Another one joins the Chittum challenge

Langston is joining Adam and I on the Chittum challenge. And, I have to say, so far, I am kicking these guys' asses. While I spent an hour at Muscle Pump last night, then went for a 45-minute walk, Adam and Langston "exercised" their way right through a 12-pack of Fosters. (And it wasn't even LIGHT beer!)

I foresee this turning into a Jill-against-herself challenge, because you all know how competitive I am. If these guys aren't even trying, it's going to get really frustrating really fast. I think I've done pretty well the last two days, though. I don't seem to be constantly snacking, and I am exercising.

It will be tough this next week, though. I'll be at a Jostens workshop in Georgia, and also visiting the in-laws. This is where the rubber meets the road - just cause I'm out of town doesn't mean I can eat whatever the hell I want...

•••

Just for fun: Photos from the 30th birthday.

Adam.

G and I sing "Ice Cream Man"

Stacey and Eugene.

OMG WTF

Thanks to my friend, pop culture writer Denise, for the link to this.

If you're a Lost fan, it's freakin' HI-larious.

I'm famous (kinda)

Check it out - I made Amy's blog.

It's Kyle and I, reading "Pack in the Hat."

You've spent waaaay too much time at school

when you pick up your HOME phone to call your friend and you dial "9" then the number.

Sami, Trina, Aaron, Caitlin, Samanda, Arena, Sam B. and Lindsi all get the award for coming to school at 9 a.m. on a day that school is NOT in session. We were yearbookin' fools - as Aaron said, "We dominated those group photo pages!"

Yes, we did.

On tap for tomorrow: Dominating the Index, and getting the hell outta there. We're betting we'll be in from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. I hope we're done before noon - I have lots of stuff to do before leaving for Georgia on Thursday.

•••
I have to say, though, the time at school wasn't too bad, considering it was preceded by three days of chillin' at the lake.

Here's a partial edit of photos from the trip (think of it as a partial cast of characters):

Brett, working on math problems.


Casey (left) and Lauryn (right) playing with "Tiny Bubbles"


Super-camper Terry, holding Lauryn, cooking up grub, with Lauryn's dad, Jeff


Brett, Casey and Josh. It's amazing what a portable DVD player will do for a kids' campout




How many guys does it take to set up a tent? (I feel this is where I should let you know that I set up the Chittum tent BY MYSELF. T helped with a question about guywires, but other than that BY MYSELF.)

Kat and L.



Well, duh.

More camping photos to come.

•••

By the way, the Chittum challenge is ON. We weighed in this morning.

In this corner, weighing in at 149.5, Jill Chittum. (ugh, thank bejesus it wasn't 150)
And in this corner, weighing in at 175.5, Adam Chittum.

So, folks, the magic number is 139.5 by August 1. Let's see what develops.

The Unwashed Masses (or, why I haven't blogged for three days)

We survived the annual Memorial Day Camping Extravaganza/Food Fest. This year, we camped below the dam at Fall River Lake.

Our site was roomy, the bathrooms (with flush toilets!) were close, and it was nice and cool the whole weekend.

Thank God for Browns Shelter (Apostrophe excluded on purpose, for all you copy editors out there. You'll see why in a minute.), though, because I think it rained about 10 inches while we were roughing it.

The photo above is all of us who did not shower/wash hair for the duration of the campout - Friday at 4 p.m. til Monday at 1 p.m. Good thing this blog isn't equipped with smell-o-vision - we were all pretty rank I'm sure, mixing sweat, blood (in a few cases), tears, mud, bug spray, sunscreen and lake water.

I'm happy to report no major catastrophes, although Kat did have to bust out her mad P.A. skills when a glass bottle exploded in the fire and Dan was hit with shrapnel. I'm confident he'll be receiving the first-ever MemDay Campout Purple Heart for being wounded in the line of duty (while staring at the campfire, drinking beer).

