakenly chosen "Your Royal Shyness" over "I Pink I Love You"? One too many, I tell you.

There isn't much to say about the rest of my time at the nail salon. This is due in large part to the fact that my appointment lasted all of about thirty minutes, and much of that time was spent allowing various lotions and chemicals to "soak" while my nail technician tended to an assortment of nail salon chores. I might have felt neglected under normal circumstances, but this was the official beginning of my summer vacation. Not even orange toes and a Ritalin deprived nail tech were going to steal that moment from me.

ALMOST Summertime!

Today is my last official day of school even though my students finished last Thursday. I'm contracted for an extra week because, as we all know, teachers are most creative and productive immediately after school lets out for the summer. There is absolutely nothing in me that desires to step out into the seventy degree sunshine and hike a mountain right now...nothing. I'm devoted to my profession and to my students. Clearly, my extended time here at school is being put to good use.

While the exhilaration that comes from staring at a clock for an entire week is enough to leave you wanting more, it will likely be eclipsed by the thrill of such projects as cleaning out my garage, packing, and scrubbing my baseboards. What can I say? I live life on the edge. Another case in point...I'm leaving in a few hours to get a pedicure...in Colorado. Need I say more? The fear of what might come to my ten little piggies has been enough to steer me away from sandals since my Texas pedicure in March, but I can avoid the inevitable no longer. It simply has to be done. Until then, know that I’ll be spending my afternoon finding creative ways to hang the remainder of my ’08 -’09 school pictures throughout the building.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. Since I'll be away from my computer on her special day, I want to take this opportunity to wish her a very Happy Birthday. Mom, you truly are amazing. As I look back on our circumstances, schedules, and activities (not to mention our size), I have absolutely no idea how you kept us organized. You somehow managed to cheer us on at just about every basketball game, volleyball game, softball game, track meet, spelling bee, field day, competition, recital, assembly, school play, etc... And, you brought snacks. You made us a priority, always putting yourself last.

I never remember chaos in our home. From midnight homework assignments to emergency room visits, you took everything in stride. You are always the calm in the midst of crisis, and you have a resilience that comes from an uncompromising and steadfast faith. No matter the task or the situation, you quietly persist until the job is done or the problem is resolved.

Few people could advocate and care for TJ the way that you do. You have gracefully and tenaciously fought for him, as you have for the rest of us, through every step of his journey. You are, without a doubt, his biggest fan. Your commitment and devotion to him is an example to us all, and there is no reward this side of heaven that could match the sacrifices that you have made for him...and for each of us. I simply don't have the words to describe the love and gratitude I have for you. Throughout my entire life, you have exemplified the Proverbs 31 woman. So, today I rise up and call you blessed. (Proverbs 31:28). I love you, Mom...every single thing about you. Happy Birthday.

Oh, and I'm sorry about the whole Lifesaver, Handy Andy, hair pulling episode...totally my fault.

O Canada!

I just returned from a six day trip to Canada with my eighth graders. I traveled to Japan with the same group of kids last year, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them on both trips. I didn't have to deal with a single discipline problem all week! Instead, they kept me laughing throughout our trip. I'm including some pictures. Just so you know, smiling isn't the "in" thing with my students. Don't let them fool you though. We had so much fun!

Mont Royal in Montreal - The park's designer also designed Central Park


The top of Mont Royal with a view of the city


Drew would like for everyone to see his partially eaten cinnamon roll. Thanks, Drew. We're all better for it.






Drew...still celebrating his cinnamon roll.



Quebec City...



I love what my backpack does for my figure here...



Quebec City is the only fortified city north of Mexico. If you look closely, you can see the wall just below the castle.




Only 10% of the churches in Quebec are being used. Many have been turned into theaters, tourist attractions, destroyed and used for parking lots, etc...




Hanging out in the hotel


This is St. Anne's church. I learned that St. Anne is the mother of Mary. Our guide informed me that I would find this information in the Old Testament. I am still looking.


I didn't take a picture of it, but to the left is the actual forearm of St. Anne. Supposedly, it has healing powers. I'm guessing it didn't work for St. Anne.




In addition to having a good time, our primary purpose for traveling was to expose the students to another culture and to learn a few things about the French Canadian lifestyle. These are just some of the educational lessons I gleaned from my visit to Canada...

1. A french roll and a croissant can constitute a complete breakfast.
2. Texans probably shouldn't attempt to speak French.
3. Crepes are quite possibly the most versatile food EVER.
4. Life sized cutouts of Obama are available for purchase in Washington's Dulles airport.
5. Circus people are frightening in every country.
6. The possibility of rain on a weave is cause for distress.
7. Hotel reading lamps in Canada have the unique ability to jump off of walls and crash to the ground.

...and so much more. This was definitely a trip worth taking, and I am thankful to have experienced it with such a fun group of students.

Goodbye, Ski Season!

A couple of weeks ago, a few friends and I had the opportunity to celebrate the end of ski season on twenty-two inches of fresh powder in Winter Park. We had an absolute blast! Despite my enthusiasm, I struggled to find my groove on the slopes. I'm not convinced that I didn't have a touch of the swine flu. I've heard that it's going around. Still, I pressed on...determined to enjoy the day. I even took a free mogul lesson with my friend, Brian. This was not my idea because...did I mention that I had the swine flu? Let's just say that Brian had a great lesson...while I spent my limited energy digging my way out of twenty-two inches of wet powder.

Regardless of my battle with what was almost certainly the onset of a very serious illness...and snow, we had a wonderful day. The weather could not have been more perfect, the crowd was small, the snow was beautiful, and I was with a great group of friends. To top it off, we stopped at Beau Jo's in Idaho Springs on the way home. I love me some Beau Jo's. Honestly, the pizza is far from great, but I'll dine anywhere that provides honey for my super sized pizza crust. It truly is genius.

Even better, our entire meal was free! This was what you might call a "follow up appointment" to our four and a half hour Valentine's Day fiasco. It would be far too painful to recount the details of that night, but we somehow managed to walk away with $300 dollars worth of free pizza...and 800 billion free calories. It was quite a bargain...so much so that my super sized thighs and I will be celebrating the beginning of hiking season as soon as possible!

Beau Jo's famous Mountain Pie