Desert in bloom

Spring is here! Spring is here! Never mind the fact that we have already said farewell to 2-digit temperatures, look at the flowers!

This isn't going to be a wordy post, so enjoy the pictures and feel free to steal a new desktop background picture if you'd like.

Ok... maybe just a few words, but this is interesting!

Did you know that some stores will glue fake flowers to their cacti in order to entice you to buy them? There is such a thing as a "strawflower," which grows on a different plant entirely. When properly dried, it maintains its color and continues to open and close for up to a month...even when glued to a cactus! See, interesting, right?

Lately

Life lately. What to say?

It is spring and I like spring. I like it a lot. Especially in Arizona.

Spring: all that stuff about life beginning anew and hope for the future and such. It feels especially good this year. Plus, the weather is amazing and the flowers are beautiful.

So what have I been up to this spring?

This smashing young fellow (aka my "little" brother) drove over to visit me from Cali. He couldn't stay long, but we did manage to get in some good beer and better food at my favorite local burger joint. It was nice to catch up and laugh...a lot. Few people are funnier than this kid. Having someone else around the house for a few days wasn't so bad either, especially since I could task him with man chores, like fixing the TV and squishing bugs (thanks, brother!)

I am also happy to report that spring in Arizona means temperatures in the 80s and 90s.That's right, pool days are becoming a regular event and I couldn't be happier about it! (Well, ok, I guess maybe if Paul were sitting in a lawn chair behind me, but it's still pretty darn good).

One downside to the (very) warm spring, though, is that by the time summer--and my time off--roll around , it is too hot to do anything outside. Hiking when it is 115 degrees is not an option. Case in point: I heard on the news last night that they find between 60 and 100 dead bodies every day here during the hot summer months, almost exclusively those of people crossing the border illegally. (Another random fact: they have caught 64,300 illegal immigrants in the desert around Tucson in the last three months. Yikes.)

(Anyway)
That means that this is the time to get outside. I have been going for lots of walks (stay tuned for some cool pics of blooming cacti), and a few weekends ago finally grabbed a friend and went to Sabino Canyon, a state park just 7 miles from our house. It's one of my favorite places in Tucson, but I hadn't been since our annual pass expired in December.

My favorite thing about Sabino? The water! There are two creeks, several waterfalls, a pond, and...fresh water!! There is nothing so nice as getting wet after hiking in the heat, and most of the trails follow the creeks so you can re-wet your clothes as you go. You can also take a hike to Seven Falls, which is amazing. Each fall has its own pool at the bottom, several of which are deep enough to swim in. It's hard to beat that in the desert!

I have also been battling my allergies. Fun stuff. Nothing like trying to teach when you lose your voice, can't stop sneezing, and have bright red blood-shot eyes that itch like crazy. The palo verde and mesquite trees are killing me... and, unfortunately, both grow in our yard. And all over the city. And in the courtyard at my school. Onto which my classroom opens directly. It's not very awesome.

At least the stupid things are pretty, right? (Answer: Nope. I prefer breathing.)

Speaking of school...only 5 full weeks left!! Two of those weeks will be spent administering standardized tests, and we all know the last week doesn't really count, so I am on the downhill slope and gathering momentum rapidly. I LOVE it. These are the weeks that make me like teaching the most. Well, ok, no, those would be the weeks of summer, winter, and spring break, but you get the point.

Other than that...nothing too exciting. Laundry, cooking, errands, work, and girls movie-and-wine nights. I know I have been saying this every year since I turned 5 and started kindergarten, but: I can't wait for summer!!

Don´t get shot

When I started blogging, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn´t start my posts with some lame excuse for why it has been so long since I blogged. Well, I´ve changed my mind. I´ll at least keep it brief: my computer got a nasty virus and I lost alllll of my pictures from the past 6 months. I´m personally opposed to posting without pictures, and I really haven´t done much worth taking a picture of recently, thus the absence.

However, my wonderful husband has come to the rescue by sending me these super hilarious pictures of some Christmas cards some little kids sent them. They make me laugh every single time. Enjoy!

The holly is a very nice touch. Well done, Jake.

 

This next one is my favorite. It has some really solid advice. I mean, this is pretty much the meat and potatoes of what I tell Paul every time I talk to him. Smart kid.

There ya have it. I hope you giggled. And by the way, if you want to send Paul a card of your own, send me an email or something and I´ll send you his address.

Teaching tid bits

1. One of my 6th grade students was wearing a loose pleated skirt that was much, much, much too short. When she swung her backpack on, her skirt got caught under it, and she walked all the way down the hall with her entire butt showing. All of it. The good news? She was wearing tights. The bad news? She was not wearing anything under the tights. As far as I know, she never noticed. Pobrecita.

