So far we’ve had a great start at our school this year. We found out that the percentage of students meetin standard on each test area doubled! That should tell you how low they were… Take a look:

Math
last year: 4.8%
this year: 23.1%

Reading
last year: 22.3%
this year: 56.8%

Science
last year:0.6% (yes, that’s right….less than 1%!)
this year: 11.5%

Writing
last year: 28.3%
this year: 54.7%

So….we have a long way to go, but we’ve made huge jumps! I’m looking forward to what this year’s results will be like with such a positive learning environment.

Overwhelmed, I am. We got back home last night, and I went in to school today for the first time since June. We moved buildings so I have lots of unpacking to do. I counted the packed boxes of classroom items in my room: 126. I have unpacked a little more than 1/4 of those. Blech. I was at school from about 9:15-4, and I spent most of my time socializing and unpacking. Tomorrow is our first paid day, as well as my Mary Kay debut! Woohoo!

..is awesome! At least this part of it is, anyway. We’re in Encinitas, CA– 30 minutes north of San Diego. We checked in on
Thursday afternoon and we’re checking out this morning. So far, we’ve been to the beach twice, the hotel pool once, the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park, and out to dinner twice. The first night we arrived, we got all dressed up and went to dinner-I got fish tacos and Justin got a huge taco salad. It was romantic except for the 15!!! TV screens with 4 different channels showing on the screens, plus at 9, a live band showed up.

Yesterday, we ate our continental breakfasts, cashed in on some recycleables at Albertson’s, and packed a picnic lunch on our way to the animal park in Escondido. We stayed at the park from 10-3 and got a bit burned. My faves were the lions, gorillas, and larakeets (not parakeets). The park was originally a breeding ground for endangered and threatened species, and it was not open to the public. Now the public has access and helps to fund the park. It’s kind of like a zoo, but there’s much more land available for the animals, so you have to take a slow-moving monorail around the park to see the deer, rhino, giraffes, etc. We got to see one of the two living male white rhinos, as well as meerkats, warthogs, and more. Sweet!

On the way back, we picked our own oranges. You pay $8 per bag via the honor system and go at it. Keeping my eyes peeled for rattlesnakes (as cautioned by the sign) and snails (they were everywhere), we plucked warm, unwilling oranges from deep within the tree. We didn’t fill the whole bag, but we’l have plenty to share. When we came back, we swam and I read some of Odd Girl Out. After a shower and much primping, we went out for our anniversary dinner.

We went to Amici, a fancy, tiny Peruvian restaurant that follows the slow cooking movement. It was crowded, hot, and noisy inside, so we got the option of a tiny, round outdoor table. We split a saltena, an amici greens salad (oranges, greens, raspberries, candied walnuts, special vinaigrette, and goat cheese), and the entree of aji chicken with fingerling potatoes. Soooo good!

Knowing we had done enough damage there, we opted for dessert at Via Italiana, an award winning trattoria across the street. The waitstaff, the tiramisu (also a shared treat), and the surroundings made me want to go back to Italy instantly. We laughed and talked and walked back to our hotel up the road.

This morning we got our continental breakfasts and walked down to the beach, where many surfers had ridden the waves already. We ventured out into the cold Pacific water and let the waves splash us for a while. We’re now packing up and getting ready to check out. Ciao!

I had a potato explode on me last night. Justin’s parents were at work and Justin was visiting with a high school friend. I pricked 4 potatoes and put them in the oven for the baking, and when they were finished, I poked them with a fork to get them out. The last one exploded ALL OVER the kitchen–a 6 foot radius from the oven. 350F potato bits were everywhere—my hair, my face, my clothes, inside the oven, on the dishwasher. The Baeders’ yellow lab, Melody, helped me by finding the skins and eating the scattered remains of the potato bomb. Photos soon!

Hey, guys. I need some commenting lovin’! I miss you guys!! Tell me anything–I’ll comment back. Over and out.

Sheesh. As if my family hasn’t been through enough this summer, my dad Randy was in the emergency room this morning and is now in Heber’s hospital on oxygen. He has those kidney stones still–they’re broken up, but still in his system. He has shortness of breath, palpitations, a fever, and back pain. The cardiologist is going to take a look at him at 2 p.m. Pray for him and my mom, as she went to school for the first day this year today. She went in late to help with scheduling, but will go back to the hospital later this afternoon. Thank you for your prayers.

Well, we stayed in Arkansas until yesterday, and then we drove to Houston to stay with Justin’s Mom and Dad. It’s strange to be here in such an empty house–Bridget and Brendan, Justin’s younger siblings, are at Harding (we helped Brendan move his few earthly possessions into Harbin last week).

