June

The past couple months have been action packed with both sad departures and sweetness. I will try to be brief in sharing the happenings and let the pictures tell most...

Closing my time in Virginia (forever or for time, I do not know), I sold my housing contract to Whitney and we quickly became friends and enjoyed some adventures together as she began to settle and I transitioned out. Such adventures included a couple of trips into DC, of course.

Washington Monument: Still stands as my favorite.

Students and Co-Workers: It's a JOY to teach 7th grade Math when you have kids and co-workers like I did! One of the hardest parts of leaving this place I made home was leaving the school and people that became such good friends over the past couple years. I am really not good at goodbyes, so I avoided spreading the news until it became necessary. My students were sweet, and I got a picture of just a few of them. They grew so much this year, both academically and in their personal character. I am proud to have associate with such fine youth and am excited for what they will become in years ahead.

My co-workers, though I did not get a picture of all of them, were the most difficult to leave. I was SO blessed to collaborate with individuals who are not only excellent teachers but outstanding people. They were exemplified honesty, loyalty, charity, intelligence, humility, joy, optimism, life-long-learning, love-for-love, kindness, diligence, courage, wisdom and patience. I would never trade that time the I had to learn working with them. If all goes as I would hope for, I will get to continue this collaboration in part during my continuing education.

Parting Party : Aubrey, Adrienne and Whitney hosted a summer pool party for me at our house and invited a few friends to come and visit before time for take off. It was really nice to have a chance to see some friends who I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to visit before I left a couple weeks later. We didn't take pictures, but I did capture one of Aubrey clearing the table of a beehive that was forming under the outside table after a previous party. I think she should have put her snow pants on, but then she may have passed out from heat exhaustion rather, which is just as pad as bee-stings, I suppose.

Skeens : I couldn't leave VA without one last visit to the Skeen household in Charlotteville. Merry Brooke and I drove down for the weekend after school closed up for me. It was such a treat to get to have all that time with Merry Brooke in the car and then get to spend more time getting to know the other cousins. Uncle (cousin) Jim took us (Merry Brooke, Evan [and his friend Kaylie] and Tara) hiking at Humpback rock and told us the history of Charlottesville and towns along the way. It was a scenic drive and a beautiful hike.

Swim Meet : Finally making it to one of Luke and Nate's swim meets was a treat. Luke swam the 100 IM (individual medley) with excellent turns and in perfect sequence! Nate rocked the backstroke and was a speedy freestyler as well. They are two fast and strong fish!

Later in the week, Marci, Luke, Nate and I got together for lunch and our last goodbyes until our plans to "meet in the middle" for an adventure. They have had so much fun together in the past couple years.

Dietrich boys LOVE sugar cookies

As the school year was coming to a close, I spent an evening with my friend/co-worker, Marci, and her boys. The occasion was decorating sugar cookies... these two are not only incredible athletes, as is evident in other posts, but they also love to help M in the kitchen.

N and L were SO proud of their cookies. Plenty of photos were taken to document their masterpieces...

Next they chose which would be the first to taste...

Once the selection was made, based on color and size...

They either took a bite..

Or inhaled it whole...

And the results...

Satisfaction!

Oh, yeah!

So the moral of the story is...

All it takes is a little sugar, milk and bright food color gels and these two boys will dive into decorating cookies and whole-heartedly enjoy their works of art! Nonetheless, this is not as easy as it sounds... Just you wait about 10 minutes, and this is what you will find next:

It was a late night for these two. Thankfully it was nearly the last day of school that followed.

Girls that Run

Since January, a few girls at my school have joined in my "Girls on Track" club after school once a week. Only three made it through the winter storms and now into spring, and they finished the season strong by participating in a community 5K race with about 400 other runners and walkers.

These three girls (who will remain nameless) have been not only inspiring for me to watch grow, but they have inspired their parents and friends in great ways. One of the young ladies had her parents in another country cheering her on through phone calls leading up to the race day. Another had her siblings there cheering her on and taking pictures of her. Additionally, the third young lady chose to compete in another race with her little sister and came to cheer on her classmates along with her family and Dalmatian.
In the winter, rain, snow and wind didn't stop these three amigas; in the spring, temperatures in the high 80's and 90's with 65% humidity has likewise not thwarted their love for and diligence in running together each week. I am so impressed by their positive attitudes and desire to try and work at hard things. I will miss my interactions with these exceptional girls and hope the program can continue in my absence next year... they are truly impressive.

I echo their words in saying, "We see ourselves as artists. Running is the way we express ourselves. Running is what we do, and we have fun doing it."

"I'd rather be skeen"

Once upon a time, there was a family with an incredibly kind Mom, a superstar Dad, and two smart, athletic and sweet boys. Day after day, they practiced working hard and playing hard together, striving to get the most out of life. When all was said and done, they shared their joy with others.

[Luke, Nate and Me]

Monday of Memorial Day, they welcomed their friends, Jenni and Tali, to join them at their boathouse on Lake Anna. Seated in the beautiful Mineral, Virginia, miles from the rush of traffic, Lake Anna is surrounded by farm fields, seasonal homes and residents. Fishermen, Pontoons, SeaDoos and Ski boats share the water mass, which stretches about 13,000 acres.

[Fish, I mean Nate!]

By late morning, the Dietrich family and their two friends (that's me and Tali) boarded the ski boat and find their way to a small cove across the lake, where wake boarding and water skiing was enjoyed. It was a grand pleasure to glide across the lake water upon such toys. A cheering section of children and adults alike in the boat only added to the delectation.

[Nate and Will (his school buddy)]

[Tali: Rockin' the "Fast and Furious"]

[For Dad: I'd Rather Be Skeen]Exploring a few of Lake Anna's fingers aboard SeaDoos, Tali and Jenni found waves to jump along the way. To further their fun, the children and guests repeatedly plunged into the water of Lake Anna, retreating occasionally to pleasures of kayaking and such. Participation in an open water swim excursion was a tradition had with increased safety by Jenni and Tali this year, as one traded off with the other kayaking aside the swimmer.

[Tali: first time Sea-Dooing ever!]

Upon returning from their swimming exploration, Ma and Pa Dietrich had prepared a delicious and nutritious spread for lunch including grilled burgers with the fixin's, out-of-this-world beans (better than baked beans), corn-on-the-cob, italian bean-salad, watermelon, vegies, strawberries and more.

After a grand day of good company and fun, Jenni and Tali asked themselves, "How did we get to be so spoiled?". This family is so gracious, fun and just so GOOD to spend the day with.

Thank you, Dietrichs! I will miss this family.