School, Squeegees, and Sandwiches

by Bob

Well, it's time to update everyone on what's been happening here at the Bobily household for the last few weeks.
School has been going well. Just a few weeks ago I started a new class. It is a half-semester course and it has been wonderful! It's called Career Management Skills and we have gone over resume basics, how to write a cover letter, interview preparations, and this week we will be having a panel discussion with several different hiring managers from different firms where we will discuss the various aspects of interviewing. We will be able to hear directly from these hiring managers what they're looking for when interviewing candidates. What's been really cool about this class is the fact that what I'm learning applies directly to things I am currently doing. This semester I'm polishing my resume, applying for jobs, and I'll be having several job interviews over the next few weeks. Don't get too excited, though...I may have to go through a few job interviews before I find the job I'm looking for.
I'm sure you're wondering why the word "squeegee" is in the title of this entry. Let me explain. This time of year as we approach Christmas I have to endure the ever dreaded question, "What do you want for Christmas?" For those of you who don't know, I do NOT like people buying things for me. Am I weird? I feel that people should just spend the money on something for themselves. This is probably the reason I'm so hard to shop for. But I have accepted the fact that there are some people out there who will, no matter what I say, buy a gift for me. Please don't think I'm being ungrateful. I do appreciate it when people go
against my wishes and spend money on me, but if you're going to...just buy me something I am already going to buy like deodorant, socks, toothpaste or a squeegee. A squeegee, you ask? Yes, I have a huge obsession with clean windows. It drives me crazy when there is dirty glass of any kind. I know I'll be in trouble when we have kids. From what I understand kids come with sticky fingers that are the worst enemy of nice streak-free glass. It's almost therapy for me to not just clean windows, but to check every inch of the glass multiple times until there are no streaks, spots, or finger prints. Yes, I know how weird this sounds. In fact, if I could spend a good 20-30 minutes cleaning my windows with the squeegees at the gas station, I would; I have tried this and about 3 minutes after my gas is done pumping I start to get honks from the people waiting to pump their gas. After another 2 minutes or so the obscenities begin. This is when window washing stops being therapeutic. I just stick my tongue out at these rude people and drive away to a more peaceful place with my windex and newspaper. (Newspaper gives you a streak-free shine when cleaning glass) So, I'm ready when people ask, "Bob, what do you want for Christmas?" Here's my answer: I WANT A SQUEEGEE!!!
I mentioned in my last update that we are trying to eat more healthily. Things are going alright, I guess. We have been buying fresh sliced turkey at the deli counter at the supermarket and making sandwiches. I add lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, mustard, mayo (just a little), and my favorite ingredient...jalapeños. Yum!
Mutti will tell you that I used to hate sandwiches that did not include peanut butter. Sandwiches with fresh meat were always "slimy." Honestly, they still are a bit slimy to me, but the redeeming quality of the sandwiches I now enjoy is the jalapeños. I also enjoy these spicy treats on pizza and hamburgers. They are so good! Now,, I have not been perfect with my eating habits. Last Friday I had a will-power breakdown and ate 10 whole Oreo cookies. Double Stuf!!! And just in case anyone is counting--this equals 700 calories. Oh, and Double Stuf Oreos have 17 more calories per cookie than regular Oreos. This reminds me, I need to go find some cookies!

Balloons!!!

By Bob


Well, the biggest thing going on here in New Mexico this week has been the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta that was held here in Albuquerque (where else?) from October 6-14th. What does this mean, you ask? Well, lots (750-ish to be more precise) of balloons taking off from Balloon Fiesta Park each morning and landing in various places around the Albuquerque area. There are also different events at night with live bands, fireworks, balloon glows and food (yum!). Balloon Glows feature the balloons on the ground at the Park at night lighting up at the same time or in some sort of pattern...it is actually really cool. There are usually around 100,000 people on the launch field every morning during the "mass ascension" watching the balloons take off and tons of others throughout Albuquerque watching as well. There are numerous special shapes balloons that can take just about any form. We didn't actually go to any official events this year, but as Albuquerque residents we did get to see a lot of weird objects floating overhead. Objects like...





bees,





Mr. Potato Head and Humpty Dumpty,

Pepsi cans (Mmmm!!!),

cows,

Darth Vader,

and yes...even Jesus!

