School Days

Isn't there some sort of saying about this being the first day of the rest of your life? Today was sort of that day for me. I started my first class in the Graduate Teacher Education Program. The countdown has officially begun. By this time next year the hope is that I will be a licensed teacher with (hopefully!) a job for the fall. In the meantime, however, there is lots of work to be done. This first "term" is only 4 weeks and there is a lot to cover. I am very much looking forward to the fall when I'll be spending some quality time with some fourth graders. Then I move on to kindergartners so wish me luck!

Counting down

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July. I had to work so ours was pretty mellow. Poor little Charlie dog did not enjoy the fireworks. He wouldn't even go outside until the next morning. Driving home that night after work, the air was disgustingly thick with smoke. I didn't blame Charlie much; I didn't really want to go outside either. On the plus side, if you ever have lots of summer shopping to do, go to Target after 8:30 on the 4th of July. The store will be all yours!

In the meantime I have been counting the days until I go back to school. Only 9 more to go now! It's going to be a lot of work, but I am excited to finally get started. I'll be working with 4th graders and kindergartners for my student teaching. I can't wait! There are also lots of new schools that will be opening just in time for me to teach. I'm hoping I won't have too hard a time finding a job.

The weather has turned very nice. We seem to have left the bulk of the gray, rainy days behind for now. Every once in awhile we'll get a quick rain that washes away all of the pollen and makes everything nice and clear again. I love Oregon. The nice weather has encouraged us to work in the yard again but at the same time, discourages us from weeding in the hot sun. A catch-22 really. We have lots of plans for the yard, but they will take some time. We're hoping to set up a garden for next year. This year it would just be nice to finish bringing life back to the lawns. Clover seems to have taken over in much of the back lawn. But Seann has been working hard to keep it mowed. He's been beating back the weeds in the lawn with a Weed 'n Feed that seems to be doing the trick. Maybe by the end of summer I'll have pretty pictures to show you.

This is my first weekend off since before Memorial Day and I am enjoying doing a whole lotta nothing. I won't be getting time off for a long time so I'm trying to enjoy it now. I think it might be time to go play some Mario Kart and kick Seann's butt.