Our year had many memorable moments. We hiked to the summit of Mt. Rose for the first time on Labor Day. The weather cooperated, the company of friends was perfect and we plan to repeat annually. The aspen groves blazed later this fall. Tahoe was idyllic in July. The massive trout at Fanny Bridge left the family fisherman groaning over forbidden fruit swimming below. Sunnyside Beach had a pirate's ransom of beautiful stones to pick over and collect. I highly recommend riding a jet ski with Pierre, but found that other members of the family simply cannot steer a kayak. No one ended up in the cool waters of Tahoe though and it was nice to be with family.
The family geologist flew to Argentina early in the year to trek yet again in the Puna (the plateau on top of the Andes). He reported many changes since his first trip years ago, including paved highways and tamer wildlife. He visited Serbia in early winter and fortunately the weather cooperated. The rolling countryside was thinly forested with young deciduous trees. His unusual destinations furnish a variety of experiences. He seems to enjoy the geology and survive the accommodations but always is happy to get back to dining experiences that don't involve beef for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
The company closed their LA headquarters, so he will be reporting to Salt Lake instead. (It's always been convenient with drill sites and the office to be in the same area; we're hoping this doesn't mean that he will be spending even more time on the road.) Borax's parent company has reorganized, so personnel and locations are in transition. There is definitely potential for some interesting challenges and only time will show if the changeover is a positive one.
Kindergarten is a dream year with very small classes. We sometimes look around and wonder what we did with twice the kids last year! We see the benefit of individualized attention in their ability to read sight words, print in lower case, sound out words and count. It's really pretty amazing! I've enjoyed the opportunity to work with the high and mid level children as well as the lower group. My goal is to keep learning fun while still challenging them to do their best.
I had a new assistant coach helping me with the Soccer Chicks. She played for the Wolf Pack and somehow found the time and energy to help at practices and games. It was wonderful for the girls to have her as a role model. Our players improved consistently although our win-loss record didn't reflect the change. Then they surprised us all by somehow winning the Fall Friendship Tournament. It's a fantastic group of players and parents. So many of them were part of my original kindergarten class and it's been fun to watch them grow up.
Just when we were beginning to be frustrated by Kharma's teenage antics, we were lucky to find a wonderful dog trainer. She inspired us to be creative (hey, we should be smarter than our puppy, right?) and gave us a new focus. Kharma loves clicker training because it involves many wonderful treats. We love the success. It's wonderful to walk a dog who will heel. It's fun to teach her tricks. It's great to have the tools in place so we can continue working on good behaviors. I've begun to teach Kharma some basic agility and want to expand her boundaries beyond our backyard. We were totally fortunate to find such a great puppy. As they say, dogs are not our whole lives, but our lives are not whole without them!
More soon...
1 comment:
Hey, Rox-- last post was interrupted by my forgetful memory.... Who is Pierre??
Anyway--this is an old friend from La Habra, now living in Oro Valley, AZ. And looking forward to moving to someplace with 4 seasons!!
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