Admitting it

When Emily Potter and I were roommates, we'd have lots of conversations about futures and plans and wishes and such. She had decided to apply for graduate school, but was reluctant to tell anyone, because somehow she felt that if she told someone the magic would wear off and she wouldn't get accepted. I agreed--I, too, hesitate to tell people my real plans for fear that once the universe knows about them, they'll fall through.

Emily made the decision to tell a few people.

And in the tradition of becoming vulnerable (as I told Emily I would), I am now telling the universe. This might seem trite and easy to some people, but it's hard for me... but I need help and support from everyone, so I'm cluing you in.

I've told everyone that I want to lose weight, and that Hubby and I are changing our lifestyles so we can do that. As I approach my 1-month mark on my diet, I've finalized my goal.

One month ago, I weighed 216 pounds... the heaviest I've ever been.
This morning, I weighed 208 pounds.
That means about 8 pounds a month, if I keep plugging along and doing it right.

So.... that means that in 6 months, I will lose 48 pounds and will be at my target weight of 160. I don't think I've weighed that since 7th grade.

Thank you all for becoming a part of this with me... for your support, tips, and love.

Dinner and pumpkins

Kadra and Bryce came over for dinner Sunday night.















Toby was very cuddly with them both. Shortly after this picture was taken, he curled up in a ball and nestled himself in her lap.

After dinner, we carved pumpkins! (James' pumpkin is on the far left. You can't see it, but he did manage to cut a lid in the top and scoop out the insides.















Final products...

Party weekend

Saturday evening was Emily's baby shower. Any day now we'll meet little Neaman! I'm very excited, and Emily is the cutest little pregnant lady.













After the shower, James and I went to a Halloween party of a classmate of mine. We had a blast! It's been two years since I've dressed up for Halloween. We went as Goths. I even straightened James' hair!












Christina, the hostess, has a python named Spike. I love him! We became fast friends.

The rest of these pictures are my cohorts and some of their significant others. I have such fun friends! I was impressed with the costumes. I didn't take too many pictures, so this is just a sample of the party population. Also in attendance was Fidel Castro, a (working) keg, money, a few vampires, and others.

Baring it all

So, Toby got snipped.

He's just as playful as ever. And I don't think he realizes how silly he looks with his bum shaved. He still waves it around in the air, pointing it at our faces while doing the "skunk shuffle." I wanted to take a picture of it, as I think he looks rediculous... but James won't let me. He says that we've stripped him of dignity enough for one day.

*sigh* oh well.

Updates

James and I are going to a Halloween party on Saturday. We're going as suicidal goths. I'm very excited... finally, an appropriate place to wear black makeup, fake piercings, black fishnets, huge buckley boots, and all the zany black clothing I own. And a wig!

















I'm totally stressed out. I should start doing yoga again.

Toby's getting snipped tomorrow.

In three weeks: another Praxis test. This time--Math: Proofs and Models, and Integrated Science.

Bought scale. Lost another pound! Tummy hurts, though.

Doing okay at school, just super super busy. Realizing that most other people in my cohort got placed at relatively calm schools, as most of their students are "perfectly well-behaved."

Teaching every Friday.

Time to take out winter clothes! Getting chilly.

One year anniversary in about two weeks.

I've got big urges to paint, but no time to do it. They keep calling me in to work both Saturday and Sunday. Last time I had a day off from school and work: almost a month ago. GOING CRAZY.

Counting our blessings. :)

All's well

Update: One of the kids apologized to me very nicely, and we're a-okay now. The other kid's mom never showed up--the principal (a large black man) spoke to her, and apparently she wanted to turn it into a racial issue, and he told her that she wasn't to talk to me unless he was present at the meeting. That was enough to deter her from coming in, so the meeting never happened. Her son tried his hardest to ignore me yesterday, which was fine, but I taught today so he was sort of forced to interact, but it seems just fine. I think (knock on wood) it's behind us now.

I taught today--my own lesson, etc. etc., and my supervisor came in and observed me. Fortunately, the class he came in to observe is the most well-behaved class. They were great! We made rafts out of straws and tape and floated pennies on them. The group with the most buoyant raft won candy. It was pretty fun... and Kristin (my cooperating teacher) sees improvement with my mad skillz.

Bad news!

