Bullet Points

Yes, I'm resorting to bullet points. It's been TOO long. So, in short - here's what I've been up to.

• Hiked the Grand Canyon (oh yes I did!) Pictures follow. This trip is highly recommended.

Our campsite. Yeah...it was sorta beautiful.

On the way down...

Every turn was seriously breathtaking. I wish the pictures did it justice.

• Learned to sew - somewhat decently. Just finished baby gifts for a friend last night. I get way too excited when I've made something. It also is slightly scary because I picture cute babies in my future and my husband rolls his eyes.
• I've revamped my website at school and LOVE it. Then I wonder...does it matter that much?
• I'll be presenting at a conference in February about my absolute favorite web 2.0 (FREE!) tool for the classroom. Edmodo. I love you. Really, seriously. If you're a teacher and you haven't heard about it, ask me...or better yet, come see me at the eMINTS Winter Conference in February!
• Read lots of books, but that goes without saying, right?

Currently my cat has decided to take over my lap so I must end this amazingly wonderful update of my life.

Currently Reading: The Book Whisperer (I'm excited about this one), Good Without God (heard this bit about Humanism on NPR and got interested)

No excuses

I could say it's been awhile, and that would be true. I could try and come up with excuses, but my only excuse is that instead of blogging, I've been doing one of the following: reading, playing with my puppies (yes, that's plural), working on our house, or watching recorded episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond like the amazingly awesome person that I am. I keep telling myself to update, and then I put it off. Maybe now that I've done it I won't put it off for so long anymore.

First news: New puppy.

Her name is Sadie, and she's adorable.

We got Sadie about a month ago and we've discovered the following little jewels of information. She licks. A lot. Zoe loves having a playmate. They're both adorable (that was an easy lesson). Taking two dogs for a walk is a bit more of a commitment, and therefore doesn't get done as much. We (well, at least I) love it!

Reading. Wow. I've read so many books over the past few months. Just a few: North and South, Love and War, Heaven and Hell, Beastly, The Chocolate War, The Earth Children series (again!), Olive Kitteridge, Thin Wood Walls, Home of the Braves, Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery, Peak, The Appeal, Luna, Someone Named Eva, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, whatever the name of the book I'm reading right now, and at least 10-15 others which I've forgotten the names of at the moment, so look forward to just a couple reviews comin up. :)

Work on the house. Our bathroom is officially complete. Yay! We now have a dishwasher (which we got for free) installed in our kitchen which has new countertops and backsplash. We should be done painting the kitchen and putting the grout on the backsplash by next weekend, so I'll add some pictures then. We've also got a new flowerbed (pretty!) which E's mom planted for us, and it's awesome. Some advice? Take free plants from people. At least if you're not a greenthumb like me. It's awesome, and if they like it? More power to 'em!

E, Dad, and I competed in the Sedalia Fall duathlon this morning. It was pretty good. Besides the fact that I sucked it up on the bike portion (no surprise since I haven't been biking...at all...). It was pretty cool. Second in my age group, out of what...maybe two?

In lieu of a better title...

I've been a bad blogger. Every (other) day or so I think to myself, "Wow, Kate...you should really blog something." And then I think: You have nothing to say! Am I really that boring? One would hope not.

So what's been happening in my world lately?

• I am currently hosting a German. She's here with her students who are visiting from our sister city in Germany. She's their English teacher, and she speaks very good English (obviously!) So...that's going well so far - except that I feel bad kicking her out of the living room (one of two rooms in my small apartment) so I can watch the Biggest Loser. Oh well, I'll catch it online in a day or so.
• We're going to apply for a loan Friday!! Yay :) We don't have school Friday so E and I are going a couple places to get pre-approved for a loan. I'm very excited about this. Can you tell?
• The Central Missouri Humane Society is in the top 10 animal shelters - voting for the 1,000,000 $$ makeover starts on the 10th (I think!) Zootoo is the best!
• I'm a wonderful procrastinator. I'm supposed to be done with The Brothers Karamazov by tomorrow and I'm currently on page 487 of 735. Eeek.
• Above statement shows how truly wonderful I am at procrastinating. Hello? Blogging Kate?! Read!!
• Playing fetch with my cat (also currently do this) is hilarious. He's too darned cute.
• I have a 5K this weekend that I'm hoping to excel in. We shall see.

Okay, I'm off to read. Seriously.

Currently Reading: The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky

Yes, Really. It's Lame.

War & Peace is killing my blogging lately. But, I swear, I'll be done tomorrow (can you say Thank you!!).

Until then, check out zootoo.com (I know, I know, I've mentioned it before). Central Missouri Humane Society is now ranked #1!! Only 3 more days left in the points phase of the contest and we have to stay where we are. If you like animals and feel like posting some pictures of your cute fur-balls, head on over. We in Central Missouri would love any help we could get.

War & Peace progress = page 911. Ha! What a coincidence.

Currently Reading: Do I really need to tell you?