Five Moose in One Day!

Hello from vacation. Yesterday was a wonderful day. (and not just because "The Office" was on!) I was able to go hiking up in the Alpine Loop and it was gorgeous. Kristi and I started our adventure at about 10:30 in the morning. First we got some lunch to take with us and headed for the Alpine Loop. Kristi thought I needed to stop at Cabella's because I had not yet visited the one in Utah before. Well, it was just like the Cabella's I went to in Nebraska. I think they are all pretty much the exact same. Anyway, we thought we were going to be able to see the fish being fed in the gynormous tanks but feeding time was not at noon like we thought. But it was fun to look at all the weird fish in the tanks anyway. We then headed up into the mountains and it was so pretty. This time of year is definitely my favorite. Man, the leaves are so pretty up there. Especially, with the backdrops of the mountains. We ate lunch and then headed up the trail to Silver Lake. Along the path we were stopped twice by hikers and told about an amazing moose family that were near the trail just before the lake. Kristi and I were so excited to see the moose but we did not see them before getting to the lake. It was pretty funny because the three and a half hour hike was all about getting to Silver Lake and we were feeling disappointed when we got there because we did not see the moose. So, we spent about a half hour at the lake walking around trying to see where we could have missed the moose. We eventually gave up, but were pleasantly surprised when we saw the said moose right next to the trail on our way out. It was so spectacular to see these giant animals. At first, I was really scared of them because they are huge and there was a little baby one with the group. They really didn't care we were around but we did have to detour through the wilderness a bit so we didn't get too close to them. It was a great day.

And, of course, later that night I was able to have some friends over to enjoy "The Office" and that was wonderful too. Especially with leftover Hawaiian food and chocolate frozen yogurt!

Today, I head up to Idaho Falls for some fun with some of my former roommates from Logan. It will be good times. The best thing about the trip is that when I come back on Sunday, I will still have one more day off (well, besides hanging out with some fun people, that is)! Yipee!

Don't worry friends, you can rub it in when you have some vacation. Know I will be very jealous when you go to London, to Hawaii, or to any other far away place! :)

Practially Thursday!

Hi all. Today is technically Thursday for me. This is because we do not have school on Thursday or Friday, so tomorrow is the last day of work for the week, so it is like Friday. (Do NOT try to explain this concept to any of my students, they may just look at you blankly and say: "But it is only Tuesday!")

Today was a fun day at school. It is very entertaining to watch my PE classes play Lacrosse. It is almost like giving them weapons and a few rules and then letting them hack at each other. I think overall I have filled out three accident reports so far. Does this mean I should not teach Lacrosse? I do not think so. Seriously, we are shooting for diversity for these students and what better than a sport that was invented by Native Americans as a ritual to heal the sick. Very diverse sport, if you ask me. My favorite thing about this sport is that it humbles even the most athletic students. They try to shoot the ball in the goal and it hits the ceiling. Very entertaining!

Health was also enjoyable at school today because we were reviewing for the test they have tomorrow and they decided that the review game we would play would be boys vs. girls. We have played the game many times and they never get excited about it. But make it all about the battle of the sexes and watch out...they are all over it! It made me happy inside to see the boys so competitive during an academic competition.

Well, I am excited for my five day weekend. Sorry to you suckers who have to work a full week. I hope you will survive! later, A

Fun with Aliens!

Well, Happy Monday. We are just pretending that it is Wednesday, seeing that we only have three days of school this week due to Fall Break! I like Fall Break!

I hung out with the Bills over the weekend. I was completely grossed out by their dog, Clancy, as I always am! With his drool shaking and spit bubble making, I was ready to gag at times. Actually, when I look at one of those pictures of the spit bubble I actually do gag. I thought you all should share in that wonderful opportunity. Actually, Josh thought you all should enjoy that opportunity.

Josh is a hilarious boy. Teen age boys are totally a different experience. I forgot how they love to bicker with you and tell you that you are wrong and that they love to be completely gross. Good thing they grow out of that stage or humankind would truly be doomed. He was very funny with his new plastic alien that he won at the Nicklecade. Every time I would leave my seat, he would put it where I was sitting so I would be surprised when I came back. He also did this as I was planning to go to sleep on the couch Saturday. The alien took over my bed. It was also very funny when he dressed up said alien and put him outside of Kelsey's door for the night. I guess it really freaked Caleb out when he came home, so he moved it before Kelsey woke up and she didn't get the full surprise. It kinda looked like ET. I loved it!