Here's the whole group. You can file this under "Things I'll miss about Wichita in no particular order No. 72 - My incredible group of friends"



Because there were so many media types on this trip, I feel as though I must point out that we made copious jokes about the fact that Browns Shelter is lacking proper puncuation on the sign for our campsite. Unfortunately, we had no red pens or white chalk.

Thanks to Terri Wenzel for shooting the photo - so she's on the "Not Pictured List."

By the way, thanks to Ma, Pa and Jayne for the suh-weet new camera I got for my birthday!


I have many, many more photos from camping, but it'll take a little while to process, so I hope you enjoyed your small preview. Consider it the coming attractions.

Wha?!

First of all, if you haven't watched the Lost season finale, STOP READING THIS RIGHT NOW.

Gotta say, I was pretty ecstatic to see Jack beat the poo out of Ben. I'm so tired of that guy.

I think I STILL have goosebumps from watching Charlie in the the little portal. NOT PENNY'S BOAT.

a.) Sharpies come through in a pinch (again).
b.) How good was he to actually think fast enough to do that?
c.) RIP Charlie. He'd been sort of annoying of late, but oh my god, it was sad to see him go.

Just some first impressions. I HAVE to go to bed now, so I can get up at the crack o' dawn.

Maybe more later this week.

I forgot - have to add two current events

Okay, check out these stories (both from Colorado, incidentally).

Pictures of students doing drugs on yearbook pages spark outrage

It's amazing how similar the rhetoric from the parent featured is to that of the Derby parents last year.

School name misspelled on the cover - and other problems

Okay, you all know I am biased against TV news (yeah, understatement of the year), and here's a good example of why. The entire story is about the "nightmare" of the "horrible" yearbook and all the misspellings. Well, the smarty-pants TV reporter couldn't even spell the journalism adviser's name right in the piece.

Hello? Pot? Kettle? Black? I think so.

The whole damn story is so sensationalized. If you watch the video, you should also read the comments that follow the story. Most of the kids are saying "It's not that big of a deal."

Point for discussion: Why are yearbooks such easy targets? And why does that seem to be increasing so much?

Thoughts are buzzing in my noggin

Holy crap, I think the wind is blowing about 70 miles an hour or something. Must be a storm brewing. Kind of a pain when you're doing things outside, but it makes for great sleeping weather.

•••

So, here's a photo of my latest initiate into the Cult of Knitters:



Looks great, doesn't she? I think that was Amy's second scarf, but I could be wrong.

•••

So, yesterday was a tough day at school, and today MORE than made up for it. My newspaper kids are so crafty. (By that I mean sly, as well as art and crafty). While I was on my awesomely long teacher lunch break (30 minutes), they managed to talk Mr. K into letting them in my room, and decorated with streamers and a TON of balloons. They threw me a surprise going-away/congratulations party. I love those kids! Photos will be posted tomorrow - we took tons.

•••

Last but not least of the random thoughts - Adam and I are embarking upon a bet this summer. Beginning Tuesday, when we wake up and weigh in, we are attempting a summer weight loss plan. The biggest reason is probably because we want to start training for a marathon in August. It'll be nice to be a few pounds down and a little healthier when that begins.

He's got to lose 15. I've got to lose 10. Whoever does it first wins the bet. He gets a new tattoo (cash value not to exceed $100) and I get $100 worth of new clothes.

So, now I REALLY have to get my tail out of bed to head to the Y in the mornings. Me and Sock Girl and Sweaty McSweaterson will be pacing one another on the ol' treadmills.

We'll see who is the Biggest Loser.

Latest completed knitting project

Here's the hat I knit for Adam's mom. (Surprise, Vicki, if you're reading this. I hope it fits. We'll see in just about a week, I guess.)

It's knit out of the softest baby alpaca wool you've ever seen. Hats are fun to knit - not too hard, but a little more exciting than a damn scarf.

