Summer...blah

Summer...it comes every year.  For  kids it is the most wonderful thing in the world!  You get to sleep in, be lazy all day and see your friends.  Summer is the best.  For parents, it can be a time of bonding or irritation.  I'm not a kid and I don't have any kids so summer is not any of those things.  No, summer for me is a bit more.  Summer is.....ready?  BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Did I put enough emphasis on the boring part?)  Now, don't get me wrong...summer has it's fun bits too but for the most part, in my world anyway, summer is BORING!  My days consist of getting up early, working out, eating, playing with the dogs, playing the Lego video games and reading. In the last week I have read over 10 books and some of those were read on the same day.  Yep, I read and read and read and read and for some fun....sometimes I read some more.  deep sigh.  I'm tired of reading (I bet some of you out there never thought you'd hear me say that huh :)

Highlights of the summer so far-
1. Girls Camp
2. Pink hair
3. Tiny running away several times (not that this was a highlight but it added a bit of excitement to an otherwise lame day)
4. Going to the last 45 min of the circus
5. My dad moving in down the street
6. My parents getting a pool
7. Working in the ward garden

I'm sure there is some other things but I can't remember what they are...that's how exciting my life is...

this is my life now... in 20 simple sentences
(bad grammar and all)

1. I work in Coolidge
2. I have 215 students i see every day
3. I teach writing
4. I love my dog who is so stinkin smart
5. I have learned to ride a horse
6. I am taking piano lessons
7. I still own a house
8. I am a temple worker
9. I have a new roommate
10. I am still single
11. I still have hopes of getting married
12. I get to go to girls camp again this year
13. I REALLY want to go camping
14. Sometimes i stalk people on facebook
15. I still wonder what is going on in Jessica's life even though we haven't spoken in 7 years
16. I miss my friends from college...more than i can say
17. I am insanely jealous of all of my friends who are having their own families
18. I wish i knew more people
19. My parents are planning on moving down the road from me in 3 years
20. I like my life...for the most part :)

I know the my life will never be the same

River.
River is my dog.
River is a sweet beast.
He has huge feet, floppy ears and perhaps the most beautiful ice-blue eyes
He was free.
He eats a lot.
And doesn't fetch.
Or play tug of war.
But he likes food.
He doesn't like cows.
Unless I am with him. Then he doesn't mind them so much.
He likes being outside.
He also likes to get up early.
Like 5:45 am early.
Sleeping in is not often an option for me anymore.
He likes to run and chase me.
I like to chase him.
River has some good manners.
He can sit.
And lay down.
And take things from your hand nicely.
He will wait outside until you invite him in.
He likes to jump though.
I blame Lil Pup
When he eats fast he gets the hiccups.
He drinks A LOT of water
This means he has to pee A LOT
That gets annoying.
He is really soft.
River doesn't bite
Or go on the furniture
But he used to sleep under my bed.
Where he snored LOUDLY.
He is my monster.
I love River

I know I can't think of anything else I know.

Life for me so far has been interesting. I'm laying on my couch, listening to my ferret run around the house, playing on my computer. So much has been going on I find myself in a position of confusion. I actually don't know where to start and what to talk about. Let me think... Well...the school year is almost over and I have a pretty big decision to make. I have to decide if i want to teach middle school at MT. Vista next year or if i want to transfer to another school in the district. I have several concerns about both moves. I just can't seem to think about working without Gillis. She is the person that I trust the most and she's been helping me out for the last 3 years. I just don't really know what to decide. Work is going pretty well though. I guess I can't complain too much. The kids still keep me laughing. There is one girl who makes me laugh so hard all the time. Today, Gillis called my phone, the science teacher picked up, and told him that i was needed. We both put our ears up to the phone and this is what we heard. "So 'drab' is one of your vocab words. One definition means lacking in color, boring. The second definition is a noun. It means a slut or prostitute. The kids are wondering which definition you want them to use..." To which the science teacher replied "I like nouns". I laughed and then Gillis told me that all of the children are going around calling each other "drab". I laughed a whole lot. Since I know that everyone loves to hear my stories about work, here is a note that was confiscated. It was sent from a boy to a girl, a day into their relationship.
Hey whats up I know its kinda early in our relationship for me to be write a love note. But I love you and want to be with you forever. Your smell is intoxicating and makes me go to heavan. Your face and body are the most beautiful things that are on the earth. I wish it could be just me and you together forever and we could just have a nice piecefull life. But your friends could come and visit us tho. Being away from you is like having my ankles cut off and then having to run a 4 mile race.

