What my kids have to say about me....

We did an activity on Friday where we put our names on top of a piece of paper, and then sent it around the circle so everyone could write something nice about each person in the class...I sat in the circle and sent around a piece for me too. It's a nice self esteem boost. Here's what they had to say about me...in their words (and spelling)

Ms. P

Shes a very nice Teacher.
Ms. P isa nice teacher becus she gives us candy.
I like Ms. P
Ms. P is the best.
I like Ms P she is best teacher ever.
She is very super nice.
She gentel and buteful
Your my frined!
Miss. P is very very nice, funny, and cool.
Very nice.
(Insert heart here) a nice teacher (insert heart here)
Miss. P is a vear good teach and she's nice.
You are a nise teacher. (all "a"s written as hearts)
Your sweet and so kind and you work hard and very beautiful.

Hmmm...makes me think I have some suck ups in my room.

:)

Today was a pretty good day. Nothing special, but thinking about the little things make me smile about today:)

I decided to see if Adam would call again, after he had said he was going to call when they got done at the last bar. As I finished my last post, I was going to give him about 15 more minutes. I laid down on the futon, watched old school Pink Panther cartoons and fell asleep. I thought that since it was 4:10am Wisconsin time, I knew he wasn't going to call. Turned off the phone and went to my bed to sleep.

I woke up this morning, and just lounged around. Read the Sunday paper, ate some cereal, and putzed online. Adrienne called, and I was happy to talk to her. I hadn't talked to her in a long time, and it was just good talking to her! I ran some errands, came home, talked to mom on the phone...until she drove me nuts telling me what I should be wearing if I go hiking. Talked to Erin for a bit on the phone about a lot of things. All I'm saying is that growing up sucks. I had to call Adam to see how he was feeling today. I guess he didn't feel to bad today. Dang! He did tell me he was going to call me again, but his DD was beginning to get pissed with the drunks. I told him I wasn't expecting anything since he was drunk and all. He reassured me that he may have been drunk, but he would've called since he told me he would. :) We ended up going shopping at WalMart together, and then I ditched WalMart for Target. After I got done talking to Adam, I got to talk to Amanda about things for when she gets out here in 3 weeks!! (She's leaving home in 2, but will be here in about 3) It's going to be awesome! I did a lot of knitting and watching more Dawson's today. I'm going to get that damn scarf I started after graduation done by this winter. That's my goal!

Well, here's to a great day. I hope it transfers into my day tomorrow!!

This weekend has been really uneventful thus far. Well, minus the fact that no one in the office here at my apartment complex had written down that Amanda and I want a 2 bedroom apt. I got a call from the leasing agent I've dealt with the whole time I've been here asking me what I was planning to do since I had signed a paper saying I was going to be out of my current apt by the 31st. I told her about our previous convos, and that Amanda's app got lost in the mail (which I got today...two weeks later). I ran over to the apt and found us a 2 bedroom...it's at the other side of the complex, so I won't be in the same place as the other teachers at my new school. Oh well, it's closer to the pool and everything. Second floor too. I can handle that. Spent a few hours on lessons. I had to keep telling myself to just plod through it. I took mini breaks, which I shouldn't have done. Finished my lessons, ran some quick errands, and laid down to watch some Dawson's Creek season 6. That's all I had dreamed about at school on Friday...coming home, and just laying on my futon watching DC. I did that today too. I did my laundry and such, ran errands (can't seem to find any inspiration or creativity for Adam's housewarming gift...), and came home to veg some more. Fell asleep watching DC, woke up to mom, dad, and grandma calling me on speaker phone. I despise that thing. I can't hear anything! It was great trying to act awake while talking to them, and having mom ask me who I talked to (no one), and then having her ask me about each of my friends and when I had last talked to them. Not cool. Slowly woke up, went out to get some groceries, and to pick up some Chinese take out (since my sister went while I was at school and didn't get me anything last week). Talked to Erin for a bit as soon as I walked in my door with my food...not cool again, but I still talked to her. Received 3 drunk dials from Adam thus far, watched more DC, and took a nice hot bath. Good tunes, good drinks, good book. Good times.

Alright, it's 3am back home in Wisconsin, I don't think I'll be getting more drunk calls tonight (even though he told me he'd call me later--two hours ago). I think I can think about crawling into bed...if my napping this afternoon will let me.

It's been a long time...

Seeing as how I harassed Dan about not updating more often, I guess his email to me about updating today was called for.

