i'm slackin'

oh my. my last post was october 30...where has the time gone? i get grumpy when blogs that i follow aren't updated, and now i'm becomming one of them!


lots has happened in the past week, after parent teacher conferences, i enjoyed a half day on friday. it was SO NICE to sleep in, do laundry in the morning and hang it out on the line, go get my mail in my pajamas, and finally roll in to school around 11:30! wish i could afford to only work part-time (i love you mom, wink, wink)


friday night we prepared soup and cheesecake for our CYO soup luncheon on saturday, then i came home to pass out candy. actually, with respect to the healthy lifestyle kick i'm on, i passed out pretzels and pencils, many of the kids seemed excited to be getting something other than candy.


saturday was the soup lunch. we served a number of pheasant hunters and other community members. the chili was delish and there were lots of yummy desserts! saturday evening, i went to the "Haunted Hotel" put on by the Palco KAYs group. it was SCARY! lots of blood and guts, the kids did an EXCELLENT job decorating and made a nice sum of money for their organization.


Sunday, i got to sleep in again, YAY! at 11:30, we left Damar for Victoria, KS, home of "the cathedral of the plains" a BEAUTIFUL Catholic church. We celebrated "World Youth Day" in the diocese of Salina. The speaker was excellent, i led a small group in some good discussion, and we ended the day with an amazing mass in the "cathedral." i feel so very fortunate to have become a part of the Damar CYO, thanks Dawn and Travis for welcoming me as a sponsor, I look forward to many more fun times!

St. Fidelus Church, the Cathedral of the Plains

sunday night (i'm really getting old and crazy) i attended K of C bingo and WON! we played 17 games, and i took game 16 (a regular bingo) very exciting, even though my winnings just allowed me to break even for the night.


monday was Weight Watchers day, i weighed in -4.2 pounds from last week. I was hoping for that 5 pound sticker again, but no luck :( maybe i'll get 2 next week??


today is thursday, only a half day for students at palco, then conferences in the afternoon and evening. no school for palco tomorrow, but i'll still have to get up early and come into plainville! boo...


i'm planning to break my own rules and make an extra trip to Hays tomorrow (since i'll already be in Plainville) because Dillon's is having some great sales. Also, i've been invited to a jazz concert at the college, 3 of my students are participating.


thanksgiving is just around the corner. you may or may not know that i'll be making a *quick* trip to Ohio...if you're going to be in Ho. Co. on Wed, the 26th, I plan to hit up the tavern, be there :)


that's all for now...i have a fun/strange weekend in store, can't wait to share the details...keep watching!

PTC and KS Weather

Just a quick update to let you know that I have survived the first round of Parent Teacher Conferences! I only went to 1 of the 2 nights, (long story) but was only visited by 2 parents! And of course, they were the parents of GOOD kids! All in all, it was a good experience. The best part, I will be enjoying half of a day off tomorrow, yay! That means I get to sleep in.

And to address the second part of this title. Could someone Puh-Lease explain to me how we can get SNOW last week and 70 degree weather this week? It honestly feels like spring this evening. Not that I'm complaining, just makes me wonder what the next few months are really going to be like!

5 Down!

I joined 2 Mondays ago and I found out last week I lost 5 pounds! WW is a pretty easy plan, wish me luck to stick with it! :)

Cute Cookies

It's a longggggg story, but somehow, I agreed to put on a "hamburger feed" before Friday night's football game. A local man donated $100 and the FFA purchased supplies to serve hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, chips, cookies, and a drink for $5. All in all, the event went well. We had plenty of help and managed to make over $250, after expenses. I asked the students to provide the cookies, and decided to make some myself. I was so proud of how they turned out, so I took some pictures :)

Funfetti cookies with vanilla icing and candy corn. YUM!

