Extreme Exhaustion!

I have forgotten how extremely tiring it is to work all day! So far this week I have endured two days of meetings, a day of planning, and 7th grade orientation. THANKFULLY ... and I do mean THANKFULLY my students did not take part in any form of major rioting or protesting at the thought of being back to school -- or in my classroom. They even laughed at my stupid jokes and thought it was funny that I told them I have a purple toothbrush. Today has been the first day however that I have been on my feet for the large part of the day. Oh do they hurt!

This is a view from my desk. Not all of the desks are showing ... and it is shocking that every seat will be filled! My largest class is 35 and I have 179 students total. I expect more to transfer in soon enough! You gotta love Utah schools!

It is my tradition to get a new "back to school night" outfit for each year. I started it my first year and told myself it would be a tradition. Now I just can't break it (darn!). I spent my lunch break shopping instead of eating with my friends, but I was able to get a pair of really cute gray capri's and a nice green top. I even found gray sandals to match the bottoms. I am excited to show them off tonight!

Tonight is back to school night and I will get to meet many of my student's parents. This means however that I will repeat the same 4 phrases about 50 times. I guess that it is all part of the job description :)

I will definitely sleep well tonight ... and ready or not ... here comes a life of ... CRAZY! We begin!

Congrats Allred Family!

My good friend from work just had her little peanut 7 weeks early! They named him Ethan James. He was 4 lbs 12 oz and 17 inches long. As far as I know he is healthy and happy. He should be coming home next week. I am so happy for you Lynsey! CONGRATS!

It better be better than this ...

I have been OH so fortunate to have fantastic students my three years at South Jordan Middle. Each year it has gotten better and better ... my first year was hard, my second ... better, and last year was a dream! As the school year approaches I start to wonder what my new little rug rats will be like. Unfortunately though my dreams are haunted with anticipation. I have probably had close to six or seven dreams that my students are awful -- on the first day of school. I had one dream that I couldn't make it past third period without crying because I couldn't calm them down. I couldn't even get through my disclosure and set of rules and procedures without them running wild. I am getting nervous about how I will go about training these kids. I have been trying to think about all of the things that I have done in the past ... and honestly I am left speechless. Hopefully it will just be second nature and they will all be wonderful! Wish me luck :)

Daddy-Daughter(s) Night

It is no secret that my sister and I are great friends and enjoy spending time together. Steph mentioned that our Dad enjoyed "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and so we thought that we would invite him to see the sequel. We ended up meeting at The District at 10 pm last night to hit the 10:20 movie. I enjoyed the movie, and it was really fun going to the movies with Dad. I think that we should continue to have either Daddy-Daughter dates or Girl's Night out to help keep up close. Dad said that next time he gets to chose the movie ... but we think that he secretly liked it!

"Two #4's?"

It has been so nice to be able to go out to lunch with Joe this summer. It isn't something that happens often, but it is something that we really enjoy. Knowing that my summer is coming to an end ... really soon ... I asked Joe if he wanted to meet me today at our (my) favorite restaurant.

Pho Cali is a Vietnamese cuisine that is to die for! We walk in and the owner not only knows us by name ... but doesn't have to ask what we are ordering, (we always get the #4). Joe and I generally go every Saturday afternoon ... and then sometimes once another time of the week. Pho is my comfort food. They bring out a huge ... and I mean huge ... bowl of beef broth, rice noodles, and thinly cut steak. Then you add fresh basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, and jalapenos. You finish it off by adding several different kinds of sauces ... they don't smell too good on their own, but taste OH SO GOOD together! If you can handle a nice change ... you should try Pho Cali on 33rd South and Redwood. If anyone wants to try it ... I'll go ANYTIME! YUMMY.

Crazy Daisey Found a Family!

