Memorial Day and a Weekend in Florida

Some fun things have been happening so it must be time for a blog post!  The drama of May was two job offers: one to teach math in Shenzhen, China and another to sign on full time at my alma mater, Edina High School.  The traveler in me sure wanted to hop the next flight to Asia but the details just weren't adding up quite right so I'm excited to be a Hornet again!  I'll be teaching entry level algebra and a course called Functions, Statistics, and Trigonometry next year.  I'm excited to be teaching math again!

The last day that the seniors were all in session everyone walked into their classrooms to find a paper crane on each desk.

The cranes all say "you are loved" or "you are special".  What a great legacy to leave behind!  Well done, class of 2014.

Memorial Day has always been a favorite holiday of mine.  Waverly, MN, the town where my dad grew up, holds a special celebration each year.  We always put flowers on the grave of my grandparents.  Here they are with my uncle Jim.

Memorial day signals the start of Summer for me.  We almost always put the boat in regardless of the weather and go for the first ski in sub-60 degree water.

This year was a delightful exception.  We had incredible weather.  80s and sunny and this awesome sunset.

Waverly puts on quite the celebration.  Monday morning starts with mass at the cemetery.

A parade follows led by the veterans.

I think kids in Radio Flyer wagons will always symbolize summer in small towns for me.  It feels so American.

The real treat of the day is the memorial service in the park.  They read a few poems and name all of the veterans from Waverly who have passed away, laying a flower at the base of each cross.

A 21 gun salute follows, 2 cannons are shot, and taps are played.  It's very powerful.

I don't think I've been in Waverly for Memorial Day since high school.  I missed it, and it was great to be back.

We rounded out the weekend by playing some Canasta and enjoying the weather.  My calculus students (those few remaining, anyway) had to present a game involving math or logic as their final project.  I've learned so many new games!  Apparently Canasta was developed in Uruguay.

The last of my Floridian students were seniors this year so I flew down to see them walk.  It was a great trip!  We started it off by going to the farewell lunch at the high school.  That afternoon we had our traditional "Loaves and Fish" card game at Panera.  Fish is my favorite card game and I'll teach anyone that wants to learn.  I'm so glad they've continued playing in Florida.

After cards I met up with my friend Larry.  I met Larry my second year in Florida and we skied together several times that year.  It was great to get back out on Lake Seminole.

Daisy came too!  She isn't quite up for skiing, but she went for a swim.  I have the scratches to prove it.

Saturday morning I went to brunch with a great group of friends.  Mike and Trevor were both in the ACE program, and Mo, a St. Mary's grad, lives and works in Florida.  We went to The Hangar, a restaurant with a patio that overlooks Albert Whitted Airport.  It's a good spot.

Afterwards we walked over to the Dali museum.  We had all been inside before so we just wandered around the garden.  There's some cool stuff out there.

Like this visual representation of pi.  They have the diameter and circumference both laid out in horizontal lines of stones and the idea is that you should walk them and feel the ratio.  I love mathematical art!

Saturday night we went out with lots of the St. Pete Catholic teachers and we ran into some of our old students!  It was great to see them all grown up!

It all ended Sunday with graduation.  I'm so proud of this class, what a great bunch of kids.  Congratulations and best of luck!

Lots and lots of exciting things coming this summer.  Come back to see what's going on!