World's best student teaching

This week was my first one student teaching. If I do say so myself, I am pretty much the best student teacher there's ever been. I mean, I go waaay above and beyond the call of duty. More on that later.

I'm working with Jennifer Holmes at the middle school here, and she is an amazing teacher! I take these education courses about what an ideal teacher, and she is it. She is incredibly positive with these 7th graders, even when she is conferencing with them after class about their general slacker-ness. I've gotten to observe this week, and I wrote down a lot of things that I can be sure to do.

The first week was only for observation, but being the awesome go-getter I am, I actually passed out some papers and made some copies too. I'm sure I'll get a gold star or something!

It's pretty neat being back in my old school. Just about every corner of that building brings back some memory. I remember exactly where my locker was in 7th grade and even my combination. One time we were out in the halls cleaning out our lockers, and somewhere in the depth of papers heaped on the bottom was a nasty old apple starting to mold over. Ew! I just shut my locker and decided not to use it anymore. Fast forward several weeks later, and that entire section of the hallway smelled to high heaven! I think I eventually braved the stench and threw away the apple-- along with a good barrier of papers to protect my hands.

Then there's the time in shop class while we were drafting, I reached across the table to grab an eraser, and another girl stabbed my hand with a compass. It was HER eraser.

In 8th grade, all my friends had 6th lunch, but I had 5th. They had so much fun while I was stuck in stupid French class, so I just stopped going to French! Then after several weeks, I met Madame Gillebaud in the hallway. She asked me what was going on and where I'd been, and I felt so bad that I just started crying right then and there. Then I resumed going to French.

There's the time Lydia and I had been absent for a test, and we had to go sit in the hall while the class reviewed it the next day. Mr. Farley came by and asked us what was up, and we made up a story about how we got in a fight and in all our pushing and shoving, we broke our science teacher's fish tank. He believed us, and we knew we were cool.

It's funny to see some of my old teachers (only like 5 or so). They have no idea who I am, now that I introduce myself with my married name. Mrs. Smith-Ecke, the orchestra teacher, recognized me after a double-take, but it was because I was friends with her daughter, not because I'd had her as a teacher.

It's fun to see my old daycamp kiddos all grown up. There are probably 10 or so that I've recognized so far. I last had them in camp when they were 7-year-olds, so they don't remember me at all. But it's amazing to see the little 2nd-graders peeking out of these sassy, 7th-grade bodies.

This next week we're going to conference about what exactly I'll be teaching. I'm happy to be getting more involved. It's hard to observe the same class 5 times in a row, especially on days where Penny wakes me up earlier than my already-early 6:00 alarm.

Not cheer leading's finest moment

Student teaching

My big plan for the fall has been to do my student teaching. Unfortunately, due to some lapses and delays by many people involved, this has been uncertain until the very last minute. And that minute would be now.

That's right, y'all, as of Monday, I will begin my student teaching! Wahoo!

This doesn't mean all the paperwork and red tape has been finished. But to keep this post on a happy note (because I am very happy to be starting on only the 3rd day of school), I am just happy to be finally starting.

India or New Zealand

We like munching in our family. Since we've been married, Kevin and I have slowly but surely been gaining weight. I remember when we were living in China and I first felt my tummy rolls touching each other while I was curled up on the bed reading. I cried then, but I laugh now, because I would love it if that's all the pudge I had now! We've been talking about it lately, and while it's not a huge deal now, if we can't keep our weight in control during our twenties, there's no way we'll be able to maintain a healthy weight in our thirties, forties, or beyond.

And also, find it hard to find motivation to exercise when it's too hot outside. Or when it's too cold. Basically, there are a couple weeks in the spring and again in the fall where I feel like exercise might be fun. But I don't generally go do it, even then. I also like to eat when I'm bored.

Kevin enjoys eating donuts and ice cream, and these are consistently his (unanswered) requests when I go to the grocery store. I don't want to become the wife who slaps his hand and hands him a celery stalk whenever he reaches for the potato chips or anything, but I do want to encourage him to take better care of his weight.

So Kevin came up with a plan. In about a year from now, we will take a vacation. I want to visit India, and Kevin wants to go to New Zealand. Kevin suggested that whoever loses the most weight gets to choose where we go on our trip. "Okay!" I agreed hastily, before I realized what I'd said. What I should have said was, "Or how about the person who reaches their weight loss goal the soonest gets to choose?"