We also get to see these objects and people landing in random parking lots throughout the city. Duke City Residents ("Duke City" is a nickname for Albuquerque and it's a lot easier to spell) have grown accustomed to balloons overhead during the first few weeks of October. This year Monty (our family dog) did not get to experience Balloon Fiesta. He is now semi-retired in Fairbanks, Alaska. For him Balloon Fiesta used to mean a week of hiding either under the bed or in the closet. I bet things are definitely less stressful in the frigid north. Brrrrr!!!
That reminds me, the weather in Albuquerque has been fantastic. Autumn in New Mexico is the best! Today's weather forecast:Plenty of sunshine. High 69F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
On a more solemn note...I guess Emily has decided that I'm looking a little too much like I did when I was a baby when I earned the nickname "Round Robbie." (Don't tell her I told you this, but I think she thinks I'm getting fat). All of a sudden I can't find Whole milk in the fridge--2% is the highest concentration of fat I'm able to find. I love my milk!!! (Hmmmm...how much fat do you think is in bacon grease?) And now there is yucky wheat bread in the kitchen instead of yummy crust-free not-so-healthy white bread. Actually...the truth is that Emily and I are both turning over a new leaf and trying to eat a bit more healthily. We'll keep you updated on how that goes.
On a final note: Check out some new features of the Bibbidi Bobily Boo Blog. There are now links to some of our favorite blogs and maybe in the future to some other websites. We are going to be adding a Quote Board (in honor of the good old days on Hood Rd. when Rachel would hang up random quotes from different members of the family taken way out of context). We might even add some of our favorite quotes from other sources. I also plan on researching some other cool features to add to our blog. Stay tuned!!!

Well, my time at the high school is done. They had an incredible concert on Thursday and I was so proud of them. On Friday we had tons of fun. We talked a lot about the concert and I took a lot of pictures. The treble choir girls threw a goodbye party for me with lots of food and cards that had lots of sweet thoughts on them. I am really going to miss those kids. From now on I will go to the elementary school every day. The little ones are so cute but I really made friends with the older kids.
My mixed choir. I got to work with this choir the most. They kind-of became my project. These are kids with basic to no singing ability that have never really sung in choir before. They are a wonderful bunch of kids.

This is me and my mentor teacher Shelly Andes.

My treble choir girls. I really developed a close bond with these girls. They are the ones that threw me a party.

This is the cake they made me.

This is the Concert Choir. Most of them weren't there on Friday because it was senior ditch day. This is the most advanced choir and they are absolutely amazing to stand in front of and direct.

Everything else in life is going great. Bob and I are talking a lot about going and teaching English in Korea. It won't be until he graduates in May but we are really excited about the possibility. My candle business is going great. It is starting to get busy because of the holidays, but that is how I like it. I don't have have too many private students right now which is kind of nice in a way. Primary music is going well. The program is coming up so learning has almost stopped due to practicing the program. Not a lot of fun for me because I don't get to teach any new songs. Hope everyone is doing well!

Flower Power!

