The things we do for fun...

*** EDITED ***

This year for Halloween, I felt like a proud parent. Haha! Beth and I bought a dog costume for Howie. It was only $8 at Target, so we splurged. Anyway, Howie got to be a dinosaur this year and was clearly the toast of the neighborhood! Everyone loved his costume when they came by trick-or-treating.

We took over 40 pictures of him. Yes, I do realize how very sad this is! He was the cutest dinosaur I ever saw! Here is one of my favorite pictures. He looks so stately, doesn't he?


Today's Tidbit: I never again want to sub on Halloween. I think just about everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. Besides the normal loud and chaotic holiday classroom, I had a fight, some name-calling, a whole lot of tattle-tailing, some tears, and I had two girls dig a hole and bury another kid's hat. Oh sad day! Hopefully tomorrow is better!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone! At least, in a few hours it will be... I think I have completely lost my mind! Not only am I going to sub on Halloween, but I have scheduled a phone interview (that is suppose to take about 45 minutes) for over my 40 minute lunch period! I'm just asking for stress!

So if you're bored at 11:20 tomorrow, I'd very much appreciate some prayers. I'm not so good at interviews. And if you know me, you know that I am afraid of telephones. So yeah, not the best combination for me! It's not like it's that big of a deal. It's an interview for a 4th Grade long-term subbing job. It'd be really nice if I could get it, but not a necessity. And it's in Owatonna, so it would add a bit of a drive for me :)

Today's Tidbit: Miracle of miracles! My boss cancelled Green Group (our youngest swimmers) for tomorrow night! I get the night off! Yee haw!

Burn baby burn!

Ok, so many of you know that I'm a pretty big fan of CSI. Beth and I watch all three of the CSI shows religiously. We sat down to watch CSI: Miami last week and I could not stop laughing. That show is so over-the-top, it just kills me. I don't know why they insist on stating the obvious and acting all shocked about it. And I don't know why they do such unbelievable things. They don't do this on CSI or on CSI:NY. What's up with Miami?

I have come to the conclusion that it's H. I can't handle him. I think I'd like the show a lot better if he went away and they let Calleigh run the show. I mean really! I about lost it when he drove that car out to the beach, casually walked away even though it was seconds from exploding, and then said "Burn baby burn" as he walked away. Yeah, uh-huh.

Today's Tidbit: I'm going back to sub for the "class from hell" again tomorrow and Wednesday. It could be interesting... Especially considering the fact that tomorrow is Halloween and then the day after Halloween is always the worst :P

It's a small world...

Ok, so I think I may have completely lost my mind... I've spent the last two days subbing at John Adams Middle School. I really hated my middle school experience, so I'm not exactly sure why I decided to go back to the very school that led to so many scars in my life. Oh wait, yes I do, it's because I needed the money! Anyway, I happened to see a posting online that was for yesterday and today. I took it because it was two days with the same class and because the teacher was my high school art teacher.

I got to the school yesterday and found out that I'd be teaching 8th graders. I was a little panic-stricken. I thought they'd be the worst grade ever. I was so wrong! I loved it! At this point, I'm even thinking I might like to teach middle school. Wow, I never thought I would say that. The kids were a blast! My favorite part of the two days was probably sitting with them in Advisory today. It was "fun" day, so most of them were playing cards. I was talking to a few of the girls about my middle school memories, Myspace, and other random stuff.

I had so many kids in my classes that I knew for some reason or another. It reminded me how small the world is. Well, ok, so especially when you go back to work in the town you grew-up in :)

I had 4 kids that I knew from swimming. I also saw a few more swimmers wondering around in the halls, but I didn't actually have them in class.

Then, I had a girl who looked very familiar. I realized quickly that she was in Ms. Ogren's first grade class 7 years ago. That was my senior year in high school. I did my community mentorship with that class and spent almost every afternoon with them. I also knew her older sister from middle school.

Finally, I had Tessa in class. I used to babysit her, a LONG time ago. She has two older brothers and a twin brother. I babysat them quite a bit when I was in maybe 6th and 7th grade. So yeah, she was really little. She doesn't remember it at all, but it was fun to tell her stories about what her older brothers did. She saw Ryan, her twin, at lunch and told him to come up and say "hi" to me too. It was so much fun to see them again!

That's all I've got for now. I'm off to see my little ones swim in their first Novice Meet! How exciting!

