The legend of the beast goes back a long time...

We manly men went for a camping and fishing trip at Ruth Lake this August. And by manly men I of course mean Julianne, Ethan, Kaleb, Jaden, myself, Charles, Curtis, and Brycetopher. We were all very excited to go, some of us even started planning and packing weeks in advance.

Most of us carried our own packs while others loaded up a handcart (wheelbarrow) and hiked about one mile from our cars to the lake.

I had the world’s worst job interview that afternoon so I headed up to the lake a few hours after the others, however, I got to the camp site just as they were putting up the tents. I must have missed A LOT on the journey up. I did hear that each of the little boys took turns carrying Ethan’s heavy pack, they were concerned for how Julianne was going to cross the scary gush of water (6 inches wide) without anyone to help her after she helped everyone else cross, and each took turns reading the map. I hear Kaleb was especially helpful at this. When asked which direction they were heading, Kaleb responded, “the wrong direction.”

When I got to on the trail it was raining and Julianne was supposed to meet me and hike to the site with me, but she wasn’t there and I seriously considered just bailing and going to the cabin with all the girly men and babies for the night.

It rained off and on most of the night but I am glad I stayed because we had lots of fun learning how to set up tents

build fires

pee in the wilderness

eat “food” over a fire

tell scary stories

hike and explore

and we all took turns teaching and learning how to catch fish. Some of us were better teachers than others.

Dad was the real expert (but he was too much of a wuss to spend the night).

Everyone was able to catch a fish

The girly men came and visited us for a few minutes.

I think we ended up with 14 fish.

Ok, what else did I miss?

Training is for sissies.

Dad ran a relay marathon today, September 11, 2010 and he hasn't been running for 3 weeks. Impressive, no? I got to the race just in time to see him run by with about a mile left to go and saw him finish so I don't have a lot of details. You'll have to call him and ask more about it. I do know that he only walked up the hills which is way better than what he did last year. I also know that his cowokers are all jealous of him and hope to still be doing these races when they are as mature and experienced as Dad is.

He ran so fast all I got a picture of was the dust in his tracks!

...my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight...

I thought I would update everyone on how my first few weeks of my new professional life are going. To start on a positive note, I really do love teaching PE. I think it's something I am good at and find joy in helping children develop skills and introduce them to games and activities they think are fun. Plus they're getting exercise when they don't even realize it. It is so gratifying when I hear kids scream, "Miss Ashton! I did it!"

The weather has been nice so I get to be outside, instead of on 1/4 a basketball court in the gymeteria with the lunch kids and the middle school PE class. However, there is no drinking fountain outside and it's very hot so I hear kids complain about the heat (which is valid for the younger kids) and asking every 30 seconds to get a drink of water inside the building.

The staff at the school are very kind and fun...but not really helpful. I still have no idea where I fit in in the whole part-time faculty nonsense and don't really know when I need to be at school and meetings and stuff. And I didn't get a school laptop :-( So I either have to ask a million questions or wait until someone tells me I'm doing something wrong (which hasn't happened yet.)

I share an office with 5 other people. They are all fun people that I really like, especially my former high school PE teacher who teaches the middle school PE classes. But our office is like a bat cave up in the corner above the stage and we have 1 tape dispenser to share between us all and 1 power strip so half the time I go up there my desk is being used by someone else because it's next to an outlet.

I have made friends with the recess duty aides, which Mom tells me is good. Because my schedule is so lame, I often have breaks in between classes and I can't leave equipment laying out in the field outside, so I have to haul it all in and out and re-set everything up a few times a day. The duty aides started telling the vice principal that they need to buy me a cart to transport all of my equipment because last week I was carrying 30 hula hoops, a giant rope, and 4 cones and this week I'm carrying 27 bean bags, 15 foam footballs, 8 hula hoops, 8 small cones, 7 jumbo cones, 8 plastic dots, and a giant rope. It gets heavy and awkward and NO ONE holds open a door in elementary school. I doubt I'll get a cart but it's nice to have people on my side.

Somehow the principal got me to help coach the cross country team. I really cannot explain how it happened, I'm pretty sure there was paranormal activity involved because I don't recall saying yes or anything. It just happened. The other coach is the principal's wife and she is intense. Our coaching philosophies are very different and I disagree with a lot of what takes place at practice, but what can I do? She's the principal's wife. Despite the unsafe and ridiculous things she does, I can't really say anything. She does all the coaching and I run with the slow kids in the back and talk to all the parents. Fun.

So, lots of good things are happening at work. But some days no matter how much I love the job of teaching itself, the naughty kids who will not shut up, stop sitting on the cones, throw hula hoops over the fence, whine everyday, put ropes around their necks, and fart aloud really ruin it for me and I sit in my car on the way to and from work and wonder, "what am I doing here?" 95% of the 461 students I teach are wonderful, but it really is that last 5% that ruin it for me and for everyone. I have 3 simple rules and a "3 strikes and you're out" enforcement system but I have kids that can go through 3 strikes within 2 minutes of class. And unfortunately, I know that those kids need PE more than the quiet kids because they have so much energy to get out. So I try to be sympathetic and let them drive me crazy, but I have to be fair to everyone and I can't just talk over them all class period long. So I just get frustrated and the classroom teachers are no help at all.

And as for my grad school classes...I'm taking one 3-hour class on Wednesday nights and I have been 3 weeks now and have yet to learn a single thing. All we do is listen to people whine about their classrooms and their students and what is wrong with the education system. People are so excited to interact with people their own age instead of their students that they just go on and on and on and on and waste everyone else's time.

I love my new house. I live in the basement with my own bedroom and living room. I have my own bathroom but the washer and dryer is also in there so my roommates come downstairs to do laundry. It's like living by myself except for the laundry room, the kitchen, and the noise of others. I've spoken to each of my two roommates 3 times because we're all off working and busy so we hardly ever see each other. Which doesn't bother me except that they're too busy to clean up the kitchen mess and wash their dishes because our dishwasher is broken...and we all know how I feel about dirty kitchens...ugh...

All in all, life is good. I'm still hoping that this job is temporary and I'm still looking for a full-time job in a secondary school but until then I'll keep plugging along here.