June '12

June '12:
We went to the Northern Spark Art Festival-

We also went to Texas for Aly and Marcs' wedding-

These crazy geese hung out by our hotel room.

Proof that we really were in TX

As you can see, I managed to get a lot of use out of the blue dress!  I think I can wear it to one more wedding this summer yet...

May '12- Karen got hitched

 On May 25th, our friends, Karen and Darrin got hitched!  It was a beautiful wedding, and they picked a supreme location (Stillwater is the best place to get married, but I might be a little bit biased...)

Holy Moly... Oct. '11- April '12 Update

Well, it certainly has been a long time since I've been around this-here-neck-of-the-woods.  There are a lot of things to catch up on since my last post in October... :/  I once had a goal to blog more frequently, but now I realize that kind of goal is not realistic for me.  I find that I am pretty good about blogging in the summer, but not so much during the school year.  So, today's post if more of an update of what's been going on in the Lorenz world since this past October...

In October, we started fostering dogs as a way to "interview" for a new addition to our family.  We had gone back and forth on whether or not we were really ready for a second dog, so fostering seemed like a good way to introduce ourselves and Lucy to the idea of having a another fur-child in the house.  We had Harvey (a whippet) for a bit before Luke's uncle adopted him in November.  We knew right away that Harvey was not the dog for us, but we are happy to see him in a good home.  Harvey was adopted the day before Thanksgiving, and we were already lined up to take in another foster dog the day after Thanksgiving.  In the 24 hour period where we were down to a single dog, Lucy moped around the house and seemed to really miss Harvey.  Then, we met Kale.

We were a bit nervous about bringing Kale home.  Kale is a Great Dane/Pit Bull mix, and since neither of us had much experience with the pit bull breed, we weren't sure how Kale would be in our home.  Luckily, Kale turned out to be a wonderful dog and meshed well with Lucy.  Kale is about 4 or 5 years old, and we fostered him until March (more on his adoption later...)

In December, Lucy turned 1 year old and we had a great time celebrating the holidays with our families. 

January was pretty uneventful, and in February, we made it up to Crosslake with Luke's family, and some of Luke's sister's friends.  Since they shut down the water during the winter, we had managed to get a living social coupon for two discounted nights, plus a food voucher.  We managed to keep ourselves very entertained (human curling was probably the highlight of the trip!).

March was a pretty big month in our world.  It included a casino night, where I came out with $1 more than I left with!  It was pretty exciting.  I had gambling and loosing money, so when we found the $1 tables, I jumped on them and was able to play more than 4 hands. 

Another amazing part about March was that Kale got an application for adoption.  We had been considering keeping Kale, but we wanted to give others a chance first.  Once the application came in, and I started to respond to the emails the potential adopter was asking, I started to cry frequently.  At that point, Luke and I decided that if this didn't work out for Kale to be adopted by this other family, that we would officially make him a part of the Lorenz family.  Luckily for us, the family who was interested lived in Canada, and since the rescue we were fostering for does not adopt out of the country, they were unable to pursue him any longer.  That night, we sent the coordinator an email letting her know of our intentions, and by the end of the week, he was officially ours!  While there are still sometimes when we realize life would be a lot easier with one dog, we are so happy that he is ours forever.  Old Man Kale Monster is ours, and our Lucy Goose couldn't be happier to have a brother.

Also, at the end of March/beginning of April we found out that we would be welcoming a niece or nephew into our family in December!  We're pretty excited for Luke's sister and her husband, and are looking forward to having a baby to practice on before we decide to add some non-furchildren to our own brood in the next few years.

April also brought on the time of year that all teachers in my district loath- this is the time of year that probationary teachers (such as myself) find out whether or not they have been pink slipped or  get to stay on for the next year.  Last year, I was pink slipped until I was able to re-interview for my job.  This year, when my principal pulled me into her office, I was nervous, but that all went away when she said that she was able to retain a position for me for next year.  I was pretty much reminded by her that we are overstaffed in English, but thank goodness for the fact that I am almost done with my reading license program...

Update to be continued...

Thank goodness for MEA

When I think back to MEA weekend as a kid, I remember being excused from school a couple days early by my parents and then we scooted up to Grand Marais for some fall hiking and relaxation.  This was before we had our cabin up there, so we always stayed at the same hotel, in the same room, and sneaked Moose in over the balcony (years later, we would find out that the management knew that we were doing that, and just chose to never say anything about it to us).  To us kids, the over-sized hot tub was amazing, and we would spend hours each night in there, swimming around.  Eventually, my parents sold the old cabin in McGregor and we bought a new one in Grand Marais, so now there is no sneaking in dogs or wrinkly hot tub fingers, and we go up there for more than just MEA weekend.

We miss you Moosie!

Now, I'm on the other side of MEA weekend as a teacher.  I could go to the convention that is held on the Thursday and Friday, but I choose to enjoy the long weekend, and boy did I ever need it right about now.  This year, I am teaching two completely new preps: English 11 and Read 180 (a reading strategies class- I'm working on my reading license, so reading skills and strats are starting to become my niche at my school). 