Sue was out here for about a week. We had a great time together. We pretty much kept moving non-stop all week. Here's a summary of what all went down:

Thursday: Sue dropped me off at school, and I worked all day. I had her pick me up late from school so I could get my room ready for the sub. Came home, requested a sub online, and headed out to Red Rock Casino to see The Devil Wears Prada (seeing as how most of the movie theaters are in casinos out here). It was good, but it deviated A WHOLE LOT from the book. Oh well. It was still a good movie. Played a little on the penny slots, and won $50 on the big Wheel of Fortune slot. Good times had by all, the money paid for our meals for the week. Came home, fixed dinner, and hung out.

Friday: Woke up at 5:30am, emailed my asst principal to let her know that I wasn't coming in because I hadn't been feeling well the past few days (which was true, I felt like I was going to pass out in my room all day on Thursday, and I wasn't feeling well that morning). Woke up, redyed my hair while Sue made breakfast, showered, and eventually left the apartment. Headed to the Strip to Build-A-Bear for Sue to build a Hello Kitty. Got to the casino mall, almost got hit by a few people because they don't know how to drive, went to Build-A-Bear. Sue walked in and started looking for the perfect Hello Kitty. As soon as we got in, I spotted a Cookie Monster. Not cool. I wasn't planning on buying anything, but seeing as how he's my second favorite Sesame Street character (Oscar's my main guy!), I had to build him. Two stuffed animals later (and what felt like forever for Sue to find the perfect clothes for Hello Kitty--which was actually really cute), we got back in the car and headed towards the World's Largest Buffet. I swear if I go back there anytime soon, I'm going to puke. It's a great place, but 3 times in one month, not cool. I had the cake that Adam had been searching for, and had to call him while eating it. Instant Karma...I got SO sick at the buffet I wasn't able to finish the cake. We headed home, sat down for a few, and went back out to go grocery shopping and to WalMart to get some Funoodles for the pool. Got home, went swimming (in a pool that had no light...all I thought of was the new movie Lady in the Water.), came back, made dinner, watched Reno 911 season 3.

Saturday: Woke up, did laundry, prepared to go hiking. Got outside, saw all of the smoke from the wildfires in San Bernadino up in the mountains, and decided to just drive up to Mount Charleston and take pics. Ended up going to Primm (on the state line of Nevada and California) to the outlet mall there, and to take the monorail between the 2 casinos there. Bought things that I don't really need, and took in a lounge act at an old school casino where an Elvis impersonator was singing karaoke. It was funny, but not at the same time. On the way home from Primm, we stopped at Santa Fe Station (the casino 5 minutes from my apt) to see if we could win more from the big Wheel of Fortune. Not so much. Oh well, stopped off at Fatburger, headed home, put in a movie, and hung out.

Sunday: Went back to the Strip. Went to Sephora, walked through the casinos to get out of the heat, and ended up at Fashion Show Mall. After Fashion Show, we stopped off, changed out of our "Strip" clothes, and went to my godparents' house for dinner. We had a great time over there. We always do. I even wore an "I love Paris" shirt (my godfather HATES France), but it took him all night and for me to point it out in order for him notice it. Came home, dyed Sue's hair, and watched Reno 911.

Monday: Had to work. Sue picked me up from school, and we headed to the "Old Strip", or downtown. We walked around for a bit, and decided to join the slot club for Four Queens. We didn't win anything, but I did get a really cool light up cup with a good drink in it for four bucks. Headed home, ordered pizza, and watched Napoleon Dynamite. Sue had never really seen it before. We had watched part of it a long time ago, but she was in the mood for it that night, and loved it. As we were watching the movie, the wind picked up, and it turns out we had a severe thunderstorm warning! YAY! It's what I was waiting for!

Tuesday: Work, again. Sue picked me up, came home, relaxed for a bit, went to the mall by me, and hit up Olive Garden for dinner. We had a good time. Decided not to go swimming since the lights still hadn't been fixed (and the sand that was dumped in the hot tub at the beginning of the month still hasn't been cleaned up). Sue packed, we hung out for a bit before I had to go to bed.

Yesterday she left. It was really good having her out here. We had a lot of fun, and I wish things had worked out for her to come out here for school. It would've been a great time had she moved out here too. Oh well, I'll see her again at Thanksgiving. We've already begun planning for that trip!

Meh...

I wasn't going to update, but I figure that since my sister's coming to town for the next week, I'll update some.

