All Over the Place

My oldest and dearest BFF Anne finally joined the Facebook cult this weekend! This picture is from her rehearsal dinner in Indiana (where she has lived since 8th grade) a couple years ago.

Well, I was almost successful with my weekend challenge. Friday I forgot to grab my directions for the backpacking workshop and had to get online Saturday to write those down, and then figured since I was already on I might as well check my Facebook and email accounts! I did limit it to less than 5 minutes though. On Sunday night, after receiving several FB messages on my phone, I couldn't take it any more and I got online again. Even though I cheated a bit, I was still able to limit my total use to less than 10 minutes... pretty good for an "addict!"

The Cold-Weather Backpacking workshop on Saturday was really interesting. Hosted by the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club at Stone Mountain, the workshop leader discussed everything from how to dress warmly and how to stay dry, what kind and how much food you should pack, and what is the most effective sleep system for staying warm. We got all kinds of handouts and checklists too - from the handout on hypothermia I discovered that I have experienced this before! Once at a UT football game, I got so cold that I couldn't stop shaking and eventually fell asleep during the game. I was woken up by a friend giving me his warmed up scarf, hat and jacket. Anyway, the club is offering a weekend backpacking trip to test our new skills in February, but because I don't own any of the gear I won't be able to participate in this one. I think I'll start collecting gear for some summer backpacking trips and then add to it for a winter trip some other time.

At the workshop I discovered two really cool camping websites:

Freezer Bag Cooking - a website of recipes for camping, all of the meals are self-contained in a Ziplock bag and only need the addition of hot water at camp

Trail Cooking - a sister website to Freezer Bag Cooking, this website is full of one-pot recipes

I also met a Boy Scout leader who gave me a map of the AT in Georgia with elevation listed along with an itinerary of how his Scouts did the Georgia section of the trail in 8 days. Very cool. Before I leave Georgia I'd love to finish hiking the trail so that I can get my Georgia Thru-Hiker Patch.

Yesterday was a busy, busy day for me. After school I had to deposit the money we collected for Pennies for Patients - around $300 in change! Then, I went to the bookstore and picked up The Killer Angels to read now that I have finished Confederates in the Attic. I came home and checked the mail and got not one, but two awesome packages! Tyler's mom sent me a care package with a bottle of maple syrup from Vermont to replace what the airport "confiscated" when I left to come home, some homemade cookies and a canister of Lake Champlain Hot Chocolate! I immediately made some hot chocolate and enjoyed every sip - so delicious! Thanks Sue! I also received the photo book that I had ordered on Kodak Gallery, but unfortunately some of the colors are off and I have to return it for a re-print. I hope they can adjust it - after all, it was not exactly cheap.

Some of my 3rd period babies counting change for Pennies for Patients - we sent this photo to the local paper with hopes of having it published in the next couple weeks!

My new student teacher, David, is teaching his first lesson today. He comes from Emory University's MAT program and so far I am really impressed! Emory invited the supervising teachers to a dinner two weeks ago where they went over expectations for us and the interns. From what I have seen thus far, these students are going to graduate way more prepared than I was from UCF. My MA program was two-years long, but I completed an "on-the-job" internship. Basically this meant that I got a job teaching 6th grade, and my intern supervisor came to observe me twice each semester. I had no idea what I was doing in the classroom. I only hope that those kids got some awesome teachers after me to make up for my lack of skills! BTW - David's brother makes this hot sauce. He was just telling the class about it!