So we modified our plan. Each of us has made a goal, and as we meet our goals weekly, we will be able to put tickets in a jar. Mine will say India, while Kevin's will say New Zealand. Then after a year we will draw our ticket to determine our destination!

It's been two days, and we're both doing great! I've done better about drinking water and eating substantial food when I'm hungry, rather than just munching every time I visit the kitchen. Kevin has been practicing his self-restraint, and several times I've seen him in the kitchen chanting, "New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand," and then leaving without any food.

We'll be waifish before we know it!

Pause for a moment before the craziness resumes

Last night we got home from vacation. I'm not sure what we were vacationing from, but I can tell you where we went vacationing to:

• First, Lake Tahoe. My grandparents live there during the summers, and my family all got together there for a couple weeks. I mean, we all came and went at various times, but I think there was one point where everyone-- except my dad-- was there. We spent the week waterskiing, tubing, and eating fattening food. I gained 7 pounds in the 6 days I was there. Daniel still had to work on his summer school classes, so we spent a few hours a day learning about protists and analyzing characters from novels. Woohoo. On the day before we left, Kevin, Daniel, and I went tubing, and during one of my spectacular falls, I wrenched my shoulder something awful. I really thought I'd ripped it somewhere, as I couldn't move it at all without major pain. But then in a couple days, it was well on the mend. I'm very happy about that!
• After Tahoe, we flew up to Washington state to visit Kevin's family. We had a lot of downtime, and I did a lot of quilting. I had to buy needles and thread there, and the lady at the quilting store was a friend from church. It's nice to know people and take advantage of their expertise.
• We went to Sequim (not pronounced Seck-wimm or See-quee-imm, but Squimm. Who knew?!) and visited the drive-through animal park. You pay your admission and then drive amongst all these exotic animals and feed them bread. I got nuzzled by a yak, who stuck his head in our car to ask us for bread. Did you know that yaks have rectangular pupils? And Penny pushed on his nose and got a hand covered in goo. That was a surprise! (For her...) The bears were behind an electric fence, but Penny waved and said hi to them, and they waved back! We drove by just as the lion roared a bit. That was loud! The buffalo and elk were interested in us, but if we tried to rub their snouts, they were suddenly uninterested. Hmmm.
• We visited Olympic National Park. We drove up there through rain and mist and clouds (think Twilight), but when we got to the visitor's center at the top, we had passed the clouds and saw a beautiful view! The mountains still had snow, and down in the valley right below us the clouds were churning and wafting. The weather was just perfect, we had just eaten lunch, and I thought it was marvelous!
• We did not go to Forks. I really enjoyed reading the Twilight books. What a fun read! But they did not merit a pilgrimage. :)
• In Seattle we met up with another Foreign Service family whose blog I follow. They just finished their first post in Houston (not technically a foreign post, depending on who you ask), and they're in the process of moving to their next one. It was great to talk to them about moving! Some things we'd already thought of and worried about, and others we didn't yet know we should be worrying about. It was also fun to chat with them about their upcoming post in China (!!!).
• Kevin's high school reunion was this past weekend. The first night was just an informal "hey, let's meet at Tides Tavern on Friday night" sort of thing. Unfortunately, the planners forgot to realize that everyone else in town already hosts "hey, let's meet at Tides Tavern on Friday night" nights every week. It was packed! We met up with one friend and then went to Thai food. Saturday night was the actual event. I met some of Kevin's old buds, had some great food, and chatted with some fine, friendly folks. We would have stayed and mingled more, but the hostesses had cranked up the tunes so we could all dance to "Bye Bye Bye" and "Hit Me Baby, One More Time." Now don't get me wrong, those are COOL songs, but we wanted to mingle, not dance. So we went over to Tides Tavern after all. :)

And on Tuesday we came home. Penny has been a perfect traveler for all her airplane trips so far, so we were in for a doozy. She woke up at 2:30 AM and slept fitfully on and off until 7:00. So did we. Then instead of falling asleep for her nap on the plane, she cried and cried while I wrestled with her. She eventually fell asleep, but every time I'd shift at all, she would wake up and holler before drifting back off. I didn't think she was THAT loud, but every time she would make a peep, the woman next to us who glared as we got on would plug her ear with her finger and stare straight ahead. Ugh! It was a long flight.

