Jealousy

Perhaps on Friday, while I was sitting at my desk drowning in lesson plans and a to-do list that was a mile long, I felt a little jealousy.

Ruben was invited on a play date. His friend Brett's mom Sarah picked him up and took him on a grand adventure.  They played in the fountain at riverfront park, they jumped on a trampoline, ate at a diner called Rockin Rodgers, and in general had a great time.

Freddie had left on his grand adventure to Burning Man, southern California, and everywhere in between.  He'll be back around my birthday.

At the diner.

Yogoman Burning Band on the way to Burning Man

Unpacking / Interviews/ Baseball

My school principal Lara Tiffin getting ready for the ribbon cutting.

 Tuesday morning at 7:30 am found me in front of Judson Middle School, clutching my coffee and mumbling greetings at my coworkers. Our school was refurbished over the summer which meant in June we were boxing up everything in every room and storing them in the gym.  My room was a pile of boxes when I left.  After the ribbon cutting ceremony I wandered around, enjoying the bright colors and newly opened spaces.  In my room I found... a pile of boxes.  Bob and I started unpacking a few, and I unloaded some personal belongings from my car, but I couldn't even begin to make a dent.  I had to interview potential staff members all afternoon.
Earlier in the summer one of my educational assistants quit to stay home with her young girls.  Over 110 people applied for the job, 30 within the school district who wanted to transfer to my classroom.  Partly this is because of the economy and scarcity of jobs, partly because my room is an awesome place to work.  The assistant principal and I interviewed seven people, and had a terrible time choosing between the top three.  In the end we decided on a pleasant woman who although she had less experience she made up for it in sincerity and warmth.
Wednesday I attended a special education meeting at West Salem High School, then drove back to Judson for an afternoon of unpacking. 

Thursday started with staff meeting, at which it was announced free Volcanoes tickets were available.  I snagged them for the game that night. I dug into boxes and deskwork, then went home and made fettuccine alfredo with garlic chicken.  We had 5 tickets to the baseball game so we invited our neighbor kids.  One was able to go. 

What I walked into. 

New, double paned windows should keep the room warmer.

Unboxing in progress

Progress

Ru and Grace

Baseball may not be the most exciting sport, but the kids entertained themselves.

At Home

Taking kitty home

 We were busy this week, moving things from Grove to Salem, Kitty was not so excited about the move but settled in nicely.  We bought school supplies, rearranged the items in our apartment, I organized my desk, made a new budget for fall, and we swam in the pool and laid in the sun. It was a week of errands, funny movies, snuggling, and sunshine.  Life is good.

The morning television watching position.

Cheyson and BettyLisa, our free lunch companions

Silly boy at free lunch

Wishing he could play the piano

The perfect hamburger

Cuddling new Kitty in my bed.

Good morning kitty

My garden at its peak

Lane County Fair / Weird Al

Ru and I had a terrific time at the Lane County Fair!  We ate corndogs, went on rides, and talked with my uncle Don Leach.  My uncle Don was at the Oregon Concealed table selling his new book.  I got an autographed copy! 

Jeremy joined us after a while with his kids and we all had a blast on the rides.  I took the kids on the tilt-a-whirl which is my personal favorite, and Jeremy took them on the huge boat thing that goes high back and forth.  Nobody got sick or damaged so it was a successful day.

The main event was the Weird Al concert.  We should have gotten to the stage sooner to get a better view, but we listened to most of the show, and was able to see parts.  We love the Weird!  It was a tossup who had more fun, the adults or the kids.

Ruben Jeremy and Aerielle

Our back row concert view.  The sound was great though.

Silver Falls Revisited

After our brief visit to Silver Falls back in July we wanted to have another longer visit, and do some hiking.  The entire loop was over 8 miles so we did the shorter version and walked 6.5.  Ruben and I were joined by our friend Freddie. We walked slowly and joyfully the entire way, and at the end we were a little footsore, but very happy we'd made the trip.  It was a 100 degree day, and we were happy to be hiking next to flowing water for most of it.
The highlight for Ruben was stopping by one of the smaller falls to play in the water, look for rocks and crawdads, and climb up any available rock surfaces.  The highlight for me was the delicious picnic, napping by the water, and my encounter with the witch.  I'd detail my encounter with the witch here, but its a better story in person.
Here are some lovely pictures.  If anybody is interested in going to Silver Falls, Ru and I would be happy to be your trail guides... if you hike slow.

