Mustangs, etc

I was reading Sunday's Denver Post and they had this big article about the "wild" mustangs in this country and how the BLM (Bureau for Land Management) is considering euthanizing some or selling them to the slaughterhouse.

You may or may not know this about me; I love horses. LOVE them. Want one desperately. When I was *much* younger my parents paid for me to have horseback riding lessons - just so I could be around them. We didn't have the money or a place to keep one ourselves.

In this article it stated that there were 4 wild horse sanctuaries in Colorado, the largest being the Sand Wash Basin in NW Colorado. This sanctuary holds 460-ish horses and it's a days drive from here. Having no new news on the movers we decided to check it out.

Wow.

Aside from the horribly desolate land they chose... I mean could they have found worse land for these horses? It was a wonderful experience. We actually got quite close to several of the horses.









We also saw other critters...
A coyote




Elk


Prairie Dogs




And on the way back we were treated to a few rainbows...




And a shepherd's wagon

Today...

Dad and I drove from Ridgeway to Telluride, back to Ouray and over to Silverton... then back to Ridgeway. Lotsa driving. Lotsa scenery. Lotsa fun.

Bridal Vail Falls - Telluride, CO


Ouray, CO (one of my favorite CO towns)


Red Mountain - Between Ouray and Silverton


More chipmunks because let's face it - they're cute!


In Ouray, in the middle of the main street... in someone's yard... two young bucks. They didn't mind the people, the cars, the Harley's...


And the one thing that's hard for me (about living in Colorado)... Everywhere you go there are dogs... Dogs... DOGS! People walking with them, driving with them... in stores... lots of stores have free dog biscuits for your dogs when you bring them in the store.


Ah well... one day.

Picture time...

So dad and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park. Below you'll find a few critter pics... and of course the mountains.

A chipmunk


One of my favorite critters, a marmot:


They're kind of like beavers, but with different tails and they live in rocks.


These little guys are called pika (one of Dad's favorite). They also live in rocky areas and they're so fast it's really hard to get a good picture of them. I did my best.




The mountains...




And you can't go to Estes Park without visiting the famous Stanley Hotel (from The Shining)...


Update on the movers... my stuff didn't make it on yesterday's truck, which means... well it means: who knows when my stuff will get here.

Right now we're in Ridgeway (at a hotel) and so I have an internet connection. We're going to explore Ridgeway and Ouray tomorrow. This is my absolute FAVORITE area in Colorado... well in the U.S. (so far) I haven't been here in 11 years, so I'm excited to go exploring again. We had dinner tonight at The True Grit (inspired by the John Wayne movie which was filmed here). There was an OLD cowboy going around and singing at tables. He was quite a character and he sang us a couple of songs he wrote.

I am missing MN and my friends there. My routine and the comfort level. Colorado is familiar in some ways, because almost every vacation I took as a child was here. But not to the area I'm living in and since it's been 11 years since I've been to Colorado a lot has changed.

P.S. I'll post more pics later... after I've taken them!

Still alive...

Made it to Colorado. Dad has been helping me a LOT with fixing up my apartment. Lots of little projects. We spent all day yesterday in Denver and today we're heading to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The movers won't be here until sometime between Saturday and Monday... *sigh*

Ah well... gives us more time to run around Colorado.

Will write more later... using a public computer atm... won't have my internet hooked up until next Monday.

Whirlwind

Let's see... Friday (the 11th) Aya and I took a day trip to Duluth to pick up my new bookshelf (made by a friend), got my new phone, ate at the Olive Garden (num) and window-shopped at the mall. That night I had a Trivia Night/Goodbye Party at my place. Loads of fun.

Last Monday was my last night of Trivia. I will REALLY miss that. It was always a blast and I love the guys I played with.

On Wednesday I participated in an Active-Shooter Training for the local Task Force. Essentially it was a training exercise for the Task Force involving me pretending to be dead and/or a hostage. I was show with paint balls and these weird fake bullet things that hurt worse than paint balls.

Thursday the movers came and picked up all my worldly goods... I stayed with Aya Thursday and Friday nights, hung out with friends and ran errands.

