End of Middle School (for Ruben anyway)

I'm changing jobs next year, and Ru will be changing schools. Its a soft transition compared to when we left all our friends, family, house, car, and way of life behind and moved to Salem, but it is still going to be a change.

Here are some pictures from the 8th grade dance. It was a semi formal dance, but that didn't stop Ru from wearing his favorite outfit. I chaperoned and tried to stay out of his way. He didn't dance much, but his friends formed a tight group that moved around the room.

Next year I'll be changing classrooms but staying at Judson. I'll be working with gened kids with special needs, and won't be in a self contained classroom. It sounds MUCH different and probably will be easier.

Ru will be attending Sprague High School. Its actually only a few miles from our apartment. It's rated in the top 10 high schools in Oregon. I sure hope he does well.

Tie Dye and Plaid may be his favorite outfit.

It always freaks out the kids in my class to see Mrs. Pearson wearing a tie. Ties are for BOYS. I tell them ties are for shirts with collars. 

Last day of middle school.

At the dance with Dustin and Max

Early Season Camping

What, the rain stopped for a weekend?  "Hey mom, how bout a boat launch?, and do you want to go camping?"
Thankfully Mom and Jeff worked their butts off to make it happen. the boat had developed a thick coating of mold under the covers, and everything needed cleaned. We were so grateful for a night at the lake. It was quiet, warm enough, and everything was fresh and green. Best of all the lake was FULL!

Ruben captured many pictures of the geese with their goslings. 

The adults just wanted to sit in the sun and float down the lake. The kid needed entertainment. 

I don't know how he slept through the geese, crows, and early morning fishermen. 

So glad the lake has water this year!

Sports

I've been on a fitness kick lately. I haven't lost any weight, I've actually bulked up, but I've been doing P90x every morning for about a month. Ru has been joining me for a 10 minute yoga stretch every evening.
Every chance I can I get outside, (when it's not raining) and Ru and I got rollerblades. Here are some fun pics of us trying them out. Trying them out for the second time, the first time ended in near disaster when Ru fell and nearly dislocated his shoulder. We learned from that experience, and wore pads and helmets.

Jenkins doing yoga with me. He isn't really that helpful. 

The Cinco de Mayo message on Beachbody

He wanted to know if he was doing "up to flat back" correctly during yoga

Burning calories

Not helpful. Not at all.

He was okay a few days later

The Tale of Two Kitties

I've been looking for a fluffy orange kitten for a few weeks now. Cab has cats and I love having catlap when I go to his house to visit. I had cat envy. The reason I wanted an orange kitten is because... I've never met a bad orange cat.
Anyway I arranged a visit with a foster family up in Sherwood for this morning. I arrived right on time and they had two little furballs left. One was gray and named Pepper, the other was orange and named Cinnamon. (All five kittens were named after spices.) Kittens were happily playing in the kitten room which looked like it was the TV room till kittens came into the family's life. Here is their story.

Once upon a time a 20 something college girl found a very pregnant little cat in the alley behind her house. Knowing she couldn't keep it she asked her mom if she could keep it at her house. Mom is a kindhearted cat lover and said sure, we'll foster the kittens. They contacted a local agency and arranged to do the fostering, that helped make sure the vet bills were all paid. So Mama cat got to have her kittens in a nice (beautiful) safe house. The kittens were all healthy, and the year old mom did a nice job raising them. The family doted on the kittens and made sure they were all litter box trained and well played with.

The two I met were very social, and their favorite toy was the shoelace, although they also loved the box, and attacking each other. knowing that Ru and I would be gone to school all day soon I went and adopted both kittens just so they wouldn't be so lonely.

I went to the Cat Adoption Team store/clinic down the road and signed papers, paid money, and made arrangements to pick up the kitties after their neutering surgery on Tuesday evening. I was a little sad that Ru didn't get to help me pick them out, but there really wasn't much picking to do. I was immediately in love with the orange one, and the gray one was just as playful and friendly. Both of them had actually crawled in my lap while I visited.

