so close

In about a week, I will offically be a homeowner.

In preparation for the big event, I have NOT:

started packing

started cleaning

looked for a roommate

found movers

but I HAVE:

spent an obscene amount of time browsing paint colors and decorating options.

so much time, so little to do

So you would think that having summers off would mean lots of time for updates and stories of all the fun I'm having. As it turns out, having all the free time in the world can make one a bit lazy. Huh.

But in case you are worried that I have been sleeping my days away, fear not! I am making good use of my summer. Carrie, Mom, Ashley, Bethany, and Mabel came to visit. I ate lots of cupcakes and took them to all of my favorite restaurants.

I made an offer on a condo in a great area out here. Hopefully on July 29 I will be an official homeowner!! Now I need to get Shady out here to help me pick out paint colors. (Pretty please? I'll buy you dinner and take you to get a massage!)

I am still training for the St George marathon, and still hate running on a treadmill. It gets more and more agonizing every week. But even if it kills me, I'm not quitting.

I joined Twitter! So if anybody wants mundane updates on what I'm having for lunch or how many hours I spent at the pool, you can follow me! (I actually joined because there's a whole community of science and math teachers on Twitter sharing resources and ideas for their classes. So my Tweets just might be less interesting to you than what I'm having for lunch. It's a toss-up.)

I have read 2 whole books in the past 2 days, so I am on the fast track to reading more books this year than Ryan. Now I just need to decide what book I want to make him buy me....

so so close

The end of the school year is almost here, and it could not come soon enough.

It's been a long year. I need a break.

But only 6 days left. 3 review days and 3 exam days. And then I am as free as a little birdie.

Hopefully this will be a sumer full of good change. I need it. I have recently been talking a lot with my favorite coworker. (He is not everybody's favorite coworker. Just mine. In fact, a lot of people find him abrasive and rude. I find him refreshingly honest. But that's just me.) He has challenged me to approach next year with more gumption. I think I'm up for the challenge. (That's part of having gumption, by the way. Being up for challenges. And I now have gumption. When I was little my mom told me I could be whatever I wanted to be. And I want to be gumptious. So now I am. (If that's a word))

awkward

We had a new substitute teacher here at school today, so I decided that it would be polite to make idle talk with him. When he told me his name, I thought that he said "Shark". So I went on and on about what an awesome name to have. His name is not Shark. It's something totally boring like "Shawn"' or something. (No offense, Shawn.)

Awkward.

bragging (again)

So today I was at the mall (because that's where my bank is... this just might be the death of me) when I stopped by a little store that sells hair care products. (I am out of shampoo.) I ended up buying over $100 worth of shampoo and other hair products for a mere $18. I'm pretty sure I have magical powers when it comes to sales.

a nerdy story

So we are currently wrapping up our unit on electromagnetism in my class, so we are obviously discussing induced currents. Which means that we are also discussing the meaning of the word "induced". (As it turns out, most 16-year-olds do not know the meaning of "induced". (Definition: to cause or to make something happen, as in "induced labor" or "chemically induced coma") Side note: the "induced labor" example freaked out the boys in the class. They asked me to please never mention labor ever again. I obliged.)

So anyway, our school's theme this year is "make it happen". Our new headmaster is a go-getter kind of guy. So I suggested to the class that we replace our school theme. Instead of "make it happen" it could be simplified to "induce". Great idea, right?

(I don't think the kids took it seriously. So I suggested it to my colleagues. I don't think they took it seriously either.)

physics fail

we watched this video in my class today. is it mean that i find it kind of funny?

favorites

every teacher has a favorite class. Mine just happens to be the last class of the day, which is so convenient because that means I always go home in a good mood. Awesome, right?

So a while ago, they decided that whenever anybody in the class did something awesome (meaning answering a difficult question, stumping the teacher (this doesn't happen very often - what can I say, I'm pretty good) or asking something insightful, the rest of the class starts up a slow clap in celebration. For those of you who do not know what a slow clap is, it is pretty much what it sounds like. You start clapping slowly, then gradually increase in intensity until you have an all-out celebration. (Sometimes this includes banging on the tables, hooping and hollering, etc.) To be honest, it's pretty awesome.