Aside from that I've spent the past week saying goodbye to people.

Now I'm in Nebraska, having thoroughly traumatized my poor kitty. She does NOT travel well. 12 hours on the road today and another 8 hours tomorrow.

Ah Joss...

1/3 of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is out and it definitely made me chuckle. I wonder if anyone else thinks it's funny? Or if I just happen to have the same sense of humor as Joss Whedon...

*ponder*

In any case the 2nd part comes out next Tuesday and the 3rd part comes out the following Tuesday. So... By July 29th I'll know how it all ends.

Moving

So they have sunblock (for kids) that goes on one color (for complete coverage) and then the color fades. They even have colored putty (for walls) that fades to white.

WHEN will they come up with rolls of box tape that change color when they're torn? If they could make the edge of the tape change color when it is exposed to air I wouldn't spend half my day searching for the end of the tape...
*sigh*

I'm almost completely packed.
I've got my new cell phone, my new PO Box, and I'm in the process of saying goodbye to friends.

Hilarious, but unrealistic

At least in my case.


Get Fuzzy

I'm glad to see Bucky getting a taste of his own medicine!

However, my kitty runs when I open the closet door where I keep the vacuum cleaner. She's so oblivious to everything else, but she HATES the vacuum cleaner. *ponder* Maybe it hurts her wittle ears?

Joss Whedon

So I pretty much love everything Joss Whedon has done... well almost... but the stuff I love I like... REALLY love... like to the point of being obsessive... So yeah, I'll be one of the first ones to watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. And even if it is truly 'horrible' I will still love you Joss.

I want a kiwi

Get Fuzzy

Officially Official

I received my diploma yesterday.

That's a GRRRRRREAT feeling!

Full circle

My first Fourth of July in Minnesota involved going to Walker to watch the fireworks (they have the best I've seen - lasting 20-25 minutes). Then I went to Aya's family reunion, where I was warmly accepted. I remember it being a cool day and I was actually cold sitting by the lake in Walker. That was a HUGE factor in me wanting to move up here.

This year, my last Fourth of July in Minnesota, I did the same thing. I've tried a few fireworks shows since moving here, but Walker is still the best. And Aya's family reunion was just as welcoming.

I spent the rest of the weekend packing and hanging out with friends. I've got less than two weeks left and it's almost crunch time.

This is the last week of teaching for Upward Bound and this afternoon I'm supposed to go on a Pontoon ride... if the weather holds.

Hey Harry Potter

My UB kids were singing this and I had to look it up for myself...

Hey Harry Potter (Hey There Delilah Spoof)

Lemur... now in THX

Back

Had a good time in the cities.
J went with and I was able to see C & A and D. CAD? heh

Went to the Mall of America (because J had never been) and to IKEA *drool*
I was a good girl though. The only thing I bought was a new duvet for my bed... I thought maybe I deserved one... the one I've been using I bought for $3 at Goodwill and it's seen better times.

On Thursday, before my trip, I had lunch with Sharon. It was really good to see her again. We haven't had a class together in over a year and Thursday was only the second time I'd seen her in the past year.

Packing

I spent a good bit of time this past weekend going through things in my garage. Most of what was there had been in storage for at least 3 years. Needless to say I was able to purge a great deal. And that feels GOOD.

Now that my garage is done I'm starting work on what's IN my apartment.

I had a slight distraction on Monday/Tuesday when an old RA friend and his wife came up to visit. It was really good to see them... the last time I saw them was at the beginning of October, for Aya's wedding.

Tomorrow I'm having lunch with Sharon!

This weekend I'll be making a trip down to the Twin Cities to visit some old friends. Probably the last time I'll see them for quite a while :( If anybody else down there has some time this weekend and would like to meet up just leave me a comment.

I mailed my apartment lease and teaching contract today. Yay!

Upward Bound is going well. I had to mix things up a bit this week in my Sci Fi/Fantasy class - they were about to fall asleep on me! I've had them playing games and moving around, so it's been much better. My Video Production class has been a bit of a struggle to get started, but we start filming tomorrow and I'm hoping that gets my students more excited than sitting around brainstorming and writing scripts.