The amount of phone calls that we have been receiving for our little puppy has been overwhelming! The first one came approximately 9 minutes after the ad posted. It was out of state, so Joe didn't answer. The next one was 12 minutes after the posting time. When Joe answered, the "buyer" asked if our britney spaniel was still available. He then heckled to himself and said ... probably ... it has only been 12 minutes! We set a time to meet later that night. When we got to the park across the street from our house I was able to meet the cute family. They had 2 little girls, 5 (tomorrow) and 3. The 3 year old warmed up to Daisey right away ... it took a bit longer for the older one to. At one time the older girl ran off and cried that she didn't want that dog, (Daisey was so excited to be going to the park she was pulling quite hard on her leash ... and it frightened the daughter). They were a cute family and talked about getting Daisey some treats and toys. I have never, as an adult, given away an animal. For Joe and I ... our puppies are MORE than just dogs. They are our family and it was such a hard thing to do. I know that Daisey will be happy, and that this was the best thing for my family ... but it was so hard! I thought that I would have weeks to spend with her ... not 12 hours!

Many have asked why we decided to find her a new home. The main reason is that she is a 3rd dog. If she was the oldest ... she would still be here. It just got too hard to handle 3. Dinner time was tough ... walking them was hard ... and having company was especially difficult. The reasons we bought her in the first place didn't justify obtaining another animal ... but my heart needed something to take care of. Unfortunately Joe and I just couldn't do it anymore. I feel so so bad about it ... but she has found a good family ... which is all I could hope for! I just hope that she is being a good little girl!

Daisey Mae Needs a Home

We are no longer able to care for our sweet Daisey Mae! If anyone knows of someone who needs a loveable little puppy please let us know! She is one year old and is very healthy. She is well house trained and warms up to other dogs quickly. We are so sad to have her leave our family! She loves to go for walks and play fetch.

School Excitement ....

I always always always get way too excited for school to start, (I really don't know why -- five days into the year I am ready for a 3 day weekend ... it doesn't really make sense!) I have to force myself to wait until August to go into the school and set up my classroom -- just so I don't beat the other teachers by more than a month! I am pathetic! This year is no different. I am going crazy here at home all alone ... so the eve of my first return back to school is an exciting one! YES -- I am giving in and going back tomorrow. My dear friend, who is now on bed-rest with her baby, has offered to help me cut out all of my new school decorations that I have made. After I am done with that, I am going to go to my room, arrange my desks, and set up my bulletin boards. Stephanie always comes to help me ... and generally makes fun of my OCD tendencies to make everything perfect. That is okay -- it is my home for 10 months of the year! I know that I am a loser but ....

I AM SO EXCITED!!

Crazy Weather!

I was downstairs reading my current book and I heard a sound in the back of the house that made me think ... man someone is trying to rip through my house! I take a look outside and there are huge balls of hale falling madly to the ground!

Since our house is at the bottom of the hill, all of the water always gathers at the base of our street -- right next to our house. It took mere seconds to accumulate this much water on the road. It was CrAzY! My kitchen floor has water all over it from the heavy water forcing its way through the doggy door. Within 10 minutes or so, the rainstorm reduced to a normal quite downpour. You can still see white patches of hale on my back lawn though!

**I just looked back at the front yard -- and the water has come up over the sidewalk and has started to come up onto my yard. It is a good thing that my house is pretty high above the side walk! **

I took a short clip of the water racing down our street. WOW!

I Am A "CookieMonster"

I should have written this last night while the adrenaline of the concert was still racing through my blood. Joe and I like to go to a big concert a year. It is something that we plan for and look forward to. I was so sad when he found out that he would be on a business trip the week of the concert. (Steph wasn't so disappointed though!) Accepting the fact that Steph was my new idol partner -- she was forced to love David Cook as much as I do. I made her listen to many of the songs that he sang on Idol. Soon she thought his voice was dreamy and I had her hooked. So we decided to make a day out of it.

We started out by going and getting the perfect "david cook" outfit. We shopped at Old Navy, Kohls, Sears, and JC Penney. Steph found hers pretty quick -- but mine took some effort. I have a weird body shape that is hard to fit and it gets frustrating -- especially when your kid sister is super cute and looks great in everything she tries on. FINALLY -- when we were about to give up -- I found the perfect outfit. We shared a salad at Chilis for lunch and headed out to the nail salon to get a manicure and pedicure ... I mean we gotta look good for David ... right? We went home -- got beautiful -- took some funky "I'm ready to party" pictures and left.

