stargate on the brains

i had been eagerly waiting for this weekend all summer! it is that most fabled of times: the stargate convention!!! yes, i am fully aware how nerdy it is that i attend a stargate convention. on the nerd scale, i think it is just below dr. who fan fiction. that wont deter me, i have been saving up all summer so that i can go and enjoy all the great stargate craziness! i went last year and had a blast and some how i convinced brains to go along with me this year (but to be honest, he's almost a bigger stargate nerd than i am...).

friday afternoon brains rolled in to town so that we could spend the night geeking out in preparation. we went to get some delicious panda express and catch up. my wife was gone for the weekend so our friday night was wide open for a couple of guys to get as wild as we wanted. we took advantage by watching a couple episodes of stargate sg-1, drank two whole cans of diet soda, and went to bed by 11:00pm. wild and crazy, i know! we were planning ahead, after all, we wanted to be well rested for the fun on saturday.

fill the walls again

along with the return to school is the dreaded task of decorating my classroom! actually, its not that bad, the hardest part is thinking of a theme for the room. in years past i have done everything from superheroes to video game characters. last year i stuck with more traditional stuff, focusing on the actual subject i teach instead of a random theme! this year with the new curriculum, it lends itself easily to a building and tools theme. i decided to go with it and made a bunch of construction stuff and tools. it took a lot longer than i had hoped, but it turned out ok. i'm not always happy with my own work, and this year was no exception. oh well, ill only have to look at it for a whole year, right?

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clear!

back to work. blah. before the students come to school we teachers have to have a ton of meetings. this year, on top of all the meetings we had, we also did cpr certification. we do this every couple years so that we can be qualified if needed. its not too bad, other than the fact that they keep changing it on us! last time i was certified there were tons of numbers that we had to remember: 2 breaths for every 15 chest pushes for 5 repetitions... now they have made it much simpler to remember, which is quite handy! now i am ready to do cpr, but i certainly hope i never will need to!

and by the way, the cpr dolls are still creepy...

last day of summer

with school starting the next day, diana and i had one last hurrah before our mornings and afternoons together came to a close! we started off the day by sleeping in (of course), and then we drove down to merrillville and spent the day wandering around different stores and just enjoying each other! diana was very pleased because i even treated her to her favorite restaurant: chipotle!

these are the days that are i remember most, not because there was anything special, but because there is nothing special about them. these past three and a half years of knowing my best friend have flown by so quickly. there have been busy days and there have been slow days, but all of them have been good days! sorry honey, i wish i could continue to spend every morning and afternoon hanging out with you, but unfortunately i guess i should probably go back to work now...

on deck

on my last visit to south bend for the summer (school's starting soon...) i got to do a little work at the rental house, working on the bathrooms and stuff, but the bulk of time was spent at mom and david's place trying to build a frame for an extension on the deck in the back to go around the hot tub. i had no clue what i was doing, but the framework came along pretty well! there was a bunch of stopping to think so that we did is right and readjusting our plans along the way, but i think we build a pretty strong foundation for it! its pretty tough to build a framework around an octagon shaped hot tub, but we did well for being amateurs...

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visiting dad

diana came with on one of the many visits i made over the summer to south bend and we decided to stop in and visit her dad. it just so happened that barbara had the day off as well, so she stopped over too- its a family reunion! we even brought along poco so he could enjoy the family time too! it had been too long since last we saw her dad so it was a nice visit. we came by for lunch and her dad made us a delicious meal. it sounds like things have been going well for him, making art and keeping up with old friends. i will tell you this: diana is never happier than when she gets to see her family!

coupling

diana has become good friends with a few of the girls at her work, among them is kat. recently kat and her husband tim have invited us over to their house to hang out on sunday nights. since neither one of us work on mondays over the summer, we have taken them up on the offer! we go over there and hang out, watch a little tv, play some games or grill out. its been a great time for both diana and i. she enjoys spending time with kat, and i think tim is really cool! i tell you what, its nice sometimes to have married friends...

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a major paint

back i go! the whole going to south bend to work on the house for mom and david thing has become a bit of a pattern lately- every week i go there and work for two or three days! its been going great so far, i've almost got all the painting done. sure, the painting took me a while, but bare in mind that i have had to paint, literally, every single wall in the whole house- including closets! i've never really liked to paint before and this isnt convincing me otherwise!

actually, it hasnt been bad at all. i listen to my mp3 player while i work and the time just zips by! along with all the painting, there has also been some floor boards that needed replacing, and a few other odds and ends to take care of. this place is really starting to look nice!

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