Day 249 of 365: Jet!

This is the plane I rode from Chicago to Shannon (Ireland) to Dublin. We had a stopover in Shannon to let about one third of the passengers off. Unfortunately, two others decided to leave as well. The flight attendants were repeatedly doing head counts and discovered them missing. For security reasons (since their luggage was still on the plane), they had to be located and brought back. Luckily they were! Sitting inside the plane for an hour waiting to take off again was stressful.

I love the plane, though. Notice the little clover painted onto the side of the plane. :) I felt like one of the Beatles deplaning like this. Fun!

Day 248 of 365: Ready, Steady...

So here are the bags, all packed and ready to go! They aren't completely full, leaving me some souvenir room and to help with the weight. It ended up being a problem going from Dublin to London on BMI because they have a 20kg limit (combined) and I had 25kg. That woman wanted to charge me 11 euros per kilo over! I was able to get everything through without charge, but certainly not without quite an attitude on her part. Geesh.

Oh, and I just have to show you how super cool the inside of the bags looks:


I *heart* organized travelling!!

Day 247 of 365: The Forum and a Farewell

Tonight, my family and I went out for Mexican at a local restaurant since I'll be leaving tomorrow for two months! I knew I'd probably have a Mexican food craving pretty soon, so I figured it would be smart to go ahead and have some before I left. When we came outside after dinner, the weather was so nice and cool with a bit of a breeze, we all went for a walk around the forum (sort of an outdoor mall which is very pedestrian friendly). We came across this hidden little alley and I thought it'd make a cute photo! My dad is peeking out from behind the obelisk (he was hoping to hide and not be in the photo!) and my sister and mom are in the front. It was a nice evening out and a fun diversion from all the frantic trip preparation and packing!

Day 246 of 365: Hellooooo trailer park life :(

So here's where I will be spending next school year. Quite sad and drab compared to my old room. :( I might have to work on that when I set up class for next year!! Oh, and all those boxes in the photo? They belong to the teacher who was there before me. She left them for the custodian to move for her (I did all my own moving, since they have enough to do!) My stuff is all safely inside the closets.

Oh, and remember my fabulous "wall o' windows"? Here's my new tiny window view. It looks out to the dumpster behind the cafeteria. :(

Day 245 of 365: Bye bye my beautiful classroom inside :(

So, I'm 98% packed and moved to the new room/trailer. I'm going to miss my butterfly bushes in the fall and the general beautiful window view with sunshine coming in to the room in the morning! I've been assured that I am really going to prefer being in the trailer. We shall see....

Day 244 of 365: Fricking fracking sinus infection!

More hot tea. And I'm almost out of kleenex. I'm so over being sick. I would be happy at this point to stop the constant sneezing. And the coughing. I really hope I am better by Friday! I leave Saturday morning and can't be feeling like this on a plane.

Day 243 of 365: Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day where we all remember and honor the soldiers who fought for the country and lost their lives. The traditional thing to do in most towns is to set up roadside crosses with the names of local soldiers and the war they served in, along with American flags. I'm not an overly patriotic person, but I do think that this is a wonderful and striking tradition. They've been up since Friday and I knew I had to make sure I photographed it for the blog today.

Day 242 of 365: Ooh! Crunchy! :)

I know.. I'm forever taking photos of my food, but this is one fine looking salad! And it was delicious, too!

It contains: watercress, sliced braeburn apple, cheery tomatoes, red onion, walnuts, goat cheese crumbles, salt and pepper and lemon juice and olive oil for dressing.

Looking forward to having another one tomorrow. I've got just enough watercress for another salad. It will go great alongside my falafel burger!! mmmmmmm.........

Day 241 of 365: Home Sweet Home

I went to get my hair cut/colored today (looks fabu!) and stopped by the house afterwards. Mom had made my favorite macaroni and cheese for lunch! I wasn't expecting lunch but it was quite welcome. Mmmmmm.

