Summer Recap... WHAT?!? NOW?!?

Yep, it's true - back to school is quickly approaching and even though I hate to think that it is time for a "Summer Recap," the reality is that a new school year is staring me in the face and I am rushing into it headfirst (even though that could cause brain damage!).

FYI: For anyone who really thinks that "teachers get the summers off" - I'd like to find out which teachers you know that are living that life, cause I need to talk to them and figure out how to cash in on that part of my career since I haven't managed a "summer off" yet in 13 years of being an educator. Holy crumb, just by saying "13 years as an educator" I felt myself age!

So, here are some of the things that I would have to include in my summer wrap-up (oh yeah, I have pictures, they're just still on my camera!)...

• Taught classes at our school's summer enrichment camp.
  
  
• Co-facilitated the Community Partners Program at school where students in 7th - 12th grade act as a board of trustees to learn about non-profit organizations in our community and then decide as a board which organizations to disburse grant monies to and how much each will receive. A totally AWESOME experience!
  
  
• Met with the young lady who will be my intern this coming year.
  
  
• Went to San Antonio to visit family that I love.
  
  
• Hosted an Open House to celebrate my seester's graduation with her Masters in Social Work from UTA.
  
  
• Went to my little nephew's blessing.
  
  
• Had some friends over for a chat session. It was such an uplifting evening where we talked about the talks given during our Church's spring session of General Conference. I loved being able to share my thoughts and feelings and to discuss these things with some people that I love and respect a lot.
  
  
• Went with Brian to Houston for a week where I: Caught up with a friend that I worked with at Sycamore when I was just starting down the road that would lead me to"13 years as an educator;" Visited with Matt-ay Sapp-ay (he's like a brother-from-another-mother, since he grew up in our house with my youngest brother and has always been part of our fam); Went to the Holocaust Museum of Houston and was overwhelmed by the emotion of that event in our history - how anyone could think it wasn't real is beyond my understanding; Met some of Brian's co-workers (who were funn-ny!); Survived the torrential downpour of rain compliments of Hurricane Alex (who thankfully did not make landfall in Houston as originally predicted); Read a couple of great books while hanging out in the hotel room during the previously mentioned torrential downpour; Saw The Last Air Bender (and surprisingly liked it!); Went shopping; and mostly... I just enjoyed being out of town with B!
  
  
• B and I went with our friends Shelby and Kirk to see a late show of Eclipse as a spur-of-the-moment decision the day we got back from Houston because Shelby was going to miss our July 8th GNO. It was soooo much fun and we all think that we should do more random things more regularly! Just cause we age doesn't mean we get old!
  
  
• Girls Night Out events to see: Letters from Juliet (such a cute movie) and Eclipse (the movie event of the summer!).
  
  
• Went with the "Sunshine Girls" to deliver "Buckets of Sunshine" to some friends.
  
  
• Had a great time on the 4th of July at Heather and Spence's awesome get-together.
  
  
• Celebrated my birthday... 35 years of living life... I hope I'm living it well!
  
  
• Started planning for my new responsibility of teaching the early morning youth scripture study class (aka: Seminary) this coming fall. And when I say early morning, what I mean is... 17 teenagers (9th - 12th grade) get up and come to a 5:45 am class to study and learn the scriptures together Monday - Friday during the school year and I have the amazing opportunity to teach this class. I love working with these youth and even though 5:45 am is SUPER early, I am excited to be able to teach this class. Having been a student of early morning seminary many years ago, I know that there are great blessings that come from starting your day studying the scriptures.
  
  
• Dealt with home repairs like: replacing a section of pipe under our foundation (which is thankfully all finished - including the carpet being restretched) and having the air conditioner repaired when it went on the blink.
  
  
• Spent time with ALL of my family! Both of my brothers that live out of state came in with their families for a week and so we created "Camp Sturgill" with activities that all of us could do together each day (and by all of us, that would be 21 people - ages 2 months and up). It was fun to see everyone and I enjoyed spending time together.
  

And something that was really awesome this summer:

• Celebrating 15 years of marriage with B - whom I love more than anything!

Now to get ready for the school year - our teacher inservice days start August 11 and then school starts August 18.

So, farewell Summer of 2010, it has been busy but fun!

The B&K Dust Bowl

A lot of dusting and cleaning and dusting and cleaning has been going on over here at "The House of B&K" since the pipe-job was completed last week. As we make our way room by room, I am amazed that even though all the doors were closed and thick plastic was put down, the dust from the foundation being jackhammered is EVERYWHERE!

No surface was safe (even B&K were both covered in the gritty particles of the dust) and now although we are still waiting for the carpet to be tacked back down (fingers crossed for tomorrow!), "The House of B&K" has moved into clean-up mode following what we will now refer to as... "The B&K Dust Bowl."

Furniture has been moved, shelves cleared, closets thrown open - all in an attempt to get things shiny, sparkly, and dust-free. Of course, B is a tremendous help, but the big shout-outs of appreciation have to go to our good friends, Swiffer and Pledge, who have shown up everyday and worked and worked until they are "worn out." Thanks you guys, you are rockstars in "The House of B&K!"

Now I'm off to rest before the dawn breaks on a new day and the quest for clean continues (never has "The House of B&K" seemed so B.I.G.). I just hope that I'll be working around the carpet-layer (is that what you call the guy who can tack your carpet back in place?) and that things can be as shiny and bright as possible for my bro and his family who will be guests at "The House of B&K" for the next week. Good thing they're family - 'cuz maybe they'll forgive me if things aren't quite up to the standards of a good, old fashioned bed-n-breakfast. After all, I'm just hoping for dust-free!

Dear Professional Plumber...

Did you notice the shiny white bathroom? How about the lemony-fresh scent of Lysol? Did you see that I followed your suggestions to remove anything from the walls that I didn't want to get dusty?

Well, I did it all to help make your job of replacing the 'y' joint of our bathroom pipes as easy as possible after you have to roll back our carpet and chisel into our foundation in the middle of our hallway.

And now I would like to thank you in advance for doing such a good job, for hanging plastic to prevent dust from overwhelming us, for being so excellent that it wasn't necessary to "chase" any pipe (fingers crossed, fingers crossed, fingers crossed), for working so quickly, and for getting the city inspector lined up to come check your work in a timely fashion so that the hole in our floor could be closed up by Friday.

Of course, I'll properly thank you once you finally get here today to get this party started!