Well, it's day 3 of no school. I would have never thought that school would be closed this long. I'm sure the kids are loving it but I'm ready to go back. I think we got about 10 inches total with a nice layer of ice in between. It's not as much as they get back home, but it was a lot in a short period of time and they're just not equipped to handle it down here. I think our street finally got plowed around 6 or 7pm last night. I love the snow, I think it's beautiful, I just wish all of this happened in December.
It's hilarious to see Sammy running around. The snow is so tall that it trips her up and she often takes a nose dive into it. Last night I went outside to get some firewood and she was following me in my footprints. It was so cute to see her jumping from one to the next. She comes in just covered in snow and spends the next several minutes licking it all off.
We also spent awhile yesterday shoveling the vehicles out. Since the garage is being used by "more precious" vehicles, we're parked in front of the house. Although I don't really mind getting out there and shoveling. It doesn't happen often enough for it to be a chore and it's a good little workout. The worst part was chipping all the ice off my car.
Michael took off work yesterday so we could spend some time together. We mostly just relaxed. He built a fire. He's taking off again today (these snow days are cancelling out my normal days off so it's probably our only extra time to spend together) and we might make it a play day. A neighbor was pulling some kids on a sled behind a four wheeler yesterday. Looked a little dangerous but it looked like fun too. It makes me really want to go play in the snow. That's probably the part I miss the most about back home, the snow activities. I miss snowmobiling so badly or even just being able to go out to the golf course for a little tubing. They have places like that down here, but nothing local. I guess we will see what today brings.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Only Time I Have
to write on here is when school is cancelled. It snowed quite a bit last night and it's mixing with ice today and we're supposed to get some more this evening. So, school is cancelled. We had a feeling that it might be so this time I brought home a bunch of materials to work on. I might get behind with teaching my lessons but by golly I'm going to get ahead with my planning today! I tried to get Michael to take a vacation day, but he wouldn't. So I am determined to get stuff done today.
Well, since I haven't updated in awhile I'll give a little snapshot. Last weekend we spent most of the weekend working on schoolwork, Michael with his classes and me with all my lessons and planning. I've been making a lot of my own materials (worksheets, tests, etc.) so that has been time consuming. We did drive down to see Michael's parents Saturday night. It was nice to visit and Michael got in a little dose of motorcycle movies. I fell asleep. I wanted to watch Miss America---Miss Indiana won (my friend is really good friends with her, so that's my connection). The weekend before last we went out to lunch with my friend Wanda and her girls. They came over later and we played "Scene It" until late. I've always wanted to play that game and it was a lot of fun. They have the Disney version too so that was right up my alley.
Other than that we've just been staying busy with the usual. Michael did get a couple days of riding the chopper in last week...it got up in the 40's. Yeah, much too cold for me. But he will jump on the chance to ride. If the sun is shining and the roads are clear then he's riding. I might take a ride this Spring before he leaves, just to get one in.
Well, since I haven't updated in awhile I'll give a little snapshot. Last weekend we spent most of the weekend working on schoolwork, Michael with his classes and me with all my lessons and planning. I've been making a lot of my own materials (worksheets, tests, etc.) so that has been time consuming. We did drive down to see Michael's parents Saturday night. It was nice to visit and Michael got in a little dose of motorcycle movies. I fell asleep. I wanted to watch Miss America---Miss Indiana won (my friend is really good friends with her, so that's my connection). The weekend before last we went out to lunch with my friend Wanda and her girls. They came over later and we played "Scene It" until late. I've always wanted to play that game and it was a lot of fun. They have the Disney version too so that was right up my alley.
