An American Girl in Canada

Here are some random thoughts that basically sum up my day!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Today in my Spanish classes we celebrated and learned all about this history of this great holiday. It is commonly thought of as Mexico's Independence Day, but those thinking that would be mistaken. If you want to learn a little bit of history about Cinco de Mayo, check out this link: Cinco de Mayo. Meanwhile, I'm including some pics of my students playing a little game I made up, "Steal the Sombrero." It got a little vicious, but they loved it!












Windshield Chips: Well, it seems that this has been the year of rock chips in my windshield. One day I was actually screaming out loud as I got stuck behind a huge dump truck carrying rocks. Unfortunately, the idiot driver forgot to pull his tarp down over the load and rocks were literally flying out of his truck. I was back as far as I could without ticking off the other drivers on the road but it felt like I was in some kind of other world rock storm. I could hear the rocks hailing down upon my windshield and car. Amazingly, that only cause a few minor chips. Today, I wasn't so lucky. I was driving along, being a GOOD driver-I just attended a class on being a safe driver with my grade 11 class today...it was stuck in my mind-when suddenly out of NOWHERE this rock comes flying through the air and hit the VERY edge of my windshield. At first I thought, that sucks, another chip. Next thing I knew, I was driving along and a crack was spreading across the windshield. It's really too bad my father-in-law no longer works for the Speedy Auto Glass portion of his company...we could have used that family connection about now. It looks like we'll be shelling out some pretty cash to get the window fixed tomorrow. Bummer deal.

Good Deals: Tonight I will be taking off in my damaged car for the States. I have heard about a good deal on cleats at the Nike Store. My friend and I both need a pair for the softball team we are playing on, and my good friend M. got a pair at the Nike Outlet at Tulalip for $15 last weekend! It's a crazy deal...I called them today and put two pairs on hold, one for myself, and one for my friend, J. I'm going to try to make a quick trip down to get them. We'll see...is the border every truly quick?

55 days: That's the number of days it is until I get to give my little sister a HUGE hug when I pick her up at the airport in Seattle! I can't wait to see her! We've planned out her entire trip. We'll go to Keats, head up to Whistler, walk the Seawall, and just enjoy being together. Neither of us can remember the last time that we spent time together without there being some other event going on, like my wedding...or her wedding. We can't imagine how it will be just having HER and I hanging out, with no one else! I'm about to squeal with anticipation! Today she asked me if there was anything in particular that I was missing from South Dakota that she could bring to me. I promptly replied that she could bring my mom, dad, brother, and her husband. Oh yeah, if she wanted to throw in my adorable niece Rachel I could handle that too! I think she was thinking more along the lines of food or other goods. What do you think? 55 days, my Candy Pandy! I can't WAIT!

An Uneven Tan: Well, it's that time of year, you know, the time when one arm becomes more tan than the other due to the sun shining in through your car window? Yep, I can already see that my left arm is getting darker than my right arm but hey, I'm not complaining...the sun is out!

A Midsummer Night's Dream: In English 9 I am currently teaching this beloved Shakespeare tale. It's been pretty exciting, because I have had kids go from saying "Do we HAVE to learn Shakespeare this year?" to saying "Can I read the part of Lysander?" There is one boy in particular that was absolutely dreading it. Most of the kids have never read Shakespeare before and I am pleased to say that I believe many of them are gaining an appreciation for it! They are even asking when they will get another chance to act out parts. Today I had them working on Character Critiques. In their "Acting Groups," which were established when we began the play, they had to take two of the main characters and critique them. They had to draw a picture showing what they thought the character would look like, then they had to write five character traits that character had and provide a quote that supports that. On the other side they had to write five objectives the character has and provide a quote for that as well. At the bottom they have to say whether the character speaks in verse form or prose and provide an example of that as well. They worked like busy bees! They really took to the assignment and I loved watching different students use their strengths and feel proud of the work they were doing. They present them on Monday, I will try to remember to take pictures to share! Meanwhile, here are some photos of the work in progress!

Okay, you can't see him now, but Lysander ended up looking pretty good! This girl is quite an artist!

The boys take on the characters of Puck and Helena.

She looks like she's working so hard!

Kev's Busy Weekend: Well, I won't be seeing much of my sweet hubby this weekend. He has his last class before he goes to U of O for classes this summer. He's excited because tonight he will be learning more about his summer courses, but also dreading sitting for hours on end. Hopefully it goes well! I feel like a loner for a day or two, but I'm also looking forward to doing some things on my own, like cleaning the house and going down to the States.

The Amuzing Race: Tomorrow morning three friends and I are competing in the Amuzing Race. Our church is putting on a competition for young adults in our church and we signed up as a team. We are totally pumped about it. We have our map books all ready to go and we even had the great strategy that we would take my car since it is a four door and would be easier to get in and out of, but that plan is hooped now that it will be under repair tomorrow. We were told to look forward to getting wet and to wear good shoes...hmm...I will post pictures tomorrow!

Road Construction: This morning I left early for work. Yesterday we received an e-mail from our principal stating how important it was for us to be at work by 8:15, and since I have such a super long drive, I'm usually one of the last ones there. Wanting to follow the rules, I got up early and out of the house by shortly after 7 this morning. I was very proud of myself for all of five minutes until I hit road construction. Why is it that they always do road construction during rush hour? Do you think they are doing it in the afternoon when there are hardly any cars on the road? No way! I made it through the first one, and it added about ten minutes onto my time. I was pretty good again until my exit off the freeway...yep, more road construction. I sat in place for another ten minutes and finally arrived at school at...just about my regular time. I did try though! I guess I'll just have to get up even earlier on Monday.

That's about it for my day! I'd better get going if I'm going to make it to the Nike Store before it closes.