Christmas 2019

December 9, 2019

Hello All, 

It appears that I was too busy grooming my friend, BOGO The Cat, to write a

letter last year. Interesting. I, Sid The Cat, am here to catch you up on the

events of the past two years!

As noted above, I, Sid The Cat, keep busy grooming BOGO The Cat.  She

tolerates me, but occasionally gets really angry and beats me up.  We happily

co-exist with Alice the Cat, although there is occasional hissing at mealtime when

we all want the same bowl.  Liberty Dog left us in November, the humans say she

had a long life for a Saint Bernard (about 9 years). Morrison, The Furry Toddler,

continues to entertain us all--chasing us and showing us her toys.

Pete and Sarah continue at their jobs--Sarah at the same high school she has

taught at since August 2002 and Peter at his law firm that he opened in 2005. 

Last spring Sarah presented with her co-teacher at a conference about literacy.

Sarah also tutors a couple nights a week at the local library. Business at the law

firm is going well.  Pete is learning to work remotely, so he can still get things done

while traveling with Lucas (see below).

Claudia is a freshman at the University of Northern Colorado. She was accepted

at UNC, The University of Colorado, and Colorado State (the three schools she applied

to).  Claudia is studying pre-nursing and worrying about applying to the official nursing

program. Her roommate is a friend she went to high school with. According to them,

they don’t have any fun and study all the time. She worked as a nanny during and after

high school and saved enough money for a car which she uses to get to her new job...

as a nursery attendant at a church near her dorm.

Lucas is a freshman at Rock Canyon High School, the same school Claudia attended. 

Snowboarding has become his life...last spring he competed at Nationals, winning a

3rd place finish at the competition and placing him 8th in the nation for his age group. 

This year he practices many Fridays, so is learning to balance school and travel. He

has also joined every club he can think of at school (including the Danny Devito fan club,

organic chem club, and ski club…..)

Last summer we built out a Promaster Van for “the boys” winter travel needs. It is

superinsulated and quite comfy.  Sarah and the dogs went one weekend before it

was all done and it was great then--it’s pretty amazing now.

If you want to see (more) pictures of what we are up to (and the van build) you

can find and follow us on Facebook and Instagram:

Facebook:

Sarah Sager Lemire 

Lucas Lemire (lucas.lemire.5494)

Claudia Lemire 

Instagram:

sarahsagerlemire

co_ski_atty

darthshredder04

claudialemire1

We wish you all a blessed holiday season! 

Love,

Sid the Cat (and the rest of the family, too)

The Boy and Snowboarding!

Here's an update on The Boy's snowboarding and the adventure that awaits us in two weeks! 

This season has been amazing in terms of his growth as a Big Mountain Snowboarder and the experiences he has had.  This season he rode world-class extreme terrain at places like Snowbird, Taos, and Crested Butte, in addition to our home territory of Summit County.  

There have definitely been some ups and downs and adventures along the way, but all of his hard work and dedication have paid off! 

The Boy had podium results in the Taos Junior National and the Breckenridge Helly Hansen Junior Regional and was just off the podium in the Crested Butte Junior National and Vail Junior Regional.

With those results, he has earned an invite to the North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse in British Columbia! 

Out of 1,600 skiers and snowboarders, the top 175 are chosen to compete in the championships Ten were invited from Luc’s age group.  The event begins Tuesday, April 9^th  with Snowboard Qualifying most likely on April 10^th and Finals taking place on Friday, April 12^th.  We think they will be live streaming the finals and possibly the qualifying runs and will keep you posted as we know more!

Thanks for your support!  

Thankful.

What a day... things I am thankful for:

Our students listened, followed directions, and did everything we asked them to calmly and patiently without a single argument. They stayed as quiet as teenagers can be expected to be in a crisis and responded appropriately and immediately to (somewhat random) hand signals.

Our district and building staff are just THE BEST. So many people did so much to keep our kids physically and mentally safe. They are problem solvers, huggers, snack finders, staff bathroom unlockers....I am blessed to work with every. single. one.

We were in the room with a LockBloc on the door--neither adult had to step into the hallway to lock our door.

My caseload student who I was most worried about was with people who know and love them, kept them safe, even made sure they had snacks while locked down sitting in the dark, silently. (Which, in and of itself, is a miracle).

The threat to our building turned out, apparently, to just be a threat. The people involved were contained, for lack of a better word and the situation quieted in a speedy manner (even though it seemed like a long time, sitting in that quiet classroom)

I am blessed to be able to have a rental car for the week/end so I could drive myself around with therapeutic 80's music blaring after school and not have to wait for a ride to get home.

Chick-fil-A frozen coffee and Tylenol Sinus have magical healing properties. (or maybe it was adrenaline?)

My tutoring kids, who, of course, had no idea what happened today at my school, were hardworking and on task--a joy to work with. One even said, "Wow! That hour went by fast!". They made me smile after a very long day.

I have a huge network of friends and family who prayed for us while we waited and who rejoiced with us when everything was safely concluded.

So many other things....but I am tired and am going to watch trashy tv in bed (as soon as The Girl gets home from Wish Week Activites!)

Love and hugs to all my OHS people who (like me) probably feel a little (a lot?) traumatized tonight, despite all the blessings. Prayers that tomorrow is a day equally full of blessings. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us, thought of us, sent good ju-ju.

Well, Hello There!

I don't have a good excuse for not blogging in months. In my defense, I actually started several blogs, but didn't publish any of them for various reasons.  Here's a quick run down on what I've been up to since  May! If I get around to it, I might write individual posts for some of these...but this way Blogger will stop asking if I still want my account :)

 Senior Prank 2018--cute, not destructive, yay for balloons (although the popping was a little unnerving...)