It was Steph's first big concert ... ever ... so I had to buy her a T-shirt ... and I got my David Cook T. We sat down and got acquainted with our neighbors -- they were from California and were big Jason Castro fans. We were on the first row of the lower bowl -- close to the back. They were pretty good seats, but it was tough getting good pictures. There was more room to dance though so it wasn't all a waste! The show started and they ran it in reverse order -- from 10 down to 1. Here is my recap of the top 10 AMERICAN IDOLS:

10- Chikezie came out and was cute and fun -- but kind of deserved to be in the #10 spot. That's okay -- We cheered him on anyway -- we were a good crowd :)

9- Ramiele was next -- she was pitchy in parts ... and it kindof seemed like a cruise line performance ... haha only kidding. She was cute -- but boys are SO much more fun to watch than girls.

8-Michael Michael Michael. This is when the show started for me. He started with a queen medley. He definitely knew how to work the crowd. We were singing and dancing ... and of course screaming. He is destined for super-stardom! Halfway through his set of songs he showed us what was under his jacket -- he had an "I voted for David Archuleta" T shirt on and drank out of an Archy water bottle. It was pretty funny.

7-Kristy Lee Cook came out next. I kindof felt bad for her because the crowd was so hyped for Michael ... and then it just kindof died. No problem girl -- we got your back. Steph and I still supported her :) I actually got a bit emotional when she sang "God bless the USA". I cry a lot.

6-Carly picked the crowd back up fast. She was raised to the stage from underneath when she started singing her first song by Evenescence. She looked like a super-star! She was gorgeous -- her hair was flowing back in the wind and ... got the whole arena to their feet. LOVED HER!

5-Brooke White always sang behind a piano or guitar on the show so I was wondering how she was going to adapt her performance for the concert since there was no piano. It was her turn and the piano came out of no where -- raised from underneath. She was cute -- but we had our favorites already.

INTERMISSION

4-Jason was next and we knew that the 17 year old Californian next to us was completely flustered with excitement. Steph and I started chanting ... JASON JASON JASON and she loved it. He was better than he ever was on the show. I have always like Jason's voice -- it is so fresh and clear. He has beautiful eyes -- and was fun to watch. Not my favorite -- but fun!

3-Syesha came out "slut-tastic". I have never seen a dress look so much like a nighty. It was actually a bit distracting. She was all bust and butt. She has a powerhouse voice though --

**DAVID**DAVID**DAVID**DAVID**DAVID**DAVID**DAVID**DAVID**DAVID**DAVID

2-The crowd knew who was next -- and they showed it. I have never heard an arena so loud in my life. He is such a cute little kid -- and has an amazing voice. He got to sing 4 songs, (everyone else besides Cook got 3,) and they were all amazing. You could tell that he was glad to be home and was grateful for all of the support. It was hard to really enjoy his songs when I knew who was next ...

I don't really like to watch the auditions for AI -- so I start watching when they are the top 24. The first night it was on I recorded it and watched it later. When I finished I got to the spot of David Cook and made Joe watch. I told him that this guy was my favorite. I love it when I pick the winner!

1-David is a rock star. He opened with "Hello", then went to "The Time of My Life", "Don't Want to Miss a Thing", and "Hero". Steph and I were going crazy -- come to think of it -- it is probably good that Joe wasn't there -- I think that I might have professed my love for Cook one too many times :) haha! He was so comfortable on stage -- and I am sure he was nervous playing for the Archuleta capitol -- but it didn't show. We were dancing -- and screaming a lot. The girls next to us told us that we were "good screamers" and could win a contest. He finished Hero and threw his pick to the audience -- and left. I was like ... hey what about Billy Jean? Our wish was granted. I LOVE DAVID COOK!!

When he was done the whole crowd came out and sang "Don't Stop the Music". I had to get part of it on video since Joe couldn't be there ... I don't know if that is illegal -- so don't turn me in. Here it is:




Well this has been long and if you made it to the end -- I hope you enjoyed my recap of the AI tour. It was WAY too much fun! I am getting excited about it again :) AND if you hear of DC coming to Utah on his own tour -- LET ME KNOW since I am nothing more than a big COOKIE MOSTER! haha