Student Work

This weekend has not been very much fun for me, because I am stuck with a TON of grading to do. Part of my problem is that I assigned a project that was due on Monday, and I haven't touched any of them since then. Then my students had to respond to my math blog problem on Friday - so that added to my "to grade" pile. Oh well, it is my own fault. I had a little break today, so that Mike and I could head to Portland and look at our cake options. So, now I have decided to take another little break, which is the perfect opportunity to share some of the papers I have been grading.

In my pre-algebra classes we have been working on learning slope (rise/run). The project required the students to create a piece of artwork using straight lines and then they had to give me the slope, y-intercept, and the equation for each line. They all had very creative ideas!

Mountain Climber

Basketball Player

Odd Tree

Goalie

Christmas Tree

Robot

Field Hockey Player (Had to include this one!)

Cake Shoppe

In the Sea

My Baseball Field

My House

DIY Centerpieces

Well, we finally got around to buying everything we needed for the test run on the centerpieces. I am really excited to report that it was successful! I was starting to worry that it would not work and I did not have a back up plan. Here are a few pictures of the process while we tried different layout options for the table linens. I also included a picture of the table name displays that I worked on last Sunday. After working on the invitations everyday last weekend it was a nice change of pace to get a few of these done. Slowly but surely everything is coming together!

Legacy Lodge

Last weekend Mike and I left Sage with his parents and enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend with my family in Harrison, ME. We stayed at my second cousins summer home, which is on Sebago lake. It was my mom, grandmother, my siblings, Mike and I and then my Aunt Sherry and her children with their spouses and children. We had a lot of fun! The house was AMAZING! We were each split up into different bedrooms, which had their own bathrooms. Each family provided meals, so there was plenty of delicious food. Then there were, of course, plenty of board games, video games, pool, fooseball, movies in the theatre, and other entertainment to keep us occupied. There was especially, a lot of singing going on between Singstar karaoke and Rock Band. The weather was really nice and quite warm for March, which did was not so good for ice fishing, skating, cross country skiing or snowshoeing. Five of us ventured out onto the lake on Saturday. Ingrid, Sherry, Mom, Jon and I had the snowshoes and Mike had his cross country skiis. We went on the lake, but we soon decided to turn around, because the snow was melting. As soon as we sunk our foot into the snow a little bit of water would creep up. It certainly did not make us feel very safe. We figured that it was the snow melting on top of the frozen lake, but we did not want to take any chances. Unfortunately, we did not make it all the way back to the lodge without an incident. I of course ended up being the lucky one to end up in the water. It was my own fault, because I decided to take a look at Jason's ice fishing hole. After I snuck a peek I then started to head to more solid ground, but the snow underneath me broke away and I fell (and screamed)! Fortunately, I landed on my butt, on top of the snow that did not break away. But, I was soaked up to my knees. Luckily, it was not the lake water, because that would have been MUCH COLDER! My mom made her way over and helped by lifting me up. Here are a few photos from that adventure (none of me in the water of course, because my mom was more worried about getting me out than snapping a photo - thanks mom!).

With the help of my family I was also able to finish a major part of the wedding invitations this weekend. Here are a few more pictures of us working on the invitations, playing games and enjoying the food.

I Think I Can, I Think I Can.

I have finally decided to face my FEAR and get back on the treadmill! I have been trying to get back into a gym routine and being more active. On Monday nights I have indoor field hockey, Tuesdays a dance aerobics class, and I try to go to the gym on the other days. But, I am getting bored with the same routine all of the time. So, I found this walking boot camp that I want to try - but I just can't motivate myself to go outside in the cold. Yesterday, I convinced myself that I could and would be okay on the treadmill. This was the first time I had been on a treadmill since middle school/freshman year of high school. Which brings me to the whole reason I am terrified of them.

