Broken

Hi there!

I went on an actual adventure this week and it was GREAT. We went to the Great Lakes Aquarium on Tuesday after work! (Dan's tour guide fun fact: When it was built in 2000, it was the largest and only completely freshwater aquarium in the country!) It was pretty cool and we had a fun time. There were a ton of super gross looking fish, some of which were the lake sturgeon which were like 5 feet long and are over 30 years old. In my opinion, fish are NOT supposed to live that long. (My family had a goldfish once that lived to be like 6 and my mom was so pissed.) In addition to goldfish in the invasive species exhibit, we saw sea lamprey which are the scariest and grossest underwater vampires ever. I was most excited to see the playful river otters that the aquarium advertises, however they were NOT BEING PLAYFUL AT ALL. They were in their little den being antisocial. We even checked on them a few times but they never came out for us to see them. There is a little television screen that is supposed to play live video of inside the den, but that wasn't working either so we missed out.

I liek tuhdles

MOOOOOOOOSE

The most giant aquarium

I found Nemo : )

 

 

 

 

I'd have to say that my favorite part of the aquarium had nothing to do with fish or water or the exhibits. Because it was a Tuesday afternoon, we had almost the entire place to ourselves, so we kinda took advantage of the kid play area. In the Masters of Disguise exhibit there was a green screen and we had the time of our lives in there.

Master of Disguise

What a weirdo

Afterward we walked touristy downtown and split an appetizer at Famous Dave's - which we have affectionately named Damous Fave's. We duckin' love Damous Fave's.

Hi, I'm a tourist.

The big bummer part of this week is how miserable I've been. I caught a super strong cold and have been fighting it valiantly but unsuccessfully since Sunday. I think all the coughing stressed out my back and my old trapezius injury flared up. I was washing dishes on Wednesday morning after breakfast when my back/shoulder/neck decided to die. It wasn't until after I rushed to the couch, laid down, and realized I could not get up on my own that I remembered Dan was still asleep downstairs. I may or may not have just laid there crying until he came upstairs wondering where I was. I got in to a chiropractor who did some e stim and adjustments yesterday and today. Today I am feeling so much better! My trap still hurts a lot but it isn't keeping me from moving on my own like it did yesterday. This weekend I will kick this cold, rest my back, and be at 100% for Monday! Hooray! Next week is my last week of half days with preschool. Come Friday I will have my 14 school-agers and the fun/work begins : )

Kitty Cat Birthday

I had such a nice quick weekend home!

Saturday night featured family time, homemade juicy lucies, and a dining room table too small to hold all the food we made.

Jill showing off her balls

Seestas

 

 

 

 Sunday I went to a spectacularly adorable party for two year old Henley Cate! Happy birthday Hen! And props to my cousin Megan for creating such a special day. (Her blog is cooler than mine in a million ways, also. Not so sensible of shoe)

ADT!

Papa has ruined photos with this face since long before I was born

Dorothy just wants some lovin

Pops

Bestiezz

Happy Memorial Day! I will enjoy my day off by making a target run, completing some CPR training for work (hopefully), and not putting make up on. I love today!

Let the sun shine.

Guess What! My job is pretty great! It's a fairly new center, only opened a little over a year ago, and all the employees up to this point have been friends prior to opening this center which creates a really relaxed environment. They are all super friendly and good at their jobs. I am excited to be a new part of the team! Until the Duluth public schools get out (June 7) I am just an extra helper with the preschoolers and after-school older kids. Once the school agers start, I will be their lead teacher! There will be about 15 which is the size of my largest days last summer. According the the lead preschool teacher, other than some sibling rivalries, the students are all super sweet and pretty go-with-the-flow. Whew! Awesome for me! It is also awesome that they are giving me total freedom. The schedule is flexible and I can make the day whatever I want it to be. It should be fun summer!

My biggest adventure this week was probably making enchiladas two nights ago. I know, I'm a pretty crazy party girl. They were delicious and excellent leftovers last night, too! We used WAY too much cheese, which I thought was a wonderful mistake.

The greatest part of my week thus far was THE SUNSHINE YESTERDAY. It was gloomy, cold, and miserably dreary here since I showed up and then yesterday my entire perspective on life was improved. It's sunny again today and I can't wait to go to work. It makes all the difference when we can take the kiddos outside (even if, as the new girl, I was a sucker and got stuck helping kids cross the monkey bars who were too little to do monkey bars on their own).

Tonight I am going to Renegade Improv to laugh and laugh at Dan's funny jokes, and then in the morning we are coming home so I can go to Henny's 2nd birthday party on Sunday! YAY. She is adorable, as is her entire family. I'll have pictures, just be patient.

Bye.

Update:

They did make Dan go in Lake Superior and I feel a little guilty.
But I also kinda blame him because only one trainee had to do it and he volunteered saying -and I'm not joking- "I will do it. I will take the ring to Mordor."

