Not Ready To Make Nice

JULIE and HEIDI!!!! Did you get yours??? I got mine!! :)

We Hens watched Shut Up and Sing last night. AWESOME movie. The Dixie Chicks rock! I will support them by buying CDs and telling YOU to go rent the movie!!

:) Happy Wednesday!

Ok Tendrils, now I'm IT

I usually save these blogs for MySpace.. but then you'd miss out! - So here goes:

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Would have been June 26, 1997 . . . . just finished my 2nd year of teaching . . . living with new boyfriend Paul. . .and working as an Assistant Manager at Blockbuster to make ends meet.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
June 2006 . . . teaching summer school (kindergarten). . . and writing curriculum. . .HEY! That's the same as this year!!! :) BUT - this year - I get to be playing with ALICE . . .instead of WAITING for her to arrive!

Five Snacks You Enjoy
1.) Pretzel chips and hummus
2.) Nacho chips and bean dip
3.) Cornbread crackers, Laughing Cow, jelly
4.) Onion crackers and artichoke dip
5.) Cheddar chips and Top the Tater

Five Songs That You Know All The Lyrics To
1.) Any song from Jesus Christ Superstar :) or RENT
2.) Goodbye Earl - Dixie Chicks
3.) Manic Monday - Bangles
4.) Nah! - Shania Twain
5.) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

Five Things You Would Do If You Were a Millionaire
1.) Buy 2 houses - one for me - one for Lonny/Jaime
2.) Buy mom and dad a cabin in MN
3.) Set up a scholarship for former/current ESL students of mine who want to go to college
4.) Pay off my school loans
5.) Not teach summer school

Five Bad Habits
1.) I swear too much
2.) I gossip
3.) I like to snack
4.) I like to be in control
5.) I am a procrastinator!

Five Things You Like To Do
1.) Watch TV
2.) Scrapbook
3.) Host parties
4.) Hang out with my brother, et al
5.) Cook

Five Things You Would Never Wear Again
1.) I said bellbottoms at one time. . and look what happened!
2.) Pinned pants
3.) Bikini
4.) My wedding dress ;)
5.) Lovepats :) :)

Five Favorite Toys
1.) My computer
2.) My Nano
3.) My cell phone
4.) My digital camera
5.) My Scion Xa

I am tagging:
If you read this far, you’re it! Start typing

Girls' Weekend 2007

Forever Friends

This weekend was our annual Girls' Weekend. We rotate the event every year - and this year was in Minneapolis. Nancy arrived from Fargo - and Jaymie from working in St. Paul - around 4:30 Friday afternoon. We met at my place - then drove one car downtown to the TownePlace Suites. We just hung out and relaxed for a little bit (oh yeah - we did get pizza from Suzies. . as we were starving!! - that would be the last of the starving for awhile. .ahem.)

Around 8:30 - we drove back out to NE to meet Julie - who had driven in from Eveleth after getting off of work. She made record time - and we headed back to the hotel! We all tired early - no we're not 21 anymore! - and went to bed after a few hours of gossip/visiting.

Saturday was a blast - we met Nancy's "little" sister - FBI Special Agent Cindy - and her daughter Katie for yummy lunch at Macaroni Grill in Rosedale. Big lunch - but Julie was craving a Leaning Bellini - and I wanted a steak.

Bisek Girls

The food was awesome (service not so much) - and with full bellies we hit the Bath & Body Clearance Sale for some awesome deals. We then stopped at Archivers for last minute purchases, and a pitstop at Aveda so Julie can smell like Aveda :) - and then back to the hotel for scrappin'.

This morning we got ready slowly - and checked out RIGHT at noon - and with two carloads of crap going to NE MPLS (and only one car) - it was kind of a crazy goodbye.

In front of our hotel

The Weekend has changed as we have gotten older - we do a lot more relaxing and reminiscing - and now scrapping. I have a blast with these 3 very dear friends - and I look forward to our next gathering - hopefully a casual scrap weekend in Eveleth later this summer.

Alice and Auntie Carrie

Today was the first of many that I will get to hang out with Alice while Jaime goes to work this summer. It's like every other Wed, Fri, Mon - or so that I'm able to help out. If they're at all close to as much fun as today was - this summer will rock!

We started out with Storytime at the Barnes and Noble in Maple Grove.

Alice was a rock star! She sat in my lap - then stood holding on to a bench - and then sat on the bench! The whole time - watching the story!! She even got her first kiss I think! A boy named Victor tickled her arm - and then kissed her!!! Victor is an older guy - probably about 3!


