Giggle - Snort

Giggle, snort, snicker, wheeze, heart-race, gaffaw, and Snoopy-dance. Our powder pass accounts came in the mail today :) :) :)

One-hundred degrees outside today and I'm excited about SNOW.

Middle Kid

I just returned from a trip to Spokane to visit my sister. It was great fun, laughter inducing, relaxing just being me, intoxicating taking another step. I am the middle kid - with an older sister and younger brother. Here's why that's GREAT:

• there's always someone else to blame
• most tasks are better done by someone older or younger
• one can hang out comfortably in the middle (in gatherings as well as on controversial topics)
• you probably won't die first- you probably won't die last
• comfort is given in knowing that you will always know more and know less
• when there was someone to pound on, availability was not a problem
• advice can be found from both directions
• warmth is found within in a sandwich

Love Affair

After 110 miles, I know it's love. When I was sixteen I thought I'd arrived when I got a new TEN-SPEED, royal blue with yellow taped handlebars. Now there's a new love in my life - a cherry red Trek 7.3 FX.

Here's why:

• The smells of Little Leaf Linden, Honeysuckle, and Russian Olive


• Easy shifting


• A cool bell that allows a warning signal as I flash by


• A sky roof where I can see Timp and Cascade Mts.


• Parking in my office


• Simplicity in carrying only what fits in the little bag under the seat


• Speed (admittedly faster each day)


• Relaxation that only wind in your face can give


• Keeping up with my bike pals

Summer's End

San Diego Laird Ladies' Retreat


Oregon Coast

Well, with two great trips under my belt, it's back to work on Thursday!

It's Just Not Right

Beaver Mountain, Sundance, Solitude, and the Canyons are all now closed. Boo-hoo. We were at Solitude last weekend and the snow depth was abundant. The irony here is that come November, we'll stand in line to ski the rocks and tree stumps.

The Andy Griffith Show

I am hopelessly addicted. Watching the Andy Griffith Show has become a nighttime ritual that has been added to the cereal/milk, hot bath, and reading routine. I LOVE this show and laugh out loud. Now that we have satellite, I've found that outside of the 7 free channels that I've watched for 52 years, I now enjoy the rich humor of this classic.

Some nights there is a triple-header and the half-hour program really is almost that long (without all the adds so typical of today's TV). Andy's hick accent wraps around your heart. Aunt Bea's gestures remind me so much of my friend Geraldine. I want to rub Opie's head and mess up that red hair. Barney never quite gets things right. Helen is always just out of Andy's reach.

Teaching

When I tired of teaching, I sought an escape through a Master's Degree in Instructional Technology, complete with code and web design. Short story - I'm still in teaching. All said and done, I've had an amazingly fun ride as a teacher and love it. Nothing can be harder, more distressing, complex, exhausting, and exhilarating than this path.

I didn't plan to be a career woman, but have been grateful for the choice to persue an amazing occupation. Life has thrown my sweetheart and me some curves that required my profession, my health insurance, and the knowledge earned in the classroom.

The other night as I lay waiting for the slumber bug to hit, I reminised the HYSTERICAL classroom moments that have provided laughter:

• watching a dreadlocked, baggie-panted, hoodie-wearing, mean-looking, soft-hearted male student run to fly his personally-sewn kite for the points needed to graduate high school while holding up his pants with his free hand
• admiring Mrs. Stewart and Mrs. Cluff waving and laughing at their classes from their car as they circled the parking lot, blowing their horn because they'd arrived late to class after lunch
• turning off the lights and hiding with my whole class from Heather
• seeing high school students fight over who got to take home Walter (our pre-school guinea pig) for a long weekend
• alarming the front office and administrators with a briefcase bomb
• observing what happens when ice is thrown into a deep-fat fryer
• sewing through my own finger immediately after bragging that it'd never happened to me
• gluing a Skittles rainbow onto contruction paper and knowing my daily rate of pay
• taking 25 students to watch a cow be slaughtered
• having the nick-name Lizaird Lazerock
• being thrown over a student's shoulder and carried out of the classroom while demanding recognition of authority
• making ball-sized cookies
• chopping nuts
• helping a frustrated student set in a tailored sleeve by totally taking over and putting it neatly in upside-down
• allowing a student to make a jacket out of clear vinyl
• teaching sex education
• spotting girls from my beginning gymnastics class and them believing that I could do it
• emptying the pee-filled chalk bucket used for the uneven parallel bars
• finding out years after the fact that two of my students drank booze in my classroom on a regular basis from their 32 oz. soda cups
• slamming my shin into my desk drawer then jamming pins into my palm then staggering into the edge of a door during a lecture
• turning on the lights and setting up "the steaming cup of coffee"
• driving the school bus, parking the school bus, abandoning the school bus
• seeing the Rhodes dough teddy bear's belly button change position during bake time
• yelling at Dr. B.
• Dr. B.'s copyright hit-list
• Mr. O.'s buttermint stretch
• laying in my bubblebath at home during parent teacher conference
• eating at the Ideal Cafe with Marthanne
• finding my own fingernail in a hand-dipped chocolate
• hearing that a student thinks my socks are stupid
• riding a skateboard on my head before the entire studentbody
• falling flat-out on the floor from my platform shoes before a class
• lecturing with oreos in my teeth
• measuring the inseam and chest
• realizing that so few people care
• docking 2 points