1st Draft Complete!

After several months and 35 pages, I just finished the first draft of my thesis! I sent it to my Chair this morning for one last review, and after his edits I will send it to my Reader for his final review and edits. My reward for all that hard work are some baseball cards, a cigar, and a candy bar! If the sun ever comes out, I will get a walk in as well.

Welcome Spring

Other than the Fall, the Spring is my favorite time of the year. Tree buds begin to explode, grass starts to turn an amazing bright green, and temperatures slowly begin to warm up (even on a cooler day the sun's rays are quite warm).

Another passage into Spring is the MLB season kicking off. Early in the year all teams feel like they can compete, and that they have a shot at winning it all come October (sadly, most teams over-inflate their chances of success). But the "boys" of Spring never fail to amaze me - last night I was able to assist my friend James in coaching his BAA Mite team, with his son Ben on it, and I had a blast! I flashed back to my own days of little league ball, and became very excited to be a part of the team once again. Something tells me that I am going to be known as the loud, silly coach, but that's fine with me! Anything I can do to help them get excited about playing and loving baseball is just fine!

Play ball, and enjoy the Spring weather (at least on warm, sunny days)!

Butter

Today, at my elementary school site in St. Paul, I was given the opportunity to lead two classroom guidance lessons for kindergartners. Our lesson was on cooperation, and learning to work together on something. We paired the kids up, and provided the groups with the necessary tools they needed to make butter! They were given a baby food jar that had heavy whipping cream in it, and they were given the task of shaking it until it turned into butter. When their arms got sore they had to give it to their partner to shake. After about five minutes of shaking, it formed into butter, which they got to spread on crackers and eat - they loved it! I really enjoyed giving them the lesson today, and they got a big kick out of making and eating the butter!

I will be leading several more classroom guidance lessons in the next week or so, and will videotape one of them for my final internship videotaping requirement. I will probably record the kindergartners again, as I will be reading them a book and discussing the importance of using our hands for helping and not for hurting (similar to today's lesson on cooperation when they used their hands to work together).

I've really enjoyed my time with the elementary kids, and I hope to get a job working in an elementary school in the fall.

Internships

Today was the last day at my middle school site, meaning that I am now 2/3 done with my internships! I had a great time getting to work with and getting to know many interesting students. I will now be at an elementary school in St. Paul 3 days a week, while working the other 2 days on my thesis. I feel that I am still on track to be done with everything and graduate in June. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

GC Retreat

Here are some photos from last weekend's Third Annual Garden Communities Retreat.

Thursday's Sights

The campus of Duke University,
Duke's Chapel,
Durham Athletic Park (former home of the infamous Durham Bulls),
Lunch at Chick-Fil-A,
Cigar shopping/smoking at JR Cigars' warehouse,
Awesome dinner made by Kelly, with her roommate Anna, her co-worker Amber, and E and Lisa,
Shakes from Chick-Fil-A, and the classic movie "When Harry Met Sally,"
An amazing week spent with E and Lisa in North Carolina!

Wednesday

Coffee and donuts at Dunkin Donuts,
Smoked pipes and purchased cigars in South Carolina (very low tobacco tax),
Lunch with E's mom at her newspaper,
Look-see at Holden Beach,
Photos at Wrighstville Beach,
Toured historic downtown Wilmington,
Dinner on E and Lisa's balcony,
Another great day!