Today's Tidbit: Kudos to everyone in the Owatonna Concert Choir & Symphony Orchestra. The concert was amazing and I had a blast! Gotta love last minute surprises, right?

TEC #65 Pictures

Here is just a sampling of pictures from my weekend...

Me and Ben on Thursday night...

Look, the alien is taller than Shayla!

Laura and me on Friday morning. We are ready to go!

I still don't see any resemblance...

Dean, Nate, Laura, and Me
A reuniting of the TEC 62 Wheat Leadership :)

Ben, Nate, Laura, and Me
I got to work with the most amazing leadership ever!

Laura and Me on Saturday night... Yeah, we know we look good :P

Ben and his "replacement"

Me and Pastor Gary!

Today's Tidbit: I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I would have liked... Good thing we had a good photographer at the weekend :) Yeah for Adam!

TEC #65... A Top 10...

Oh man, this past weekend was amazing! There are just so many memories to choose from. I could say so much about TEC #65, but for now I made a Top 10 that I'm fairly satisfied with, so here you go!

10 - Alien Invasion! It really was a great theme!

9 - Randomness in the halls on Friday night... "You are my sunshine," "... The least you could do is shut-up and go to sleep!"

8 - All the nicknames (The Big Deal, The Real Deal, Cue Ball, etc.)

7 - Straightening my hair... Ok, so it's not really that... It was the conversation going on while that was happening. Who knew that so many people would need to straighten their hair?

6 - All the Flint & Steel references! If anyone is interested in a shirt or a copy of their CD, let me know.

5 - The Wheat Skit! Glad I could be of assistance, Sarah...

4 - Getting to work with the best leadership ever!

3 - My sleeping room. Ah, I miss the talks already...

2 - Getting to serve on team with my candidates! Mariah, Kati, Brandon, and Joe, you're amazing and I am so proud of you!

1 - The candidates were amazing! I just can't say it enough. I would love to serve on team with you all!

Honorable Mention:

* The middle of the night cribbage game. I do love cribbage and all, but yeah...

* The camera incident... You know what I'm talking about...

* "Their room must be vibrating!"

* The glow-in-the-dark stars and all the other decorated candidate sleeping rooms. Sheer genius!

* Our nightly devotions and everything that happened after...

Today's Tidbit: I have now been at more TEC weekends as an adult than I was as a youth... I was at 5 as a youth and now 6 as an adult. As a youth I remember thinking that it'd be cool to come back and work as an adult, but that it would never be as good. Boy was I wrong! Thanks to everyone who served this weekend, it was truly incredible and I feel so blessed to have gotten to be a part of it!

The invasion has begun...

I'm off to TEC #65! I will be back Sunday night. Have a great weekend everyone! And I hope to see all of you TECies at some of the weekend festivities!

Today's Tidbit: My sister is working her first TEC as an adult this weekend. I am so excited! And My brother's study hours got cancelled for Sunday! Whoo hoo!

Depressing, I know...

Well, my beloved team lost tonight. I am quite heart-broken. Leon got injured early in the 2nd quarter. At least I think he was injured. He left the game and was on the bench with blankets and jackets for the remainder of the game. They also got crutches for him to use when leaving the field. It was really disappointing. I just pray that he is okay and I hope that he is ready to play in the play-offs.

It was a pretty good game. I was pleased with our defense. We made a few decisions that I question, but what are you going to do. At least we're the Co-Champions of the Big 9 this year. That's still pretty great! Way to go Panthers and good luck in the section tournament!

Final Big 9 Standings (I think!)
1. Rochester Century 7-1
1. Rochester Mayo 7-1
3. Mankato East 6-2
3. Mankato West 6-2
5. Faribault 5-3
6. Owatonna 4-4
7. Rochester John Marshall 3-5
8. Albert Lea 1-7
8. Austin 1-7
10. Winona 0-8

Today's Tidbit: I took CPR training today. It was incredibly boring. It always amazes me how much of it is simply common sense. Especially on the test. My boss kept coming over and telling us what we were all doing wrong. But I'm pretty sure we all beat him on the test! I got 100% on all 4 tests, thank you very much.

"Are you gonna make it?"

