Mars, Venus and Other Rants

Yes. Uh huh. Absolutely. I'm going to do it. It's my blog, and I can say what I want to say. And if you don't like it, you don't have to read.....

I'm going to talk about myself for a little bit.

Like I said, it's my blog. It's about me. I can say whatever I want to say, even if it's about myself.

I am pretty freakin' amazing.

There, I said it.

I am pretty freakin' amazing.

I am fashionable. I am fun. I am funny. I am smart. I get lost a lot, but I handle my own when it comes to the "real world." I have a Master's degree. I always look good. I don't smoke. I don't cuss. I don't sleep around. I have three tattoos. I have my nose pierced. I am respected. I have the best girlfriends a girl could ask for. I have an incredible family. I love Jesus. I am confident enough to wear a bikini. I have a great smile. I have finally found a career I adore. I will have a place of my own as of next week. I own my car. I can text faster than anyone on the south side of Denver. I can bike 150 mile in two days.

I am pretty freakin' amazing.

Ok. Ok. I've said what I have to say about myself. The point isn't to brag about myself, although that's what this may seem like. The point is to point out that MEN ARE IDIOTS.

MEN ARE IDIOTS.

There. I've said what I have to say. Now I'm off to eat my chicken.

The Haps

*I just signed a lease for my own place! It's still in Littleton, about five minutes away from Shan, Jeff, Case and Siahna. It's a one bedroom/one bathroom place, and it's pretty little, but it's just perfect for me. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I move July 8. Want to help?

*I am teaching summer school, and tomorrow marks the half way point. Three more weeks left, and then I get a three week break before reporting back to school for the fall semester.

*The MS150 is this weekend. I'm not entirely sure if I'm ready or not, but the time has come. I have raised $1,075, which is a tad over my $2,000 goal. If you're interested in donating for my ride, please click on this link: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/COCBikeEvents?px=1822518&pg=personal&fr_id=13405.

*Britt is finally back from Europe. She has been gone for two weeks traveling the world, and I am so excited to have her back. Welcome back my friend.

*I have lost 28 pounds over the past few months. I can definitely tell a big difference when I'm out riding. The hills still suck, but not as much as they did last year.

*I have been enjoying my time off with hanging out with friends, going to the pool, napping, reading, watching TV, going out to eat, and enjoying drinks with some of my favorite people. So far it's been a great summer.

Late Night Call

While I was dog sitting Bo, I got a text from Shan around 8pm one evening that she'd been having contractions all day and to keep my phone close. Since it was still 10 days before my niece was to be born, I really didn't think much about the text. Around 10, I got ready for bed, put Bo away for the night and went to bed.

At 12:03 a.m., I was awakened by my phone ringing. Caller ID said JEFF ANDERSON. In a daze, I answered, trying to figure out why he was calling me.

Jeff: Hey, whatcha doing?
Me: Sleeping.
Jeff: Sleeping? You don't have plans for the night?
Me: My plans for the night involve sleeping. What are your plans for the night?
Jeff: Oh, nothing too much. I wanted to see if you'd be able to come over to watch Case, Carson and Kye. (As a side note, Shan thought it would be a brilliant idea to invite Carson and Kye over for a few days to keep Case entertained. So...Ten days before her due date, Shan was watching three boys).

At this point, I was so confused. I was still half asleep, and I could not for the life of me figure out why Jeff was calling at midnight to ask what my plans were for the night.

Jeff: How fast do you think you can get here?
Me: Jeff, I'm so confused right now. Why do you need me to come to your place?
Jeff: (Chuckling) Shan is in labor. I need to get her to the hospital.

That snapped me awake. My heart started pounding. I shook my head to get the last of the cobwebs out of my brain, and then it all made perfect sense.

Me: Jeff, OK, give me a moment to wake up. I need to think.
Jeff: (Laughing at me)
Me: Ok. I think I'm awake now. Let me think...
Jeff: How fast do you think you can get here? Bring the dog if you need to, but we need you here as quickly as possible.

Let me explain that I was at least 45 minutes away from Littleton. I was dog sitting in north Denver, and we live in south Denver. Even if I left the house at that very moment, I was almost an hour away. I didn't know how long I was going to be gone, so I knew I had to take Bo with me. That meant I would have to pack up his food, his carrier, my clothes, etc.

Me: Give me about an hour. I'll hurry.

