Thanksgiving at Victory Ranch

We had an awesome time at Victory Ranch.

We played Scrabble, spun, crocheted, spent time with the animals, etc. Mom and I taught three of the people who work there how to spin and one of them, a genuine cowgirl, taught me how to make creme brulee. Nummy!

This is the adobe we stayed - Thanksgiving night - we were getting 5 inches of snow.


One of the babies...


When they ring the breakfast bell the alpacas go running...


One of the many barn cats


And this is Elvis. He may be half the size of the other horses, but he's got twice the appetite and when his dinner bell is rung he's a blur - racing around the other horses
to get to his stall first.


Gringo - one of the many Great Pyrenees.


Zeus - who is VERY protective of his food bowl - he sits like this all the time.


Shamu - this is his bed and breakfast...

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Yesterday we celebrated their 40th year together as husband and wife.

Pretty awesome!

Guard Kitty

To say that I am not the biggest fan of spiders would be an understatement. They give me the willies. I would go so far as to say I despise them. They are UBER creepy. That stop – go – stop – go… all those legs… you know what I’m talking about.

Needless to say I was not comforted when, as the movers were hauling my stuff in, I discovered the BIGGEST non-tarantula spider that I’ve ever seen. Thankfully one of the manly-mover-men disposed of it for me.

This evening I was sitting in my recliner when Sheba darted from my lap to the wall where a relatively large spider was crawling.

She then proceeded to plop down on her furry behind and stare at it.

No spider is safe from her inspection!

Goodbye 20's

Hello 30's!

Birthday Party

The party went well. 7 people (plus myself), but that's not bad considering I've only lived here 4 months. And it seemed like everyone had fun. Lots of food (just like MN parties).

Odd to think I will be 30 in 2 days. Just 2 days left of life in my 20's.

*ponder*

Well it has been getting better and better over the last 6 years so I'm thinking positive. And besides... I'm still young at heart... so I really feel more like 25.

This week

Had a rough week. It got progressively rougher as it wore on. By the end of they day today I was ready to crawl under the covers and not come up for a month.

At home now. Snuggling with kitty.

In-service tomorrow.

My new place...

I'm having a House Warming/Birthday Party at my place this Saturday - Partly to celebrate my 30th Birthday and partly to inspire myself to finish unpacking. So... the downstairs is finally presentable.

Stars in the sea

I love this article for so several reasons:

1. Stars in the sea - cool title/idea
2. New Zealand
3. We are still learning and who knows how much we have yet to learn?

Hard core fisherpeople

Saw lots of fisherpeople today... they were out in the river in their waders... never mind that it was snowing and the river was frozen in large sections... there were fish out there and they needed to be caught!

BTW love Target and love clearance even more!

Hair Despair

I asked around at school regarding a "good" hair dresser and was recommended place A. I called and got an appointment.

Last night I was on my way to place A and called for directions - only to find out it was actually place B (with a similar name to place A). I felt bad, because I'd already made an appointment and they were waiting on me, so I went ahead and kept my appointment.

In short - the lady massacred my hair. It's never a good sign when the hair dresser's hands are stumbling around your head. I have wavy hair and she cut it dry (which I later learned is a BIG no-no).

Immediately upon leaving place B I ran to place A and begged them to help me, which they graciously did. And as that hair dresser said: "There's definitely something funky going on with this cut. It looks like she took a pair of garden shears to the back and the right side is 2 inches longer than the left in front."

*sigh*

Thank goodness place A fixed me up, with exactly what I wanted in the first place! Near disaster diverted. Lesson learned.

Bloody stump

Now I remember why I used the same (refillable) razor for 5 years. I thought I'd try a new one and was rewarded for my adventurousness with six nicks on one leg.

Now I've got one bloody stump and one hairy one.

How much is that doggy in the window?

Some of my MN friends sent me pics of their new puppy, a yellow lab. He's adorable.

Friday I spent half an hour or so at the local animal shelter playing with puppies and kitties.

And everywhere I go in Colorado I see them... dogs...

