Virginia Beach

We went to Virginia Beach on Monday and spent a few hours in the Atlantic ocean. The girls thought it was great. They had soooo much fun, it was all we could do to get them in the car to get them home. They were exausted, of course, from playing in the waves and took a nap on the way home. By the time we left Sabrina had mastered the boogie board and was able to ride the waves into shore. Pretty cool for a 10 year old. Abby was fearless, she had no problems heading into the waves, they even knocked her down a time or two and she got right back up and in the middle of them. A far cry from how she was last year, we couldn't even splash her and she would have to get out of the pool and dry her face off. She's a trip. Both of them had so much sand in their hair that I think they will be cleaning it out for weeks to come. Sabrina's was worse, because her hair is so thick and curly. O well. The price you pay for a day at the beach.

The exciting weeked

The girls and I got back into town on Friday, after a VERY long drive to Williamsburg. I thought that after an 8 hour trip in the car, they needed to run off some steam, what better place than kidsburg. And of course, they look forward to the park everytime they come down here. Their favorite part being the ziplines. Can't imagine. We were there for an hour and they still had energy to burn, too bad I was STARVING and needed to go home and throw the frozen pissa in the oven for dinner. But I told them we would come back to the park the next day, so I didn't get too much grief for having to leave. And they were hungry too, so I really escaped without too much griping.

Sean and I were able to take the girls to church on Sunday. We were finally able to get someone to take a really nice picture of everyone. Thanks to Heather Janis:) We did get a few nice ones and then I was trying to be cute and well, Sean was being Sean!

murphy's law

Ok, so the bureaucracy that is college admissions amazes me once again. For those of you that I might not have told, I am going back to school to get yet another degree. This time a master's in environmental engineering. However... before I can even apply, I must take 4, yes count 'em 4 calculus classes. All before next summer, so I can get this done in 2 years, and move on to a job I actually enjoy. I had to go up to Pittsburgh this week to pick up the girls and bring them down to have some fun before we left. I decided that I would register for classes while I was there. I called ahead of time to find out what I needed to have to be considered in county so I would only have to pay the $80 a credit hour, not the $1500 per class. They told me all I needed was a bank account from Pittsburgh. Well, such was not the case. I went to open a bank account in Pittsburgh. Mind you, we lived in Pittsburgh not even 10 months ago, and would not have had our lisences and registration changed if we knew we were going back. Anyway, I went to Dollar bank to open an account, BUT, couldn't do that without proof that we were indeed residence of Pittsburgh. HUH?! So I had to go back to the bank where I knew one of the ladies that worked there and she could open an account for us. Okay, so now I have my account open. I go to CCAC (community college of alleghany county) to register. Go to the advisor to get my classes. No problem, but she tells me there is a chance that the classes could be cancelled because there is only 6 students, now 7, in the one class. Pray that they don't cancel that class. Well, this was not the end of my trials for the day. I then go to the actual registration desk, and the guy asks me for my drivers license, I, of course, show him my Virginia license, but also my new account for Pittsburgh. HE SAYS HE CAN"T ACCEPT THAT!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!. I wanted to scream. Then he tells me I could go get my driver's license changed. HAHAHA! There are a few requirements. All of which I can't provide. The big problem is that we are going to be house sitting for Sean's parents, so we have no lease agreement, no utility bills to speak of, including phone, and for the moment, no pay stubs. So, I can't even get my license changed because we have none of those things. So the guy I was talking to and explained all this to went and talked to another lady in the office, and she came out and I told her the same thing I told him. I also included that if I didn't take these 2 classes now, I couldn't take Calc 1 in the fall and then I would be seriously behind, something we can't afford.She asked if I could test out of the classes and just start with Calc. Well, not really, I'd like to get my mind back in calc mode, so that means I need to take these classes. They thought I might be able to register for the classes as an out of state person then switch and have the money refunded. BUT, since the money for the classes was due when I signed up, they couldn't do that. The lady that was helping went and asked the student accounts people if that could be done. She came back out laughing, because they said it was up to the people in registration as to what they coded me as. So making a long story short....They made an executive decision and decided that they would put me in the computer as in state/county since I was indeed going to be moving back. I never even thought to tell tham that I needed proof that I was going to be living in town even to open up a bank account. What a fiasco. But now things are good. As long as neither of the classes are cancelled, I should be right on schedule to get into the master's program next year. I'm hoping the move itself won't be nearly as traumatic.

Dog time

No great pictures at the moment. Keep forgetting to take the camera. We have found a new way for the dog to beat the heat. THE BEACH! :) He loves it, and it makes him tired, so he's not as obnoxious. I have also found that he has a sweet tooth. He found a box of Runts on the footstool and ate some today. I turned around and scared him and 2 popped out of his mouth. Not 2 minutes later, i come out of the kitchen and give him a look and he drops one out of his mouth. Then I come down from upstairs and give him another look and he drops ANOTHER one out of his mouth!!! crazy dog. I let him have the last one and put the box out of reach so he doesn't get a sugar high.
I'm off to Pittsburgh tomorrow to pick up Abby & Sabrina so we can have a little fun before we move. Oh, what joy, the house is a complete disaster, everything is in a box, and the boxes are taking over the house! AAAURGH!! I can't wait to get out of here.

