Weather and the Weekend

It's really good to be here this morning and see everyone! We're halfway through summer school and it's gone fast, hasn't it? I thought that on Wednesday we could go grocery shopping for Hawaiian food and play dodge ball and the church. What say you? I'll put up a gadget vote for that so be sure to vote.

Now, the blog topic...the weather. Hmmmmm..... I was so very grateful for yesterday's "cool" day. It wasn't really cool but it seemed like it have a string of 100 degree weather days. I went riding in my boyfriend's SSR hot rod convertible and we went down to the antique car show. I ran into a former student there who is now a MAN and he recognized me; I did not recognize him at first. We had such a nice, long conversation, remembering all the fun times when he was in my class. He was the "Dante" of my class many years ago and used to do a perfect Michael Jackson imitation. It was kind of uncanny because I had been thinking about that with MJ's death.

The storm was a little scary. We (boyfriend and I) were at El Maguey when it hit and didn't have umbrellas. We were parked a hundred miles (exaggerated) away and had to make a run for it. We were soaking wet. Then we went to Mega Movies. We watched Slumdog Millionaire and I really liked it.

Have a great week! I love you! ;)

My Dad

I don't even have to consider this one. Losing my dad four years ago was by far the worst loss I've ever had. He and I were as close as a father and daughter can be. I miss him more today than I ever have. He was my hero. He smoked cigarettes for decades and died early as a result. He died of heart failure and emphazema (sp?). It was a slow, miserable death. But before he died, we talked about his death and planned out his funeral. He died with grace and taught me a lot about death.

Scott Rice

I lost my cousin, Scott Rice, on Father's Day. He was celebrating Father's Day and his oldest daughter's birthday at Wellington Lake when he made a bad decision to jump out of the boat and swim to shore. He and another lady jumped out of the boat to swim to shore. The lady made it and Scott went down. They combed the lake for four hours and finally found his body at 8:00 Sunday evening. By this time, many, many people from Caldwell were on the shore holding hands. He has three children: Lexi, Logan, and Corbin. He also left behind a wife, Kirsten. He was very popular and will be missed by many. I want you all to remember how fragile life is and how important it is to obey safety rules and make good decisions. Even then, none of us really know when our time is over, so be kind to everyone and enjoy each day as it is a true gift. I will see you all on Thursday when we cook Asian food and celebrate life! Love to you all!

My Weekend

When I look back on my weekend, I mainly think of sweating! I worked out in the yard most of the time. It seems that there's always something to do in the yard: pull weeds, water, replant, fertilize, etc.. But I have to admit that I love it. The problem this weekend was that it was so humid and hot! Holy cows! I wasn't used to that! I was a little bit sad on Father's Day as I no longer have a father who is on this earth, and I miss him very much! He's been gone four years and I miss him more than ever! So that was a little sad. My boyfriend, Steve, however, is a father to two adult girls so I celebrated his fatherhood by going to El Maguey. The funny thing is that he picked up the tab...he! he! Isn't that what father's are for? I also took a long nap yesterday which is very unlike me. (Too much yard work!)

If you've taken the time to read about my weekend, here's a secret for you! Please look up a recipe from Asia. Please give it to me after you've printed it off!

My Biggest Worry

My biggest worry today is the country's economy. It seems like I know a lot of people who have either been laid off or hours cut way down. College kids are having a difficult time finding jobs in the chosen careers. I hope the economy turns around soon. And I'm glad to have my job and have the opportunity to work with all of their wonderful students I get to work with in this class.

Five Years

If I were five years older, I would be fifty-seven! Yikes! Why does that sound so old? Because it's close to sixty? Oh my! Hopefully life will be better in five years. Most importantly, I want to still have everyone I love in my life...Mom, Walaby & Aesop (canines), Wade (brother), Steve (boyfriend), Terri, former students, etc.. Also, I want to have retired and hopefully "double dipped" by continuing my teaching career but with more money. Come to think of it, maybe fifty-seven won't be so bad! ha! As I've become older, life becomes a little sweeter. It's a little bit strange. You don't worry as much. The old adage, "don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff" is so true! I hope all of you learn that someday. Getting older is better than the alternative, dying young. Sorry, I didn't make that up either; I've heard it somewhere! (Notice the I;I compound sentence!) Have a good day; we're going to do something different here in a few. ;)

Father's Day

My father died four years ago and I miss him very much! In honor of Father's Day next Sunday, we're going to make magnetic bookmarks. Ask me to show them to you! You can pick the pattern you like and then put what you want on the inside. I think if you type a poem or a short note and reduce the font size as small as you can, it might fit. I also got some scrap booking stickers about dads from Walmart you can look at. The world wouldn't exist without dads so make your dad's Father's Day extra special this year!

Welcome!

I had so much fun yesterday "blogging" with all of you! If you have not made a blog list with everyone on it, you might do that! It is really cool to see everyone's blog.
More than that, it's really fun to hang out with all of you! A week from tomorrow, we go to the church and pack commodity boxes. Meanwhile, we're going to study bees. I have been planning a bee theme for a long time because we are so dependent on bees for food, yet the bee population is dwindling. It's a huge concern in the world! From reading your blogs yesterday, you have a lot to learn about bees. I have learned a lot preparing the unit. I have six "bee hives" or learning centers. Three of them (half, 1/2) are hands on activities that will be really cool! Also, with Ryan's help (ahem!), we are going to do a scale drawing of a giant bee. After all, we have to throw a little math into summer school! I'm going to divide you into groups of two and each group will produce or "blow up" or enlarge a section of the giant bee. If everyone does their section correctly, it will be something we can be proud of and hang in the hall. Imagine that! Also, sometime today, I want each of you to submit a honey recipe for Thursday! Stay tuned for more fun activities and beeeeeeee a good person! Always!