Amusement

My team of teachers took our 8th graders to Oaks Park today. We've spent the last 2 years with these kids, and in 9 days they'll be off to high school. So, we wanted to do something fun with them. Something they won't soon forget. And let me tell you...they had a blast. I don't think I've seen so many smiling middle schoolers in one day. It's amazing how the teenage angst goes away when you're laughing and riding rides. The kids were soooo funny when I got on the roller coaster with them. They were all: "I can't believe you're really going to ride this with us!" I guess I never thought my middle school teachers had any fun either.

Thinking about my own middle school experience, Oaks Park hasn't changed much from when I was there in middle school. Yes, they have some new rides but it really looks much as it did 15 years ago! (See the above picture...It's the Screamin' Eagle and it replaced the big dragon ride) I guess I'm really glad it hasn't changed much. It's sorta neat that the Oaks Park I remember from age 14 is the same one they'll remember. Wow! I'm getting really sentimental. It must be nearly time to say good-bye to these guys. I'm really going to miss a lot of them!

The day was really a blast. The kids had a blast and we had a blast with them. We did have a few who made themselves sick, but it's amazing how quickly a person recovers at age 14. Oh...to be young again! Well, maybe not that young. There are some more fun end of the year activities to look forward to. But I have to admit that what I'm looking forward to the most is the morning of Friday June 13th. That's when I'll still be in bed at 10am!
-h

Weekend Play

So if last weekend was full of work, this one was most definitely full of play. Heidi and I, along with my coworker Ross and his girlfriend Savannah, went to Bend for the weekend. We left Saturday morning, leaving sunny Portland for rainy central Oregon. We were all pretty hungry when we got into town, so we headed directly for the Deschutes Brewery pub in downtown. After lunch we decided to go explore the Tumalo Falls area, just outside of town. As we closed in on our destination, the weather closed in on us. It started as heavy rain, which quickly turned to hail and lightening. It had hailed enough to completely cover the road, making things pretty slick, even with "the beauty of all wheel drive". Needless to say, there was no hike, and no viewing of the falls.

Sunday I decided to show everyone around the Newberry volcanic area, south of Bend. We started at Lava Butte, unfortunately the view was pretty poor as the area was socked in with clouds. Heidi did manage to get some good pictures around the rim though.

We lucked out as we headed to Newberry Caldera, the weather cleared up nicely, there were some clouds, but the sun warmed us up. Our first stop was Paulina Creek Falls, a 60 foot double falls. The lower view point was snowed in, so we had to make do with taking pictures from the upper view point.

By then we had done about all the exploring we wanted and were needing nourishment. Some food and beer at Bend Brewing Company took care of that. We played a round of bocce ball in Drake Park, carefully trying to miss the seeming endless piles of goose poop. It was then that we went to the concert at the Les Schwab Amphitheater, the real reason we were in Bend in the first place. We saw Modest Mouse along with The National and The Breeders. It was a great show, and the weather even held out, I don't think I felt a single drop of rain.

-G

Weekend Work

We've been on quite a blogging hiatus, I know! This time of year is always so crazy busy and when we aren't busy, I want to be sleeping. Last week was quite a disaster. It was exhausting spending my day in a classroom that's nearly 100 degrees (I'm not joking...this week when it was 95 on Friday it had to be well into that in my classroom). I had one of the worst days with my 6th period class from hell, and Gabe had a dental emergency. It's a pretty long story but I'll give you the short version. He's had a lot of trouble with one of his front teeth. And this week, that problem tooth completely fell out! The tooth's dead, it's been through a root canal and most recently he had a crown put on it. Well, apparently the tooth wasn't strong enough to take the crown. Gabe was enjoying his favorite snack at work on Wednesday, bit into a Cheeto and his front tooth literally fell out of his mouth. He was pretty freaked out! Luckily, the dentist was available and he glued it back in. All this to say that we'll be spending our economic stimulus check on Gabe's dental implant...not on our trip to Greece, like I'd hoped.

So how do we relax after a stressful week like that? I decided that we should spend the weekend working in the sweltering heat. I know...I'm insane!
Here's what we've been working on this weekend.
From start to finish... I've expanded my garden this year and used the space I previously had reserved for my dahlias. So, we decided to make another raised bed just for me to plant dahlias in. Hopefully, this means I'll have a bunch more this year to enjoy! It was a tough project and we chose a tough weekend to do it. Since it was in the 90s yesterday we did most of the work today.
I just want you to know that Gabe didn't do all the work. That's the false illusion the photos imply. It's just that don't like him taking pictures of me when I'm really gross, hot and sweaty. Gabe, on the other hand, doesn't seem to mind!
-h
Only 3 and 1/2 more weeks!

To those who teach

Today is teacher appreciation day and I've decided to take the opportunity to share another story from the wonderful world of Middle School. Since I'm trying to have a positive attitude at this time in the year, I won't complain about the fact that I have 8th graders who are still coming to class without something to write with. Summer is getting close and we're all getting tired. So this story really brightened my day today!
One of my favorite students came into class today (I know I'm not suppose to have favorites...what can I say, there are just some I enjoy more than others) and very matter-of-factly stated:
"In a perfect world everyone would have the same brain capacity as me."
I don't know where she heard that, or where she got that, but I found it so funny. I just had to think that if those words were true, my job would be soooo much easier. And so much more fun! I love the teenage brain, I just wish they all had the same motivation to use that capacity sometimes!
-h