Anyway here are pictures of the kittens.

Ruben said he wanted to name his cat Billy Mays

Billy looks ready to pounce on the yardstick

I am going to name this guy Jenkins. He was asleep on the foster mom's lap.

He woke up from the click of the camera.

Mama had unusual coloring.

She was a very loving mother. She stood up about a minute after Jenkins started nursing. You could tell she was pretty done with all that. Mama did hang out with me a while and loved to be petted under her chin. She seemed almost like a kitten herself. 

Camping at Panther Flats

We got our camping stuff together Tuesday and Wednesday we took off for Eugene. I had an appointment with Kathy the lady who makes custom orthotics. I have a problem with the ball of my foot called Capsulitis of the second toe. Basically my joint is loose and my toe is moving causing a lot of pain. I have to stay off the balls of my feet for a while.

Kathy added more arch support to my orthotics and also added some arch support to my sandals. She gave me some pads to wear in between my big toe and my long second toe to help with the toe drift.

Excited at the prospect of less foot pain Ru and I drove all of our camping gear over to mom's house. After stashing my bike and guitar in her house we went out for a delicious lunch at a nearby diner. I've been having some issues with food allergies again and although it tasted great something I ate gave me blisters in my mouth that would plague me for the remainder of our camping trip.

We hung out at mom's after lunch watching the Olympics. I've been really enjoying watching the less popular events during the day. I watched the lady weightlifters, the little ones. I watched kayaking, judo, sailing, boxing, both types of volleyball, tennis, bicycling, and gymnastics. We watched swimming and Ru was amazed at how little the divers wore. I'm excited for the TaeKwonDo.

Anyway, while we were sitting at mom's house we watched Olympic kayaking, but we also watched some guy climbing the Trump tower with suction cups. It was really amusing to watch. At about 4pm we headed over to Jeremy's house to drop off our gear and get supplies. The plan was to travel together in his new suburban if we could manage to fit all of our stuff in it with the three kids.

Aerielle helped me make a shopping list and Jeremy and I went off on a shopping spree to BiMart, Winco, and a few other places. We came back to a houseful of hungry kids. After a backyard bonfire we drifted off to bed.

Bright and (too) early Jeremy was up packing the kids clothes and supplies. We staged everything near the suburban then I went away and let him try to fit everything in the truck. Amazingly he did! With the bikes strapped on the back we drove through McDonalds and hit the freeway south.

Support for my aching feet.

Heading out of town

The rest of the photos can be found in the Panther Flats 2016 album.

Sewing Volcanoes

When I was sewing with Sue last Wednesday, I had picked out a pattern for bloomers but didn't get a chance to start. I contentedly sewed them today. I am really happy with how they turned out!  My sewing machine does the embroidery stitches. You might be wondering why I would want bloomers, well, I wanted some to wear under my madrigal costume. Even though they are not period they will cover my legs so I won't have to wear yoga pants.

I finished in time for Ru and I to go to Winco for bulk candy and get a pizza at Mod pizza. We carefully packed the candy in our pockets and went to the ballpark for a Volcanoes game.

It was drizzling when we left and the stadium was maybe 1/20th full. Cab and Parker joined us in the damp stands. We got to see Roofman, Crater the mascot, Mr. Peanut, and even a couple home runs. Although we root root rooted for the home team they were losing when we left after the 7th inning stretch. We were getting chilly.

Ruben and Parker singing with the mascot during the 7th inning stretch.

Threatening skies

Finishing Classes

Tuesday I got to meet my new workout partner. I had placed an ad on Craigslist which said:

South Salem workout partner wanted

Active 40 year old woman seeks a workout buddy for:

Jogging (10 minute miles), martial arts (12 years training Tang Soo Do) sparring, walking hills, hiking, swimming, disc golf, biking, weightlifting, and/or circuit training. 

I have a pretty flexible schedule this summer. I could use a gym but prefer outdoors if the weather is good. I'm a member at Physiq.