I sprung out of bed, packing my clothes and grabbing anything I thought I might need over the next 24 hours. At 12:15 a.m., I was outside packing my car. I first loaded up all my stuff, and then it was time to take care of Bo. My first task was to load his carrier, which was large enough to fit four children inside. It was huge, and I was worried it wouldn't fit in the back. With barely any room to spare, I got the carrier in the back and the hatch closed. Phew. It filled the entire back of my SUV. With everything loaded but the dog, I thought I was doing pretty well.

I couldn't help but pray that no one was watching me load the car because it probably looked like I was robbing the place. Within a ten minute time frame, I had loaded a suitcase, a laptop, food, a dog carrier, and then out I came with the dog. I was sweating by this time, my heart was pounding, and I was still trying to fully wake up. There was no place for Bo to go but into the back seat. I opened the door and waited for him to jump in. He sat down on the sidewalk.

Me: Bo, come on puppy. Hop on up.
Bo: Blank stare.
Me: Come on, Bo. I need you to get in the car.
Bo: Blank stare.
Me: Crap.

I got out some dog food and put it on the seat, hoping that would entice him to jump in.

Blank stare.

I decided he needed some help, so I lifted his front paws into the car.

Blank stare.

It was then I knew I was going to have to lift him into the car. With all the strength I have in my body, I lifted all 150 pounds of him into the backseat, nearly throwing my back out. It was not an easy task, but I got him in the car. I locked up the house and sped off. At this point, I had wasted over 20 mins with a 45 minute drive still ahead of me.

Jeff texted twice during my drive, trying to gauge the time. They decided I wasn't going to make it in time, so they called a friend who arrived at the house before I did. She was sleeping on the sofa by the time I arrived at our house in Littleton.

I put Bo away for the night and went to bed. The next morning, I had the pleasure of telling Carson, Kye and Case why Shan and Jeff had left in the night and why I was there instead. Carson seemed to understand. Kye could have cared less. Case said he understood but was more excited to play with his cousins. I told them her name (even though she hadn't been born yet, I knew her name) and Kye said, "Well, we like Corinne better than we like Siahna."

That morning, Shan gave birth to Siahna Grace at 8:06 a.m. While taking care of Bo, I also gave the boys a bath, fed them breakfast, loaded them into the car and drove them to the hospital to meet Siahna. They were ready to leave after five minutes, and I had a meeting that I HAD to be at, so we left the hospital. I then drove the boys to my aunt Lisa's house in north Denver (45 mins from the house). She was kind enough to watch them while I went to my meeting. After my meeting, I then had to go pick up Bo back in Littleton. Then I drove back to north Denver to take Bo to his real home.

It was a crazy day, but it was also an exciting day. I will post pictures of Siahna soon.

Dog Sitting

I was asked by my friend Katie if I would dog sit for her while she took a trip to Arizona.

For those of you who don't know, I don't like dogs.

There. I said it. I'm not a horrible person, as some might think. I'm not a hater. I do have a soul. I just don't like dogs. They smell horribly. They lick. They shed. They poop. They slobber. They smell your crotch. Did I mention they smell? What among that list of things would inspire someone to own a dog? I'm sorry, but I do not like them.

All these things ran through my head when Katie asked me, but she was in a situation where she needed help. I decided to come to her rescue.

Oh, and did I mention that she has a St. Bernard? So not only was I dog sitting, but I was dog sitting for the smelliest, the biggest, the stinkiest, the biggest pooper, the most slobbering dog that God could possibly create. Oh, and did I also mention that Bo, the dog, is also a puppy? A 150 pound puppy?

I'm a good friend.

To Bo's credit, he really is a good dog. He's mellow. He sleeps a lot. He doesn't bark. He goes into his kennel when called. All in all, he was the best biggest, stinkiest, biggest pooper, the most slobbering dog that I could have watched last week.

I had a few mishaps, though, which made me swear never to get a dog of my own.

My first text from Katie after she had left was, "Oh, I forgot to mention that after Bo eats and then drinks, he'll be a slobbering machine. There are rags in the kitchen you'll have to use to wipe off his face."

Uh...I don't touch dogs. That could be a problem.

So after Bo ate and drank for the first time, as he charged at me for a good petting, I hopped up on the sofa, out of reach of the slobber. He slobbered the table; he slobbered the sofa; but he did NOT slobber me. Narrowly escaped grossness. The table and sofa: not so much.

Next, I let Bo outside so he could run around. I ran upstairs to go to the bathroom, and when I came back down to check on him, he was standing at the door waiting to be let in. PROBLEM: His white paws were covered in brown mud. All four white paws were no longer white, but instead covered in mud. I was horrified. I couldn't let him in the house like that. He's made a track of mud throughout the place. I wasn't about to give him a bath. That involved wet dog, which is the worst kind of dog. The only thing I could think was he had to go in his kennel and clean himself.