Remember the two kids that got suspended? Well, one of them wasn't suspended, as it turned out... but they did call his parents, and now his mom is coming in Thursday to talk to me. My cooperating teacher, as well as the safety officer at the school, will be there. But did I ever tell you why they were suspended? For "sexually inappropriate actions" toward Yours Truly.
This awkward situation is just escalating. I just barely started! I'm not even a real student teacher yet!

Good news!

I've lost four pounds since October 4th!














I felt that this post needed a picture, so I found one taken of us about a year ago by Kristin.













Here's another. :)

Today, in my last class...

One person kicked out...
One person has detention..
And two people were suspended.

My second day of teaching.

This is hard sometimes.

We feed our skunk on carrots and love

This afternoon, James walked through the door from work to the sound of clattering and skunk stomping.
Toby had scaled the kitchen drawers... all the way to the stovetop. He found my hanging onions, the garlic clove, the sugar jar, and the butter dish, among other things. And of course, he knew he was being naughty.... but James just couldn't be mad at the little dude! I mean, hauling himself all the way up to the stovetop must have been a great challenge. And the comedy of being greeted by a stomping skunk on the stove was hilarity, I'm told!
I took these pics last week. See how big he's getting!
















Can you find his little nose in this one? He sleeps with us at night. He's a bedhog. Last night, he slept on my neck! His warm, soft belly fur is heaven...





























When we're typing and we can't hold him, he still likes to be near us... (like my funky slipper socks?)

I'm hungry!

I'm on a diet. A serious one this time. 1500 calories, per my dietician. So far (it's been two days), so good. Veggies really do make you feel good! And I'm starting to like cottage cheese. She says I need more protein in my diet. Other than that, I'm eating well, I just have to cut some proportion. Good news: I have lost a little weight since July, unexpectedly. I thought I had gained. Tip for others who are trying to lose: the 100 Calorie packs of popcorn are a lifesaver! You have the satisfaction of shovelling food into your mouth, yet only 100 calories so it's guilt-free and easy to fit in to your daily allowance.
Does anyone have any good suggestions of how to eat zuchini? I really only like carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and greens. I need to branch out (no pun intended).

It's 3 AM, I must be lonely...

On my bottle of Imuran, there's a label warning against being near people with infectious diseases, as my risk of catching those diseases increases.

Hmm. I guess I can't avoid it as well as I used to, as now I'm working with 123 7th graders in a confined space.

Needless to say, I've caught some sort of disease. I don't think it's serious (I hope it's not pneumonia!), but it IS certainly inconvenient. And for some reason, most of the ailments I catch seem to settle in my chest... and when that happens, a terrible cough develops, and I can't get any sleep, so my body can't rest to get better, and it just keeps going and going and going.

It's 3 AM, and I'm wide awake. I don't want to lie in bed, as I'll keep James up, so I'm here, talking to you all. Thanks for keeping me company. I guess I'm fortunate that I still have some super cough syrup left over from the spring, when I got my last Totally Rediculous Cough. Hycodan, I suppose, is my DOC. Only wusses get dependent on cough syrup. I'm SO Little League.

Oh! In other news, I bought Paul's camera. Joy! Pictures again! But I don't want to send a picture of me coughing or anything, nor of me at 3 AM.

Oh, and Skye? Just a few minutes ago, I was in the bathroom on the toilet nonetheless, and I looked up and there was a spider on the ceiling! I'm not afraid of most spiders, as I used to have a tarantula and it's just rediculous for me to be afraid of them anymore, but this one was so so so icky. FYI.

I also have an eye twitch. I've had it for five days now. It's slight enough that people don't notice (last night's Seinfeld episode: George's eye tick gets him in trouble), but bothersome enough that it, well, bothers me.

Well (hmph), I suppose I ought to try to sleep again. I think Super Cough has kicked in. Yay for Super Cough!

Autumn is close!

I am very very very excited for autumn. It's my favorite season. I have pumpkins and colorful Indian corn and fake leaves spread about the place. Which reminds me of my wedding decorations! ...which then reminds me that it's our one year anniversary in a month and a half! Sheesh! Where has the time gone?

Looking for a digital camera. One of my friends just bought a new fancy one; I think I'll buy his old one. That would mean that I haven't had a new camera since I was about 12, if ever. But I'm looking forward to posting pictures again. Toby's getting big. And, you know, so much more exciting stuff is going on.

