Long weekend, long post

This was a much needed long weekend away from work. The beginning of school is hard, new, fun, but stressful. I'm happy with my cute new class of Kinders and 1st graders. I have some challenging little ones but, on the whole, they are a good group. This new position brings with it much more stress and less flexibility and fun. It's hard to be part of a new program and feel at least partially responsible for its success or failure. I think I'm still too young to feel that stress in my career right now, but I'm running with it and trying to make the best of it. It all comes down to the kids anyway. No matter what I teach, I am partially responsible for their success or failure. Just part of the job and I like that part. Tomorrow I start my new after school tutoring program for a group of five 2nd and 3rd graders in the dual language program. I'm a little nervous about that, but happy to have quit job #2 to be able to do this. Better money and I get to help out kids that really need it instead of kids whose parents can afford to pay $50/hour for a professional tutoring program. In other news...

I went riding with the group on Wednesday. New trail, new friends, great time. Almost decided to divorce Chris after the ride went well into the dark, but luckily I love him and quickly forgave him when he bought me tasty dinner afterwards. Got to meet and ride with Scott's new girlfriend, Melissa. It was refreshing to finally have a girl my speed to ride with and we had a great time. She was a lot of fun and definetely a keeper for Scott.

Me doing my ride/walk/complaining bit at the end...
Me looking a little happier at the beginning of the trail. Deep thoughts, hmmm...
Scott and Dave. Nice glasses Scott, I think those are meant for your eyeballs...

I've been working on some new knitting. Jenny at work graciously taught me how to purl and now I'm making a great ribbed scarf. It's requires much more thinking than a regular knitted scarf but it looks a lot cooler. We're even thinking about starting a monthly knitting group at Starbucks after work. The blurry picture isn't so good but shows the ribbing...


This weekend was relaxing and fun. I had a friend's bachelorette party here Saturday night. It was interesting and fun. I was happy that the stripper didn't show up because I was a little wary of some strange guy stripping in my house. Today we decided to go up to Boulder and ride the mountain bike trail that Chris took me on a few years ago as my first ride in 8 years. Back then, I cried and yelled and couldn't believe he took me on such a horrible trail. This year I had a blast and took some risks and went faster than usual. I thought I was going to eat dirt a few times but stayed up, so that was good. I cruised the 3.2 mile trail in 30 minutes and had a good Chris-and-Marni ride. It's been a while since it's just been the two of us on a trail that challenges me.


Off to another week of school. We have two upcoming weekends of weddings and a bunch of family coming into town in two weeks for my brother's wedding. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and getting to know my cousin's almost-hubby. Hopefully this week I'll feel less exhausted than I did the last two weeks or I'll be visiting the doctor to make sure there's nothing physically wrong. Hmmm...

Writers Block

After sitting in front of a blank blogger screen for five minutes, I've decided to give the quick photo diary of latest knitting projects as well as saying I did survive my first day of school. More details to come as I give the crazy little ones a few days to calm down before complaining too much...

Here is a picture of my first scarf that I finished (this is the one that magically grew in width for quite a few inches before I sucked it up and ripped out what I could and started over) -- it's a little short but good for my first project:



Here's a picture of my current project -- a "muppet scarf" for my 10 year old niece for Christmas. I think she'll like it:




More projects to come with my new stash of yarn :)

Congratulations!

I want to be the first to congratulate my husband Chris on his awesome finish in the Winter Park Mountain Bike Series. Today was the last race of the series and I, unfortunately, wasn't able to make it to the race because of some bridal shower obligations. This was one of the only bike races I have ever missed and I was eagerly awaiting a phone call to hear how he did. Chris finished this race in 3rd which put him in 2nd place in the expert category overall for the series. He kicked some major butt and made me eat my words from when he was originally registering for the series and trying to decide which category to race in - sport or expert: "honey, you can race in whatever category you want, but don't be too disappointed if you race expert and don't finish well overall." I take it back. Chris, you are awesome, I'm incredibly proud of you, and I was wrong. I'm proud to call my husband one of the top expert mountain bikers in the state. Congratulations.