Other than that we've just been staying busy with the usual. Michael did get a couple days of riding the chopper in last week...it got up in the 40's. Yeah, much too cold for me. But he will jump on the chance to ride. If the sun is shining and the roads are clear then he's riding. I might take a ride this Spring before he leaves, just to get one in.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Snow Day
Well, it's actually a cold day. School is closed. I think this is the first time in my life that I've been disappointed about a school closing. I usually welcome the day off. However, I love going to school now and I'm so busy and have so much to do that this is an unwelcome set back. We already had a 2-hour delay yesterday because of the temps, which threw off my schedule, but now I'm going to have to go in on Monday and move around my plans. It's funny how much I am enjoying student teaching. I go in early and I stay as late as I can (between Michael and Sammy I can only stay so late). I didn't even take much home with me to work on. I'm almost tempted to go in anyway and get some work done. I'll probably stay home. Sammy needs the company. She's been acting up a little bit lately and I know it's because we're gone all day. I'm seriously thinking about getting her a brother this Spring. She needs a playmate now that we're both gone all day.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Michael's New Toy
Looking back through my last few posts I noticed I left out some big news...I guess if it's not my big news then it gets overlooked! Haha! No, really I'm excited for Michael. This Christmas break he bought a new motorcycle. It's an American Ironhorse chopper. He absolutely loves it and is borderline obsessed with it. We had planned on getting one next year, but he found this one from a dealer in Kentucky and it had a great price tag so it was hard to pass up. Plus it is just beautiful.
Student Teaching Begins
I finished my first week of student teaching on Friday. I'm completely exhausted and drill this weekend didn't help the matter, but yet I'm ready to get back in there tomorrow. It was extremely overwhelming at first, but as the week progressed a lot became clearer and I started to catch on to the routine and the way things worked. I am doing my special education placement first, and then after 8 weeks, I will do my last 8 weeks in a 3rd grade classroom. So I'm in a resource room for 3rd & 4th graders. The first week was just observing, but I was also busy making up lessons for next week, because I'll be taking over 4th grade math and language arts and then the following week I'll be taking over the 3rd grade as well. You will quickly find out how little time there is with the students and how much you have to try and accomplish. There's never enough time in the day. Not enough time to teach, not enough time to prep, just not enough time. It's hard work but it finally feels like my hard work has a purpose. This is so much better than traditional classwork that once done, gets filed away. My work will come to life now in my lessons that I teach. So far, so good. My classroom teacher is really helpful, the kids are wonderful and funny (kids really do say the funniest things), and I'm really excited to continue this semester and learn all that I can learn. My days are longer now and I'm so tired by the end of the day so I'm sure I won't be on here updating as much as normally do. I'm still finding the balance between school and home duties!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve and is off to a good start in the new year. Michael and I went out the cabin that Jaime and Jeremy were staying at for a few days this week in Brown County. The cabin was amazing, with a lot of attention to details (such as the hooks and handles were made out of antlers, etc.). We had to sneak Sammy out there since there weren't supposed to be any pets. I had to leash her and go outside everytime she needed to. I am not used to that having a fenced backyard at home. But she did really well, not barking or making too much noise while she was out there. We had some kabobs for dinner that Jeremy prepared on the grill. They were delicious. We had chicken, steak, shrimp, potatoes, mushrooms, etc. Jeremy had marinated each in a yummy marinade that day. Most of the night was spent playing board games and playing on the wii. We watched the ball drop on tv; I think we turned the wii off maybe 15 minutes before it dropped. We finally went to bed at 2am, and I was ready. I'm getting old. When we woke up Jeremy fixed us pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. Again, very good. It was a good New Years and I am so happy we were able to celebrate it with them.
My resolution is to try and look at the good side of things and people. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I want to make sure I keep that in mind. I know God doesn't give us anything we can't handle. I know that this coming year will be full of struggles and difficulties and so I need to make sure I always remember this.
My resolution is to try and look at the good side of things and people. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I want to make sure I keep that in mind. I know God doesn't give us anything we can't handle. I know that this coming year will be full of struggles and difficulties and so I need to make sure I always remember this.
The Adventures of Sammy and Zeus Continue
Although this may be their last adventure together. We were watching Zeus this week for Jaime and Jeremy while they went down to Tennessee for Christmas and then to Brown County (they're staying in a cabin for a little vacation). Well, Zeus and Sammy's time together was cut short and now Zeus is back home. Here's the story:
The other day a neighbor came to our door with Zeus in tow. Sammy was still in the backyard. Michael went outside to check the fence but couldn't find a place that he could have escaped. The only possible place could be the wood pile so he started restacking and rearranging it. While he was doing that he looked over and saw Sammy staring off. He went around the shed just to find Zeus on the other side of the fence again! Well, it couldn't be the wood pile. I went outside and started examining the fence line. I found a spot where our fence meets the farmers fence. If Zeus pushed hard enough he could have squeezed between the two. So Michael made the necessary fixes to the part of the fence and the next day there were no escapes.
