wedding, honeymoon, back to normal

Well, not too much is new, aside from getting married and all. Wedding pics can be found here and a bunch of other places, so definitely IM me for the full load. Special thanks to Wendy, Stephy, and Mandy for taking the pics, and Kevin’s mother for Photoshopping them! Here’s a quick pic of our first dance:

A wedding leaves one exhausted and yet so grateful — I felt incredibly lucky to have many of my closest friends and relatives there on the big day, willing to help out with all those details to make things happen. There were also so many people who were there in spirit, and I’m so grateful to them, too.

The honeymoon (backpacking in the Alps) was also really fun. I had never been overseas and really enjoyed the French culture in particular. It was awesome to meet up with Caitlin and Jeremy in London, and to take in all the natural beauty and interesting sites. We hiked half of the Tour du Mont Blanc. I’m not done Photoshopping pictures, but here’s a quick shot of the Alps. It felt like we were in LOTR most the time:

I might make a few separate posts about Europe later. More to come on that!

Finally, we bought a couch today. Here’s a badly lit pic!

summertime

I approve of several things this month. The end of the schoolyear and beginning of summer. Hillary Clinton suspending her candidacy and endorsing Obama. The new Wordpress interface. The fact that I’m on a regular workout routine again. (The last one being due to pre-wedding jitters and an eagerness to be ready for the Tour du Mt Blanc — it’s a win-win situation.)

Not too much is new aside from all that. I’ve been taking up lots of summer reading and running lots of wedding-related errands. Thank you to everyone who has RSVP’d thus far, by the by. Now all that’s left, it seems, is doing a bunch of Sun Dances to the sun gods.

happy audit season

So I walk in to my classroom today, and on my desk is a missing computer mouse with a note from my students:

“You’re $15 short. We took your mouse instead. –The IRS”

Nice.

Spring updates

Spring is here! Weee! It’s so warm out, after all that winter! Kevin and I planted a garden outside. We let Emmy join us while we worked, so she explored the great outdoors that is our balcony. I had to run downstairs, so I waved at Emmy from the ground. She looked so perplexed that I was downstairs! “How did you get down there?” she seemed to be asking. Anyway, our garden is just…soil and a raspberry twig. But hopefully by summer we will have all kinds of flowers, and raspberries, and parsley!

Congratulations to Lise, who is engaged! Yay! Emily says too many of her friends are engaged…but I don’t know, I still know plenty of single people.

So you know how last year, Stephy randomly wrote “wedding!” at the end of one of her xanga posts? I get it now. You can’t really tell people that that’s you life because it seems kind of lame. But … wedding planning is a lot of work, and while the daily routine is still there, the wedding is just constantly running through your head as you work out all those details. I look forward to seeing everyone this summer, in any event.

Wedding!

talk about windy conditions!

mathcounts update

My euphoria that the Countryside School MathCounts team, which I coach, won the regionals competition and is going to state on March 8 has not quite worn off. The kids, parents, head — everyone just seems so excited for us, it’s hard to not be reminded of our recent victory! That said, we’ve been working hard preparing for state, meeting after school and practicing on the art of problem-solving every minute, so I feel there are pros and cons to winning. The main thing I want is for the kids to be happy and excited about math, which I’m pretty sure they are doing, so that’s a good thing.

snow day

Yesterday was a snow day! Yes! So now we have had three three day weekends in a row (MLK, conferences, snow day). I feel disgustingly spoiled, and I now know that the next full week is going to be brutal. But, can’t argue with a free day off! Anyway, we got 9 inches last Thursday night, meaning plenty of snow play the next day. My car looks rather buried at the moment.

The Democratic debates were amazing. Our man Obama did a fabulous job while Clinton waffled through a few answers, which should boost his polls quite a bit. I am rather disgusted with CNN. They asked a question about a Clinton-Obama campaign, and the two responded very professionally by saying it would be presumptuous to predict anything. The next day they aired a 15 minute segment on the possibility of a Clinton-Obama campaign! Uggh. I can’t wait to see what Jon Stewart has to say about that.

lazy update from the lazy updater

Leeann commented awhile back how nobody seems to update their xanga and blogs anymore, and I think this is true. Perhaps it is because we are no longer procrastinating college homework. Perhaps it is because we have less free time with life getting in the way. Or perhaps we have all grown up. Sometimes when I feel nostalgic I update windyconditions. Tonight I feel nostalgic and a little pensive.

Conferences are this week at school. I like conferences, for what it’s worth, although as an introverted person, I can only take so many in a day before I want down time. I think it’s been just right this time — no more than 5 in a day. After 5, it gets to be too much.

Today it was -2 F! I’ve never felt so cold, and this is probably the first time it felt really cold, speaking as a Zonie. I have found that I can actually take nice long walks outside, even when it’s 30 degrees out, which is more or less the average in winter. And one can always cuddle with an affectionate kitten or fiance when it gets below zero, I suppose.

new year’s eve

Go through your journal and find the first sentence of the first entry for each month of the past year.

January-
Happy New Year, everyone!

February-
I would like to share a Podcast I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the past few weeks.

March-
No blogs posts. Too much decision-making!

April-
I am just about a month short of moving to Champaign.

May-
Tucson resident General Ulysses S. Grant St. Clair passed away yesterday afternoon at the age of 13.

June-
None for June, due to road-tripping. Damn, we were gone for six weeks! I updated my Where I’ve Been map on Facebook, fyi.

July-
Kevin’s dad [holding up six bottles of Caesar salad dressing]: Dear, when you go to the store, could you get some more Caesar salad dressing? I think we’re running low.

August-
You know what’s weird about being in Illinois, aside from all the green?

September-
I think fall is creeping around the corner.

October-
Happy Halloween!

November-
So, we left Emmy home alone over Thanksgiving break for three days and three nights.

December-
We’re at the countdown for Christmas!

please update now

We’re at the countdown for Christmas! I love this time of the year. I’m flying in to Tucson, but I don’t fly in until Christmas day. Boo! But then I’ll be in Tucson. Yay!

It was 5 degrees with windchill today, and there was a hard freeze this weekend. It made for really icy/dangerous conditions on the road on Saturday, but Kevin and I drove in it anyway. My car was completely covered in ice — everything, the windows, roof, key slot, had a sheet of ice all over it and we had to scrape it off before driving out. And I’m dressed extra warm for the winter; I have a wonderful winter coat that keeps me toasty warm when I go outside. I want more warm sweaters for indoors though — Christmas, anyone? The only problem is, I want cashmere since I don’t like itchy sweaters but need more warm sweaters in my wardrobe. Any suggestions on non-itchy, soft warm material aside from cashmere?

My brother is taking a job offer in Chicago starting in January. So, I have a close relative staying in Illinois. It’s so nice to know that I have a sibling nearby if I need it; somewhere to chill on weekends and a link to the past somewhere outside the West and relatively nearby. My parents want to take this as an excuse to visit Chicago in the summers, to get away from the Tucson heat more. Well, I guess that’s okay by me!

Not too much is new. My students got their first set of report cards for the school year today. I saw a lot of relief on their faces; the message seemed to be that the new math teacher’s class is doable. I’m so glad.