Fall Break...finally here

Fall break starts tomorrow - what a relief.

I realized why everything has been dragging - tomorrow will be our first break. I didn't realize that 2 months of work with no break could be so taxing...

Anyway, last weekend was pretty sweet. Winter Park employee orientation on Saturday was awesome and pumped me up (again) for ski season. Apparently they're doing all sorts of neat stuff at Winter Park this year. They've opened up 11 new businesses on the mountain (restaurants, ski shops, etc) - right at the resort, built two huge new areas to hangout, and a freaking cabriolet!

Cabriolet - open-aired gondola

The head honchos decided that while the day skiers are great, the resort would make a lot more money if they catered to the destination skiers as well. So the resort is actually going to look a lot more like Steamboat and Vail. Also, they've also built a pretty gnarly pond that should be ready for ice skating by January. Seriously, why do I not live up there?

On that note, I'm once again looking for jobs up in the mountains. As much as I love my staff down here, I think I would be able to accomplish all my goals and feel more content in one of the resort towns. More updates on that to come....

After orientation, some friends and I went to go watch the soap box derby at Red Rocks but apparently it was too crowded and they stopped letting people in by the time we showed up. No problem though, we drove up to Evergreen (pretty deep in the foothills) and played Frisbee golf.

Later that night, Rae and I went to an 80's party (my favorite) til about 4am (hate my life). However, I met a lot of people and still had an awesome time.

I'm really excited for the old man to fly into town tomorrow. We're planning on heading up to the mountains on Friday for skiing at A-Basin or Loveland and probably relaxing on Saturday. Can't wait!!

On another note, I wanted to thank you all (family members especially) for their feel-good-emails/comments when I leave really depressing facebook posts. You guys are the best!

A Bright Future

DUDE

So here is what's happening starting next week.

1. October 28 - Fall break begins next Tuesday and the old man is coming out to visit with me until Sunday.
2. November 8 - Winter Park and Copper Mountain's opening day
3. November 10 - No school (aka ski vacation)
4. November 25 - Thanksgiving Break with possibility of a Eugene and Ryan Howard sighting... maybe even a Sam sighting???? (aka ski vacation)
5. December 18 - xmas break starts (aka long ski vacation)
6. December 18 (again because it is worth noting) - Al (roommate) is definitely coming out to shred the nar for a full week
7. December 22 - Road trip back home to Detroit for xmas with the family
8. January 1 - Deener and her lover are coming to rip the pow and the high possibility of Samantha moving to God's country (aka snowboard vacation + future even more exciting ski trips)

Is this anything less than Epic??? I think not :) :) :)

Transitioning

In general things have been really stressful. My last block class is extremely challenging, the administration doesn't seem to be giving us the support we need (to be put very lightly) and I have no time because of soccer.



So let's rewind quite a bit since I have not updated since....September??

France trip - My administration told me I could not do it because of "too much liability." Before my administration even looked at the document or asked me to explain anything they said "it's not going to happen because our students can't afford it." This is so frustrating because they're assuming that since the students won't be able to come up with the money and there's liability for traveling (which is obvious for traveling anywhere) that my students should not even be given this opportunity. Regardless of the fact that this program has absolutely nothing to do with West High School. The school is not sponsoring it or being held accountable for anything. It's solely the company i'm going through and myself. Our students miss out on so many opportunities because they're automatically stereotyped with the "bad apples." Actually nevermind, they don't miss out. They aren't given the opportunity at all.

Soccer - The guys really came a long way from the beginning but at the end it just came down to them not wanting to listen and doing their own thing on the field. Unfortunately this was much more severe with the Varsity game and they ended up missing the playoffs because they lost their last game. However, I did really enjoy watching the guys grow as athletes.

Transition - What I mean by transitioning is moving from the stressful chaotic beginning of this year to a more a relaxed and healthy mentality. As the Aspen trees all change to a vibrant gold and the leaves begin to fall, that crisp Winter air from the mountains keeps inching closer. When I ski or ride, everything else in life just doesn't matter. It's the most relaxed I can possibly be. Just knowing that some resorts are open along with the end of soccer season (aka 2.5 more free hours each day) and being more organized, I already feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

Sam - Well she's been plagued with another injury so she decided (on a whim) to come out and visit for a week to get away. It was definitely a great week for the both us. It was awesome hanging out with her for more than 2 consecutive days for the first time since.... May of 2007? With me moving all over the place, cross and track seasons, school and work, it's been quite difficult. Anyway, she managed to get in some stellar bike rides and pool workouts at altitude while I was at work and got to enjoy my infinitely pleasurable company afterwards. We even got the chance to drive up to Breckenridge (beautifully mountain city that I'm trying to get a teaching job in) and Copper Mountain to visit with Sam's old roommate (Carly aka Bonesaw). It even snowed while we were up there!!!

Sam left Wednesday of the following week and I flew back to Michigan that Friday and got to enjoy another weekend with her and my old roomies. Friday we went out to the bar, Saturday Sam and I went rock climbing, tailgating, then to my friend Tank's house; Sunday we drove back to Hartland to do birthdays with her family and finally to Chicago so I could make it back to work. All in all, pretty stellar.

Last week I was barely in the classroom since I had trainings to go to all week (which usually means my classroom is a disaster when I return). Needlessly to say, it was a pretty low key and stress free (work wise) week. To top it off, Bonesaw came down to Denver to visit on Saturday night, then we went snowboarding all day at Loveland!!! Ski season is finally here!!

I actually have a lot more exciting news to share about my Winter plans, so stay tuned for another update.

Stress

been really busy lately and incredibly stressed. However I do have some pretty cool updates. Don't worry, I should find some time to update this guy in the next couple of days.