Whirlwind

Whirlwind does not even begin to describe the past week. I've had this goofy looking smile pasted on my face since Wednesday and I don't think it's going to disappear or fade anywhere in the near future. At this point in time I'm very thankful for new friendships. Why? Because sometimes those friendships evolve and grow into very beautiful things.

And right now there is a red rose standing proudly on my kitchen table.

[Yes. Miss H has a boyfriend. ;) ]

I know I'm loved

It makes my day when:

• One of my students from the past two years comes back to see me for math help even though she's now taking Algebra II in the high school.
• An amazing group of my high school students from last year come back to visit me after school.
• I have a marvelously long surprise phone call with a close friend from college as she drives from MI to KY.
• My dinner plans include pesto cavatappi with grilled chicken, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. Mmmmm... one of my favorites. :)
• I can enter school grades from my computer at home.
• I realize I've had nearly a week of consecutive wonderfully eventful evenings.
• There are only 15 days separating me, Colorado, and one of my dearest friends.
• Tomorrow is Friday, Colts day at work, and a long-awaited coffee date with none other than Mrs. V. :)

Siblings

Mine are the best. Hands down. No contest. They rock.

And once you've met all three of us I think each of us makes more sense as an individual. Once you know the whole it's easier to understand the part. :)

Love you guys!

Beginning of the Year Survey

Each year, on the first day of school, I have each of my students complete a "Beginning of the Year Survey" to help me get to know them. I include questions such as "Why are you taking this course?" and "What is your goal for this course?" to "One thing I must know about you is...". This last question is my favorite by far. Some students have the most clever responses- like the one below...

"One thing you should know about me is that I'm a dreamer. Sometimes my mind wanders off into total fantasy. If this happens, don't try to talk to me- snap in my face or hit my desk."

:) I love my job.

But perhaps the favorite moment of the first day involved a different student. He was an 8th grader when I first began teaching and was advanced in his math courses. Thus, he was taking Algebra (with another teacher) and Geometry that year. Last year he took Algebra 2 and this year he is now in Precalc. Apparently he's really been looking forward to being in one of my classes because when he walked through the door on Tuesday he looked at me with a great big grin and said "Finally!". Well I'm flattered you've been looking forward to this moment so much. :D

Here's to a great year 3 of teaching!

Unwelcome Eight-legged Guests

I recently spent two weeks with my family up at the lake. It was, as usual, marvelous family time. :) If I had one complaint, it would be the endless number of spiders that one couldn't help but notice walking along the water. And these weren't your flimsy spiders either. No, these were substantial nickel to quarter size spiders. Now, while I tolerated their presence, I was also looking forward to returning to my spider-free apartment. I had worked hard to keep my apartment free of such pests by regularly spraying a rather heavy duty repellent all over my deck, door frames, deck screen, and the screens to the windows I regularly opened.

So imagine my severe disappointment on Sunday afternoon when I return home and find a few eight-legged guests awaiting my arrival. I couldn't figure out how they found their way inside in two short weeks when a longer absence earlier in the summer left no such results. Over the next several days I dutifully killed an eight-legged being whenever it crossed my path. The fly swatter or a flip flop were never far away. Then today I had a little hint as to how the creatures were finding their way into a new 'home'. As it so happens, the window in my office is rather stubborn and sticky. In fact, it is INCREDIBLY stubborn and sticky. I sprayed it with bug repellent last year, but it then took me nearly a half hour and a hammer to actually close the window. So this year I decided to leave it closed and forgo spraying the screen with bug repellent. Apparently at some point before I left, I had opened the window and then thought I closed it completely and locked it. Well, the lock did not fully catch and the top half of the window slid down ever so slightly thus giving the critters a way in.

Today I yanked that window up and securely locked it in place. And then I began to vacuum. I took the vacuum hose and attachment and vacuumed against the baseboards. I vacuumed up the corners where two walls met. I vacuumed the corners of the ceiling. I vacuumed the corners where the ceiling met the wall. And I did that in every room. And then I vacuumed the floors. And then I swiffered the hard floors. And then I moped the wet floors. And then I was happy.

One other noteworthy moment. Today I spotted a rather sizable spider hanging out on the wall behind my kitchen table. I caught a glance of it out of the corner of my eye and, I'll be honest, I was slightly startled. So I quickly grabbed the fly swatter and sent up a quick prayer "Lord, please help me kill him quickly with one slap and find him afterwards". Swat. Plop. Trash. My prayer was answered. :) Unfortunately he did land on the table cloth. It's now in the laundry basket. :)

So, things you should've learned...
1) I don't like spiders but can kill them when the situation demands it.
2) Spraying spider repellent is effective... as long as you close windows where it was not used.

The end. :)

A Kalamazoo Weekend

I spent this past weekend visiting my second 'family' in Kalamazoo. It was phenomenal! I pulled up to the driveway, got out of my car, and Mama J exclaimed "There's my other daughter!". :) Awwww! Before I began my drive north Susan had commented "I'd share my room with you, but you've got your own room in the house. And of course 'my room' was just as it was when I left at the end of last summer. It was unexpectedly comforting. :) It truly is another home. I loved having girly chats while prepping food in the kitchen, eating family dinners (including Sunday lunch with the grandmas!) and joining in on night time conversations around the table. Incredible!

Saturday night Sarah, Susan, Steffi and I went to a local community theatre to see a production of "Peter Pan". It was extra special since they knew several of the cast members. What a great way to spend the evening! Church on Sunday was marvelous. Wedged between Steffi and Suz I felt right at home. :) Suz departs for med school again at the end of the month. Hopefully this will be the year that I make it out to CO to visit her. As I've never been west of Iowa, that trip will be especially monumental. She has her exam schedule, I have my cross country meet schedule... now we just need to find a weekend that coordinates with both schedules. ;)

Mama J sent me home with a giant cool-whip container of MI blueberries. They're delicious... and half-gone. ;) Thanks Mama J!

Cleaning the Inbox

I just cleaned out my e-mail inbox- I went from 746 to 75. Oh yeah. Another one of the items on my summer 'to do' list can now be crossed off. :)

I've spent this week being slightly productive and completely relaxed. It's been divine. My linens are all refolded and rearranged so the edges don't show. My car had an oil change and a bath. I cleaned out several binders from my bookcases. (The hallway bookcase still needs to be tackled. It has all the materials I gathered for textbook adoption this past year. On second thought, maybe it'll just stay like that this year until we actually complete the adoption process.) I applied for a passport, ordered more checks at the bank, painted, ran, biked, wrote letters, etc.

Despite the fact that I've spent the past 6 school years in IN, this is actually the first time I've spent any relatively significant portion of summer vacation in the state. During college I'd return to MI to see my family and work. Even this year I went to NC to work for a few weeks. But now I'm here, in IN, at my apartment, my official place of residence, just hanging out. And it's not at all odd. Perhaps it has something to do with how happy I was to see the corn fields when I returned to the state (yes, excited, and that is in no way an exaggeration) or how familiar, normal, and right it felt to be driving back into town and my apartment complex.