So yesterday was the senior's last day of school. (They're spending the next few weeks doing service projects.) So all of the juniors got together and decided to do the ultimate slow clap in honor of the seniors. So they clapped once at 2:05. Then they clapped again at 2:15. Then once at 2:23. Then again at 2:28, 2:32, etc. until the very last minute of class there was an eruption of applause, jumping, cheering, and congratulating the seniors on successfully completing high school. They thought it was just fantastic that I had no idea why the entire class would randomly clap once while I was in the middle of saying something that was, in all honesty, not that interesting. (At first I thought they were applauding me and was quite flattered. I was wrong.) How is it possible to NOT love these kids? (Answer: it's not possible. Obviously.)

bring it on

So, just let me brag about myself for a minute. (Since I'm pretty good at it.)

The last time I went on a real run was last August. I broke my foot. Then my eyes stopped working and I started slamming into walls and such if I so much as walked briskly. Poor poor me, I know.

Today, I ran seven miles. In a sub-9-minute mile pace. (Just barely. They were something like 8.9 minute miles, but still. It counts.) Not bad after a 9 month sabbatical. And I ran it on a treadmill (with a .4 incline, thank you very much). I hate treadmills. Almost as much as I hate rap music. (Which is a lot, in case there was any question.)

But I have this coworker named Chris. Back when my eyes stopped working, I got lots of pity from lots of people. Pretty much everyone except for him. He made fun of me. Which, in all honesty, is exactly what I needed. Feeling sorry for myself got me absolutely nowhere. And while it's nice to know that people care, having the rest of the world feel sorry for me also got me nowhere. But being made fun of made me laugh and feel like a normal person. And for that, I love Chris. (Don't tell him that. He's all finicky and weird about mushy stuff like that. He won't even admit that we're friends. We are "friendly". Whatever. We're friends whether he likes it or not.)

But I'm getting off topic here. Last week, I was telling him about how I am registered for a marathon in October and was worried that I wouldn't be able to train since I still have trouble keeping my eyes open when I move any faster than a slug. And again, I got no pity from him. (Surprise, surprise.) In fact, he may have thrown something at me and then told me I was an idiot. (Have I never heard of a treadmill? Really?) As much as I tried to tell him that I hate treadmills and lose my sanity after about 8 minutes, he refused to listen. (As much as I love Chris, listening is not one of his strong points.) Instead, he told me that if I really wanted to run a marathon in October, I had to just make it happen. My excuses are lame. I deserve a better life than I am giving myself. I can do anything I want, have any man I want, but I have to stop holding myself back. Blah, blah, blah. Kind of irritating at the time, but totally true.

So here I am, making it happen. I bought myself a nice long playlist of running music for my ipod (meaning early 90's country music), headed to the gym, set the speed to an 8:50 mile, and ran for seven miles. Monday is incline work, Tuesday will be a nice slow(ish) run, more hills on Wednesday, shorter runs Thursday and Friday, and 10 miles on Saturday. By October, I will be marathon ready.

So I hope Mom and Kate are ready to get their butts kicked in St George.

contradiction

Today I charged my Garmin wristwatch, with hopeful anticipation that I will be able to run in the near future. (And by run, I mean run, not run into. I'm already really good at that.)

Today I also turned in my garage key to my apartment office, since I haven't used it in 8 months and it will save me $40/month.

Apparently for me, running is a little more important than driving. (Mainly because I have a personal chauffeur. Hehe.)

augh.

Today is just one of those days. Not one of the good kind. One of the annoying kind.

My kids are whiny. (All 60 of them. If I hear one more complaint I'm going to lose it.)

One of my students climbed out the window when my back was turned. It took me a good five minutes to figure out why everyone was laughing.

It was supposed to be sunny today, and it is not.

I decided to try driving on Saturday, just to see how it went. It didn't go past the parking garage.

