Adventures

Hello again

Let's see, what do i have to report?

Well, my job is going well, Andy's job is going well, Sofia's doing well in school. What else? Oh, right, i fell off a 12-foot wall last Saturday.

I was at the top of a climbing wall about 12 feet up in the air, and i fell onto a 6-inch pad, which was on a cushioned floor. Not bad, right? Nothing broken anyway. My back is killing me though, and that cushioned floor and mat? Felt like a rock. I was actually really scared at how much it hurt when it happened, and i was in tears until i got home and took a really hot bath. I frightened Sofia and Andy like you wouldn't believe.

We were at the climbing gym, because we are encouraging Sofia's current rock climbing mania. She took a rock climbing camp over the summer and really enjoyed it; the instructors at the gym are impressed with her talent for climbing, and we feel like it would be really good for her to continue with it. She will soon be going on a weekly basis, once i get myself back over there to sign her up for it. I'm not sure if i will be trying climbing again.

On Sunday we met up with Joe, our wedding photographer, to have our family photo session (he offers a free engagement session with every wedding package, so we opted to use it for a family session instead). The three of us met him down at Gasworks Park, and we all felt really awkward being photographed by a professional in public. We should have the proofs from this session and the wedding by the end of this week, and i can't wait to see them.

That's all i can think of right now, so i will leave you with some pretty pictures i took a couple of weeks ago at the Ballard Locks (AKA Hiram M. Chittenden locks) -- as always, a few more photos are available on Flickr:

Week 1, etc.

So, this was my first week teaching Robotics, and it went pretty well. My students are enthusiastic and pretty well-behaved, given that they are between the ages of 10 and 12. The only gripe i have is with the Lego Mindstorms product itself. It can be fairly complicated to use, and some of my students are having trouble building what they need due to the vast number of different pieces included in the kit. I will be slightly altering the lesson plans i was given to allow more flexibility in construction, which will hopefully alleviate some problems.

In other news, Sofia was ill last week with a viral fever that has been making the rounds at school. She hit a temperature of 103° a week ago Thursday, and she subsequently had to miss a friend's sleepover birthday party that Friday evening (a huge disappointment for everyone involved). Her fever finally went away on Sunday, so on Monday she went back to school.

I am currently looking into some volunteer opportunities for my mornings. Hopefully i will soon be a tutor for the local literacy educator, Literacy Source, which is right down the street in Fremont, and i have also been in touch with Sofia's teacher about helping out at school.

Speaking of Sofia's school, their current fundraising campaign is with Sally Foster. If you need any gift wrap, gifts, or candy (the chocolate looks really good), consider buying from Sally Foster and entering Sofia's seller number, 352230, when you click on the "Give Credit" button on the main page. Fifty percent of the proceeds go to Northwest Montessori.

Okay, enough writing, i have a literacy training session to go to...

Oh, and...

I got my hair cut off on Monday.

Watch this video; it's funny (it has nothing to do with my hair):

Now to start building some semblance of a normal life...

Hi! I'm back!

The wedding went really well; i'll post some pictures once i have some. It was great to see family and friends after so long away. Honeymoon shots can be found here: Flickr (as usual, you need to be on my friends/family list in order to see our smiling faces, but there are plenty of scenery photos too).

We went to Mayne Island, British Columbia, for the week, where we stayed at the Oceanwood Country Inn. There is almost nothing to do on Mayne Island except walk around and relax, so that's what we did. It was a much-needed break for both of us.

We got back on Saturday and celebrated Sofia's 9th birthday on Monday with cupcakes (because we have become addicted to Trophy Cupcakes, who did our wedding cakes).

I start my new job on October 13, so next week will be taken up with desperately trying to learn how to use Lego Mindstorms. I will leave you with a photo of the needle felt hedgehog i made while on vacation (from a Woolpets kit)...