craft fair weekend

Labor Day weekend marks one of our favorite craft fairs - or "art shows" depending on who you talk to. I enjoy the park in Manitou Springs and the live music and, of course, the kettle corn. I always treat myself to kettle corn when I work the craft fair! We've been doing it long enough now that we know some of the other vendors and enjoy talking with them along with people watching, and, hopefully, selling some photos. (It happened to be a good weekend for us - we sold one of our biggest pieces!) Manitou Springs is always fun, one of our favorite parts of Colorado. After the show tonight we went out for margaritas and mexican food at a local restaurant we love called The Loop.

change

looking for the fountain of youth?

Tonight on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, the news was, yet again, about the power of exercising. There was a study done over a span of 24 years on runners, and they found that people who run live an average of 16 years longer than those who don't before getting sick with disease or neurological problems. Sixteen years! Prominent researchers again heralded exercise as the fountain of youth.

I get it. I know how important it is to exercise, and I actually enjoy doing it, but yet I struggle to fit it in. Over summer vacation I made it to the gym pretty often, but with working all day and then racing to pick Bree up from daycare, coming home, dinner, spending time with my husband, etc., exercise falls away. But I know how good I feel after I do it. I am a healthier, and HAPPIER person when I exercise.

So I have to figure out a way.

I am posting a poll on this so please vote, and I would love your comments!

prayers and positive thoughts

Please send your prayers and positive thoughts to my family. My uncle Chuck is in the hospital tonight after a stroke, and my aunt Sharon is also hospitalized. We are worried for them and appreciate your support.

a wet weekend

It's still raining.

We braved the cold, wet weather and headed to Mile High stadium to watch the Broncos take on the Cowboys in a pre-season game. Surprisingly, it didn't actually pour on us during the game! Just a light drizzle.

The junior cheerleaders took to the field at half-time to perform. The routine was done to various songs, all with RAIN in the title/lyrics. How cute are they - they all had an orange, white or blue umbrella. I guess they are the ones who ordered the rain. How else did they know to practice an umbrella routine?

We broke down and turned our heat on briefly. Can you believe it, turned the heat on. In AUGUST!!!

thank you

Something happened last week at school.

I had the fortunate experience of meeting one of my student's parents at our Back To School Night. Now, I often dread this night because it is when we have the opportunity to go over our school and classroom policies in 20 minute sessions and it seems that, inevitably, someone sees it as an opportunity to spend the meeting complaining and challenging me in front of an audience of other parents. ("What do you mean they only have time to eat ONE snack? My son does not have dinner until after 7pm and if I want him to eat TWO snacks at school - he will! " Or, one of my favorites: "How dare you bold and underline things in this parent letter? You are insulting my intelligence by putting words in bold print. I will be speaking to your principal about this." That one actually happened to a team mate a few years ago.) I try to consider that for some parents, complaining and attacking may be the only way they feel able to advocate for their child. Maybe it's their way to be involved. I try not to take in personally, but of course I do.

This year our turn out was small. I am down to 25 students because two of them never showed up, and I had a grand total of 9 families attend back to school night. One dad was in attendance for my first session, and it was so refreshing because he took the time to thank me and compliment me on my chosen career. He said that while he enjoys his job in the military, he doesn't exactly LOVE what he does. He told me he could tell by the bright smile and look on my face when he walked into the room that I am doing work that I love. He agreed that teaching, working with children and helping to shape our country's future, is one of the most important jobs out there. He was polite and kind and genuinely concerned for his children, and gracious and thankful to me for the job I will do for his daughter this year. He was vocal about his admiration for teachers, and in front of other parents made sure that he said so.

It was wonderful. So many people love to criticize public education and put down educators without giving a thought to what a day in the life of a teacher really is like. I appreciate this parent more than he will know!

The Host

The Host: A Novel by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Something about Stephenie Meyer's writing style makes it really easy to read her books. She is a terrific writer. I enjoyed reading Twilight but was frustrated with it in the sense that it was the same old story (girl loves vampire, vampire loves girl, vampire is dangerous to girl, other vampires want to eat girl, what to do?) The Host, however, is nothing like anything I've ever read.

In this book an alien race has taken over the planet. The "souls" can only exist inside a host body. Wanderer is implanted into a body whose host, Melanie, refuses to leave. Talk about multiple personalities! I grew to love both Wanderer and Melanie and was always trying to guess at how Meyer would bring a resolution to the story. It did not disappoint.

I enjoyed this book, and yes, even felt disappointed when the night after I'd finished reading it I had to find something else to read. To me, that is always the true sign of a good book!


View all my reviews.

impressed

Friday night I went out with the girls. I wasn't home to watch the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics but due to the wonders of the digital age I did set the direct tv to record it. I watched it today while Bree took her nap, and boy was it impressive.

There is an awful lot of controversy surrounding these games and China. I understand why people are boycotting them, but I believe that if nothing else, the olympic games are bringing more attention and scrutiny to the problems the Chinese government faces. Perhaps this is giving the Chinese people an opportunity to better see themselves from a global perspective, and to reflect on their current practices.

Regardless, the opening ceremony was stunning. I am so impressed with the level of creative artistry that went into the design and production of it all. How do people come up with this stuff? Furthermore, how do they take these fantastical ideas and make them reality? There were thousands of people involved in this production and it really was breathtakingly beautiful.

Rain

It's raining! After months of hot, dry weather we have had two evenings now, count them, TWO evenings of rain. What a perfect end to my long, long day back at work.

one small thing

for the environment...

I recently purchased some $1 shopping bags at Albertson's and have been impressed with how much they hold and how easy they are to carry. Plus, I get 5 cents back each time I use one. (Small potatoes, I know, but every bit helps, and soon the bags will pay for themselves.) I feel pretty good about the choice I've made to "go green" with my shopping bags, but sometimes wonder if it is making any difference. After all - what is one small grocery bag?

Then I got an e-mail from my friend Nicole with this link. Definitely worth checking out.