Catching up on some summer stuff

This is kind of just another blog with pictures of more things I've done this summer. Another reminder that this blog is really more of a diary than something I use to promote my opinion. So here's some things that have happened in the last few weeks that I wanted to share with everyone.






My backyard. It is certainly a city girl's wilderness dream. I first saw this blue monarch floating around my bottom pond. I was lucky enough to get a close pic. I think it would make a great tatoo :)
This is the first time I have witnessed so many lily pad flowers blooming at one time. Usually it is just one or two, not 5 or 6. It was very pretty.





This is a pic of me and my mom. It's at her friend, Mary's bachelorette party. It was a really fun night. We look very alike in this picture, but I never really think about me looking like my mom...it's sweet.



On the last free Monday before my job started again, a good friend of mine, Kelly, and I went to a lake around KC. It is a private lake called, Lake Winnebago. We had such a good time. It really made me want a huge house, my own dock and a private lake to hang out in.

next year, take 2

Okay - I wrote that blog before ever talking it out and now I realize that the assignment given is not the disappointment, the taking away of my classroom is. Having your own classroom is one of the joys of being a teacher. I figure it is similar to being a higher up and having a corner office or an office with a door. So I will come to terms with it all tomorrow when I try to cram 7 years of teaching stuff into a closet and keep room for the speech path who is sharing the closet with me.

next year...

So I finally found out today what I will be doing for next year. I'm very disappointed in my school district. Their ability to use and abuse me is masterful. I will be doing about 3 full time jobs - in one. Unfortunately, I'm only getting paid to do one as well...that should change. I will be implementing a new program within the special education setting in the district called facilitation. Basically, I will be working with the entire 6th grade to modify work/tests/instruction for all the students with an IEP. I will be responsible for making sure all this happens and all needs are met, including pulling them out for test taking etc. I am also still in charge of students with emotional disorders/behavioral disorders. So I will also have them on my case load and have them in a homeroom as well as a social skills class. And for job #3, with our caseloads being as big as they are (usually in the 25+), I also consider the paperwork and stuff for that a full time job - because it is at my school.
On top of all of this, they are taking away my classroom and I am being forced into a closet in the library, which I will share with the speech pathologist. I have 7 years of teaching stuff. I really wish they could have told me earlier so I'd be more prepared for this.
I am cutting my summer off early and starting to go in tomorrow since I will be moving rooms.
My thoughts now are that I can do this - no problem, but I just don't think it's very fair with all the hard work I always put in. They really should give me a raise to compensate the extra time I will be putting in and the lack of lunch or break time I will have.
My goal for the future is just to find a place of employment where I'm respected and appreciated.

some things don't change.

Three or so weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hang out with my best friend from middle school, Kodi. This opportunity was one where I got to meet her family - her daughter and her husband. I also got to see her mom and meet a good friend of Kodi's from college. It was very special and very exciting for me. Kodi is and always will be one of my closest friends. I have struggled with how to explain our friendship. You really only know it if you have it. But, Kodi is always with me. Even when we don't talk or communicate for a multitude of years - she's always right here. And I feel that it's the same for her - I'm always right there. I believe it's truly unique to find a friendship like we have.



I don't try to play the "i wonder..." game with my life. Everything happens for a reason and I truly have faith in that. But when it comes to the 3 and 1/2 years I spent in Cabool, MO - I do always wonder what would have happen if we hadn't moved. Who would I have become?
I lived there during my 5-8th grade years (very formative years) and I can say that it was one of the bright spots in my life. And having a life long friend that came out of those three years is the brightest. Lylas!

Kodi blogged about it, and created a scrap book page from our visit. Feel free to take a look. Kodi's Blog

something exciting

I had lunch today with my bestest, Mary and she found a $100 - a full on real benjamin. Just folded up laying on the sidewalk. Crazy and awesome!

Colorado Part Deux

Part Deux of Colorado, just starting where I left off yesterday.