Oh! And some of my friends have promised me a ride on their pontoon before I leave. Woot!

Something tells me the next four weeks are going to absolutely FLY by.
*sigh*

Master

After 3.5 years I'm finished. I officially have a Masters of Science in Education.

My defense went well... Aya and R showed up, along with a professor who wasn't on my committee... then of course there were the four committee members and me.

I started out excited and once I started talking I was nervous for about ten minutes, but I calmed down and found my groove. The questions posed by the committee members made me think, which is what they're supposed to do. I felt really supported and I sensed that the committee members really liked what I had to say.

It hasn't fully hit me yet. At some point I'm going to REALLY realize that I'm completely finished. I don't have any more classes to go to, papers to write, tests to take...

Not for a few years at least.

Eeeeeeeee!

The chair of my committee gave me these beautiful lady slippers before the defense and the book afterwards:

Arr!

This one's for Froyd.



From: Two Lumps

Falling into place...

My application for a Colorado teaching license has been approved and I'm just waiting for them to print it off and mail it to me.

I received my contract in the mail, but it needed minor alteration. Today I spoke with my future boss and she assured me it will all be sorted out and a new contract will be mailed to me.

I set a date for my move and scheduled a walk-through with the moving company for next week. We (my parents and I) decided to opt for a moving company rather than having Dad drive all the way here, then to Colorado and back to Texas. In the long run it's only a little bit more to have professional movers do it and it'll save both our backs.

Finishing up the first week of Upward Bound. The kids seem (for the most part) very enthusiastic about the classes and I'm teaching stuff I really enjoy. For my Sci Fi & Fantasy Lit Class we're reading The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer, the author of the Artemis Fowl series. For my Video Production class my students will be making a promo video for UB, but they're also begging to make a comedic/silly one too. Overachievers!

Today

Lots to do today...

*Last pre-defense meeting with my adviser
*Move computers
*Print off stuff for UB
*Call about windshield
*Trivia tonight
*Mail thank-you cards
*Call J & P
*Get flea & tick stuff for kitty

Edit: Call Sharon to set up a lunch date

That's my Sheba...

From Off the Mark:



Thanks to Dad for this one... He's right... that's SOOOO Sheba!

Dear Mr. Conley:

Your humor is always appreciated, but perhaps I should stop reading your comic while eating breakfast. Today you made me choke on my Cheerios...



Love,

Aspen

Sleeeeeeeeeeeep...

I wish.

Tagged

I've been tagged by Sharon...

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

The nearest book is Eoin Colfer's The Supernaturalist. I'm using it for one of the UB classes I'm teaching this summer.

The sentences are: "A message. Shoot the barrel! It was a shot in a million, even with the eyepiece."

Don't think I'll tag anyone though.

Home

For the record I made it back to MN... I'm still completely exhausted... I guess that's what happens when you drive 55 hours in 10 days.

Ah well...

It was a good trip, but I had to start work as soon as I got back. I'm working through Monday and then I have a break until Thursday. Yay! I'll spend that time going through the stuff in my garage and PURGING as much as possible. I've collected a remarkable amount of stuff in 7 years. Seriously. I'd be impressed if it weren't for the fact that I am moving in 6 weeks.

Off to work... will post more later.

Texas

When Mom and I got back to Texas on Saturday it was 100 degrees with 86% humidity.

Oh yeah... THAT's the reason I left Texas.

*sigh*

Still here though. Giving myself a bit of a break from driving and getting together a few things for my new apartment and will start back to MN on Wednesday - getting home on Thursday afternoon/evening.

I work Friday and Saturday, but I've still got a week to finish preparing for my UB classes.

Overall, Mom and I had a good trip. We met lots of nice people in my new town and everyone made me feel really welcome. I'm getting excited about my move... as long as I don't think about having to leave all my friends in MN.

Amarillo...

Sheesh.