So after a nap and a night's sleep, we're back at home in New Mexico. I'm still working with my University and the middle school where I want to do student teaching. School starts tomorrow, and it's still not set up. I've been the squeakiest of squeaky wheels, but I'm still not getting any grease. Wish me luck!

Italy in downtown Gig Harbor

Kevin and I are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary today, and we had so much fun! Penny got to celebrate by going to a real estate open house with A-Ma and A-Gong, and Kevin and I went out for lunch! We went to Il Lucano Ristorante. It was marvelous!

The waiter with the strong Italian accent sat us down and told us the specials. I had to strain to understand, but I'm sure glad I did! I got the last thing, which was a mushroom stuffed pasta.

While we were waiting for our food, the chef came out to visit with us. He was a stocky, boisterous man with a hearty, loud voice. "Are you hungry?" he asked us. We assured him we were. "Well, good! I will take care of you!" He clapped Kevin on the back and headed back into the kitchen.

When our food came, it was incredible! Mine turned out to be homemade stuffed pasta (sort of like tortellini, but shaped more like won tons) filled with mushrooms and cheese, then with fresh marinara sauce and more mushrooms ladled over the top. Kevin got a panini.

We got to talk to the chef again once we'd eaten a few bites. We asked him if it was homemade pasta ("Of course!"), and when he saw that Kevin had only gotten a panini, he said that while his sandwiches are very good, "your husband will be wanting to try a bite of your pasta." We laughed, because I had only eaten one bite before Kevin had already asked for some.

We didn't just talk about food. He told us about his family and his two teenage sons that he was very strict with so they would speak Italian at home, and now they speak perfect Italian and perfect American English. We mentioned we had a one-year-old baby, and he enthusiastically urged us to have another one right away.

We went out to lunch just wanting to try some good food, and we got much more: we got to visit Italy right here in Washington! It was fantastic. The food was the best Italian food I'd ever had (and Kevin's panini was great, for a panini), and the restaurant was marvelous.

All summer we've been drifting around, waiting for Kevin's security clearance. This has been fun to explain to everyone (So, we're waiting for a security clearance. No, he's not working for the lab. No, he doesn't have the job yet. No, we're not sure when he will.)

On the Register

All summer we've been drifting around, waiting for Kevin's security clearance. This has been fun to explain to everyone (So, we're waiting for a security clearance. No, he doesn't have the job yet. No, he's not working for the lab. No, nothing's set in stone...). But then a couple weeks ago, on his fortnightly phone call to the State Department, Kevin found out all his security clearance paperwork was all in and awaiting final review. This was good. First of all, it meant the long process of contacting and interviewing all of Kevin's associates from the last 10 years or so, across the country and several continents had been finished. It also means they figured he wasn't a shady, untrustworthy, Communist spy. That's nice.

And today, we got a letter in the mail telling Kevin that he is now officially on The Register. This means that next time the State Department hires for a training class, Kevin will be on the list of available hires. Kevin passed with a pretty good score (5.4), but it put him in the middle of the pack of amazing applicants that the Foreign Service gets. Fortunately, Kevin held the ace-of-speaking-Chinese up his sleeve, and it bumped his score up 4 points (5.8). We think that this means he'll pretty much be picked for the next training class (in the end of October).

We'll keep you posted, though.

Feeling crafty?

When I was little, we always enjoyed visiting my Aunt Miriam and seeing what she was creating. I remember once sitting down in her basement, and within about 30 minutes, she had made my sister and me a whole tray full of poofy hairbows. (This was the mid-nineties and exactly what I would wear for the next several years.) Some had rosettes that she had just twisted together using plain ribbon. I'm still amazed.

She always made dolls and doll houses, and I just went through our old family pictures and found one of a cupboard that she had painted and papered to become a doll house for her daughter, who could just sit on the floor, open the cupboard, and voila! A doll house. (Someday I hope to make one for Penny.)

Anyway... this isn't a eulogy. This is an advertisement! This woman can-- and does-- make just about everything. She's done designs for all sorts of decorating and crafting magazines, and now she's started a blog. You can visit it here.

