Year in Review

Here are a few shots of where I went this year.  

June:  Washington DC and Raleigh, North Carolina

July:   Grand Canyon (North Rim) and Utah

Sept:  Grand Canyon (South Rim)

Oct:   Grand Canyon (South Rim)

Yes, I visited Arlington. Twice in this trip, actually.

Who DOESN'T love all the Smithsonians?

DC is one of my favorite places. 

We ate loads of cupcakes while I was there.

A side trip back to DC (from NC) took us to Washington's birthplace.

The street pretzels in DC were absolutely disappointing.

Grand Canyon!  I visited this place three times this year.  Once in July, once in September and once in October.  Two of the three times, we camped.

We made it up to Bear Lake and did some canoeing.  Not in this, though.  This is CLEARLY a kayak, and CLEARLY not mine.

We also went to a Decemberist concert for free-ninety-free in SLC.

I went to a baseball game in July for the first time in three years.  

THIRTY!  German Chocolate Cake is the BEST way to celebrate getting old!

Here are my feet in the GC after "hiking" with the parents.  We went partially down South Kaibab.

Beautiful sunset picture taken at the GC in September.  I met up with the parents for this trip.

I was not nearly as dedicated to pictorial documentation of my year as I should have been.  Alas!  2011 was a year of growth.  I started my year with a new knee and continued through the year working on a new outlook.  Here's to new adventures and a great harvest of growth in 2012!

A Christmas Miracle...

After a grueling 12-ish hour drive, I made it to the place of my nativity just in time for the family Christmas Eve dinner.  It was with much trepidation that I piled from my Mustang into my mom's Mustang (we're ridiculous like that.  Side note--the ONLY REASON I have a Mustang is because Mom and Dad gave me a SCREAMING deal with low monthly payments) and headed out to the town of my dad's birth.  

The trepidation was short-lived and misplaced.  I had a WONDERFUL dinner with the family (grandparents included)!  After a short church service this morning (one hour instead of the regular three), I trekked back to my parents' house and heated up some tamales for breakfast.  I insisted that we sit around the table like people (my snarky brother insisted that we sit around the table like animals--I ignored him) and we kind of ate breakfast together.  It strikes me as funny that we don't know how to do this...

Anyway, after opening presents, my brother suggested we play a game of Hearts.  We actually got the parentals to agree!  We played a game of hearts (and I lost spectacularly) and then I taught the fam how to play MY favorite card game.  

"Pounce!" is a game one of my dearest friends taught me how to play. When we were roommates in college, we played it.  When I moved from a Junior College to an actual University, I took the game with me in my heart and shared it with the people I loved there.  We had HUGE "Pounce!" nights every Sunday one year and more than one marriage resulted from those times.  So, it was such a great feeling to share that with my family.  

Christmas usually consists of everyone eating breakfast on his or her own terms, my mom cleaning up all of our dishes, everyone ripping open presents and then disappearing into various nooks of the house.  Sometimes we go out to a movie together.  I'm so happy this year that we did normal family things!  I may be struggling with the whole spiritual aspect of my life right now, but I find great comfort and happiness in having family time.  We haven't ever really been united as a family.  Even on Christmas.  I'm grateful for progress and hold out hope that it will spill over into other areas...

Nerdy Impulses May Lead to Sculpted Legs...

I had a nerdy impulse today.  I don't know what the impetus was for such a nerdy move, but the results are now on my ipod.


I got it into my head that I should make a playlist of songs with the word "run" in the title.  And, lo and behold! when one googles that phrase, one finds a PLETHORA of songs from which to choose.  Here's what I liked and could afford.  I shall be running to these when I finally decide to start running again...


