Harumpf!

You know, I try to put good, uplifting posts on my blog but every once in awhile I just need to vent. There are two things that are really bugging me right now and I don't want to have to deal with either one especially not at the same time, but I will because I really have to. They're really not all that hard to deal with, I just have to do it.

#1--I had my downstairs neighbor come upstairs last night and tell me that something in my bathroom is leaking and causing damage to his ceiling. I am so done with having to fix bathrooms right now what with all the bathrooms I've had to fix over the last 6 months. I went and saw the ceiling and it's pretty bad, kind of annoying that they didn't mention anything sooner, but oh well. I can't see any water damage in my bathroom so I can't tell you where the problem is. I've already arranged to have someone come take their ceiling down on Tuesday morning and then we can hopefully see what the problem is and hopefully it is something that can be fixed with the ceiling gone and the entrails exposed. I really don't want to have to break into my shower wall. On the positive side, if that does happen, I'll get to learn to tile a shower. I have to admit that I wished this morning that it was my bathroom that had the problem and not the one my roommates use because I want an excuse for me to have to retile my shower...who decided to use a tan tile, it really messes with my color options in decorating my bathroom.

#2--My roommate is moving out, don't worry, it's a good thing. I've never really meshed with this roommate, not that we ever really clashed , but we just haven't bonded like I normally do with my roommates. Add that to the fact that I've had to have some really uncomfortable conversations with her about her boyfriend that shouldn't have had to have happened but did, I am happy that I will be out of this situation. A good friend of mine from my ward is actually moving in, so I will still have two roommates. With the whole bathroom situation, I had to go in there and check things out and it is DISGUSTING! I'm pretty sure they haven't cleaned anything in there since they moved in at the beginning of May. I wrote a note on their mirror that it needs to be cleaned before the new roommate moves in and before the one moves out. Based on the conversation I overheard when the roommate got home, she's not very happy about it. What did she expect, that she could live somewhere for 4 months, make a mess, and then just walk away! I am so not happy. I will probably end up cleaning the bathroom which means I will get paid to clean the bathroom from her deposit and I'm not a very cheap cleaning person and I don't feel bad about it either.

First Week

I have had 7 days of school so far this year. My class is starting to warm up and understand what I expect so things are starting to get a little easier in some aspects and will be getting more difficult in others as we start to get more academic. Along with the first full week of school, our school has a tradition of holding a Mustang Week (our school mascot is the mustang). We started this when the school opened two years ago as all of our students were coming from two different schools so we wanted them to feel like a group of Mustangs rather than the Cougar Cubs and the Explorers at a new school. Every day of the week, we have something happening to celebrate the start of a new year. This year, we started with a carnival (we usually end with the carnival but we couldn't get it on Friday and it was cheaper to get on a Monday). My co-workers and I played right along with the kids. In fact, Adam and Garrett jousted each other, I took pictures:






We had our students complete an art project on Tuesday. We made stick horses/mustangs because 6th grade Mustangs "stick" together!

Memories!

I left a memory on someone else's page so I guess that means I need to post this on mine. Feel free to participate if you wish. Here are the directions: 1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Class is in Session

I got students yesterday. The last two days have gone by quite well, nothing to complain about too much except for the fact that my students don't talk I know, i know, I'll be saying something different in a couple of weeks, but my class focuses on discussion and it's just not happening right now. i'm still trying to figure out ways to get my students comfortable with each other, we've played a few games and i think it is slowly working.

On Monday morning, I had 27 students. Monday afternoon, I had 28...twenty minutes later I had 27. By Tuesday afternoon, I had 26. As of two hours ago, I have 25. Both of my coworkers have 28...that means I get the next 3 students to move in to the school boundaries.

The following are pictures from my San Diego trip. Enjoy!

Planes, Trains,and Automobiles

I realized today that I haven't given a synopsis of my trip these last few weeks.

The First Week: Cedar City
My workshop was not all that great, but I had to go to it. There were a few good moments when we had guest speakers, but there were more moments where we tried to keep ourselves entertained. Some highlights of the week included catching golf balls in nets, observing prairie dogs, and hanging out with my co-workers. I got to know my fellow teachers a little bit better during the week and now they know me a little better as well. I think this will be a good school year when it comes to being more social with my co-workers which will make it easier to bounce ideas off of each other.

