Last Monday + Belle

Monday Fun Day!

Today was Fun Day at school. It. Was. Chaos. I wore my hot pink Fun Day shirt, braided my hair, and slathered on sunscreen. It was fun for about 10 minutes. Then it was windy. And hot. And boring. I mean, I think the kids were having fun, but the adults were not. *sigh* I actually spent 3 of the 4 Fun Day hours outside helping/chaperoning, but bailed on the last (hottest) hour to do paperwork inside with air conditioning. In all fairness, I do still have two meetings tomorrow that needed to be prepped. And I did spend an hour more outside than I signed up for!

Tomorrow is Talent Show day which is my FAVORITE day! The one bummer: I have a meeting right in the middle of the afternoon show. Boo! I have been assured it will be quick, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that that is the case. Wednesday morning I'll pack up my room, meet a friend for lunch, then shoot over to my second school to clean/pack there (and see my favorite student one last time -- yes, I have favorites, don't tell!). Thursday will be more packing and cleaning. Friday there is a faculty meeting and then I should be free! Summer, baby!

Alright, what else has been going on? We got our modem/router moved last week so our new expensive desktop computer now works like a charm! Yessss. I am now on Week 3 of my 8-week workout commitment. So far so good. I haven't seen any crazy improvement or anything, but I do notice I feel better. I don't wake up feeling bloated, my clothes are slightly more comfortable, and I'm not analyzing (as much) what I'm eating. The biggest surprise is how quickly I have adjusted to the early mornings. I wake up at 5:45 or 6:30 depending on the day. It sucks when the alarm goes off, but I'm wide awake and feeling good by the time my workout is over. One thing that helps: having my workout picked out and ready to go the night before. The less thinking I have to do at that early hour the better! And, since I'm crazy, I've even been working out on the weekends when I don't "have" to. One day I try to do a stretching/yoga routine and the other I run. I'm still slow which is discouraging, but my feet are moving!

After two years of trouble, the boat may be ready to get back out on the water. Brian has been working his butt off since we bought it and definitely since he got back last September. I swear we've replaced every part in the darn engine (no, I will not add up how much it has cost). I think he wants to take it out to the lake sometime this week and really test it out. Eek!

Finally, when I was a junior in high school, my boyfriend at the time had some puppies at his house. I convinced my parents that we needed not one, but TWO puppies. One was black and white named Chip and the other was almost white (later turned yellow) named Belle. They turned into large sweeties who lived in our backyard. They were always kinda crazy and not conducive to living inside. Belle loved to swim, Chip did not. Chip wanted attention, Belle wanted more. Belle told Chip to jump and Chip asked "how high?" They were perpetually dirty and love love loved treats. A couple years ago we said goodbye to Chip. She got sick and eventually that look came into her eyes and we knew it was time. We were afraid for Belle being without her sister, but she bounced back and has been fixture in my parents backyard ever since. She watches you pull in the driveway and always lays with her paws crossed (very lady-like). She's been getting skinnier as the months passed and would only eat on good days. We all knew what was coming. My mom warned me a couple days ago that Belle had that sad look in her eyes and it probably wouldn't be long. We let her go today. My Dad took her and I know it was devastating for him. He always does the tough stuff. He was there for me when I had to make the same decision for Tiny. I feel bad that he had to do it alone today. Pets are wonderful and I've loved every one of mine, but letting them go is never easy.

Chip and Belle