Closing Time

Well I've been extremely busy this past week trying to move classrooms and close everything out for the year. So we'll start with Labor Day weekend and work from there.

The new Indiana Jones movie was actually quite good but not as awesome as the sushi I had afterwards. I wish I was rich and could afford to eat it all the time. The restaurant was called Wasabi's. It was very contemporary and had delicious food.

Saturday and Sunday I went over to Jonny's, grilled all day and went out to the bars at night. BBQing is probably in my top 5 for summer activities. Towards the end of Sunday the clouds rolled in from the mountains and gave Denver some cooler rainy weather for the next few days. A little gloomy, but a nice change from the dry heat we've been having lately.

Tuesday I watched the Bourne Ultimatum which is a such a bad ass movie. It inspires me to become an assassin...minus the whole killing people part.

Wednesday I almost forgot that I scheduled my first dentist appointment in about 3 years. Needless to say, I was pretty scared about what he/she was going to say. I noticed that one of my bottom teeth is a little discolored and though for sure it was a cavity. However, while the assistant was checking me out, she said it was just a wear (probably from grinding) and that I had amazingly clean teeth....woo hoo!! Wait hold the phone though, Doc comes in and tells me the same things but a minor cavity where I had previously had a filling. I HATE getting fillings. It's probably the most uncomfortable span of time ever....grinding and drilling and poking...yuck.
After the mining operation in my mouth, I jetted over to the soccer fields and played some ultimate frisbee.

Yesterday was the end of the year teacher party so all of us went over to a place called Armida's and sang karaoke. Now I was quite intimidated since majority of the teachers I work with can all sing...very well!!! But with a little liquid confidence, I went up on stage and rocked Outkast (of course only about 5 of us actually knew the song).

Later that evening I met up with DTR and did an amazing run in Golden (South Table Mesa I think it was called). The first mile took us almost 12 minutes since the climb was so intense. I'm guessing we topped it off at about 7000+ feet. There was a killer turnout to the run today. Probably over 50 people and even more for the party afterwards! So I got some grub and had a few brewskies with the runners and called it a night.

So now we come to today. So many teachers freaking wait til the last day to move and it pisses me off. Everyone automatically assumes that I'm going to help them move everything since I'm so young. Thursday I moved about 7 file cabinets which (no kidding) weigh about 500 lbs a piece with all the crap these teachers throw in them. Today wasn't much different, I broke down and stored 3 book cases with about 1000 books on them for the foreign language department, moved another file cabinet and helped move enough desks and chairs for two other teachers' classrooms. So I guess I learned my lesson, if you get all of your stuff done early, you will be expected to help everyone else out as well.

Okay, so normally this wouldn't be TOO big of a deal, except I need to move everything out of my house by tomorrow, put it in storage and pack up everything I'll need for back in Michigan. Well I'm thinking I need to get some food and prep for the Pistons now. I'm pretty much set to move out and can't wait to see Deener in 6 days!!!

I'm guessing I won't have access to a computer or make too many posts in the next couple of week since my pc will be stowed, I'll be traveling around Colorado, back to Michigan, and then to Florida :)

See you all soon!

School's out for the Summer!

So I've survived my first year as a high school teacher. Next on the agenda is..... a 10 mile run, cooking a delicious stir-fry, and going to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I have very high expectations; if it's half as good as the trilogy, it should be an awesome movie.

I've been playing around with the computer coding for the "blog template" so please excuse some of the random color changes and other things happening. I never thought that that computer programming class I took in college would be so helpful :)

Have a great holiday everyone!!! And start leaving me some messages (at the bottom of my posts) so I know you guys are at least reading them.

Lions and Tiger and Bears

so apparently there were like 8 twisters in Colorado today...since I received about 8 phone calls from people back in Michigan asking if I was dead.

This made me realize a couple of things; first of all I appreciate that you all care about me, and second of all I'm obviously the only person you all know that live in Colorado :)

So I had a ridiculously good run today and Green Mountain Open Space and a good day at school as well. Tomorrow is the last day of the semester than it's my first summer vacation as a teacher! woo hoo!!! Things are awesome out here, i'm loving the sunny weather (minus the tornadoes), the Pistons took game 2 in Boston tonight, and summer vacation is a stone's throw away.

DEEEEEEEETROOOIT BAAAAASKETBAAAALLLL!!!!!!!!!

Feeling a little more grown-up

Yesterday was graduation at West, so I left school during my last planning period to get a nice 8-9 miler in the 90 degree and met up at the bar with the teachers for the pre-party. After a couple cherry bombs, I dropped Faith off at the Rockie's game then met up at school to walk to graduation.

