Construction

My school is undergoing major construction. I'm not sure what this is but it's been in my way for months.

super cool jetty

a friend sent me these photos from his jetty trips - i think they're super cool! obviously the water level was a bit lower.

more jetty

here we are posing at the end of the jetty. i think jeff's photography skills are better than mine - i like how he got the reflection of the water. we discovered it was a lot easier to walk beside the jetty than actually on it as sand is easier than rocks for keeping your balance.

spiral jetty

yesterday i went to the jetty for the third time in my life. i loved it. of course. it's a cool place. it's worth the drive. i think. certainly not every weekend. i was sad because this time all the worn out vehicles marking the parking place were gone. i was sad. at least there were better signs to get us there. i saw a short-eared owl, a curlew, and a bunch of pelicans whose flapping wings made the coolest squeaking sounds. i didn't take any photos, but here are a couple from the first time i went - september 2002.

nonblogging

so i get a bit disappointed when my friends are slow to blog new entries. this morning it occurred to me that i haven't put up a new entry in nearly a week. talk about motes and beams, eh? trouble is, i can't think of a single story to tell. i watched lost last night. it made me depressed. i'm not sure if it was the story, or the fact that i have to wait until january (i think that's when it comes back) to see what comes next. it's all depressing. you know what else is depressing? being soooo close to the end of the school year, but still having a week left. i can taste it but it's not really here and it makes me anxious. i have a fun weekend planned, so there's good stuff to look forward to, but still i have to endure all of today and tomorrow. ugh! i have 0 patience at this point. yep, that's how exciting my life is - so exciting even i want to be moving on.

i do want to mention, though, that i robbed plewe again. the quote she posted by rick steves was so good that i printed it off and used it in my class. we've been reading a bunch of literature by modern authors growing up in colonized countries where there was either apartheid or some extreme degree of inequality. anyway, this literature has led to discussion about culture. plewe's travel quote was so profound in what it had to say about appreciating cultures that i made the kids read and analyze it. one kid noticed the extremely peppy positive attitude rick has in regards to travel and the opposite cynical view of the authors we've been reading. he's a sharp kid. i hope he grows up to be a sharp adult. right now he likes to color his hair random shades of pink/blue/purple. he works at the local car warsh.

robbing plewe

it's inevitable - plewe is full of great wisdom. so when we were discussing work yesterday by email she made a good analogy. i found myself sharing it later in the evening with another sarah we know from days gone by. so when i checked the blog this morning i decided it must be shared! see if you don't agree with me....

work is good! it's just like shoes- you've got to find one that's steady, got some cushioning, and can hold up for the long haul. if not, you'll just get blisters and sit down halfway up the mountain. :)

warnings and such

this morning we had a fire alarm. i sat at my computer. i debated going into the hall, but then i'd feel dumb not leaving the school or feel dumb leaving the school late or dumb for not leaving or feel dumb looking at everyone else feeling dumb. so i stayed in my room wishing the painful noise would stop. they've designed fire alarms to be so painful that it forces you out of the building. maybe they're not painful enough.

it made me think of the mormon documentary on pbs of late. there was a scene where they showed a painting and then dallin oaks commented on watchmen on the tower. we are to be watchmen. we should warn people of impending danger. we should heed the warnings from the watchmen. maybe the world has tuned out all warnings. at least i did so today. then the vice principal came on the intercom and announced that it was a false alarm. maybe there are lots of false alarms. i guess it's important to be self educated on the dangers of the world so that you know which alarms are false and which ones are true.

rings

big sisters like it when they get new little sisters to play with. maybe when she's older they'll be able to play barbies or something, but for now it's just hang rings on the feet.

for dainon

okay, so some of these results are just plain ridiculous. i kept drawing a blank on who my friends were. plus, i stole this from cindy's blog so i had certain people on my mind. some are just toooootalllly true, and others are so silly i laughed hard.

What You Really Think Of Your Friends

Dan is your soulmate. You truly love Al. You consider Ed your true friend. You know that Plewe is always thinking of you. You'll remember Sacha for the rest of your life. You secretly think Mark is creative, charming, and a bit too dramatic at times. You secretly think that Lynn is colorful, impulsive, and a total risk taker. You secretly think that Dainon is loyal and trustworthy to you. And that Dainon changes lovers faster than underwear. You secretly think Cindy is shy and nonconfrontational. And that Cindy has a hidden internet romance.

