30 days til 30

That's right, folks.  In 1 month I will be officially...30.  What does one do in the last days of their 20s?

Cookin' out out

One of the sad things about selling our house and moving into a cracker box apartment is the loss of our grill.  We knew we'd be moving quite soon and thought it best to rid ourselves of the outdoor cooking machine.  However, with the warm weather and release from school, it only seems right to be grillin'.  So, instead of being sad, we went to the Eno and grilled there...camping style.  See more pics of the affair as chronicled by Jason.

Commencement Speeches

What is it about graduation speeches? They are almost never good and are almost always boring.  Why do speakers feel the need to be boring and cliche?  Why do speakers feel the need to spend copious amounts of time talking about themselves and their accomplishments and how you can do it if you just do what I did?  Does anyone really care?  Does anyone even listen to the commencement speech?  The sea of graduates are thinking about their own things, talking to their buds, wondering if they actually passed that last final or, if they are smart, they are slightly drunk.  Is there a tougher audience?

Well, I've just added something new to my bucket list: 

Speak at a Commencement Ceremony (of some kind...even if it's a pre-school graduation...it counts, y'all) and not be boring.

Awesome and Sad

Much like this kid with a shaved mullet, leaving school this year is awesome and sad.

Reasons for which it is awesome:
-no more annoying ladies talking to me all the time about things which I do not care
-no more whining kids
-no more working my bum off for very little pay (hopefully...)
-no more trying to herd cattle
-no more being trapped inside a fluorescent lit, germ filled, musty old building all day with no option to leave
-no more ridiculous staff developments in which I am treated like a child
-no more helpless feeling of being trapped inside of a broken system (hopefully...)

Reasons for which it is sad:
-there are some kids that I will really miss seeing
-it's going to be weird not going to the same place everyday that I've been going to for the past 5 years
-non-stop laughter at kids
-awesome notes like this

"Dear Ms. Barbee, I had an awesome time with you. You were super funny. Thank you for helping me when I needed help.  This year was fantastic. Well, I'll miss you!!"

-my partner in crime and taking funny school pictures together:

I need! You need! Everybody needs something cute!

Courtesy of VINCA....http://www.vincausa.com/store.php

Helping is fun!

Because of the fact that what I do everyday seems a lot like volunteer work in it's own way, I very rarely volunteer my time for the good of others.  Time is a precious thing and doing things for yourself helps to preserve one's sanity, but helping others can be totally fulfilling too...even when you have to wake up at 4 a.m. to do it.  And sometimes you even get a free shirt out of the deal.

Today was the Running of the Bulls and it seemed like the perfect time to volunteer for race work.  It's sort of an understood agreement in the running world that if you run races, you also volunteer at a few races... spreading the love.  Running in a race is actually a very selfish act:  usually only concerning yourself with matters of your eating, your bathrooming, your race pace, your clothing choice, your shoe choice, your temperature, etc...It's rare to stop and think about the amazing people who volunteer their own personal free time to plan the race, set up the race, manage packet pick-up, work aid stations, cut up fruit, direct the course, and a bunch of other jobs specifically tailored to ensure that YOU have a great race.

I had a surprisingly fantastic time manning packet pick up last night and this morning.

Here is the race day packet pick up dream team from today:

And all done before 9 a.m.

My version of hell

Reading math problems out loud to 8 year olds...forever!!!
JUST ADD THE NUMBERS!!!