Almost August

Ah, the bittersweet realization that summer is drawing to an end... However, I have plenty to keep my occupied until school starts again. Two trips, lots of visitors, and the bag project to finish up.

I went in to school today, and I moved some things to my new classroom. I have a lot of work to do to get my room back in order for students. Plus, I'm working with younger children, so I need to decorate differently. Its always fun to get the room in order before the kids come. I like school best when there are no students there. Is that bad?

Heat Wave

Man, its been steamy here! The weather is really obnoxiously hot. I've been trying to remember, when I take Henry out at eight a.m. and its ninety degrees out, how cold I will be in February doing the same thing. It doesn't help much.

I am getting ready for school again, already. Summer seems so short! I know I have several weeks before its time to go back, but I'll be traveling so much. I don't want summer to be over so soon. Oh well. Time flies, right?

I hear that daylight savings time is being changed to May through November. I think that's the silliest thing ever! First of all, the whole savings time thingy is a little screwy to begin with. Second, why should be honestly go through the hassle of changing it?!? Sheesh.

Well, I guess I should be relaxing some. No need getting all worked up on vacation, right?

Dogs

I took Henry to the vet today to get vaccinated against kennel cough so we can board him. While there, I visited with Nell, a nine-year-old pointer looking for a home. She was really sweet, and I think she and Henry could get along. There's a glitch, however. I was petting her and scratching behind her ears. She yawned, but it looked to me like what Katie did when she was getting ready to bite people. I nearly fell over trying to stand up quickly. I realized then and there that I will only be able to bring puppies into my home as pets. I have to have them from itty-bitty so that I can trust them. Nell was a sweetie, but she's not for me. I just don't know how she was raised.

On another topic, Meghan (the school's speech language pathologist) and I started decorating our bags for the "Reader's Tool Kits" that we're making up. We're trying to get literacy activities into homes to encourage reading instruction. I just hate seeing kids end up in my class simply because they can't read. Its not that they aren't smart- they just don't have the same advantages as other children.

Its been a long time.

Sorry to anyone who actually reads this, or tries to.

As I type, there are two very tired puppies in my house. One is Henry. The other is Angel, the corgi from across the alleyway. Henry is absolutely in love with Angel. She comes over to play sometimes. They go wild! Lots of chasing and tumbling and barking. They wear each other out, which is nice.

I watched the shuttle launch today. It was really neat. I remember watching one launch from the deck of a cruise ship in December of 1999. Very cool. What was neat this time, however, was that they broadcast views from a camera that was mounted on the biggest external fuel tank and pointed at the belly of the shuttle. The camera worked all the way into space, and they showed the shuttle disconnecting from the tank and floating away. It was... amazing. I tivoed it to show Troy later.

I am amazed by space. I've done so many projects on astronauts, read books, watched movies... I would love to go into space. However, as Troy knows and tells me, I'll never be an astronaut. I get too motion-sick. Oh well. I can dream.

It is really hot here. Not that I mind- I love my air conditioning.