Dairy Judging

Tomorrow we're headed to the NW District Dairy Judging Contest at Fort Hays State University. Coming from Ho Co, I feel like I should be an excellent judge of dairy animals...right? NO WAY! Thankfully, the father of one of my students came in to help us out tonight. The kids will judge 8 classes and give 3 sets of oral reasons...wish us luck!

fun times!

my, oh my! what a night!

i had a novice teacher meeting in manhattan last friday, so i seized the opportunity go drive out the night before and be a college kid again. my good friend lori, what a good friend she is! although she had mountains of homework to finish, she still managed to see that i had a great time in Aggieville. her poor bf, brandon, was in charge of entertaining me for the evening. we started out at BW3's (forgot how YUMMY wings are!) then headed to Kite's, where we met up with Kelsey, another friend from study abroad. lori preceeded to leave us at this point, brandon took kels and i to the concert, such a gentleman, and we all had fun.
here's the funniest story of the night, just a subtle reminder that NO MATTER where you are, you'll manage to run into someone you might know: so i recognized a few guys who had judged the livestock contest at the rooks county fair. not sure why, but i felt compelled to tell them that i recognized them and followed that up with "i'm from ohio, so i don't know many ppl" one of the guys says "wait, are you a buckeye?" DUH!? what else is there? lol anywho, turns out he's from BOWLING GREEN and we actually have a handful of friends in common. scary...:) i was on an "OH" - "IO" kick for the rest of the evening/night/early morning. I think i slept about 3.5 hours before heading off to my meeting friday.
i owe this great time to lori (the DD) brandon and kelsey. thanks guys!

Buffalo Bill

Oakley, Kansas - home of Buffalo Bill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill)

Land Judging

Wednesday, Sept 24, we travelled to Bird City, Kansas (3 hours west of Plainville) to participate in the NW Area Land Judging Contest. The contest was well run, the weather was beautiful, and we had a SAFE trip there, praise God!

It was Plainville's turn to provide transportation (i take both schools, we rotate transportation each time) We had the nicest bus driver, Bob! I just HAD to take a picture of the seat. It really was plaid, and comfy like a couch cushion! Perfect sleeping conditions, just ask the kids, they'll tell ya I was zonked out :) I coined the name "Conversion Bus" because this bus reminded me of a conversion van, less the curtains and shag carpet!

I'm sure you're wondering how we did...let's not talk about it. It was all about the experience, we'll know how to prepare better for next year, right?

Who knew there were Cactus growing in Kansas, c'mon...seriously?

All in all, a great day!

FFA Softball

The NorthWest District Sponsored an FFA Softball Game today, both Palco and Plainville went and we had a blast!

Students were split up on six different teams, I played with mighty team 3, we went 5-1!

Just goin through some old pictures

yearbookyourself.com (it's amusing!)

THIS is Kansas

How could I forget this? I had to be very sneaky while taking this picture. Although I am proud of my new camera's zoom-ability. When you think of cowboys, you think sexy, right? This just doesn't do it for me...I don' t know who he is, but I have seen him in town before, and I think he works for a local guy, they truck cattle back and forth to Garden City packing plants.

Fall

My, how times flies! It seems like just yesterday I hopped in my car and made the journey out here. That first week was rough, 106 degree temperatures, hot, hot, summer sun. And now, already, it seems as though fall is upon us!

I went to a craft show on Saturday and bought a cute pumpkin welcome for my front door. Since many of you won't see it hanging there, I'll put it's picture up :)

And as a thank-you for helping in the concession stand, the kindergarten teacher gave me a few other cute "fall" decorations!

Homecoming

Palco celebrated Homecoming Friday, Sept 19. I enjoyed being a part of the festivities, from the bonfire to the parade, the slave auction to the game and dance, it was all a good time!

Here are a few pictures from the events listed above:

The Giant Rooster Float (newspaper stuck in chicken wire withheld even the Kansas winds!)

The Slave Auction:

We made nearly $4000 in less than an hour. The easiest fundraiser I've ever been a part of. And yes, I was sold also! It was a weird feeling, being "sold" even if it was just for 8-hours labor! My neighbor and another student's dad bought me for $430! I can only imagine what they'll put me to work doing.

The Dance:

I would guess there were at least 40 students in attendance, and out of 52 in the whole school, that's not bad. It was a typical high school dance, kids sitting around, slow dancing with arm stretched as far as possible, you get the point!

The 270 Express

Well folks, I know you've been waiting anxiously to see this beautiful machine. This my friends, is the beast that I kindly refer to as the "270 Express" Though it's past it's prime, it gets the job done. The job: getting me to Plainville and back each day. I'm guessing it's an early 80's model. I do, however, like the scarlet and grey paint job!

Under the Thursday Night Lights:

Palco Football in action, 8-man style!