Before coming down here, we visited my Granny, Pa, Dad, his wife Rhonda, Jerry (my dad’s longtime friend), my half-brother Oliver, his wife Meredith, their baby, my Aunt Robin, her partner Archie, my cousins Heather and Chuck, and his girlfriend Lori. It was a full house, and each one of us enjoyed the music, Granny’s comfort foods, and the baby. Anna and I conducted a Mary Kay skin care class for the ladies while the guys with guitars provided a few hours’ worth of music.

We also watched my granny’s tape of dad on “You Can Be a Star,” a Nashville-based, country-music counterpart of “Star Search” Dad got second place to this scary, over-reactive female singer. Blech. He was much better.

Anyway, now we’re in Houston and it’s a bazillion degrees. Last night we had one of Justin’s childhood favorites–Chicken a la King–for dinner. Today we went to Westbury twice (I am still amazed at how those kids have grown up since I met them 5 years ago) and Justin’s dad was our Sunday school teacher. For lunch we went to Jax’s grill, and my ridiculously humongous plate of penne pasta with tomato cream sauce, grilled chicken and mushrooms has fed me for three meals now (there’s more in the fridge, too!). After church, there was an ice cream social and I had way too much homemade ice cream (vanilla and peach!).

Erin and I are working on taking in a few of my summer dresses. I need to learn how to be a better seamstress so I can hem and alter proficiently. This evening I also reserved a hotel room for Justin and me in San Diego for our 5 year anniversary!

I was really looking forward to swimming while we’re here since the Baeders’ neighborhood has a pool, but apparently it’s closed during the week now because they’ve started school. : ( I guess I’ll just stay inside between the hours of 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. I plan to go running at 10 tonight. we’l see how that goes.

Random note: I love the smell of Surf laundry detergent–anyone else agree?

We arrived in Arkansas and brought with us loads of rain (at least as far as Batesville). We left cool-temperatured Columbia, MO and encountered humidity and lightning storms. We got to Malvern, AR and got to my grandparents’ house at around 1 a.m. I completely lost it when I drove up to my Meme and Papa’s house and proceeded to cry for about 30 minutes until I fell asleep on the air mattress on the living room floor. The next morning, I ran almost 4 miles round trip from the farm to the road. I needed some activity, de-stress time, and thinking time. The funeral was that afternoon in the air conditioned funeral home. I saw lots of friends and family who were so sweet to all of us. The graveside ceremony was short due to the extreme heat. After that, we proceeded to Meme’s country church (Methodist) for food and fellowship. Yay for Southern comfort foods: sweet tea, mac & cheese, blueberry crisp, cheesecake, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, ham, and broccoli casserole! I got to see six of my youngest relatives–adorable! When we left the church, we helped Papa write thank-you notes and we helped him organize laundry, food, and other basics before we left later that evening. Also before we left, Anna and I looked at a scrapbook that belonged to meme charting her life from 1933-1951. We saw love letters, pictures, war ration stamps, and programs from different events she attended. I want to remember that scrapbook or somehow save it from disintegration–it’s already got crumbly brown paper as the base. Before we left, Anna and I sang along with Anna’s boyfriend CJ on the front porch as he played songs on the guitar. We drove back to Heber last night through rain and watched the lightning storm as we drove north. The town was eerily dark when we drove into town due to a downed powerline. As we drove past it, I had forgotten that the movie theater had burned down a few months ago. We wanted to stop at Wal-Mart for a toothbrush (I left ours and our razor at Bethany and Brock’s). The 24-hour store was open due to generators, but the checkout components were broken. We went home and scrounged up a new toothbrush for me and slept for a LONG time.

More to come…we’re going swimming!

In less than 48 hours, we drove from Seattle to Columbia, Missouri. We’re visiting with my best college friend, Bethany, and her husband Brock, as well as with Mike, David, Rach, and B. I’m looking forward to some chicken enchiladas, refried beans, Spanish rice, and fresh fruit. Yum! It beats road trip food (I’ve had lots of bananas, granola bars, Wheat Thins, Starbucks doubleshots, and Propel water). The highlights of our trip so far? We’ve visited Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD and the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. Woohoo!

More later. (Written on Saturday, August 13)

My meme, Barbara Ann Sexton, passed away on August 12, 2005 at 6:17 a.m. central time. The funeral will be Monday, August 15, 2005 in Malvern, Arkansas. Meme had struggled for some time with liver dysfunction after taking Vioxx for her arthritis. The trouble started last summer, I believe, and she has been in and out of the hospital over the past year. My family would love your prayers. we’l get to attend the funeral, as it was the scheduled day we were to arrive in Arkansas anyway, but I regret that we didn’t get to see her before she died. I talked to her on her 72nd (I think) birthday this past Sunday and we talked for a while.

Please share any memories you have about her below. I still can’t believe it–she was the first of my grandparents to pass away, and she was so lively and young before she got sick last year. I loved her so much.