It took us 20 hours to get from MN to our destination in CO and we fought very strong cross winds the entire way. I spent Wednesday in the school and on Thursday Mom and I spent a few hours driving around Rocky Mountain National Park (see pictures below). Thursday evening we went to look at my new apartment - the one my new boss recommended. It's pretty much close to perfect. It's a two-story, two bedroom townhouse with a garage, dishwasher, washer and dryer... The 2nd story has an amazing view of the mountains from two sides! And it's in my price range! I spoke to the owner and I'm all set!

We were in CO for two days and we just drove another 11 hours to get to Amarillo, with another 6 hours tomorrow to get home. I'll spend a couple of days at home (TX) and then I drive another 22 hours back to MN.

All I can say is... it's a good thing I love my car.

Just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park we saw elk...


And of course the mountains...


And one of my fave critters, moose...


I'll be living 20 minutes from there.

Uhm yeah. It's pretty much awesome.

*grin*

*bounce*

Apartment hunting

I'm in Colorado with Mom and we're about to go apartment hunting. I spent yesterday in the school and met lots of teachers and kids. I also got a feel for what my job will be like. One word: hectic. I'll definitely need to practice patience and flexibility.

Gotta run now, but will post pictures and more information later.

Commencement

A lot has happened in the last four days...

I trained the girl who is taking my place.
My parents arrived.
I walked in commencement.
My picture was in the newspaper (walking in the commencement march).
I had lots of fun with my parents and we took a walk in the woods at Maggie's house.
D's and my joint-grad party was HUGE and fun. I didn't know we could squeeze that many people into such a tiny place.
Went to the Headwaters this morning.
Talked Mom into staying and going with me to Colorado.
Saw Dad off at the airport.
Mom and I are leaving tomorrow morning to go to Colorado. She gets to see my new home before Dad.

SOOOOO unbelievably exhausted. The past few days have been a whirlwind and I've barely had time to stop and enjoy it, but I've managed.

And in about ten hours Mom and I will be on the road to CO.

Guess I better get some sleep.

P.S. I graduated! Minus my defense... but I got hooded and shook people's hands and stuff. *hehehe*

Potentially Exciting News

One of the things I've been fretting about is finding a place to live in Colorado. It's EXPENSIVE and hard to find what you want. Lots of places are furnished, rent for only 4 months a year, don't allow pets, etc.

I spoke with my future boss yesterday and she said there's a teacher who is leaving and he has a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom townhouse, with a washer & dryer, and a garage. Can you believe it? My very own washer & dryer? The landlord will let me bring my kitty cat AND it's $150 less than other places I've been reading about... and it includes utilities. I'm going to check it out when I'm there next week.

*grin*

WorldWide Telescope

Microsoft's new toy.

Well that's backwards...

I'm supposed to feel better now that I've checked another major thing off my To Do list... instead it's 1:15 am and I'm wide awake thinking about all the things I still have to do.

*snort*

*Email RS
*Call CLV about summer
*Syllabi for UB classes
*Finish Master's Research Paper
*Edit Master's Research Paper
*Defend paper
*Written Exam
*Send final copy of paper to participants
*Commencement - Friday
*Make reservation for Sheba
*Visit new school
*Find an apartment
*Teach for UB
*Move to Colorado - July
*Lesson plans for next school year

Free at last!

Thank goodness!

I just finished my Written Exam and turned it in.
Yay!

Assuming it isn't sent back with red writing all over it, which it shouldn't be, I'm officially done until my Defense.

Now I can focus on preparing for UB and on my trip to Colorado next week I can focus on checking out my new school and finding an apartment.

*DEEEEEEEEP BREATH*

Ahhhhhhh...... That feels good.

A different kind of superhero

Position filled

So... I've been trying to help the Ed Dept find a replacement for me. I say "trying" because I haven't had any luck.

Many
people have been telling me not to worry about it, it's not my responsibility to find a replacement for myself. A few people have been asking me if I know of any good candidates.

Today a I interviewed a young lady and I think she'll work! She has more experience than the last candidate and she's willing to work with me to learn what she needs to.

Yay!

I can't help it. I want to make sure that whoever takes over for me knows what they need to know. I think it's horrible when someone leaves a position and doesn't share
their knowledge with the next person. What an awful feeling to start a new job and have no idea what you're supposed to do or who to ask for help.

