Hail Storm - Yikes!!

Charlie woke this morning to a disastrous hail storm. I was setting up my room at school and fortunately missed the action. I am glad I didn't have to helplessly watch the hail rip apart my car as well as Charlie's car.

While at school, Britt called to say there was a terrible storm that just hit Northfield. There were several windows that broke at the motel where she works and her car windshield was hit (but not broken). Soon after Britt called, Charlie called me. He said St. Olaf was hit hard. Almost every car had at least one window completely shattered. Needless to say, his training was halted as people observed the damages on campus.

Soon after the phone calls, I returned to Northfield. I came home to find our cars demolished. Large hail dents everywhere and glass sprayed in and around our cars. It is not a great feeling to have your car ruined.

Campus was abuzz with tow-trucks and glass companies. Campus is pretty busy with sports teams, conferences, and staff members. All of whom experienced hail damage today. Fortunately buildings were not damaged.

This incident makes living and owning a house, with a garage, so much more appealing!!

However, my parents were hit pretty hard too. It looks like they will have to replace the siding on their house as well as replace the shingles. My mom's garden is ruined. The lettuce and tomatoes were just flattened. Their shed in the backyard now has an inverted roof and their lawn furniture is full of softball sized holes. My sister's bedroom window was also broken. Their lawn was covered in hail and many baseball sized divots.

My mom is taking pictures of their house. They will soon be posted as well.


Check out these sites for more pictures and stories: Northfield.org, St. Olaf, and Dean's blog.

Steele County Free Fair Run

Minnesota fair time! The Steele County Fair (biggest county fair in Minnesota) seems like a great precursor to the Minnesota State Fair - greasy food, carnival rides, RVs, food on a stick, and fun runs. Charlie, Annie, and I ran the Steel County Fair 4 mile race on Saturday, August 20. It was a wonderful, cool morning for a run.

We have a break now in the race calendar. Our next run is on September 10 - Defeat of Jesse James Days. Charlie and I are going to try to run the 15K.

Ripboarding

If you haven't ever ripboarded before, I would recommend it. My husband, Charlie, and I went ripboarding in Golden, Colorado last summer. For two people who are not extreme water sport people, this was quite the adventure.

First let me tell you a little bit about ripboarding. It is basically boogie boarding head first down river rapids. Mountain rivers are very cold and rocky. So to be safe and warm you need to wear a wetsuit, water shoes, flippers, knee pads, shin guards, life jacket, and helmet (oh, plus the board). Charlie and I took lessons from Ripboard Inc. We first got all our gear on and then practiced maneuvering the board on dry land. After dry land practice, we moved to the water. To start in the water we stayed close to shore. We used an eddy in the river to practice turning our boards. After our water practice, we made three runs down the river. We had one guide in front letting us know where boulders were located and another guide behind us for extra safety. After a couple of runs we also got to surf in the rapids. Surfing, in ripboard terms, is facing upstream in the middle of a rapid. The churning waters keep your board in the middle as you ride the rapid out. Charlie and I weren't able to surf for very long. The instructors could surf much longer.

Ripboarding is not as dangerous and scary as it sounds. Charlie and I managed to survive 3 runs down Clear Creek (about ten II-III category rapids). We did this despite the fact that the river was much higher than usual and a group of rafters passed away in the canyon just up the river 2 days before we ripboarded. So if you are planning a trip to Colorado - look into ripboarding for a fun vacation adventure.

School Year Approaches

Well the new school year is right around the corner. With it quickly approaching, I thought it would be appropriate to blog about school.

Last year was my first official year of teaching. I taught 7th grade at New Prague Middle School. I taught on a small team of just two teachers. We each split the core subjects. My team teacher, Renae, taught Social Studies and Language Arts. I taught Science, Tech Ed, and FACS. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot! The learning curve the first year is very steep (especially when you throw in multiple subjects). I had a fun time with my teammates and students.

This upcoming school year I will be teaching at South View Middle School in Edina. I will be teaching 6th grade math. I am very excited for this opportunity as math is one of my favorite subjects. I know the learning curve will continue to be steep but having at least one year experience really makes a difference. I am getting nervous as my first workshop is this Thursday. However I am excited to get started. I think Charlie is ready for me to have something to do too. :)

The Book Thief

I finally finished Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. It was one of the best books I have read. A book that exposes the power of words!

It takes place during World War II in the midst of Nazi Germany. The main character, Liesel, is a 13 year old girl living on a poor street outside of Munich. The book tells of her adventures during the mid-1930s through the mid-1940s.

The Book Thief is narrated by Death. It puts an interesting twist on the book as it is narrated by something that is not human. However with Death narrating it definitely hits home with the atmosphere of Germany during World War II. During the story, Death is continually evaluating the human race. As a reader, it made you reflect on your possible actions and reactions to events in the story. Zusak does an excellent job of intermixing glory and ugly as he showed how life is entangled with both traits.

I would recommend this book to people that enjoy reading about Nazi Germany. I would also recommend it to kids ages 13 and up. It is advantageous if readers have a general background of events occuring in Europe (especially Germany, Poland, and Russia) during World War II.