1. I Just Wanna Run--The Downtown Fiction
2. Pumped Up Kicks--Foster the People (pushing it, I know, but it says "run" so many times, it works.  Besides, who DOESN'T love the whistling?)
3. Run--Collective Soul (this MIGHT actually have been my impetus, come to think of it.  This one in conjunction with #4)
4. Run--Snow Patrol
5. Keep the Car Running--Arcade Fire
6. Run Like Hell--Pink Floyd (I DO love me some Floyd, man)
7. Runnin' Down a Dream--Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
8. Run--Vampire Weekend (not as good as their other stuff, but still wonderful)
9. Run for Your Life--The Beatles
10. Runaway--Linkin Park (I debated, but it was only $.99)
11. Run Through the Jungle--CCR (YES!)
12. Running on Empty--Jackson Browne
13. Free to Run--Gomez
14. Running Up That Hill--Placebo (scary demon voices)
15. Run Right Back In--Armor for Sleep (this one I discovered on itunes, not the google search)


Maybe this shall motivate me to put my VFFs back on and, well, walk briskly.

Accomplished...!

I had a night out on the town last night and so I didn't take the time to blog.  It's my excuse, take it or leave it...


Work ended on a bit of a sad note yesterday.  One of my little guys decked another one of my little guys in the eye while waiting for the bus.  Apparently there is a big ordeal behind the act of violence that I will be hearing more about on Monday.  But, the act itself is at once troubling and a reminder of the difference I've made.  


Lemme 'splain.  


The kid who did the decking (we'll call him 

"Slugger") has had a LOOOOOOOOOOOOO*breath*OOOOOOOOOOOOOONG history of disruptive/destructive behavior.  He has a rough home life (I kinda want to strangle his mother--sometimes I lean toward violence myself). He is severely lacking in basic social skills.  AND, to further complicate the issue, he has the MOST tender little heart I've EVER encountered in a 10 year old.  So, naturally, I love him.  He has the biggest place in my heart.


ANYWAY, he has been doing SO WELL in my class this year!  Yes, he still throws fits and shuts down when he doesn't get his own way.  Yes, he still acts incredibly impulsively.  Yes, he still makes noises randomly.  Yes, he still shouts out inappropriate things at other children.  Yes, he still hides under the furniture.  But, he has NOT had major meltdown.  And he likes coming to school.  He likes being in class.  And he smiles all the time.


So, when I heard that Slugger wailed on another of my babies, my heart just broke.  For both of them.  Maybe a little more for Slugger than for Slugged.  Because I know that Slugger didn't act out of boredom.  He felt provoked.  Maybe it wasn't a big provocation.  Maybe it wouldn't have been a provocation to anyone else.  And that will not be taken into account when punishment is doled out.

I do realize, however, that this is not the end of things for him.  We've hit a little speedbump--a little reminder that there is still work to be done.  We've also found a place to reflect back and see the progress that has been made.  And I am grateful to know (without any sense of pride in my own accomplishments) that I have had a part to play in that.  

Accomplishing Accomplishments...

Good day today. I really don't know what it was, but my kids and I were able to plow our way through most of what we needed to do.  AND, they were even partially engaged!  


Too bad my dumplings weren't as cooperative.  I really wanted to eat those...


As I have no good way to segue, I will simply post a link to the great song I found today.  Enjoy (unless you've already heard it, in which case, you don't need to tell me)! 


Also, I think our new pool cleaner guy was trying to flirt with me.  He mumbles, though...

Accomplishment(s)...

Day three.

I really dislike Wednesdays.  That is to be saved for another post, however, as the purpose of this week is to focus on the positive. This is meant to be energizing...

My students took a little math assessment today to check in on their ability to multiply multi-digit whole numbers.  And, guess what?  A majority of my kids PASSED!  I have been agonizing over the seeming lack of progress this year.  I often feel as if I'm doing more harm than good, so today was a needed shot in the arm.

Oh, and I love Matt Damon.  He gets it when others don't...

Accomplishing...

Day two of my challenge...

I successfully sucked all the vitamins and nutrients from fresh greens and replaced them with fat and salt.  Yay for alfredo sauce!

I have a huge stack of greens yet to defile...