While I love my job nearly every day I am there, the stretch of Sept. 6-Oct. 20 without any days off starts to take a toll.  Last year, I was busy, but this year I'm feeling kind of pulled in a million directions.  I agreed to take part in a group that meets 1x/month on Mondays which focuses on collaboration for interventions in literacy at the secondary levels.  It's an additional 2 hours after school on those days, plus a couple of all day meetings scattered throughout the year.  On Tuesdays, I am still teaching in the Adult Basic Education diploma program until 8pm.  Now, on Wednesdays, I've added my reading licensure classes which go until 7:20 each week.  And then there are the Thursday conferences/calling times/staff development hours which occur about once a month as well until 6:30.  By Friday, I am beat.  I continue to work for my parents on the weekends (both Saturdays and Sundays), so I really feel like I am working 8-9 days a week.

I made the decision to take off from my parents work over MEA so that I could have a true weekend off, and boy am I glad that I did that!  I think that MEA means even more to me now as a teacher, and it's time that I can use to catch up on my social life, sleep, and my mental health.  This year is even more great because I get to spend the days with Lucy while Luke works.  I also actually have time to get some stuff done around the house and try out some new recipes!  Luke gave me a sewing machine for my birthday, so perhaps I'll even squeeze in a sewing project...  mmmmm.... crafts :)

Yesterday was the most amazing start to the long weekend:  Dog park, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Shopping at Target (for some reason, shopping at Target just always makes me feel better!), and getting some chores around the house done at a relaxing pace.  Today has been spent so far catching up on Grey's Anatomy and drinking coffee while lounging with Miss Lucy- she even let me paint her nails to match mine:

Pretty in Sparkles!

Here's looking forward to the rest of a relaxing weekend, and coming back to school refreshed and ready to go!

Newest Family Member!

We've decided that Luke must be some sort of reincarnation of Saint Francis or something because he seems to find abandoned animals all the time.  In 2006, he found Snakey the redtailed Columbian Boa Constrictor in our apartment.  In 2009, he discovered Darla, the guinea pig outside of our apartment.  Flash forward to last week and we can now add another creature who has found his/her way into our ever-growing family.

Meet Trogdor...

 

Lucky for Trogdor, we already have Spinelli and anything a parakeet could ever need, so he definitely found his way into the right home.  Luke spotted him in our backyard, and after confirming that it was NOT Spinelli (I made a beeline to her cage when Luke said that there was a yellow parakeet in the yard to make sure that it wasn't her), we managed to lure him with seeds and a perch, and Trogdor and Spinelli have been bonding ever since.

This little budgie is also much cooler than Spinelli.  Spinelli has never been a very people-friendly bird, but Trogdor will let us take him out of the cage and he'll hang out on our shoulders and not immediately fly away like Spinelli will.

I wonder what we'll find next...

Purchase

Check out my latest Lucy-related purchase at Lucy's blog site!

http://lucylorenz.blogspot.com/2011/08/stray-dog-arts.html

Lucy's Latest!

I managed to teach Lucy a new trick this morning, and I wanted to share it with you all!  She's quite proud of herself :)

2 years!

Happy anniversary to us!  It's been two years since I married my best friend, and we're still holding strong.  Lots of changes have happened in the last year (me getting a full-time teaching job, loosing Dwight, adopting Lucy, and much much more), and Luke has been my rock through it all. 

Here's to another 60+ years!

Cabin!

Yesterday, we got back from Luke's family cabin in Crosslake and Lucy's been kind of pouting ever since leaving.  We had a great time, the weather was excellent, and we came back only slightly crispy!  The weekend comprised of fun lawn games (bags, ladder golf, badminton), lots of drinks, sleeping in the bunkhouse down on the beach, good company, taking Lucy swimming, reading,ice cream, triple yahtzee, grilling, and fireworks. 

I will leave you will my favorite picture of the weekend, and if you're interested, you can see more at Lucy's blog (click on the link!)

A man and his dog.

We heart Xcel!

Seriously, we love Xcel energy right now.  A few weeks ago, a nice young man stopped by our door to see if we were interested in partaking in having their Energy Squad come by our house to make our home a bit more energy efficient.  Normally, I am one to say "No thanks!" and shut the door in their faces before they can even finish trying to sell me anything, but I was feeling nice, so I let the guy tell me about it (it was also 90 degrees out with 80-something % humidity, so I felt a little bad for him).  Turns out, it was a good thing I didn't pretend to not be home, because it ended up being a great deal for us!

For $50, we were able to have the Home Energy Squad come in and have them install the following:

• Weatherstipping on our attic crawlspace door

• Programmable Thermostat

• Faucet aerators in both bathrooms and our kitchen

• A water-saving showerhead in the basement

• 8 decorative CFL lights in our kitchen/dining room

They also rated several appliances in our house, and let us know what the recommended rating was.  What I really liked about the whole thing was that they were no-pressure people.  They basically just said, "Here's what you got.  Here's what we recommend it be at.  Here's where you can find information to upgrade it if you like."

Since it was such a great deal, I want to give everyone else the opportunity to benefit from Xcel as we did.  If you want to schedule a visit with the Home Energy Squad, you can call them at:
(651) 328-6220

Officially Summer!

