I need to become better about blogging more often. that way I won't always feel like I have a billion things to share when I actually do sit down to share. well, this summer has turned out to be less eventful than I anticipated. right after school ended, ricky's scheduled changed to 1-10pm thurs-mon. BOO. as if I didn't see the guy little enough. this schedule is fine during the summer but will suck in the fall when I go back to work.

I don't know why I'm complaining. having summers off is awesome. not having to work but still getting paid is in and of itself a pretty great summer. I have had so much down time, that the irony is the majority of my thoughts have been about, what else, SCHOOL. I have plans that are a'changing for next year, and I think that, if I don't get them out of my head somewhere, I am going to drop all of the thought balls I have been juggling (that's what she said).

SO... I'm thinking of doing more life skills in my class. Since so many of my students are missing out on one or more of their electives because they have to "take my stupid class", I thought it would be good to at least teach them some real life skills they can use in their... real lives. I am thinking of incorporating cooking, crocheting (which is ironic, since I have 90% boys), and I'm not sure what else. I am going to do more journaling this year than I did last year. I am going to vary class activities more, because we spent WAY too much time not doing a whole lot of being productive.

The weekly schedule I am thinking is:

m: social skills (we have a curriculum to use for this)

t: study skills (homework catch-up and/or maintain current assignments)

w: life skills (cooking, etc)

t: study skills

f: store/life skills finish/reward time (store is every other friday; finish cooking project or whatever; good little boys/girls can have game time, etc)

My thoughts as far as WHAT TO COOK are things that don't include knives (safety first, people), can be prepped and/or prepared in one class period, are things kids like to eat, and are easy. My list so far is as follows: cookies, mac n cheese, brownies, ice cream, pizza, and ask the kids for suggestions.

The reason I thought of crocheting is because I was trying to think of some way to teach the kids about giving to the community and maybe help think outside themselves. The idea for crocheting starting with thinking about making blankets for the kitties at the animal shelter. I thought that they could work on this skill when they have free time after we've all learned HOW to do it. We could also crochet for Christmas, if they wanna make gifts (scarves, pot holders, etc.)

And then, like I said, I want to incorporate more journaling. Kids with emotional and/or behavior disorders often have deficits in their expressive language skills. I want to make opportunities for them to draw and/or write out their feelings.

Some ideas for prompts:

"Draw or write for five minutes how you're feeling today."

"What is a goal you have? Draw or write about it."

"What is your dream? Draw or write about it."

"Name at least two ways you could (say, tell a person, do)..."

Things I need to do to prepare for next year (to get this out of my head)

Learn to crochet (:D)

Put together/organize recipes

Order WhyTry Journals (that go with curriculum - running low)

Talk to Brandon about his SS curriculum

Print out monthly schedules to write lesson plans in

Draft course schedule per quarter

so many thoughts going through my head at the same time today.

I love this weather.

it's a good thing I'm not barbecuing.

I wish I had propane for my grill.

my plants are loving this weather.

I guess I'm not going to finish planting today.

I need to start my sunflower seeds.

I don't have to water my flowers today.

I want a BLT.

I'm happy I'm home today so I can make whatever I want to eat.

nanny mcphee is on.

I like watching nanny mcphee.

I am cold.

I am going to make some coffee.

mmm, this coffee is good.

I am a bad little blogger. Every time I want to blog, it seems that it's when I need a place to vent or the information I want to share happens to be something confidential about my work and/or students. A lot has happened since the last time I blogged (big surprise there - the last time I blogged was Oct 18). Since then...we had a fun Halloween time. We went to a pumpkin carving party the week before at Betsy and Jeff's that was a blast. On Halloween, we went to a family party at Tina and Randy's - fun watching karaoke, especially with the kids there. The holidays were also a great time for us. I guess one of the biggest events was meeting my brother's girlfriend Starr over Christmas break. Ricky and I both really enjoyed getting to know her. :) For New Years, we had some friends over and played games and had a really fun time. Ricky and I have several goals for 2010. Many are financial, but we also have goals of bettering ourselves physically and delving into new and/or forgotten activities.