On Friday night we stayed at Beth's friends. They are awesome people and I am so glad to have met them. We went to a pizza place called Beaux Jos (sp?). It was great. Then we played card games all night, which we all know I love. It was just a fun visit. The next morning we went to Terra Cotta Inn located in Littleton, CO. That is the picture above of all of us. I highly recommend Littleton, CO - it's such a cute place. Lots of good window shopping, plus the Terra Cotta Inn was wonderful! I will definitely be back there.



Becca started talking early on about a place called Black Hawk and how she and Sharly loved it. She said it was like Vegas just smaller. And she was totally right - just a bunch of casinos. I didn't realize what high rollers I was with. We got there early and started gambling. I'm good after about 15 minutes of gambling, but hours later (along with lots of money later) I was done. I thought it would be good for me to get a pic of Becca and I gambling and me pretending to win. Well, I whipped out my camera and got the pic above, but also go reamed by a waitress. I guess you can't take pictures inside casinos?!?! Geez. Anywho - I don't have to go gamble again for another dozen years.


My last night there we went to Hops and ordered us up some good food. From right to left: Becca, Sharly, Beth, and Me.


Hope you enjoyed. It was a rather good time. There are things I still want to do, so I will have to go out again. It was a really nice place to visit and lots to do in and around Denver. I totally encourage anyone/everyone to go.

Colorado

I got back early on Monday from Denver/Golden Colorado. I had a great time reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. Here's my trip in a picture montage.


This is the view from my friend, Becca's mountain house. Her house is literally on the top of a mountain. I spent a lot of time gazing out the window or sitting outside just losing myself in the landscape.


Me, Beth, and Becca at Becca's fav restaurant, Yard House. These are the friends I specifically went to CO to see. Becca lives there and Beth flew out from Oakland, CA.


One of the first places we got to go in CO was Red Rocks. It's a natural occurance that they have turned into an amphitheater. We couldn't actually go into Red Rocks at the time because they were getting set up for a band and a movie that they do like the first friday of every month or something. BUT we did get to hear the sound check of the band and that was amazing. The amphitheater is so live. The sound was so good. One of my favorite CD's from back in the day is Dave Matthews: Live at Red Rocks-it was pretty cool to actually be at the place he recorded it.



After Red Rocks, Becca took us to a big liquor store called Tipsy's. I decided I needed to show off my knowledge of beer that I have learned over the years thanks to the Morgan's. So I gave a 2 part beer class. I tried to keep mostly to CO beers, but I did go off the path a little with a few beers that I knew my friends would enjoy trying. It was really fun to share my knowledge with friends. I think everyone enjoyed it. I did an Avery class first. It was one of the breweries that I wanted to go to, but didn't get to. We never made it to Boulder - but there is always another time!


Becca will kill me for publishing this, but I think it's adorable. This was after beer class!! Am I a good teacher or what?!?!



Here's a view of downtown Denver. It was amazing. I had a great time wondering around and going to the Aveda school for a facial that day. It was easy to get around, and the parking was cheap. I was mucho impressed with the city. It is definitely worth a trip there.




Here's some other great places to visit in Denver - The Great Divide Brewing Company, Falling Rock Tap House, and Coors Field (preferably when there is a game so you can go to the SandLot a bar they have there).

Okay - There are more pics - but it's my dad's birthday today and we are going out to eat to celebrate - Happy Birthday Daddio!
Also - thanks to everyone who kept Eric, my bro, in their prayers he got finished today taking the bar and will have his results back in September!

I'm old.

Where did my inner rockstar go? I can't keep up with myself if I don't have it, and I don't have it. I can no longer drink an evening/night away without feeling the consequences the next day. The lifestyle change I've been wanting to make happen is definitely going to HAVE to happen. Funny how life works that way.

I have CO pics and will put them up later - I have to go nurse my heavy hung-over head And I didn't even really do it up. It was a 'normal' night. I will be mourning the loss of my inner rockstar, also.

Watch out, CO!

Tomorrow I head to Denver, Colorado to meet up with a college friend, Beth (from Oakland, CA) and then visit my good friend Becca while we are there. I'm pretty psyched for all the visiting and good times with good ole' friends. I'm also excited for the vacation aspect of it as there is only like 2 weeks of my summer of fun left. I'm sure I will have lots of pictures upon my return, which is Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Summer!

