2008: Rewind

We drove to Michigan for Christmas. The drive back West was sunny and warm(ish), with a slightly higher stress level, but overall, a good experience. No, I do not think it was totally insane. Yes, I do plan on doing it again in the future (I'm thinking the next one will be summer 2010). We slept two nights, drove 3 days.

Christmas was a little low-key compared to past years. Mom's been busy caring for her dad, so there was less time and energy put into holiday preparation than in the past. We did what we could, we took some baking, helped with shopping and prep, and stayed out of her way, but it was obviously still not as much fun for her this year as it has been. And there weren't any kids for the kids' table, so we renamed it the "under-50" table. It still worked, though.

Best present: Bamboo tablet. Husband suggested it to my Secret Santa. LOVE IT already. Have given up on my mouse pad and even some typing... :)

Other presents were very good: husband gave me diving lessons, which are taking some effort to get excited about (when the weather is freezing, the thought of going scuba diving is not that appealing); but we've talked about going to Hawaii next year as a gift for graduating from my Masters/very-delayed honeymoon. And that is getting me mildly excited.

The drive out had been killer - below 30 windchills, drifting snow, blizzard like conditions in Wyoming and Indiana, driving straight through the night and taking a nap in a parking lot, then getting caught in a snow drift only 20 miles from home and having to spend half an hour digging out. But still not a bad experience; and I still don't think it was crazy. It worked, as hoped, to help Katey be more adventurous and excited about people (she loved being part of the crazy pack of dogs at my parents house) and Hunter hardly needed the tranqs at all to stay calm by the third day. We only made sure he had some before really mountainous portions of the trip. They're now looking calm, relaxed, and comfortable in our house... with Katey sniffing around in a relaxed way for once.

Early DECEMBER:
Finished my 2nd term of MAT classes. A's in all three. Am looking forward to getting back to work with classmates next term. Am also wondering about starting some sort of technology tutoring stuff... if they're interested.

NOVEMBER:
We had Thanksgiving at home this year. Dylan's mom and step-dad came up to enjoy it with us. We cooked all day, and enjoyed it.

Finally got to visit family on the coast and in Portland. Went to the National Science Teachers Association conference in Portland and drove up with Dylan. Loved visiting the little cousins - they are too cute. And the coast was beautiful. At the conference: saw the Mythbusters!

The rest of November was busy with school work. I've had to readjust my schedule to allow for doing homework all weekend, so chores now need to be spread throughout the week. And we had to give up and hire a cleaning lady to come every other week to help out, especially since Dylan will be busy with tech and working 9am to midnight January - June.

OCTOBER:
Work got exciting. There weren't any classes in September, so October meant finally getting to do some Outreach. Started out on the same positive notes as we ended with in the Spring, and hope to keep the momentum up. There was a rough spot in November, with a school that had misunderstood some of the concepts of the program, but all in all, it's working out.

SEPTEMBER:
Went to Anchorage, Alaska for an Outreach to Space conference for the museum. Enjoyed the opportunity, and started to get excited about ideas for making it more exciting for me (I wasn't looking forward to taking over this portion of our outreach program). Haven't had a chance to get into it yet, but will soon.

AUGUST:
Summer camps and classes for school. Ed Tech could have been better, but it did have the benefit of getting me to start thinking about how education is no longer strictly a matter of transfering information from teacher to student - it's really about the teacher empowering the student to discover and learn on their own. I don't think that was the point of the class, but it was certainly the result as I am now, 5 months later, still continuing to research what teachers are doing with technology in their classroms, what they're trying to get out of it, and how it benefits the evolving student.

Summer camps were good. Used old PAJMZ ideas for two and then created new stuff for the Crickets class. Still playing with ideas for next year. Including how to really make it awesome and increase the demand and expectations for the community.

JULY:
Made trip 2 of 3 (for the summer) to Michigan for Mom & Dad's 35th anniversary / "all my kids have graduated from expensive private colleges" party. Played with Dad's new jetskis. LOVE THEM!

Birthdays were good. We didn't do much, since Dylan was working and I was in camp, but still left me with warm fuzzy feelings.

JUNE:
Busia passed away after years of just barely holding on. It was hard to let her go, but we know she's still looking over us. After all those years of collecting angels, we know she's now one of them.

Spent some time in the Bay Area to share ideas with and gain support from my old co-workers to prep for camps. Needed the love, and got it. That kind of support is hard to find, and I'm really grateful I know who I can go to when I need it.

APRIL and MAY:
Nothing to really distinguish these months. New job started to feel really comfortable and developed some team feeling, though not as much as JMZ yet.

MARCH:
Left Harry & David for ScienceWorks. Life became much better. Got a second dog. Life became much crazier. Started therapy. Life tried to sort itself out a bit.

FEBRUARY:
Reached the end of my tolerance for H&D. Found perfect job at ScienceWorks. Was accepted to MAT program at SOU. Finally, something different, and closer to my heart then the corporate b*s^t.

JANUARY:
Probably made some resolutions I can't even remember. This year I'll do better, right?