Just a quickie!

So school is officially out for the summer! My last day with kids was yesterday and I had to go back today to close down the classroom. It's a little sad for me. I said goodbye to the teachers/staff I have gotten to know this school year at Patriot. I have no idea where I will be next fall and so there is a possibility it may be the last time I see many of them. Everyone was so nice and wished me well in my job hunt! I can only wait and see what positions open up after enrollment changes. On a good note, the kids in my 2nd long term (5th grade) were really sweet! I got a few presents and a lot of hugs! I hope I get to see many of those students again someday!

Anyway, no pictures as this is just a quick post. Hopefully my next post will be good news of a job. We shall see!

Until then...

The big one!

So as promised, I have downloaded my pictures onto my computer. I forget about doing it because they have to go on my laptop which I have stopped using because it is ridiculously slow now.

So as mentioned, Scooter had an incident with a bumblebee. He unfortunatly lost and was stung right on the nose area. He swelled up really fast (didn't get a picture of this unfortunately) and we rushed him to the vet. They gave him some shots and said he would be fine. Well he was not and the sting swelled into an abscess. He had to go under for a drainage since it was close to his eye. Anyway, here is Scooter with his "space dog" cone on that he actually loved wearing!




If you look closely, you can see the puncture of where his abscess was drained. This isn't where he was stung but rather where they went in to drain. Poor Scooter.


In other news, the 5th grade assignment I took is going well. We only have 3.5 weeks left of school and that makes me super happy! I can't wait to have a mini break and find out if I'm going to get a job teaching or move on to something else. I hate being in limbo. It gives me anxiety. Anyway, I got a cute hair cut too thanks to Kassi. She attempted her first "bob" and I think it came out quite nice.



As for John, things are still going well for him at his job. His company is a huge sponsor for Cancer research and all year they raise money for Relay for Life. The owner's daughter died of a rare bone cancer in 2005. KSI (John's employer) has raised a lot of money for this cause. John signed up to walk in the Relay for Life and I decided to tag along. I had never attended this event which is held every year (for all you non-Bakersfield people who aren't aware). I must say, I was blown away. It was a very emotional place. So many survivors and so many deaths. The booths were all raising money for this cause. The amount of support there was awesome. I plan to go back each year to walk. John's company was a Gold Team which meant their team raised an average of $517 per person. We saw teams who raised almost $1000 per person! If you have never gone, I encourage you to do so. It's 24 hours so you can go anytime and walk. It really made me think about the people in my life who have lost their battle with Cancer, as well as the people currently fighting this disease. I love my grandma and each day I pray her leukemia can be beat!

Whew, on a lighter note I took a few pictures of Penny and Baxter which I thought were adorable. Baxter is really getting big. He is so long. Much longer than we thought he would be. He is still pretty skinny, which I'm happy about. It's coming up for that time when he needs to get "fixed." I'm sure he won't be happy about this day when it comes....

I got Penny a new shirt. It truly fits her personality.


John and Penny. She has such a crush on him. Seriously.


Just a couple of Baxter.



Well, I think that about covers it for this post. Unfortunately because I just used a ton of pictures for this post, I may not have anything interesting to talk about for awhile. Oh well. Something will probably come up!

Until next time....

To be in 5th grade again....

So I actually have a lot to post about and pictures, however they are not off my camera yet and it's late. So I will just do a short post tonight. On Friday it was my last day in 4th grade. I was so excited. I had plans to sleep in the following Monday. It was looking great. WELL by afternoon recess that day I had been asked to take over the GATE 5th grade class at Patriot because Kristen Neuman (formally Kristen Martin for those DW people) just got word from her doctor that she had to go on early maternity leave because of some complications. SO now I am in 5th grade for the rest of the school year. The plus is, steady income and I really like the class, but it still doesn't look good for me as far as an actual job. The district is looking slim and all my eggs are in their basket, so to speak. So we will just have to see how it goes. Either way, I start full time at the office right after school gets out. Gotta keep myself busy and my options open!

Anyway, I have some great pictures of Scooter and his newest adventure with a bumblebee. I will leave you with this...he got in a fight and didn't win. More on that later! Until then....wish me luck in 5th grade!

Super Pup!

So, I'm still in 4th grade and I am still alive! I survived the infamous "Mission Field Trip" which, by the way, consumed 11 hours of my day! Wow. That's just too much time. Anyway, the teacher who went out on maternity is scheduled to come back right on schedule. So I'm happy about that. I actually really like my class and I'm enjoying 4th grade alot. It's just not as fun when you don't get to start the class off at the beginning of the year. I'm stuck trying to catch up and figure things out in short periods of time. So although I love my class and am actually having fun...I am also excited for the teacher to return.

On another note, I was looking at pictures on my camera and found some pictures I had forgotten all about. When we went to Orange County a month or so ago, we found these outfits at the pet store on HUGE clearance. So of course, I HAD to buy them!

Penny looks so cute in her baseball shirt! We love baseball in our house, so it was very fitting!


Baxter will have to grow into his shirt! But he is still cute!


All 3 of my babies together. Not the best picture but well you try getting all 3 of them to sit still for a picture!!!