Let's talk spontaneity. I believe that by myself, without others, every decision I make would be spontaneous. No thinking. It's how I've bought every big ticket item, with the exception of the house. My oboe was my first - just went out and bought one. Second came my car. It's also how I teach, although I have lesson plans I often take the teachable moment run with it. I once tried to convince Brian to go to Vegas one weekend, but of course his rational thought stopped us. I say all this so you can understand the spontaneity of todays events. It is hot. I go outside for 5 minutes to do something and have to come in and wipe my face. I'm sweaty. I get Maggie's crate out of storage so I can clean it off with the hose and after it's done I just decide to spray myself. I kinda hold it up in the air like it's rain and then....I remember. I remember that Mary bought me a beautiful, yellow sprinkler when I moved into my house last year.
So I being the spontaneous person I am hooked that up and for lack of better words, played. It probably only lasted 5 minutes or so, but it was fun. I kinda wish there was someone else to enjoy the moments with me.

Here's the cheesy, stupid, happy smile after playing in the sprinkler.

Maggie-moo

I could sit here and write complaints - little things that are really unnerving right now, but I won't. I will vent to you about how my dog, Maggie, has fleas - still. I've done everything but fog the house, which I will be doing over vacation. I bought her 2 separate shampoo's (and shampoo her every few days), I've applied 3 months of tick/flea drops, she has a flea collar, and I have also treated the carpet, thrown out the vacuum bags after I vacuum daily, I wash all bedding that she lays on AND I put on a spray treatment in the backyard. I'm kinda at a loss. I figure when she goes to the vet to be boarded, maybe I would see if they have some kind of flea dip or something. All I can figure is that the original flea drops - regular Hartz for dogs drops - did not work. I think I'll probably have to resort to buying the expensive stuff for her, which sucks. In the long run though, I probably would have saved money.
I know I was venting - but in reality, it's all worth it. Maggie is the sweetest and best dog. It's worth it all just knowing that someone is waiting for me to get home.



This is a nervous Maggie on the 5th of July - we had lots of people over as well as another dog.

On the move

Here's what I captured at 7AM this morning. My man, Beau, on the move! I am thankful. I hope he finds somewhere else and doesn't come back.


Here's a pic from my kitchen window. I knew that if I went outside at this moment that I ran the risk of him getting back in the lower pond. So I just took this fuzzy pic from the window. I believe if you click on the pics, they will get big and you can see the detail better.




So, after he got quite a ways away from my ponds, I snuck outside and walked up close to him. He didn't run as I suspected, nor did he put his head in his shell. He simply sat there. I didn't go in front of him because I was scared. I stood about 3 feet away. I was mainly worried that he would come after me...not that he would..but you know. So I got some decent pics of the snapper. I also noticed that the back part of his shell had been damaged. My guess is he's been run over several times. Which made me feel a tiny bit sorry for him. But all in all, I'm glad he's outta my pond.

Just for fun

I know I'm old because...
I have to have more than 6 hours of sleep a night to function
It takes me an entire day to recover from a few hours of drinking beer/vodka/beer
I think I have not been out in a month, omg!
and then I think, I don't have to go out for another month and I'll be fine
my priorities have gone from who's buying the beer to how late is Lowe's open?
I go to the mall no more than once a year
my fashion sense comes from Target, Walmart or Kohl's
the first thing I think when I get out of bed is, owwww, because either my feet
hurt or my body is stiff
I actually want to be financially independent and knowledgeable
and finally, I know I'm old because....
the parents of the middle school students I teach are younger than I am.

Last day

Today was my last day at the salon. Finally. I don't think the owner even ever got my resignation letter. That place is seriously going down hill. I don't think it'll be open past this fall. They'd have to really come in and redo how it's run and who works there (services wise) and also do some promoting of the place. To celebrate I went and got some ice cream at Dairy Queen and ran into an old friend of mine, Tehani (I told you it was the summer of old friends). I guess she lives right across Wornall from me. So we exchanged numbers and now I have another friend that lives close to hang out with. Very fun and exciting. I wonder who is next...