The school year ended rather uneventfully, with some teary goodbyes after our last day in the building.  I was all set to teach summer school, but earlier in June, the enrollment was down, so they were unable to keep me employed.  Oh shucks.  Now I actually have to enjoy a full summer break.  What a bummer :)  Instead, I got to focus on the first class of my Reading Licensure program at the U.  We crammed a 3 credit course into a 2 week window and yesterday was the last day of it.  I have been living/breathing/eating this class for the last 14 days, and now I don't really know what to do with myself!  I'll be subbing a couple of times in July for one of the night school English teachers, but other than that, I'm student free!  There are some projects around the house that I would like to get done (plant more hostas in the garden, find new curtains for the dining room, create a succulent terrarium like the one below)... but I'm sure a lot of my time will be dedicated to keeping Lucy happy and the house clean.

Yesterday, Lucy had her very first experience at the dog park and she made some pretty awesome new friends.  Humphrey is her new gorgeous boxer boyfriend, and he showed her the ropes of the park.  I was a nervous mama at first (not wanting to let Luce off her leash because it's not a fenced in park), so Lucy and I started on a walk around the trail by ourselves, while we adapted.  When we were on the return part of the trail, that's when we met Humphrey and his humans.  His mom asked if we wanted to keep walking, so I agreed, and allowed Lucy off her leash.  While I was silently panicking, I was reassured by Humphrey's mom that they would always come back- which fortunately they did!  I felt much more confident by the time we got back to the kiddie pool, and chatted with some of the other people who were with their dogs.

Now, I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but I was in a car accident on June 1st, during the last couple weeks of school.  The other day, we found out that the car has been deemed totaled, so I had to go clean it out.  I hadn't actually seen the damage on the car until last Friday when I went to the dealership.  To be perfectly honest, I kind of internally freaked out a bit when I actually saw what happened to my truck...

So now, we get to start the always fun process of buying a new car. We've got to figure out what we can afford, but hopefully we figure it out soon, because the last 4 weeks of driving Luke to work at 4am has been hell. Right now, all we know is that we'll need something bigger than Luke's 2 door hatchback Hyundai accent... So if you have any recs for crossovers/small suvs/wagons, I'd love to hear it!

Meet Grizzly Kleinberg!

My mom and dad FINALLY found themselves as proud new puppy parents last week! 

Griz is a chocolate lab vizsla mix, with the potential to be a very energetic dog.  Lucy had the opportunity last weekend to meet her Auntie Griz and they got along famously.  It was wonderful to be able to see Lucy be so gentle with such a tiny little puppy, since most of the time, we've only been able to see her interact with dogs older and larger than she is.  Even though Lucy could have kicked Griz's butt on many instances, she just let the little one climb and paw and chew all over her.  Even when Griz would start to whimper, Lucy would come running from where ever she was to check on her newest family member.  Since Griz is only about 4 months younger than Lucy, it will be great for them to have LOTS of puppy playdates to tire each other out, and to see them grow up with each other.

"Are you my mother?"

Griz = Auntie, Lucy = Niece

The look that tells us that she will be trouble!

Griz loves her human sister!

(Don't mind the dumb music in this video, Paige and I were having a conversation about dog poop that I didn't think everyone else wanted to hear!)

May Updates

So, at this point, we are only halfway through May, but there are all sorts of updates to be told!

Back in March, I was pink slipped from my teaching job.  Fortunately, they were still hiring for my position and two days ago, I re-interviewed for my job.  I was up against several highly qualified and amazing candidates with years of experience, but ultimately, my experience over the last year at Crossroads, the reading skills I implement into the English classroom, and my strong desire to come back won me back my job.  While it will go back down to the .67FTE, I was told by one of my APs that there is a very good chance that it could become full time before the school year starts!  While Luke and I can afford for me to continue the part time position, it would be awesome if they could bump it back to full time...  All I have to say though, is that I am SO glad to not have to fill out teaching job applications this summer.  Those are super time consuming.  In fact, if I could only use one phrase to describe my summer of 2010, it would be Applications!

Our school is getting a new principal (our current one is retiring at the end of this school year), and it was just announced yesterday that one of our current APs has been hired for that position!  I'm very happy with how the principal interviews resulted because Nancy has been in my corner all year and has been enthusiastic about my professional growth since September.

Lucy is now 4.5 months old and is growing like a weed!  Here she is a month ago in the Dwight chair (we call it the Dwight chair because for Easter, we purchased the IKEA chair for ourselves, and since Dwight was our little Easter bunny at the time, it became his gift to us):

And here she is this past week:

It's hard to believe that this little cuddle bug (who is currently curled up and sleeping on my lap right now) will become a giant dog in just a short amount of time.  We continue to take tons of pictures and videos of her, so feel free to visit http://lucylorenz.blogspot.com for more updates on her!

In other family news, Luke's sister graduated this week and got a job offer all in the same day!  Congrats to Becca!  Also, my sister, Lauren, graduates from UMD today with her degree in English (for being someone who never wanted to copy me, I find it highly entertaining that she has the same B.A. as me!).  Congrats to Lauren!

Only 18 more school days until summer :)