2. One of my (female) student's .................. middle name ................ is ................ (wait for it) .................. Rocketship. Seriously.

3. I'm taking the next few days off to do an early Christmas with Paul and the family before he leaves, so we had our class holiday celebration a bit early. I told the kids that I would bring in some crackers and fruit, and anything else they wanted they had to bring. Last night I went to Safeway to hold up my end of the deal and over heard the following conversation:
 "Oh, hey Sandy! What are you doing?"
 "Mike! Hi! Just picking up some treats. You?"
 "Same. Some stupid Spanish class fiesta tomorrow."
 "Me, too! Don't you just hate it..."
...and that's when I walked away. Quickly. I don't really feel bad because it's the first time all year I've done this, and it wasn't a requirement. But I also felt it was best that I peruse another aisle for a bit. Awkward...

4. I was in the middle of teaching a lesson the other day when one of my Dear Students dropped out of his desk and low crawled allllllllll the way to the front of the classroom. In the process, he crawled under 2 desks, a table, and my smart board. Then he low crawled allllllllll the way back to his desk. I said his name repeatedly during this journey, but he never looked up. When he was back at his desk, I said "Dear Student, uhh... what was that all about?" "What?" "Why did you crawl across the class?"  "Oh, I thought I saw something on the floor up there." Oh, right. That would be my mind. I recently lost it.

Family visit

For the first time since 2007, I got to spend Thanksgiving with family this year! It may have taken widespread flooding back in Washington (fun fact: did you know that WA gets more rain in the month of November than Tucson gets in an average year?), but my folks were finally able to make the flight south to come visit.

We spent Thanksgiving at my grandparents' house in Phoenix, which I have no pictures of because my dear husband may or may not have broken my phone on Thanksgiving day. But the food was delicious, the company was good good, and our activity level was minimal. Perfect.

Black Friday found us driving down to Tucson. Our tiny little 2-bedroom town house was full to bursting with all 7 of us, but it all worked out.

There are 4 people in this picture. Can you find them?

Friday night, the girls dug out and set up the Christmas decorations, while the boys fought an epic battle for world domination and ate junk food.

Ryan won, and couldn't have been happier.

On Saturday, we decided to celebrate a true American holiday by blowing stuff up. We nearly drove to Mexico, and I think my parents were getting a little nervous, but in the end, we got where we were going and it was only a little bit shady.

I was more happy than I can tell you to destroy our old dishes! Everyone helped!

Soaking up the sunshine.

The Marine showing us how it is done

Mommy obviously doesn't know how to hold a firearm =) One day, I'm going to do a post with nothing but pictures of my mom holding bottles of diet coke.

Ryan Todd

Ten years ago today, I came home from school to find my very pregnant mom laying on the couch, insistent that she was going to make it to Jordan's wrestling match that night. Not long later, I was on the phone with my dad and on my way to my grandma's. Jordan, Cody, and Hanna and I waited there anxiously for the arrival of our new sister, Taylor.

At the hospital, waiting to see the new baby.

When we got a call just a few hours later that a little brother had been born (woops!), we were all pretty surprised...with the exception of Hanna, who was just plain devastated. If my memory serves me, I think Hanna cried more than the baby that night.

Meeting the little guy for the first time.

Ry meeting his future brother-in-law

It was a little weird having a little brother born when I was 15. We didn't exactly  have a lot in common, and by the time he was a toddler, most people in public just assumed I was a teen mom.

But it turns out, being 15 years older than your brother is pretty awesome. Obviously I love all my siblings, but I don't really remember what they were like as babies because I was so young. I really got to enjoy Ryan when he was little, though. I got to help feed him, I got to see his first steps, and help teach him his first words. Mostly I got to enjoy how cute he was!

Now he is getting all grown up! It's really fun to get to see his personality develop. He is certainly turning into a pretty fearless kid. From the time he was little, Ry was looking for thrills. I remember waiting in line with him over and over and over again to go on the "Pecker Woody" roller coaster at Universal Studios.

Ry and Wyatt with the "Pecker Woody"

And just recently, he bragged to me about his cliff jumping escapades this summer.

He's also pretty funny. I know little brothers are the ones who are supposed to sneak off and read their big sister's diaries, but I managed to get a peak of Ryan's personal journal at age 7. Page one read:

"Ryan's svivr book
Day 1: I mest up sum stuf in my sistrs room"

And then, his masterpiece: a text to Hanna written on his gameboy. It read,

"Hanu you a ideeit."

My favorite memory might be when I convinced him he could change his name and he decided on "Dynaco Mater".

And now he is ten! I can't believe it. I will always think of him like this:

But before we know it, he'll be driving cute girls around...

And shaving...

And then off to college...

And then settled down in a cozy office job

Happy Birthday, kiddo!

Conquer the world!