Ups and Downs

November has been a month of ups and downs.

Up -- Willie survived the first term of high school and four months of football!
Up -- A quick trip to Washington, DC for some leadership training
Up -- Happy Birthday, Karl
Down -- Uncle Blaine passed away the night I returned home from DC
Up -- We saw family and friends we had not connected with for many years due to Uncle Blaine's passing
Down -- Mom's health diminished -- any stress puts her over the edge and losing her brother was very difficult for her
Up -- Willie made the high school basketball team!
Up -- Willie was a main speaker in church -- excellent talk!
Up -- I had lunch with a good friend!
Down -- My good friend is battling pancreatic cancer.
Up -- This friend who has cancer looks really good in her wig!
Up -- Attended an excellent meeting at UVU on Women and Education
Down -- The meeting focused on how our young women in Utah are delaying or choosing not to pursue higher education
Down -- Attending the Bye, Bye, Birdie production at the high school
Up -- Tending Molly while Haley attended a math conference
Up -- Sunday dinner at Annie's
Up -- Watching the "double tts" while Annie attended a staff meeting
Up -- Attending the Joesph production at another high school
Down -- Not attending the Nutcracker (niece and nephew performed) because of a crazy snow storm and icy roads
Up -- Short work/school week -- Thanksgiving Holiday
Down -- A colleague's wife passed away -- brain tumor
Up -- Utah's basketball team looks good and is playing pretty well
Up -- Karl had a job interview with a medical device company (keep your fingers crossed)
Up -- Family for Thanksgiving dinner at my house -- it was very nice to have the Petersens together
Down -- Preparing for Thanksgiving dinner at my house was exhausting -- but a good exhaustion
Up -- Sleeping in the day after Thanksgiving
Down -- Willie has more homework than any teenager should have -- reading, note taking, memorizing a 50 line poem, math assignments and preparing for math tests, French projects, physics problems, and driving (all this month)
Up -- Willie gets very good grades!

Up -- Willie is a very good driver!
Up -- Utah actually beat BYU in football today
Down -- It was the "ugly Betty special" (to quote Joe Cravens) -- a terribly played game
Up -- It's Saturday night and I have time to do some blogging
Down -- Only one more day and then back to work!
Up -- Christmas is less than 30 days away!
Up -- Life is good!

Arrggg!!!

I have intended to be a good blog poster for NABLOPOMO, but good intentions in my mind don't necessarily transfer to posting. As I have mentioned before, I feel like my life is a fast forward button pushed down and never released. (I think that is a simile with personification.) Well, it's been on super fast this week!

I am gearing up for the first ever Thanksgiving dinner at my house. Karl's family is coming and we are all very excited! Not to say I haven't prepared Thanksgiving dinner before. Every other year we go to my parents' home for the big day and for the past years, my girls and I have spent the entire day preparing the dinner. But this year, it's just different because it's here!

I am excited for Christmas. I have great gifts in mind for my kids (sons-in-law included) and grandkids. I am excited to decorate my house and all that stuff. And, I love the sugar cookies, fruit cake, fudge, and other treats I don't usually have around during the year.

Friday is my favorite day of the week and guess what -- that's today. I go into Friday always relaxed knowing that I will have two days away from the pressures of the working world. I love my work, but I love days off with my family even more!

Mr. Lincoln Exudes Inspiration

I am in Washington, DC, for a couple of days with my assistant superintendent attending a meeting hosted by the College Board.

I love this city! The drive from Reagan National Airport into the city on Monday evening was compelling! The taxi entered the city from Arlington Bridge which connects Arlington Cemetery to Lincoln Memorial. Washington Monument was in full view as was the Capitol. We headed NE to DuPont Circle to the DuPont Hotel (accommodations and meeting site). The Kennedy Center and the Watergate Hotel were well lit in the evening cityscape.

The meeting today was excellent! It was all about making a more intentional commitment [school districts] to improve college and career readiness strategies and instruction for students. After the meeting ended, the 20 or so counselor leaders and superintendents of some of the largest school districts in the country were treated to dinner.

I have been to enough out of town meetings to know that hanging out in a hotel room after a day of meetings is not all that fun, so after dinner at a restaurant on Connecticut Ave., another attendee and I headed on a brisk walk to experience the monuments at night. We headed south on Connecticut Ave., past the Coccoron Museum and the Red Cross headquarters to the WWII Memorial, then we walked along Lincoln's reflecting pool to see Mr. Lincoln himself. We headed back to the hotel via the GWU campus. It was a great night -- I wish you all could have been with me! I love this city and all that it is about --the politics, the history, the museums, the people, the buzz and commotion and more. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities I have! Never did I imagine that I would ever have so many amazing opportunities come my way. And have a family that supports me in every way possible.

Happy Birthday, Karl!

Another year -- more candles to blow out on the birthday cake! You are the best around -- pretty good husband, dad, grandpa, and basically my best friend, ever! Hope you've had a great day!

NABLOPOMO Redemption

I am going to try and redeem my NABLOPOMO postings and make a strong attempt to get something down for each day the remainder of the month.

Willie is a good writer. He had an essay assignment to finish tonight on The House of Mango Street. He had to write about some of the figurative language elements and style characteristics of one of the vignettes in the book. He did a nice job -- it's kind of fun helping with English homework. As an English minor person, I like literature and the analysis, but I must admit I am much better at it all now than 30 plus years ago. I hope the students I taught learned something.

I taught French, English, and reading many years ago at Eastmont Middle School in the then Jordan School District. It was fun! I loved being a teacher, I taught some great kids. We had fun in class and I hope the students learned something along the way. I remember I always assigned a lot of homework (sorry former students). I now know that homework is tough even with parents who kind of know what's going on. However, I do like essays to be completed at home that way students can take their time and do their best.

November 2, 2010

Just when you think you are making progress, you are not. I thought on Monday night -- nablopomo 2010, no problem. Posted my first posting of the month and Tuesday came and went, so that means 2 postings today.

It's a black-out game of the week for Utah football vs. TCU, Saturday, November 6. Willie and I went up to the "bookstore" after school/work to see about getting some new black stuff to wear o the game. It was a hoppin' with people getting stuff and it was Touchdown Tuesday -- everything 20% off!

NABLOPOMO

Yes, it's that time of year -- a blog posting every day of the month -- I hope I can remember to do the posting!

Football is over!!!!! After June, July, August, September, and October it is now over! No more games (sniff sniff). Willie had a great season! Tonight was the first night of the school year without football practice and tons of homework. We didn't know what to do, so we wasted the night away.

For the months -- November, December, January, February -- there will be high school basketball. And then there will be March Madness followed by spring AAU in April and May.