Friday, February 16, 2007

Where to begin?

Well, it's been awhile since I posted...when I look at the past weeks from a day to day perspective, it never seems like I have much to report. But then I start thinking of one thing, and then another....so this post will just have to be a conglomeration of all sorts of ideas that are running through my head!

Some of you chat with me on messenger, and might have noticed that yesterday my handle had a short message: Bomb threat today. Yup, yesterday, in the small, but exciting town of Marion, we had a bomb threat. Thankfully it wasn't in our school building, but there was an incident at Marion Middle School. There was an item found in a locker, and so the whole school was evacuated, and school was halted for several hours while they waited on a bomb squad to declare the area safe again. While I realize that it wasn't in the building I work in, it did make me feel a bit unsettled. Many of us like to think that we live in safety in the small towns and areas that we work. When something like this happens though, one begins to question how safe you really are. Thankfully, all has ended well. I hope this eye-opening event will begin to make us think more closely on what is needed to keep our students and staff safe, and how we should prepare for "unlikely" events.

One of the secrets I've been keeping is now able to be publicly broadcast. I'm happy to announce that my good friend Becca is now engaged. Wedding will be sometime this summer, and I've been asked to be a bridesmaid. I'm very happy for both of them, and wish them well as they start planning for this exciting time!

My massage classes are going well. At first my A and P class was pretty frustrating (lack of teaching, more breaks than lectures, difficult subject in general-especially if the instructor isn't teaching it!), but it has been going better the past 2 weeks. We've had 3 quizzes so far, and my average between the 3 is a satisfying 93%...considering the fact that she didn't tell us we were having a quiz over one of the chapters, which means I didn't study that chapter, I'm pretty happy with my grade. Classes are every Thursday night, and they are 4 hours (plus an 1 hour-plus drive each way)...needless to say, it can be pretty hard to stay focused during it...the last 2 classes have been better because we've starting talking about pathology-what diseases and things we need to be aware of, and whether massage is contraindicated for them or not. Pretty interesting stuff--also a bit scary when you think of all the things you could be exposed to! My Therapeutic Massage class on Monday's is great! Right now we are concentrating on learning the back sequence, which is a large section of a full-body massage...we've actually started working on people, so if anyone is interested and wants to volunteer... I also need people throughout the week to practice on, so if Mondays don't work for you, I'm sure we could find an alternate time.

Mom and Dad are busy planning their short trip to see Heidi and Tim for Fasching. I'm very jealous, but I guess I get to go up earlier than they do this summer. I'm sure they'll have a great time, and I'm looking forward to seeing their pictures. Thinking about the fun they're sure to have has also reminded me of my nanny time in Germany and the fun Matthew, Norah and I had dressing up and going downtown for the festivities.

This week I finished up getting registered and getting hotel reservations made for the Oklahoma City Marathon at the end of April. Last year I did the 1/2 marathon, but this year I won't have enough time to train for that, so I opted for the 5K. It is such a great event, and it is wonderful to participate in it, no matter which part you are doing. The city always does such a nice job of turning out and supporting the race, plus they have a wonderful arts festival going on at the same time. This year I'm going down with my friend Christina, a substitute teacher here at the school who is also my early morning exercise buddy. There was a group of us last year who did it, but Christina and I are the only ones who will be going again this year. My mom and dad will also be joining us, and I think the Donleys, Whitney, and assorted other friends might also be attending. I'm sure we'll have a great time, especially after the race (complimentary massages, food, festivities....)!

That's enough for now...I'll have to wait awhile for some more "exciting" news to post! :)

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