What is it about weddings?

I attended my first wedding as a guest since becoming a videographer. It was nice, The bride may be the sweetest person on the face of the earth.
Two things have I noticed about the experience:
1. I know exactly what to expect from a wedding.
2. I am a lot more out-going than I used to be.
I always considered myself to be really bad at small-talk, but working weddings has taught me to just introduce myself and ask a lot of questions. I gotta say, it's more fun this way.



The wedding was just north of Two Harbors and on our way back this morning, Peder and I stopped at my favorite wayside rest by the French River. We wandered looking for interesting & skippable rocks, starred at the waves and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. Peder even postponed watching the Vikings game so I could have a leisurely morning on the North Shore. (he really loves me)
























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Yuck! First Grade

I signed up to sub in second grade yesterday, (which at this time of year, ain't that far from First) but when I arrived I faced a room full of first graders, fresh out of Kindergarten. Ugh. The little ones totally overwhelm me. They have soooo much energy and attention needs. Add that together with small grasp of social graces and you will send me to the loony bin within seventy-two hours. I used to be afraid of the upper grades, and dealing with irrational adolescents. I'll take raging hormones over Kindergarten any day.

They just came in from recess and we were gathered on the floor reading a book. Over the loudspeaker (what a strange word) an announcement says that due to the rain there will be indoor recess for the rest of the day. From the looks on their faces you would've thought Santa Clause was in the building. I got to break the news that indoor recess was only in place of outdoor recess if you hadn't had it yet. The disappointment was mild, and completely faded when I read a silly sentence in the story. That part I love. There aren't many 5 year-olds that can hold a grudge.

Most of us took some liberties when having a substitute teacher. I'm sure I did, but I don't remember anything specific. I thrived on the routine. As a sub, I expect to get played a bit, and I really don't care. As long as everyone makes it on the bus home, and I can leave on time, it was a good day. These kids took this opportunity to pick their noses like crazy. I swear every kid in the class at one time or another had his or her finger stuck up there. It doesn't really bother me that much, no worse than sucking on fingers, I was just shocked at the frequency. Yuck! first grade.

New Business Cards

I need to get new business cards. I hate the ones I have.

So what do you think of these?
Obviously, the last two are the same pic, but I think I like the last one better. I've played around with vertical pics too, but haven't figured anything I really love.
Votes? Suggestions for changes? Help, I'm suffering from a creative block.

Oh! Now I remember...

Last weekend, Peder and I stopped at Home Depot, to pick up some coaxial cable. I had planned to hook the cable up on the third floor so he can watch football in peace. Or maybe it is I can have some peace while he watches football. I forget which.
So we ask the guy in the wire dept. to cut us 45 ft. Actually, I asked him. He asked if we needed ends on the cable. I said no. I was planning to hook it up to a wall plate. Peder questioned my logic, but I assured him I knew what I was doing.
The funny part was the "cable guy" kept looking at Peder. He desperately wanted to be speaking to the male of our twosome. Poor guy.
This isn't my first encounter with sexism at HD. I get called "honey" more often in their plumbing department than any place else in the word.

A small twist to the story is that I ran into a few snags (figuratively) while running the cable. (How does one drill into a heating duct?) So today I called my brother to assist his poor helpless big sis. He helped me drill holes in the wall and pull cable.

Unfortunately, in the process, we discovered that the voids on either side of the third floor are completely empty. No insulation whatsoever. There may be some between the 2nd & 3rd floors, but there isn't anything inside the area under the roof. Stupid DIY remodelers. There is also a soup can size hole in the eaves. Who knows what has been living in there. Grrrrr. Now I have to open up both sides of the 3rd floor and insulate before winter. At least now I know, and it may improve the living conditions up there, not to mention our heating bills.

I swear something funny happened to me this week

I just can't remember what it was.

Beware! Wild raccoons on the loose

This is really my father's story to tell, so you'll have to ask him about the details.

My father goes biking about twice a day. On Thursday he hit a raccoon. On his bicycle. Yes, a raccoon darted out in front of him and knocked him off his bike. Dad wound up with 4 broken ribs, a slightly dislocated shoulder and a punctured lung. He couldn't get a hold of my mom so he biked home! He is doing well now. Possibly back at work this week.

Garage Sale Fun

I had a wedding yesterday that was north of the metro. Whenever I head north, I try to connect with my friends Ellen and Pam. Before I had to dash off to the ceremony, we had some lunch and went garage sailing ;o)
Betweeen the three of us we spent a total of twenty-five cents. Most of the sales were pretty picked over by the time we got there, but they had some of the most amazing free boxes I have ever seen. Roller blades! In the free box! I didn't grab those because, frankly, I am suffering from an abundance of them since I tried to piece together a pair for my darling Peder exactly one year ago today.
I did snag a puzzle book full of brain teasers and crosswords. About three houses later, I regretted my "purchase" I paged through it and more of the puzzles were filled in than I thought and I remembered that I have a giant pile of teacher stuff gathering dust in our garage already. So, I left the book on a table at another sale. Not in another free box, mind you, on the table. Wonder if they'll be confused later.

I think I found a new way to entertain myself!

My name is Sarah...

and I'm a silly goose. That job I had for today is actually 2 weeks from now. (which makes much more sense) Fortunately, I realized this before I left for the school. I had even written the date correctly in my date book! Oh well, it was a good dry run. I was thinking it would be a really icky day subbing in 2nd grade on the 3rd day of school.

It's been a while

I just took my first sub job of the 2006-2007 school year. It is my New (school) Year's resolution to work as much as I can, by taking any job in 2nd through 5th grade, and maybe even some specialist jobs. Unemployment is gone and I gotta start makin' some money! It sucks when you really don't like your job that much and can choose whether or not you want to go while still in bed.
I am wrestling with myself about how to dress. I know it seems silly, but my dream job lets me wear jeans on an almost daily basis. I am not one of those people that believes that kids respect you for how you dress. So, do I dress like I am headed for a job interview, or, do I just say screw it, and dress the way I want? It isn't like they are going to send me home, but this is one way to get hired.

The good news is I just booked another client! It is only for the ceremony, but it is so much better than the nothing I had planned on doing this weekend.