2 August 2004, Monday

There are some fun new links on my links page. I've marked them with stars.

The results from the Utah County Fair are in. I was able to get four pictures entered. Three of them took second place and one took third. It's better than I hoped I'd be able to do. You can see the pictures here, along with seeing how they did.

This weekend was the annual Players Anonymous Summer Bash. The theme was pirates, so I took a Beanie Baby turkey and sat it on my shoulder as my "parrot." It was a fun party, or must have been because everyone stayed at least an hour more than they had originally planned. Miriam has pictures on the Players Anonymous website you can look at. Or you can just look at this one that she took of me and think of how cute I am. ;)

7 August 2004, Saturday

I won $5.50 for my pictures at the County Fair. That was very unexpected when I went Monday to pick them up. I also found out Monday evening that I have been cast as Moustache Agnes is the melodrama "Alias Smedley Pewtree." It will be performed by the PG Players for Pleasant Grove's Heritage Festival the second weekend in September. Agnes is the town sheriff who hasn't been paid in nine years and she has a big drooping mustache. I get to be the sheriff. I'm just a little excited about it.

Tuesday afternoon I took Brian down to Castle Dale to see the pageant they do every year. For years my uncle has been in charge of it, and it seems like every year he says it is going to be his last. This year he might actually mean it. I'm not sure if it still is, but this used to be the only pageant with live animals. We were able to see the Pioneer Village before the pageant started, taste honey candy, Brian learned how to rope a bail of hay with a rubber sheep's head on it, step inside a tee-pee. Afterwards we spent the night with my uncle and his family and drove back home Wednesday. Everyone agrees that this pageant is much better than the Manti pageant.

The movie Saints and Soldiers opened Friday and so Brian and I went to see it. A lot of it was filmed in American Fork. It is an incredible movie about a group of soldiers in World War II caught behind enemy lines. They call come from different places and have different agendas. One of them happens to be a Latter-Day Saint, but that isn't the focus of the movie. I really enjoyed it.

Every so often I decide to pretend I'm social and have a party at my apartment. So far this year I had one for the Ides of March, and I'll have my Christmas one in December. Friday night I had one to celebrate the end of summer, a going away party for Brian, and a chance for people to show off their vacation pictures if they wanted to. It was a good party, with a good turn out too, for me anyways. Eight people is more than enough for me.

11 August 2004, Wednesday

Today is my parent's 27th wedding anniversary. I'm so glad they got married, because otherwise, I wouldn't be here. I want a love like theirs.

I had a lot of stuff that kept me busy today. I registered for Education Week. I dropped of a CD of pictures I'd edited for a friend of mine. I bought a mustache. I paid my car insurance and got renters insurance. Called my dentist and got an appointment for tomorrow. It's good to be busy. Yesterday I got the safety and emmision tests for my car so I can renew the registration on it. I've got to get a lot done this week because my vacation ends on Monday.

Monday I went back to school for the first time since school ended back in May. It had been dusted real well, and that was nice. I put the chairs back, put my stuff back on top of my desk, went through all the stuff I received over the summer. I still need to go back and clear off the memory of the computers and make sure all the programs I'm going to need are ready to go.

Yesterday I went to the SCERAs production of Oklahoma. They did a real good job. The story isn't one of my favorites, I think the movie soured me on the show. But I had a lot of fun watching my friends that were in it. I almost think I'd go to any show Josh is in just to read his bio. And it was fun to see Stan again and talk with him. He should do more shows, he's a good dancer.

12 August 2004, Thursday

Today is a sad, sad day. I went to the dentist because I haven't been in a year and my gums were getting a little sensitive. And the dentist was so rude. He told me I have a cavity. Nobody has ever told me that before in my life. I'm so depressed. It's like a sports team winning every game of the season except the very last one. Nobody likes that. I'm eating cookies to make me feel better.

I have to show off some. This is one of four paintings that Brian is doing for me.

