What would you name your restaurant?

I was trying to find the name of a sushi restaurant on 3rd Ave that I am going to tomorrow and came upon this gem of a restaurant name:

Cap'n Juicy's Super Duper Weenies 

That's right, someone in downtown Spokane chose this for a restaurant name.  Where else would this happen?

Is it wrong that I totally want to check it out?

Bloomsday 2010

I can't believe it's already here: Bloomsday! My favorite/most hated yearly event.  I mean let's be honest; getting jostled by 10,000 people for 7 miles isn't really my favorite thing ever.  However, nothing feels better then finishing that race.  Best accomplishment of my year usually. 

My mom and sister have totally wimped out on me, so I will be tackling the race by myself with my iPod unless one of my friends is going to do it, too.  Oh well, I can feel superior to those two slouches for the next couple of weeks, and maybe even convince them to give me a ride.  :) Wish me luck!

Rain, rain, go away!

I was supposed to go to LaCrosse today for a tennis match, but sadly we cancelled due to rain.  Now don't get me wrong, a trip to LaCrosse is not my favorite thing in the world.  The match is going to take forever on only two courts, but even worse is having to reschedule when you are ready for a match.  Ah well.  We did reschedule for next Monday.  Match total for next week: three (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday).

Craptastic day

So yesterday was really awesome! (Please note the sarcasm dripping from my tongue...er fingers).  Actually, though tired, my day was pretty good right up till 4pm.  That was the time when my assistant coach Cathy, sent up one of our players to tell me that we had a girl down and may need to call 911. 

I got my teams on the upper court situated and then headed to our lower courts.  When I got down there, my player was sitting against the fence, shaking and looking rather pale.  Her heart rate had rapidly elevated, and after 15 minutes had not recovered (I learned that she actually had this happen previously).  We, of course, called 911, and the fun began.  During that time, my superintendant came down, and our junior high principal to check on the situation.  Along with tennis, baseball and softball practice, we had a JH track meet, and a JH baseball game going on. 

The fire department came along with an ambulence to check her out.  After 40 minutes with her, and a continued high heart rate, they opted to take her to the hospital to run some tests.  We sent her and her mom off with the ambulance at around 5pm.  She was able to go home last night after running some tests at the hospital, but it was pretty stressful. 

The good news is that her tests came back negative, and her mom is taking her to see a cardioligist as soon as possible.  So I guess everything turned out for the best, but needless to say, I was a wreck for most of last night!

A "few" photos from Portland

Here are a couple of my favorite moments from my Larratt visit.  I miss you guys already! Hope you enjoy our adventure as much as I did!

Finally in Portland

So faithful readers, I have made it to Portland, no worse for wear.  Greg met me at the airport this evening, and we had a great talk driving up to Vancouver.  I have to say that Greg and I don't often have one-on-one conversations, but I always love it when we do.  He just has such great insight into life.  Tonight I learned that Greg once worked as a handy-man, which he loved, and that the thing he really loves about sales (he works for GE, currently) is changing people's perceptions about his company.  It was great catching up with my friend.

When we arrived at the house, I surprised JJ with my visit.  Is there anything sweeter then a little frog-voice croaking out your name with a giant smile on his face? I'd argue no!

Melissa's mom and dad are also visiting.  I haven't seen them since last summer, so it was great getting to catch up a little.  They are heading back to Spokane tomorrow, but I'm glad I get to see them for a little bit!  Here's grandma reading with JJ.

My favorite part of the evening was putting JJ to bed with Melissa.  Following his bath (complete with frog towel), Melissa go JJ dressed... at least once he stopped jumping on his bed. :) There really is nothing more precious then watching these two laughing and playing together.

Once JJ finally settled down from his jumping game, we read him his books.  The boy is getting too smart for his own good.  When Melissa "accidently" missed a page, JJ was quick to point out her mistake.  Looks like no more shortening stories in the Larratt household!

It's been a great start to the visit.  I can't wait to see what the next couple of days bring!