So that's that.

No! This bus goes Beep Beep.

Well hello! I moved to Duluth since last we spoke! I have yet to go on any exciting adventures but I promise I'll tell you about them once they happen. I got here on Sunday, unpacked, and Dan and I hung out with roommates and roommates' girlfriends. We played a rousing round of scrabble THAT I WON. Woo! I have a scrabble confession, though. I don't win because I play well, I win because I take all of the special spots (double word, triple word, etc.) with crappy words before the other players can use them. Defense.

At the moment, I am sitting on the bed eating a pbj. (It's not just any pbj though, it's special because the j is thimbleberry. I know, right?) Dan is out at Vista Fleet training and that is why I'm all alone. He was hired as a tour guide on a really huge touristy boat that goes around the harbor. He says they will go over "man overboard" protocol so I hope they make him jump into Lake Superior. It would be very funny because it's rainy and 42 degrees. Dan has two cool jobs, actually. He has already started working on weekends as an improv actor/comedian/offensive person at  Renegade Improv. He is very funny, as are all they other players. What a good time : )

DAN'S BIG BOAT

I start my new job today at Endion Square. It's just preschool right now, and the school agers come after their day is done. In the summer it will be all the kids at once, woo! I'm only doing half days this first week, so I'm only there 2-6. I'm still nervous, though. I'll let you know how it goes.

Picture I found on Endion Square's website from last year. I hope we field trip to Vista Fleet again this summer!

If you are interested in our jobs and want to visit, I think you SHOULD! (and by "our" I sorta mean "his" because you can't visit my childcare facility unless you are a preschooler and want to pay me to do hand print crafts.) Also, I think you should visit even if you are NOT interested in our jobs. Because if you're reading this, you're probably really nice and I like you a lot.

Middle School

Today I spent some observation time in the classroom of my favorite teacher from middle school, Mr. Nguyen! I started my morning in his classroom. He teaches seventh grade American history, and his students just took their final exam yesterday. His final exam is pretty cool. He has them take shortened versions of the actual United States citizenship test! They must get over 80% to pass - though they can try as many times as they need to in order to reach 80%. Today was fun because students who didn't pass yesterday were trying again today. When they completed their exams, they would silently approach his desk and he immediately took their papers to check in front of them. If the student reached or surpassed the 80% goal, he would shout the student's name followed by "CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ARE NOW AN AMERICAN CITIZEN!"

The good old days, when everyone was incredibly uncomfortable in their own skin.

On my way out of the building I ran into Mrs. Petersen, a seriously crazy woman who taught me math and reading in 6th grade. She recognized me -though I'm not certain she knew my name- and was so excited to see me! She hugged me and told me I looked so beautiful! Ha! She asked what I was up to and I told her I finished my 2nd year at Winona and am in the education program. She LIT UP and said "you're going to be a teeeeacher?!" I laughed and explained my k-6 major and additional middle level reading minor. She got the hugest smile and squealed, while hopping on her tiptoes, "You're going to get a job!" It was so funny. I told her that I sure hoped so. She is an insane woman, but she teaches so well. I didn't tell her that I sometimes still sing her "over and up, over and up, that's how you plot a coordinate graph" song when I'm in math classes. (that song reminds you that in a coordinate (x,y), x is over and y is up. duh) I don't know how she maintains such incredible energy all day every day for 6th graders : )


In other news, I went shopping with my good friend Cozy yesterday. (Cozy is short for Cosette and I think that's awesome.) We discovered a new goal in our lives, and that is to be the superstar of the month. I don't know how to achieve such a status, but I still want it.

Cozy dreaming big

A > B

I got a B in one of my classes. I got As in the rest. Stupid B.

In all reality, I should be celebrating the Stupid B. It was a hard class with an intimidating professor. I barely participated because the prof kinda scared the living daylights out of me. I had to study really hard to understand the topics. I never got the guidelines or expectations for assignments. I earned about a 60% on the midterm exam (but from what I heard, that was better than half the class...) And I worked like crazy to figure out how the ed psych theories would apply to my teaching. So a B is great. ALSO I passed, which means I do not have to take it again.

But still. Stupid B. We got zero feedback on our assignments (with the exception of that midterm exam. That was literally the only thing she graded.) so I don't really know where my B came from. Or why it wasn't an A. (Or a C, I suppose.)

Would you like to know what horrifies me the most about this whole ordeal? Grades do not matter at all. Not as long as I'm learning. And I know that! I am absolutely certain that learning matters, and grades do not. Plus, I feel as if I learned a ton! I just spent a semester cultivating this new understanding revolving around the fact that test taking and the accompanying scores are not the only factors determining a person's potential, abilities, or depth of knowledge. And guess what - After all that, I'm still bummed I got a Stupid B.