Sometimes I like to make things, but I don't really know what to make. Sometimes I know what I want to make, but I don't really know how. Miriam can help! She's up-to-date on the latest ideas, and she also loves the classics. Just recently, she took an oil painting my grandmother had done (see, this creativity definitely runs in the family... to a point ;), and somehow transferred copies of it onto special paper with special stuff and made it look like originals stretched on canvas. She teaches you how to do it here.

Anyway... check it out! And keep it in your sights, as she is posting more and more crafts and ideas.

Blue Angels

Today up in Seattle was the Sea Fair. It was rainy and drizzly (what else is new?), so the fair itself was a little bland. We went to the Lake City Pioneer Days. It sounded cool, but most of it was just a row of booths selling stuff. One of the more unique booths was selling deep-fried PBJ sandwiches. We tried a sample, and it was... pretty greasy but good. The outside is crispy, while the PB gets a little melty. We actually ate Mexican tacos, which were wonderful and not crispy or greasy. See, sometimes the healthier choice is the better choice all around.

There was a car show we enjoyed in the rain. For me, the highlight was a 1919 Cadillac limousine. This luxury car had more of a feeling of Cinderella's coach than what I generally think of as a limo. There were wooden spokes on the wheels, a tube to talk into for communicating with the driver, a glass vase mounted on the wall, and general awesomeness. My other favorites included a Dodge Viper, a Ferrari something-rather, and more Mustangs and Camaros than you can shake a stick at. There was a purple 1970 Dodge Challenger. Kevin and I realized that we need a flame paint job on our engine. Not the hood. The engine. Because that's what you look at when your car is broken down on the side of the road.

Ahem.

The awesomest part of the Seafest was the air show. We parked on the side of a hill where we could kind of see the planes fly by, and while Penny slept in the car. Kevin walked down to the beach at the bottom, but I decided to stay with the baby.

That lasted about 5 minutes. I saw a glimpse of a jet flying by with a field around it where the sound barrier was breaking through the clouds. It looked like a haze of pixie dust (or some masculine equivalent) clouding around the plane. I only caught like a swift glimpse of it, so I woke Penny up, and we joined Kevin on the beach. It was an awesome air show. The Blue Angels fly essentially on top of one another in tight formations. And I watched Top Gun, so I know that can be super dangerous if you catch the air-wake of another plane. (They may or may not have been playing the electric guitar theme from Top Gun at the beginning of the air show.) They were amazing, and also, two planes would come in from opposite directions, then flip over and bypass each other probably like 10 feet apart-- or less. It was pretty much spectacular!

Pioneer Day

My dad's hometown of Manassa, Colorado, annually hosts a huge Pioneer Day celebration on the 24th of July. We used to go almost every year, as did a lot of our cousins. It was a blast! However, I was always a little confused, because while we were celebrating the pioneers coming into the valley, it wasn't the pioneers coming into the San Luis Valley, even though that did happen. No, we were celebrating the Mormon pioneers who left religious persecution in the midwest and made it into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24th, 18something. And since Manassa is a cute little Mormon town, it hosts its own celebration.

I hadn't been up there for a few years, but this year we were only a couple hours away, so we headed up. We got there on Friday, just as the parade had ended. But that's okay; we'd see it twice on Saturday. We visited with my family who had come into town for the occasion, and meeting my cousin's two-week-old baby, Olive. Usually Vanessa and Kevin (Goertzen, not Fisher) are the center of attention and life of the party. However, this time we hardly saw either of them. :D I know how that goes!

While we were up there, Kevin Goertzen took some pictures of Baby Penny in honor of her first birthday. We borrowed Grandma's washtub and took some pictures in the old barn. Then we went and took pictures in front of this strange house in Antonito, Colorado. In case it weren't already obvious that the owner wasn't firing on all cylinders, here's what happened next. We took some photos in front of the wall of hubcaps, and then we walked across the street to look at some goats. Well, that wrapped up our photo shoot, and we headed home.

And yes, we forgot the washtub.

Kevin G. headed back just 15 minutes later to pick up the tub, but the guy who lived there (and watched us take pictures and visit the goats) had pulled it into his yard and refused to give it back. He even refused to acknowledge that it wasn't his. Kevin started laughing because it was truly such an odd situation. And the man started mocking his laugh, like he was in elementary school.