We had thought we had fixed the problem until the next morning when another neighbor came to our door. She didn't have Zeus in tow, but had seen him running free and came to tell us. This time however, Sammy was with him. Michael found a different spot in the fence that Zeus had moved the board to squeeze in between, this time allowing enough space for Sammy to get through as well. Michael, the neighbor, her daughter, and I all walked around the neighborhood trying to find them. After awhile of searching we all jumped into our cars and started to drive around. At this point it had been too long and I knew they were too far. I drove up and down the highway and then I saw a piece of black fur in the middle of the road. I jumped out of my car and ran over and it felt like Zeus' hair (it wasn't a little animal, just a chunk of hair). That's when I lost it. Jaime called and I stayed on the phone until I got back home. She suggested I call the animal control. I was just about to make the call when Michael called letting me know that he had both of them safe and sound in his car. I was so relieved and a flood emotions just overtook me.
Apparently, Michael was driving by the interstate looking, with no avail. He drove into the neighborhood and looked by the field between our subdivision and the interstate (there's a huge field that separates the two). He saw a big object and when he looked again it was gone. But he stayed and just stared for some reason and then out popped Zeus and Sammy from a lower area. Michael ran a few hundred feet to them (they were only about a hundred feet from the interstate) and brought them home.
Jeremy felt that Zeus was trying to find his way home. Michael says it was very "homeward bound" with Sammy following Zeus on his journey. Either way, we don't think it will be a good idea for Zeus to stay here anymore. That makes me sad, but I want the dogs to be safe and I think Zeus will do whatever it takes to make his way home where he feels like he belongs. So Jeremy came up and brought Zeus home before they headed up to the cabin. Sammy cried the whole time Jeremy was loading him in the car, but as I explained to her, if they can't follow the rules, then they can't play together. This might just be their last adventure together.
The other day a neighbor came to our door with Zeus in tow. Sammy was still in the backyard. Michael went outside to check the fence but couldn't find a place that he could have escaped. The only possible place could be the wood pile so he started restacking and rearranging it. While he was doing that he looked over and saw Sammy staring off. He went around the shed just to find Zeus on the other side of the fence again! Well, it couldn't be the wood pile. I went outside and started examining the fence line. I found a spot where our fence meets the farmers fence. If Zeus pushed hard enough he could have squeezed between the two. So Michael made the necessary fixes to the part of the fence and the next day there were no escapes.
We had thought we had fixed the problem until the next morning when another neighbor came to our door. She didn't have Zeus in tow, but had seen him running free and came to tell us. This time however, Sammy was with him. Michael found a different spot in the fence that Zeus had moved the board to squeeze in between, this time allowing enough space for Sammy to get through as well. Michael, the neighbor, her daughter, and I all walked around the neighborhood trying to find them. After awhile of searching we all jumped into our cars and started to drive around. At this point it had been too long and I knew they were too far. I drove up and down the highway and then I saw a piece of black fur in the middle of the road. I jumped out of my car and ran over and it felt like Zeus' hair (it wasn't a little animal, just a chunk of hair). That's when I lost it. Jaime called and I stayed on the phone until I got back home. She suggested I call the animal control. I was just about to make the call when Michael called letting me know that he had both of them safe and sound in his car. I was so relieved and a flood emotions just overtook me.
Apparently, Michael was driving by the interstate looking, with no avail. He drove into the neighborhood and looked by the field between our subdivision and the interstate (there's a huge field that separates the two). He saw a big object and when he looked again it was gone. But he stayed and just stared for some reason and then out popped Zeus and Sammy from a lower area. Michael ran a few hundred feet to them (they were only about a hundred feet from the interstate) and brought them home.
Jeremy felt that Zeus was trying to find his way home. Michael says it was very "homeward bound" with Sammy following Zeus on his journey. Either way, we don't think it will be a good idea for Zeus to stay here anymore. That makes me sad, but I want the dogs to be safe and I think Zeus will do whatever it takes to make his way home where he feels like he belongs. So Jeremy came up and brought Zeus home before they headed up to the cabin. Sammy cried the whole time Jeremy was loading him in the car, but as I explained to her, if they can't follow the rules, then they can't play together. This might just be their last adventure together.
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