Trick, Not Treat

Today, in an unexpected effort to be organized this school year for once, I labeled all my classroom drawers so the kids can find stuff. The drawer missing its pull handle, between the drawers for safety glasses and colored pencils, has been labeled "emergency chocolate". I love this. Mwahahaha.

Ice Cream Emergency

Summer! Is there a more perfect and glorious place than Seattle in the Summer? Last weekend I rode the ferry from Seattle over to Bremerton to watch a movie at the Drive-In. My sibs were coming and bringing their kids, I was so excited--I even made kettle corn the night before. But guess what? Everyone got sick or busy and I didn't know until I was already on my way. So I drove around exploring the west puget sound coast on my own. I had a great time; I'm my favorite date. Luckily the trip was not a complete waste; because the world's greatest ice cream [don't listen Parfait] is right on that side of the water.

Mora's ice cream; or as they like to brand it, rather pompously, Iced Creamery, is kind of the best thing that can happen to you on a friday night in the summertime. The pomp and circumstance implied in their name is completely deserved. [Sorry for all this shameless product placement on my blog, I promise I'm not getting paid, I just want everyone to know where to find good ice cream--consider it my own version of a PSA].

So here's how it went down: I went in. I tried like 7 flavors because you never know. Then I bought the flavor I knew I was going to buy before I even finished finding my parking spot (lemon bar). I bought a pint instead of a scoop because I was running late for the next ferry sailing. And then as I drove away I started realizing two things; I didn't have a spoon and I didn't have a freezer. Kind of a disaster and definitely an emergency.

I was still about 45 minutes away from the ferry so by the time I got there and we lifted off (do they say that? or is that just for space ships?) I was feeling sad feels about whether or not this ice cream was going to make it to my house in one piece. There's an argument to be made for eating the ice cream right there*, with a "spoon" fashion from the lid--I've seen my students eat applesauce and yogurt this way. But I was pretty full from the kettle corn and the taco truck tacos and stuff that I ate for dinner. Luckily though, this story has a hero. It's not me. It's a ferry worker who gave me two ice packs and a renewed faith in humanity.

The moral of the story is that there are good people in this world. Good people and good ice cream.

* I just want to point out that I don't condone the consumption of an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting. Spread it out a little, for crying out loud. Have some self respect people.

Wa S'up Galileo?

Well, this is amusing. Heh.

What? You say you've never heard this song before? I'm going to assume that you haven't been to a middle school pep rally this decade. My condolences.


Well, here you go.




Oh man, these lyrics are so bad. But if you're 13, I think these lyrics really speak to your soul. But even if the sentiment of the song isn't awakening your inner teenager, maybe you can still get into this beat. Happy Summer.

The End

This Spring, in addition to starting a graduate program, I had a series of ridiculously complex hoops to jump through to renew my teaching certificate. Hours of writing, collecting student work as evidence, and a lengthy editing and revising process have all led to this moment of pure freedom. As of last night, I'm done. There were moments when I seriously questioned changing careers to avoid the whole thing.

Some friends and I went out last night to celebrate with Poutine and a sad Polish movie---was too full and I cried. But I woke up this morning feeling absolutely free. FREE!!

During the school year, my work is never done, weekends and nights are never really time off from my job. If I'm not grading or lesson planning I'm feeling guilty and knowing I'm going to regret it later.  It's not an exaggeration to say that I'm always working---I just can't seem to relax. And it's gotten worse during the last 9 years I've been teaching. Once I realized how much better I was at my job when I got to school an hour before it started and left 4 hours after, it's like it became my new normal and I couldn't go back. When I get home I usually spend the hour before I fall asleep emailing parents or administrators. I'm usually thinking about how to turn cool things I see or read into innovative lessons. I scan the internet for silly science cartoons to put on my tests and pepper into my powerpoints. I'm become crazed with TED Ed videos and watch them like Saturday morning cartoons with bowls of cereal in the morning hoping to find the gems that might make learning sort-of interesting. And Sunday nights are the worst. The absolute worst.

I always forget what summer feels like---it's like no other feeling. It's three in the afternoon and I'm still in my pajamas. I know it's Saturday and maybe I could do that any Saturday, but it's different. Because I know that all the days are Saturdays now.

The Penultimate Day of School

I really don't have much to say. I'm exhausted. I'm heart broken that tomorrow I have to say goodbye to 130ish kids who've meant the world to me this year. I'm giddy with excitement. I'm grateful. I'm just a lot of conflicting feelings.

And just so, so tired.

The only thing I know for sure is there there are gonna be a lot of tears tomorrow. 8th graders are very emotional.