The frustrating part was that the tub was just 6 feet away from the gate. You could almost reach it. But of all yards I can imagine getting shot for entering, this the top of the list. So we just left the tub. Maybe he needed it for a roof on his castle.

To put a normal end on that bizarre day, we went to the demolition derby. We all (well, everyone but Tom) cheered for a car named Kevin, and it turns out that Kevin won the whole thing! Can we just say it was aptly named?!

And then we headed home, back to New Mexico. I have to clarify these days. But don't worry. The adventure doesn't stop there. More to come... :)

Bear Camp!

One of the biggest disappointments this summer was that I didn't get my old job at Bear Camp. Well, I applied again with the LA County to be a general recreation person, and that would mean I'd get to work at Bear Camp for most of the summer... once I got hired. They accepted applications through June 12. Then three weeks later, I got a phone call for an interview. At the interview, they mentioned that the next new employee orientation wasn't for ANOTHER three weeks. This means I wouldn't start until July 26, but I'd still have three weeks left to work at the awesomest job ever.
But I had some family vacations planned for the beginning of August. My grandparents have never met Penny, and then Kevin's high school reunion is in a couple weeks up in Washington.
So when the call came offering me this job... I turned it down. I felt torn completely in half, but then I realized that won't be living in the same country as our family for the next thirty-or-so years, and it would be better for me to visit my family than take a job-- even one as awesome as this.
So when one of my coworkers messaged me on facebook about awaiting my triumphant return, I cried.
Then I decided that my vacations hadn't started yet, and by golly, I'd like to go volunteer at Bear Camp. So I went for a couple days. It was so fun to play tag games with the kids, glue popsicle sticks together, sing Bear Camp songs, teach them the rooster song which had faded from memory since my days there five years ago, go swimming, eat my lunch with the kids, and come in as late or as early as I wanted. I was a volunteer; I don't have to be responsible!

One neat thing was that there were two kids there who I remembered from five years ago when they were little 6 year olds. One of them, Kelson, used to love to dress up. On Harry Potter week, he'd show up dressed as a dinosaur. On Rock Star week, he'd come dressed up as a skeleton. On a normal day, he'd come dressed up as a dinosaur. He just liked to dress up. Now he's eleven or so, has long hair (as he did as a child) and wears all black-- even in the summer! But he's still a good kid. The other one was Zar-- short for Balthezar, really! He was always one of the sweetest kids. We would eat lunch together, and he'd always make me eat his Bonbel cheese. See, I would NEVER eat a child's food (ahem), but he'd offer it so nicely. And I'd refuse. He'd strongly insist. I'd strongly insist he eat his lunch, darn it. Then he'd tell me he was throwing it away anyway, and would I rather have it than have him throw it away. And then I'd cave. And this year, he did eat his own lunch, but I'd still turn around and always find Zar right there at my elbow, smiling and starting up a conversation. He's such a sweetie! And I wonder when (or if) he'll ever cut his rat tail. Maybe next time he cuts the rest of his hair, which may also be never. What's this with all the long haired kids?! ;)

A couple of the counselors (Jessie, Austin, Riley, and Squeaker) had also been kids at camp when I worked there, and it was surreal to see them-- well, bigger versions of them-- out there being responsible and still entirely silly.

One of the highlights of the week (okay, I only went for two days... I was busy), was going to the staff meeting on Thursday night. They had a BBQ, and Seth and Riley handed out the Bear Camp awards: the Bearies. Those two are the funniest boys I have ever met, and they had us laughing the entire night. I even got an award (which was a certificate rolled up inside of one of last year's Triathalon third-place-finish cup. I shall treasure it always). I won the award for Y Counselor of the Year, beating out a girl named Stephanie who actually DID work at the Y, and a pile of bear poo. Ah yes, those were the days-- all five of them!

I'm sad to know it, but those were probably my last days at Bear Camp. I don't see myself ever being in the position again of being able to work at a summer camp all summer. But I hope that when we come to visit my family in the future, when Penny is old enough, maybe we can send her to Bear Camp for a week to have a wild adventure of her own!

Only four more years!!