 Bought one of these for my classroom door--google it--good stuff.

 Watched The Boy run track...

 Had a lobsta party

 Planted a garden

 Graduation!

 Visited South Park City for the first time (very fun)

 Took The Girl to have senior pictures taken

 Went to a conference with some co-workers

 Hiked with the family and the dogs

 Volunteered at VBS (Preschool games rule!)

 Road tripped

 Met these cuties...

Had a family tea party in South Dakota

 Picked enough cherries from our tree for a small snack

 Took a lot of walks in the neighborhood

 Celebrated Grandudes 70th birthday with another visit to South Park City (and other festivities)

 Found new local destinations (and informed The Girl that her wedding reception can be here)

 FINALLY sold those Victrola records

 Watched my plants grow

 The Girl bought a car (with her own money)

 Visited some colleges

 Made The Girl try on clothes from the 90's

 Traveled east with Grandma for a family wedding

 Played tourist in Boston

 #Table5...there is nothing else to say about that.

 The Boy went back to school

 The Girl turned 17 (!!!)

The Girl started school.....

and here we are!  Happy Fall!

April 2018 Books

Again, I seem to be a little behind in my reading log...

I've continued my Tasha Alexander journey and this month found an old friend (more in a few days when I write about May books!)

1. A Poisoned Season (Tasha Alexander)
2.  A Fatal Waltz (Tasha Alexander)
3.  Tears of Pearl (Tasha Alexander)--each of these continues Lady Emily's story.  They are entertaining...that's about all I can say.  If you like historical fiction/mysteries, you might like this series (see last month for the first book/s)
4.  Shadow of the Titanic (Andrew Wilson)--interesting mini-biographies of people who survived the Titanic.  Some stories I'd read before and some were new to me. It was interesting, not super exciting, but interesting.
5.  Forever My Girl (Heidi McLaughlin)--this is the book the movie is based on--I think it was a flash in the theatres a few months ago.  Never saw the movie, but it looked interesting.  The book was very Nicholas Sparks-like--a good entertaining read, but no big surprises.

That's all...no top ten, no super exciting new authors..but some solid good reads!  Have a good month!

Summer break?

And just like that, the school year is almost over.  I am ready for summer, I think, but I am kind of reluctant for this year to end.  It has been a roller coaster of a year--I'd tell you to read my blogs, but I haven't been a great writer this year, so that would be fruitless. And, the last few days of school have been a little crazy--at our senior exit assembly in the gym a fight broke out, followed by three (four?) more that day and four (five?) the next day... so it seems like it should be time for summer...but, there is a big "hmmm"....
As our seniors did their exit hugs (graduation is next week, but we do our "good-bye" assembly early because graduation day is, well, so much...) I thought--"I'm ready for the seniors to go to their next step, but I"m not ready to say "bye" to  "my" kids for the summer".  It is an interesting feeling--I used to be a big proponent of counting down the days, but I stopped a few years ago-Angela Watson describes it well here. It is just a change in how I think about school.  There are three days left with students--all three half-day final exam days--so hopefully these will be calm, productive days for the students and set them up well to have a good summer.....

Spring 2018

Good morning!
Some of these are from a couple weeks ago--I <think> the back and side yards are almost "done"....This morning I released 1500 ladybugs and hung two egg sacs of praying mantis..I'm hoping this solves the Japanese beetle and aphid issues of last summer (bonus if they eat the slugs in the garden, but I'm not holding my breath on that...I have my jar of Sluggo ready).  I've sprinkled the garden with red pepper to keep the creepy voles out (and the bunnies).  I'm hopeful!

 Side yard--ignore that last corner with the wheelbarrow...we have plans for it...eventually...the girl is relaxing on her chaise lounge..courtesy of a neighbor moving out who left it on the curb with a "free" sign.

 Plant starts, patiently waiting to be moved outside...sometime...tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, and flowers.  If the weather stays ok they might get a couple hours of outside time today or later this week.

 It's hard to see because the onions in the back are out of control, but there is a thriving blackberry (raspberry?) bush in the front--this is last week, it has taken over that whole corner this week.

 St. Francis and his livestock (birds, bunny, trash panda  racoon, chicken, frog...

 The peach tree and its blossom seem to have recovered from the cold weather and sleet last week, so I have high hopes for a couple peaches this year...

 Another "save" from the moving neighbor--a rubber tree..unfortunately, poisonous to house pets, so it lives on the front porch.  If it survives the summer it might get to go to work with me (and if it doesn't, I'll use the pot for something)

 The lone (of 5) surviving redwood from a family wedding a few years ago--it looks pretty good though!  Soon I guess we will have to find him a place in the yard (maybe in the front?)

 Godzilla leaving the gnome village...enough said..

 Old man beach gnome, not concerned at all about the village carnage (he's at the beach, man...)

 Geraniums, poisonous to dogs, so they have to stay outside, too. Morrison already sampled them and immediately threw up.  Fantastic.

 Garden is planted, except for the seedlings above (and a lot of them might go into pots)--carrots, leeks, spinach, beets, herbs, asparagus, garlic, onions, green onions, strawberries and probably things I've forgotten are in.  It rained and sleeted this week and I was a little worried about the seeds, but they have sprouted like crazy this week!

Ironically, the greenhouse has become a bit of a staging area instead of a plant growing area.  I considered moving the seedlings out, but is is so much easier to water them from inside that I left them for now.


So how are your gardens?