After the annual community welcome back picnic, which was greatly attended by the entire district, we all loaded up, bug spray in tow, to head down to the football field. This was my first experience watching 8-man, but it was FUN!

In the swing of things...

School has started and I'm getting into a routine. Those of you who know me are well aware of my "style" I'm up til midnight finishing lessons for the next day. I keep telling myself that I WILL get ahead. I'll be having a sub tomorrow at Plainville so that I can fully participate in Palco's New Teacher Inservice, planning for a sub seems harder than actually doing it myself!

Keep my friends Alli and Brian and their roommate Dylan's family in your prayers. Dylan was killed in a 4-Wheeler accident yesterday. 22 years old, just graduated from OU. I guess you just never know. Enjoy every minute!

Catch the Spirit!

I find myself very emotional as I prepare to start school! My classroom is ready to go, lesson plans all thought out (not on paper yet, Dr. Whittington would be disappointed) and bulletin boards are up!








The cheerleaders just stopped by with a Plainville Spirit bag, a football t-shift, megaphone, pom-pom, etc. How exciting! :)





Many of you remember how much I loved high school and being a part of all the excitement, I'm just realizing that I get to be a part of that all over again, this is sweet!



Go Cards!

Fun Weekend!

Well, it's Sunday afternoon and I'm here at Plainville, getting ready for the week ahead. Miss Mary Beth came to visit Friday, we had a great time! We planned to go to the Ashton Shephard/Neil McCoy concert at the Rooks Co. Fair, but were scared away by a crazy storm. Saturday, Miss Mary graciously went through my shops with me and tested out some of the equipment. Looks like I have a few welders that work at both schools, and a few that need some repairs.
The secretary at Plainville invited me to go along to the Demo Derby on Saturday evening. It was a blast! We sat in the pits and enjoyed the action :) Reminded me VERY MUCH of the Holmes Co. Fair!
Monday morning, 8:00AM, teacher inservice. Tuesday, teacher workday, and Wednesday, the kids come! Wish me luck, I'm sure I'll have good stories to share.

Palco School

You may or may not be aware that I'm actually teaching at 2 different high schools. I am living in Palco, across from my school, as a matter of fact. So, I thought I'd share a few pictures of the facilities!

This is Palco Grade School. Yes, Grade School. My classroom and shop are in the grade school! An older gentleman shared with me that when he was in school, all grades were housed in this building! Now, there is a seperate high school just to the right of this building, so kids go back and forth throughout the day.

This is a view of my shop from the outside. Yes, just beyond the playground equipment. It's very nice, lots of light and high ceilings.

This is a view of my classroom from the back. Again, very nice space. It's messy now because I've been going through a lot of things. I have even found materials and awards from the 1950's!

This is the shop. It's messy. Very messy. And if you're wondering, yes, that is weightlifting equipment. They take over the ag. shop during the summer months because they have more room...whatever!

The real reason I've been spending so much time at school...Mr. AC. I crank this puppy down and don't have to worry about the electric bill. Niiiice :) Would you believe it was over 100 degrees for almost a week? Crazy!!!

Hope this puts things into perspective! I'm loving it here, Palco is a great place to be. COME VISIT :)

All settled in!

Just wanted to post a few pictures (finally) of my new surroundings. I absolutely love it out here! My house is adorable, things are going well at school (well, it hasn't officially started yet), and I continue to be amazed by how friendly and welcoming Kansas Ag. teachers are! Enjoy the pics and keep in touch :)

-gb

This is my house. 605 Ash Ave. It's just the cutest place I've ever lived ;)

This is the left side of my kitchen. It's not huge, but just right for me. Notice the Buckeye Pride on the fridge.

The right side of the kitchen. Nice counter space, double sink, and gotta have that coffee maker :) The door goes to the mud room on the back of the house.

This is the bathroom. The only complaint I have about the whole place is the shower. I'm learning to make do, it's just very small and very metal. Note to self: refrain from showering during a lightening storm.

This is the door to my bedroom. Boring, maybe, but I had to show off a little bit of Slovakia.

The bedroom. Not nearly as messy as my room back home, right mom?

The Living Room: I spend most of my time here when I'm at home. I don't have a couch yet, although a fellow teacher has offered to give me one.

The wash house outback. Very strange set-up. It's just a few feet from the back door, but still, strange.