You know it's gonna be a good day when...

Yesterday we used this vintage pickup from Red Truck Limousines to haul a load to the dump!

The garage is well on its way to being OURS again. We sorted through the assorted piles, messes, and stuff-we-didn't-need-anymore and hauled off a bunch of stuff. We have a pile waiting for the metal scrap guy to come pick up, and Mark installed a new light over the area where we plan to store our camping gear. Oh, we were tired when we went to bed last night!

We also stopped by the eyeglass place and ordered new glasses for each of us. My prescription had changed a little bit, and Mark's glasses were all scratched.

A visit with Maury and Linda

Mark will be leaving tomorrow morning for the ward's Youth Conference. It will be all day Friday, Friday night, and Saturday morning at a camp in Washington. We had been debating about whether or not I should drive to the camp after I finish working in Salem tomorrow, or just stay home and get some rest.

Here's how we decided last night that I would go:

Me: So how far is it to the camp?
Mark:  About 3 hours.
Me: Oh. Where is it? Out in the Gorge a ways?
Mark: No, it's on the Olympic peninsula in Washington.
Me: Hmmm. What town is it near?
Mark: I'm not sure...here, I'll look it up on the internet.
Mark logs on to google and looks up the name of the camp.
Mark: Here's the direction. From Olympia, you drive through Shelton, and then you go about 5 miles this way and another 3 or 4 miles that way.
Me: SHELTON?? That's where Maury and Linda live! If I come up to the camp, we could see them on Saturday!

So we'll be seeing Maury and Linda Saturday afternoon for a couple of hours before we drive back home. Yay! It's been several years since we stopped by their house, and I'm looking forward to visiting with them again.

I'll give you a call from the cell phone once we're on our way home for good.

One more grad photo

This was taken Tuesday evening, at the small graduation ceremony we have for the students earning the 24-credit state diploma instead of the more rigorous OCHS diploma. Several of my students graduated on Tuesday evening, so I went for the ceremony and ended up wearing the robe in again and helping out. This photo was taken afterwards at the reception out in the commons.

This girl was one of my students. They were so happy to be graduating! All of the kids in this ceremony had struggled for various reasons through high school, and were short on credits. This girl is really bright, but school hadn't worked for her when she was younger. But she was glowing Tuesday night. I was really glad I could attend the ceremony and be part of their celebration.

The photo is kind of blurry - taken on my cell phone.

Last days of school

Mark and me "robed up" for graduation on Sunday.

It is weird to think that tomorrow will be our last day with students. This has been such a strange year, in so many ways. This long wet cool spring only adds to the strangeness of school being almost out for the summer.

I have all my grading done, and now I am wrapping up the last of the literacy coach projects for the year. Also cleaning up my office area so it's not such a mess when I come back in the fall. I am NOT planning to come in over the summer!

Mark and I reworked our summer trip itinerary to see if we can fit in a short visit to Maddy in New Jersey. Wowza - what a LOT of driving! Our family is so spread out. We're going to "sleep on it" before we decide on our final plans.

We got the garden mostly planted. I still need to get a package of bean seeds and get those in the ground, but I think everything else is planted: tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, spaghetti squash, potatoes, lettuce, chard. We'll have Levi water it for us while we're on our trip. He's going to housesit, too.

I've been slow to update you on grandkid photos. Here are a few for you to enjoy. Kendra sent these on her phone.

 Abbi playing with her dollhouse in the new house.

 Charlie learning how to ride a bike.

 Lilly isn't sure what to do with this toy.

Oh, now she has it figured out.