Cherry Blossom Candy Leaf

So it's almost one in the morning and I leave for the airport at 3:15 a.m. I guess I won't be getting much sleep. Alaska, here I come. The forecast: 10 days of rain! I am hopeful that the meteorologists are wrong... as usual. I arrive in Ketchikan tomorrow morning and leave from Juneau more than a week later. 10 days of ferry rides, car rentals, hikes, kayak trips, and whatever else may come. Even though I am excited, I know that I will miss my sweet doll and my pup. So I'm just about packed, aside from the bathroom essentials. I've made my postcard list, although there are some missing addresses, and I've cleaned out my purse (which was long overdue).

Today, well yesterday, was Father's Day. Ben and I drove to my dad's and then returned home for a small gathering that Grandma arranged.

On Friday night, Ben and I met Jo in Hollywood to see the Mammals at the Tangier. Here are a couple pictures from the show. A great time was had by all.

This is the last year that our school will have a sixth grade class, so all my fifth graders are moving on to middle school. Last night we had their promotion celebration. They received awards, danced, and sang. I also prepared this slide show. The soundtrack contains songs we learned to sing or danced to in our ballroom dancing class. Enjoy!

On Friday night, Ben and I headed south to Sasha's dad's timeshare in Dana Point. Even though our stay was short, we enjoyed ourselves. There even was a spa tub in the room! Olga came up on Saturday afternoon and we layed out on the beach. Jo Ellen showed up in the evening and we all went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant that was highly recommended. Jo Ellen had to work so she left just as we prepared to get in the super hot hot-tub. Olga spent the night. We checked out this morning at 10:00 and made several stops on the way home. This is my last week of work, so I am hoping for more enjoyable weekends.

Guess who's writing this? The Rotary Club's Teacher of the Year! That's right. Someone elected me as the teacher of the year at our school site. When my friend Kari announced it at the staff meeting, I was shocked to shit! I wanted to say, "No one must have voted," but as my friend has told me, all negative thoughts must be dismissed and so I cancelled it. I guess it doesn't really matter how many people voted. I don't really know what that award means, but it was cool to hear my name.

On another note, Ben's mom has been gone for a month tomorrow. It is unbelievable still. We constantly relive the moments of the past few months and we don't really understand how we got here. Ben goes to the cemetary every day and says, "I want my mom, now." It's been strange trying to figure out how to be a family without Marilyn, but we are trying to continue with the dinners and such. We put on a stiff upper lip and go on.

Grandma will be 90 on Monday and she has a busy week of lunches and dinners planned. She wanted to have an open house, but we have not finished the bathroom since Ben fractured his wrist on the night before his mom's funeral. He is currently wearing a cast.

On Friday night we are heading out to Dana Point. Sasha's dad has a timeshare at a resort and he is unable to make it. I guess it must have been too late to trade it in. Unfortunately, we can't go for the whole week. I'm still in school and we have missed some days recently when Marilyn died. We are looking forward to the getaway. My last day of school is next Thursday and I have mixed emotions about it. I am truly excited about the summer. However, I have had such a wonderful class this year and I know what's coming up for me next year, so I'm a little worried. I have tentatively been assigned 5th grade again so I will be having my friend Kari's class of "red dots". Red dot is code for "problem". She will be having the 4th/5th split, and one year with some of these future fifth graders is more than enough for her. I leave for Alaska on the Monday morning after Father's Day. Sasha and I will be taking a ferry boat from Ketchikan to Juneau for a 10 day tour. In July, Ben and I will be heading to the Czech Republic. In addition, I am scheduled for 2 1/2 weeks of professional development. I don't know how to break it to Grandma since she has my August planned out with trips to the bank, etc., She's the only person I know to plan errands 4-5 months in advance. The days I am not vacationing/staff developing, I will be here with her. I don't know what to say about that.

Aside from this, my little brother Danny has made a skate video. Here is the trailer. "DCT" stands for Danny, Connor, and Tyler.