Melanie Talks to Her Bosses

So, what epic thing did I do THIS weekend, you may ask? I went to a real-live rodeo. It was great. Big and small cow boys everywhere, and the announcer kept of saying "Kick the tire, light the fire - turn it on, turn it up, TURN IT LOOSE!!!" in his amazing accent. Wonderful. No blood, but some pretty close calls and hard falls. It was $8 to get in, and sent up in front of the west side of The Grande (the tallest of the Tetons), with the sun setting at our backs. Wow.



Then on Saturday I helped waitstaff a 90th birthday party for someone who is a board member at the Teton Science Schools. I can only hope my 90th birthday party will be that awesome. Made me a little sad that I'll be missing Grandma Pert's 90th birthday back home this summer. :(
There was also lots of left over white wine (my fave) and cool people to hang out with, so we had a classy evening, watching The Human Planet (Kind of like Blue Planet, but more anthropological) in the staff lounge. Roni and I slept there on the floor. In the morning we had breakfast and returned to Victor. After a run and a shower, we headed over to a free music festival in Linn Canyon Ranch. The music and the crowd were pretty cool, but it was kind of awkward not knowing anyone. Well, except for some of the 3 and 4 year olds! Ha ha. So we didn't stay too long.

This week has been pretty good. On Monday I finally got to check in with Erin, who is the instructor connected with TSS and TCVS. I asked her for some material about teaching techniques, child development, and expressed my frustration with running a day care. She told me to plan some lessons, and teach the kids, if that is what felt good for me. Find ways to challenge myself, and she would do whatever I wanted to support me. So that was good. I also got supremely burned. When Roni got back from a day in Jackson, we jumped on our bikes and went to the park, where there was supposed to be pick-up Ultimate Frisbee. There was! We actually met some people (sort of) our age! And I decided that I actually do like Ultimate! Kate, the woman in charge, was really awesome and supportive, and never made me feel bad about my mediocre skills, even though she is headed to Masters, or something like that, in a few weeks!

I warned them all that I was awful at it, but they wouldn't hear it, and taught me how to throw really well, and didn't avoid passing to me because I was bad, or anything! And my team was loosing sorely for a while, but then I laid out, and made the winning catch! Part of my leg immediately swelled up and got as big as a baseball, but Kate rubbed it so it wouldn't calcify, or something like that, and put arnica on it. Then she invited us to the brewery, just down the bike path, where she bought us beer, and introduced us to all her search-and-rescue friends. It was really fun. Everyone was probably at least 27 or 30, but it was nice to finally feel like we were making friends! After that, Roni and I biked down towards Driggs for a while, talking about what we're going to do after, and watching the sun set over the Big Hole Mountains.

The next day I had about 5 boys, ages 8 or so, and I taught them a little about bugs. I had made a lesson plan, and I didn't stick to it too much, but I think they had fun, and got excited about science a little bit! It was nice to hang out with older kids for a change, and not have to worry about crying so much (although that doesn't mean that it didn't happen). One of the boys really didn't want to leave his mom, and it reminded me of how that felt for me when I was little. How one day away from home can feel like an eternity.

That evening was the meeting in Jackson, so Roni and I drove over, and I got to talk to Julie, the woman at TSS who is in charge of AmeriCorps. I felt like we really communicated well, I told her I didn't want to be doing Play Team all summer, and that I could even work on the weekends in order to get experience with older kids. Then we went out to Blue Grass at the Wort Hotel in Jackson! It was really fun! I got to swing dance a little bit with Eddy, who works in the kitchen. The highlight way well have been driving back and blasting my Lion King cassette. Driving over the pass at 12 was not so fun, but it was nice to hang out with friends. Such a treat!

The next day a parent came in to tell me that the boys couldn't stop talking about how much fun they had at camp. According to her, it was the talk of the local pool. Awesome. All we did was catch bugs, look at them under hand lenses, and then look through a bug encyclopedia together, but that's awesome! I had fun, too! :)

I've been realizing that even though, to me, I still feel 13, and like I have no authority, I really do. I am stern with kids, and they get very serious and do what I say. Its great.

Today I found an old Honey Bee that couldn't fly, and held it on my hand while I pointed out the cool parts to kids. It was great. Tonight is Music On Main, a free music concert basically 500m from my house, in the local park. I hope it will be fun!

Man, writing makes my life sound so exciting, but it doesn't really feel that way! :D

What else? Want to see a few pics from my day-to-day life? I thought you would! :D



And a beautiful piece of artwork, my the painting master, Skyler.


Ha ha ha. I don't know what to say.

Things are looking up, as I knew they would. I could still use a few Victor friends, but ...
Love you all!
Mel