The First Week

I was really not looking forward to school starting, because that means summer is over, and the real work begins. Suprisingly this week has been quite good though. Having taught 7th grade last year, I happen to have some of the same students again this year. I also have some of the same kids from summer school. I am really enjoying this because I don't have to spend as much time getting to know the students because I already know at least 3/4 of my 200 this year!

My schedule is interesting this year because I am working without a prep period. I teach periods 1-5 all 8th grade physical science (I have 51 minutes this year instead of 40! YAY!!). I have a 30 minute lunch and then I teach ASB/Leadership for the last period. This makes for a long day, with no breaks but once my first check of the year arrives I think I won't mind since prep buy out is roughly an extra $750 a month:) My house desperatley needs needs this extra cash!

I'm really liking that this is my third year and not only do I have tenure, but for once I feel really confident about what I need to teach for my subject. The planning is less work and it just feels like second nature. The leadership class is working out well too, and I think it will prove to be a rewarding experience for myself and the kids. The woman I am working with on this is another challenge....it is like my Phi Sigma Sigma days all over again. Working with people who do not understand the meaning of organizing and planning and leadership in general. This will be interesting.

I organized a teambuilding activity for the ASB students at this inflatable party place and it was a huge success. The students got to know each other, and started working on things as a team. It was a great start to our year of working and learning together!

Triple Tragedy

SAN DIEGO

It was the best of time, it was the worst of times...and so the story of the last month begins with a trip to San Diego. Overall, we had a great time seeing friends, enjoying the beach, little climbing, etc. However on Wednesday Rich was taken by ambulance from the convention center (he was at a conference part of the week) to the hospital. Apparently something that they served for lunch reacted with his medication and he was suffering from severe chest pains and throbbing head, with a blood pressure over 230! Luckily by the time I got to the hospital he was ok, but it was definitely scary there for a bit. Doctor's chalked it up to the meds and food combination and all is well now. Rich quickly recovered, and we were back at it the next day. See pictures below:

HAVASUPAI FALLS was the next weekend excursion. I was already a little nervous because it was a 10 mile hike just to get there and we had to carry everything we needed for the weekend the whole 10 miles as well! It turned out that it was well worth the hike and indeed one of the most beautiful places I've visited. We spent the days exploring the three waterfalls there and taking dips in the icy water. Saturday afternoon however we were in for a rude awakening... The Ranger alerted us to pack up camp because a flash flood was on the way. It was all I could do to not freak out after I found this out! So, we did as told and decided that we would attempt the hike out earlier than expected. On our way out it started pouring and thundering and lightning. Luckily it stopped quickly and we headed out. We encountered more and more water on the trail out and realized at one point that we had better stop where there was high ground and get some rest. The whole trail had washed away and become a river. I thought I was never going to make it out alive espeically since we had past some hikers who had lost people in their party. Come to find out the next day there were over 20 missing people, a broken dam near the grand canyon and the indian village down in Havasupai had to be evacuated. Needless to say we were lucky we made it out in one piece.

IDLLYWILD LABOR DAY WEEKEND
We decided to get out of town for the last weekend before school started, and headed up the mountain to meet friends at a cabin they had rented for the weekend. We decided that we would go climbing and hiked up treacherous terrain to get there. Upon our arrival we witnessed another climber fall about 100ft and land wedged between a rock and tree. It was the scariest thing I'd ever seen, I really thought this person was dead. Luckily Rich and some other climbers went to the rescue and we found one of them who was a paramedic. I ran down the trail to lead up the ambulance and search and rescue up to where the incident had occured. There was a girl stuck on top of the rock where the guy had fallen and she too was injured. So after we got the guy help, Rich and his friend Phil went up to rescue the girl. Meanwhile it starts pouring and hailing the size of marbles! Myself, Phil's wife, and someother random people and a firefighter were all stuck at the base of the rock on top of the mountain. I have never been so cold, wet, and scared! See all the hail in Rich's truck and how messy and gross we both looked after this debacle:

The Press Enterprise ran a story today about Rich and Phil's efforts to save both the guy and girl who were injured. We don't know if the guy will live, but they definitely helped save a life this past weekend.

After this, Rich told me that he would not subject me to the outdoors for a good long time:)