I've started my practicum. The kids are hilarious. They're seventh graders. This morning, one of them opened the school door for me, and some of them said, "Good morning, Ms. Wright!" as they walked in the classroom. It's only my third day, but some of them are already taking full advantage of my attention. And the thumbsucker cracks me up. Isn't there always a thumbsucker? I'm also very impressed with the amount of technology they have in the classrooms. The last two days, each student has been working on a laptop and digital cameras, altering photographs and doing picture analysis. It's great! Oh, and totally fun. Click here to do what we did, and go to "Portrait Project." Have a digital headshot of yourself handy, and play!

Great band: Devotchka. Check them out.

I'm sickly. My body's fighting it, but I'm afraid it's a losing battle. My poor little white blood cells. Go, little leukocytes, go! Oh, and I took the rest of my biology Praxis tests last Saturday. Maybe I passed. Maybe.

I've been having strange dreams lately.

Half a decade later...

Benjamin Franklin
There never was a good war or a bad peace.

Abraham Lincoln
Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose -- and you allow him to make war at pleasure. If today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invading us' but he will say to you, 'Be silent; I see it, if you don't.'"

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.

Gandhi
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?

Isaac Asimov
Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent.


























The best film I've seen about 9/11 is called simply, "9/11." Two French brothers were filming a documentary about a rookie fire fighter in lower Manhatten the day it happened. There is no political commentary, no blaming, no talk of war in Iraq. Simply the raw emotions of these men as it happened. Your local library has several copies; please borrow it.

My hard weekend

This past weekend I drove 2000 miles, spent 24 hours in a car with two toddlers, was stung by a bee, and my underwire broke in the middle of NOWHERE in Montana and the town we stayed in has NO place to buy a new one. Those parts of my weekend were all okay.
I won't go into details, but I had the hardest 48 hours I've ever had in my life. I'm recovering now, but I'm still sad about a few things, one of them the failing health of my grandfather. Most of my family gathered in Driggs, Idaho to spend some time before the winter comes and he passes away. It was good to see Pat and Libby, Ginny and Craig, my niece and nephew, my parents, my cousin and aunt, and my grandparents, especially. My grandma and I even had a little sleepover in her room for two nights, due to so much company. We had some good talks. And my grandpa is as sweet as ever. And I got to know my great Aunt Laree, my grandmother's sister. She's the sweetest old lady I've ever met in my life. And so hip! It's hard to believe she's in her mid-eighties.
In the 40's, my grandparents bought a house in Driggs with cash. The house was built around 1918 and has been in our family for 65 years. Both my grandparents were raised in Driggs, and their parents, and theirs, etc. Actually, my family name is Driggs. We settled that valley a long time ago, and no matter where I live, I consider that "home base." I love that house. I planned on taking lots of pictures of it while I was there, and lots and lots of my grandparents, but before I had taken more than a few, my camera bit the dust. So, the plethora of pictures I hoped for were never taken. Here are, however, a few.
















My grandpa owned a sporting goods store, and they used to play poker and slot machines. When he sold it, he kept the 5 cent and 10 cent slot machines, and my siblings and I used to spend hours annoying our family playing. We could, of course, take out the spent coins from the back of the machine, so we could go on forever. This is my nephew, Noah, getting addicted to the 5 cent machine.




















My grandpa has been the greatest fisherman in Teton Valley for years and years. He made a red boat, and he used to take us out fishing on Teton River when we were kids. We'd practice casting in the big backyard by the lilac bushes, and when we'd catch a big fish, he'd teach us how to hold them in pictures so they looked bigger.


















We'd play Hand and Foot (the official Driggs family card game... it takes hours, and it gets very heated) in the kitchen nook. In the summer, the petunias in the windowboxes attract hummingbirds. I saw three this weekend!




















Until recently, the house was warmed with coal. As a kid, I was terrified of the basement, not only because it was dark and cold and had a huge pile of coal, but also because this Canadian Lynx would peek around the corner to stare at me.
















These are the four surviving Floyd sisters. My grandma, DeEtta Maxine Floyd Driggs, is in the green shirt. I've always thought it was rad that my grandma's middle name is Maxine.

Last week, super busy

First, our friends Gage and Jessica moved to Minnesota. Sadness! No more skunkie playdates. Jessica suprised Gage by being baptised the day before they left. James and I attended, and it was very special and sweet. Gage was surprised and touched. After the baptism, we went out to dinner downtown and spent some good time together before they moved to the boonies. (Gage is doing his doctoral internship there.)


