I love the spelling errors. I have my work cut out for me. I love my house. I have completely settled in and i love everything about my house. I love how quiet it is and how i now can walk through it in the dark without running into any furniture. OK...that's a lie. I can walk through my house in the dark with out running into a lot of furniture. The only thing I'm having a hard time doing is decorating. It's not that I'm afraid to put holes in my walls, it's just that i don't know what to put on my walls. Any suggestions?

The last thing that I'm really struggling with is the fact that i REALLY want a dog. I really want Atticus (my future Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier) i can't afford to buy a pure bred dog. I was thinking about fostering dogs through the ASPCA and it sounds like an awesome adventure. I guess i just need to go to the meetings and find out some more information.

Let me know if you want anything else. I'm pretty sure i can come up with some more stuff if i only remembered what I've been doing.

*pictures of my house are soon to come. This time I promise!

I know that life is moving forward...

Well...June is almost done and lots has happened. Here's a brief update.
1. I have a beautiful 4 bedroom house that is mine
2. The house is painted all sorts of colors
3. I got new carpet too
4. I'm still undecided about the cat
5. I love my haricut
6. My parents are still coming out
7. I get to move on Sunday
8. I get to see my uncle shoot off fireworks for the 4th of July!
9. We found a good home for the hamsters.
10. I'm posting pictures of the house today!

I know that summer vacation is boring

I realize that I have agreed to be a teacher for the rest of my life and one of the things that goes with that territory is summer vacation.

I think that I loved summer vacation as a kid. I remember laying on my trampoline reading books, eating frozen apple juice, laying on my bed watching the curtains blow in the wind...I even remember the rule that my Dad tried to enforce that we were not allowed to go outside after dinner. I am pleased to say that we frequently ignored that rule. Summer was a time spent camping, roasting marshmallows and squishing fire flies on my fingernails. It was bliss...

Summer now is full of boredom. I realize that I am an adult and that I do have the ability to entertain myself all summer long but...it was a lot easier when all of my friends had summers off too. Now, I say good-bye to Lisa in the morning and I read or play on the internet all day until she comes home. Jay and Derek work as do all of my other grown up friends. It's rough being by myself all the time. I still read but I think it's the waiting that is the most irritating.

You see, my friends (or those of you who actually read my blog), I had my summer planned out to perfection...for the purpose of avoiding this time of waiting and boredom. Here was my ideal plan.

School got out on May 22. May 23 I was to leave for Disney and San Diego and come back four or five days later. Then, on June 9th, I was to fly to PA to hang with my sister until July 3rd. Sometime after July 10th my Mom would come and visit and we would go to New Mexico to see her family. She would leave and I would report back to work on July 28th. That would leave me some free time but there would not be a lot of days where I would be bored.

Then I got a phone call...from Tony (my realtor). He told me that I got the house that I had bid on and that we would close on the house on June 18th...RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF MY TRIP TO PA!!!!!!!!!!!

Which means that all of my plans have changed and I am stuck waiting until I close on my house.

I went to Disney as planned and had a blast, came home and changed my plane ticket. Now I fly to PA on June 30th and the rest of the summer stays the same except I now have 2 consecutive weeks of nothing to do. AND I"M BORED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But on the up-side...
1. I have a beautiful 4 bedroom house that will soon be mine
2. I get to paint this house whatever colors I want
3. I get to move out of my apt
4. When I move, I might be taking a cat with me
5. I get a free haircut today
6. I still get to see my mom this summer
7. My dad is coming out this summer too!
8. I get to see my uncle shoot off fireworks for the 4th of July!
9. We might have found a good home for our hamsters
10. I get a much better drive to work next year!

I know, I know....

I'm thankful for...
1. My mom and the ability that she has to make me feel ridiculous when i rant and rave about things
2. My glasses...who knew glasses could stop the "burning eyes"?
3. Brendan and the thousands of ways he makes me giggle every time I talk to him
4. Books...I wouldn't survive without the printed word that allows me to escape people!
5. Gillis who always has a story to trump mine any day of the week
6. Wikipedia without which I still wouldn't know what the Parvo Virus was
7. dreams...everyone needs a dream and some of mine are awesome!