visit from val

My good friend Val from my Cerner days came to visit me this past week. She was at a wedding in Houston and then swung over to SA to spend a few days! We had such a great time. I LOVE VISITORS! The night she arrived we headed straight for downtown to grab a margarita and some ceviche. Next we strolled the Riverwalk and ended up at Dick's Last Resort where there was a crazy group of older sisters having the time of their life. We closed that place down enjoying all of its atmosphere and headed home.

The next day we planned to go hiking at Lost Maples, but it was rainy/thunderstormy and we chose not to risk it since it's a 2-hour drive. Instead we traveled to Gruene. Gruene is a cute little historic-type German town with a lot of crafty and antique items for sale. Val and I had fun browsing through the shops and waiting out the rain. We went to the historic Gruene Hall which is, apparently, one of the oldest established dance halls in Texas where lots of famous country music stars (I don't know any of them) got their start. The bartender was cool and good to talk to. From there we headed to the Gristmill Restaurant, and I crossed it off my list of Texas to-dos! It's a really beautiful place, right on the Guadalupe River and had totally yummy food! After our outing in Gruene Val and I headed back to my place to just chill and relax. That night she helped me put up my Christmas tree! (I know... a little early... but I decided it's more fun to put up my tree with a friend than by myself...). Now my apartment feels very cozy!

For Val's last day (the visit went quick!) we did some typical San Antonio sight-seeing. We started off at the Alamo, which seemed fitting since it was Veteran's Day. I still don't really 'get' the Alamo... but it's a pretty place to walk around. After a quick lunch on the riverwalk we headed to El Mercado... we looked at all the Mexican wares and walked off our lunch. Finally - to the missions! We only had time to check out Mission Concepcion before we had to get to the airport. But if you only have time for one, Concepcion is a good one to see!

mariachis, mediation and more

Hey y'all. Well, I'm checking things off my "Texas To-Do" list left and right. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I did check off 'party with mariachis' this past weekend. I went to a friend's 40th birthday and it was quite the event... complete with live music in a beautiful backyard. Definitely fun times.
Let's see... what else has been new? My internship keeps plugging right along. I have really knocked a lot of my projects out of the way and am looking forward to what comes next. Yesterday I gave a professional development presentation to my school on Behavior Intervention Plans. It went really well and I always love to give a presentation... giving it on something I know a thing or two about and am excited and passionate about was a big bonus. Equally as exciting was the Peer Mediation training that I attended with kiddos and some teacher friends this past month. These kids are so wonderful... and the staff that participated are wonderful as well. Everyone gave up 3 of their afternoons, from 3-5pm, to be trained. It was great training and the students are super psyched about getting real mediations going!
My future-move to Kansas is about as on-track as it can be. I got my fingerprints done and sent off my completed licensure application to KSDE. I've been working on applications to school districts and once I get my last letter of recommendation in, I can finalize those. Phew! In other news, I've started a fun little project where I am creating design schemes for my future rooms in my future home. The binder of hopes and dreams is well under way.
Okay, so speaking of a future home... and design plans... I need a second job! Well, I need a second job if I have a hope of getting the cute new furniture into my new place. I've applied and been 'hired' at this call center by my apartment... but until they have evening training sessions, I won't be able to start. With the holidays coming up, I am guessing that my most likely start time will be January. And that's that.

the past month or so

It's been a busy last month. Not enough time to sit around and blog about it... so here it is in condensed/list form.
1. ACL - fun! Alison Kraus was a little disappointing though.
2. Birthday - good times with Zombies and La Tuna!
3. Avenue Q - so hilarious I almost peed my pants.
4. Weekend in KC - bachelorette party, catching up with old friends, Irish Fest, Reggie and Holly Jackson
5. Back to Tejas - busy busy busy. Practicum, grad school, our first (successful) COOL Night

priest holmes

The administrative practicum continues! This time I was approached by my principal after she attended the district principal's meeting. She had two new projects for me. Apparently, Priest Holmes was at her meeting. When she mentioned it, I was like... "Hey! Isn't he a Kansas City Chief!?" Shows how much I know. I guess he retired from football last year. As it turns out, he grew up in San Antonio and that's where he now lives doing, among other things, a foundation for kids. And now I'm in charge of pushing this foundation on our campus and creating some sort of nomination form for kiddos to get selected for a chance to attend a Spurs game. So there you have it.