Around my freshman year, I went with Sarah to visit her Aunt & Uncle in Waterville, ME. For some reason I decided to listen to her when she said to get on the treadmill and see how fast I could go. As I was walking along she would slowly increase the the speed. I eventually had to start jogging, which turned into a run, and then very quickly became a full sprint (which I could only do for so long). The end result was that the treadmill did not slow down fast enough and I fell. However, t I did not want my face to hit the track and get burned or scraped. So, I decided that the next best thing to do would be to hold on until Sarah could get the track to STOP! Unfortunately, while I was holding on my knees were touching the track and the treadmill was still going, until FINALLY it slowed down enough so that I could let go. I ended up with REALLY bad, painful burns on both of my knees. The good news was that they were not on my face!

Sarah and I proceeded to go upstairs to find Nancy (who is a nurse) to find out what to do. Unfortunately, the answer was to pour peroxide on the wounds, which was VERY painful. Then for the rest of the day I tried to stay still as much as possible. Getting home was another adventure, because I couldn't really bend my knees to walk around, let alone sit in a car for 45 minutes.

Since then (about 13 years) the scars have slowly faded away, and have avoided going anywhere near treadmills. That is until yesterday! I decided to try it out. I was very hesitant to increase the speed at all, but I thought it was a huge accomplishment to even try. I can't say that I really went as fast as I possibly could, but we'll get their someday (maybe). If the speed even went above 3 mph you better believe that I was holding on for dear life! We'll see if things improve as I go through this boot camp! Hopefully it will be worth it!

It's All Over

There are only a few hours left of my vacation! Sadly, that means that I need to start think

ing about and preparing for school tomorrow. But, before I do that I thought I would procrastinate a little longer and reflect on the things that I (with the help of others) was able to accomplish this week.

1. Michael and I had our engagement photos done at Nubble Lighthouse, where we were engaged. You can catch a sneak peek on our photographers blog: snapshotsbyclare.net

2. My field hockey team won the last regular season game and will be playing in the championship game tomorrow night!

3. Quite a few things were completed for the wedding (see some photos below): I finished the Oslin letters for the cake table. Sarah and Katie helped me put together half of the invitations. Michael and I finished writing and putting together the table names. We had a tasting at the Wyndham on Friday and made a final decision for the menu. Michael and I attended the marriage prep class. And we finally decided on and booked our honeymoon - an all inclusive resort - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic!

4. As noted in the previous post we had a nice visit with Jen, Jenn and Melissa. And I was able to go to Sage's training class.

5. Hung out in Hampden for the weekend and visited with Mom & Jon. Sage spent the day with Mom at PDQ Door while Mike and I were at the marriage prep class.

6. Finished two books: Thirteen Reasons Why & The Mysterious Benedict Society. This was really exciting for me, because I rarely have time to read during the school year.

Well, I think that is all that is all I can remember for now - I'm sure I forgot a few things. So unfortunately, now I must put the computer away and start getting ready for school tomorrow morning. Even though it is quite possible we will either have a snow day or a delay. We shall see!

Puppy Love

My first official post! Here goes...

It is really sad to think about how February vacation is half over. But, I must say that I have had an enjoyable and productive week. Last night JP, Jenn T, and Melissa came to Michael's in Scarborough for a little UMF reunion. We hung out, reminisced, ate some delicious lasagna, made some jello creations and then enjoyed brownie sundaes.

Sage was certainly excited for the new visitors - lots of jumping and running around! That is why I am looking forward to going to Sage's puppy training class tonight (hopefully we can work on that). I am not usually able to go, because of school and the class being in Portland. But, not tonight! I'll let you know how it goes...

So, far we have been working on attention exercises and getting her to focus more on us when called. She has pretty much mastered the basics - sit, lie down, paw, going into the crate and we are currently working on rollover. Hopefully tonight we can start working on the jumping and greeting people as they come into the house. Below is a video from when we first started some of the training and a few photos of our wonderful puppy! I hope it makes you smile!