I got to spend the day yesterday with four of my favorite people ever. My morning started pretty early and I headed to Owatonna to meet-up with Laura, Mariah, and Aaron. We then drove to the Perkins in Shakopee to meet-up with Nate. We ate breakfast and then headed to ValleyFair. Thanks to Nate for the free tickets! We went on some rides, played some games, ate some food. I had a fun day.

I did a lot of things yesterday that are not me at all. My siblings and parents can attest to the fact that I am the biggest scaredy cat ever. The last time I was in a haunted house it was at a place called The North Pole in Colorado. It's an amusement park for kids, so really, it could not have been that scary. But I started crying and my grandpa had to take me out of it. I haven't been back in once since. I HATE to be scared! I won't watch anything remotely scary on TV or movies and I avoid Halloween parties and haunted houses like the plague.

So yesterday, was a big day. We went through all 4 haunted mazes at ValleySCARE. I screamed a lot. They really freaked me out. It is just not really my thing. But, I did it. And it was fun. We were starting to get cold, so we decided to go to a movie. Nate ran into a gas station to get directions to a theater. He came back out with "directions" to Trail of Terror. We started to follow this car, but they got lost. So then we had to get directions at another gas station. We then followed that same car when they pulled into a parking lot to some sort of nursery. I think there were 4 cars behind us that followed us in. It was pretty funny.

We finally made it and paid our $14.95 admission fee. We then waited in line for two and a half ours to get on the haunted hayride! I was so cold! The hayride was super short, like 10 minutes. I had been freaking out in line and stuff, not wanting to go on it. But I didn't even scream. The chainsaw guy was probably the scariest.

Well, it's time for me to go, so that's all you get. Have a good Sunday everyone!

Today's Tidbit: One of my favorite moments of the day was when the Haunts kept chasing Mariah. One of them pushed her into the Scrambler line and then wouldn't let her back out of it. And they wouldn't leave us alone until we hugged them. Ah, the memories :P

Are you ready for some football?

*EDITED*

Well, I just visited the trusty KTTC website and found out the scores from the high school football games. After tonight's games... Only 1 team is undefeated... And only 1 team has yet to win... Century beat Winona, no shock there. There were also two very exciting cross-town rivalry games going on tonight. Mankato West beat Mankato East, 26 to 7. Mayo also beat JM, 35 to 7. I was really pulling for the Rockets tonight, but no suck luck. My apologies to Owatonna who lost a pretty close game to Faribault.

Wednesday will mark the last games of the regular season. As always, Century will take on Mayo for what is sure to be the best game of the year. It's at Century this year, so that will be nice. The rumor floating around town is that Matt is coming home from St. Cloud that night, just for the game. The Big 9 title rests on that game once again... Let's go Panthers!

Since you've all be waiting with bated breath, here are the Big 9 standings with only one week to go. Please keep in mind that I am doing my best with what the Post-Bulletin gives me for standings. I think this is correct now.

1. Rochester Century 7-0
2. Rochester Mayo 6-1
3. Mankato East 5-2
3. Mankato West 5-2
5. Faribault 4-3
6. Owatonna 3-4
6. Rochester John Marshall 3-4
8. Albert Lea 1-6
8. Austin 1-6
10. Winona 0-7

Today's Tidbit: I think it's crappy that the one team we didn't play this year was Albert Lea. They should have been an easy win... Oh well!

My productive day

On the one hand, it's kind of frustrating that I haven't been subbing a lot this week, or all fall really. But, on the other hand, I've had so much to do that it is allowing me to get all that done. Yesterday was one of those days...

I woke up, fed the dog, did all my normal morning routines... Then the fun began :) I started by catching up on coaching stuff. I sent out my weekly e-newsletter to the parents (which was a day late, but oh well), I double checked the meet entry for the Spooktacular meet that's coming up next weekend, I printed up the list of October birthdays to post at the pool (that was a little late too), and I responded to quite a few e-mails from parents.

By this point, Howie was wanting to play. I took about a 48 minute break and played with him while I watched Monday's episode of The Bachelor: Rome. By the time I finished, Beth was awake and could take over Howie duty while I got back to being productive...

Next, it was on to T.E.C. stuff. I started by making 6 CDs. Granted, 4 of them were the same, so it was only 3 different mixes. I worked on some Wheat, although not very much yet. I organized some of the decorations and stuff I have to bring, and I started working on the wheat to get passed out in the conference room. It was a good day. I need to be just as productive toady. Right now I'm waiting for Beth to get up. Once she does, it's time for shopping! Whoo hoo!