Christmas vacation was very welcomed, as I was very ready for a break from the stress of school. This year of teaching has definitely been a learning experience for me. I really do enjoy my work, but it has absolutely taken a toll on me. I am confident that next year will be better, since I know better of what I do and do not want to do in my class and as a teacher. The learning curve has been practically vertical. :)

Ricky and I celebrated our two year anniversary a few weeks ago. I guess here would be the place for me to insert all of the mushy comments about how much I love him and am so thankful to have him in my life. While those things are very accurate, I am focusing more on how glad I am to finally be past the very beginnings of marriage. Ricky and I are both very strong-willed, stubborn, opinionated people, and it's been an adventure learning how to live together peacefully. We are doing excellent, for anyone wondering.

The rest of the year will include camping, traveling, guitar playing, remodeling, cribbage playing, and a lot more. Stay tuned.

this is the newest harrison. his name is moe.

busy, busy, busy. it's hard to keep blogs updated because I've just been so darn busy. and when I've had some free time, I'm typically re-couping and/or doing things with ricky.

I always thought my life would slow down once I finished college and I could "just" work. maybe that's the case for some people, but it seems like there is always something I have to do after school is out. for example, I am now co-doing a homework club and also taking a class. most nights I don't get home until at least 7. long day.

this opposite schedule with ricky is wearing on me. I am having a very difficult time only talking to him for maybe ten minutes on his work nights. the weekends have been good for being together, but it's also a time to talk about all the logistical things that we don't have time to talk about during the week.

this post wasn't meant to be really negative. I actually feel really blessed in my life to be doing the job I want to, have a wonderful family, and finally have the opportunity to be paying off our debts!

- ricky woke me up.

- went to IHOP for breakfast.

- went to the zoo. ricky's first time at the boise zoo.

- walked some dogs at the humane society.

- went shopping at target.

- went to world market and got some beers to try.

- got papa murphy's pizza and coraline.

- ate and watched the movie.

- took the dogs to the dog park.

- went to sleep.

I have spent far too much time this weekend thinking negative things about my life. something in me this evening made me realize just how great my life really is. I want to talk about some of the things going on in my (our) lives.

I have worked the past six years for a little piece of paper that says I’m qualified to do what I’ve wanted to do for a long time. it is so amazing for me to have my job. I am finally able to do what I love. I will be honest. my students can be little jerks. but I really, really, really love spending my days with them. by four o’clock I am exhausted, physically and mentally, and I love it.

I love my little community. I appreciate those in my group life where I can be encouraged and share the journey. I feel like some dormant friendships have come alive again. I hope it continues. a lot of it has to do with me coming out of my introverted shell, and I'm trying.

ricky and I have had a rough last couple of months, with our schedules. I work m-f 8-4pm. he works s-th 3:30-midnight. so basically I only really see him friday nights, saturdays, and sunday mornings. before he started his new job in july, we spent almost every single evening and weekend together, so this has really been taking a toll on us (especially me). we had planned to spend this whole weekend together. ricky was doing a sidejob with our friend chris, and it wasn’t supposed to take all weekend. well, it did. and I could’ve had a really crappy attitude about it. but I recognized how incredible ricky is. the guy works 40 hours/week, is going to college 3/4 time, and took on this extra work to help our debt situation. I am really proud of him.

when I was on the prowl, one of the most important qualities I looked for in a husband was a strong work ethic. it was always one of those things that could make or break my significant others’ attractiveness status. this weekend reminded me that ricky is the sexiest man I know.

somewhere in the last few years, I lost parts of myself. I guess I would attribute it to being a full-time college student and a full-time employee. there just wasn’t time for me. this summer I’ve been working on finding myself again. I’ve returned to things I love doing, trying new things, and coming up with ideas for new things. ricky got me a guitar for my birthday last spring when I was starting this effort. I sold mine a couple of years ago. I really appreciate how much he encourages me to pursue my dreams. I always get stuck in the same place whenever I try to learn guitar. I’m going to look at taking lessons to help me over the hump. I am also learning to knit/crochet. and I will be snowboarding once again this winter, after a three or four year break. there’s something else I might be trying, but I don’t want to publicize it quite yet.