mexican food...

mexican food made by mexicans is far better than mexican food made by americans. (white americans.) prolly white republican americans. (inside joke.) there's a new mexican place by my apt. i went to with my rents tonight 4 dinner. my mom ordered a black bean burrito and the thing had three black beans in it. the salsa labeled "mild" was mild. the salsa labeled "medium" was mild. the salsa labeled "hot" was...you guessed it...mild. the chips were on the stale side and i cannot begin to tell you how absolutely flavorless the food was! wow. santiago's in porter kicks this "desert moon" place's butt. yeah.

well, i have to be up tomorrow bright and early (on a saturday, mind you) to go to a 4th grade science STC curriculum workshop at medill in chicago. woo woo. it's like a regular school day! i hafta be there at 8:30 and it's over at 2:45. sigh. and the workshop on monday--i was wrong. it's not after school, it's DURING school! good grief. maybe next weekend will be funner.

this picture, by the way, i took while in podstrana, croatia last summer on vacation. (near split.) the adriatic is beautiful.

33 school days left

well, i'm looking forward more than any other school year to the END of THIS year. i have so many seminars and workshops that i am expected to go to at this school! wow. i have an all-day workshop this saturday and monday after school i have another one! i could probably go to one every day if i applied myself. (i'm wondering...do my co-workers have a life?) i am amazed at some things that i see. in fact, i was asked THREE times where my summer school application was--and why i hadn't turned it in. my response all three times was, "why the heck would i turn in a summer school application if i have absolutely NO INTEREST in teaching summer school???" not to mention the fact that i'm usually gone over the summers anyway! usually i'm in bosnia or in the U.P. of michigan but this summer i may have the opportunity to go to china because i have a friend adopting a baby there. (i haven't been to china yet!) so let me see, let me think...would i rather sit in chicago and teach summer school or travel to the great wall and be with my friends? really. i mean COME ON.

gone

my friends are gone.
no picture
in their absence.
how sad.
in the air right now.
on a stuffy plane.
about three hours since takeoff.
prolly over the atlantic.
just past nova scotia.
just starting their in-flight movie.
(but i'm thankful to sleep horizontal tonight.)
gone for a year.
pray for their safety.
and health.
pray for their adjustment.
and relative comfort.

packyawwwwwwnnnning

ends up ann and alan were up packing till after 2:30. i left before midnight to come home to import cds to ann's ipod. ann has no internet so i couldn't access gracenote on itunes at her place. apparently ann and rachel were still up at 4 in the morning. wow. that's insane. but i know how it is...the day before you make the big trip. (big trip to bosnia.)

getting ready....

packing.
smooshing.
vacuum sucker bags.
scales.
too heavy.
pull out more stuff.
now where to put it?
it has to go.
HOW many jammies?
pill containers.
mrs. H accidentally dropped a few in the trash.
i won't tell.
alan's the man.
the bin-carrying man.
i'm getting loopy
importing ann's cds to her new ipod.
zzzzzzz

leaving in 24 hours

okay. i should be in church right now and this is seriously a big sunday for my church. there is a WOMAN speaking for the very first time ever. it's about freaking time. WOOHOO! her name is gracia burnham and she is supposed to have an amazing story. i was so looking forward to this but i am not there because i am out buying and wrapping up ann's gift; i could not resist in the end. i had a really hard time deciding whether or not to get her a 30G video ipod or cash. back and forth, back and forth. but when i worked with her last nite compiling all her cds into a binder thing, (that weighs 8,000 pounds), i decided to go with the ipod. i realize she has no time to download music but i have all kinds of stuff on my computer that i can just put on her ipod and when she comes back in a year, she can download her own stuff if she wants. there's pictures, a LOT of different kinds of music, (our music tastes are a lot the same) and disney videos as well as some punk'd ones. (anyone like zack & cody and that's so raven?) yeah. let me remind you that i teach 4th grade. oh, SNAP!

well, i am SO gonna miss ann and rachel but i know they'll have an awesome time and will grow and learn. i'm a bit envious at this point but glad i'm not the one super stressed about leaving the country for a year. whew.

i'll miss you guys!!! :(

leaving for bosnia

tonight i was at a going-away party for one of my friends that is leaving for europe on monday for a year. my friends that are leaving are ann and rachel and rachel's family threw her a bash tonite. ann's having a smaller bash on sunday with her mom, brothers, nephew, and me. and a few others i suppose. i'm excited to hang out all weekend and skip school on monday to go with them to o'hare...but it's gonna be a lonely year. i'm sad already.

sigh. oh...they're the two on the right. i was nice enuf to take them sailing in the rain with some other friends. ah well, it was still fun. sailing is fun ANY time. ann's on the far right and rachel is next to her. i took the pic.

43 school days left

it is hard going back to school after spring break--let me tell you. all day i thought about my cousin and her husband having today off as well as my aunt & uncle. hmph. i'll get over it. but i'm counting the days. surprisingly (sort of) to me, i mentioned this to the teacher across the hall and she said, "yup, it was 44 this morning and today is over so now it's 43." i completely thought i was the only one ready to quit for the summer. at least this early. we can keep count together. parent/teacher conferences are wednesday and we've started a new (and our last) marking period TODAY. sweet. summer will be here next. and i can go away to faraway, fun places like what is pictured above. and maybe even go with my friend to china for a couple weeks. suh-weet!

me, spike the calf and darwin

mexican birthday

back from spring break

well...i had wanted to help out some friends and use their timeshare in puerto vallarta but the time frame didn't end up working out...so i went to fredericktown, ohio. it's a little northeast of columbus. my dad's brother and his family live there on a farm--organic beef. my aunt's brother and his family run the place and it's called "wotokahan farm." it was cool but i got a cold on thursday. that sucked. it's the first time i've been sick all year. but other than that i had a really great time. from attempting to fix a barn (of which i know nothing about) to helping a calf find its mother, to placing steel i-beams very carefully so that the backhoe my uncle was trying to drive out of the barn didn't fall the rest of the way through the barn floor, i had varying fun things to occupy my time. my birthday was on the monday of this past week (10th) and although it wasn't quite the bash i had last year, it was still fun. anyway, we still celebrated my birthday at the local mexican joint. i think my aunt casually mentioned that we were celebrating my birthday and after we finished eating the waiters started banging their little bill wallets together LOUDLY and singing some mexican something-or-another. marcia and i jumped but i didn't notice anyone else freak out too bad. i did get to wear a sombrero that must have weighed fifteen pounds. i've got to get ready to go to school tomorrow. ugh. too bad it's storming outside and i'm not unloading my car until sometime later than now!

backhoe through barn floor--but here somewhat supported by the i-beams