Today's Tidbit: My brother beat me in fantasy football this week :(

"I shanked a cop once."

Well, I was pretty deflated today after the Twins lost :( It was a great season, and I guess it's now time to look towards next year! I was so annoyed by that call at home plate though. Hunter was totally safe! Gosh that irritates me!

Ok, on to happier news. I did something tonight that I wouldn't have ever done before. Matt called me around 6 and was stuck in traffic. He knew he'd miss the first half of the Century/JM game. I considered waiting for him and going late, but I really wanted to see the whole game. So... I went by myself. I sat right at mid-field and cheered my team on. Matt got there at the end of half-time, so that was good. Century beat JM in our first cross-town rivalry game of the season. We won 30 to 6. So yeah! Leon rushed for over 200 yards, making it over 1000 on the season. It was a great game!

Here are the Big 9 Standings after tonight's games:
1. Rochester Century 6-0
2. Mankato West 5-1
2. Rochester Mayo 5-1
4. Mankato East 4-2
5. Faribault 3-3
5. Owatonna 3-3
5. Rochester JM 3-3
8. Albert Lea 1-5
9. Austin 0-6
9. Winona 0-6

I believe I have that right :) We play Winona next Friday and then our last game of the season is home against Mayo. It's going to be an incredible game on the Wednesday night before MEA weekend (aka TEC #65). I'm so excited! Go Panthers!

Today's Tidbit: Beth, Matt, and I were playing Pac-Man Fever tonight. Matt and I kept saying, "Oh, I shanked that one." We were referring to our batting during Homerun Castle. Anyway, Beth's comeback was, "I shanked a cop once."

I did it!

Well, I finally spent a day in an elementary classroom. I subbed for my 1st grade teacher (who now teaches 2nd grade). I realized while I was there that I had her as a teacher 18 years ago. How crazy is that?!?

I called Lore yesterday afternoon to talk to her. She warned me that she had "the class from hell." I was pretty much freaking out. Those of you who saw my texts, can testify to my mood last night. As I headed for school this morning, I kept praying for God to give me patience. I prayed that I could just be myself, be approachable, and have fun with the kids. I also knew that I had a lot of people praying for me, which helped immensely!

I got to school about 45 minutes before the kids came in. I looked over the lesson plans and got my act together to get ready for the day. I looked through the class list and realized that I knew 4 of the kids in the class. 2 of them swim for me now, 1 of them use to be on the swim team and her sister still is so I see her all the time, and 1 of them use to take lessons from me. Having them there was HUGELY helpful because they always answered my questions, and I knew they'd tell me the truth.

The day went much, Much, MUCH better than I had anticipated. The kids were so cute and sweet. They definitely liked to talk, which was a challenge, but I'll take that over kids that are mean any day! The hardest part of the day was the math lesson. I didn't completely understand it myself. So I just skipped part of it. My favorite thing about the math lesson was that we did a worksheet that had grocery store items on it and how much they weighed. One of the things was a bag of flour. The kids then had to draw these items on a balance. They were all drawing flowers. So cute!

When it was time to go home, they all said that I just have to come back. They gave me High-5s and some of the girls wanted hugs. It was really a good day, and I do hope that I get to go back. I'd sub for this "class from hell" any day :) Next time, I'll have to find an old picture of when I was in Lore's class to show them. The day definitely reminded me why I went into teaching, and why I am not giving up. I'm going to keep at this and find a teaching job. Somehow, some way, somewhere. Thanks again for all the support, encouragement, and prayers! It does mean the world to me!

Today's Tidbit: The 2nd graders kept asking me if we could turn on the Twins game. I had to explain that we didn't play today, but that we play again tomorrow. I guess Lore has let them watch the last two games. I love it!

Sports

It's been a great weekend/week for me and my sports teams. Century won on Friday (as noted in the previous blog), I beat Greg in fantasy football this week. Also, Kudos to Ben for taking Tim out. No more undefeated teams in our league! AC Power all the way :)

And, the Twins won the division! Simply amazing! What a comeback year this has been! My favorite was freaking out at the meeting and screaming and jumping. Oh, good times. I'm watching the Twins play game 1 of the ALDS. We need some offense right now. Let's go Twins!

Today's Tidbit: It turns out that my future husband has a girlfriend. Too bad :(