I'm sorry but this HAS to be the funniest ever! Ever since we got Scooter I wanted to get him a cape. He runs around the house and flies off the couch like Super Pup! I could NOT believe I found this!


To get the full effect. It really does have the Superman emblem on his chest!
Scooter the Super Pup!!


Well that's about all for now. I hope to post with some more pictures soon, but well, let's be honest...I am a little busy. I will get to it when I can! Until then!!!!

To be in 4th grade again....

Yes, it's true. I am in 4th grade again. But it's not what you think. I'm a long term substitute for a teacher who went on maternity leave. I survived my first week and I must say I did okay. There were no major problems, and that HAS to be a good thing right? I'm already excited for spring break though. It starts the 17th of March which by the way is way too early in the year to be celebrating Easter. But I will take it because I am ready for a break! I am "lucky" enough to have the mission report and projects during my time in 4th grade, as well as the infamous Mission field trip. So, things should be very educational for me! I will tell you how it all plays out. I'm scheduled to be finished April 18th, but as we know, pregnancy can be unpredictable. As of now, I have not heard word that she has even had the baby, and well, she is only taking the minimum of 6 weeks off (excluding spring break). So if she hasn't had the baby or there are any complications, she could be out longer.

As for teaching jobs, it doesn't look good. Most likely if I do get hired, it won't be until just before school starts or right after. So I stay in limbo until that time. I'm possibly pursuing the idea of working full time at the office I work at right now part time. I would get benefits and a steady paycheck. I'm going to give it a whirl in the summer and go from there. If a teaching job presents itself, then I will make my decision. I just can't stand not having a "career" by now. It's not what I had in the plans for myself. So, I will keep you posted on how that develops.

No pictures this time. The pups and John have been pretty normal lately. Nothing really to report. I will try to take some pictures soon but I am so crazed most of the time it is unlikely!

Until then....

As promised

So here I am full of info and pictures. I just downloaded a TON of pictures from my camera. I had like 90 pictures just hanging out on there. And the sad part is, the majority of them were from Christmas time! Gosh, I guess I have been busy!

Well let's see. There has been a lot going on around here. The dogs of course are doing fabulously. Baxter is almost potty trained and I am sooo excited about that. I can't tell you happy it makes me! That puppy poops more than either of our other dogs did when they were little! And I don't even have carpet this time...thank goodness! I took some pictures the other day because my grandma requested some pictures.

I wasn't even trying for this pose and it turned out great! This is our favorite picture of all 3 dogs! It's so hard to get them to sit still. John is holding a treat above their heads which is why they are all looking in the same direction.


This picture is my new favorite of Baxter. I know it is only his face, but he has beautiful markings and this picture shows that!


John is loving his job. He was officially hired on as a full time employee. I can't remember if I mentioned that part yet. So it means he doesn't work for the temp agency anymore. He served his 90 days with them and then KSI (his employer) was able to hire him away from them. So, on May 1st he will be done with his official 90 days and get benefits and all that good stuff. He really likes his job and that makes me so happy. I asked him the other day if he wanted to move back to Orange County. When we made the decision to move here, I told him if he gave it a year, then we could do whatever he wanted; either stay or move back. He told me he wanted to stay. That made me feel really good.

As for me...things have changed. The main reason we moved here was so I could hired as a teacher. I couldn't get a job in Orange County and the growth in Bakersfield has been really large. So new schools have been opened and jobs were plentiful. So we moved. I have been subbing pretty much everyday and it looked promising. I am starting a long term sub job that will last 7 weeks for a fourth grade teacher who is having a baby. So the principal liked me there and it was looking good for me to get hired in the Rosedale district. WELL now the state of California has once again slammed education with a big hit! When I was in the OC, budget cuts were happening and teachers were getting laid off. That made it virtually impossible to get hired. Now it appears to be happening again, only in Bakersfield. I can't seem to catch a break. Rosedale, the district I have been subbing for, has announced the possibility of laying off 30 teachers at the end of the year!! Well, great. That's just great. The other districts are getting hit too. It's just unknown how hard yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and am going to apply anyway as planned. We will just have to see what happens. It's just frustrating because I worked so hard this year to make good contacts and to do a good job to get noticed. It seemed to work and now this road bump. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Enough about all that. Back to pictures! Here is our Christmas picture. Usually we send out Christmas cards but this year I just didn't get around to it. This picture is the one we printed and framed for our families...but John was able to photo shop the dogs' creepy eyes. So this isn't the final one. But rather the one on my camera!


So that is pretty much all for now. I have still been subbing and working at the office and dance studio. I choreographed a trio for company and Jennifer Skiby's solo this year. Both of those dances will compete in March and April. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I did a good job!

I hope to have some more pictures to post soon. This has already taken me forever tonight. Until next time....

Here I Am

Well a few people have asked that I update my blog. This is funny to me because well only a few people actually read the thing...AND they ask me to update it while they are on my myspace page!! Sooooo that makes me laugh seeing as how my myspace page pretty much keeps you updated and whatnot too.

Anyway, there are a few things to post but I am compiling pictures and notes and so far it's not ready. Well, I haven't started so that might hinder the readiness. Anyway, I wanted to let you all (few) know that an update is on the way. I'm sure you are all (few) so excited you can hardly stand it!! I know...I would be too!

Until then...