2009 Polar Plunge March 7

So, after a couple days of nice sunny weather, I've decided it's warm enough to go swimming again. March 7, 2009 is the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics at Lake of the Woods. I took the plunge last year, and decided I was only going to to it again this year under two conditions:

1. Someone does it with me.

2. Brittney doesn't have to sponsor me in order to reach the minimum $75 to take the plunge.

Tonight we had our neighbors Wes and Lesli over to play games and I asked Wes if he wanted to take the plunge. He said, "I'll do it, if you do it." So number 1 is taken care of. So, here (http://www.firstgiving.com/brucerichards1) is a link to the webpage where you can sponsor me if you so desire. If number 2 is met, then there will be pictures posted on our blog in March of me taking the plunge again.

On to warmer thoughts

A few funny things we didn't mention about Christmas, on to our New Year's celebration, and then...

2 years ago, Bruce and I made it a tradition to make a matching set of pajama pants every year for Christmas. We wear them for the first time on the 23rd of Decemeber and have a sleep over with our sleeping bags in front of the Christmas tree. This is when we take our yearly family picture. Some wonder why the 23rd? Because....santa can't come if you are sleeping by the Christmas tree on the 24th. As a part of our celebration, we are supposed to eat treats and watch some Chrismtas movies. This year, all the Christmas movies were checked out from the library, so we ended up watching Grumpy Old Men since it has snow on the cover and illustrates the virtue of forgiveness near the end of the movie. Not to mention the broccoli used as mistletoe. Although, not the best Christmas movie, we have made it a goal to find and build a Christmas movie collection so this won't happen to use again. This years pants are green. Last years pants are blue. The thing I like most about the picture, is that you can see our white Christmas tree. I like the white tree because it is different, and much brighter than the ordinary green one. We spent Christmas eve with the Peterson family and took part in the nativity play.



We spent New Year's eating and playing games with the Fernandez's and other families from our ward. It is always neat to take a part in other's traditions. On New Year's Day we traveled to Iowa to spend time with our friends the Robisons. They used to live across the street from us, and we spent tons of time together. However, like most people eventually do, Dave graduated and found a job along the Mississippi River in the Quad cities. It was neat to spend time with them again, and catch up on old times. While there, we visited the John Deere Pavillion. Who would of thought there was so much behind the technology of John Deere's and how much they have changed over time. It was interesting to learn about the history, but even more so to climb into the tractors. It is every little boy's dream palace. They had this simulation machine that lets people experiment with the wonders of the GPS system they install in tractors now. I must admit that the wheel of this simulation machine was extremely sensitive. If you moved the wheel slightly your tractor went completely off course. I haven't driven many tractors in my life, but if this simulation is any indication of my ability to drive tractors, lets be very grateful for GPS. My combine was all over the place. The GPS system that was eventually engaged in the simulation never let me drive off course. It was amazing!!! Hats off to all those tractor drivers who can stay on course without the aid of GPS. A special thanks to all those engineers who designed GPS in tractors for all those farmers out there who drive like me!!






On a more positive note...I am up to 3 miles in 28.5 minutes with minimal pain! Half marathon here I come!

Many are Cold, but few are Frozen

It is a common misconception that Hell is a hot place. There are also people who believe that global warming is a problem. After collecting blood samples Friday morning with it being -17 degree F, I am convinced that we need to be more concerned about global cooling. Nothing wants to work when it's that cold, not the truck, not the Calan gates that allow the cows in to eat, not the conveyor belt that carries the feed into the barn for the cows to eat, not the data ranger that measures how much feed each cow gets, and not the farm crew that ends up having to spend extra time working trying to get everything else to work!

I've always liked summer better than winter though, and I prefer to be too hot than too cold. People who prefer to be too cold say that you can always put on more layers; well I say you can always put on more layers, and still be freezing to death! Or as Brother Rosenstengal said at the Temple today,"If it's hot, I can turn on the fan." Also, pain isn't often assoicated with being too hot, but when your fingers and toes go numb, and then return back to the land of the living, or when your legs, lips, and arms get chapped because of the cold, it can be painful.

