Our Beaver Colony: October 2010

I blame my lack of posting on being out of town the past two weekends and work craziness. But first I will again start with the part you will probably skip over but I love. :) My yard work. Since I have been out of town, today was the first chance I had in awhile to work on it and I was able to get the other front flowerbed cleaned up.

This is the before view from the back

Seriously, what is the point of all the rocks except to look ugly and have weeds grow in between them?

Sooo much better!

From the back

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These are all the rocks that came from that ONE flowerbed!!!

I haven't decided yet if I want to keep the foxtail ferns. I don't really like them but they might look ok once I plant the other flowers. I can't remember the name of them but the front desk ladies at my school are collecting seeds for me and they are beautiful!

I can now revel the changes that have been happening at my work. We got a new third grade teacher!!! I have been self contained this year which means I teach all subjects to a class. On top of that, all the third grade classes were at 21 or 22 students which any teacher will tell you is difficult. Luckily, we were able to get another teacher so now we are teaching partners and I will only be teaching math and science to 17 students in each class!! These last few weeks have been super hectic trying to get everything ready for her and the transitition. I have also had to reorganize everything for math and science and not all subjects. Hopefully though, most of the craziness is over and things will start to lighten up.

Now I have to go get ready for an evening of grilling on our friend's new deck. You will have to wait until next time to read about our fun from the last two weekends. :)

I'm going to start with what you guys probably find most boring, my gardening, so you will have to read through it to get to the fun stuff. :)

So this Saturday morning, I was able to work for 4 hours thanks to an early Friday night bedtime and cool weather. You really can't see the fruits of my labor however because I planted 55 daffodil bulbs in our front flowerbed!


Hopefully there will be a BUNCH of pretty yellow daffodils in the spring!

And with that, our front flowerbed is pretty much done. Just a reminder of the before...

It was actually worse than this before...

So I started working on my next project.

Before

45 minutes later

I can already tell this one is going to take awhile...

So then I took myself to the backyard which is actually WORSE than the front yard.

My zinnias that are dying.

I actually like these purple flowers that the previous owners planted and there is some pretty ivy with plum purple flowers that are coming through the fence from my neighbor. :)

Lots of weeds and more stringy bushes. Not sure if I'm going to keep them. The bush, not the weeds. Weeds have to go!

I really like this palm but not the weeds all around it. Never let your yard get this bad!!!

More dumb rocks!!!!!

An hour and a half later.... this is the only progress I made...

This is the other side

You can't even see where the yard ends and the flowerbed begins :(

There is a reason why I am able to work on my garden so much and that is my beloved audiobooks. Anyone who knows me at all, knows I LOVE to read. Always have, always will. Around my junior year in college I discovered audiobooks at my public library. It was amazing! I hardly ever have time to sit down and read a book but I can always listen to them! I can listen on my way to work, grading papers, and working in the yard! This weekend I was listening to Last Night at Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisberger.

I'm almost done and I have really liked this book. It is about a woman named Brooke whose husband of 5 years is a musician. Suddenly, he hits it big and the book deals with their struggles with his fame. In the book, Brooke has her masters, is a nutrition and loves her job. Julian (her husband) wants her to quit her job and travel with him but her career is important to her. I really identified with this when I think about possibly leaving my job when we have a baby (no I am not pregnant). I love being a teacher and it is a huge part of who I am. It is hard to imagine leaving education but it is also hard to imagine teaching full time in the classroom, putting in the hours I do, and taking care of a small one. Luckily, we have a couple years before I have to decide. :) It also made the stop and think about the gossip magazines that I read every week (and am sadly addicted to) and how hurtful some of those articles can be to the celebrities they are written about. I will definitely think twice when I am reading them and remember that not everything that is printed is true. This book also made me think about some of my friends from high school who are becoming famous. I really hope they are doing well and things go smoother for them than they did for the characters in this book :) Speaking of, shameless plug...

Ben!

Ben and I went to high school together and did shows together. I really haven't talked to him much since then but he is such a hard worker and a sweet guy and I am so excited for him! It has been fun watching him on the show and making the late night rounds.

Kristolyn!

Now I have known Kristolyn since elementary school. We used to sing the Star Spangled Banner together at swim meets. Now she has booked a recurring role on the Bold and the Beautiful and I am singing to my third graders :) We did many shows together in high school and even played sisters in one of them. Yes, sisters :) I am so proud of her and truly am not surprised at her success. I also can't believe I will be DVRing a soap opera tomorrow. :)

Ok, now onto the exciting stuff. So yesterday I found out some good news at work. Sadly, I can't really say anything yet, but I will be able to soon. I will just be able to tease you until then. :) Needless to say, the next few weeks will be crazy, but hopefully things will be MUCH better after that.

Blake, the Kellers, and I were able to visit the Dahmann family last Saturday night!!! So much fun to see them and play with precious Isabelle.