i'm busy

i haven't posted for a while. i'm busy. deal with it.

"It's like...FOREST."

My hubby and I recently celebrated our 3-year anniversary by going camping. And I know that there are SO MANY women out there that are like, "Really? Camping? Have you been camping before?" I even know of a story where a relationship was almost broken solely because of a camping experience. Well, I love to camp. My hubby loves to camp. So, yes, we camped (and peed and ate and slept and...other things...) in the woods for 4 days and 3 nights. Here are some of my most memorable moments:

1. The Drive. It was only supposed to take us an hour to get to our original campsite. We were going to really rough it by making our own site at Rum River State Forest. Yeah. It took like 2 1/2 hours to get there in traffic and then the forest was not-so-campable. There were way too many bugs. I expect bugs in the woods. But these bugs practically carried me out of the car. Plus the forest was super dense; chopping down trees was not my idea of "making camp." So, we drove another hour to a state park. We're picky campers and didn't like it. So we drove another half-hour to a different state park. We didn't really like it there either, but it was getting dark. I was tired and hungry and cranky from the drive, so we made do for the evening. The next morning we packed up and found an excellent state campground that was PERFECT.
2. Hot dogs. Tim bought me Schweigert natural-casing hot dogs for the trip. I LOVE THEM. I hate like 12. Yum. By the way, ALL--and I literally mean ALL--of my pants have ketchup stains on them from my hot dog binges.
3. Tim. He was HILARIOUS on this trip. At one point, we were driving through a mostly deserted campground in the forest, when Tim looks out the window and says (I'm not kidding), "Dude. This is awesome. I just love this. It's like you look out at the forest and think, FOREST!" At which point I bust out laughing. Really? Really, Tim? So articulate.
4. Creepers. Our final campsite was a hike-in site, which means that it was off of the road and you had to hike in to get there. It was very private and out of the way. Or so I thought. One afternoon, Tim was napping and I was not, so I decided to grab my book and read. It was warm that day and we had a private, hike-in site; I figured I'd be just fine reading my book in nothing but my underthings and a tank-top. I hadn't seen anyone else around, and who would just walk through someone's campsite? Well, someone did. So, there I sat in my panties and a tank top trying to ward of nosy neighbors. Lovely. And embarrassing.
5. Hair eating fish. On Friday, we bathed in an area lake. I'm not proud to admit that I had a minor panic attack with the Blue Gills and Sunfish got all horny for my conditioned hair. Everytime I'd rinse it out, I'd find like 6 more fish swimming towards my head. Gross.

The plant lady

For the past three years, my husband and I have cleaned a small office building each weekend for some extra (and at times MUCH needed) cash. Our basic duties include: vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, emptying trash cans, dusting, washing windows, etc. Like I said, we clean on the weekends so there is rarely another employee in the office. Nonetheless, you'd be surprised at how much you can learn about a person based only on the contents of their trash can and the appearance of their desk. Last night, we had the opportunity to go to a Twins game with the office as part of their employee appreciation. So, I got to meet these people who I know only through their garbage. It was interesting.

Now, I must also tell you that my husband already had met most of the staff. He also does the groundskeeping at the building and has helped out in the workshop occassionally. So, at the game, he would quietly point people out to me based on their garbage. For example, I got to meet Mountain Dew Guy (the dude has MINIMUM 3-4 2 liter Mtn Dew bottles every week), Plant Lady (the woman with all the plant trimmings from the office foliage), Kleenex Woman (seriously, can someone ALWAYS have a cold?), and Sunflower Seed Man (next time, get the seeds IN the trash can please). It was kind of strange. Frankly, I still don't think I can call them by their real names. They will always have these nicknames for me. Seriously, next Christmas I'll go to the party and be like, "Hi Mountain Dew Guy" and he'll be totally freaked out.

What I'm teaching

Yesterday I found out more details about what I'll be teaching this year. Here's how it goes:

2 sections of Grade 7 Language - this course is focused more on grammar, writing and speaking than reading

1 section of Grade 8 English

1 section of Grade 9 English

1-2 sections of Communications

It will definitely be a busy year, but I'm really excited about it!

Smelly things

Have you ever had an electric stove?

Have you ever had an electric stove where something burned on the burner and then smelled?

Really badly?

Nuf said.

Debut!

I love this video! It is my cousins directing & acting debuts. Super cute!

Pictures

I feel like my posts without pictures are lacking. That's my latest excuse for not posting as often. Sorry. My life has been good lately, though :)

On Sunday, Tim & I joined some of my girlfriends from high school & their significant others for an afternoon of tubing & boating on Lake Minnetonka. At one point, Tim looked at some of the other boats and sarcastically commented: "some people have it so rough." I looked at him and said, "Honey, I think we're those people right now. This is pretty good."

Hello Mrs. M

It's almost official. I got a job. On Monday, I was offered (and accepted) a .68 English position at Farmington Middle School. Although I have not officially signed a contract, it still feels pretty official. Wahoo!

I think I'm finally getting it...maybe

So, I'm supposed to be at work in 9 minutes...I think. I don't really have anyone in charge of me right now, so nobody necessarily knows when I'll show up or where. Nonetheless, I think the person I'm filling in for today starts at 8am. Well, I won't be there on time. I now have 8 minutes to put on my socks & shoes, make some coffee, close up the house, and complete the 20 minute drive to get there. Oh well. Being late to work today is possibly a stupid thing, but it is not something I'll regret (for more about stupid things that one may or may not regret, check out my sis-in-law's blog).

Here's why I'm late: I think I'm finally getting this whole job search thing figured out. Maybe.

This morning I realized that I should actually send out those follow-up/thank you letters from my interview on Monday and another application I submitted Monday night. I should stop procrastinating. So, I pulled out my trusty Get-a-Job binder and found the sample "Thank You" letter that the helpful U of M folks had given me. On a sidenote: the letter I got from the U of M help-you-get-a-job people had the school listed as Hamline University. Nice. I wrote some fantastically adapted form letters, complete with proper business letter format (Enclosure, cc:...the whole bit!). Ahhh...is this what it feels like to get something accomplished? I don't have the big 9x12 envelopes, so I'm just going to use regular security-lined business envelopes. Hopefully they will appreciate my frugality (teachers need to be frugal) since I'm saving money on postage, too. Oh, who am I kidding? I'll just look cheap. Oh well. At least I have them finished & in the mail.

Happy Day

Yesterday was such a wonderful day in Lisa world. Here's why:

1. I finally got to start working on "projects" at work, which give me more freedom with my time and are more challenging for my brain.
2. After work, my hubby & I romped around in the pool for a while.
3. After swimming, I read my book & dried in the sun. Lovely.
4. I ate Grand Ole' Creamery ice cream...yummy.
5. I actually HIT the balls at the driving range.
6. At home, Tim made a yummy Caesar salad.
7. We cuddled & watched Modern Marvels: How to make candy
8. I went to bed at 8:30!