The spot we stopped for lunch, naps, and Ru took an impromptu swim.

crawdad

I wouldn't have posted the blur pic, but it was the only one of me...

The trees here rivaled the redwoods.  Huge.

Routine

 Waking up late, cuddling, eating fruit pancakes, playing outside, free lunch, play in the pool, read books, play games, bike to Limeberry for frozen yogurt, ride back through the park with the bmx track, watch Top Gear, brush teeth, cuddle, go to bed.  (Emily beats Jeremy at computer chess...)

Staying Home (ish)

Well, no grand adventures have happened since we got back from camping with the Leaches. We have however been enjoying a lot of time at home and around our neighborhood.

Thursday the 2^nd we woke up in our own beds... and stayed there for a long time. We eventually got up and had a lovely breakfast of blueberry pancakes and cheesy eggs. We went to free lunch, swam in the pool, and watched Top Gear UK. Ru played with his friends Grace, Cheyson, and Destin. We took a lovely drive to a workshop of a master guitar builder to have my guitar repaired. We cruised by Fred Meyer and got a bike lock for the new bicycles, and some new sandals for Ru (He blew out a flip flop) Our evening consisted of video games, and a movie.

Friday the 3^rd we woke up in our own beds... and stayed there for a long time. We eventually got up and had a lovely breakfast of blueberry pancakes with bananas. We took a bike ride to free lunch and rode to the market for dinner supplies. We came home, swam in the pool, and watched Top Gear UK. Ru played with his friends Grace, Cheyson, and Destin. Destin refused to wear his helmet because it had little teddy bears on it so we did some modifications.  I gave them supplies (including popscicles) and we dramatically improved it.  Flames baby.  Its so fast its got flames.

From teddy bears to flames. Dramatic helmet improvement.

Ruben is getting back into the idea that he's going to be a 4th grader and yes school will start again someday.  I told him for every 6 pages he does in his 4th grade workbook he can have an hour of video game time.  So he went to work earning video game time.

Hard worker Ruben

I made cole slaw

Saturday the 4^th we woke up in our own beds... and got up quickly to beat the heat. We had a lovely breakfast of oatmeal blueberry pancakes with bananas. We cleaned the house quickly and hung up signs for a bike wash.  The idea was to get the kids here and wet and happy and fix and wash bicycles.  One boy showed up, and now Ru has a new friend, Brandon. Then we swam in the pool, and watched Top Gear UK. I did some online music shopping and we discovered that if you play music loudly in the dining room you can dance to it on the back patio under the sprinkler. That's the way to beat the heat! Jeremy came over to jam for a while then we finally fell asleep in front of the fan around midnight.

We have a mustache stuck on our door (just for this purpose), Gracie put her face up to it. 

Sunday the 5^th we woke up in our own beds... and stayed there for a long time. We eventually got up and had a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. I tackled my desk mess and after watching some Top Gear UK we went to the pool. I made lists of all the things to do (and buy) before school starts while Ru had an epic water fight with (it seemed like) every kid from our apartment complex. Usually there is only a handful of people in the pool but it was packed. I ended up having to disarm a kid because he kept getting my lists wet. I've had an itchy rash all over since our camping trip so I stayed dry but Ru had a blast.

We journeyed to Winco (about a mile from home) and bought provisions for the next week or two and came home to find kids waiting to play. I gave a guitar lesson to Gracie and then we went outside just after dark to play with Ruben's new glow in the dark frisbee. It was a disappointment. Next time we'll get one that actually lights up. (A note about Gracie, she sounds exactly like Sandy on Spongebob Squarepants.)

Lovin the water fight