Made It Through the Week

Well, the first week of school went pretty well. I really like the new principal; she is energetic, strict, and has high expectations of everyone, including the teachers. The students are still trying to get under her skin, but I don't think it will work. Yesterday the entire student body got to leave class and watch the soccer team play in the tournament. No one got hurt and no one, as far as we could tell, disappeared. By the way, our team won, by the skin of their teeth. It was hot though.

Nathan is taking a college math class instead of taking math at the high school. It is pretty easy for him. He's been going for two weeks so he only has 14 more weeks and then he will take the next math class at the college; which will mean he will be finished with his required math to graduate. He will then be able to spend the rest his time at high school taking the higher math classes. He also got into chemistry this year. He's not real thrilled with the rest of his classes but you can't have everything. He is pretty popular among the seniors because he is in their classes. He motivates them to try harder.

Tim is busy with networking the new generator system at the prison. He is also developing some sort of software that will track something for the auditors. Once he gets it finished, it will be offered to other co-ops, that is of course, if it works.

Hopefully Raynelle' will be flying in this Friday; if Tim's payday lands on the right day. She is coming up by herself for a wedding on Saturday. She will have to fly out Sunday night or Monday morning but something is better then nothing.

Chris doing fine and spending as much time as possible with Holly since she is leaving for Davis in the next two weeks. Right now he is baking numerous amounts of cakes and muffins. He is putting chocolate chip cookies in the middle of one of the layered cakes. He and Nathan actually bake quite a bit. Unfortunate, it also means there will be lots of food around that I can't eat.

Back To Work

Time to hit the books. I have been back to work the last two days, the hottest ever!!! Just sitting in my chair typing made me sweat. We spent yesterday at meetings all day. The new principal is great so far. Very high energy and high expectations of the students as well as the teachers. She is also pretty strict; no hats in the rooms, strict dress code, no public displace of affection, no cussing..... such a big change from last year. Not that the rules weren't there last year, but never enforced. Today was mostly working in the classrooms, getting everything organized and cleaned. I'm not much for putting tons of stuff on the walls so it wasn't that bad.

Tonight was a happy hour party at the new principals house, so we can spend some time getting to know each other out of the school setting. The new principal is really in to team work and full participation. Another nice change.

Tonight I made a basic quick meal: sausage left in big pieces, scrambled in a few eggs, topped with cheese and mango salsa. We also had stuff at the party. I finished the night off with fruit and almonds.

I'm glad tomorrow is the week end. I haven't kept up with watering and my plants are looking a bit thirsty. I did get the grass watered tonight, before we left. But running around outside when it's dark is intimidating. A couple nights ago we woke up to Nathan tapping on our bedroom door. He had tried to pick up what he thought was a doggie surprise. It jumped up and started flying around; a bat. It took about an hour to get it to fly out the front door. We had to tire it out so it wouldn't fly so high; we have vaulted ceiling. Tim was quite a sight, with a net taped to the end of a mop, swinging it around and ducking at the same time. Visions of that John Candy movie about a summer vacation.

Tomorrow promises to be adventurous. I need to finish getting books out and chairs put out in my classroom. I am a class advisor, 7th grade, this year so that will be more work on my list of things to do.....don't know if I'm going to like that.

Yummy ......

Well, breakfast was some more of the same. We don't vary this meal too much because of time restrictions. Always some fruit, meat, and eggs.

Lunch was fresh spinach, spicy tuna, homemade marinaded onions, cheese, and a small amount of dressing. (Tim's lunch)

Nathan and I walked from the college to down town because we had a lot of time to spare after he took the placement test for his math class. It was a pleasant walk but the sun did get a bit hot towards the end of the walk. We ended up at Courthouse Cafe with iced tea and a small bit to eat. Nathan's new favorite food is a Club sandwich. I had the Kim R scramble, spinach, sausage, mushrooms, and mixed cheese.

Dinner was a bit experimental. I made the rest of the bison meat into a hamburger (for Tim). I topped it with a mango salsa. (A fresh large mango, red onions, cilantro, a bit of lime juice, and chili pepper; this time I used Ancho Pepper) I also made a foe pumpkin pie tid-bit. I mixed canned pumpkin, about 1/2 cup (not the pre mixed/seasoned kind), cinnamon, and about 1/2 cup whipped cream together. I layered almond butter enough to cover the bottom, then pumpkin, then whipped cream in a small bowl; single serving type. I'm not much of a pumpkin eater but it is really high in fiber and vitamins. Tim said it tasted great so I guess I'll try it again.
I ate only the mango salsa and some fruit. Now I am munching on blue berries.

Nathan went to his first class at the college. He was a bit nervous but has now realized it will be a piece of cake. He's figuring out now that he can take classical guitar lessons on one of the days he has class. He will have an entire years credit for high school Alg. I by taking this 16 week class. Next semester he will take the next math class for Alg. II By doing these classes he will be able to move on to the tougher more interesting classes throughout high school.

Todays Meals of Choice

Well, I thought I'd share some meal ideas. Given our diet of choice, they aren't very interesting, but they do fill you up and we like them.

