Trips to Tallahassee and Blacksburg

Oh, the anticipation and heartbreak that is game-day! In the last three weeks, Erik and I made two trips to see the 'Noles. One to Tallahassee for the Miami game, and one to Blacksburg for the Virginia Tech game. The high points were spending time with family and friends with some heart stopping football. The low points were turn overs and a quarterback with a concussion. There is nothing more to say, we are hoping for a late season rally against the other Florida school on Thanksgiving weekend.

Erik did ask me if I had the choice would I rather beat Tech or Florida. Of course I said, "Both!" He made me choose and I had to say, "Florida." So maybe we will see a victory in the swamp before this season is over. It could happen Chris Rix managed it afterall.

Check out my Slide Show!

Soccer Day

Today Kim and I spent sometime with the family enjoying some friendly soccer. Carley's team coached by her dad was defeated 5-2 but played very well. Carley had several shots on goal and appeared to have had a blast. We then trekked to the other side of the county to watch Bailey fine tune his skills. After all the soccer we rushed home to entertain the Simei family with Kim's good cooking and my Wii skills.

Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon Weekend

Labor Day weekend found us once again in Virginia Beach for the Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon. Philip is working towards the Heavy Metal which a runner gets for running all of the music events in one year. This one was #4 of 5. He has done 2 halves and 2 fulls with one more half marathon to go in October.


(All photos compliments of Erik Belknap)
The race, which is a musical event, is part of a larger music festival weekend in Virginia Beach. This year our hotel room overlooked one of the venues. Erik stayed up to listen to Vertical Horizon from the balcony. Each mile of the race features a different local band. One of my favorites was a group of eclectic instrumentalists dressed up like leprechauns. It makes for a festive atmosphere all around.




The weather was beautiful for Labor Day -- mid 80s with very little humidity. There was also a strong ocean breeze which made the last two miles along the boardwalk much more bare able. Philip finished in 1:49 minutes and I finished just short of an hour later in 2:40. For me it was the slowest time that I've run, but I didn't feel like crying at the end and I never felt as sore as I have in the past. We'll consider that a victory!!

Back to School Dream

It happened. I had the "back to school dream" last night. It is a usual occurrence during the summer and only happens once, thank goodness. In real life, I will be teaming with a new English teacher to teach American Civilization, and I am a little nervous about it. The person that I thought that I was teaming with is now going to be the Assistant Activities Director and will not be in the classroom. The anxiety made itself known through my dream. In the dream, it was the first day of school and the new teacher (a male) was very dynamic and had the kids totally engaged with his personality. When it was my turn to teach, I had nothing ready for them -- no copies made, nothing written on the board, no class roster to take attendance. I was mortified and "ran" out of the room to make copies. I couldn't make it to the copy room because stuff kept getting in my way and whenever I try to run in a dream it feels like I'm walking through quicksand.

I woke up relieved to find that it is Saturday and there are still 5 weeks of summer! Thank God! I will be sure to live each of those weeks to the fullest :)

What Kim's been working on....

One of the requirements of the Institute that I'm involved in this summer is working on personal writing. The idea is that if we are going to be able to teach student's how to write, then we must write for ourselves as well. It has been a growth experience for me. I am in a Reading/Writing group in which we each bring a piece of writing to share, read it to the group, and then make contructive suggestions on how to make the piece better. Unbelievably, I started with poetry. At the end of the summer we submit them to be published in a class anthology so we get the satisfaction of other people reading our work. Here are two things that I've worked on:

Here
(this one a did for the writing course I took in the fall)

I’m a long ways from home
and yet not really

Here is my home
Ashburn, Virginia

The place where I live
because Jacksonville, Florida
never felt like home

I miss Sunday dinners with
Mom, Dad, Lauren, & A.J

I miss Chase – the talker
Baby Caroline is on the way

Yet, that place
despite my family
it never felt like I was meant to be
there

Nothing against the city
or her people

It was like the time I knew I was
in the wrong relationship
Always restless
Understanding that I had to make a change

Have you heard the line from
When Harry Met Sally?
“I knew
just like you know
about a good melon…”

Here, I’ve found the serenity
that comes
when you’re
in the right relationship.

Here I met Jill
teaching at Herndon High School
so
Here I met Erik and was
adopted by the yellow lab, Duffy,
my new family.

Here
I am home

--------------------------------

LIVE LIFE TO ITS FULLEST!

We hear that advice
in times of grief

when a life has been

cut short.

What does it mean?

Is it different for each of us?
Do we pack our days
or
spend them in silent meditation?
Do we focus on responsibilities
work, eat right, exercise, more work
or
frivolous activities
watch TV, read, go shopping?

What does it mean?

Does it mean that we are
simply
doing what God created us
to do?
How do we know
if
we are doing that?
Will we feel serenity
or
exhiliration?

What does it mean?

Is it
simply
that we should not
waste
any opportunity?

2nd Anniversary

Today is our second anniversary!

Time sure flies when you are having fun!!

Thank you to everyone who continues to make us feel loved and supported in our partnership.

Do I have anything to say?

This blog is an assignment given during our technology session of the Norther Virginia Writer's Project Summer Institute. We are exploring the emerging technologies on the web and how they might be used to get our students to write and collaborate. The amount of information available is absolutely overwhelming.

I can see a great value in keeping an online blog to update family and friends about what is going on, life in general, feelings, ventings, pictures, etc. The questions that keep popping up are -- when will I have the time to do this? How much will this cut into my TV watching time?

What do I really have to say that is of any importance?