Good Times

Here's a pic montage of good times from 4th of July weekend. I'll put the comments underneath the pic.

I started out my weekend on Thursday by going to Shakespeare in the Park. They did Othello this year, and the lead is one of my very favorite, Damon Gupton. He not only is beautiful, smart and funny, but he also is the assistant conductor of the KC symphony. It's more his beauty than anything - but he was amazing. So was the production of Othello. I rarely think that the Shakespeare in the Park disappoints. Every production has been a good one. The wine/beer and good cheese also help.

On Friday, I went to Celinda and Jesse's house to celebrate 4th of July with friends. It was a fantastic time. Here is a picture of us playing whiffle ball (the best!!). I must have gotten pretty serious about it-I had to put my beer down.


Here's Samara and I posing for the fireworks. Those are really fun pics. Everyone should start taking them. The one on the left is of Celinda, me, and Clinton.



Here is the one pic I have from my game night (at my house)on Saturday night that I feel sums up everything. This is Brian with a beer in one hand, summer brew in the other, the tiki torch behind him and the grill still warm. Good times!



Hope you enjoyed the picture montage. I just felt like sharing some pics.

Satisfaction

Most of my satisfaction in life comes from completing tasks, watching/helping people achieve, and seeing the labors of my work become successful. So, mostly emotional. And there are many times in my life that I have worked very hard, set myself up for success and not seen it. This is usually dependent on someone else, like my students. I may put every ounce of everything into making them successful, only for them to make a poor decision that puts them on a different path. But over the last 5 years, I have just resigned myself to knowing that the effort I do put in gives me the satisfaction in knowing that I am helping someone, or accomplishing something even if I never see the end result. So, now you should have some idea of how emotional, rather than mechanical, my life is.

But yesterday. I spent all day arm-pit deep in the bottom pond trying to fix my pond pump which decided to quit. At first I was a little hesitant because of Beau - and the fear that he might bite me. But once I developed a plan in case he did bite me, I got to work. I got the pump off, cleaned it, put it back on and plugged it in at least half a dozen times. Finally, I took the entire thing apart, put it back together (I know at this point everyone is really impressed) and then filled my sink with water so I could test the pump inside. (that was messy) Anyway - after all the finally I got it so that it was spraying water on my ceiling - I figure it would work then. I actually ended up plugging it in first this time and trying it out in the pond before putting it all back together (has to hook up to a pvc pipe that runs the water up to the top pond. So after all is back together, said and done, my pump is working wonderfully and the waterfall/stream is better than it's ever been. The water is also clearer, which will make for better Beau watching.

The point: I had great satisfaction in using my hands to fix something. I was very proud that it worked better than before.

In case you come over...

You might need to know this information.

Common Snapping Turtle - Chelydra serpentina serpentina

This is a common turtle of Missouri and one of the most abundant turtles in the eastern half of the United States. Adult common snapping turtles range in upper shell length from 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm), and weigh from 10 to 35 pounds (4.5 to 17 kg). map of Common Snapping Turtle RangeThis aquatic species is normally gray-brown in color, but the upper shell is often covered with mud or algae. Common snapping turtles inhabit a wide variety of aquatic habitats: farm ponds, streams, rivers, swamps and lakes. Contrary to popular belief, this turtle is more a scavenger than a predator and feeds on both animal matter and aquatic plants. This turtle is economically important because large numbers are captured and eaten by people. In Missouri, the common snapping turtle is considered a game species; check the Wildlife Code of Missouri for current regulations concerning this turtle.





Of course this is not 'Beau' or bohemuth, it's a much smaller version. But it looks a lot like Beau. Today, Natalie and I sat still like bushes and waited for him to come up for air so that she could see him. And see him we did. He looked me right in the eye and laughed, a little ha ha, you can't catch me. So, welcome Beau into the family. His home is in the bottom pond with the Koi/Goldfish.

4th of July 2008

I showed my patriotism by celebrating with family and friends. It was a great weekend and I am truly sorry for all those that are back to work today.

