New Job

So just to let everyone know I have taken a new job.  Let me preface this by saying that the job is not a permanent job, and I may find myself back at the Reagan Library in a few months.  So anyway about the job, it is a long-term sub job at Apollo High School, the continuation school here in Simi.  I teach 3 classes of US History and 3 classes of Government.  I started there on Wednesday, I was only able to give the Reagan Library one day of notice, as I only knew about it on Monday.  I am not yet sure how I feel about the job, the students, or the school, thus far it has been a little challenging, but not impossible.  Change is Always Scary! I guess I am one of those people that is always going to have unusual jobs. The nice thing about the job is that it will allow me to keep teaching Seminary, as school does not start until 8:45.  Thus far, Seminary has been nice, the students do talk a bit, but nothing unusual.  For those still wondering I was  in the audience for the Debate but did not stay for the whole thing (I had to be at an assigned location to help move people to the reception).  I heard some people say they saw me on Hardball as we were setting up both the day of the Debate and the day before.  I guess I should have recorded it so I could have seen myself.  But, maybe it is a good thing, I might only have been disappointed in how I looked.  More maybe I would have decided I needed to go into TV after that. :-)

Keeping Up is Hard to Do

Well it has been a while, okay, over a year since my last post. But keep in mind I have had a very busy year. First, I just finished teaching my second year of seminary, this time Doctrine and Covenants and Church History. This topic was really hard for me because I have never really studied them much and I did not really attend that year of seminary myself (I graduated from seminary by doing make-up work). I also had a few students that I struggled with; they were only there because their parents made them.

In October Mom, Sarah, and I travelled to Poland to visit Jon, Liz, and Ania.  During our trip we had a few interesting adventures.  First, we had decided to travel from Warsaw to Prague to Vienna to Krakow and then back to Warsaw, so basically a huge circle.  Well, we decided the best way for us to travel would be by car, so we rented a "mini van" first of all the minivan did hold officially 7 people, but it was basically a hatchback car with two seats in the trunk.  So we all managed to squeeze in and we all travelled with the smallest amount of luggage we could manage, but most of the luggage area we had was taken up with the stroller.  But the best part was that the car was a manual transmission, now don't get me wrong we knew that was what it was going to be and Dana Hammon, and Emilie were both nice enough to give me lessons several times, however, I still did not know much about it, and we stalled countless times!  Our drive to Prague was long (we knew it would be) and since the car rental place had run out of GPS units we were traveling with maps.  When we finally found our hotel, Jon insisted I run my car up onto the curb and park, and I am like this curb is to high for that, but I did it and what do you know, we got a flat tire.  One of the hotel staff people was nice enough to help us, after we were unable to locate any tire changing equipment, but the car got to the parking lot and the next day he helped us get a new tire while we toured Prague, I do not know about the rest of the group but I loved that city.  It was so beautiful and had such a nice time.

So then we went on to Vienna, as we were driving we got pulled over by the police, he told us we did not have our headlights on, which are required at all times there, and that was a fine.  Then he told us we did not have our sticker necessary to drive on that toll road.  Thankfully, Liz and Jon's Polish enabled us to talk a little to them in Czech.  We said we were waiting for the toll gates so we could pay, but he said no you go to a gas station and pay the fine and they give you a sticker to display granting you access to the road, and of course since we did not have one that would be an even bigger fine.  So Liz and I start to pull money out of our wallets, Liz has Polish money, which they do not want, and I have like 20 American dollars, at this point the cops were just laughing at the stupid Americans with no cash (we had been using credit cards for most of everything thus far).  They let us go and told us to stop at the next station and get a sticker and I turned our headlights on, the headlights never came off again.  So needless to say when we crossed the border into Austria we stopped at the first gas station and bought all the stickers we would need.  We had a great time in Austria.

Then, on to Krakow, Jon needed to get back for work, so he took the train home and Liz, Sarah, Ania, Mom, and I spent a few days there.  It is also a beautiful town, and we enjoyed the atmosphere.  When we got back to Warsaw, I was thrilled to no longer have to drive and I think by the last day, I finally was able to drive the whole way without stalling once.  But, if I ever do that again, I  do not care about the costs I will rent a car with an automatic transmission!

So during this trip I was also writing a paper, in fact while in Prague, I sent my chapter 2 in.  So the next thing keeping me busy this year was I completed my Masters in Education, so this past year I wrote my thesis, technically an action research project. So I was really busy with that as well. I would go home from work, work on my seminary lesson, and then attempt to write my paper. But it finally all got done and I graduated. I was not really sure about going to my actual graduation ceremony, but I did, and Mom, Dad, and Sarah came along. The graduation could have been better, as they had us all sit willy-nilly (no alphabetical or even in our own departments); nobody actually knew when their child’s name was going to be called. And the "diploma" they gave us was a rolled up piece of paper (I am serious) with a bow on it. Really you could not spring for the fake leather holders, how cheap can you get, considering we all paid $25,000 to complete our degrees.

At Christmas time the family had a reunion in St. George, UT, yes I finally went back, it was actually the first time I had been back to UT since 2003.  I was really hoping to make it an even 10 years, but no such luck.  It was of course great to see all the family.  And also an adventure to have everyone piled up into one house, but the kids loved the house as it had a movie room.