I guess I still need some attitude adjustments.

I don't have any pictures for this post, so I googled around for another studious cat.

Anyway, that's my rant. Bye.

Dr. Seuss and my mom

I had such a nice first weekend home! Saturday night I saw Seussical the Musical at Lakeshore Players in downtown White Bear Lake. It was great! My only other experience with Lakeshore was two years ago when I got to play Liesl in the Sound of Music, so it was fun to be in the audience of this great little theater instead. I had friends in the show and they were super awesome. (The people I didn't know were awesome, too.) I must admit, Gertrude McFuzz is a dream role of mine. She's so dang cute, google her if you care. Also, if you haven't seen Seussical before, you should go! It plays one more weekend! It's an awesome mash up of a few different Seuss stories and characters, and features Horton, the cat in the hat, some who's from whoville and more! I stole some pictures from their website for you to see. Don't tell.

The Cat in the Hat. He was really great.

Look at the neat set!

Sunday (today) was (is?!) Mother's Day and I love my mother! Michael came over and we had surprise extra guests: Jill, Dale, and Kay. We made steaks on the grill, asparagus, and twice baked potatoes. Mmmmm! I think my mom had a nice day, so that's really great. Plus, we had dark chocolate dove ice cream bars, so if she didn't have a nice day then that's really screwed up.

Squinty family

My mom is a pretty mom

 

 

No Leash? Jungle jack, explorer of the unknown backyards.

So yeah. That's the whole weekend! Now I am home alone (with Jack) and spending quality time with my guitar. I brought it home early before the end of the semester so that it wouldn't take up valuable car space for the move out. I haven't played in like two months and my fingers are so mad. I'm sorry, fingers.

Happy Mother's Day to the all nice mommies out there!

Disney is so smart

So I found something smart on the internet. Disney princesses have the most clever strategy for dealing with problems. I am going to try this out the next time I experience a problem.

Here are the steps:

1) Find the nearest thing
2) Throw yourself on it
3) Sob
4) Marry Prince/Get Legs/Save China/etc

As you can see, summer has been productive for me thus far.

Seeya Winona

Home sweet Vadnais Heights Target.

Yes, that's right, I have already made a target run since arriving home. I also spent some nice time with my nice mommy, Jill and Dale. Home is great like that : )

I'd also like to let you know that I just saw I got a 99 on the final I took today. Is this real life? I was doing fairly well in that math class, though, and only needed a 64 to maintain my "A" ...So I suppose I am just showing off now. It was my first semester in the education program, and I think it went really well. A few classes were truly grueling, but look at me! I made it! I began the semester as a K-6 elementary major and ended it with an additional middle level reading minor tacked on the end. (Will I get out in 4 years, you ask? Probably not!)

Adieu

In other news, I am facebook friends with my old 3rd grade teacher. She is the best lady. I can remember feeling inspired to be teaching like her when I grew up. She read this chapter book called The Million Dollar Shot and I think I died a little at the crazy twist ending. Coincidentally, she involved a ton of music in her classroom and I think that really worked for me : ) Today I saw that she posted this adorable idea, and I can't wait to use it someday!

Adorable, right?

Happy summer vacation, everyone.
(And if you're not on summer vacation yet, you can vicariously live through me. I'll be eating Cheetos while watching marathons of Chopped on the food network.)

To Do Lists

If you want to know what I'm doing this week, the answer is everything.
Seriously.

I'm into To Do lists lately. They're my best friends, we go everywhere together. When there are a kazillion things I need to do, I just write them down on this baby legal pad and I feel SO GOOD when I get to check things off. My only motivation is checking those boxes.

I'm gonna print the heck out of those documents tomorrow.

Look at this one. LOOK AT IT. Almost done.

On the bright side, it's the last week of classes. I don't want to talk about the snow tomorrow. I want to talk about the sunburn I got last weekend while playing with these guys...

We fascinated this one.

 I didn't actually play with them. I was actually a little scared. They were all far away and then I started saying, "duckiies, duckieeees!" and this one duck became intrigued. He came way too close to me for my own comfort. And then I asked him nicely to go away and he came closer. Luckily, he eventually left and I continued basking in the incredible (though short lived) warm weather.

This is my last story. Ready? Yesterday Dan said it was foggy in Duluth. I associate foggy landscapes with Jurassic Park. He then told me he was a pterodactyl, which we then called a ptero-dan-tyl. Well, if he got to be a dinosaur I wanted to be a dinosaur too, so I picked stegosaurus because of the cool spikes. Of course, I became steg-gail-saurus. God, we're horrible. I accidentally made this pterodantyl, too.

 

I knew he'd be mad. That's why I picked this mad face.

Happy Finals, everyone.
Try making a checklist if you have a lot to do.
I promise, it'll feel good.