So yeah, I'm happy now.

Getting down there...

With a little less than two weeks remaining in the semester, I'm forced to take inventory:

Master's Paper - mostly done, minus some APA edits - defense date set
Written Exam - needs lots of work
Graduation - have cap, gown & hoodie, but need to clean apt.
Summer Jobs - finalize syllabi and send to UB & tell Concordia when last day of work will be
Meet with J regarding future of comp. lab
Colorado Trip - have set date for my visit to the school, need to call apts.

Went to trivia tonight. Had fun, as always, but we placed 8th out of 12. Not so hot. Ah well.

Sorry I don't have anything more interesting to share... you really would think I would...

We won't talk about all the "Goodbye's" I'll be saying in the next couple of weeks as most of my friends move back home...

Iron Man

So... our theater actually had two advanced screenings of Iron Man tonight. When Jer called and asked if I wanted to go I said sure.

I was expecting cheesy, but maybe good... probably a little of both.

I gotta say... It rocked. I was very pleasantly surprised. Yay! Don't you love that? When you have mediocre expectations for a movie and it completely surprises you? I always want to see the movie again to see if it really was that good or if I was just so surprised it didn't suck that I *thought* it was that good. If that makes sense.

Anywho... Tonight was a good pick-me-up. I had dinner with my former dept chair and his wife. He and I went over my Master's paper and I'm going to make the changes he recommended and then send my paper around to my committee. Also, I think I've found a date and time for my defense that will work for everyone. It's in June, but at least I've got a date.

So yeah... I'm in a much better mood.

Now... to sleep.

Das boot

I kicked someone out of my office today.

Betcha didn't think I had that in me, eh?

Yeah well... I'm Italian and a Scorpio.

It's not an easy thing to do, but when you succeed in angering me... watch out.

Up, Down, All Around

Let's see...
That title just about covers the last week or so.

I've been having problems at work.
That's kind of an understatement. Some people have really disappointed me.

I had bowling withdrawal yesterday, but hung out with Jer for a while.

I don't think I'll be able to defend my paper this semester because everything is taking longer than I thought (story of my life).

There's been some good stuff too.
I think.
It just seems to get lost in all the bad stuff.

I dunno. Now isn't a good time for me to be blogging because I'm not in the best of moods.

I'll try again tomorrow.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday dear Mom and Jeremy.
Happy Birthday to you!

In other news... had a very busy weekend (well... busy for me).

Saturday morning I got news that a certain somebody had landed himself in the hospital due to complications with his blood pressure medication. Not good. Not good at all. He's safe and sound now, but that's so not cool. *sigh*

Saturday afternoon was the Festival of Nations - put on by the international students on campus. Food, games, music, dancing, etc. Always fun. Afterwards, I went to see Forbidden Kingdom, which is funny, cheesy, weird... but in a way kind of good.

Sunday afternoon I went to a Leadership Awards thingy for all the students who've been accepted to Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges & Universities. They gave us certificates and these really nice, leather folder/portfolio things with the campus name and logo.

Sunday night I went with Matt & Eric to our old Dept. Chair's house. He and his wife cooked us dinner and we chatted, went down to the lake, played ping pong and darts, and laughed until we wore ourselves out. Basically, we had a blast. And his wife gave us each a bag of homemade cookies to take home. Nummy.

Oh, and if you're worried about the end of the world, just check out THIS Yahoo! End-of-the-Earth day tid-bit. I think I'll be ok... at least until the bunny-pocalypse comes.

Interpretation

Last night I made a (rather long) list of things to do today. I had just started on it when I received a phone call from the University's Admissions Office. Today was the student orientation for incoming freshmen and there was a family with a deaf daughter. They needed an interpreter and someone gave them my name.

Now let me just clarify – I am not an interpreter. I don't know enough sign language and I've never been trained. I do know "conversational" ASL and can hold my own, but there's so much I don't know.

They were in a fix and needed someone "right now," so I told them I'd help. I did my best. The family was really nice and they kind of got a two-for-one, interpreter and guide. This took up my afternoon, but I really enjoyed helping and actually being able to use sign language again.