Here's some pics of fireworks at the Shawnee Mission Park. It was the first time I've ever taken pictures of fireworks with my camera so this is a learning quest in action.




That is my friend Samara and I. I don't know why we have our arms like that...but doesn't she have amazingly long arms?

Before the fireworks we played a little wiffle ball. It was FUN! I think we should do it every year and maybe even more. We had enough people for 4 on a team plus cheerleaders/picture takers. Here's a picture where you can see me running, well my leg and then Stacy coming after me or going for the ball or something.



It was a great celebration. I always enjoy the 4th of July at the Hodge's house. The spread is AMAZING. Jesse's smoked brisket and pork is mouth watering. All around the best time EVER!

family, best friends and Ingrid Michaelson.

So this might be a long blog. I'm going to add some pics to it as well. I just feel I have a lot to say and show today. Enjoy.

Last weekend my Aunt Peg and Uncle John came into town. It is always good to see them. They are my favs! I wish I saw them more often. I'm going to have to make conscious decisions to get up to SD more often to see my dad's side of the family. Like make it an every year thing for myself. Family is important to me, and I don't always feel like I show that or keep in touch with them the way I'd like. Anyway - more on that later, here's some pics of the famdamily!


This is me and Uncle John


Uncle John, Aunt Peg, my mom (Susan) and my dad (Earnie)



The boys - Eric (brother), Uncle John and Dad - I really like Eric's expression in this photo.



My family. We never used to have full family pics or pics other than when we were little, but now I take them any chance I get. I love the full family picture.

As I said in my blog yesterday, I went to see Ingrid Michaelson with Mary. We had a blast and even played photo shoot at the bar while we were waiting for the show to start. Here's some entertaining photos of that and the show. Kodi - she was amazing.


I love this shot. I am on a saddle and yes, I am wearing a skirt.


Bestests! It was so hot in there! Mary always carries a fan - THANK GOD! She fanned it so much it broke...but she's got like 3, so it'll be okay. We were having a really good time.



Here's Ingrid. Mary got some closer pics (her camera is better). I'm so glad to have gone - it was touching and a very good time with my bestest.

Now for the annoying deep stuff.....
So earlier I talked a little about keeping in contact with family and how I would like to do that more. Lately I've noticed A LOT of things that I'd like to 'be'. I've said in posts before that I'm not happy with the person I'm becoming and so I know I need to change it. So, I'm starting to try and do that. I know though that these are things that you kinda live into. And then one day you reflect or someone notices and you realize that you have become that person. That's how I noticed that I didn't like the person I was becoming. An old friend flew out a few weeks ago and I realized how amazing of a person she had become and that in fact she had become the essence of what she was striving to achieve when we were young. And in noticing that I noticed that I had become many of the things I had wanted to, but also many things that I did not want to - or if you can grasp this - I had become the person I wanted to be, but now have decided that I don't want to be that person. I know I just lost everyone. But I really write this post for myself, rather than the masses - so.....
Anyway - I now have a clearer picture of the person I'd like to live into being.



This is a hella long post. I hope you all made it through okay and enjoyed the pics.

Twists and Turns

I cannot believe it is July. I'm almost in utter denial. I have already fallen off the bonnie's bootcamp wagon and into Natalie's 'summer of tube top fun' wagon. Of course the latter is way more fun - which is why I probably dived into it rather than fell into it.
Regardless of tubetop or bootcamp - it is the summer of reconnecting with old friends. I am almost a little excited about who's gonna crawl out of the woodwork next. It's so wonderful. It's almost as if when I was going through all the crazy crap this year that I sent out a mental message to everyone that ever truly cared about me, and now they are all coming through. It makes me emotional thinking about it that way. But it is so nice to reconnect with so many wonderful people that have been in my life at many different times.

My bestest, Mary is taking me to see Ingrid Michaelson - one of my very favorite singers right now - tonight. I'm totally stoked for the concert. If you haven't experienced her - I'm embedding a video, hopefully, and there is also a song of hers on my myspace. If you know me at all, and know my taste in music, you'll totally get that I really like her. So tonight is a BIG treat, I cannot wait.