day 151

Had myself a good old fashioned burger and a movie date tonight. Thank you SO much for the diversion Dan! I really needed it. :]

day 150

I volunteered at MoPA tonight for Vintage 2009 Grand Tasting. It was really fun to be a part of the event which included live and silent auctions, food from local restaurants and several different wines. I poured a 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon from Kelly Martin Winery.

day 149

We had our big year-end assembly this morning. For the past several years, we've had BMX performers but this year our PTA arranged for a team of gymnasts who incorporate some basketball into their stunts. The kids loved it and I must say, I thought it was pretty cool too. It was pretty incredible how accurate they were.

day 148

We took a field trip today to the San Diego Zoo. To keep the kids engaged, I decided to try a photo scavenger hunt. The kids see me taking photos all the time so they were really excited about the opportunity to do some photography of their own. I'm so glad that their parents allowed them to bring in their cameras because they had a lot of fun with the challenge!

Together, we created a list of animals to look for: a reptile, one that is born in an egg, striped, etc. and then bonus photos that included photographing yourself acting like an animal - in front of the animal you are pretending to be. When we returned to school, we uploaded the photos and the kids talked about what they saw, earning points for each of the items on the list that they had found.

It was so great for me to see them having fun with something that I am really passionate about. I hope that this experience will create some new little photographers. I will absolutely work on more opportunities for my students to work with cameras in the future. I'll be putting together a set of their best photos and will link them here once I have it ready.

day 147

My students have been learning a number of folk dances all year as a part of a rotation we call 'Color Groups.' Today, they had a chance to show off their skills for their parents at our Folk Dance Festival. They were pretty darn cute and a good time was had by all.

day 146

My dear friend Marnie came over tonight to share some dinner, catch up and check out my new(ish) place. She brought Mexican food in honor of our high school days when when we would drive all the way across Chula Vista to get rolled tacos at Roberto's. She also brought me these Pilsner glasses as a housewarming gift.

There is just something about old friends - the ones who know all your history and help you to remember things in a different way. Thank you Marnie. Thank you for your comapany tonight, for bringing me dinner, for the thoughtful gift and for all the laughter and years of friendship we have shared. Thank you for being a friend I will always treasure. :)

day 145

Today is Memorial Day and this is one of those days that I am especially proud to be a Navy brat. On the news this morning, they did a number of stories about military families, some of the men and women who have been lost and those who continue to serve overseas. It's hard for me to watch any of that without getting choked up. My dad was always so proud to serve and I will forever see him as a hero, like I did when I was little. It's tough to be a part of a military family especially when you have to spend so much time apart. I am grateful that Dad always returned home safely and know that we were very fortunate because of that.

I had dinner with Dan in Coronado tonight. Orange Avenue was lined with American flags in honor of the holiday so the photo above shows one of the flags I saw. The second photo was the view from the patio of the restaurant where we ate. It was a beautiful evening - though a bit cold. Hanging out there this evening really made me miss living near the ocean. It was a nice, relaxing end to the long weekend. Thank you so much Dan!

day 144

Two days in a row, I have gone to bed without remembering to post up. What's with that?! I was just about to fall asleep when I realized it tonight. Argh.

I reorganized my garage a bit today in order to make room for all of the stuff in my classroom. I will be storing it all in the garage for the summer while I wait to take it to it's new home at Mater Dei (I hope!) It was about 8:00 when I finally finished up and I was hungry, sore and pretty much wiped out. So... I treated myself to some ravioli with a creamy tomato sauce and a big glass of wine and settled in on the couch to catch up on Fringe.

Thanks for the invite to the movies tonight Walcotts... sorry I bailed out on you! Next time I promise not to be so old.

day 143

I had an appointment at USD today. I met with a professor who is also the coordinator of the Inquiry Learning Project at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. It's a program I was involved with for several years and is where I got my training in inquiry. I am really excited to be working on this partnership with the university. It's going to provide great opportunities for our students (and the teaching staff too.) I totally geeked out talking to her and it kind of got me thinking again about some day teaching at the college level...

By the way, this is the view from the back of campus, looking out to Mission Bay. Much more stunning in person than on my PowerShot.

day 142

Meet Dan. :) We went to an opening at the Museum of Photographic Art tonight and spent some time walking around Balboa Park. I tried to get the Prado in this shot but after several failed attempts, I just gave up and let him shoot it.

day 141

I'm taking Hershey in to have her stitches removed tomorrow. Her face is really healing up nicely! What a difference from the day she had the surgery.

day 140

Today was a big day for the teachers I have been mentoring as a Support Provider of BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment.) They have officially completed all of the requirements to receive their CLEAR Credential. We had an event called Colloquium where they were able to show off some of their hard work, heard a speech from our Mayor, Cheryl Cox and received a certificate of completion. I am so proud of them and so happy that I got to work with them over the past two years. They made the whole experience great!

day 139

On my way in to work this morning, this guy was in front of me at a light. It made me laugh out loud and I laughed even harder when I pulled up next to him later and saw that the car was being driven by some old Mexican dude. Too funny!

