First pic is of Storm this weekend! The 2nd one is a couple weeks old with Bocephus and Casey.

Storm has been up and active today! She seems to be willing and resilent in hopping around :) That's good to see, after she has just layed around our living room all weekend. Kind of like us! HA!

Hey now, we took two huge heavy loads of scrap lumber to the dump for 10 bucks a load. Our front yard view is no longer an eyesore view!

This week is our last real week of school. Next week exams! Then a couple days of teacher time and let the ADVENTURE BEGIN!!!!!!!!!! I am torn a bit to leave Alaska and seemingly leave Casey to do yard work. Hopefully he doesn't do too much of it and we can take care of it in July and this fall. He should be fishing a lot! The King salmon are already heading up our Willow Creek! Not to mention, let the tourists begin! SO MUCH TRAFFIC! And Euros! HA! So I'll go over there and be with them too...? :)

Have a great week!

Storm got hit by a car and broke her leg!

She already had surgury equalling $1000.......

And she is at home with Casey resting as I ventured off to the internet wirelessness here at our library!

More to print later this weekend! IT'S TOO HOT HERE IN THE SUN!!!!! It's 80 degress and being already acclimated to the cold all the time (seriously, and weird), it feels like 100 degrees!

Shall I post a pick of Storm's shaved, hurt leg? It could be distrubing... :( :)

More to come...

10 days of school!

Good blog reading today finally.

Kids are tapping desks and shaking their leg and not focusing at all. Maybe it is the 78 and sunny weather we're out of controllingly having!!!!!!!! Light till 1 am much?

Seniors are done tomorrow, thus my grades for them are done asap. Hmm....

Looking to get Romeo and Juliet overwith!

We're going canoeing (sp?), picnic'ing, relaxation, good food, along with grass planting and brush moving this weekend!

Also, the builder guy has sent out a crew to stain our deck and paint the trim on the house. Could they also pick up their 7 trashbags of trash that they left? Oh, Casey already did that last weekend. Thank God we live in our house now and don't depend on a random stranger builder for our home and shelter need, like in that pyramid of human needs you learn about in health class? right.

I'm pumping up the music inventory and preparing download lists and compilations for the trip! YES! Thanks to Dad, Matt, and Justin (Dayton cd) for new music!

Hope you've all got great weather and plans for the great weekend ahead!

IT'S FRIIIIIIIDAY PEOPLE!!! And our trees are blooming finally!!! Willow is one of the last communities to get foliage, and one of the first to get winter... :) Oddly it smelled like Chowchilla today - the fresh, morning dew of a springy Chow that is. not other smells though.

Suppose to be grading essays this morning of no class, BUT NO!

Did you know I don't teach the first class of the day? Which means I squander it into oblivion of sleepyheadedness and pushing papers around for no reason! Ahhh!

Short classes today for a yearbook giving and signing assembly! I'LL TAKE IT!

Needless to say I'm blogging and enjoying this morning instead of essays! WOOYEAH! And so I shan't needlessly say that then.

Humph..there's nothing cool to report I guess. Well it was fun while it lasted, bye bye now. :)

Not doing cheerleading now!!!!

The stipend for it ended up being like $600 after taxes, and for all that drama....Ah! It was a hilarious week thinking about it!

So, after a good (fake) 3 day weekend, our teacher day was a blur of easy work in the classroom.

The Jeep has been up and about with some slight brake fluid probs. Casey's dad is going to walk him through some sealing and whatnot to fix that up. Perhaps professionally later in the summer we'll have it tuned up! Especially so we can take it on an adventure over Hatcher Pass and through the mountains this summer! YES!

We can pick wild blueberries and make a pie!

Speaking of pie - CAKE! The seniors have cake today 4th period and that is yum, yum chop!

Basically I am all set for the trip! After getting the mini-toiletries I purchased last week, I'M REALLY FEELING IT! You know packing is 1/3 of the joy for me, right?!

Well, the bell rang! Off to the routine of schedules for the day!

Cut off shirt, shorts, and flips have become my Saturday!