Last week of freedom

One more week left of summer -- where did the time go? I got some stuff done this summer, but not everything on my to-do list. It's been a good summer: full of adventures and plenty of naps.

I have pushed my own personal limits and enjoyed it (most of the time). I went on a bunch of mountain bike rides with friends. These trips were a lot of fun. I complain about them sometimes, being too hard or wearing me out or not having anyone my speed or gender to ride with, but in the end I wouldn't rather be doing anything else... even nap (see below). I skipped last week's weekly ride due to some really sore legs and tired body from climbing our 14ers and regreted it every moment of the night. I missed getting out and enjoying this great state that we live in, I missed the encouragement from the guys, and I especially missed the tasty food and good company afterwards (especially since they got ice cream this time -- yummm).

I've also taken time to relax and do what I miss the most when I'm in the middle of the craziness that is the school year: nap. I am a huge fan of naps. I think it's a teacher thing, every teacher I've talked to comments about how they will miss their naps. Our awesomeness catches up with us and we all need time to relax and not be in charge of taking care of anything or anyone but ourselves. Naps are the easiest and cheapest way to do that. I feel that teachers, out of any profession, deserve a week at some ocean-side spa every year. Unfortunately, teachers work in a profession that they will never be able to afford such luxury. Maybe the union can get that to be part of our employment package. Spa. Hmmm...

One week left. Today I had the day off of job #2 and actually decided that I'm ready to go back to regular work. I'm tired of being lazy and not motivated to do anything. I miss my little 5 year olds and their funny comments and unconditional love. I miss their little hugs and comments about you being their favorite teacher and daily questions about how you got holes in your socks and how you can have a husband and dog and mom and still live at school. I'm ready to get back. I'm more nervous now than I was last year -- this year I have the pressure of living up to the hype that I'm a great teacher. Yikes. I hope I don't let them down.


On a fun note, this weekend was our 2nd anniversary! Wow, the wedding was two years ago! Sometimes it seems like so long ago and sometimes I can't believe it's already been 2 years. I loved our wedding. It was beautiful and fun and the greatest day of my life so far. I see my brothers and friends getting married and they seem so stressed -- they all have big fancy weddings and showers and bachelorette parties that make mine seem like a backyard bar-b-que, but I wouldn't change what I had for the world. I smiled through the whole thing and didn't once feel the pressure that I see them under.

Now I can focus on talking Chris into babies... :) Photo is of my flashy new pink/red mountain bike shoes that I got as an anniversary present. They're awwwesommmmeee....

A "rockin" good time!

Here is a photo diary of our first 14ers trip! We are SORE today, but proud of our achievement. Enjoy the trip!





























The end of the story: When Chris and I were turning off the highway to get to the trailhead at 3:30 am, we heard an eerily appropriate song on the XM Country station, it was "Mountains" by Lonestar. It goes something like this:

"There are times in life when you've got to crawl, lose your grip, trip and fall; When you can't lean on no one else that's when you find yourself; I've been around and I've noticed that walkin's easy when the road is flat, them danged old hills will get you everytime, yeah the good Lord gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb..."

Hope you find as much inspiration in it as we did :)

Changes schmanges

A lot has happened and changed in the last few weeks. Since our miraculous transformation in the dining room, I have learned to knit, kicked my body's butt in a bike ride, and am now a dual-language Kindergarten teacher.

This past weekend we were lucky to have my wonderful mom-in-law in town. It was fun to see her and while my dog does tend to ignore me completely when she's around, we were all sad to see her go. She left me with a new skill -- knitting. It's actually a lot of fun and I seem to be decently good at it. I started a scarf with 20 stitches and about three inches later had 37 stitches! Haha. That's not supposed to happen. The up-side is that apparently adding stitches is an advanced skill. I'm that cool :) I have since ripped the stitches out of that mini-demented-scarf and have started over, counting my stitches after each row. This time I intend for it to stay one size throughout. Hmmm...