The next night, James and I went to a Samples concert. I was surprised they made it back to PDX so soon (they were here in April)! It was probably the best show of theirs I've been to, and James and I had seats front and center.















Sean flashed me a peace sign when he saw my camera! That peace sign is for ME!

School, dinner, Pluto.

Poor Pluto. Did everyone hear he's not a planet anymore? I still love you, little satellite!

School news: I've changed my endorsements. Previous endorsements: Biology and Advanced Math. New endorsements: Biology, Integrated Science, and Basic Math. Dumb Praxis. I didn't want Advanced Math anyway! Oh, but I am excited about the Integrated Science bit. I've been requesting that change for a while now. A third endorsement is more work, but I think worth it. Now I can teach all sciences but Chem and Physics, I believe. I wouldn't ever want to teach Chem, and in Physics I'd only get the school snobs. (I was in physics, so I think I can say this. I've seen it with my own eyes.) Here I come, Meteorology and Geology and Astronomy! Woohoo!

Tonight for dinner we had chicken with rosemary from my garden spot, potatoes and cauliflower from the farmer's market cooked with onions, basil and oregano from my garden, plus two-colored corn on the cob from the market as well. Yummmm!

Skunks in the Park

Last night, James, Toby and I met with Gage, Jessica, Aroma, and Cotton at Waterfront Park. It was a beautiful night, and Toby had the time of his life!















Toby's three favorite things were running (didn't get a shot of us chasing him, and we'd be a blur anyway), digging (pictured below),


















and "playing" with his new lady friend, Aroma. She didn't fight him off, which surprised Gage and Jessica, but he was a little rough with her. Um, it's time for him to get neutered. I had no idea he had so much stamina. I don't blame him, though. She's gorgeous.














From top of picture to bottom: Toby, Aroma, and Cotton. All three of them are different types of skunks! Chocolate Chip, Classic black & white, and Grayback, respectively. Toby has the prettiest tail. Did you know they have skunk tail beauty contests? I found the national champion's picture last night and Toby really does have a chance at that title.














Here's a pooped Toby cuddling with Bunny, my sock puppet friend.

Handsome Hubby and Tired Toby

On dancing, fresh food, and tepees

This weekend, Hubby and I went to Missoula to visit our dear, dear friend Emily. She is soon embarking on a year-long journey to India. Wow! Wowie!
We decided to bring Toby, as we didn't want anyone to have to pay him constant attention for four days. We reserved the entire trunk area in the Escape for him, which was very roomy. For the whole 18-hour round trip, he was so well-behaved! I think the rhythm of the car puts him to sleep. Even though he could climb over the seat to visit us, he stayed content in his little home. He was, though, exhausted when we got to Emily's:















...But there was much rejoicing for us! There was dancing...



















...and more dancing, and laughing....



















...and embracing...















...and cuddling...



















...and playing with carrots at the dinner table!















We went to the farmer's market on Saturday morning. I bought a gigantic thing of celery, and green peppers, and melon, and carrots, and HUCKLEBERRIES! Fresh huckleberries!
And these carrots and cherries were probably plucked just the day before. Mmmm, freshness!










Emily has a real, sacred tepee in her backyard. This trip was spiritual if it was anything.

Missoula is beautiful, and the drive was relaxing. I am so thankful we were able to visit Emily's home.

And Toby had a fantastic time. We left him slumbering in the shade in back of the car while we ate Indian food at a vegan restaurant, and the little devil woke up at attacked my bags from the market! He ate an entire pepper, some celery, and a huge part of my melon. He doesn't even LIKE melon. I couldn't force feed it to him last week. I wasn't too upset about him getting into the food, since it was for him, anyway... but he ate WAYYY too much, and soon after threw it all back up. Now, I'm not one to enjoy reading much about skunk puke, but let me tell you, there was a LOT of it. I mean, probably a pound (or more) came from the belly of a three-pound skunk. I could not BELIEVE it. Fortunately, it wasn't stinky or gross. Just basically chopped veggies. But that little porker couldn't WAIT to eat more! It didn't dissuade him one bit! At any rate, the little guy had a blast with Emily. Thank you, dear, for putting up with him. He loves you.
And we love you, Emily. You are light and love. You are forever part of our lives and our family tree.