Pain in the ... back

Is there anything worse then a sore back? I'm sure there is but right now, I'm having a hard time thinking of something.  I have been nursing one ever since the dreaded near-death flight experience on the way home from DC.  Being me, I've tried to tough it out with heat and advil, but it just wasn't getting any better.  So today, I sucked it up and went to my doctor's office to try a little something stronger.  Dr. Decker was on vacation, so I saw Dr. Zellman ( the sweetest little old man), who proceeded to perscribe me some amazing pain-killers and an anti-inflammatory.  I just popped them, and can't wait to see how it works.  He also gave me a couple new exercises to try.  I'm feeling hopeful that I'll be on the mend in no time. 

Bonus of seeing the doctor:
#1: GOOD painkillers.  Completely kicking Advil's butt!
#2: 1/2 day sub.  Although I love my students, I can't pretend to be disappointed to miss my first three classes of the day (especially 3rd period).  I'm flying high right now, and NOT because of the drugs.
#3: Surprising my sister with a latte at work.  Since I was getting my perscription filled right next door to Katie's work, I decided to take a stab at earning Sister-of-the-Year with a caffine surprise.  I don't know if it worked with her, but her co-nurses were certainly jealous!

Portland or Bust

So I have a rare weekend off from all things sports related.  What else would I do but get the hell out of dodge? I am packing my bag and jetting off to Portland/Vancouver tomorrow evening to visit my favorite little family, the Larratts.  I can't wait to see Greg, Melissa and JJ (who's talking up a storm now).  I believe this time we will be seeing the highlights...zoo, children's museum, who knows.  Whatever we do, it'll be glorious.  Oh and wish me luck, I do know that Melissa and I are taking JJ on his first running race while Greg does a 10K this weekend.  Should make for some great pictures of the day!

Tennis...finally

It's been a tough couple of weeks on the tennis courts lately! Rain, rain and more rain!  We've had to reschedule 4 of our last 5 matches already.  I can't believe how gross the weather has been.   

When it rains, I have to cancel practice/our match because you can't play on a wet court.  On the one hand, I love going home early and feeling like I have a normal life.  On the other hand, I'm afraid our team is going to end up being terrible because we never get to hit a ball.

Oh well, today is a beautiful day and we are finally going to play a match.  Sprague-Harrington today.  Should be a good match, although I imagine they will be pretty good.  They usually are.  Hmm... maybe I'll get to work on my tan a little bit!

summer job

Well, it's official.  After two interviews and two weeks of stress and wondering, I've been hired as the assistant program director at Camp Cross.  I can't think of a better place to spend my summer! I'll head there the Wednesday after school gets out and spend two months enjoying the sun, Lake Coeur d'Alene, and the kids and my friends.  It'll be amazing.  Wish me luck, as there will be little rest, but lots of love and good times!

Bedazzled

I'm sorry I've been such a bad blogger this week.  I really have no excuse except I just couldn't get any energy up to do it this week.  So with that said, I finally have a reason to blog...

Last night, Katie, my friend Janna and I went to see Clash of the Titans (it was fun, but I'm glad I didn't go to see it in 3D).  This is not the reason I am posting however.   This is...

That's right, her ass is bedazzled.  I wish it was a better picture so you could really appreciate the travisty that is these jeans.  Katie gamefully pretended to pose for a picture while we were going down the escalator so that I could snap this bad boy.  I will just say that I don't care how nice your backside, no one's should sparkle!

The DC adventure

So I have to apologize for not updating while in DC.  In my defense, our hotel had the worst internet I've ever experienced! I pretty much got access for about 20 minutes in the morning, and that's it.  It was just enough to post the kids reflections for the days on our DC blog.  If you haven't done it, you should totally check it out.  They did a terrific job and there are some pretty entertaining entries.

We had a fantastic time during our 6 days.  I honestly am so thankful to my fellow chaperones, Brad and Lindy (the Dream Team).  We had so much fun hanging out and catching up on each other's lives (Lindy's husband is now a Doctor of Mathematics, and Brad got engaged!).  Most importantly, they kept me sane and gave great advice when we needed to make some decisions on what to do!  Can't wait for DC 2012 with these two!