I even came up with the pattern basically on my own. I'm so hard core.

I always feel like somebody's WATCHIN' me

Okay, so I'm just curious. If you're out there and reading my blog, can you just post a little "Hey" comment somewhere on my page?

I have no grand illusions that people I don't know personally are reading it, I just want to know which of my friends and family have found me, and take a little time out of their skeds to keep up with the Chittums.

It's easy to do - you don't have to have a blogger account. Just click the comment link, and post whatever you like.

Once Adam and I move to KC, I feel as though this blog will become the primary means of communication for most of my friends and I.

•••

I had a hard day at school today. Not for any particular reason, and certainly not because of the little darlings. They were actually quite good this afternoon.

It's just really tough this time of year being the adviser of a yearbook that comes out in the fall. All of the other teachers are doing finals, cleaning out their rooms, counting the minutes until 11:12 on Thursday. Me, I'm stressing out about whether or not we'll actually finish the yearbook by May 31. If only I could just skip finals and concentrate solely on helping YBers with the finishing touches.

Oh well. We're getting close. So close, I can smell the printers ink.

I'm tired, though, so I'm going to go eat dinner, upload some photos to Wal-Mart.com, and take a nap. Yes, I'm old.

Sunday softball in Haysville - Yee Haw!

So, if you'd have seen the way a few of the other team's players were dressed, it wouldn't have been to hard to figure out that we were in Hellsville. Who plays softball in cargo jeans?


Kids and dogs. Can't go wrong. I guess the puppy is a six-week-old Chow/Huskie mix.

Why do all 2-year-old girls think it's funny to lift up their shirts/skirts? Genevieve does this all the time, too.

Brett studies the game. Incidentally, Brett's dad, Dan, hit a 3-run homer.

Stacey, the Canadian, waits for instructions on first. She did all right for someone who has never played/watched softball before. (I know! Can you believe she's never played before?)

Of course, if she ever asked me to fill in on her hypothetical rec hockey team, I might look like a friggin' idiot, so I better watch what I say. I think I know even less about hockey than she did about softball.

Again, photos by guest blogger Adam Chittum.

Hot time in the old town tonight

Okay, last night.

Adam was working. I was home knitting, watching Oprah, and hanging out with my cat.

God, good thing I'm married.

No, it's not an optical illusion. I don't have an uber-tiny cat, it's just a gigantic ball of yarn. (If you ever wondered what one pound of yarn looks like, that's it.)

So begins the things I'll miss the most about Doodah.

In know particular order, I'll be posting various homages (can you pluralize that word? Unsure.) throughout the next nine weeks.

Because I have a photo to illustrate "Book Club" I will be writing about "Book Club" tonight. As you can see, it's not a photo I shot at book club, but a photo of one of my favorite people from book club.

This is Shannon. She used to work at the Eagle (hence her being a member of the Eagle book club) so that's how I first met her. One day, Shannon and I will start the revolution. Viva la revolucion! Reading books like "The Nanny Diaries" and "Nickel and Dimed in America" really pisses Shannon and I off. Someday, our brains will find a way to correct all the social ills in the world.

She's only one of the people I'll miss from Book Club. It's one of my favorite nights each month - I get to see so many people that I don't work with anymore, and I get caught up on all the Eagle gossip. (We are journalists, it's what we do.)

It's incredible to be in a room filled with strong-willed, intelligent women for a few hours. Add a few bottles of wine to the mix (and some Bud Lights with limes for Carrie) and we really get going. Sometimes I do think that if women (and only women) were given a shot at solving problems of the world, they just might be able to do it. Things wouldn't degenerate into a pissing match each time there was a disagreement.

Sidenote: We went to the Keeper of the Plains dedication ceremony tonight. People lined the river between the pedestrian bridges and Exploration Place. It's great to see the people of Wichita come out and support something like that.

