southern california fun

over the weekend, i saw pirates of the caribbean 2, went to a bridal shower for JT (which was a lot of fun - she's got some organized bridesmaids), and went boogie boarding for the first time. it was also a super exhausting weekend. it takes a lot of energy to have fun.

i liked pirates 2. what's not to like? johnny depp, orlando bloom, crazy unbelievable pirate antics - all good things. it's going to be tough waiting for movie #3. the bridal shower was hilarious. :) and boogie boarding ended up being great. at first, it was just ok since i was not good with the timing of catching waves. but the last wave that took me almost to the shore made it all worthwhile. except for the stupid rug-burn type rash i got from the board, it was super fun. i realized that it's been a really, really long time since i've been in the ocean. oregon beaches do not always lends themselves to water activities - it's usually pretty darn cold, even in the summer. and seattle doesn't really have beaches, just lots of lakes and ocean water, but no sandy beaches. unfortunately, i failed to sunscreen properly again - i didn't reapply the sunblock. sadly, i didn't learn from last time. and i sort of burned again, but not as badly. one of these days, i'll catch on...really, i will.

and i'm an official employee of the district now, with an employee number and everything! today, i finalized all my paperwork with the district and even stopped by my new school to pick up some teacher's editions of textbooks since i have training conferences next week. the plant manager of the school even gave me a mini-tour of some parts of the school. it's BEAUTIFUL! the colors are so kid-friendly - light grays, soft lime greens with light purples/lavender. the classrooms look great and i can't wait to get started with decorating and planning out my room's space. afterwards, i drove to blocks to grace's school to hang out in her classroom. it was so nice to just talk and hang out - even if i completely distracted her from lesson-planning. :) it's great because she totally knows who i am and so we can always just dive right into conversation. yay friends!


and more "yays" to more friends - congrats to gar and shiv. i'm so completely happy and excited for you two!!! (shiv - i'm posting this because garrett already posted about it and plus, it is just HAPPY HAPPY news.) :D