Back to School

August 24th was the first day of school for the children in our subdivision. It was a pretty big day. Everyone was excited to get back to school and thrilled with their teachers. I'm glad that our kids have such a good attitude. I certainly wish that more kids shared it. For some, school is nothing more than a way to interupt their Wii/Nintendo/Playstation time. Such a pity.

Bailee loves everything about fifth grade. She has come home bubbling every night. She is such a good kid! We have certainly been blessed to have her in our lives. She turned 11 on the 26th. That is so hard to bleieve! It seems that she was just a little six-month-old fresh from Vietnam just a few seconds ago. People have always told us that childhood goes by so fast. I am determined to continue to savour every moment we spend with Bailee. She is such a treasure!

One of the great things about this stage is the way her mind works. She thinks up the most interesting things! Our little "partners in crime" - Bailee and the Jenkins' girls, are creating a scrapbook about their WebKinz stuffed animals. The little stuffies are having all sorts of adventures during the girls' photo shoots. Put it down as another great memory!

On Beyond TIred

This has been a full and busy week. Diana and I worked like crazy (and far beyond crazy) on getting our classrooms ready. I managed to get most of my tasks completed by the date of our Open House (August 19th). We were not able to have an opening meeting with the parents because our gym is not finished yet. That will have to come later. That is just one of the many ways in which this school year has lacked cohesiveness. My students came for their first day on the 20th. It was a very interesting day. The fifth graders did pretty well, but we had many younger students who got lost in this HUGE school. It is a big change (in many ways) for the little ones who came from Harwood Elementary. I know it is cheaper to build large elementary schools - but I prefer the smaller schools we have in Ammon.

Diana (and Bailee) had their Open Houses on August 20th. I don't think I have ever seen Bailee more excited (or nervous). She spent a lot of time getting dressed and making sure she looked "just right." I think that she will have a good school year. The first day for Diana and Bailee is August 24th. I'm glad my first day is over with my kids!

Because of my Open House, I had to miss registration night for Studio One. I was really disappointed by that, as it is always fun to touch base with all the other dance families after the summer. I love our studio, and I really enjoy doing the website for it. Check it out at www.studioone-dance.com. We are doing open auditions for THE NUTCRACKER on September 12th, so anyone can come and try out. Many of the parts do not require a great deal of dance experience and include parts for itty bitties and adults. It's a great Christmas experience.

The Last Days of Summer

This is the last weekend of summer for us. School will be starting on Monday for the teachers in the family. We finally got to go into our new school on Friday (albeit with lots of restrictions - such as no helpers under the age of 18). This is what I saw when I walked into my room. I fought the desire to turn heel and run though. Somehow during the move I lost my matched set of desks (which were replaced by crap from the district warehouse for some unfathomable reason), my podium, several portable white boards, an easel, and a 6 foot table (all belonging to me). We were told "We only brought over what we thought you needed." Nice (and typical).

Thank goodness for the sillies waiting at home. The "Jenkies" (our neighbors) came for dinner and provided a spoony good floor show. Little Bree couldn't manage the spoon, but her smile lit up the room.

Bailee took a photo of another of our favorite sillies - young Caribou. He was napping in his playpen when she took the shot - waking him up in the process. I'll add the caption "What do you want?" for him.

Now, it is back to the rock pile! Hope you all had a good summer!

Good News at Last!

I had to start this post with this funny picture of Bailee. She's chomping down on her favorite #4 Slim (just meat and cheese) from Jimmy Johns www.jimmyjohns.com/ (our favorite place for sandwiches). Can you imagine her trying to eat a sub with anything else on it? Good grief, she seems to be dislocating her jaw as it is.

Today we finally got some good news. We get to close on our refinancing of the house in about 6 days. The appraisal is tomorrow (and getting ready for it has been killing me - yesterday I fell down the basement stairs thanks to misjudging the steps with my bifocals). My knee hurts like crazy, but I am still mobile.

We finally can get into our school AND I found a way to access my e-mail. The head tech is changing everyone's passwords (wouldn't it have been nice if he'd told someone), so we have to use a special generic password for now. Our access to the building is limited and there are lots of restrictions to follow. The hardest is the fact that no one under 18 is allowed in the building. That took out the bulk of my helpers! Very frustrating! Hopefully, when the district takes final possession, that restriction will be dropped. Of course, that restriction will HAVE to be dropped by the 20th! It's hard to start school if ALL your students are under 18!

