Did you hear? Summer is near!!!

Wow - what a week.  Where to begin?  Life raced by so quickly that I'm not even sure what was accomplished well.  The week disappeared right out from under our feet. 

Memorial Day
I am very appreciative of those willing to step up and defend our country and/or defend those who are unable to defend themselves.  I admire our soldiers and their familes.  I look at Pete Quitano - the son of a teacher-friend who's HumV was blown up 7 years ago.  Pete was burned badly all over, lost his fingers, and still has an open wound in his chest that won't close yet due to scar tissue.  Yet, Pete continues to have true American blood running through his veins - he's completely independent, in college now, and has a girlfriend.  I see what families go through who have soldiers and appreciate their sacrifice.  I work with a gal whose husband is in the middle east, leaving his 2 young sons behind.  It's a sacrifice.  So I hope that people stopped to think about why they had a day off work for a BBQ and thank a soldier.

Carolyn and I went hiking up the Raintree trail - it was a beautiful day and we had the trail to ourselves most of the way up and didn't start running into a few people until the way down.  We made it up over 2 miles before having the trail blocked with snow at the 2nd saddle overlook.  We tredged a little in it, then decided not to risk injury right now.  Our packs were of the weight we plan on carrying on our trek and we did OK with it.  Of course, we only went 4 miles and have to be able to do 9 in one day and do that for 3 days!!



BEFORE



AFTER



That night we went to Mom and Dad's for some grilled hamburgers and the fixin's of a typical-good Covey BBQ.  The entertainment being mom PAINTING my bald spots with a new "hide your bald-spot" type powder.  You see, I have a side-effect of a condition all us Covey girls have - and my hair is disappearing more and more each year!  Anyway, it was sooo funny.  I didn't realize how bad my scalp is getting until I took a "before" picture with my phone, then compared the "after" shot.  Wow.  If it didn't itch and feel like talcum powder on your head, I may have considered it.  Thanks for the thought, mum.  I'm going to have to start thinking seriously during the next 5 years or so about either a hairpiece or something drastic.  Or else I'll just have to hang around short people who can't see it!  I did, however, have a 4th grader at lunch one day last month ask me why I didn't have hair there.  Maybe it's a sign.  :o)

NEW KIDDOS
This year we've had the opportunity to assess our "next year's" class without them knowing that we were probably going to be their teacher.  There is a reading assessment that we performed on each student on our proposed list over the period of 2 days.  I'm not sure if this will be my class or not, seeing as how I'm still very hopeful that another teacher, Shawn, will be returning due to a miraculous legislative decision we've yet seen.  So I didn't find myself bonding to them just yet, although assessing them gave me a sneak peak into what it would be like to have my own class again.  Some of them are super smart, some of them are struggling quite a bit. Some of them are super shy and some of them are silly and hams.  I'm trying to wrap my mind around this and hope to be up and running full-speed ahead in August. 

WORK RETREAT

Thursday my leadership team at work had a special "retreat" away from school to review the year's goals' progress and start planning the following year.  I was fortunate enough to have a mom who let us take over her comfortable home all day long - and we sure turned it into a conference room....a really comfy one!  We played a few "Minute to Win It" type games to start and when we needed a break - they were quick and fun.  We got a lot of work done and I think everyone was glad to have been away from the building for the day - you can get so much more done when you're not being interrupted. 

1st one to empty a kleenex box
pulling out one at a time using
only one hand



Stack 6 dice on a popsicle stick in
your mouth first!







Get out 6 ping pong balls from a
kleenex box tied to your butt
w/o using hands!



Our boss was a great sport



PAIN IN THE BUTT....

Thursday I began to feel the effects of another possible "burst cyst."  I'm not sure, because it wasn't as strong as the big one in October, but in the afternoon, I knew something was not right.  I made an appt for Friday and snuck away at lunch to TRY and see the doc.  Long talk.  Not thrilled.   



From my goodbye party last year, but
they were all there again, plus some



GOODBYE SAYS IT ALL.....



Megan & Carina - 2 of my favs



Friday night I headed over to Annette and Megan's going away party at Dawn's.  I always have such a great time getting together with my gal-pals from my old staff.  We laughed and talked and shared and laughed until it was REALLY late!  Those girls/ladies absolutely make me feel great - of course, many of them ARE my girls - I helped mentor them since they were 1st year teachers.  As we were, it was amazing to think that I've been gone for a YEAR already.  It seems like I'd never left.  There's a real comfort in being around those who are your friends, your fans, and your cheerleaders.  I love and miss them lots.  I will always be appreciative of my Priest friends - and I will miss Annette (who retired and is moving back to Maine) and Megan (who's moving to Calif).   But I have no doubt that I'm where I'm supposed to be, no matter how much my mind and heart fight it.  It truely is an amazing staff and I hope to allow myself the leeway to fit in someday.  Not sure what holds me back........

  I will really miss Megan and Annette and I wish them well.

 

Annette & Amy - last year's
Priest 5th grade graduation



 The older I get:

**the faster time seems to escape me

**the more friends move away

**the more I realize I don't know as much as I thought

**the more cautious I become in relationships

**the more time it takes to thing things through

**the less multi-tasking I can really do

**the less sense I seem to make when nervous

**the less effective I feel in all areas of life

**the more tired I get

**the more I enjoy exercising and hiking

**the earlier I go to bed

**the more I try to slow down and remember to enjoy life

**the more I realize that work is work, but is not life itself

**the more thankful I am for good people around me - who are patient, kind, and butt-kicking