Breakfast- protein shake: 1 cup water or juice, 1 cup blueberries, 2 tablespoons whey protein, 1 tablespoon Psylium husk powder (fiber), 1 tablespoon flax seed oil. A squeeze of lemon. I like it cold so if I use fresh berries I add ice. Mix everything in a blender until it's smooth. You can add other fruit, especially a banana. I just don't like to make it too fancy.
Tim tries his best to drink it but ended up with two eggs, sausage, and a bowl of fruit.

Lunch- Taco Salad: white chicken seasoned with a chili powder, Romain lettuce, tomatoes, olives, onions, salsa, cheese, and sour cream. I also add no more then 2 tablespoons of ranch dressing and some more hot sauce.

Dinner- Bison burgers covered with pepper jack cheese, sauteed mushrooms, garlic and onions (no bun). Sugar free jello (I don't eat this because it gives me stomach cramps caused by the Splenda). Bowl of fresh blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, raw almonds, and some whipped cream.

Desert- the berries were desert for me but Tim will have a couple tablespoons of almond butter (freshly ground at the co-op) covered with some whipped cream. It tastes a bit like pumpkin pie.

The Fair Is Over

Today was the last day of the fair. We went Friday and Saturday and it was unfun both nights. Tim's friend from high school wanted to meet us there at 5:00 and he didn't arrive until 9:00 so we spent four hours wandering around a place that took five minutes to walk around. We did watch dogs jumping into a pool to see how far each could jump. That was interesting for awhile. Really wish we could have brought Tipper and Molly down to see how they would do. I'm not sure how they would react to a crowd of people yelling though. The farthest a dog jumped was 21 feet. I'd bet our two could come close. The fair was small and expensive. Nathan went with a friend on Thursday because it was a day you could ride the rides all day on $15.00. He ended up getting sick tow hours into the afternoon and going to Mike's house. Mike did take him back that night though. He did get suckered in to playing some of the games. He felt sorry for the guys working so hard to get people to play. He didn't win anything.

All of the AT&T phone systems are out today. 'Facility malfunction' was the explanation I got. As of right now we can receive calls but not call out. 911 and the sheriff are out too. If people have AT&A cells they don't work either, as well as Internet. Bummer all around when you're trying to get ahold of people in town before you leave the house.

We finally got rid of our extra wood. No, the neighbors didn't end up with it; although, I am surprised they didn't come down and ask for it. Holly's grandparents took it. It was a full pickup truck full. There was five of use loading the truck so it went pretty quickly.

Chris is spending the week house sitting for Holly's parents. They went to Oregon. He is in charge of feeding the horses, dog, cats, and watering the garden. They do pay him and he has to live without TV for a week so it's a win win situation.

Tim has tomorrow off so we will be going into town to get Nathan taken care of at the college. He will have to take the math placement test and we have to get lots of signature of approval so he can attend. He got his state testing back today and did really well, especially in science. He scored 100% in almost everything. He scored high in geometry which was what every one was worried about.

I will be going back to work on Thursday. We will be doing training and attending meetings all day. Then I will have to go to a 7th grade orientation at 7:00. Friday we will be working on getting our rooms organized for the start of school on Monday. I guess it's time to start going to bed early and waking up with the sun.

Pictures From Ireland (1)

Boy Am I Tired

Lordy be....spent 2 hours at the eye doctors waiting for Tim's grandma to be done with her surgery. I guess the doctor is an on call one and he had to take care of two issues at the same time. I wouldn't have been so bad except that I hadn't eaten since 6:00 in the morning. And believe it or not, there were not 'get something really quick' places around. The office was in one of those professional centers out in the middle of no where. (in Reno) Tim's grandma was so full of advice about just about everything that I was on over load. We did finally eat at Peppermill's buffet. Of course I ate way too much, so now I feel terrible.

Now I am trying to find the energy to keep working on my class so I'll be ready to go when the college gets their act together. I am working on getting the course software to talk to my existing exam software so I don't have to reinvent the wheel. Well, off I go.

Pictures of Raynelle' at School Project

Raynelle' doing stream research in Oregon

Hanging out in the water all day seems like a great idea!!!!

Yes, it has cooled off

I have actually had to close the windows at night and put on a sweat shirt in the morning. I'm sure it won't last long but I do appreciate the break from the heat.

I have spent my week trying to get some paper work organized for my new job at the college. I will be spending my week end getting the class put together. Once I do this it will be a piece of cake. Today I went in to print some stuff and copy certificates and of course forgot everything at home. At least I got the books I rented sent back. I also got my transcripts printed, so I guess it wasn't all bad. I will go in tomorrow and print every thing else.

The rain was great. I haven't watered in two days and the flowers are once again blooming.

Nathan is getting himself on a school schedule again. He will be taking a college class at night, math, that starts the 17th. I don't think he'll have any trouble and Mike may take it with him. He will take the second math class next semester and then will have his high school requiements out of the way and can take some higher level math and science classes. He will also be taking chemistry this year.

Here is a picture of Raynelle' doing some field work for her class. It sure looks like great weather.

Next week end is the family picnic just before the fair. I would like to have it at our house, that way we don't have to pack anything up, but I doubt that will be agreeable with anyone else. I now have seating for 20 people so that wouldn't be a problem.