It's so cold outside, not even I would go swimming out there! And those of you who remember the pictures from the polar plunge last year know that is saying something.

So to not be too negative, I'll end with some pictures of summer in the hopes that it comes soon!

Here's hoping I make it to the eternal burnings of the Celestial Kingdom described by Joseph Smith.

Out with the Old....In with the New

With the start of a new year, it is always a moment of reflection from what has happened in the past year, to what one wants to happen the next year. This past year has certainly been busy, and we don't anticipate any change in that anytime soon. The first half of the school year actually passed by rather quickly, and from my previous experience, the last half of the school year will pass by even more quickly. Since I haven't yet commented on my classes this year, I will just say that this year is a lot better than last year by far. The difference: 1 full year of experienc with junior high instead of high school under my belt, knowing what to expect from the school system, knowing my students better, knowing how issues will be addressed on the administration level, and the best reason of all, knowing what I am doing!!! As far as planning - I spend a lot less time because I already have something to base my plans off. Last year, I had to design, plan, carry out an entire year's curriculum (with very little resources) for 3 different classes. It wasn't an easy challenge, but one I met with decent success. This year I can just add to, delete from, or adapt those basic structure plans. I have improved my grading methods (and have a few less students this year), so I don't spend near as much time grading as I did last year. I don't spend much time writing tests, creating worksheets, or creating handouts because I mostly just use the same ones as last year. You would think with all of this saved time, I would have more time to myself to do the things that I enjoy. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Last year I was the assistant coach of the 5/6 grade basketball and volleyball team. This year, I have moved up to the assistant coach of the 7/8 basketball and volleyball team. What does this mean exactly? A little more money, but a whole lot more time. The seasons are longer periods of time and more games crammed into one week. Most weeks I have 3 games per week. I don't usually go home between school and games because of the long drive. Besides that is the only time I have to get my grading and everything else done. Sometimes I wonder why I became an English teacher. It really has a heavy paper load.

I'll just give a recap on our basketball season this year. Our 7th grade team finished their season with a record 12-10. We were 8-5 in conference and placed 4th in the regional brackets. We lost our first round game to St. Malachy. A 12-10 record may not seem like the best, but it is over 500 and is much better than that same team did last year as 6th graders when they only won 2 games out of the whole season. It's not a bad record considering we have 6 girls on the team (some of which have no previous experience with basektball). Our 8th grade team had an overall record of 15-8. 11-2 in Conference and placing as the number 1 seed in regional play. We lost the regional championship by 10 points against St. Malachy.

Out with the old: Basketball
In with the new: Volleyball
With the end of the basetkball season, I was granted one day off before we started volleyball practice. Our first volleyball game is this coming Tuesday and based on the practices we've had over Christmas break, we should have a decent season.

Out with the old: Bruce and I have officially paid off all student loan debt.
In with the new: We plan to save bunches of money and thicken our savings account.

I haven't thought too hard about some new years resolutions, but there is one in particular weighing over my head. I agreed to run a 1/2 marathon with Bruce sometime in April. For those who know me know that I hate running. There are so many things I would rather be doing with my time than run. However, I felt like this would be a good goal for me to set, and although 13 miles certainly seems daunting, I have faith in myself. It will also probably be a good thing for my body. The hardest part about this whole thing is....motivation. The second hardest is overcoming the "pain" of running. Ever since I had my appendix removed a little over 2 1/2 years ago, I can't run long distances without a significant amount of pain. It must be scar tissue or something.

Out with the old: Pain while running
In with the new: In shape, more respect for running, and less pain (hopefully!:))

Out with the old: I cleaned and organized my closet
In with the new: To make room for the new clothes I got for Christmas. (Thanks mom and Katie!)

If I think of anymore, I will post them later.