BUT I am getting a new roommate today. One that I am confident will soon turn into a good friend. So maybe today won't be so bad after all.

new blog

pintucksandruffles.blogspot.com

Shady will be posting some sewing/crafty tutorials soon. And so will I.

Who knew I would love being crafty?

march madness

Guess who is ranked #1 in our faculty March Madness bracket pool?

(me)

Now my coworkers are trying to get me disqualified since I am a Mormon and technically not allowed to gamble. They are only thinking of my eternal welfare.

Ahem. Right.

and now spring break is over

It was 77 degrees and sunny when we got out of school last Friday. Then the temperature promptly dropped to around 40 and stayed there all week. Lame.

But one of my students became an ordained minister over the break. Turns out all you have to do is send an email. He thinks a physics classroom wedding would be just a stellar idea. I beg to differ.

And now Shady and I are starting our very own sewing blog! I think it's going to be a hit. Any ideas for a name would be appreciated.

spring break

It's finally here!! I had big plans for sitting outside in the warm sunshine reading books.

But today it rained, and it is supposed to snow on Friday. If it snows, at least it could have the courtesy to wait until next Tuesday so we get another snow day. Snow over spring break is entirely pointless.

In the meantime, I am sewing myself a ruffled gingham shirt and striped dress.

great news

So my coworker Chris applied for a grant from our school to take a trip to British Columbia for an 8-day backpacking trip. He found out yesterday that he grant was approved, and guess who he invited to go along with him?

No, not me. He invited Jack.

But guess who invited herself to come along?

Yes, that would be me. Shameless? Maybe. But still pretty awesome.

dear family members (and friends)

Since I clearly have developed a new obsession with sewing (which makes sense, considering it's the only thing that keeps my eyes open), if anybody would like any of the below items (or a tie! i know how to make a tie too!) I would be happy to oblige. (ps - I am planning on making all of the below items for myself, just in case my closet is not quite full enough. But don't worry, Dad. I am still your daughter and frugal as ever, so I am using materials that I already own. Who can pass up free clothes?! Not me. I am, after all, a product of you and mom.)

The petal tank: I could use whatever colors you choose, so if it is too rainbow-y, no worries!

Ruffle scarf: SO cute. And it is impossible to have too many scarves. Especially if you live somewhere cold.

Flower tank: So pretty! There's not much I would change about this one:

Pretty flower shirt (I will obviously make the neckline a little more "modest" so that it covers). I already made this one for myself and am already in love. It makes me feel so pretty:

Don't worry, guys. I do have other hobbies besides sewing. Namely, riding my bike in my room while I jam to "I want to bop with you baby" with my eyes closed. (And just so everybody knows "I want to bop with you baby" is about dancing, and nothing else. And quite possibly the best song ever.) I also enjoy watching trashy reality TV. I have a very fulfilling life, guys.

Dear Ashley,

Here is the prototype for the ruffle skirt you wanted me to make you. What do you think? (My pictures are not as high quality as the one I was copying, but I definitely got a compliment at church today.)

just a couple more

I made some yarn balls to fill the empty white bowl on our coffee table. (It used to be filled with Christmas decorations, and while I fully admit to listening to Christmas music year-round, the decorations just have to go after New Year's.)

I made a board on which to hang all of the pictures of my favorite nieces and nephews. (Don't worry guys, everyone's included.)

A pillow made out of two clearance napkins and some scrap felt. Total cost: about $.50.

And one more pillow, also made from a napkin and scrap materials. (It's a flower. Just in case you couldn't tell.)

Up next:

A slightly toned-down version of this pillow (with colors to match the color scheme in my room, of course)

This skirt: (Is it obvious yet that I love ruffles?)

And a set of individual whiteboards for my freshmen. I've been promising them for weeks to make them some, so that they can solve problems at their desks using whiteboard markers. (Because that is some how way more fun than solving problems using a pencil.) I even told them they could borrow the school's label maker to label their own boards. I'm pretty sure that makes me teacher of the year. (Or a pushover. Definitely a pushover.)

Proof I watched the Superbowl

The Steelers did not win. Joe picked me up for school the next day, anyway. (He's nice.) And he did a really good job of not being grumpy.