It's absolutely beautiful out today! 65 degrees, sunshine beyond belief, and blue sky! OH YEAH! You know I've been sitting out in it reading No. 1 Detective Agency! And helping to put the newly cut trees into orderly piles. Once we have a shed type of situation there will be one large piling and that'd be it - for me at least! HA! It's nice to see the property getting into shape, as our builder did leave A LOT of lumber and scraps and actually trash too.

School is dwindling, as we did finish our last real week of 5 days and no interruptions with assemblies and whatnot.

The seniors are done in 2 weeks and the rest of us coast out 2 more cheap weeks after that. Cheap b/c they include Mondays off, exam reviews, and exams!!!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!

The mosquitos are starting to come out and they are humongous, but slow. Easy to kill. In another couple weeks supposedly they will be small, quick, and swarming. Good thing I'll sort of already be in Europe! Whoot there it is! Can't go on without that mentioned!

Just ordered a deluxe neck pillow, European plug in (already had UK/Ireland one), and something else I think I ordered that I dont' remember? Oh TOILETRIES WERE PURCHASED! And a while back I had some duofolds sent to me.

Still needed (more of a list for my brain so bare with):
Good merrells
some muzak and movies ripped
northface zip off pants
pod cord for pic dumping

Newest realization about Alaska: lots of great lakes and WE'LL EMPLOY OUR CANOE!!!!

Lotsa random thoughts here on this stellar Saturday afternoon as I wait to pick up pizza! Again! Monday starts an actual real, serious regimen for in shape time! Gotta start wearing a packed backpack to strenghthen my back too. It'll be a good 4 and 1/2 weeks till the trip!!!!!

By the way I'm outside of our library sitting on a huge rock by a flower garden. I'm using my mac wirelessly and downloading the season finale of The Office that we didn't even get to see through excessive static and antennae noise!

Welp, the satellte guy is probably done at our house as Casey helps him and watches our dogs. Off to get pizza and enjoy satellite the rest of the weekend! Now if only we could get internet as easily and as cheaply.....

Akro Bins and Cheerleading!

I don't think anyone will be able to guess what the next sentence will say........

MARY IS COACHING CHEERLEADING this fall!!!!!!!!!!!!

hahahahahahahahahahaha! YES!

Not really. Well, really. A full coaching stipend has been offered to me in order to "supervise" two college aged "gung ho" cheerleading coaches. I would show them the ropes of coaching and rules, etc, be at all practices and events, and do nothing but that. Seriously. Paid to sit and make sure they're not trying out of contol acrobatics and to squash any drama. Paid to sit and type my books on my MAC!

Squashing the drama. That's the clincher. Anyone's imagination can foresee that as the annoyance. But I am a no nonsense type of no way to girl drama person. Hopefully that will convey and squash such before it starts.

So, so, so..what do we think out there? Hilarious!

I haven't told them my answer yet. This coupled with soccer in the spring and of course bball in the winter would max out the stipends equivalent to out of debt and heading into a 4 wheeler for property pursuits.

A good feeling of financial freedom talk. And Casey would go to the football games, and might coach boys basketball.

Missing school to be with my cheer team at football games...ahhhh I dream of it! Sort of, so this is why I got to sit the bench for so many years in college! hahahhahahahaa! My cheering abilities were developing in order to facilitate them into my very own Houston Hawk Cheer Squad. I can't wait to get travel gear! Picture a cheesy and cliched teacher polo that says, "Cheer Coach".

Anyways, we've decided to get satellite tv and some dude is coming out to check out the signal reception today.

On our household list of to do's:
Get electric, phone, and propane lines buried
Large fence for back yard
Shed built for wood storage

And the Akro Bin comment you've all been wondering about? Does anyone besides a born and raised Akron, Ohioan, know what Akro Bins are? I now own two new and blue beautiful Akro Bins to set up my letter writing/creative desk world once and for all, organized! They have tons and tons of Akro Bin sizes at the one hardware store. RANDOM! GREAT!

Have a great rest of the week! bye bye for now and Michelle and Ryan! Congrats to the biggest family builder award!