20 August 2004, Friday

I love the Olympics. I love the pageantry of the opening ceremonies. I love the nations that have a team of one athlete and thinking of what that one person went through and the pride they must feel, as well as their country of them. I love the athletes from all over the world coming together for a battle of not who has more money to spend on guns, but of strength of body and heart. The swimmers are so fast. The gymnists are so strong. All of them are so brave. It's just amazing. I always tear up when I hear the US national anthem for one of our athletes who won a gold medal.

My school meetings started again on Tuesday. And a wonderful cold started Tuesday night. Why I couldn't be sick last week when I didn't have work, or two weeks from now when I can call a substitute, I don't know. The meetings haven't been that bad though. Right now I'm sitting in my room for our school's Open House. We'll see if anyone actually stops by while I'm here. Well, the parents of kindergarteners stop by, showing their kids the whole school. They always ask if their kids will actually come in here. I truly believe most parents don't realize I teach everyone in the whole school.

I've been going to Education Week at BYU this week as well. It is making for some very long days. I leave home before eight in the morning, and don't get home till after ten at night. The classes are real good though, and I am learning a lot. It is good to be busy.

21 August 2004, Saturday

Happy Birthday Ryan!!
Parabéns no seu Aniversário!!

23 August 2004, Monday

And another school year starts. I'm actually ready this year too. I'm just going to do what I did the past two years, only better. Satruday I went to school and made 2850 copies. My disclosure document was 850 of those. And then I made 1000 copies of the internet permission form, and that one is two sided. It is about twice as many as I'll need, but I know I'll have to send them home twice for a lot of kids.

Every year, and every grading period I say I'm going to keep up on my grades. And I have never managed to do that yet. Most of that is because it takes quite a bit of time for me to get the assignments into my computer. So I spend a lot of time every time report cards come out getting them done. I'm already ahead of the game this year though. Each week my kids get a grade just for being there, and I already have those assignments in for first through third grade, for the whole year. That's going to help a lot. Now I've got to see if I can do the same thing for fourth through sixth grades before we get too far into the year.

I don't actually start till tomorrow (lucky me has Monday's off, makes my Sunday afternoon so much better). The kids are there today. It was fun seeing them at the open house and seeing how much they've all grown over the summer. I'm already racking my brain trying to remember all 600 or so of their names.

28 August 2004, Saturday

I survived the first week of my third year teaching. It's amazing how different this week was from that first week two years ago. I had no idea what I was doing back then. I wasn't sure what everyone was expecting from me, or what they thought of me. I had a parent tell me last year that when I started, his kids didn't like me because I wouldn't let them play games like their old teacher had. Those same kids now talk about me all the time at home, and even came in just to say hi on Wednesday. Not only did I start my fullest year yet, 36 classes and almost 800 students compared with 33 and just over 700 when I started, I decided more teachers at school need web sites than just me, and I've gotten two of them up, as well as one for the entire second grade. We'll see who else I can get to do one.

Rehearsals are going well for Alias Smedley Pewtree which will open in three weeks. I got my mustache, but I forgot to get some wax for it when I went to the store. That isn't something I normally buy, so it slipped my mind. It looks great though.

29 August 2004, Sunday

I'm a mommy!! Yesterday I went to buy some milk and passed PetSmart on my way. I've been debating getting a beta fish for a while, but I don't like fish. Except tonight I thought a hermit crab sounded like a fun idea. So I stopped at a pet store and bought two.

Is anyone else happy that the USA men's basketball team didn't win? I am. What a bunch of over pompous big headed fools! I loved watching the Argentina team win their game and get their medals. They were so excited. It wouldn't have been a big deal for the NBA idiots at all. The Argentina team, the Iraqi soccer team, all the little guys - that's what the Olympics are all about.

Watching the runners was a study in art for me. The way they moved was just beautiful. Last night they did a montage of a lot of the American gold medalists while they were on their platforms listening to the national anthem. That touches something deep in my heart. Every athlete there (except the affore mentioned USA "dream" team) just amazed me. I love the Olympics. I'm so glad they are every other year now, less time between the magic.