Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Happy Anniversary Mattio.....

Today is Matt and Kim's 8th Anniversary. I have relived the day all day long..because. Because it was such a happy day. For Matt it had to rank up there with one of the best days of his life..if not the best. I saw the excitement in his face when he woke up on his wedding day. It was perfect. The day was all he and Kim wished it would be. Friends from all over came to celebrate with him on this most special day. The celebration went on in to the wee hours of the morning. Matt was determined to spend as much time as he could with everyone who had traveled so far. For most of those friends it would be the last night they spent with him. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Thankfully none of us do. It would so dampen that one moment of celebration. Today I am not sad. I know that for this day Matt's life was everything he wanted it to be. His future held such promise. A new home, a beautiful new wife, and a job he had dreamed about since he was old enough to create dreams. I wish that we were all together celebrating this special day. I wish there were the kids here that he wanted so badly. I wish that we could laugh about his receding hairline and the problems of parenthood. But...we can't. I do love that for a moment there was so much for him to look forward to.

Monday, June 28, 2010

And the Winner Is......

Tim!!!!!
Yes, a Shubzda finally took the trophy from a Bergeson. Only by mere points but still a win! So the coveted trophy will now sit proudly on Tim's mantle until next year when we battle it out again for a chance at the prize.
And married to the winner is....the loser! Yes, the two coveted spots remain in one family..winner and loser. Aren't you proud of your parents Brooklynn????

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Lake Bash Reunion Part 2.......

Let the games begin!!! One of our favorite parts of our lake reunion is the crazy games we all bring to the table each year. It is a challenge to come up with something new. However, creativity is not lacking when it comes to a Shubzda bash so there were plenty of new things for us to do this year!

Shaving cream squash was a repeat this year. Nothing like rolling around in the grass covered with shaving cream on a very hot summer day.
Big point scorer on this one...probably the one with the least shaving cream on them when the game was over. What a mess! Razor anybody???
New on the game agenda this year was the PLUNGER RUN.
I think Drew must have misunderstood the rules...no it does not attach to your stomach. It is carefully placed between your legs waiting for that roll of toilet paper to arrive!

There was a lot of finesse in manipulating that toilet paper roll on to the plunger....
The real trick lies in not squashing the cardboard tube in the center...just in case you wondered!
Field goal frisbee, washers, and a balloon head race were another part of the agenda...if you have any new ideas for 2011 please feel free to pass them on...



And just who was the winner of the coveted trophy at the end of the day???? That and more pictures to come in part 3 of the coverage of our 2010 reunion!















Friday, June 25, 2010

Lake Bash Reunion Part 1.....

Father's Day weekend brought all of the Shubzda's together for our 3rd Family Lake Bash. It has grown..both in number of family members and in the length of time we hang out. It was great and one of the best parts was watching the young ones take over some of the cooking jobs. Friday night was our first crawfish boil.....EVER!!!! I have seen them and I know it makes for a great party atmosphere but it is the first time we have added it to our normal menu plan. So, nephew Ben made his way in from Louisiana with 70 pound of live crawfish!
What a treat! Ben sweated and cooked the crawfish, corn, sausage, and shrimp.
Then we all piled pounds of crawfish on our plate and went forth with the task of getting one bite out of each little fish! What a lot of work...but I think that is the point. And what was for dessert? Just another batch of crawfish.
We had such a great time. Hats off to Ben...soon to be newlywed Ben, for all of the work. What a fun way to start our weekend.
Reunion part 2 coming soon!




Wednesday, June 23, 2010

So This is Summer.....

I am now 18 days into my summer vacation but I am not sure I can label it "vacation" just yet. It has been 18 action packed days and though some of them have been nothing but fun, there is another side of my time off that has not felt much like rest and relaxation! Yes, this is our local DART rail line. I have never done anything but stop at the tracks and watch it go by until this week. Armed with my DART pass and a bag full of books I boarded this train at 6:45 each morning headed to downtown Dallas. I have arrived back at the Garland end about 12 hours later with the same baggage and a weary mind.
All of this travel to engage in higher learning skills so I can take on my new role as an AVID elective teacher. Learning looks much different here. I am used to recipes and measuring cups. This is Cornell Notes and Socratic Seminars. What you say...well, "what???" is what I said when these words were first thrown out. I am like a dear in head lights right now. I am beginning to question the sanity of my late in life career change.

So with my new site team members I learned to make Vin diagrams and whatever kind of learning posters these are called...right now the correct term leaves me, as do other sane thoughts that used to fill my scattered brain!!!
One of the real highlights of this week was a presentation by Fernando. He is one of our own North Garland students who was chosen to speak at the AVID luncheon. Fernando's essay was selected from more than 800 entered essays and I promise you when he talked about his educational experience in this program there was not a dry eye in the house. So while I am sitting here with aching body parts and an overloaded brain, I am excited because maybe one day I will have a Fernando standing on the stage that will make this whole new journey worthwhile.



Sunday, June 13, 2010

Company Is Coming....

