I'm an Uncle!

Or something like that.
Congratulations to Brent, Camille and Annie!
Robert Benjamin
10/30/09
8 lbs. 8 oz. 19"




He scratched his face, but what a smile!

So worth it

I made bread today. It heated up our non-air conditioned apartment, but the smell wafting through the house made up for the extra heat. Besides, it's Logan. Not as hot as Salt Lake, and we're up on a hill where we get a bit of a breeze all day.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy the fruits of my labors.

Snippets

I was so happy to be done with school. The last couple days seemed like a marathon. I've been out for a month (okay, two days short, but who's counting?) and it has been wonderful. Pro-rated pay is a fantastic thing for a teacher. You can take three (needed) months off and recharge your batteries without having to worry about where your paycheck is coming from.

I have kept myself busy -- sewing projects, de-junking the house and reorganizing the food storage, planting and feasting from our garden and lots of trips down to Salt Lake to be with the family.

Sarah and Molly graduated. Camille made Sarah an extra-warm quilt for college. Logan winters are cold! We used fabric scraps from past sewing projects -- mostly dresses -- and there's fabric from at least one dress of each of the sisters and Mom. She'll be surrounded by all of us, if you want to think of it that way.


We've been rehearsing with the Salt Lake Symphonic Winds and will be playing at Sugarhouse Park on the 4th of July. I hear that this is the last year they will be doing it because of the expensive fireworks . . .

Dan's been taking an Islamic History class online. It has been interesting for him and I have enjoyed his increased appreciation for history. He's learned that the way the media portrays the religion is totally different from the form it was actually intended to take. To quote him, "[Islam] is a beautiful religion." We have appreciated the flexibility that online provides and we're one class closer to graduation.

Dan 'babysat' a bunch of teenagers a couple weeks ago. His mom had the flu really bad (they think it was swine flu, even though the test came back negative) and he went down to Lake Powell with his dad, two other chaperones and 18 recently graduated high school kids. He was quite popular amongst the teenage population because he agreed to sleep in between the boys and girls so they could all sleep on top of the houseboat. He did say that he was able, despite his initial opinion, to have a couple of intelligent conversations. In the meantime, I was in Park City at a music teacher's conference and stayed at my grandpa's cabin. I'm not sure who got the better end of the deal.

Dan's brother, Andy gets married next week. I'm sure that his parents will be happy to have that stress gone. An odd coincidence, however. We had some new neighbors move in next door, they got married about two weeks ago and their names are Andrew and Jessica. Same names and Andy and his fiancee. They seem very friendly and have told us to tell them if their music is ever too loud. It certainly has been easy to hear because of the new sound system they have installed. We may be paying them another visit sometime soon.


Our garden looks fantastic and we have enjoyed an abundance of greens from it. The potatoes loved all of the rainy weather we had and the tomatoes are busy making up for lost time now that its been sunny.

We planned a time to 'kidnap' my younger siblings for a week this month. Eliza and I want to go up to Bear Lake and get fresh raspberry shakes and maybe play in the water a bit. We're going to see if we can't find a campsite somewhere around there for an overnight stay. We also want to check out some of the other local sites in Cache Valley. We're still new enough that it's new and exciting still. One place that's definitely on the list is the Pepperidge Farms factory to the north. They have an outlet store . . .

Dan and I are also going backpacking in the Uintahs at the end of the month. If anyone is interested in coming along, let me know. It'd be great to have some company.

Our trip to Florida is getting closer, and Dan has set a goal to finish his latest Lego creation by the time we leave. He's got the exterior mostly finished and just needs to put in the different floors and detailing. It reminds me of BURN-E from Pixar.


Michael and Eliza and Dan's brother, Will, are coming with us. We're looking forward to the space shuttle launch and the chance to spend some time with our Florida relations. Unfortunately, however, I think we might be a little too late for Uncle Blair's blueberries.

We'll be celebrating our 2nd anniversary while we're down there. It seems a little weird to think about all that has happened in two years, but it's been a wonderful experience. I'm all for more of it. I have to laugh about the difference in activities we did/are doing for our anniversary. Last year we went backpacking -- partly in memory of the backpacking we did in Yellowstone on our honeymoon and partly because it was really cheap to go. This year we're going to find a nice restaurant in Florida and get seafood. I guess it still represents us, though. We love the outdoors and we love good food.

Camille, Annie, Eliza and I went to the aquarium today. It's way cool. A couple of my favorite pictures:

Red Piranas


Turtle and Camian


Eliza, Annie and me


Really, really big lobster. Watch out for your toes!

School's Out (Almost)!

One and a half more days until freedom!

I looked out the window . . .

So there I was, reading people's blogs when these little flecks of white catch my eye. I looked out the window and saw snowflakes. I grumbled to myself, "Welcome to Logan, Laverna. It shouldn't surprise you."

After examining the sky a little more closely, I was confused as to how it could be snowing with a relatively few number of clouds.

Upon closer inspection, the suspect snowflakes were only flower petals from a tree. I am much relieved.

My crazy kids

So by now I have a certain degree of fondness for all of my students, obnoxious or not. As much as I am looking forward to the end of school (3 more weeks!) I genuinely will miss their crazy antics and unpredictability.
I took some of my students to the symphony last week. Yes, I probably am crazy. 70 middle school students on a bus is not an activity for the faint-hearted (or those who don't want to hear 99 Bottles of Pop on the Wall sung in its entirety). There were chaperones too, so it wasn't like it was only me.
The kids, by the way, were great. We didn't have any issues with kids bringing their cell phones and texting during the concert (we did threaten them within an inch of their lives and banned the phones all together) and they really enjoyed what they heard. It's hard not to like Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony.
We got back around 11:30 -- the other bus, whose driver was actually following the speed limit -- arrived about 20 minutes later and Dan and I stayed around to make sure all the kids were picked up. One of my tuba players entertained all of us by getting eaten by a bush. Imagine a skinny little kid (I was shocked when he told me he played the tuba; it's about as big as he is) screaming while he drags himself by his tie into the juniper bushes.

I love teaching.

Need some funnies?

My co-worker, Jayme posted this on the band room door with a sign that said, "And you thought your music was hard! Next year's playing test!" Some of my students were a bit worried until I told them to look at who arranged it. I had to explain that a lot of modern composers actually do write music that looks crazy -- but not quite as crazy as this.
See if you can find my (current) two favorite directions: 'Release the Penguins' and 'Light explosives here . . . and . . . here'

p.s. The time signatures actually work!