But I will say the worst thing you can do when you are trying to finish a 130 page paper on a deadline is to do what I did. That is . . . . . . . . . ADOPT A DOG!!! Yes, you heard right I am the proud or insane or nervous wreck owner of a (as my dad would day) mangy mutt. Fly, is a small guy, he is mix of either an Australian Shepherd (that is what the shelter said), a Border Collie, or a Sheltie, and yes all three of these breeds are herding dogs. My vet said these types of dogs are breed to run 100 miles a day. So needless to say, we walk twice a day and try to get at least 5 miles a day in. The shelter also said he is probably between 11/2 and 2 years old (I was looking for a dog that at the youngest was 2) so he sounded good. He was also not barking or whining at the shelter like the other 200 dogs there where, so all seemed fine. UNTIL, my vet tells me Fly is maybe 1 year old, and my dog trainer thought when he first saw him a few months ago he looked 9 months old. UGH! I so did not want a puppy. And he was quiet because he had just been neutered and was either in shock or still drugged.

But will I ever give him up, NOPE, he has suckered me in, his big baleful eyes, it is pathetic. The little guy is actually very fun, he dances when you get home, runs on the treadmill, and when I hide treats on the playground at the park, he will go down the slide to get them. Denny, Heather, Sam and Kevin, just came for a visit, during their trip Kevin asks me why did I get an eating dog, and I said all dogs eat, and he said, why did I get a dog that eats humans, since Fly likes to nibble on hands (yes, he is still a puppy.)

In just the last few weeks, I enjoyed a weekend at the Huntington Beach Mid-Singles Conf. with Cherish, we started at an Angels game.  UGH!  Then a few weeks ago, I went with a friend to Disneyland, the reason we sent was to go to Club 3 there, I guess it is some exclusive place, I was nice, but since I really did not know anything about it before I went I really did not know what all the fuss was about.
Enjoy the pics.

Fly at the park on the 4th of July

Fly on the furniture again

You can barley see him but this is what I come home to everyday, him sticking his nose out of the fence

The "famous" old fashion elevator at Club 33

The balcony of Club 33

Another angle of the balcony

The new Little Mermaid Ride

Mom and I at graduation

Cherish and I at the Angels game

On my visit to DC, last summer

More DC, this is the Newseum

Liz and I with our famous maps in our minivan.

Prague

Vienna

On our horse carriage ride in Vienna

Trying to fit into our minivan

Krakow

Auschwitz

Warsaw

Seminary Video

To help my seminary students try to memorize 2 Nephi 28: 7-9 we made a video. It took us a few days, but I sure do have a few jokers in the group. Enjoy.

Silky and Seminary

So thus far seminary has been going fine. I guess the best person to ask is actually my students, but at least they seem to be awake through most of it. They are a funny group and lets face facts I enjoy students that can joke around a bit. Some of you maybe aware that Meri has adopted a new dog "Silky" he is a small little thing. He is still a puppy, but over the last few weeks has gotten much bigger, he weighs like 5 lbs now, he might just get up to 8 lbs when he is fully grown, what a heffer, Here are some fun pics.

Life Was a Little to Cushy!

So as you may imagine now that school has ended and as I am only working part-time I planned to have fairly relaxed and peaceful time for the next few months. BUT ALAS (a little foreshadowing)! So for the past year I have had one of the cushiest callings in the church, Relief Society Teacher, as the ward has four of us it means that I teach about once every 5 to 8 weeks dependent on the circumstances (I have not taught since November). But I still aspire to the best calling in the ward which is of course assistant librarian, I mean come on you leave class early and arrive late (have to unlock and lock the door), everybody comes through so you can talk to everyone, and no work the rest of the week. As the assistant it also means no real responsibility. I figure this will not come to me until I am elderly, but remain ever hopeful. So I guess the Lord decided my life was a little too comfortable and decided to force me to work. As of next week I will be the new SEMINARY teacher for the 11th graders!!!!!!!! OH DEAR. Well, at least I know that as long as I prepare to the best of my ability for every lesson He will ensure it turns out okay. So as I am already a slacker when it comes to my posts don’t be to surprised when they are as sporadic as last year.

2010

Happy New Year!!!! So yes, it has been a while, but let’s face a few facts here, how regularly do I do this even when I'm not busy? So . . . hopefully as you as you hear about my last several months you will excuse my absences. In the middle of December I finished my final semester of student teaching - yes this means I am done and after all the paperwork is done I will have my credential. FINALLY!! I did my student teaching at Simi High School, which was a little strange for me as I graduated from there about 15 years ago (and yes a few of my old teachers are still there). But after a while I was so grateful for being there because 1 - I knew the campus and could get around and 2 - I was so close my commute was about 3.5 minutes and at 7 a.m. that is a huge bonus. I taught 4 - 10th grade classes and 2 - 11th grade classes (modern world and US history). I really had a good time and am finding that I miss my students. During the student teaching we had a few fun (yes about 30-40 pages typed, and one included a 20 min video of me teaching my class) tests to do for the state, they were way fun and I think at one point I was hallucinating and made brownies and then forgot to eat them until a few days later. But, halleluiah I passed them all and finished all my classes with a 4.0 (yes this is me bragging a little [ok a lot, it has taken a year and a half after all]). After the semester ended Christmas started and I got to spend two weeks lying around and if you ask mom and dad that is exactly what I did. But I did have some fun times with Jeff's boys as they came down for the holidays; and yes if you have heard the rumors I did take the Dan, Will, and Sarah to see the Princess and the Frog and as we sat down at the start of the movie I dumped a whole tub of popcorn on the poor girl seated in front of me. So now my klutziness and ability to spill food on myself on a daily basis has reach proportions where I am also spilling on innocent bystanders. Now that the Christmas break has ended I have started to work again over at the Reagan Library, only this time I working exclusively as an Educator in the AFO Discovery Center with field trip groups. I work part-time and spend the rest of the time trying to find places to send my resume that is constantly needing more work to be presentable. Well, hope all is well for you and that you are able to find joy this year and hopefully I will be more on the ball this year and get more posts on a regular basis.

Jerry Seinfeld Teaches History! Yes! We all do this!