My other project is something called Education on Demand which I'm still awaiting details on. From what I understand it will involve loading a bus full of kiddos and staff (and me!) and heading to the AT&T center for some education rally. I think it should be fun... now if I only knew more.

Speaking of the AT&T center, my friend Robin asked me to volunteer for a project she works on called "Math Counts" or something like that. Some weekend in October I'll be headed down to the AT&T center for a riveting day of math... and there you'll find me grading math tests. Good times.

Anyway, that's it for now. Hope everyone's having a great week!

cha cha

Well, life is busy and I like it. I'm into my next grad class full swing although due to Hurricane Ike our class has been extended two weeks which means that I don't REALLY have to get started until Oct. 5! But... I think it's best to get things out of the way, and so I've been working hard. School is busy busy busy. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in high school with all of the zillion activities I've got going on... Peer Mediation, Yearbook, C.O.O.L. night, PTP, and getting going on my 140 practicum hours I need of administrative work. Yikes! I like to have a full day though, so it's all good.

The other day I read an article on a cool new service called "Cha Cha". Basically, it works like this: You have a question. You text Cha Cha (242242) your question. You receive a text with the answer to your question... in 160 characters or less! How fun! Apparently, there are real people on the other side of your question that research the answer and then text you back. And according to the article, they receive all kinds of questions! So, the next time you're out with friends and you just can't remember the name of the actor in that one movie... text Cha Cha. They'll help you out!

dick n janes

Chloe was looking for a study break and alerted me to the fact that my blog has not been updated recently... so what was she to do with her study break? Well, here you go Chlo... my week in list format.

Monday: I decided to start wearing a watch to work. My days at school never really follow any real schedule and I have to know what things different grade levels are doing at all times of the day, so I think the watch will help. I also started receiving emails from Lamar about our final grades and how they were supposed to have posted but are now under review by the university. That doesn't make me feel too confident about the grade I may get for my tough class.
Tuesday: Went to the vet to get Isis her thyroid medicine. At her yearly vaccine appointment I found out she had gained 3 pounds in 4 months. Not ideal for a 50 pound doggie. After throwing down $90 on a blood test, it was revealed that Isis is, in fact, suffering from some thyroid problem which could explain her laziness of late. The thyroid meds I got her were more expensive than anticipated... $24 a month! But Isis is my best bud, and hopefully this will get her feeling better soon.
Wednesday: I will not be an administrative intern at my school. Basically, budget cuts across the district and my position being hard to fill are the reasons it will not work out. So now, I will find 140 hours of my own time to complete my administrative practicum. It's okay. I overall enjoy my job and today I helped create a behavior plan for a 3rd grader which was fun. Also, I met with our part-time VP Mr. Large to begin work on setting up the elections for the campus Site-Based Decision-Making committee. There's a lot of work to do, but I'll learn a lot, so it's all good. As I was leaving work, one of the kinder teachers asked me if I'd be interested in subbing for one of the girls on her softball team. I said sure. So, as of 7:50p.m. I suited up as a player on the Dick N Janes softball team. It's co-ed and some of the teams are pretty hard-core. I got out twice at bat and made a base hit after hitting to left field... that was fun. Balls did not come my way in the outfield, but I think if they did I'd have trouble. I signed up for vision insurance and when the new plan kicks in (January) I am getting my eyes checked pronto. I think I have some depth perception issues.
Thursday: Had a dentist appointment with a new dentist. She was kind of a wild lady, and I liked her! She didn't use that traditional pick thing... instead it was kind of like a mini jack-hammer taken to my teeth. The whole thing was done in about 10 minutes! Amazing! My teeth are healthy and that makes me happy. I didn't want to fork over any more cash on cavities or whatnot.
Friday: Busy day at work. I had to write, then label and run off 210 envelopes/letters for our campus C.O.O.L. Night. C.O.O.L. stands for Community Of Ongoing Learners. It's an awesome program our school has to bring together parents/students/communities in an effort to continue the education process. We have Parenting 9-1-1 courses, parent volunteer training, gang awareness classes, as well as instructional prep courses for kids and parents. Anyway, I am a coordinator for the program this year and had a lot of work to get done before our first Oct. 16th meeting!
Saturday: That's today! Well, I slept my heart out last night. I think I may have allergies. I like to say I'm allergic to Texas. :) Anyway, I've been pretty run-down and congested all week and last night I just needed to hit the sack early and get some rejuvinating sleep done. And I did. Today I woke up to a clean apartment, work for school done, and my next grad class not starting until Monday. Isis and I did our normal 3-mile walk and then I decided to just relax and read a book. I am reading "Three Cups of Tea" that my mom sent, and it's good. I only got through the 4th chapter before Chlo-Bug called and convincd me to blog... but now that I'm done, back to the book I go!
Have a great weekend!