So, I moved the kennel right up to the door and opened the screen. He went nicely into his kennel, but then the kennel was there to stay. I couldn't move his 150 pound body, so the kennel stayed right at the door. I squeezed through the little remaining crack between the kennel and the door to survey the damage outside. Sure enough, Bo had started digging a giant hole in the backyard. The hole was about 6 inches deep and about a foot wide. Uh oh.

I left with Britt for a while to calm down. She asked me how I planned on cleaning Bo, and I said my plan was self-cleaning. I was hoping Bo would lick himself clean. Britt said, "Uh, Shi, you have the wrong animal. He's not a cat, you know. Dogs don't lick themselves clean."

Britt and I went back home to check on Bo, and sure enough, my plan had worked like a charm. He had licked himself clean!!! He was as good as new, so I let him outside while Britt and I got ready for dinner. I moved the kennel back to its original spot and opened the door to let Bo in. Much to my horror, Bo had been digging in the hole again. His white paws were once again brown, and he came rushing into the house before I could even realize that he was dirty. Mud flung all over the walls. Dirty paw prints reached from the door to the kitchen. I had ANOTHER mess on my hands.

While Britt got ready for dinner, I was on my hands and knees scrubbing mud off the walls and floor.

More slobbering ensued that night after his dinner. You could find me standing on the sofa escaping the slobber.

The next morning I decided to be a good dog watcher and take Bo for a walk. Since I'm not a dog person, I didn't even think of grabbing a poop bag. When I see people with poop bags, I find it the most disgusting thing EVER, especially when the poop bag is full of, you know, poop. GROSS. Makes me gag just thinking of it. As we began walking, I hoped Bo could wait 10 minutes to poop in his own backyard (Katie said I didn't have to pick up poop-she'd do it when she got back). About a block down the road, Bo decided he needed to poop. Go figure. He'd been outside all morning in his backyard, but he HAD to poop in someone else's yard. He squatted. I turned around so I wouldn't have to watch. As soon as he was done, we took off. I didn't have a poop bag to pick it up, and even if I would have had a poop bag, I sure as hell would not have been the one picking up that pile of sh...

We briskly walked away so we wouldn't get caught leaving poop. I know, I know. I'm a horrible neighbor. I'm sorry. I apologize right now, but yes, I left the poop in some one's yard. As if a sign from God, as we entered a new neighborhood, there was a sign that read, "Pick up your poop. Fines range from $50 to $200." Below the sign were bags to pick up poop. I decided right then and there that our walk was over. I looked over my shoulder to see if someone was running after us. I was clear. I ran Bo home and let him poop in his own yard for the rest of our time together. We did not go on another walk.

Every time I came back to the place after our walk, I looked to see if there was a fine notice hanging on the door. Nothing...I escaped that one.

One evening as I watching TV, the smell emitting from Bo was so horrendous I was gagging as I was watching TV. I had to put Bo in his kennel just so I could watch TV.

On my last morning, Bo played outside for a while as I watched TV. I let him in after some time, and he came and sat by his food bowl. All of a sudden, he started heaving. Heaving. Heaving. I knew what was coming. I grabbed his collar to try to get him outside, but his 150 pound body didn't move. He ralphed all over the floor. It was a pile of slobber and grass. Of course, he couldn't do that outside. He had to wait until he came inside to throw up.

Once again, I was on my hands and knees scrubbing throw up. (If you know anything about my throw up/poop gag reflex, it's not pretty). I got it cleaned up. I needed a drink, so I grabbed a can of pop. I dropped the pop, which landed in his dog bowl, which then exploded. Pop sprayed EVERYWHERE. The cabinets were covered in pop; the floor was covered in pop; the walls were covered in pop. I texted Britt and said, "I'm going to destroy this house if I don't leave soon."

It was about time to leave anyway, so I had to take a rag and clean up all the slobber that was on the table and sofa. That was gross. I made sure all the mud, all the pop, all the whatever else was lingering was cleaned up off the walls and floors. I packed up my clothes, which were COVERED in hair. I said goodbye to Bo and left. I did not look back.

Katie texted me the next morning and asked if Bo had been sick while I was with him because he had diarrhea and was throwing up. She said it was so gross that it had caused her to throw up. Thank God I left before that happened, or Bo would have been left in the dust.

There's one more incident that happened in the middle of the night, but stay tuned for the next blog for that story...

All in all, I did learn to like Bo. He was/is a really good dog, so I had a good experience with him. We bonded.