A day in Williamsburg

Sean and I were able to spend the day to together and spent the day on the beach and at Williamsburg. There were places in colonial Williamsburg we hadn't visited yet, so we took some time to check out the govenor's palace. Nice place, lots of guns in the entry way. They are also working on a farm that they are slowly building each builind like they would on the original farm. Hence the guys in the house. The beach was wonderful. Really hot, but nice to be out in the sun on the sand near the water.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

YEAH!!! Today is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!!! WOOOOHOOOOOOO. I'm not excited or nothing about this prospect. I think I have had an average of 3 students in all my classes. My 5th period decided to fill water balloons, not sure what for or who they were going to hit. One of the kids was tossing it to himself in class and managed to pop it off the ceiling and he got wet with his own balloon. It was classic. I'll have to find out what they did with the rest of them later. It's going to be a GREAT summer, cause I will be no where NEAR a high school!

I was so incredibly excited today, what a great day. The last one in a high school, EVER!!!! What was I thinking when I went back to teaching. I guess the blessing in the whole experience is that I know I never want to do that again. And, I do know what I would like to do when we get out of here. Aaaaahhhh. What a relief. I still have to go back next week, but I won't have any students, they are supposed to have final exams, but I had the foresight not to bother to have any. Therefore, no students!!! Most of my secretarial stuff is done, like grades, so I will be able to do whatever I want next week, like work on my rain garden, that my students didn't seem to take that big of an interest in. Imagine that. But it will be a great week next week. Can't wait, cause after that, well then it is only 2 weeks before we are back in Pittsburgh. Yeah.

I found out that the kids didn't do anything with the balloons, as of the last class of the day. One of the girls still had the balloon she filled up during class 5th period, but then one of the kids popped the balloon on himself and had wet pants when he left school. These kids are so bright.

The Track Team

Here are a couple of the guys doing triple jump. We didn't have anyone doing high jump at this meet, so no pictures. The track team was a total blessing to my day. Looking forward to practice enabled me to get through the school day. The guys did really, and finished 4th in the state as a team. I had a couple fo the guys that I worked with on high jump get over 5'10, and 6'0". I had a couple of girls that went to regionals in 300 hurdles. I have no idea how I convinced 3 girls to run 300's, but they all did really well. I had 1 girl throw shot and discus, and did pretty well. The roster was an amazing thing, I think we started with 25 girls at the first week of practice. By the end of the year, I had 8, some were ineligble because of grades, others just stopped coming, and others, well, other things were more important. Who knows. But I got a great farmers tan, due to the significant amount of sunshine available at practice and the meets. I think there was only 1 cold meet, and I was lucky enough not to have to go to it!

Environmental Science

Some of my environmental science students went out on a reaserch vessel with me last week to plant some oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. They were out there to get out of school for a day and get some sun. I'm hoping that they learned.... something, maybe, if I was lucky they did.

Brooklyn

Here is my niece, Brooklyn, she lives in Californina and is quite the cutey as well. She is named after original home of the LA Dodgers, can you believe it:) Her parents are major fans!

Robert

This is my nephew Robert, ain't he a cutey:) He knows it too, and poses for pictures.

Memorial Day in Williamsburg

Here's the Williamsburg drum & fife corp. Really cool. Sean and I went with Heather & Daron Janis, and Nanette & Nolan Opperman. Very nice, if not long walk to the 3 places they placed wreaths. We came home and had lots of food from the grill. yum.

Yorktown Beach

After taking the dog home with us, we went to the Yorktown beach. The girls think it's crazy that we go to the beach in the "winter." But then , they live in Pittsburgh, were it never seems to get warm, at least no time between October and May. Abby and Sabrina were in the water pretty far, no matter how much we warned them that they needed to stay out. Abby took a dip, got completely wet, and we had to cut our trip short. It was really funny after the fact even though she was really upset when it happened.

Picking up the Dog

This was the day we went and got the newest member of the family, Chewbacka, AKA Chewy. We found out REAL quick that he chews on EVERYTHING!!! But he's alright, I guess. He's Sean's dog! He's already gained over 10 pounds in 2 months. He's going to be a big boy.

Abby and Sabrina loved him when they saw him, they had to get up on the house for a picture, and I think to get out of the way of one over exuberant 3 month old puppy.

Farm in Yorktown

The girls seem to like helping grind corn, they spent lots of time outside near the doors grinding the corn.

Farm in Yorktown

Abby and Sabrina liked the cabin that was in the farm part of Yorktown, they tried to go upstairs only to find that the way was blocked

Sabrina in Yorktown Camp

The girls spent Easter with us and had a great time. We thought it would be cool to take them to Yorktown and have them see the history stuff. They were not impressed, until we got to the encampment, then they thought the place was cool. I guess when you are 7 and 10, reading all that stuff is just not fun:)

Einstein the Cat

This is Einstein after a hard night out, he couldn't handle his liquor.

Maverick & Einstein

This used to be the entertainment of the evening. Didn't even have to turn on the TV!! Einstein is the cat, and he would start messing with Mav, and Mav would oblige, they were a riot to watch.

Thanksgiving 2006

This is our little family at Thanksgiving 2006. Maverick is the focus of the picture. Sadly this was his last Thanksgiving with us, although I must say, he enjoyed all the food that managed to be at his level from all the little kids that were there.

Project at Middlesex High School

This is a project I worked on with some of my classes at Middlesex High School. Some were really into it, others stood on the sidelines and watched us work. Kids will be kids. It looks pretty good now, although it could still use a little work so the rain doesn't keep washing it out.