I'll get a little slideshow of some of my favorite pictures from the week together for your viewing pleasure soon.  In the meantime, here's a copy of the final blog entry which I wrote for the group to give you a little taste of what you've been missing...

Our last day

Well, friends, we have made it back alive and no worse for wear.  The week in DC was amazing.  The students learned some things, walked miles in the District, got a few blisters, and made some amazing memories.  

Chase looks up some names on the wall.

Our last day wasn't without some fun either.  We started our day with a visit to the Vietnam Memorial.  Easily one of the most beautiful places in the National Mall.  The memorial is actually cut into a hillside in the shape of a chevron with names displayed alphabetically by day of soldiers who were killed or who were MIA during the war.  As we walked along the path, you could see tokens left behind to loved ones, and people taking rubbings of the names of soldiers.  At one end is a statue dedicated to the men who served, while the other end has one commemorating the women.

Our students at the reflecting pool

After taking some time their, we got a group picture in front of the reflecting pool, and then walked along it to the Washington Monument.  The stroll was nice in the 70 degree weather! Now, I know that the Washington Monument is a tall edifice, but you don't really appreciate how tall until you are standing right under it.

Heading towards the Washington Monument

The staff on tour: Mrs. Kirkland, Ms. Longinotti, Mrs. Moyer, and Mr. Van Dyne

After the WM, we headed back to the bus to head to the airport.  Mrs. Moyer, Mr. Van Dyne and I couldn't help playing a small practical joke on our group (it was April 1st after all).  As usual, Mrs. Moyer got on the bus intercom as we were passing the Jefferson Memorial and pointed out the crowd gathering there.  She told everyone that our bus driver, Tim, had just heard as he was coming around to pick us up that President Obama was giving a speech there this morning.  You have never heard so many voices demanding that we turn around on the spot! I had to tell the group that there was just no way to go watch it and catch our flight from Baltimore as the airport was quite a bit out from DC.  Had we only known about it sooner, I would have been able to fit it in for them.  (I will only say that Moyer and I faced forward the whole time trying not to laugh).  Mrs. Moyer let them sweat it out a couple minutes and then came back on the intercom, telling them that Tim also wanted us to tell them April Fools!  They were less then thrilled with us.  It is hard when you get tricked so completely!

Our last bus ride (pre-practical joke)

Our flight home went fairly well.  We had some delays, but were in no danger of missing our connections as they were delayed too.  Plus a very nice lady who sat with Mr. V and I during one of our legs (she worked for Southwest), told us if we were late, the next flight would hold for us since we were such a big group.  We did however, have one less then ideal moment.  Flying into Denver, we were told that the air was going to be a little turbulent and that we needed to return to our seats and strap our belts on.  That may have been a bit of an understatement! The ride got decidedly bumpy as we headed into land, feeling more like a roller-coaster than an airplane.  At one point, the plane dropped what must have been 50 feet because all of a sudden the plane was heading down and we were heading up.  If I had been any taller I would have hit my head on the overhead (Mr. V might have).  I instantly tightened my seat belt, having never had more appreciation for that pice of cloth then that moment.  In the seat in front of us, a dad lost his baby boy for a second mid-air, but quickly Heiseman-ed him to his chest.  We all made it safely to land after that, and had a relatively smooth ride after that.  But I think we all had a little more appreciation for Earth once we touched down.

The boys are a bit tired once we get on the plane...

Thanks for allowing us to take care of your children during our week.  I hope they will share some of their adventures with you at home.  We had an amazing time, saw more sights then I can count, and enjoyed every minute of the trip.  Thanks also to Mrs. Moyer and Mr. Van Dyne for coming along for the ride and helping me keep my sanity.  

My fearless co-chaperones at the White House

Students, don't forget to create your google photo albums and pass the links onto me of photos you want to share with the group!