I worked a bit on my scrapbooking this weekend during Conference. I could not focus to save my soul. Good thing that I taped the talks so I can review them later.

My 8th Hour was hilarious. So hilarious in fact, that I told them the experience today in class was blogworthy(they wanted the address but they will never, ever get it. That would mean I could not be honest on here!). I gave them an assignment to do that should have taken us about 25 mins to accomplish and it ended up taking them almost double that time. I would try to help them only to be interrupted 20 times with : "What was the answer to number two?" It was very, very funny to me. I was laughing really hard, when I was remembered that my principal will come and observe that class two weeks from today. It didn't seem as funny then!

Well, I am off to have some dinner and to watch TV until my eyes bulge out! Ciao!

Friday.

I am tired. I really don't have much to say, so excuse the shortness. There are no creative juices.

The funniest thing that happened today was when one of my favorite students, during dodgeball, said: "Ouch, my head! Ouch my butt!" We teased her endlessly about whether she was just chaging the name of her head to butt or if she actually was a butt head! So very funny.

I felt like I accomplished a big feat today. I handed back like a bagillion assignemnts back to my Health kids. Good times. I am such a grading slacker.

Comment...comment a lot. Please. We here at softballalice.blogspot.com cannot continue without your ongoing support!

Later,
A

The Glass IS Half Full!

Hi guys. Welcome to the blog. Glad you decided to come in and have yourself a read. I am glad that I decided to come on in and have myself a write. Today was a very good day. I like good days. Some of my favorite things today were: 1. One of my students, T-Roy, who was failing up until today. He turned in three journals during class. This may not seem like a big deal, but you don't know T-Roy. He has absolutely no motivation and usually would rather get under your skin than do anything remotely like work. So, I was proud of him today. He also was having a hard time with one of the assignments today in class and I was already totally angry at the whole class because they were acting like I wasn't even there so I really didn't want to have to spoon feed him through the whole assignment. The cool thing was that I looked at one of my stellar students and said: "Hey, would you mind helping T-Roy with the assignment, he really could use it." She said "Yes!" and immediately invited T-Roy to move his desk next to hers. Wow, did that make my life easier because I know I would have been totally annoyed if I had to coach him. Way to go T-Roy! And way to go Stellar Student! 2. Tail Winds. Riding up into the canyon was fabulous today. Usually, it is fabulous but I had a buddy pushing me uphill. I like to call this friend, wind! I cut almost 7 minutes off my time thanks to the help. 3. Lacrosse- This sport is a wonderful sport. When my PE students play it, it is even more entertaining than ever. It reminds me of a bunch of kids playing a game of youth soccer. Wherever the ball is, a swarm of students are there trying to get it. So funny. I love to see them challenged by a sport that most of them have never played. It really makes me happy to see the over-confident students humbled by the experience. 4. Having what I need. Even though I only have 40 dollars until payday, it is so comforting to know that I have a house to live in, food to eat, and a car to drive. I am so very blessed in my life and each day is a new adventure. 4. Friends who love me for who I am. Man, I really can be a roller coaster to deal with. I do not know why I have been like this lately but I always have been a sensativepants. I really can be emotional at times and totally read the wrong things about people. One such friend was called selfish the other day. I felt horrible and apologized twice. The funniest thing about it is that what the friend was doing that made me think they were selfish is something they always do. But because my chemicals were out of whack, I totally was overly sensitive about it. It was very funny though, because this friend is awesome because of their ability to just not take things personally and not get offended. I like that most of my friends are just laid back and easy going. I like to think of myself as laid back...but about every 28 days, I am not! So, I apologize for my sensitivity and emotions of late. I hope all can forgive me!

I really wish I could tell you all the most hilarious story of the week, but I must save it until I am out of the radar. In other words, there must be time for the person who created all of the hilariousness to forget what my blog address is. If you are curious, please email me: softballrita@gmail.com I will be glad to tell you all about it. It makes me chuckle oh so much and really has gotten my spirits up. I find myself laughing aloud a lot and I really hope people don't see me and think I am completely crazy because I am just standing there chuckling.

Well, I think that is all I have today. Remember to count your blessings and realize how good you have it. No matter what your circumstances, there is always somebody who is worse off then you!