Good friend, Christa, and her husband are picking up their seven month old baby boy this weekend. They have waited so long to adopt! I hope all goes smoothly for them. They will be fantastic parents!

Rimrock Registration

Today I had the opportunity to help the PTO with registration at Bailee's school. Once again, I was impressed by how the school is run, the fantastic PTO, and the terrific custodial staff that has spent countless hours preparing the building for our students. I was also impressed by the majority of the parents and their children. There will always be a few bad apples in the barrels, the complainers, and the impossible to please ... but as a group - you could not ask for better. Bailee is excited about fifth grade in Mrs. Cook's class. In fact, I noticed that most of the students were excited and looking forward to the new school year. That's pretty high praise.

Diana is starting to work on putting her room together. She has a lot to do this year, as she had to pack up everything last spring so they could replace carpeting and paint. I can see that we will be busy at Hillview for the remainder of the week. She is looking forward to the new school year.

As for me ... I have decided that they must be renaming my school Area 51 Elementary. No information, no admittance, and now - teachers' e-mail has been done away with. We are no longer authorized to use it. I am beginning to think that most of the above caution applies, and I'm starting to feel a bit stressed (okay - I am making plans for a full out nervous breakdown). Being a teacher is a real kick. I love teaching, but the other stuff - not so much. Here's hoping that things will get better.

Today, I am Homesick

Today I heard that they were selling the old KPRK Radio building in my hometown of Livingston, Montana. The station itself is now broadcasting from Bozeman. That just seems so WRONG! At any rate, this strange little piece of architecture was such a huge part of my past! It was the first building you saw coming into town from the east and the last you saw going west. Every summer, as we traveled on the train to visit my grandparents in St. Paul, Minnesota - this was the touchstone for hellos and goodbyes. It was our towns only radio station, and I remember it being on at our house throughout the day - the soundtrack of our lives. When I was in high school, some of my friends worked there as D.J.s (yes, it was a small town). I still remember listening to it on my round transistor radio (do you remember those?). The songs, the football and basketball games, it is all there - tucked away in my thoughts. I know that change is usually inevitable, but I hate to see this icon pass away into memory.

Thinking about the radio station got me thinking about home - and I found myself feeling a wave of homesickness. I was fortunate to grow up there. It was a beautiful place and I had a wonderful childhood. I am so grateful for that! This photo of Livingston at night was taken from the hill where we lived. I saw this scene every day of my life. Dang, I was lucky.

What follows are some snippets from my memories. Special places that hold a place in my heart.

This is a photo of The Sleeping Giant that presided over Livingston. Locals said that the Giant resembled Christ. I can't think of anyone better to watch over us. Watching the snow melt at his heart was one of our summer traditions. We always wagered on whether or not the snow would still be there on the 4th of July.

This was taken at the 63 Ranch. It just doesn't get more breathtaking than this.

This little souvenir shop was a favorite when we were kids. They had the strangest stuff - from jack-o-lopes to rubber tomahawks!

My dad loved to fish, and Dan Bailey's was THE place to go if you were a fisherman. My high school shop teacher did the fish for the sign.

Mark's In-And-Out with its famous BEEFBURGERS sign was one of THE Livingston icons. My dad would walk over (when it was Mart's In-And-Out) and get my mom milkshakes from there when she was pregnant with me. After we graduated, my friend Mark purchased the business.

One of the big treats of our summer was when we got to go up to Chico to swim. It was great! Imagine swimming in a pool surrounded by mountains.

I spent a lot of time at Sacajawea Park with my friends. We'd walk along the river and the Lagoon (which is shown in the picture), play frisbee, and do all manner of teenagery things (like playing in the kiddie wading pool). This is also where I was first exposed to Shakespeare, thanks to the Shakespeare in the Park program.

This is the Depot, from which yearly vacations to Minnesota were launched. It is also where my Dad worked. He was a communications specialist for the Northern Pacific Railroad. We loved riding on the trains, because all the porters and conductors knew him and took great care of us. I was always so proud of my dad, the railroad man!

Downtown Livingston. Today they call it historic, but we called it Hicksville and Hooterville when we were in high school. We loved it though, despite its small size. Who else gets to shop in such surroundings?

