Special Olympics

Special Olympics for the SMJUHSD and Lompoc High School was held here at PVHS yesterday.  It was so fun!  Our guys (and gals)  really gave it their all.  Isaac V turned out to be a surprise star.  He is a super fast runner and finished first in a couple of events.  He told me that he was proud, and he should have been!  He did a great job!  Other notable "stars" were Jacob F, aka"Speedy", Jesus L., Elias, Jacob D., Bernardo, Dante, Sal, and GJ, aka "Mr. Front-Page News", who along with Josh R. had their picture make it into the Santa Maria Times. 

After the sports event, lunch was served and a dance followed.  Elias and Bri danced the entire time -- although not together!  It was mostly guys dancing with guys, and girls dancing with girls, but that's okay.  It was just nice to see everyone having such a good time!

    

Back to the Garden

Beautiful weather is once again upon us, so we have been working in the garden area. We re-organized the plants in the greenhouse yesterday; counting each type and giving that type it's own little area. It looks better, and now we know how many plants we have of each kind. Many of the students have their own projects that they have been working on in the woodworking area. Some of the students are just experimenting with wood, nails, and a drill, but other projects show real promise!

Still raining!

It's another dark, rainy day. But it's Friday! I'm looking forward to "nesting" this weekend -- finishing laundry, cleaning, etc. It's so hard for me to do that kind of stuff when it's nice outside. So, perfect weekend!

Rain!

It is so dark outside! It has been raining off and on for several days now. I miss the sunshine, but I also know that we still need the rain here in California. The hills look like they are covered in green velvet! So beautiful! The rose bushes on my deck at home are certainly enjoying the rain. They are literally covered in magnificently scented roses! My daughter wants to move to Oregon to finish college. I told her that Oregon is like this all the time. She says she would love it. Hmmm....somehow I doubt that. She is always cold.

2017

"Welcome back, my Friends, to the show that never ends. We're so glad you could attend. Come inside, come inside"* It's good to go on break, tough to get back in the routine upon return, but satisfying to get back to school! I'm sure there are very few students who feel that way, but I always do! Christmas break was relaxing for the most part. During Week 1, my daughter and I went up to Redding to visit my niece, her husband, and two young boys. It's always fun to go there, but another niece,(her sister from Florida), was there as well. We had a good time catching up and playing with the boys, ages 2 and 5. Week 2 was spent recovering from Christmas (a sacred holiday, yes, but also one in which I eat entirely too many sweets!). My daughter gave my husband and I a winery tour as a gift. My husband and I eagerly participated at a beautiful winery in Solvang, built in the 1800s. Of course a trip to Solvang is not complete without hitting Olsen's Bakery for an eclair. More sweets! New Year's Eve was spent at the Pismo Beach Moose lodge where my husband and his band played until midnight! I think I may have burned off that eclair with all the dancing! Week 3 was getting organized and doing some cleaning. Not the most exciting things to do, but I enjoy "nesting" when I get the chance! My Christmas decorations are still up. It's always so hard to take them down. I enjoy the ambience of the lights, and everything looks so bare afterwards. Maybe just one more week! *Sadly, one of the members of ELP (I can't remember which -- Lake, I think) passed away right before Christmas. This is from one of their songs from back in the '70s. My husband spent his break binge-watching YouTube videos of them. :(

11-15-16

Today we worked on the robot again. Santos discovered that we had done yet another thing incorrectly, so he took that area and reconnected it the right way. It's so hard for me because the directions don't correspond to the actual model. Anyway, Dorian put some finishing touches on it, gave me directions on what to do to put the scooper on it, and hopefully we can get this thing done!

Plant love!

Well, we're starting to plant kale.  The greenhouse was built on Monday, and the containers were filled with soil yesterday.  We planted today.  It felt so good to be out in the sun and the warm breeze!

It seemed like the students were into it, too.  Almost everyone had a positive attitude and was willing to work.  Hey, does it get any better than that?

I don't really like kale, but I'm willing to "rethink" it since we worked so hard getting it planted!

New School Year!

Hey, the new school year has started!  It's so good to see some students from last year, and fun to get to know the new freshman.  The "deer in the headlights" look that many of our newbies had the first few days has given way to a more relaxed look -- and sometimes more relaxed behavior. You know who you are! :)

On a personal note, my daughter has started her college career at Allen Hancock.  She's loving the freedom!

As for me, I enjoy working with Mr. Grimm and his students.  It's a relatively stress-free environment in which I get to nurture, instruct, cajole, and, best of all, laugh!

Summer plans

This summer I am planning to go back east to visit my family.  My brother and his wife are coming up from Florida, too.  I haven't seen him in four years, so it will be good to get together.  Also,  my class reunion is being held around that time.  I hope it coincides with my trip.  I haven't been to a reunion in many years.

I would love to hear what your summer plans are.  Please comment, and let me know!

Engagement!

My husband texted me yesterday -- he got a call from my step-daughter's boyfriend.  I was worried.  Was something wrong?  Nope, he was calling to ask my husband's permission to marry her!  He is taking her camping this weekend and will pop the question then.  Sigh!  So, he will then be her fiancé! 

Buddy Royal

Mr. Garcia was nice enough to come into our classroom and discuss his career as a WWE-style wrestler.  It was fun to watch the students response to his video.  Most of the boys were totally captivated!  Mr. Garcia seems like a pretty mild-mannered guy, but he plays a super tough guy really well as a wrestler!

Thank you, Mr. Garcia, for sharing such a fun topic with our class!

Tori's graduation

The most exciting thing going on in my life now is my daughter, Tori, is graduating on June 9th!  I have lots of family coming in:  my brother-in-law, Dennis, from San Diego
                                                  my niece, Chantelle, and her husband and 2 boys from Redding
                                                  my niece, Chenie from Florida
                                                  my dear friend of many years, Tina, from Pennsylvania
                                                  my step-daughter, Krista, and her boyfriend from Orange County

I am sooo looking forward to seeing everyone!  And, of course, celebrating Tori's graduation.  Once you graduate, life is never the same!  But, like I told my daughter, it just keeps getting better!

Thanksgiving break

I love having leisurely mornings in which I drink coffee and check my Facebook account.  I did this a lot last week!  My husband would build a fire, and we would sip our coffee while staying nice and  cozy!  We also put up our Christmas tree.  I can't remember the last year when we got it up so early!  We drank eggnog and watched the Broncos beat the Patriots while we decorated.  Yay, Broncos!

Movies that I would like to see

I would like to see:  Goosebumps
                                 Pan
                                 Mockingjay II

Get a Job

The most important thing to remember when trying to get a job is to stay focused, don't give up, and follow through with every lead!

My Dream Job

If I could have any job in the world, I would like to work as a travel guide writer.

My Favorite Store

My favorite store is the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  Need I say more?  :)