There's nothing really to update...I did have a fun moment in class today. For writing this week, we're talking about our favorite trip. Well, I've been thinking about one that I would write about with my kids. I was thinking about different family trips up to Door County, and other trips taken in college. I couldn't really think of any that stood out in my head where I could pick out who I had gone with, what we did, and what things we ate (yeah, what we ate...the kids are fascinated with food). I then thought of a recent trip. Homecoming 2005. Who went with me: Jill, Adam and Dan. What did we do: Hmmm...what did we do that I can share with students? I can't say we spent time at a casino, and then sat in the bar...well, we played games (drunk), hiked through the woods (sober), and watched movies (whilst drinking). What we ate: brats, pizza, popcorn. The kids started asking if they could write about what they drank...sure, why not? What did I drink? Well...orange and pineapple juice...with Malibu, but we kept that from my kids. Dan pointed out that I also drank grape juice. We were only doing our circle maps, so no complete sentences yet. I'm waiting for them to start asking me questions about who I was with. They were already trying to figure out the names. They pointed out I wrote a "bad" word on the board..."dam." Yep, part of Adam's name. If they ask more, I will take the picture I have of all of us down from my filing cabinet and show them. They will be seeing Mr. Rudar with facial hair in that picture.

That's about it. Other than getting my lessons for next week done on a Tuesday night...not Friday night. I'm proud of myself. I guess that's what happens when Dan's busy at work and we aren't constantly emailing back and forth during my prep time. :)

Lost My Childhood...

It's the summer for losing my childhood. First, my parents decide to move and sell the house I grew up in. I know, I always knew that it would be sold, but I thought it wouldn't be until MUCH later. I wanted my kids to see where their mom grew up...just call me old fashioned. I also dreamed of having my wedding in the backyard...again, old fashioned. Then this spring, I find out they closed the pool that my friends and I hung out at while we were growing up. Ok, I can handle this...I hadn't been there in a damn long time...but still... THEN, I get an email from my sister with a subject of ELLISON BAY EXPLOSIONS. WHAT?! I went to the link that she sent me, and there it was...the last bit of childhood gone. The Pioneer Store that my siblings and I would go to for cheap candy is gone. The cottage across the road from where my family used to rent a cottage is leveled. It looks like a flippin' crater landed there. Scary thing is, my mom's cousin just got back from the resort and her other cousins were going to be staying in one of the cottages that exploded. Not cool Kool Aid.

Ok, there's my rant for right now.

ADAM MUST DIE

Anything nice I've ever said about Adam, I am now taking back. I am now upset with myself that I was so upset when he left. He is going to die when I get home.

Here's the story on why he MUST die.
Yesterday I was going through my freezer to find something, and I noticed that the bottle of vodka that was in there had been moved. I found that weird since the last time I put it away was last week after making the slushes. I just figured Adam was rooting around looking for something while he was here. I was also looking at a convo he and Dan had had while I was at school. I found it interesting that Adam was asking about the names of 2 of my monkeys. Whatever...Tonight I was going through to get out some cream puffs I forgot I had in there. As I was putting them away, I put the vodka in it's place, and then tried shoving my ice cube trays back so the door will close. I felt resistance from something behind the ice cube trays. I looked back there, and was confused at what I saw. There was one of my measuring cups behind the ice cube trays. That's weird, I can't remember putting that in there. I ripped it out of my freezer and realized that one of my monkeys was in there! UH-FREAKIN'-UH! NOT COOL KOOL AID!

To make matters worse, this is one of the monkeys that Dan stole 3 years ago. Adam took part in taking pictures for Dan when the monkey was stolen. This monkey has gone through too much. Leave the little guy alone!

I did take pics so people didn't think I was making this up.

Adam, if you're reading this...PAYBACK IS A BITCH! You are no longer getting anything homemade from me for your apartment warming...huh-uh.

Adrienne, if you read this before you meet him in GB...HIT HIM!!

*Sigh* Part Deux

Now that I've had time to digest things, I can finish the update about Adam's trip out here.

Let's see, I'll pick up with Saturday evening.

Saturday Evening: Came home from Red Rock, ate some tots and nuggets, and chilled for a bit. Adam wanted to swim, and I did not feel up to it. I sat pool side while he swam. Niki called, got to talk to Niki, and tried to avoid all of the splashing Adam was doing to try and get me wet. Not cool Kool Aid. After Adam was done swimming, we just sat poolside and talked. It was nice. We got to catch up on things, and watch lightning off in the distance in the mountains. Came back to the apartment, watched the first season of The Office, made Raspberry Lemonade Vodka slushes, and then later indulged in peanut better Oreos with milk.