The lady from the Admissions Office had me come see her afterwards. She apologized that she couldn't pay me, because I'm a Graduate Assistant and I technically can't have another job on campus. I did get a free lunch and she gave me a free hat, t-shirt, Bucky the Beaver Bobblehead (adorable) and she paid my parking ticket. *cough* I thought she wanted me for a few minutes, not realizing I'd be there for the entire day and uhm yeah... meters run out.

In any case...
Yay!
Fun.
Educational.
ASL.
Nice people.
Bobblehead!

Farewell Bowling for Beavers

Last night was our last night of league bowling.
So sad.
We went out to Applebee's afterwards for our end-of-the-year party. It seemed like everyone had a good time and we won three out of four games. I bowled my third highest score ever (158) and overall I bowled 17 points above my average for the series.
Yay!
A good way to close out the year, but I will REALLY miss bowling with my team.

Celebration...

I just finished my first complete draft of my paper.

Yay! is a major understatement.

I'll turn it in to my adviser on Monday and see what edits she has for me, but wow.

Wow!

*deep breath*

Tomorrow morning Aya and I are going to brunch and then tomorrow night is the (rescheduled) last night of bowling and our end-of-the-year bowling party. Now I REALLY have something to celebrate.

To do:

*Email RS
*Call CLV about summer
*Syllabi for UB classes
*Finish Master's Research Paper
*Edit Master's Research Paper
*Defend paper
*Written Exam
*Send final copy of paper to participants
*Graduation
*Make reservation for Sheba
*Visit new school
*Find an apartment
*Move to Colorado
*Lesson plans for next school year
*Remember to breath
*Remind self that everything will work out fine

It's a small world afterall

So last week I talked to a lady at my new job whose husband is from this town and she went to school at this university for one year.

Today I was speaking with a professor here and his wife taught in my new job's school district. He called her up and she gave me some pointers about that area.

Indiana Jones

Ooooo I'm trying something new. Adding a "widget" to my blog - by using a completely different website.

FYI: I am SOOOO excited for the new Indiana Jones movie. Not that I expect it to be the best movie ever made, I've just been hearing about it since... oh... well I was still in Texas. And I mean really, Harrison Ford. Nuff said.

Plus I've been pretty impressed with Shia's stuff lately and they've brought back Karen Allen (from the first movie).

Let the countdown begin.

And I'm really excited about the new LEGO Indiana Jones game.


I LOVE the LEGO Star Wars games.

Foggy

Last night we tied for 6th place at trivia.
Ouch.
They had an entire round devoted to fashion.
/sigh
Not our night.

And there was a MAJOR fog over the lake this morning. Couldn't see the other shore.
I love that. It's so mysterious and a little creepy...
Wish I'd had my camera.

The Mohawk

What do you do when it snows and snows and snows?


How do you keep your sense of humor when you have to remove this much snow from your car?


Well...

Bowling is... canceled?

Seriously?

Seriously.

Tonight was supposed to be the last night of league, instead they canceled tonight and we'll bowl next Sunday instead. There's a LOT of snow. A lot - a lot. I've been in league for 3 years and this is the first time they've canceled.

Ah well. I'll have one more night of bowling and our end-of-the-year party to look forward to next week.

Yay snow!

April 6, 2008

It started snowing last night and it hasn't stopped.


I love it!


And I made my first snowman... all on my own. He's kinda short and stuff... It's cold out there!

Question

If you live in northern Minnesota (like an hour from Canada), why do you complain when it snows?

I mean it's not like it doesn't snow in April and May EVERY year.
Seriously. Find the beauty people. Even when I'm sweating my socks off in July/August I can appreciate a beautiful day - the big blue sky, white fluffy clouds, and the wind blowing through the poplars. And the snow is just as beautiful. It gives everything a clean, crisp look and there's a stillness that happens when it's snowing heavily. I love it.

I've lived here for 7 years and people ALWAYS complain when we get another April/May snow - like they don't see it coming. The lake's still frozen people. You live in northern MN. It snows here.