After the story we did a little shopping - and looking on our own. Alice enjoyed being on the floor next to the books . . . but then. . . she turned. . . and saw the wall . . . of Elmo books! She did her famous "Four Finger Point" and screeched - and I whipped out the camera to get this shot of her scootching her way to her favorite red monster!


It was actually kind of hard to pull her away - but we had a lot to do this morning!


We loaded back in to the car and went to Archivers. . . geez . . Alice must go there a lot - cuz she again - was a ROCK STAR!

THEN - (nope - not lunchtime yet!!) - we went to Walmart - where Auntie Carrie had to pic up pictures. . . .and also a BOOSTER CHAIR like Grandma and Grandpa's. . .


Finally - home to Auntie Carrie's for LUNCH! Alice has drunk all of her milk - and is now in her new booster - watching Noggin' and eating cheese, apple snacks, and a cookie (yes, Auntie Carrie was smart to buy baby snacks to keep on hand!) . . .

. . . a fun day was had by all. :)

Got my hair did

Yes yes . . . I had to get my hair cut AND highlighted again. . it was driving me nuts! Here it is - I guess you can't really tell what it looks like. . but trust me . . . I'm freakin' ADORABLE! :)

But whatever . . . don't Alice and I look CUTE! :)

Great Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa were in town this weekend. They were here to take part in the unveiling of the new WWII monument at the state capitol. They also took in a TWINS game - and then headed out to Chris and Katie's in Cottage Grove for a BBQ. We joined in - and voila! - all four great grandkids were in one spot!

Hanging out with Great Grandma and Grandpa
Paige (8 yrs), Alice (10 mos), Caleb (21 mos), Kyla (5 yrs)



Alice and Great Grandma



This picture is awesome - because this truly is how ACTIVE Caleb was all afternoon!

Look Who Came To Visit

Today was our last day of school with kids (we work tomorrow). And I had a VISITOR! Meet Peterson. His mama, See, was one of my 8th graders - my first year at Jackson. Actually - I've had all of her younger sibs too! (I missed her older sister - who was already in high school when I came to JMS.) I've had See, Xue, Vai, John, Kazia, and now Jean. I probably won't have anymore from this family - as they are getting further and further from needing ESL services! :)

Anyway - I had to share. I'm loving this whole "been teaching awhile" thing - this year I had two students come back to introduce their new wives - and today I met Peter. Yup. Pretty cool. (It really is too bad - that this feeling can't be bottled up into salary - because - I think I'd be rich! :) At least my heart is full even tho my bank account isn't!)

Busy Month

Well - it's been awhile since I last blogged. I'd like to say it's been a busy month - but I can't stand when people think their lives are so much busier than everyone elses. But - it's really been busy. :) This last month of school always seems to go so quickly - but not before stressing me out. :)

We just had our big Cultural Celebration at school last week. It's a huge project - put on by a committee (usually made up of most of my department and a handful of nonESL teachers/staff). We started out by printing posters to advertise the event. We did this for the first time last year - and this year had even more interest. The poster was designed by a few of my 7th graders, drawn by another few, and then inked by yet another. So - instead of 2 students - I had 5 who took part - and wanted to take the after school trip to Minneapolis - to Lon's studio - to print their creative collaboration. I enlisted Becky to help drive - and we took off one afternoon to the city - to become printing apprentices. Lonny is so good with the kids - he does an excellent job explaining what he is doing - and then giving the kids the chance to take part in all aspects of the printing. He definitely has teacher blood in him! Here are the proud artists with their final masterpiece - posing in the studio.



Last Wednesday (the day of our event) - we had a good amount of students dress up in their cultural dress. Even a few staff members took part! Here's a shot I took of a bunch who participated. Pretty sharp huh!?



Finally - Wednesday night was the big event. We had 22 food booths - filled with foods from many cultures. I had more than 40 students working the booths, setting up, and cleaning up. The kids were awesome. They helped out wherever I needed them, they were smiley and friendly to our guests, and had a great time while doing all of it. They really took ownership of our event - and I think it shows! (OH yea - I think it was pretty successful - we were pretty much out of food after being open for just 40 minutes!)



Friday started the parties (retirement and end-of-year). Last night was graduation - tonight was our big school-wide dinner/celebration - tomorrow is a meeting with the superintendent - Wednesday is Valleyfair - and Thursday is the last day for kids. There is a light at the end of this busy tunnel - but there's a lot to get done before I can walk into it.