Sunday, January 27, 2008

Winter hath come, gosh darn

Well, Malia and I decided we needed to
post again. It's been a while, and I'm sure you are all wondering what we've been up to. What have we been up to? Hmmmm. I have been surviving teaching at Senior. I have a wonderful co-teacher this year who is very supportive and helps me with my most needy class, which is at the end of the day. Things are a little chaotic in there right now at the beginning of second semester, so I have been regularly kicking kids out, sending them to the office and sitting them in the hall. The goal, so I am told, is for them to settle down, even though this will cause them to hate me. Sigh. I knew I went into teaching for a reason.

Here are me and Mom hiking in California. More on that in a minute. I'm too frustrated with the limitations of this program to get perfectionistic about my post, so it's just going to have to be a little disorganized.

On a positive note, my 5th hour has indeed settled down, although one student did manage to escape the evil clutches of Ms. Gibbons by suddenly developing an interest in band, and therefore managing to convince the counselor to switch him to another section. This is a different kid from the one who told me he wanted out of my class because "I want to be able to talk to my friends and not get in trouble." That's not going to work, Sonny Jim. Neither is getting out of study hall by spending it in the bathroom putting on makeup and talking on a cell phone, which is what my 14-year-old girls want to do. "I'm gonna bring my Momma up to school to talk with you, Ms. Gibbons!" Go ahead, I'll look forward to that conversation. . . .

OK, this isn't sounding too positive, so maybe I'd better talk about my Chemistry class, which is wonderful. The squeals of nervous excitement when we blow up a little hydrogen, the willingness to put up with my overly long final without complaining, the actual questions about how to balance equations. You mean there are students out there who will take an active interest in learning? What a difference a few years makes!

On the home front I am enjoying the nesting time of year by cleaning and organizing the house, sewing curtains for the computer room, and getting all caught up in re-learning genetics for some reason. Well, maybe it has something to do with my need to think about my future (or maybe escape my present). I haven't been doing enough baking to keep the hubby happy, but he hasn't complained yet. Besides, Jack is taking up the slack by cooking and baking up a storm. He really seems to enjoy it, and often offers to make up a special order from Jack's Bean and Burrito Steakhouse. The results are incredibly edible, actually.

We had a great visit out West to see Mom and Dad and Pete and DeAnna. Here are Jack and Grandpa Ian, aka the Big Cheeses, mulling over the comparative tastiness of two different kinds of English farmhouse cheddar over the cutting board.








Although we worry about Mom, her spirit, humor and energy inspire me every day. I wish I could post a video showing how she "runs" up a trail these days. Once a mountain goat, always a mountain goat. To think she has had Parkinson's for 5 years, yet she still gets so fired up by the sight of the trail receding into the distance that she just takes off like a bear after honey.

Her caregivers do a fantastic job of supporting her and Dad, and I am so thankful that she has been able to stay at home. Hiking in the East Bay hills just sets us all so straight.

Malia started basketball at school and is loving violin. That's her with her friends making a giant cookie pizza. And that's also her in the very center of the picture, in orchestra. Jack is playing some cool jazz songs on his guitar now too.

Slumber party!



Here is Dan admiring the Christmas tree. He is enjoying playing with the kids' Christmas presents and filling up the computer with all kinds of music we'll never have time to listen to.

So that's us for now. Hope this finds you well.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Summer Camps 07


Hi everyone!

Here are a few photos of the kid's summer camp experiences. Jack went to a computer camp at UC Berkeley where he worked to design and program a simple robot. He met some great kids and really enjoyed his teacher, who actually went to school in Concord, New Hampshire (it's small world). His favorite part was the programming, where he "told" the robot how to use it's "arm" (shown here) or how to follow a line on the floor.




Malia went on a backpacking trip to Pt. Reyes for about a week. She loved the scenery, the wildlife and the counselors. She also made some good friends while playing cards after lugging her 25 pounds of gear for miles. She even loved the food, including the fruit leather and beef jerky. Here are the girls in their tent, which she helped carry.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Michigan trip




Hi everyone! Here is an update on the Galena Gang - we have been having many adventures as usual. Malia and Wendy recently visited Blue Lake for Malia's fifth year of violin music camp. This picture shows the lake at the camp.










We were so excited to be joined by five other students and four parents from the Dubuque Fiddlers. Every year more of our friends have come with us to experience the incredible beauty and peacefulness of the Michigan woods surrounded by lilting melodies from pianos, trumpets, cellos, violins and more.







Here is Malia's repertoire group playing outside in the bandshell, as many of the classes do.










Malia especially enjoyed playing quartets for the first time at Blue Lake. All eleven of us shared one big happy cabin in the woods filled with bunks of sleeping bags, fiddle fests around the campfire, instrument trading (thanks to Sam for allowing everyone, even Wendy, to try out his cello), and of course s'mores.

















After the camp was over Malia and Wendy took off for a few days of camping in the north woods of Michigan. Wendy had a hunch that really payed off about how beautiful it might be up there. We stayed for three nights at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, where we were able to climb around on huge sand dunes, view endangered Piping Plover nesting areas with exclosures to keep out seagulls and raccoons, swim in pristine rivers, take a boat to a remote island in Lake Superior and hike 3 miles out to the oldest stand of white cedars (some are 500 plus years old) in the United States. We survived a few challenges: a couple of hailstorms, moving our tent across the campground without taking it down (helped by our camping neighbors who took pity on us) and a huge giggle fest after 12 hours of driving back to Galena when we were just 15 minutes from home but could barely keep our eyes open.







Other highlights included the Kirtland's warblers that we were able to see despite the fact that we slept through our alarm so that we were about 1/2 hour late - then driving halfway across the state of Michigan to arrive just as the other birders were getting into their cars to go to the jack pine spot. We definitely felt very lucky at that point! We also tried out an indoor climbing wall at a gym in Grand Rapids - this definitely rates as my most fun ever way to stay in shape, and my arms were sore for two days afterwards.










Jack and Dan had fun while we were gone too - mainly reffing soccer games, watching soccer games on TV "at every meal," and probably talking about soccer too. Jack helped Dan with banding some more grasshopper sparrows at Lost Mound. Here is Jack reading in front of the open door of the house so he could "hear the rain."












Now that Wendy's back she's been making up for her break from the kitchen by baking up boeuf bourginonne, and pot stickers - I like to cook when I actually have the time to make yummy stuff! Dan celebrated his 4o-somethingth birthday last week with a carrot cake and a huge crossword puzzle. That's his usual NYTimes one in the picture - he's almost keeping up!

I hope this finds all of you well and enjoying life's challenges. We hope to visit with some or all of you soon this summer.

Monday, May 28, 2007

May 07



Hi everyone!

Welcome to the Galena gang's new blog. We hope to be able to give you a taste of our life here since
we are so far away.

This picture is of the moon rising over the Cimarron National Grassland Lesser Prairie Chicken lek.
Malia and Jack and Dan got up at an incredibly early hour to see these amazing birds on their spring break trip.

More soon, as we find time to get this baby up and running!!