Alright! You're probably wondering what's going on with the "Bob-" portion of Bobily since Emily already updated you on the "-ily" part in her last update. Well, I don't think what's going on with me is quite as interesting, but...
As far as school in concerned, I have until May before I'm finished with my Bachelor's Degree: A BBA in Financial Management. I'm excited, but right now it's still far enough away to where I'm not that excited. As far as specific classes I'm taking (this is probably the boring part)...I am taking an Institute class about scripture study. I don't know the official title, but it's with Brother Schaap, the Institute Director. He's great! As far as secular studies, my first of those classes is a Cultures of the World Class. We discuss various aspects of numerous cultures, but we are studying a handful of them more in depth. The first of these is the MaButi (Pigmy) tribe that resides in the African Congo. We are reading a book called The Forest People written by an anthropologist that spent several years among the MaButi. It's pretty interesting.
The rest of my classes are all superbly interesting (ignore the sarcasm) Business classes. One is pretty much the basics of investments. The instructor in that class teaches with absolutely no class participation which is quite different from most other classes I've ever had and considering the time of day it meets (2-3:15pm) often struggle to stay awake while the instructor's back is to the class while he's writing on the blackboard.
Another class I'm taking is called "Derivatives: Futures and Options." If you don't know that that means, please don't ask unless you want long explanation from a nerdy finance geek (that's me). The class would be interesting other than the fact that the instructor is from Taiwan and has a very thick accent and even with my experience with the people from that part of the world it is still quite difficult to understand this teacher.
My final business class is basically about different technology that is used in the business world. We have talked about different software and hardware as well as other forms of technology encountered by us today. This would probably be a boring class except for the fact that the instructor is very entertaining. She definitely makes this early evening class bearable even after a long day of classes.
As the semester progresses I will keep you updated if any interesting things happen in my various classes (that is a big "if," though).
Another school-related event I took place in this week was the UNM Business School (Anderson School of Management) Career Fair. With me graduating in less than 8 months my official job search is under way. I am actually looking to get out of my current work situation soon so that I can start work in a field more closely related to my finance degree than spraying for bugs. The Career Fair was something I've never experienced before. There were supposedly over 80 organizations there, but I think it was less than that. Each of these organizations had a booth set up with recruiters ready to take resumes, ask and answer questions, etc. There were organizations ranging from Wal*Mart to the FBI, from Gap to Goldman, Sachs and from Wells Fargo Financial to Sherman Williams. It was a good opportunity to get my resume out there, for me to gain experience bragging to people about my skills and abilities. That is something that doesn't come naturally to me. Also, Jake helped a ton with the revision of my resume. Thanks, Jake! We'll see if a "real" job comes from this event.
As far as my current work situation, I'm still working at Preventive Pest Control spraying bugs, catching mice, and driving around this sweet truck! I've been with Preventive for almost 3 and a half years. It's been the best job to get me though college, but it's about time to move on. Hopefully other work comes my way soon.
In other exciting news from the Bobily household, we finally finished Harry Potter! I know that we are probably not true fans since we didn't finish it in the first weekend of its release, but we have finished and therefore can be included in conversations with true fans of Harry. Right?
Emily is doing well juggling her many activities. She got to conduct a few pieces last night at a banquet put on the choir program at Sandia High. She did wonderfully! Emily's therapy is definitely her flower garden. She has landscaped a ton in the flower beds near our apartment. Before she came along there were no flowers, a few weeds, a ton of rocks, some bark and a fair share of cigarette butts in the flower beds. Now there are a ton of beautiful flowers and plants.

student teaching

Hi Family! Sorry that it has taken me so long to write an update. School has been crazy busy but really fun. As most of you know I graduate in December and I am doing my student teaching right now to finish up my last semester. I am at two different schools. Since I am majoring in music ed I will be certified k-12 so I am student teaching at a high school and an elementary school. My high school is Sandia High School and it is less then 5 minutes from our apartment which is great. The choir program there is amazing and about 150 kids participate in 5 different choirs, most of them participating in 2. My mentor teacher (Shelly Andes) is great and giving me lots of teaching opportunities. I am pretty much in charge of the mixed choir made up of mostly first time singers. They are really a sweet bunch of kids. My mentor has also agreed to use my candle company for a fund raiser. Over fifty kids have signed up to sell and I told them that they can take all the profit because this is going to be great advertising for me. Plus I really wanted to help the choir/school out. I am at the high schools Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. They don't have choir on Thursdays so I head over to the elementary school. They schedule will last until about October when I will be at the high school only in the early morning for the mixed choir then over at the elementary school for the rest of the day 5 days a week.
My elementary school is Manzano Mesa Elementary. It is about 10-15 minutes from my house. Carla Haynes is my Mentor and she is amazing. She has more energy then any one I know and the kids adore her. I have been doing mostly observing since I am only there once a week but I so get to play the games and dance with them. They are so cute and I am absolutely in love with them. The more I am there the more open I am to the idea of teaching elementary music. I also thought I wanted to do middle school kids but now I am not so sure.
I'm still teaching privately on Saturdays and selling Candles whenever I can find time and life is great. I can't wait to be done with school. It was so much work but I am very glad that I finished. Hopefully Bob can get on soon and fill you in on his semester. I really don't know enough to write anything. Take care and we hope to hear from everyone soon.
Emily