The Second Week: San Diego
My parents picked me up in Cedar City and we drove to southern California from there. We got as far as my aunt's house in Barstow the first night and then continued on to San Diego the next morning. Before San Diego, we stopped in Desert Hot Springs to visit my grandma and great aunt (I don't remember when I saw her last before that visit). We got to the condo we had for the week just in time to start walking down the street to meet my sister and her family who were walking up the street with all of their luggage as they got off the bus from the train station a few blocks early. My nieces and nephew did not waste any time in getting to the beach and getting wet even though they were supposed to stay dry. We went to Balboa Park one day and spent the other days just sitting around and playing on the beach. I had fun building castles and "swimming pools" in the sand with my niece and nephew. At least they were old enough this year to get their own water from the ocean, I was the designated water runner last year so they wouldn't be swept out to sea. I was planning on getting some schoolwork done as I sat on the beach by reading a series of books we plan on having our 6th graders read this year, but I couldn't do that very well because my family got hooked on the books and read them the whole time.
My brother-in-law had to go home a few days before my sister and the kids so I agreed to return to Modesto on the train with them. We had to take two trips with the car to get us all to the train station only we were running behind and the 2nd load didn't quite make it in time. My youngest niece ended up driving back with her grandparents and my sister and I only had to keep an eye on two kids.

The Third Week (really only a few days): Modesto
We got back to my parents' house early Friday evening. It was good to be back at home. Sleeping arrangements were interesting as a majority of the beds were already taken so I opted to sleep on the living room couch. I normally sleep on the top bunk when I go home so I was not used to my nieces and nephew being able to reach me. I woke up pretty much everyday to one child or another poking me in the face or asking me to turn the TV on. I got a babysit quite a bit and ran up to my grandma and grandpa's house to collect some fruit.
I flew back to Utah on Tuesday. My niece and nephew keep asking my sister where I am and when Christmas is coming because I told them I would see them at Christmas.

Since all that excitement, I've been working in my classroom and at home on school stuff to get ready for school to start. My meetings started yesterday and I will have students on Wednesday. I don't know if I'm ready for a new year to start just yet, but it's coming whether I'm ready or not.

The Day After

Ok, so I didn't post the very next day but things weren't quite resolved yet. The thing that had me so mad was the fact that I got home from my trip and my apartment stunk, there were still dishes in the sink that were there when I left 2 1/2 weeks earlier, I'm pretty sure the trash was just as old plus a couple of pizza boxes stacked next to it, and the biggest of all: a package and a big rent check was missing from my mail pile.

It turns out that the rent check was never sent which makes me feel better and the package was not the package I was expecting to be delivered but I still did get a package that is now not here. i have no idea what was in the package but one roommate said she put it on the counter and the other says she never saw a package in the first place. I don't know what to think.

Grrr!

I'm home and I'm mad, but I should be in bed and I really don't have all the details so I don't want to spread rumors so I will post again tomorrow.

I'm glad I am home, weirded out that school starts so soon, and planning on having roommates move out that weren't planning on it themselves. Wish me luck!

The Ant and the Grasshopper

I'm at home in Modesto kicking it with the fam. I've spent most of my time with my nieces and nephews and trying to clean up the house. Today we turned them into ants. We've been trying to get them to help out more but they are too interested in playing and watching TV. I had to tell my niece the story of the Little Red Hen yesterday so she would help her grandma make the smoothies they were going to drink. I must be related to my mom because she told them the story of the ant and the grasshopper this morning so they would help us in the garden and then cut up and freeze the fruit we picked. They were very excited that they were ants and not grasshoppers although, Andrew kept asking if it was time to be a grasshopper yet or not. We got a lot done and we're taking a break for now then the ants will come back and work full force inside because it's getting too warm outside.

Sandy Eggo, Sandy Eggo!

My adventures have now taken me to Sandy Eggo aka San Diego (on our trip to San Diego last year, my niece was excited to go down to the beach and started singing a little chant about being in Sandy Eggo, we still sing it).

My parents picked me up in Cedar City and we headed south on 15. We stopped in Vegas to see Steven for a little bit then headed off to Barstow to stay at Aunt Beth's house for the night. The next morning we drove to Desert Hot Springs to see Grandma and Great Aunt Hulda. I am now almost a full head taller than Hulda.

We arrived in San Diego about the same time my sister arrived on the train with her husband and three small children. After sitting in the condo for about 10 or 15 minutes, my nieces and nephew were asking to go down to the beach, they're pretty smart. We were planning on only walking on the beach and looking, but of course we all got wet.

Since then we've seen a pony in a purple t-shirt walking down the street and visited Germany Cricket's house. Elisabeth saw a guy with a mohawk walking down the street in a purple t-shirt and started calling him a pony because his hair was cut like a horse's hair. Today we visited Balboa Park and stopped by the international village. We went to the Finland cottage briefly and then asked Andrew where he wanted to go next and read off the surrounding cottages: China, Argentina, Germany, and Sweden and he asked to go to see Germany Cricket like on Pinocchio.

Tomorrow is a day to play on the beach, yeah!