I'm Still Here

In a metaphorical sense that is. My physical presence has been quite transitory this summer.

When last we left, I was doing some work in my classroom. Want to see my new view?



There are indeed advantages to a 45-minute commute.

I've put in four days so far in preparation for the time I have to miss in the next two weeks. I've got my classroom mostly put together (as in, I moved everything over from the old room, arranged the desks, and went through the files from last year). I have several boxes of books on my floor with nowhere to put them yet. I also did some of the computing work, but there's still more to be done.

I'll be at school for three days this week before I leave for the Shakespeare Festival adventure. I'm not that thrilled with the logo they came up with:

but I am excited to figure out how that's all going to go and to work with Michael Bahr again. He's their educational guru and the director for our play. I met him at a workshop there a few years ago and we hit it off. He's perfect to direct and I'll enjoy watching him work.

I'm in Grand Junction at the moment. I came down with Rachel and Jack last Wednesday to hang out with the folks for a few days. Our friends and former-Denverites Miranda, Nate and their daughter Zaley came down from Idaho to visit, and Brian and Ben joined us for the weekend. We had a day in the tradition of our Thanksgivings - we swam, played games, and snacked all in good company. I'm heading back to Denver tomorrow for work, as I noted above, but it's been a delight to take a mini-break here.

Last weekend I went to Salt Lake for my brother's wedding. It all went beautifully, and Rachel took terrific photos which I will now proceed to mooch off of:




Les Parents:




My Waterhouse cousins, whom I don't see nearly enough of:




The men in my family working the bowtie awesomess:




My sisters, old and new (yet both younger than me):




And, finally:



Seriously. How awesome is that picture? Andy and Jenn's invitations stated that "creative attire was encouraged," so I took it upon myself to find and make a fabulous huge hat. And pearls, of course. What you can't see is the black roses and netting on top of the hat and the white glittery dove that my Aunt Sylvie dubbed (in a Jewish accent) "Moitle" nestled among the foliage. I looked fabulous, and this picture of sisterhood couldn't make me happier.

After the wedding festivities I stuck around in Salt Lake for a little longer than the rest of the family. Rachel, Ben, Jack, and I met Miranda, Nate, and Zaley for lunch at Oasis Cafe on Sunday. Teresa and I shared a delicious breakfast of jule kakke French toast at Finn's on Monday; and Ben, Kelley, and I met at our favorite West Valley curry place for lunch so we could catch up on the news of DPJH before I went back to the airport. (I miss knowing good places to eat like my favorites in Salt Lake!)

It's been a fun summer o' travel. I suppose, since I go back to work full-time on Tuesday, it is drawing to a close; but I won't feel like it's DONE done until after the Cedar City thing.

Oh, and by the way, I have finally uploaded and mostly sorted all of my Thailand pictures to Flickr. Whew! At some point, probably during my tenure in CC, I'll post some favorites here. In the meanwhile, I suggest you just keep looking at this:



I know I will.