day 138

day 137

Jody and I went to Extraordinary Desserts again today for their Sunday brunch. Arijana and Naeem came in too so we moved to a table and sat together. After a couple of hours of indulgence, we went for a walk through Little Italy where they were having a Sicilian Festival. It was packed! Too bad we were so stuffed - the food smelled amazing! See more photos here.

day 136

Turkey, Havarti and pesto on a croissant - yum.

day 135

It was Teacher Appreciation Night so a group of us from work went to the Padres game. They had a great comeback in the 7th inning and beat the Reds 5-3. See the other photos here.

day 134

I had an interview with MoPA today so that I could volunteer for a big charity event they have coming up. Looks like I'll be pouring wine in the VIP area...

day 133

I was so happy to see Hershey's tail wagging at me today when I came home to check on her during lunch. It wasn't her usual amount of excitement and she's not quite herself yet but this was a huge improvement.

Here is how she looks tonight... happy, even! She played with her toys a little and we took a short walk. I tried removing the bandage on her leg last night and she was not having it - she got angry and tried to bite me. Tonight we went through the same thing again so I tried a different approach and got her interested in biting at the bandage. It took some doing, but she tore it off herself (with a fair amount of her hair, I might add!) Just look at those pearly white teeth!

day 132

Poor Hershey. She had to have two broken teeth pulled today and one had such a bad infection that they had to cut into her cheek to remove the puss.

See a few more photos here.

day 131

My poor dog Hershey has what I think is an abscess tooth. Over the weekend it was a small bump on the side of her muzzle. This morning... holy cow! It was swelled up like crazy. She was really too swollen for the vet to tell exactly what the problem was. She had a shot of some antibiotics this morning and will go in for a dental cleaning and possible extraction tomorrow. Other possibilities are an insect bite or a tumor, though neither seem too likely at this point. Prayers for my pup would be greatly appreciated. She's almost 11 so being put under is a bit of a risk and I'm pretty worried about her.

(Shot with my Palm Treo mobile phone.)

day 130

I am making a concerted effort to save the planet. Arijana suggested that I get a pitcher with a water purifier in it and stop buying bottled water. I hate tap water so although I agreed with her that it was a good idea to cut back on the plastic, I was not convinced that I could 'get used to' drinking tap water. Well, I tried it. I still hate it. I am giving it another try with some strawberries and lemon to kill the bad flavor. I'll let you know how that goes. Funny thing is, as I look at this photo... everything else in my fridge seems to be in a plastic container.

day 129

Arijana has the cutest little pup, Buba. We met them (and the other Black & White, Johnson) for some play time at the dog park near where we live. I took a bunch of photos of them all but Buba emerged as the star of the day.

day 128

Tonight's Happy Hour turned into a wine and cheese extravaganza. I went to Extraordinary Desserts with Jody and Arijana. We shared a bottle of Argentinian Malbec and some fantastic cheeses, followed by coffee and the most delicious ice cream I have ever had. Yum, yum and more yum.

day 127

Many of my students are on teams - soccer and baseball mostly. They talk a lot about how their teams are doing during our 'highs and lows' discussion at the end of every week. (In case you aren't familiar with that - we sit in a big circle and share a good thing and a not-so-good thing from the week.) There has been a lot of talk about baseball lately and one of the boys has been asking me to come see his team play. Three of my students actually play in the same league so I caught them all in one game today. They were excited to have me there which was so cute - and will absolutely be my high for the week. :)

day 126

There's something you should know about me...
I am a serial orderer. When I find a dish I like, I order it over and over again. My current fave at The Cheesecake Factory is the Chicken Madeira. It is WON-DER-FUL and you get such a big portion, it makes a great leftover lunch. I can't wait to enjoy it all over again tomorrow!

day 125

I am having a cup of English tea to ease my mind a little bit and to help me sleep peacefully tonight. I hope.

day 124

The Browns and I were just getting started on our evening walk when I spotted this guy in front of my neighbor's place. I tied them to the fence and ran back to the house to get my camera. After the walk, he was still there so I tried moving him to a more scenic location but he wasn't having it. He gave me a pretty good scare - as I leaned in to pick him up, he jumped off the fence and flew down the street. I hope no one was watching me...

day 123

It's dinnertime but I don't feel like having dinner.

day 122

We hosted a BBQ today at the site for LdV (Leonardo da Vinci) so that we could introduce ourselves to the neighborhood and do a little PR. We had a great turnout and my classroom-to-be is up to 11 students already! I worked the science station and did 'cookie mining' with the kids. Basically, we use a cookie to represent a rock and they try to extract the 'minerals' (chocolate chips) from it. Here's my friend Naeem working hard to mine his cookie.

day 121

At our assembly this morning, our school's Ballet Folklorico did a performance. This is Brisa, a second grader who I work with for part of the school day. She looked so cute, sitting there watching the boys who were dancing on stage, I couldn't resist capturing the moment.