Some recent pictures here! Lots of ground thawing water around, dogs, casey, and a serene porch seat! Bo is surrounded by a bunch of spruce we cut down :)







Don't miss the word entry below!

A great, mellow mood tonight.

S-A-T-U-Rday night!

Sloppily though I slept till.........

2, heh.

It'll be a good, long contemplative night I presume. Late sleep ins = late night perusings in dreams and thoughts.

Here I am though...AT SCHOOL !??!?! WHAT!?

Casey has to chaperone his middle school formal, all dressed up. And of course I was invited. Denied though as I await a "Jr. Broadway" production of School House Rocks over here at my school. That'll only be 45 mins. then I shall explore, organize, and energize the Europe trip thoughts!!!!!!!!

As I prepare for some good solitude here, Azure Ray "Rise" plays oh so comfortingly on my big computer speakers used for "Cinema as Art" theater experiences daily at Houston High. This week we finished Jerry Lewis' Nutty Professor, and are still watching Maverick - to slightly fill a western movie.

Here's my class schedule for next year:
1st period: English I
2nd period: Speech (Cinema 2nd Semester)
3rd period: English I
4th period: English I
5th period: no class
6th period: Journalism I

I've always wanted to teach (be involved with, of course!) Journalism! And next year my cinema class has be better! HAS TO BE! I'm not impressed with my teaching of that with an excuse of whipping up the curriculum as I go.

It's a great class lineup in my opinion. Not as great as picking up some Wyder's and a Hodad's chocolate milkshake before I head to Matt and Tracey to kick off the EUROPE EXTRAVAGANZA!

Is anyone sick of hearing about it? I hope not, it is a joyous preparation and trip! Perhaps more posts later tonight, have a great mid-weekend relaxation you all!

"Visiting Pompei is like an immersion in the daily life of Rome during the Imperial Age: a walk through the Forum or to the Amphitheater, a visit to the ancient shops, temples, villas, thermal baths, leaves an undeletable sign in the memory of everyone."

An undeletable sign! NICE!

Now that's the kind of report I like to see dad!!! Thanks for that interesting, descriptive blog.

Hey any nerds, I just started a scrapbook of sorts for articles, gift ideas, quotes, house ideas, etc. and it's super fun! All from magazines: Spin, catalogs, and hey has anyone looked through Real Simple? I like a house/home mag!

I just cut out new music articles/reviews I want to download, cool articles, cool pics of furniture and put it in this huge rooster spiral journal! All at my finger tips.

It's an important investment as one is set into a budgetary time frame for hobbies and house settlings etc.

Pretty fun! Hobbies and House Settlings.

The other night I took a stand with the following statement:

"There's absolutely no reason I cannot be pursuing my hobbies, ...dreams...past times every night when I get home from work!!!!"

No more of this exhaustion which I blame on the 18 hours of light!

Happy end of the week approaching to you all!

"Oh, you mean from Degrassi?" - overheard discussion 5th period last week. Disturbing Degrassi knowledge spewed forth from a student.

Last week, Narnia happened to my cinema class and here are some observations I enjoyed:

Spareoom
Slow motion Aslan at the end battle scene with Peter.
"He just got back. He's waiting for you at the stone table."
"He's the top geiser" - Mr. Beaver on Aslan.
"He's not a tame lion, but He is a good lion."
"I don't know..." - Lucy on why we shake hands.

All in all it was fresh and delightful all over again!

So I have a bit of allergies going on in the 50s weather we've been having. Nice, weather! Hopefully that means there will be trees growing leaves soon. They are still brown and bare like winter.

This weekend, we went to Anchorage for Casey's teacher test (a Praxis one) and stayed overnight for free at the Motel 6. Free internet from the neighboring Fairfield Inn! Nice! Too bad I didn't know about it till we were checking out!

Anyways, we did some running around to Costco, Sportmen's Warehouse, Home Depot, Office Max, Michaels, and yeah yeah yeah, looking for house stuff.

I forgot to go to Borders to look for Italy, Switz, UK, or Ireland books or mags though :( UGH! Oh well.

Have a good end of your Monday! Let's get this day overwith!