So here's the part where I feel grown-up, I get a gown with one of those hoods on the back to show that I have a college degree, pretty exciting huh? So they play the ceremonial song and we get to chill in the back of the stage while all the students and parents cry. I only had one senior graduating so it wasn't as sentimental of a moment as for the other teachers. However, it did bring back a flood of high school memories.

Well just two more days of school left...unfortunately they will be incredibly boring since all the students are just taking exams. I'll have to bring a good book or something.

Quote from my only graduating senior:

"That's not rude, that's baale-RUD" in a Minnesota accent (he thinks I talk like the guys from Fargo)

Crunch Time

So I know it's been a while since I've updated, so this could be a long one...

Well it's the end of the semester so things at school have been EXTREMELY busy. Friday is the last day of school so I had to grade about 100 tests, notebooks and assignments over the weekend. That also doesn't include all the students who just realized that they're failing my class and scrambling to turn in anything they can to bring their grades up. Finally seeing this phenomenon from the teacher's point of view is quite interesting. Memories from high school and college flood my mind every time a student asks me what they can do to gain those extra few points.

High School:

Biology "94.9% was rounded down to an A-, while having the head track coach as my teacher"

U.S. History "117% first quarter, 87% second quarter - somehow averages to be an A-"

College:

Calculus: "69.9% rounds down to a D+"

Abstract Algebra: "due to the bell curve, grades from 62%-79% are considered a C...I had a 79%, which was the 5th highest grade in the class"

I just don't have it in me to not let students do something extra to bring their grades up, even if they never show up to class or have blown off the entire semester. Thus I have been completely slammed with everything I do.

On a fun note, last Friday a bunch of the faculty got together and we all went to the Rockies-Twins game. So typical me, I got to the bar to meet up with everyone about 2 hours before the game and had a few drinks with the staff, then realized that I had left mine and Faith's tickets in the glove compartment of my car, back at my house....great! So we went to the game and talked to the head ticket office person and they said the only way we could get the tickets reprinted was if we knew the seat numbers. So I called up the roomie to check the tickets, and of course I locked the glove compartment and happened to lose the spare key to it 2 days prior. Awesome!

Well we decided that we would buy 2 more tickets for "Rock Pile" (nosebleed out in right field) for 4 bucks a piece and just sneak in. So as we're standing in line a bunch of the promoters walk around and announce that the "Rock Pile is sold out." Well...so much for the Rockies game. Not more than a minute after, Ryan calls me and says that Scott somehow talked the head honcho into reprinting the tickets and we were on our way :)

So the game was a blast even though the Rockies lost to the Twins (should make Carp happy), but the after party was even more fun. We went out to one of the dance clubs after and don't worry, I've got pictures!

The rest of the weekend was pretty low key; just graded papers all day Saturday. Sunday I went over to my buddy Johnny's with Kate (ski school) to BBQ and swim in his pool. It was about 86 degrees yesterday and I got my first Colorado sunburn!

And last, here's some pictures from my classroom:

SWEET NEWS

I'm going to be the JV soccer coach next year!!!

What an amazing day..

Words cannot describe how awesome this place I went running was, so I'll have to explain with pictures. (Thursday)



So I met with DTR and went to a place called Lair of the Bear. Most amazing run ever, this so far is my most epic workout so far. It starts out on that little trail, turns into a one track along a river then cuts through a canyon and up one of the foothills. I had a killler workout as well. The guy who was leading the group was an exceptional uphill runner but terrible on the downhill. After he threw the brakes on 4 or 5 times going down, my competitive edge set in and I took off. This was definitely the hardest I pushed myself in a long time. After we got about 5 miles out, I stopped to tie my shoe and waited up for him. I gave him some advice on running downhill and finished up the run.

Afterwards the group ~20 people went to Red Rocks Grill in Morrison. I ended up sitting with a guy from Morocco (I think) named Naz, his friend and a girl named Faith. Faith and I really hit it off and she said that she played on an Ultimate Frisbee team on Wednesdays!! I really hope that works out, I haven't play frisbee in so long!

Friday was a typical day at school, just giving tests and happy hour with the teachers. It was Brad's (student teacher) last day, so we all went out to a little bar called Caps and had few drinks. That night I met up with Faith and went out to a place called Steuben's. They had awesome food and crazy drinks. We decided to split this thing called a "Scorpion." So this huge freakin bowl with a flame in the middle comes out (which always means 151) and immediately I knew what we were getting ourselves into. So after dinner we decided it would be in our best interests to walk to Delaney's (a bar a couple of blocks away) instead of driving.

