Is it really almost Spring Break!?!?

So, I realize I haven't been doing the greatest job of keeping cyberspace informed as to our recent on-goings, and this certainly has not been due to our lack of exciting information to share!

For myself, teaching has been getting better and better - I finally feel that I am adjusted to the culture of my school and am improving in my ability to keep my pubescent crowd entertained long enough to actually absorb some French and be able to produce with the language. Granted, I still have my select few students that want nothing more than to waste time and start a power struggle with me... but I usually deal with that by making fun of them in French - most of the good students get the joke and the trouble-makers are left feeling out of the loop :) But as a whole, it's been a wonderful growing experience this year. Sure, I almost lost my job because an irate student nearly assaulted me, but strangely enough this is one of the first times where I actually feel like this is a job where I can see myself staying for longer than one or two years... of course, we'll have to wait and see what happens to our union now in the windfall of activity going on in Madison. Of course, I don't have a tractor that I can easily parade through the downtown of Denver in protest of any forthcoming bills that would hurt education, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

Amanda is continuing to grow roots at her job as well, as she will soon be moving into more of a managerial role in the clinical trials for blood cancers at the University of Colorado. Furthermore she is continuing to take nutrition classes and is learning A LOT, which translates quite rapidly into increased health benefits for both of us. We now get our meat from a grass-fed beef farmer in northern Colorado (delivered to our door!), and our milk and eggs from a certified organic raw milk dairy an hour north of Denver. It's really neat to be able to see and know exactly where our food comes from, and the process by which it arrives on our dinner plate - which is more than can be said for 95-99% of most Americans! Yes, some may call us hippies (not that there's anything wrong with that!), and yes, my cholesterol is consistently above 400 (I've had some interesting conversations with my statin-toting lipidoligist), but I don't think I've ever been healthier at any other time in m life.

Well, time for a little lesson planning. Amanda is away in Arizona this weekend with her family, watching her brother, Danny, play baseball with his college team. I hope that all three of my readers can find it in their hearts to forgive my long absence from the blogoshpere; keeping up on our blog certainly wasn't a New Year's resolution, but if it was I have failed miserably! At any rate, I bid you farewell until next time. Keep the rubber-side down as we head into Spring!