Gem's Birthday

Saturday night was our annual celebration of Gem getting older and all of us being back into the swing of things at school. We had a bbq/ beer pong tourny in Gems back yard and had a good showing of school people. Mike enjoyed keeping tabs on Nina (who was drugged for the event). Becky was a trouper after her very long week and then a very long day in the sun watching rugby. It was a good time. Nice to see friends outside of work and just enjoy some of the last gorgeous days in New England. Happy Fall everyone!!

it looks like mike is feeding Nina beer!!

Me and Becky chatting it up :o)

Gem and Angela the pong champs in the beginning 
too bad they don't even like beer hahaJennifer's first time- she was fabulous. Martha looks amused 

kids make me smile

As crappy as my job can be sometimes, there are those moments that will make me smile for a long time. Our school had a little memorial ceremony on 9/11 to educate the kids on what happened and how we need to always remember how lucky we are to have our freedom. Some of the kids were understandably upset about the footage of the attacks and the fact that people had actually died. One kid in particular was very distraught about the fact that we still hadn't found the man responsible. Later on in the day this student came to me for science class and I could see that there was something on his mind. When I asked him what was up he told me that he was thinking of a plan... "What kind of plan?" I asked... He responded "A plan to catch Ben." I stopped for a moment to try and decipher what he might be talking about. I asked him who "Ben" was and why was he trying to catch him. He was frustrated with me and said, you know Ben, the guy who crashed all the planes. I could not for the life of me figure out what he was talking about- as far as I knew there was no Ben during the 9/11 attacks. Finally, the kid says, you know,  his last name is Laden... Ben Laden!! Ohhhhhhhh! I said- his name is not Ben, it is  Bin Laden and that is his last name, his first name is Osama. I wrote the name on the board for him to see and he looked at it with a funny look and said- no thats not who I am talking about... thats they guy that is running for president!! lol

Oh kids.... oh miscommunication and ohhhhhhhh our school system. Gotta love them all. I did go on to explain the difference between Osama and Obama and the only response I got was- what kind of name is Barack? hahaha. It is one of those moments that will make me smile for years to come... 

Just in case

Just in case you didn't really believe me about the bullet holes in the classroom windows... here you go- thanks to my good friend Becky for providing photographic evidence.

Gooooo Cougars!

Kellen's Wedding

Hard to believe that it was just a week ago that our whole family got together to celebrate the wedding of Kellen and Janelle!! Yes, I said Kellen. Our smelly, dirty, untamable brother Kellen found himself someone who could stand him enough to take eternal vows. Not only is Janelle beautiful inside and out but we are lucky to be able to call her family. I could not have asked for a better sister. The wedding was beautiful and simple as only such heart felt and spiritual occasions can be. Never have I seen two more sincere, in love and good people joined together. It was a special day for both families, bringing together the Keisling clan that doesn't get enough opportunities to hang out, and Janelle's poor family that was probably scarred for life by our redneck ways. The night before the wedding there was a formal family get together where some "Frog Giggen" took place... for those of you civilized enough NOT to know what this is- it pretty much boils down to heading down to the pond and stabbing frogs with sticks... yep- that's my family for ya! Not to worry though, these poor innocent creatures were not slain in vain... they were promptly eaten at the next family get together the day after the ceremony. mmmm. So Kel is hitched and what a fun weekend it was! Here are some pics of the day including my nieces playing the cutest flower girls ever!

School's back from the Summer!

Can anyone else hear my enthusiasm in posting this dreaded blog? Yes folks, it is that lovely time of year again. When teachers head back into their classrooms to begin the time honored tradition of putting the pieces back together. As school ends in June teachers tend to shove, cram and basically hide all of their treasured belongings in an effort to well... get the hell out of there! This seems like a great idea until the first day of setting up your room and things are stashed in God-forsaken places. I can not for the life of me figure out where I put some of the things I stayed up late into the night making. This year is different from my previous years because I have been "promoted" to the actual science classroom of the elementary. If you don't understand why I would be the science teacher for the elementary and not have the science classroom, well then you just don't understand the school that I work for! Us teachers at HMS are a scrappy breed. You eventually learn the street skills necessary to steal classroom furniture, the best way to clean mouse poop off of everything and not not be phased by bullet holes in your classroom windows. It is a tough job... and Im not sure why I am still doing it. :o)

So, in order to move classrooms I had to clean up what the previous teacher (of 30 years) had left for me... what a job. And can I just say that I have the nicest, hardest working and most understanding husband of all time? He came in after working a full day in order to move huge bookcases, clean mouse turds and endure a closet FULL of 30 years of crap... oh love...

so here are some before and after pics of the endeavor... let the school year BEGIN!!

Our little Lyme...

Despite our best efforts, my veterinary technician training and more money than anyone should spend on a pet, Meli has contracted Lyme disease. I can't help but blame this new development on Mike's and my love for summer camping in New England. There are more than our share of creepy crawlies here and apparently they got the best of us... and our Frontline treatments. Thankfully, she is doing quite well considering and we are feeling bad for calling her a "drama queen". This announcement came as quite a shock, seeing as how Meli has somehow in her short little life already had dental surgery, vaginitis, an unidentifiable eye problem and a broken tail... oh the things we do for a face like this.

Getting Started

Not that Mike and I have much to write about but we amuse ourselves so I thought I would jump on the blog bandwagon and waste some more time online. We live so far away from those we love that it will hopefully be a way to keep tabs on the day to day... we are just such exciting people- we had to share it with the world ;o)