Delaney's was a blast. I hadn't been to a bar with so many younger people in a long time. There was a live band playing and tons of students and fresh graduates. We hung out there for a while then walked to meet up with some of her friends at another bar. When we left, it was like the Great Flood. It was raining so hard - the first time I've seen that since I moved out here. I love a good thunderstorm though.

So Saturday I was not feeling too hot since I can't sleep in pass 7:00 am anymore. But I had to checkout two apartments that I was thinking about for next year. Both of them were really big and decently priced, but the second is a little larger, has a bar in between the living room and kitchen, a balcony and a flippin fireplace!!! Not to mention High Line trail is directly behind it, there's a large pool, bball court, tennis court and a sand volleyball court. SOLD!! I spent the rest of the day going in and out of sleep and watching Indiana Jones.

So that brings us to today. I woke up early and headed over to High Line and had an excellent 13 mile run with Ashley, then put my deposit down for my new pad :)

Last but not least, I'm going to Florida June 10 with Eug and celebrating Joey's (Jake's cousin) graduation. And......Deener bought her plane ticket and is flying into Denver June 5!!!!!! I can't wait :)

Donuts and Black Tea

are a bad idea for me....

Yes it is 3:00am and I am updating my blog. I had waaaay too much sugar and caffeine today, so now I can't sleep.

Today was national teacher day so we had a coffee place come in and give us free coffee, tea and donuts. I knew it was not in my best interest...but seriously, I haven't had a donut or tea for god knows how long. So I ended up having 3 donuts and a black tea latte - what an idiot.

After school I went straight to Red Rocks to do my usual hill run, only to find that I left my shoes at home. So that added an extra 45 minutes of driving to my day. The worst part was that it completely messed up my run because I planned my lunch according to my run being an hour earlier. So about 30 minutes into the run I got the worst hunger cramps ever. It felt like a knife was being shoved up underneath my ribs. However, I didn't end up stopping and still had a fairly decent workout (90 minutes).

Since my day had been pushed back a little over an hour, I had to eat a bunch of Odwalla bars and go straight to the pool for my next workout. Came home ate a quick meal and now I have basically been laying in bed for the past 6 hours. So it looks like I'm going to need some more caffeine tomorrow to stay awake. Well back to try and get some sleep again.

West Cup Update

Yesterday I did another amazing long run with Ashley. We went down a trail called High Line which is just like Paint Creek Trail back home except a little hillier, better scenery and no bugs. We did about 12 miles and she is definitely really fast. She could most likely kick my ass in a race. Afterwards I went to the Village Inn (greatest breakfast food ever) and walked over to the Runner's Roost to get hooked up with a new pair of shoes! I then spent the rest of the day pretty much in coma in front of the tv.

So today the West Cup Fundraiser continued and my team is playing in the semi-finals tomorrow. I LOVE SOCCER. What an amazing sport. Tomorrow is the first time we play a more challenging team, so it should be a good match.

Hell No We Won't Go!

or something like that...

So Thursday I was at my first (probably of many) teacher protests. Denver Public is talking about cutting benefits and time off for the third straight year so I decided to support my fellow staff and go picket outside the administration building. I think the protest definitely had potential of being pretty sweet. They had a dj and music blasting while we walked circles around the building. All they needed was a bbq and a keg to make it a pretty sweet party. I'll be better prepared next rally.

So I met up with the Denver Trail Runners group at Red Rocks to make some friends and get some running buddies. It was definitely a good experience. We ended up doing a little over 9 miles and I forgot how much better/easier it is to run with large groups. Afterwards we were going to all head out to dinner, but Barb had lost her keys somewhere on the run so I offerred to drive her back to Denver and call it a night. The ability levels in this group have quite a far range. For example, Barb has done to FULL Ironman Triathlons, a 50 mile ultra marathon, the Lake Tahoe marathon series (3 marathons in 3 days), Pike's Peak climb half marathon( 7000ft!!) and some other crazy event. There's also a lady that wasn't there today that runs sub 16:00 5ks and is trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials tomorrow and people who are just out there for a good time.

Friday we had a professional development day to learn how to teach with the new books we're getting next year - long and boring. Afterwards I did a 6 mile runner and had a killer pool workout. 1 mile in 32:30 :) I then met up with Rae, Jesus and some other friends at the Park Tavern and played some hockey for the rest of the evening. Supposedly today there's supposed to be a huge bbq in Cherry Creek (south end of Denver) so I need to go get my run and swim done for the day.

WTF Colorado

So it is snowing right now...and it was 85 yesterday

THE END