My Mad Skillz

I am a one trick pony.

I have spent the last two months in a work tunnel.

At some point this year, I became so busy that I realized that I wasn't living my life, rather I was just going through the motions of what a life ought to be.

Shower? Check.
Food? Check. Check. Check.
Oh. Diet? Check.
Bathroom? Right, barely made it, check.
Kids? Ignore. Check.
Kids? Stop ignoring long enough to prevent another sibling fight. Check.
Unromantic chain restaurant dinner for Anniversary? Check.
Make time to see a friend? Check.
Call someone? Check.

I used to love to travel to see my friends, it has always fueled my energy. But over the last several months I have used all of my brain power in my work to where even seeing people I love feels like I am burdening them.

Part of the reason I am mourning the loss of Katie is because she was always so willing to listen to my work tales. I have a good story for you, btw, call me. And also weird I am sad she moved when I am not even in Santa Barbara.

I plan on emerging from this cloud in late October. If you see me before then, I am sorry if I can't generate anything of interest, but here are a few updates, to help spark a conversation if I seem lagging:

1) We are not going to go back to Santa Barbara until... August 22.

2) We are very seriously examining moving to Utah in December or March after that. We have to investigate the ramifications for remote work with an advisor and tuition stuff so it is not set, but looking like a pretty decent chance.  I don't know what that means or how we will make it happen but it is at least a more interesting topic than school.

3) I got a droid incredible, my iphone will be powered down forever once I get home, get my box, and send it off to NC for Jen. You can give me crap about it if you want, but since your phone number is probably not in my new phone, your rude texts will just be from a number, not a name so therefore removes the depth of your insult.  BTW, Words with Friends is only iphone for now.  Tres sad. I think I can play with the wireless though.

4) I had a wonderful conference, thank you. I am going to have a self-indulgent moment and let you know that it was a smashing success. A bunch of things went wrong (one thing REALLY wrong but no deets, sorry) but overall the teachers in this network are so incredible that it couldn't help but be great.

5)  We took a drive downtown Chicago last night and went to a dueling piano place where much dancing was to be had.  It was like a non-stop dancing fest with some friends that I used to teach with in Sac and it was a tremendous energy release after two months of crazy work.  I truly love the friends I made teaching and so many days of my life I wish to be back in the classroom.  There is nothing like the bond that you build with other teachers when you are in a special school, making a difference in education in the country.


If you are unlucky enough to have to see my boring self in the next few weeks, ask me about dueling pianos.

Happy Pioneer Day!

Grandpa Camp Video

Lego class!

Grandpa camp includes engineering courses!

Grandpa Camp Day 1

North Carolina Life of Leisure

I had a REAL vacation day yesterday for the first time in what feels like the history of my life.  Sure, I have gone to Disneyland with my kids and loved it, I have gone on trips away from my kids for work, and I have gone shopping for groceries alone, but this was a genuine vacation day.  I think I responded to a grand total of two emails and other than taking a few pictures, my phone just lay limp and useless most of the day while I enjoyed my children.

So what did I do with said day?

• A 4th of July Praid.  Wait, we left Utah, sorry, parade.  It was really not much fun of a parade for adults, very hot, lots of political campaigning, and no horses.  BUT, the kids absolutely loved it because unlike the west coast, throwing out hard pieces of HFCS is very much alive and kicking out here so it was like a constant outpouring of sugared children's pleasure, over, and over, and over again.  Fortunately some people are very smart and brought a bag for all our kids to collect in a socialist approach so instead of eating candy, the kids were madly hunting it to put in the bag.  Amazingly, no one has even asked about that candy so it served the wonderful purpose of hours of entertainment.  One firetruck even threw out some gourmet otter pop types (mango, papaya, etc.) followed by another who handed out ice cold water.
• Spent about 3 hours at the swimming pool down at the clubhouse.  It is so close to this magical house that we were able to take the golf cart and another truckload of kids (in the truckbed no less!) all in swimsuits and towels.  We had so many kids with us that everyone else in attendance almost immediately left so it was like a private pool party.
• Kayak on the lake
• Bonfire complete with s'mores
• Watch the first half of a Marx Brothers Classic (fell asleep partway into it)
• Played pool and was soundly beat by three children under the age of 13

Add to this spending time with lots of really great kids and their wonderful parents and you have one of the best days of my vacationing life.

For the upcoming days in which I am working and not vacationing, it still beats my normal day-to-day because of the following factors:

• Handcrafted mattresses.  I might have blogged about this before but it is noteworthy that the mattresses here were built locally and they are absolutely divine.  It is like sleeping on a cloud.
• Homemade rolls and bread everyday (there is not a purchased bread package in sight!)
• Kids galore (the count right now is only 7 but yesterday and Friday on we are at 12)
• The sunlight coming up in the morning filling this very windowed house with light 
• Greenery as far as the eye can see disrupted only by the view of the lake.
• Distraction from the Great Erb Migration of 2010
• Gigantic house with lots and lots of space to be comfy, read a book, play with endless toys, get lost in the lego room, go down the indoor house slide (freshly waxed with Turtle Wax!) and recline in the automated theater chairs (I know there was a lot there but I posted about it a while back so this is just a refresher
• The feeling of being with family, having my own set of parents that love me and my kids as their own, and knowing that I am welcome here as one of the kids--I have been abundantly blessed to have a second family whose only distinguishing factor reminds me that they are not my own is a much better set of genetics in the area of Body Mass Index and looks.  Too bad that part couldn't be nurture too so I could be as beautiful as those Craig girls.

A pic of the house (in another season so missing the greenery, more pics to come):

Here is a pic of past shenanigans by the chillins around these parts and the view of the backyard:

As a side note, I highly recommend North Carolina.

Now Leaving Utah

We left this colorful yard at grandmas house to fly to the other
coast. Expect fun updates from the lovely Norte de Carolina.