No Sleep 'Til June.

I just found the time to turn my phone off and go to Yoga for the first time in almost a month. It was well worth it; I just wish I had more time to find the balance to keep me even this spring. It amazes me how many great things I am fortunate to be a part of right now; the difficulty lies in discovering the time to enjoy them. Oh well, here's the latest...

Our baseball team is off to a screaming start in the league, outscoring our opponents 31-2. Come to think of it, I've seen a ridiculous amount of runs scored in the past four days... sixty-three to be exact. Monday - we beat Englewood (15-2), Tuesday - I witnessed the Rockies destroy my New York Mets (11-3) at Coors Field, Wednesday - we shutout Arvada (16-0) in their yard, and then I saw the Mets drop another one at Coors (6-5 in ten), and today, the Mets finally picked up a win (5-0) against the Rockies. So, at least I'm getting to spend a lot of time on and around the diamond... that always keeps me happy!

In other news, Studio 23 was selected as a finalist in the nationwide VANS Custom Culture Contest yesterday afternoon! This is a pretty big deal and I'm so proud of my students and their ongoing dedication to the project. There were roughly 360 schools, and now it's down to twenty finalists! So, starting today, the voting is live on the Vans website for three days. Please stop by to cast your vote for the Wheat Ridge artists (the only school from Colorado). We are vying for the sole finalist spot of the Southwest Region, and for a trip to LA for the grand event at the Vans Headquarters. These are the shoes that got us here... painted by Cary Frank, Iris Vollmer / Shuk-yee Poon, Kristie Han, and Steph Routzon (respectively)... Dig.

I also recently found out other great (but totally terrifying) news... I was selected by the graduating senior class to speak at the commencement ceremony on Friday, 21 May at the Buell Theatre in Denver. I was shocked to learn this, but I am totally grateful and feel honoured. I honestly never gave the notion much thought, as I kind of assumed it would always be Heim or Rossi or Goudge or Tommy Dowd or somebody like that... somebody that's been there for a while and is full of knowledge and stories, etc. They're amazing and I enjoy hearing them speak; I have no idea what to say and I honestly am petrified just thinking about it... but at the same time, I've gotta do it... this class is awfully special to me as it's the first class I started with as freshmen my first year at WR and they are an incredible group of kids.

It's been a lot of late nights followed by early mornings in April and I expect it to carry on through the State Championship baseball game on Saturday, 29 May, and I sure hope / believe we'll be playing at All City Stadium in Denver that day! Then, school will let out that first week of June and I'll hit the road. Somewhere on my travels, I'll stop and take a nap (hopefully not while I'm driving)... until then, no sleep 'til June!