enchanted rock

After a rough first week at school and a weekend filled with homework (thank God there's only a week left for these two classes... then I'm halfway done with my program!!) I decided to have a day dedicated to (at least one) thing(s) I love. Isis and I got in the car bright and early and headed out on an hour and a half long drive to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. On the list of things I need to do before leaving Texas, Enchanted Rock was near the top. I've heard so many great things about it! So, on our way we went... until something nearly catastrophic happened! Out in the middle of nowhere (aka the Texas Hill Country) the air conditioning in my car stopped working. I was cruising along at about 75mph so I turned off the A/C and cooled off with the windows down. Then I looked at my dashboard and did a (Scrubs) J.D. head-cock and wondered what could be wrong. Something didn't look right. Then I noticed it. I was overheating. I immediately put my hazards on and started crawling down the interstate at 45mph. A quick call to my dear old dad and I knew I needed help soon. Lucky for me, my exit to Enchanted Rock was right up ahead!
Now, I'm typically lucky with stranger-kindness and today was no exception. Some lady approached me at the gas station and told me her boyfriend was a mechanic and maybe he could help. Turns out he was doing some work on a transmission and I'd have to wait for 4 hours... it also turns out that that very same boyfriend also had a wife that showed up about an hour later... also willing to sign him up for the job. Not to fear! Another lady (not involved in the previous, strange, relationship) appeared and told me to wait; she'd go home and get her husband. And that's exactly what she did! Her hubby Shawn really helped me out. We filled up my radiator tub-thing and chewed the fat while he messed with the A/C and stepped on the gas. Turns out my car was just thirsty... and really... could you blame it in the hot, Texas heat? So I went on my way confident that neither I, nor my vehicle, would blow up... at least today.
This encounter brings me to a surprising revelation I will share with you. While I am not a fan of Texas, I am a fan of the hill country. First, it's beautiful. Second, the people are helpful and friendly. Third (and this is my favorite reason of all), when you are driving down the road and the person in front of you is going too slow, THEY WILL MOVE INTO THE SHOULDER FOR YOU TO PASS! It's very fun and exciting and a country practice I took part in today both as a passer and a pasee.
But I digress. Enchanted Rock was enchanting. I met some nice people on the Summit Trail and Isis drank more water than I did. The view from the top was very pretty and also very windy. She and I sat at the top for a while enjoying the scenery and a call to mom. Then it was time to head down. And I'm glad we did when we did because, unfortunately, I am a little sunkissed from the day's events. So, Enchanted Rock really is just a giant rock (I think) and some of you may know my fear of slipping and falling when I go down hills. I tried to overcome this fear on a snowshoeing trip with the boys once upon a time, and glissading is a useful technique (and fun!) when you're in the snow! As it turns out, sliding down over normal earth is not too overwhelming either... and I again practiced that skill this past summer. Making it down a sheer rock face through gliding or glissading or whatever you want to call it is impossible... but once I got a rhythm going I was able to make it down the hill just fine. Phew! The next time I head to Enchanted Rock I think I will make a plan to stay the day, or weekend, in Fredericksburg. Don't get me wrong... it was a great hike with great views, but a little too short of an adventure for the drive. And there you have it!