Sunday: Went to the Bellagio for the Ansel Adams exhibit. I've been waiting to go see this for a couple of months, Ansel Adams is my all time favorite artist (photographer). After the Bellagio, we hit up Fashion Show Mall (I didn't embarrass Adam by walking down the catwalk like a model from Project Runway...wanted to, but didn't), and then the World's Largest Buffet at the Rio. We waited in line for a good 40 minutes in front of a huge family with small children. Coming from a teacher's mouth...I wanted to beat the hell out of these two unruly kids. The parents had no control over the kids. Then to top it all off, the little kid in the stroller behind us decided to start kicking the back of my legs. Punk kid. As we were heading home, the fireworks at the Stratosphere started going off. It was awesome, there were fireworks coming out of the observation deck! AWESOME! I had to remind myself that I had to drive, and not concentrate on the fireworks.

Monday: Went to school, left Adam with the key to the pool...punk got to go to the pool while I dealt with my kids. Came home, made a quick picnic dinner, packed the cooler, hit up WalMart for pics and ice, and headed up to Mount Charleston. I hadn't been up there yet, and all I've heard have been good things. It isn't too far from my apartment, and once we got out of the desert landscape, I felt as if I was in Northern Wisconsin...if I ignored the mountains surrounding me, and the one I was currently driving up. We found a park to eat (dang $6 entrance fee!), and the ranger made sure to tell us that we had until 8 to get out. He was closing the gate at 8pm. I looked at my clock to see if it really was that late. It was only 6:30. After dinner, Adam and I decided to start hiking. I had gotten shin splints for the first time since playing softball in high school while Adam was out here. It was uncomfortable, but it was fun. We both had walking sticks, and were having fun. I felt as if I was going to die when I realized that I would be walking down a mountain back to the car...with not so sturdy footing. Oh well. It was still fun, even if Adam did take a video clip of me walking down...Got back to the apartment and went swimming. Came back, shared a BBQ Chicken Pizza (quite good actually), and watched some TV.

Tuesday: Woke up, I read the paper and graded math workbook pages while Adam went outside and worked on some stuff. It started to actually rain, and Adam called me outside to see it. We showered, and decided to head out shopping. Went to the World's Largest Gift Shop, Goodwill, and Barnes and Noble. Adam picked up souvenirs for his siblings, and I picked up some stuff to send to my grandma. Went to Goodwill to find a chair to finally start my "Rejection" Chair, but couldn't find anything worthy. As we were driving away, there was a special weather bulletin. There was a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for southeastern Clark County! Yeah, that's not me, but still...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING! I wish I had been near a TV so I could see if they have the same little things on to let you know there's a warning. Came home after BN, made some dinner, cleaned up, and went to go watch fireworks. Fireworks were awesome! I went up a road near my apartment maybe a mile or so, and we were able to see all of the fireworks anywhere in the Vegas Valley. It was awesome! No matter where you turned, there were fireworks going off. Even at the houses that we were near had awesome fireworks...well, one of them I swear was a Roman Candle factory seeing as how they were lighting those off every few minutes. Came back to the apartment, went swimming, came back, and I stayed up late with Adam. Well, until midnight.

Wednesday: Went to work, started crying when I realized it was his last day here, went on with my day...after realizing I forgot to leave the key to get into the pool area, I'm such an idiot! Came home from school, mailed out grandma's package, saw the goats, and made dinner. Watched About Schmidt, ate pizza, and didn't talk about him leaving. As I was getting up from the futon to do something, it hit me that I was going to be taking him to the airport about an hour from then. Then when it was about 20 minutes from him leaving is when I had to excuse myself to the bathroom so I could start the crying. Stopped, and then had to go to the kitchen to compose myself, and then took him to the airport....And the rest is history.

The rest of the week was alright. Thursday was rough. I had little sleep, and many choruses of "I wish Mr. Rudar was here" I looked one kid in the eye and said, "Yeah, I do too. Join the club."

Today I went shopping for things...Dawson's Creek season 6, windshield wipers (I know, I live in the desert, but I have never replaced them--the car's 2 years old), the list goes on...Stopped to look at picture frames, but decided that I would wait until the new place since I wouldn't have to fill in a hole here and not have to pack something else. I did find a really cool black leather scrapbook on sale for 50% off. Once Sue brings out my pics from SNC, I can FINALLY start my college scrapbook.