Dogs, dogs, DOGS!

/sigh

I wanna doggy.

What I learned this week...

1. I'm finally comfortable enough with myself to break it down in front of a bunch of middle school kids and a few teachers. I danced to the Cha-Cha Slide, Staying Alive, Thriller... I had a blast.
2. The above mentioned middle school kids think I'm 23. Bless them.
3. Little things can make a big difference with kids. That kid I mentioned before, the one I caught being good, it did make a difference.
4. I love the week leading up to Halloween. Each day was a dress-up day: 60's & 70's day, crazy hair day, crazy sock day... etc.
5.Finally, and most importantly, I love being a teacher. Through the good times and the bad times. I was made for this.

Planning ahead

I bought some plane tickets.... guess where I'm going for Spring Break?

Painting & Settling In

I think my first formal observation went well... won't meet with the principal until next week, but he didn't call me in right away to fire me... so I'm taking that as a good sign. Besides, I feel like it went well. I'm just curious what comments/suggestions he has for me.

Book club was fun. Of course we didn't talk about the book that much. But the seven of us found plenty to keep ourselves entertained. And there were 2 dogs there, so I was a happy girl.

I finally got around to painting the two tables Dad & I picked up at a garage sale in Telluride. They were red, now they're DARK purple. Purrrrrty.

I'm kind of behind on grading again, which means I've got plenty to keep me busy this weekend.

Stories

Snow today!

So many things happen at school and I want to share these stories with you, but I must respect my student's confidentiality. In order to do this I will name all of my students "student" and I'll use the pronouns (he/she) interchangeably.

I have a student who needs to be loved. By all accounts (and observations) he does not have a good family life. This student told me one time that "Everybody hates me." And I genuinely think he believes it. I told him "I don't hate you" and he seemed surprised by that. He's always in trouble, but today I "caught him being good" and rewarded him for it. That's what he needs - some positive attention for his good behavior and I'm making an effort to see he gets it. It's good for him and it makes me feel good because I'm helping him and showing him that someone cares about him and notices when he does good things.

What've I been doing?

Helped out with the HS football game - worked at the gate in the freezing cold. BUT got to love 3 puppy dogs, visit with (and pick the mind of) a lovely experienced teacher, AND had a great view of the alpenglow as the sun set.

Today I had my first tear-jerker moment with a student. This student was struggling so much, trying so hard to understand, and I was explaining it as simply and in as many different ways as possible. Neither of us gave up and watching this student struggle was almost heart breaking. But in the end this student understood most of what I was trying to get across and they left my desk with a smile because they had finished the assignment.

Bitter sweet? I think that applies. I'm so happy at what we achieved, but it was still hard to watch the student struggle so much.

Spent an hour with the district computer guru trying to fix a dozen little problems with my lab. Fixed about two thirds... the rest will have to wait. Ahhh computers!

Still enjoying teaching. Still having fun with the kids.

Gotta make a run to Denver to buy some stuff... snow shovel, snow boots, etc.

It's a horse... it's a plane...

I was driving to a nearby town for dinner when the truck in front of me swerved. I looked over to see a horse... a BIG horse running along the side of the road... swerving back and forth. I'm not sure what it's doing or where it's going, so I slow down. It turns around and I realize it's a moose... a BIG moose and she's as confused as I am. Then she starts running right at me, so I slam on my breaks. Problem is, she's still headed right for me. I'm staring at her face-to-face and I'm in a Honda Element. Thankfully the van behind me slams on their breaks, tires squealing and the poor moose decides she's had enough. She gave up on crossing the road and headed back the way she came.

Needless to say I'm relieved I didn't hit the moose. I'm relieved she didn't hit me. And I'm relieved the car behind me didn't hit me.

Welcome to The Rockies.

Taos 2008

Taos Wool Festival












Taos, NM




Alpaca Ranch

Back from Taos

Got in last night at 8:30pm.

Took quite a few pictures this weekend, hopefully I have a few good ones.

Gotta get to work soon and then I have an online class tonight, but maybe I can post the pics tomorrow.