This is just outside of Livingston, on the way to Yellowstone Park. The valley is called Paradise Valley. How appropriate. It was a favorite place for a Sunday drive.

Snake River Roaring Youth Jam

Bailee has spent the past three days dancing at the Snake River Roaring Youth Jam. It's a yearly festival held down by the river with all types of activities for young people. Bailee's dance group, Studio One, performed there. The first two days the weather was pretty good, but today was miserable. It was SO cold! It also didn't help that there was a light mist of rain falling. That made the stage rather treacherous. I'm surprised none of the dancers ended up on their bums. If you're interested in dance, check out the studio website at www.studioone-dance.com

While our neighbors were on vacation,Bailee got to play mini-farmer. She fed their chickens, gathered eggs, and fed their dog. Most of her time was spent in hot pursuit of the tiniest chicken "Sweetheart," who proved to be a master of escape and espionage. Bailee tracked her all over the yard. Sometimes she was in the corn, sometimes the honeysuckle bush, and sometimes in the wheelbarrow. That little chick did get around, but Bailee loved their games of Hide and Seek.

Oh Crap

Sometimes there is just no other way to describe something. I'm a firm believer in yelling tripe when tripe is served. I just got a big load of tripe dumped on my plate, compliments of my schools district.

As of today, I will have two days to get my classroom unpacked and ready for school to start on the 20th. We received our welcome letters from the district today, and our problem wasn't even acknowledged. I am basically running around the house in a serious rage. The painting is not going well, and there is frankly too much to be done and no time to do it in. Crap seems a pretty mild expletive compared to what I could say, believe me. Right now I would dearly love to sock someone, and I don't particularly care who. It is probably a good idea for me to keep my distance from everyone and everything. Somehow, a rubber room seems like a bloody good idea.

I'm going to drive up to my new school today (they're having registration there). I figure I can at least take a picture of it to use on my classroom blog. Hope I'm not escorted off the premises.

In the midst of all this, thank goodness and Heavenly Father for next door neighbor Jennie. She came over yesterday to help me clean the plant shelves (I think that is what they are called) separating our kitchen and living room. Those living in Eagle Pointe will think "Ah yes. The mega dust catchers." They'll probably also swear. Who thought these would be a good idea? Right now I curse them AND our vaulted ceilings. Why did I ever think these were cool? Didn't I ever foresee the day I would have to paint the ridiculous things? All this makes me especially thankful for Jennie, who crawled up a ladder and crawled onto the top of the plant shelf to scrub it down. What a good neighbor! She doesn't realize how her act of charity probably avoided a murder-suicide (or at least a protracted period of banging one's head against the nearest available hard surface). Good neighbors are priceless!

Later - I did go up to my new school and managed to take a photo. It wasn't possible to look at a room though. The building is much lighter inside than Jefferson Elementary ... but seems quite similar. The PTO parents doing registration asked me if I was working in my room. They were shocked when I told them that we aren't going to be allowed in until the 17th.

Sweet Sabbath

Another Sunday has come, and I was more than happy to see it. This has been a difficult week, and I was thankful for a day of rest. Tomorrow I will pull out my paint and brushes, attack more weeds, and try to clean house. Today, I let things slide. I think we all owe that to ourselves from time to time. Today I napped, read a book, watched old movies, and baked bread with Bailee. It was a good day.

Tomorrow the paint and brushes, weeds, hoses, and household clutter will return to hound my steps from dawn to well past dusk ... but thank goodness for Sundays and the chance to take a deep breath and recharge!

Good news on the Diana front. This week she will finally be free of her nighttime oxygen. She will transfer to a C-Pap machine. We will NOT miss the $400 price tag of the oxygen every month. We have also decided to refinance the house to take care of some of the medical bills that have added up over the past three years. President Obama may not be spot on with his plans, but I certainly agree that something has to be done about outrageous medical costs and insurance companies that feature themselves as robber barons. After all we have gone through with Diana's back fusion, mom's fall, and my cancer scare - I feel mighty militant! Some of the bills we received went far beyond ridiculous. (Such as $1000 for four days of physical therapy. After that, the insurance company refused to pay any more. "Sorry. Aren't you recovered from your back fusion yet?")

Tomorrow is Diana's birthday. In between painting we are going to bake her cake, take Bailee to a pottery class one of her friends arranged with a local potter, and celebrate.