Tonight I watched 40 Year-Old Virgin, the first episode of Dawson's 6th season (which I shouldn't watch), and then took a nice long bubble bath. The bubble bath was nice and relaxing. There's nothing better than a good book (Devil Wears Prada--started reading it last winter, but forgot about it until I found it in a box I packed for out here), a mudslide in a martini glass with heart shaped ice, and "Singers and Standards" (Frank Sinatra type music) playing in the background.

Countdowns:
Sue comes to visit: 4 days
Amanda moves out: about 27 days
School days til school is over: 25
Thanksgiving with our sisters: 5 months
Months til I can go home and see everyone: 6


PS: CONGRATS ON THE NEW JOB ADRIENNE!!!!!

*Sigh*

Last night I had to go through one of the saddest good-byes. It rivaled the good-bye that I had with my friends before moving to Vegas, where I laid down and cried for about an hour. This one was a bad one...I started crying a day before Adam even left. I was taking a shower after swimming, and I realized that he was leaving the next day. It was so nice having someone hear for as long as he was here. We had a great time, and I just didn't want him to leave. I was able to wait until I got outside of the airport to start crying. I turned on the car, the first song on the radio was "Bad Day." Not a good one to listen to. Turned on the oldies station (can't go wrong with the oldies), and "Happy Together" was on. Not so much again. I was able to hold my own, and only cry when I thought about it...I'm pathetic. I'm not going to see him again until December, that's the longest we've gone without seeing each other...it'll be a long 5 months.

I was way naive after graduation thinking that all of my friends and I would still be close enough to see each other all the time. I thought that I would still have years to have my friends close by. Guess I was wrong...and I'm the one that screwed up my ideal scenario of having my friends near me at all times. I don't like this growing up business...I just don't. I don't think I'm going to have enough time to come home before Christmas. I know mom's upset that she won't be seeing me until then, but I only have 2 weeks off before starting back at school. I don't have a month...It's going to be hard when Homecoming rolls around this year. I love Homecoming, and I know last year people were talking about coming out here for Homecoming. I have this feeling that it's not going to happen. Oh well, I've got Amanda here, we can have our own Homecoming.

As for Adam's trip out here, it was an absolutely fabulous! I couldn't sit still on Thursday after school. I came home, cleaned, double cleaned, and then went through the apartment and cleaned again. I was tracking the flight, and left the apartment with plenty of time to get there to meet him at baggage claim. I was so excited waiting in baggage claim...I had learned from Erika's trip that I needed to put in a lot of change in the meter...so I had plenty of time for NWA to mess with us. Damn baggage claim, telling the passengers one thing, and then getting to claim area to have it changed...

Friday: Adam came to school with me. Mr. Rudar now has 17 new best friends. I was waiting for the questions from the kids about who Adam was...especially from the girl who is obsessed about me not being married. There weren't any from the kids...a couple from the teachers, but none from the kids. We left school, headed out to get some groceries for the week, made dinner, showered, and headed to the Strip. Got our drinks, headed up to get our show tickets (before being harassed by people trying to get us to buy show tickets and made a comment about how we "must be honeymooning"), and then saw our show. The Improv was awesome. We were right up front, my leg was touching the stage, and the $3 8oz. bottle of water was the best $3 water I've ever had. There was some guy Wendall, and the headliner was Lisa Lampenelli. She was hilarious! She was awesome. I laughed my ass off. Good times had by all. After the show, we headed up to the Venetian, and just stood around outside. It had cooled off, and it was beautiful out. We eventually headed south back to the car.

Saturday: Decided to go see petroglpyhs. Got directions to a canyon that had a lot of them (Sistine Chapel of petroglyphs according to the website). Got to where the directions led me to a dirt road to follow for about 4 miles, and no signs to the canyon...went off roading in the desert for a mile, and turned around. Decided to go to Red Rock Canyon. I knew they had some petroglyphs there. Went to the Visitor's Center to figure out where they were, and found the path. Two hours later (and a few drops of rain and thunder), we had hiked up a path in the mountains (not too difficult or anything) and still hadn't found the things. Got back to where the car was parked, saw a map, and found the petroglyphs...5 minutes from the car. Oh well, it was an awesome time. There weren't too many people in the park, so it was nice to have the areas to ourselves. Many pics were taken, and fun memories made. :)

Alright, I'm exhausted, so I'll chronicle the rest of the trip later...once I've caught up on my sleep.

I'm Here

I thought I would take the time right now to just let you know that I'm still here...Adam's in the shower, and I thought I would just say that I'm having an awesome time with him here. I haven't hiked/walked as much as I have since he's been out here, but it's been good times!

Here are some pics from this week thus far!


Here are pics from the Strat with Erika!