Good time in aikido...

fridays are tough...busy at the grade school, working out down in merrill and then work itself. i had a good time though. i finally got back together with mike and kim and hitched a ride down to aikido. i don't remember laughing so hard in a long time, let alone in a dojo. i know it can be disrespectful given the teacher's temperment...but kim's laugh is contagious and she's just down-right fun to pair up with. if i would have laughed like that over in the doji in taipei...i'm not sure if i would've been taken seriously, shunned or just told to leave. however, purdy sensei is so easy going and has a goofy sense of humor himself...he just ignored us or looked at us and chuckled. i'm going to do my best to get to the dojo's on friday as much as i can. i do have aikido in houghton, but it's iffy to me so far...lots of testosterone flying around in there. don't get me wrong...i can hang out with the boys no problem, but it gets old after a while especially if you're treated differently cuz "you're a girl!!"

i got together tonight with my friend debbie, my cousin karen and another friend named christi. it was supposed to be just karen and i, but debbie and christi were already there and so we all got together. it felt good being out and social...lots of laughs all the way around. i'm hoping to get together again with the gals sometime soon. it was good seeing my friend dean again too...he works at the place where we were eating. unfortunately, he was busy working and i was busy laughing and chatting with the gals that i didn't get to talk to him very much at all. i just feel the need to get in some good conversation with people that really know me and care about how i'm doing. dean used to be one of those people. oh well, maybe next time we can hook up and just have a good chat.

this next weekend i'm going up to duluth to see the opening ceremonies and activities of the john beargrease dogsledding marathon. i don't know if it'll be exciting, boring or so-so. hopefully, it'll be very exciting and a neat experience. i'm on a mission to get great pictures for myself and for the class i'm working in this spring semester. the class is learning all about dogsledding right now. speaking of which...i'm working with 3rd grade this time. the kids were rather excited about having a new face in the classroom and kept asking me A LOT of questions. i took it in stride and enjoyed myself immensely. i really like working with this age range...i think 8 and 9 year olds are "way cool." i need to get used to being called ms. elliott though...i'm too used to my former students who addressed me as teacher susan. keep in touch!!