What Do You Think of Your Friends?

Bug guts

Take another look of the self portrait. Can you see i'm grimacing? It's because earlier a bug got stuck in my eye ball. I basically was blind for most of the outing - but the fun and love of friends was enough to make me forget to mention it in my last post.

Jubi day!

Tonight my friends and I celebrated jubi - my favorite swiss man ever! He's warm and kind and funny and smart. In honor of jubi we (jubi, lynn, and emily, and I) hiked to the living room behind red butte gardens. There were lots of pretty flowers and greenness all around. On one of our breathing breaks I saw a little shell. It seemed so out of place I took a photo.
After the hike we met up with mark, who planned jubi night, for dinner at rumbi's - one of best fast food joints i've discovered ever!

911!

yesterday i had some medical drama occur in my english class. a student was getting up to present her book report and as she did so she twisted her knee just enough to pop the knee cap out of place and land on the floor in pain. she claimed to be unable to move. i sent a student to the office to summon our resident emt type person who diagnosed it as a dislocated and then relocated knee cap. the girl went home, leaving the class to eat her doughnuts she'd brought for a visual aid. she emailed me last night to apologize for the disruption and to ask if she could give her book report on friday. kids these days!

family party!

in other party news... last week we celebrated multiple bdays. two of my sisters have bdays in april and three (at least) in-laws have bdays in april. not to mention there are two or three niece/nephew types in april, as well! i like my family!

party!

saturday night my friends and i did not celebrate cinco de mayo. instead, we celebrated the birth of vanya! he turned 30 and whined all night about being old - keep in mind that everyone else in the room was at least 33. we humored him and had a good time.

drugs

once again i have been lured in by cindy's blog to post a personality assessment. thank you cindy!

Your Personality Is Like Ecstasy

You're usually feeling the love for the world around you - you want to hug everyone. And while you're usually content to sit back and view the world with wonder... Sometimes you're world becomes very overwhelming and a little scary.

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?

Cops!

I seriously woke up at 1:11 am to the sound of a baying dog and men's voices in my back yard. It turned out they were in my driveway to be exact. Finally, after listening to them for 15 minutes, and trying to see what they were doing, I went out and asked if I could be of assistance. Apparently 3 guys robbed a local shop (i think he said it was called wizards and dreams) and fled through my neighborhood, choosing the corner fence between my garage and the neighbor's house. I can't remember if they said the suspects were captured, but they did say they'd be gone soon - just gathering evidence I think. Very cool and a bit scary. The dog is now done barking so I think i'll be able to go back to sleep.

les mis

last night i finally saw for my first time ever the musical, les mis. i was moved. i cried. i hurt. i danced in my seat. what a great show! and what a great message! i've been studying shakespeare's sonnets for a class lately and have been impressed with the challenge of writing poems that work rhythmically as well as rhyme. in that light, thinking about the musical last night, i'm doubly impressed. you should all see it! now i want to read it!

fingernail polish

ha! the spanish teacher just came by room to ask me a question about fingernail polish. he was excited to see i was on my prep and then introduced his topic by saying he had a girl question. i was a bit nervouse. apparently his daughter has a bottle of polish that is too thick to use. he wanted to know if paint thinner would help out. i told him i didn't think so. then he asked how much a bottle of nail polish costs. hello - they're cheap! or should be. so he decided to just buy her a new bottle. seriously, that has to be the oddest "girl question" i've had to answer at work, ever. anyone know of a better answer, by the way?

Road trip

Plewe kindly took photos of the fun ride down. There's her and danielle (sacha's there too - she just didn't make it in the photo) and me driving. Right after provo we passed one of the worst eye sores in the world. Draped down its sides were banners announcing durian juice as the king. I was a bit scared. The drive home was much less exciting as sacha returned with others and plewe and dan slept while I learned about the fine art of hunting from jeff. Oh, we talked about other stuff too.

Delicate arch

My last day in moab was spent visiting a look out spot for delicate arch. Ed, audrey, danielle, and I hiked up a little hill and had lunch under a tree. The arch was pretty far away but still impressive. On the hike back I noticed lots of pretty desert flowers.