Pool fun!

 We got to spend some time a few weeks ago with family...and were totally entertained by our nephew.  He turned 2 in June and is just so much fun.

Shameless Self Promotion

We spent most of today in my classroom getting it set up...I forgot the camera but will take photos of it soon!  B was a huge help and I'd definitely still be there now if it weren't for him.

What my classroom doesn't have, however, is any way of projecting anything written.  I taught with a document camera in Chicago but without one in Colorado and ended up with my back to the class writing at the board way more than I should have.  I'd love to teach with power point, but since so much of precalc is making graphs, I find that I need to show written processes too often.

So I have a project on donorschoose.org to get a document camera.  For the first week only, the website is matching donations to the project if you enter the code INSPIRE when you're donating.  That means $5 becomes $10, $10 becomes $20...it basically makes my project half price for a week!

So here's the project!  http://www.donorschoose.org/karibridgeland  Feel free to donate or not, I am just trying to spread the word!

Apartment tour

Just did a quick walk through of the apartment for those who are curious.

Nanaafest Destiny

We have arrived in California!  Actually, we have arrived in California, unloaded the truck, started unpacking, headed home for a few days, came back, finished unpacking, and ate at the 24 hour donut shop down the road 3 times in our first 48 hours.  I started work on Wednesday...new teacher orientation.  Students don't start until 8/27, we just have a lot of staff development between now and then.

But that's for another time...for now, enjoy the move!  We neglected to take a picture of packing up, which, let's face it, was best given the sweat situation, but I'd like to give a shout out to my first year roommate from UVA who volunteered to come up to Boulder from CO Springs to help us load the truck.  It would have been a lot more painful without her!

Front Range in the rear view

Nanaa not exactly having fun

Stopped in Fort Collins for lunch with an old friend

If Penske is looking for new spokespeople, they should call us.  We'd be in a commercial for Penske anytime.  Soooooo much better than Budget.

Weird rain clouds

Whaaaat?

Clearly we took the bait.  A sign on the ice cream machine read "Sorry we only have chocolate." As if there is any other kind.

Wyoming Sunset

Nanaa happy to be in the hotel room in West Wendover, Utah

She summitted the room.

Don't make me get back in that crate

Oh, to be curious like a cat.  It's like she's never seen a sink before.

California customs.  Had to submit to search and get a lecture about cleaning off our bike tires and hiking boots.

The living room, post arrival

More living room

Nanaa was so wired that she had to burrow under the blanket to force herself to sleep

Once we finish hanging the art and what not, more pictures from the apartment.  And some to come soon from our trip home.  For those keeping score, this is  Nanaa's fourth time zone to live in.

Off to California!

And we're off....soon!  After we disconnect internet, get the last load of stuff out, and vacuum. 

Vertical Garden

One night my roommate asked if I wanted to help him in the backyard...he had an idea for some plants but wasn't sure if it was going to work.  We ended up with 9 of these pots drilled into the fence, planted with different succulents.  I got to do all the dirty work while he worked on some other projects.  I'm not sure if we can call it a success just yet, since it's only been 2 weeks, but the plants seem to be thriving.  He has been watering them with a spray bottle.  I thought it was a neat idea, especially for someone without a lot of space on the ground.

A hike in the hills

My first weekend in San Francisco, my roommate (whom I didn't know before moving here...I'm living in an apartment with 2 roommates, one whom I knew from the Peace Corps) invited me to go on a hike with him and his friends.  That's how nice people are in San Francisco. 

We initially planned on going up north to Marin County, to Point Reyes where B and I had hiked in March, but it was an excessively foggy and cold day...and that meant fog and cold in Marin Co as well, so instead we headed south.  Where do people from SF go when they want to hike where the weather is nice?  Why to Palo Alto, about 4 miles from where we'll be living, of course.  We did a 6 mile hike, the first 3.5 of which were mostly uphill, but we got some great views.

We were close enough to the ocean on the other side to technically "see" it, but it was so foggy over the ocean that I didn't get a glimpse.  At one point, we walked around a hill and got a great view of...Stanford University!  You can find it in the foreground by looking for the tall bell tower or whatever that building is.  All the red roofed buildings are Stanford.  Then past Stanford is the Bay, and across the Bay are more suburbs and then the big hills that butt up to Oakland.

On the way back down, we had an up-close and personal experience with a snake who had caught a mouse and was trying to make its way uphill with it to keep us from the mouse.  He ended up unsuccessful...the mouse was too heavy...so he just slithered awkwardly around the mouse trying to protect it from us while we took pictures.  Even though it wasn't a poisonous snake, I was afraid to get too close.  Eventually, we left it to its feast.

After the hike we had frozen yogurt in downtown Palo Alto, which is pretty much just a nice suburban downtown.  There are many froyo places, a Cheesecake Factory, a Restoration Hardware Store, etc...but there also seem to be a lot of unique and fun places to check out in the coming year!