My new gig!!!

Teachers flock to the coveted Central Austin schools for jobs, so I feel blessed to be working at Gullett Elementary this fall with the beloved veteran teacher (Mrs B). She'll be retiring in December and I will take charge of our spirited kindergarten class.

Mrs B made the video below to welcome our ducklings to school. She was the first to discover Gully, the school cat, and incorporate him into the culture. I am sure Mookie minds sharing the spotlight. It is also posted on our class blog.

This post would not be complete without a shout out to all those that supported me through this career change. Namely....

CJ, my partner in most everything -- without whom this endeavour would have never been possible.

Grandaddy Ridley, who as legend has it, taught in a one-room schoolhouse at the age of 14 and instilled the importance of sharing knowledge and inspiration.

My Mom, for so much and this too.

My Dad, who always encouraged altruism for me and my career.

Marie, Roberta, Larry and Lisa, who said "why not" at just the right time and then treated me to something special to take the edge off.

Kim N., for leading the way and for reminding me to "put my big girl panties on" when things get rough.

Alyson, who made it look fun way back when.

gully the school cat w/ mrs b providing the voice over

West Texas

I didn't expect the soul soothing experience that goes along with traveling to remote and majestic locales on our humble family vacation to West Texas but that is exactly what happened. It was the snorkeling with catfish and turtles in cool spring water at Balmorhea, lunching in Marfa with sophisticates, hiking to sublime vistas and driving through ancient land formations in Big Bend, mud bathing in the Rio Grande, gazing at clouds by day and stars by night, drinking G&T's in a cave tavern in Terlingua, sighting javelinas, jack rabbits, deer, road runners, blue-winged crickets, swallows, bats, tiny toads, lizards and muskrats, playing with my kids, hubby and Bartlett crew, and being off the communications grid that did it.

mud baths, rio grande
un par de tortolitos
mountain guinea pig game
vista
in bloom
floaters & goggle pop, balmorhea
ella, high dive
cy, low dive
pop, real dive
vacation mama
the ballroom, marfa
5 miles from mexico
Not a bad way to close out the summer. Sigh...

Camp Life Adieu

The final day of Camp 1609 has come. One sweet camper innocently said to me the other day, "Ms Lynne, you look stronger." I think he is right. I am also a little weary and weepy but mostly content. I wanted to put down a few thoughts about the experience so that I remember how fun it was when it comes time to plan next summer.

On recipe Thursdays we started with a final discussion about food fixings, followed by a trip to Whole Foods for supplies. The "free" snacks and samples take the bite out of the price tag. I feel we owe a small admission for ogling the produce, fish, meat, chocolate fountain and cake display as well.

"free" snacks

samples

ogling

I was very proud of my campers street smarts. They filed in and out of the van with ease (mostly), fed parking meters, rode elevators, waited for traffic lights to turn, kept track of their partners in crowded city pools, museums, grocery stores, bathrooms, libraries, bowling alleys, restaurants, etc.

meter line

I was always moved by the campers response to beauty. They recognize the extraordinary and fantastic -- like when they got their first glimpses of the pennies at the Blanton Museum, and the blue and green water at Barton Springs, and the wide staircase at The Texas State Capital, and the beetle and gem displays at the Texas Memorial Museum.

texas state capital steps

on the capital grounds, crew with cannon

Most days we got wet. Our top hot (or rather cool) spots were Deep Eddy for the rejuvenating spring water and jims jims (Italian Ice), Northwest pool for the diving board, Ramsey pool for the privacy, pristine water and thrilling pre 1990 playground equipment, and finally, West Enfield pool, where we were likely to meet up with our buddies from the hood.

west enfield

that summer feeling

Snow Cone & Lemonade Sale

For the past few years our community in Austin has participated in Lemonade Day. This program is sponsored by an organization that aims to introduce kids to entrepreneurship. I'd say it has been a success because when Ella proposed the idea of a "sale" to buy a camp pet the campers had a pretty good idea about how a "sale" worked and diligently planned, marketed and enthusiastically set up and served their customers with little prompting and/or guidance.

In Ella's world more is always more and so selling just lemonade was far too simple -- very much like the Lemonade and Chrystal Sale of 2009. The snow cones really did set the sale apart from your average run-of-the-mill lemonade stand. The campers were super proud of themselves and spent their money on supplies for the donated (thanks Jackson) beta fish.

advertising

little'er ones poor

bigger ones make the snow...

...and handle the coin
camp pet naming deliberations

lucy & rover