Roadside Geology

A few years ago my mom gave me a few really cool books about geology and volcanism of the Pacific northwest. She thought I might enjoy putting them in my classroom for the curious kids. I did take some of them, others are on my bookshelf at home, but the Roadside Geology of Washington book, the greatest treasure in the cache, lives in my glove box because you just never know. I like to drive around this state and while I'm at it, I like to know what I'm looking at. It would be cool if someone would make a roadside geology map app for my phone. I would love cruising around listening to a narration of the regional geology while navigating to my destination.

I have a couple of friends who are taking a vacation to Norway later this month and on Friday they invited me over for dinner and a geological discussion. They wanted to know a little about the geology they're gonna be seeing. I had forgotten how much I love talking about cratons, and crystalline basements and the formation and breakups of super continents. Seriously, we had a blast. After spending most of my week trying to educate largely unwilling participants, it was a delight to have such avid students.

Thanks Mom. For both the book and the love of geology. You rock!

Hunt for the Perfect Seattle Ice Cream Cone

A few weeks ago it came to my attention that a friend of mine has not adequately ventured out into the Seattle Ice Cream scene.  It was decided that this must be rectified immediately. I love me some ice cream and Seattle's got some pretty great local flavor.

A scheme was devised to visit a different place each Tuesday evening and the last couple of weeks have been delicious.

Here's the score so far:

Bluebird Microcreamery and Brewery
Phinney Ridge/Greenwood
Flavor: Chocolate Pudding
Delivery: Homemade waffle cone
Verdict: The ice cream had a dark beautiful color that suggested it would have a rich, dark flavor but it just seemed a little meh to me. Part of the problem is that Snoqualmie's Mulkilteo Mud is the litmus test to which all chocolate ice cream must be subjected and this scoop did not measure up. They had two chocolate flavor's on the board and I sampled both before selecting the Chocolate Pudding, maybe I made a mistake? I'll just have to go back and order the other one another time. Also oddly enough, the waffle cone had a weird flavor that I didn't care for which surprised me because I haven't met a homemade waffle cone that I didn't love before. It's not the first time I've been there and I remember deeply enjoying it last time (maybe it was the excellent company I was with that night), so I was disappointed but more than willing to give it another shot with another flavor, sans the cone. But we had a beautiful evening sitting outside on the sidewalk with the glorious Seattle sunshine drawing folks through the door like a moth to a flame.

Parfait
Ballard
Flavor: Meyer Lemon
Delivery: Homemade waffle cone
Verdict: First of all, they knew what they were about. I was shocked and delighted at how much I loved every bite of this cone--both the ice cream and the actual cone, which tasted like a perfect cookie (I like my cookies crunchy, a much debated topic between my sister Emily and I). I'd take a bite, enjoy it, then disbelieve it could really be as good as my brain was telling me, then take another bite only to discover it was the gospel truth. Is it a little dramatic to say it was the best ice cream cone of my life and I could die a happy woman? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean it wasn't true. The price is the limiting factor on this place--no ice cream cone is going to break the bank but you don't expect to have to dig around in your bag for extra change when you already handed the kid a fiver. But remember how delicious it was? Yeah, I paid first so any injustice I felt at the register was fully compensated by the surge of dopamine levels in my brain as I ate the ice cream. No price is too high for this fix.

I Was Doing Other Stuff...

I did not have great blog stats in 2013. But I did take a lot of pictures with my cell phone---along with the rest of the world apparently (check out this article).  My year in pictures:

January 2013

Roller Coasters!

 Doughnuts in Los Angeles with friends.

My toes in sunny California. 

Endeavor Space Shuttle at the California Science Center in L.A. 

It was breathtaking in real life. Watch this.

I know him!
Pinky Nelson was my advisor at WWU. 

February 2013

Chinese New Year in Seattle with MLE.

 Lion Dance.

Oregon Coast weekend road trip with my roommates. 

I made some muffins.

Seattle wanted a Shuttle but got NASA's Space Shuttle Trainer instead. I got to go inside with JJ. Very cool. More here.

 March 2013

 I can NOT believe I forgot the 1 in 3.14, I started with the numbers from the bottom up and got distracted by the end. I found the missing 1 sitting on the counter after I stuck the pie in the oven--I guess it looked like pie crust scraps. Oh well, I forgive myself.
Cherry-Rhubarb-Raspberry pie, otherwise known as: Cherub-Berry Pie; as heavenly as its name.

April 2013

Me with Lil' Sebastian at the Puyallup Spring Fair ;)

Demo Derby!