*sigh*

The Future

So... I made my decision.

She gave me two weeks to decide, but it only took one.

I called the lady yesterday and told her I would love to work at her school. She said I just made her day!

Sweet!

So. That's it. The school board meets on the 15th to vote and make it official, but she says they won't turn me down. A couple of weeks after that I'll get a contract and Bob's your uncle!

Here are some pictures from my trip. Keep in mind I only had a day and a half of sunshine the entire week.

The town:


The school:


A nearby lake:


Aspen, CO:






Driving along I-70:

The Wall & The Fair

So I went downtown to deposit my tax return (yay money) and I saw this big truck down by the lake and a bunch of guys setting up a wall. Apparently the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall is in town for a few days. I'll definitely go down and check that out.

Also, the university is having a mini-career fair this afternoon. I stopped by at lunch to see what was what. Only the local school district is there, but there are lots of other businesses and law enforcement, etc. I talked to Career Services and thanked them for their help (they helped me find out about job fairs in other states). I also talked to the Alumni Office and found out what I need to do to keep receiving information about the university. Of course this also means frequent requests for money. LOL. Yeah like I've got any of that to spare.

Ah well.

Our first meeting for Upward Bound is this afternoon at 4pm. Excited to see some returning faces and about the new classes I'll be teaching for them. I'm still hunting for some Sci-fi and Fantasy short stories. If anyone has suggestions pleeeeease let me know?

I'm also working on my paper again. Gah. I feel like for large chunks of time that's ALL I've done. But then there's the two weeks when I couldn't even sit up, much less work on my paper. And of course the last week and a half I've been so focused on preparing for the job fair - and a good thing too! And the last couple of days was me freaking out about actually having a job offer so soon - and such an amazing offer at that.

So... back to working on my paper. I gave my advisor my 2nd chapter and she "loves it." That made me happy, to say the least. A big sigh of relief. I've finished the second chapter and now I'm working on the 3rd. I still need to go back and add to Ch. 1 and of course lots of editing. But I definitely have to get that sucker done! I need to hit the road Jack!

Oh and last night of bowling league this Sunday. We're having a little get-together afterwards to celebrate a fun-filled year of bowling. I'm SOOOO going to miss it. Though they do have a bowling alley just 15 minutes from my job offer... and they have league bowling... and one of the ladies at the school is on a league.

Did I mention the school has a 4-day school week? That definitely goes on the positives list.

Man.
For the past week or so my mind has been ALL OVER THE PLACE. In case you couldn't tell.

Talking

I've been talking to people. Lots of people.
Mostly faculty and staff in the Education Dept.

What they've had to say has been all support, good advice and lots of faith that I'll make the right decision.

I ran the numbers for the cost of living vs my income and included my student loans. I'll be able to pay all my bills, but won't have any extra money. Hey, it beats now where I don't even make enough to pay my basic bills. The only reason I've survived is because Mom and Dad have been helping me out.

So... I'm feeling pretty good about the offer and I've found out there's actually a lot to do in that area: horseback riding, snowmobiling, dog sledding, bowling, book club, summer job opportunities, three lakes, Rocky Mountain National Park, skiing (if I get over my fear), walking trails, and more.

I'm not stressing anymore. I'm taking some excellent advice and taking the time to enjoy the offer. It really is an amazing offer and I'm unbelievably luck to have it.
Yay me!

In other news... Last night I went to trivia and we got 2nd place! That was SO exciting. We missed out on first place by 1 point. My Texas History (and genealogy) actually came in handy last night when they asked who was elected governor of TN in 1827 and governor of Texas in 1859. That would by my 7th cousin, Mr. Sam Houston.

And my job offer has led to another offer... We have some family friends who own an alpaca ranch - the one we went to over Christmas break. Victory Ranch is in Mora, New Mexico. That's about a 6 or 7 hour drive from where my job offer is and the people at the ranch have given me an open invitation to come and stay with them anytime I'd like. I can't think of a more relaxing place to go. The people are wonderful, Victory Ranch is up in the mountains, and their alpacas are the sweetest animals. I think I'll have to take them up on that offer!