In the mood

I am in the mood to write today and have lots of different topics to cover. Hopefully I will be coherent and you won't get too bored to read the whole thing.

First, I had a physical today. I was thrilled to learn that, at my age, you no longer need a pap smear every year - so I avoided that. The down side is that I now need a colonoscopy. Age has its good and bad points. I talked to the Dr. about diet and exercise because I have been so impressed by the progress of my parents. I will work on an idea for a family blog motivator for weight loss because I know it would help me to have to confess to you all. He started me on a weight loss pill, which I never have been brave enough to try before. I feel a little weird today (after my first pill) so we will see if I start to feel more normal after a couple of days. My blood work will come back tomorrow, but so far I look good and healthy.

We get to go to Moab next week for spring break. The disadvantage is that everyone and their uncle will also be there, but Mark won't take off school for a vacation so we are kind of stuck. (The summer is TOO hot there.) We are pretty excited. We are staying at a KOA so we will have electricity and water hook-ups in our trailer and showers available. We haven't been to Arches or Dead Horse Point since before Mark was born. We are lucky to live in such a beautiful state! I got a walking stick for Christmas, which I intend to us a lot. We will see how Allie does with travel before we decide whether to take her to Nashville or not.

David has accepted Vanderbilts offer of grad school. I think he starts Aug. 23rd. We are looking forward to the trip there. I don't know if Rick will drive both ways with me or fly and meet me there. We have toyed with the idea of having Rick and Nan share a ticket and each of them drive one way. My friend, Jackie, has offered to drive with me if Rick flies both ways. We are planning on pulling a trailer for Dave and Ya-ping.

Are you sick of me yet? My school class has been a really tough one this year. They are all good kids separately, but together they don't mix well. We have a lot of boys that are mean to one another and several students that can't be motivated to work, even with parents involved. I may suggest one boy be retained and I have never done that before. He is smart enough to learn but doesn't try so he is several years behind. I am grateful that my kids were good students. I come home exhausted on my teaching days and dread going to school. The nice thing about being a teacher is that next year will be different. The other hard thing about school this year is that my partner is only one year away from retirement. It will be hard to teach fulltime, but it will also be easier to have complete control of my own classroom. She has been a great partner, but it is sometimes hard to combine both personalities and keep everyone happy.

I think I am done for the time being. I hope all is well in your lives. I miss you.
Love,
Ann