I joined the usual group for our fun Wednesday night mountain bike ride again this week. It's a lot of fun, despite the fact that I go with a group of guys that could all quit their day jobs and become professional mountain bikers. They kick my butt up the hill and are sweet enough to find a shady spot to sit and wait for me. Then they kick my butt up the next part, and again "rest" and wait for me. They all deserve the title of "Saint" for putting up with my slowbutt each week... or do they deserve the title of "#@*#&" for picking these giant hills and encouraging me to kill myself on them each week? Hmmm...

I am now officially a part of the infamous Dual-Language program at my school. I was teamed with the dual language group last year so I sorta know what is going on although, admitedly, didn't pay too much attention. The purpose is to have our kids learn literacy in their home language (generally Spanish) while providing instruction in both languages. My teammate from last year (the dual language kindergarten teacher) took another job (to my surprise but apparently not to everyone else's surprise, but that's a whole other bitter-rant for another day). Anyway, the dual language staff and principal were unhappy with their choices to replace her and somehow decided that I was the best candidate for the job. I will be doing a Kindergarten/1st grade mix. I will be the English half while another teacher is the spanish half. I believe I'll be teaching the literacy for the native english speakers (both K and 1) and then rotating the other subjects on a weekly basis. I'm excited for the challenge and feel honored that they thought highly enough of me in my 2nd year to give me such a high-stakes position (the dual language group is always being observed by district personnel). I'm also a little nervous. Hmmm...

It's been an interesting week. Sadly, only a few short weeks left of summer vacation. Booooooooooo...

No more ugly!

Since Chris and I moved in we have both loathed the peach faux-finish dining room. It is the first room you see in the house and one of the last that we have gotten around to updating. There is still some of the lovely painting that someone obviously worked WAY too hard on left in the kitchen, so our loathing is not quite a part of our past. Mom and dad came up on Sunday and we worked from 10am to 10 pm painting, putting in 7 lights in the ceiling, and putting up our early-Christmas-present-ceiling-fan/light. It looks unbelievable and puts our outdated kitchen to shame. That may be in for a minor updating relatively soon before we redo it all together when we fall into some major $$. Donations are gladly excepted :)

Here are a few pre pictures so you can appreciate the transformation (ewwwww):





And now...

Summer Lovin'

This summer has been full of traveling for Chris's bike races, working, and learning more about my own abilities (and inabilities) in the realm of biking. It's been a great summer.

We just got back last night from a nice few days in Breckenridge. Having grown up in Colorado, it is hard to admit that I'd never been there, and I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the town. It was beautiful and if I were spontaneously rich, I could easily see myself living there. Chris has been doing so great in his bike races. I've learned how to be a good pit-crew person and each time is getting easier and more fun. Yesterday I finagled a great roadside spot for the Element and got to have support materials and dog located in the back of the car. I met some really interesting people and a nice retired couple that volunteers to be course workers for the bike races. Chris did an awesome job and I'm very proud of him. He's really disappointed with his performance and DNF but I am still just as proud of him as when he gets on the podium. I think it takes a strong rider and athlete to be able to see your limits and make smart decisions regarding your own body and how you are feeling. He hates to quit and give up on himself but his 115 mile race 10 days prior left his body completely exhausted. I think as time passes he will gain perspective and realize that the race was a great learning experience and possibly an even bigger success than a win would've been. Turbo and I were very happy to see him!

Overall, very successful and fun weekend! Here's my random thought for the day: Am I the only one that gets nervous driving in front of car that has 8 beanie babies and a bobble head hoola dancer on the dash board, and 3 necklaces and a handicapped sticker hanging from the rearview mirror? Why do people feel the need to decorate something that is between them and actually seeing the road and cars in front of them? I wonder how they became handicapped? Hmmm...