I've been slacking off the past few months and need some motivation. 

I'm a healthy happy well balanced person in a good relationship. I just got tired of working out alone. 

So Sheldon and I met at the gym. He lifts 3 days a week, whole body, he runs (marathons), hikes, and plays golf in tournaments. He's about 6% bodyfat. He started working out about 15 years ago when his father had a heart attack. He has been a trainer at the local athletic club, but now he is just busy with his business and likes to work out with people. His weakness is a good microbrew. He has a wife and three girls all of whom he adores. He even knows Cab because their daughters were friends.

We lifted all the major muscle groups on Tuesday, Wednesday I was sore, and Thursday we lifted again. Its really strange and cool to have someone encouraging me while I lift. I've been doing it alone for so long (or training other people) I'm writing this on Saturday and I can finally use my biceps again ;)

Wednesday my madrigal friend Sue came over to have me help her with garb. She wanted to make a new bodice and underdress. Together we measured and cut, and did some preliminary sewing. She took the rest home to finish. Boning a corset is tricky, but I have lots of experience with it now. I bet her outfit turns out terrific.

From Tuesday until Friday I spent all my stolen moments working on my online classes. It's a pretty sweet deal, the school district will reimburse me for continuing education classes up to $1000 per year, then I can use those credits to move up the pay scale. (and renew my teaching license)

I finished Differentiated Instruction first as it was worth 4 credits, and on Friday afternoon, right before I took Ru to his dad's, I finished the Advanced Classroom Management class (3 credits). I also ordered transcripts. As soon as I get my grades from PSU I can apply to the district for a pay increase. Masters +24 credits, and my 6th year teaching puts me at $54,228 per year. Think what you will of teacher pay, it doesn't seem a lot for how hard I work during the school year, and all the schooling it took to get me here. If I worked in Springfield I would only make $47,931. Salem pays teachers better than most of the districts in the state.

My next big adventure is to go to California and camp in the redwoods with Jeremy and family next Wednesday. Until then it's house projects, school clothes and supplies shopping, and interviewing for the job openings in my classroom.

Canterbury and Oregon Garden

My friend Sue

The second weekend at Canterbury was perhaps more fun than the first. Here are some pictures I snagged from the photographer. You can see the rest of the album here if you want to. There are so many interesting characters!

As soon as I arrived Saturday I went to visit Brenda the braider. She did an amazing job. My hair stayed in place for the entire weekend. 

Eric, Elke's Husband

This woman is so fun to watch. She is the merry (creepy) prankster. 

Cab met me at my last performance Sunday and we went to stay at Oregon Garden Resort for the night. After a walk in the garden and a  fantastic steak dinner in the restaurant, we went to Gallon House in Silverton and chatted until dusk. It was a relaxing end to a busy weekend.

Monday we left fairly early. I went to Home Depot to check on some flooring for my apartment. My landlord won't replace my kitchen floor till I move out, but that old linoleum is just gross. I thought about stick on tiles. My landlady didn't say no exactly. My plan is to photograph the old floor then put on the new tiles. It will only cost about $30 and will look SO much better. 

I went home and crashed until I had to get Ruben at 5. I was exhausted. When I got to the church to pick up Ru I got a text saying it would be another hour before the buses would arrive. So I napped in the car. 

When the buses finally arrived I didn't see Ru till about half the people left. His camp leader came first carrying his sleeping bag and a garbage sack of the dirtiest clothes ever. Ru was carrying his bag and a box of fruit loops which he was still munching on. He looked kind of dazed. 

We got him loaded up and then I asked him about camp. He didn't volunteer much information, but from what I gather he had a good time. He played on the waterslides, had a lot of camp meetings, enjoyed the food, didn't have any headaches, and hung out mostly with the other Judson campers. He was so crabby and untalkative I let him go zone out on his computer for the remainder of the evening but made him go to bed early. On Tuesday I let him rest a lot, he was still on edge. He wasn't normal till Wednesday.