This was the weekend...the one before our Annual Shubzda Lake Bash....2010 style! In keeping with our string of broken everything at the lake...like our boat that almost sunk and cost $1000 to repair and then came back and broke again...(yes, it is true), our electric smoker also gave out last weekend. So, off to the store we went...with the money that grows on trees in our backyard, and we bought a new smoker. Jimmy, of course choose the DELUXE model with the see through window and built in temperature probe. Only the best for my husband! Then we put the old one in the back of the truck so we could store it in our barely room for one car two car garage so maybe he could fix it someday. We all know how soon that might happen!

While Jimmy was admiring his new toy I put on my hazmat suit and proceeded to attack the dirt and spider webs that had collected all over the lake house since last summer. Yes, we go there all the time but I don't clean....well, I surface clean but I sure don't get in the corners and go after all the unmentionables that require protective gear. Yes, I cleaned and polished and scrubbed and shined...everything! I did all of this so that 25 people could invade our house next weekend for our family reunion. We all know that 10 minutes after the door opens no one will know that anything was ever cleaned with such care. They will drop sleeping bags, towels, overnight bags, ice chests, food, and who knows what else and we will climb over it for two days. We will laugh and play enjoy each others company....and no one will say."Oh Aunt Patti, thanks for cleaning your house before we came because I am glad I could sleep on the floor and no spiders crawled all over me". All they will say is "Wow, thanks for having all of us...we can't wait until next year"...and that is what matters.

And the best part of the whole weekend will be having our newest family member enjoying the festivities from her new pink tree swing!!! Thanks for hanging it Gramps...
Can't wait until next weekend!


Thursday, June 10, 2010

Little "B" and Gramps.....

Mandy and Brooklyn are in town and today they came over to hang out with Gramps and I....well, Brooklynn came over to hang out with Gramps. I am not really sure where I fit in but I think I was just there to observe and change the diapers!!! Early morning bottle, a mouth full of milk and two beautiful little teeth. What fun to play "see food". Great trick you taught her Gramps!
Then it was time for a little get to know you time. They had intense conversation about something. I am not sure what it was but it was surely a subject they were both interested in...probably wondering what was going to happen to Baylor now that the Big 12 Conference is imploding.
Brooklynn had definite thoughts on the matter...after all her mom is a Baylor grad.Another bottle and then a stroll through the house. There was a lot of new territory to explore...have not been here in awhile.
Thanks for hanging out with us Brooklynn!!! Next time I am going to send Gramps to work so we can have some "one on one" ourselves!!!




Monday, June 7, 2010

Guess Who's Coming to Visit!......

Brooklynn Mae!!!Yes, our precious 8 month old, blue eyed grandbaby is coming to visit this week! I guess I did not fully realize how hard it would be to be such a distance away from family when a grandbaby is growning by leaps and bounds daily.
But...she is coming this week to charm everyone with her new tricks and fabulous smile. I have lots of family that has not even met her, but she will be here at her best. Crawling everywhere, standing up, and exploring! Gramps is excited. It has been awhile since he had hugged on his chubby grandbaby. He has a tree swing in place...been awhile since we have had baby toys around!!! Think he would assemble anything I asked him to if it was for Brooklynn.

Cannot wait to see you "B" and Mommy and Daddy too!!!!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Congrats Class of 2010.....

No this is not the Class of 2010....it is our illustrious "Men In Black"! They were there along with the rest of the faculty to bid farewell to the graduates of 2010. We all go. It is a great night. It is a chance to see the kids at their best. No sagging pants, no earrings, no facial hair...and no one with detention slips threatening office referrals. The kids are proud. It is their big night. Some are the first in their family to graduate from high school. It is hard to believe but it is a fact.
To all my kids who are leaving the safety net of high school and heading out to find a new path...best wishes. I will miss you!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

From Aprons to AVID......

Yes, it is confirmed. I am leaving my aprons and and measuring equipment behind for good. I am giving my finals this week, packing my personal belongings and moving on. It has been a transition in the works for weeks, maybe longer and the decision has finally been made... I am AVID bound! Wow, I am just so excited. It was a gift that fell into my lap when I was not really even looking for it. So, with many prayers, much research, proposals written and submitted....it was accepted. I am moving on.
So what is AVID? It is a nationwide program "Achievement Via Individual Determination". North Garland has just recently introduced this to their campus and it has been hugely successful. I am so proud to be a part of this. AVID identifies students with great potential but no motivation and pushes them to succeed. So many kids are college material but have no direction at home to go beyond graduating and going into some trade or hourly wage job. Not everyone is college material but for the ones that are this gives them a channel to reach their full potential. I have spent the last few weeks watching how all of this works in the classroom and the enthusiasm these kids show when they know they can do this is awesome!
It will be a part time position...two days one week, three days the next (part time pay too, of course) but this means that I do not have to think of retirement quite so quickly!!!! Just do not think I am 100% there yet.
So the aprons are packed and the new textbooks in the bag for summer study. It is a huge new challenge but one I am really looking forward to. I mean I started this career at 52 so what not tackle something new at 62??? Who knows what is on the horizon next!