Brought to you by the letters I, Z, Z, Y, and the number 36

As in, the "I hate Izzy Stephens" campaign, and the 36th annual River Festival.

Yes, it will be a little disjointed. Deal with it.

Okay, Grey's fans - what the hell? I used to FREAKIN love this show, now I just love this show. You can only put up with so much whiny Meredith for one thing. I thought when they did the total cheeze whiz episode where she and her mom crossed in the afterlife that it would be an obvious springboard to a more user-friendly Meredith. (She knows her mom thinks she's done good, so now she can stop being so depressed and daddy-issued out all the time.) Well, that lasted about 1.5 episodes.

And, back to the IHISC - how many times can one girl say to one guy - "You're my best friend, and I'll support you in everything you do to help you make your marriage work" and then turnaround IN THE NEXT BREATH and say "But I'm in love with you, and I hope you're in love with me too." Maybe it's because I'm married, I don't know. It just pisses me off. You support your friends and help them build stronger relationships, not try to sabotage them at every turn for your own personal gain. I'm tired of it. The show is getting so schmaltzy, complete with overly dramatic music at the scene changes.

One of my favorite things about the show USED to be the great soundtrack - perfectly moody hip music. Now, they add the cheesy stuff. Uggh...

That's enough.

Now, for the number 36 -

We went to Riverfest tonight with Stacey, Eug and the kids. Here are a few photos. I'll save my little gems of wisdom on Riverfest for later this weekend.

But, I will say - LA-dees - I know that it's uncomfortable to wear a bra when it's a little warm outside, but if I see anymore floppy boobs in the next few days, I think I'll have to give Riverfest an R rating. Whoops, I guess it already gets an R rating for excessive smoking that doesn't contribute to the advancement of the story.

Anywho - here are the snaps.

Josh and Eug on one of the multitude of FREE rides! Yes! No tickets required! (Photo by Guest Blogger, Adam Chittum)



Stacey and Eug show off their swing dancing skills to the sounds of Big Bad Voodoo Daddies. I was so proud of Wichita - there were actually TONS of people out at the show.


MMmmmm...funnel cakes are good.


Mmmmm...funnel cakes are still good.


Photo by Guest Blogger Adam Chittum. I did not, incidentally, win the Million Dollar Hole In One. Dammit. (By the way, check out the awesome Derby Journalism T-Shirt.)


Adam did not win the Million Dollar Hole In One, either.
Ahhh.


Wouldn't be a River Festival without a cheesy photo of some jackass eating roasted corn! (Photo by guest blogger Adam Chittum)
Time for bed. My butt's gotta be up at 5 a.m. tomorrow to go to the Y.

All right, all right.

Here you go, Candice. It's my update, and what an update it will be.

It's been a little crazy around here the last few weeks. Horrendous yearbook deadline, two newspapers in basically a three-week timespan, took kids to state (Derby tied for 2nd overall in 6A, baby!), oh, and I resigned my position at Derby.

Adam and I will be moving to Overland Park this summer - I've been hired as the journalism teacher at Blue Valley High School. I can already tell, I'm going to get tired of hearing the question: "Which one? North? Northwest?"

In Blue Valley district, they have the directionals, and they have Blue Valley. That's where I'll be. It's old school.

I can finally write about it on here, because I decided on Sunday to accept the job (this all happened in the space of a week), and because I finally was able to tell my yearbook and newspaper kids today. So, it's officially official. I think they took it pretty well, and I just hope they continue to do awesome work for the next adviser who steps in.

I am so proud of my Derbyans, and I can't even tell you. In fact, I'll show you a few photos...







Yes, I like them so much I will even have my photo taken standing next to a freakin' Jayhawk.



However, I am not above faking vomiting when standing in front of the KU Memorial Football Stadium.

I'm also working on about a zillion knitting projects right now. I'll post a few photos later.

So much to say, but I'll break it up into easily digestible chunks.

We're all about the reader services here at the Chittum Files.