My birthday brownies. All this ice cream was already in my freezer, just hanging out. NBD. I heart Snoqualmie ice cream.

Mt. Vernon, WA ~ Tulip Festival

May 2013

Cherry Nectarine pie. Just because pie is always a good idea for a Sunday night.

Rain storm with some cute n's and n's.

We might have been singin'.

June 2013

 Out on Elliott Bay looking back at Seattle.

I forgot my camera for Sierra's graduation! So proud of her!!

My lovely assistant for my science demo at a church talent show. I lit several chemicals on fire to the tune of The Final Countdown.

Cave of the Mounds in Madison, WI with Siri and her adorable family. I loved visiting them.

Everybody loves Dad. 

Will and I playing bugs.

July 2013

Wallingford Avenue on the 4th of July.

I made cookies.

Puget Sound in the Summer.

 Two week long Educator's workshop at Boeing. This should probably have been it's own blog post. It was an incredible experience. This picture is taken inside a training plane for newbies learning how to put planes together.

 Learning how to drill and rivet. (!!!)

How to patch up 787s. 

Inside a 747 under construction with the 747 line manager. He walked very fast. Easily my favorite day of the workshop. 

Landing gear. 

Walked out to the Tarmac to see a finished 747 waiting to get picked up by Lufthansa. I didn't take it for a spin but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sit in the pilot's seat. What a rush :) As a side note, this plane I'm sitting in was designed by my friend Jill who works at Boeing. Nice job, Jill.

 A windy day on the ferry with Damon. Love.

In case of tsunami, fly away! 

Damon and I went to Vancouver to see the fireworks competition on English Bay. Three countries compete; we saw England's show. We met a lovely couple from Australia.
Brooke and Laurie met up with us there too.

Beautiful.

August 2013

Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Cairn

Bumpass Hell.

Breathtaking. For its beauty as well as its stench.

Boiling mud. 

Linzi with a fuzzy friend on our family camping trip. 

I canoed out onto the lake with some of my n's and n's. Coming back against the wind was much harder. I was pretty sure we were going to have to live out there on that lake in our canoe forever.

Brielle with a movie camera. Driving through eastern Washington on our quest for peaches.

 Peaches from Yakima---the best part of any summer.

Beautiful Whitney at Carrie's wedding in San Diego.

I don't know these kids, they were just paying at the tide pool with us. I probably should not have videoed them and put it on the internet...  They were just so excited.

With Abbie and MLE.

 Sea creature.

 They let us hold the baby pandas at the San Diego Zoo!

 This is not a baby panda.

My Dad always told me I was an orangutan. 

September 2013

Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA

Jacob and Eliza. 

I love how this photo shows their personalities so well.

We're on a pretend flight.

October 2013

 29 kinds of cheese to celebrate Jennifer's 29th birthday!

Behold, the cheese.

Beautiful birthday girl.

Reptar and Rex.

November 2013

Dry Falls. Read this!

I drove out to Pullman with MLE to visit Lindsay. It was a wonderful trip. On the way home we drove to dry falls. It is as incredible as it sounds.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield visited Seattle.

Full disclosure: this photo was not taken by my cell phone.
But I wanted to convey the astronauty feel of the evening.

I felt awkward getting my picture taken but everybody else was doing it and I needed proof that I met him, right? I told him I was a teacher and my students had some questions for him. He was incredibly likable. Such a fun night. 

I showed this video to my students the next day.

Thanksgiving. Selfie with Roger and Megan. I can't believe how beautiful she is, inside and out. Way to go Emily and Brian.

December 2013

 Linzi's Christmas band concert. She was awesome!

Chocolate mousse pie with an oreo cookie-candy cane crust.

 Proud grandpa with some adorable granddaughters.

 Damon loves warheads!

 Totes adorbs.

 Isla wants my phone.

 Gingerbread house competition with Linzi and Brielle.

 Brielle made herself at home for their slumber party at my house ;)

 Beecher's Cheese!

 Linzi is ready for a solar eclipse.

 A sunny day in Seattle. How cute is this girl?!

It was REALLY sunny, and I took off my sun glasses. Pain.

 Merry Christmas from the troll.

 My friend Christian built this awesome oven. We've made pizza, naan bread, and s'mores in it but over winter break he decided to try something a little more complex.

 Pumpkin pie going in.

Pumpkin pie coming out. It was delicious!

 I went curling on New Year's Eve.
Siri and Chris, I got this picture for you!

Jen, Wren and Ken.

My curling teammates. We got pretty good by the end :)

And that, my friends, was 2013.