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!
My great uncle John decided to take up technology in his late 80s. He's now mastered the use of the internet, and he sent me an email the other day that in effect said "must be about time for a blog post". Ok, Uncle John.
All the districts in which I sub had Spring Break the first week of April, and I wasn't quite ready for the snowboard season to be over, so I headed West to visit some friends. Here's a map to follow along.
It wouldn't be Iowa without a barn welcoming you to the state. My first stop was to see Ellen Voegele, a good friend of mine that I met in Florida. She's now living in Waterloo, Iowa changing young lives in a local parish.
Aside from talking each others' ears off about what we've been doing the last two years, our big event was Baconfest.
Baconfest brought together restaurants all over the area to schowcase their best bacon-laced foods. Like these amazing bacon cinnamon rolls.
And our favorite item of the day, bacon-wrapped doughnut holes (seriously...so good).
I love the disclaimer here. Essentially "bacon isn't healthy." Also, note the bacon eating contests. I chose not to participate.
Those who did regretted it. They used this pre-cooked Hormel stuff that they ate cold. No thank you. The "winner" was the one who ate closest to a pound in 10 minutes. Then they brought the winners of the three rounds together for a championship. I feel like everyone lost in this contest.
Back on the road on Sunday afternoon. A student gave me a coupon for a free Shamrock Shake. I'd never had one before, and it was pretty good!
I had not counted on entering Missouri on this trip. Every time I've driven to Colorado I've taken 80 across Nebraska, but this time I took a little detour to see Sarah!
Avid readers will remember Sarah from our multiple adventures in South America. She's now back home in Falls City, NE substitute teaching. We strolled down memory lane with some Chilean refreshments.
Then on Monday I made the long haul across northern Kansas (another new route for me) to the rockies. It was good to see them again!
Ciara, in the orange coat, is another great friend I met in South America. She lives in Colorado Springs, and her dad, to her right, has a place in the town of Breckenridge. They graciously hosted me for two nights and two awesome days of riding.
Ciara is getting married this summer! That's her fiancée Bill on the far left. Congratulations, guys!
The Peratt's place is awesome, a little mountain chalet with plenty of bedrooms to hold the huge family when they all come back to visit. I had a great stay and hope to be back soon!
Day 2 on the mountain. We had great snow, especially considering it was April. Now I feel like the season is really over.
After my time in Breck, I stayed two nights in Denver with some friends from the ACE program. I did some planning for my long-term calculus job that was about to begin and had an interview with a school in China that went well. Things for next year are still up in the air, but the school seemed excited to talk with me.
I spent my last night on the road with Molly, a good friend that was in my high school class. She's living in Independence Iowa working for a company that uses stats (hey! math!) to assess the impact wind farms have on animals and their habitats. Cool stuff!
She also has adorable pets that are very cuddly. Great to see you Molly!
My last stop was a timeless burger joint in Albert Lea, MN that we first saw on the news maybe 12 years ago. We stopped on the way to a family reunion that year, and I hadn't been back since. Things haven't changed, and the burgers are still delicious.
Last week I was with my new Calculus and Stats kids that I'll be teaching the rest of the year, but since Mrs. Galt hasn't had her baby yet, they told her she had to come back to work. So I'm back on the sub lists until the little Galt is born. Pray for a healthy mom and child--and that it comes soon!
Hey! Remember me? It's been 5 weeks since my last post, which I'm quite proud to say is the longest gap I've had since starting in August 2012. Things have settled down A LOT since getting back from The Maldives, but President's Weekend was a great opportunity to get our old ski/snowboard group (all high school friends) back together for a trip.
The destination: Banff, Canada. I think everyone was in agreement that it was a great choice. The scenery and terrain were perfect for our group. The area has three resorts all included on the Big Three ticket which also includes transportation. It was very easy to navigate without a car.
Day one was spent at Norquay. It was a nice spot to warm up, not a whole lot of stuff in the trees and no terrain that was over anyone's head.
But boy, was it beautiful. The four of us on the right here, Barry, Andrew, me, and Jon, took a trip to Colorado in the Spring of 2011. Stuart, our photographer, was a welcome addition on this trip.
Stu has become quite the photographer in the last couple years, and he had a backpack that held all his lenses (and our lunches!) which allowed him to get great action shots. This was great because I have hardly any pictures of me riding a snowboard even though I've been at it 20 years.
A nice chairlift picture for mom. You're welcome Mom!
I've been watching a lot of snowboard videos lately and these step-down rails and boxes are becoming very popular. They're pretty technically difficult, it's very easy to slide out on the transitions.
One of our favorite runs on the boundary of Norquay. The views were incredible.
Day Two was Lake Louise, definitely our favorite of the three. This run is called the "Rock Garden" and was one of the most interesting (and certainly most unique) runs I've ever seen. You ride down over the rocks. There's so much snow on top that they all form mini little cliffs. It was a lot of fun!
I got this shot from the top of the ridge between the front and back sides of Lake Louise. You just can't beat these views!
We had such a fun weekend. I don't get to see these guys a lot now that we're spread all over the country (and sometimes all over the world), so I'll take any excuse to get together. Snowboarding is an added bonus.
Our day at Sunshine Village was unfortunately pretty windy. Another huge resort, there are lots of hidden gems here that just weren't accessible because of the weather. We made the best of it, finding cliffs to ride and ducking into trees. We were able to find some pretty good snow on the ridges facing away from the wind.
The Garbage Chutes, probably our most heart-pounding runs of the trip. That's me standing on top of a 15 foot cliff waiting to drop. Another great picture of me, thanks to Stu, and you're welcome, Mom!
On our last day at Lake Louise, Jon and I took a pretty adventurous run that started as an unbelievable 4 to 5 foot deep powder run and ended as a 45 minute hike out of a river valley. Oops...at least it was worth it!
Since returning from Canada, besides a trip to see some good friends in Madison Wisconsin, I've been back home in Edina Minnesota. I've been picking up sub jobs around the metro, trying to get into math classrooms whenever possible. I'm interviewing tomorrow for a long-term calculus position, so we'll see what happens!
I pulled into the garage one night and noticed my odometer was overrun with 9s. How cool is that?
So the next morning on the way to work I snapped a picture of the milestone. Ignore the speedometer, driving and taking pictures of your dash is dangerous and should never be attempted...
Anyway, right now I'm focusing on what's going to happen over the summer and next fall. There are lots of possible avenues, but I'm applying to some international schools across Asia for August to have that as a possibility. The travel bug is still very much alive, so keep an eye on the blog...I just put 48 new pages in my passport, so you never know where I'll be next!