Unemployment? Nah...

I have many things to blog about, and many pictures to share. Check back over the next few days, as there will be a slew of things to read and look at.

I'll go in order, starting with my job.

Two weeks ago, I interviewed at Gateway High School. As I blogged here, I did not get the job, and I was so upset the day I found out. I spent a good 45 minutes crying in my classroom (alone) because I was so stressed about being unemployed. However, my friend who teaches at Gateway told me they really liked me and were interested in me for a different position. They wanted me to interview for this new position, and they made it sound like I had a really good chance of getting the job. My faith was renewed and I was confident that maybe I would have a job after all. The new job they wanted me to interview for was to teach 9th and 10th grade, which is ideal for me. The other position was for 12th grade and ELL (English Language Learners). I began to see that perhaps God was working everything out (duh) and that this new position was a better fit for me, which is why I didn't get the other job. I began preparing for my new interview.

In the mean time, last Tuesday, I went into Brock's room to tell him I was going to accept the .6 position at Chatfield. I figured a little bit of a job was better than no job. I was going to tell him that if I did get the job at Gateway, which was full time, I would resign my .6 position, but before I could even open my mouth to speak to Brock he said, "Hold on. Before you say anything, I need to know if you've heard about Susan."

Susan is an English teacher at Chatfield. She's been there for years and years, and everyone assumed she would retire at Chatfield.

I told Brock I hadn't heard anything, and he proceeded to tell me that Susan had just resigned because she was moving to another town. She literally had been in his room about five minutes before I walked in to put in her resignation.

My mouth dropped to the floor. I was sooooooooo shocked and excited that I was speechless. Brock chuckled and said, "See, I told you everything would work out. Now we will be able to keep you on full time."

With Susan quitting, it did a couple of things for the school. There was now a 1.6 English position at Chatfield. Also, a Social Studies teacher (Dennis) who was full time this past year had been cut to .7 (same situation as me-due to lower numbers, they had to cut back on some teachers). A different teacher who is qualified to teach both English and Social Studies said she would give three of her Social Studies to Dennis, making him full time. She picked up three English classes, which reduced the English position to 1.3. They called a lady who had quit last year to stay home with her kids and asked if she would want a .3 English position. She accepted. That left a full time position for me.

However, Susan taught AP 11, which I am not qualified to teach. That posed a problem, and Brock was afraid my principal was going to hire someone who was trained to teach AP classes. The last day of school, Wednesday, was very stressful for me. The principal told me he would do everything in his power to keep me, so Brock and Bernie worked on remaking the schedule to accommodate me. I told Bernie that I was kind of on a time crunch because I was expecting a call from Gateway to schedule an interview.

At 4pm on Wednesday, Bernie called and offered me a full time position at Chatfield teaching 10th and 11th grade English (previously I was teaching 9th and 10th grade). I accepted with every ounce of everything I had in me. I have never been so excited.

Looking back at the entire detail of events, I can fully see God's hand at work in the entire situation. Had I gotten the first job at Gateway, I would not have been able to accept the job at Chatfield . If Susan would not have quit, I wouldn't have been able to stay at Chatfield. There are many other details that show me God's hand at work in my job, and it just amazes me that He was orchestrating everything just perfectly for ME. God is good!

Gateway called yesterday to set up an interview for the new position. I politely and generously declined, telling them I had accepted a position at Chatfield. I have never felt so at peace with turning down a job, and I can't even describe how excited I am to be back where I belong.

Even better, since I'm teaching 11th grade next year, I have a lot of the same students I had this year as 10th graders. I am so excited to be with them again.

Siahna Grace

Introducing Siahna Grace, born June 3 at 8:06 a.m. weighing 6 lbs., 3 oz. and 18.75 inches long. I have more pictures that won't upload right now, but at least you get a glimpse. Mom, dad, baby and even Case are doing great. As you can see in this picture, Case wasn't too thrilled about the new addition (he's in the red shirt in the top, right corner). Siahna looks JUST LIKE Case when he was born. I'll add more pictures when I have a better internet connection.

Summer Fun

This past weekend, we went to Glenwood Springs for my cousin's graduation. The hotel had a water park, so of course we spent some time there. Corinne and Collin

Corrine, Katie and me

The best part was the slide! We all took (several) turns.

Collin took Corinne for a ride, but she wasn't very happy about it.

Kye was the first to go.

This helped persuade Carson to go next.

And...Carson eventually summoned up the courage to go by himself, and once he got started, he didn't want to stop (as long as someone was at the bottom to catch him).