On the way home, I got stopped by a cop (speeding! Oooops!) and I totally forgot to get a picture!! I keep envisioning a picture of the lights in my rear view mirror (after we're stopped of course! Not that I'd be evading police to take a photo!) Oh well.. next time?? Oh, and he let me off with a warning! PHEW!!! I fessed up that I knew I was speeding and going about 50-55. I honestly thought it was a 45 zone. Apparently that stretch of road is 35. Eeps. Now I know!

Day 240 of 365: So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good bye!

Today was the last day of school for the year! Wooooo! We have a yearly tradition where all the teachers follow the students out to the buses and wave as they drive away. The kids wave back from inside the bus (shouting bye to their teachers out the bus windows as they wait!) and the bus drivers all honk the horns as they drive away! It might seem a little corny, but I think it's really nice! I mean, yeah, I'm also thinking "byyyyyyyyye! woohoo!" but it's sweet. If I were a student I'd be touched!

Day 239 of 365: Wake me up before you go go..

So I had to do exactly what I always say is lame- go to Starbucks and buy my morning coffee! But I was desperate... I was out of coffee. And after yesterday's half strength watery mess, I couldn't go without! I was planning on going to Publix after to pick up something for lunch. However, I noticed (while waiting in the long line!) that there were pre-made egg salad sandwiches and fruit and cheese plates. So, I grabbed one of each and after paying WAY too much for items I could prepare at home for a fraction of the price, I was on my way... Oh well. I don't do it but maybe once per year, so I don't feel too hypocritical. I now have coffee at home (and creamer and fruit and cheese!) so I'm all set for tomorrow, to drive by and wag my finger at all the poor suckers wasting gas waiting in an 8 car long line in the drive through for coffee they could have made at home in less time! [I went inside to get my order today, I should point out!]

Oh, and a funny coincidence. One of my neighbors was in line in front of me, but we've never met. I heard his accent and had to ask (of course). Turns out he's the Austrian guy Beth and Ian have told me about. When I asked if he's Andreas he gave me a funny look and said "yes". I told him how I knew his name and said it wasn't because he's become famous or anything! He seemed freaked out. Oh well...

Day 238 of 365: Ooh! Shiny!!

Ok, just more proof how awesome my new camera's macro setting is!! I got this bracelet last week at H&M and am saving it for my trip! I love the design on it. Funnily enough, I noticed it on a co-worker at school yesterday! She's pretty stylish, so I felt justified in my purchase.

Oh, and did you notice you can see me taking this photo in the reflection on the bracelet?

Day 237 of 365: Margarita time!

I should have taken a photo when it was full, but the thought hit me too late! I met Dodge- the tutoree- at Frontera today instead of Starbucks. It was purely a social meeting with margaritas and no lesson! Mmmmm... turned out the timing was perfect. It was just one of those days where a margarita can make it all go away! We got the top shelf version on ice with salt. They are handmade and you could definitely taste the grand marnier and orange juice. Yummo!

Day 236 of 365: Good actual morning!

Now that Spring is here and the days are getting longer, this is the light I see coming through my window at 6:15 in the morning. I love this curtain since it diffuses the light just right. Not a bad way to wake up (though I'd rather not have to get up and get ready for work!!)

Day 235 of 365: Anxious

Ok, so despite my recent procrastination regarding my blog, I am uber-prepared when it comes to packing! I've been setting stuff out as I think of it for a few weeks now. I just hope it all fits when it comes to actually packing them next week!

Day 234 of 365: Pizza- again!

Here's my latest creation. I realized after I took this that I've already shown you my pizza but this one is so beautiful! I pre-cooked the store-bought dough a little before adding toppings. I hate soggy crust! Unfortunately, the edges where there were no toppings got burnt. Oh well, the rest of it was delicious!!

Day 233 of 365: Olympics part 2

Today was the 8th grade's turn to have Olympics. So, during the time I'd normally have them in class, I had to go to the gym to watch them instead. It was fun. Here, they're playing a game called Pin Guard. They are in teams of like 15 to start and they have to guard the golden pin from being hit by the other team. Both teams are throwing rubber balls at each other dodge ball style. Any player that gets hit by a ball is out. Obviously the objective is to hit the pin first and/or get rid of as many of their players as possible since then the pin would be left open to be hit!

Day 232 of 365: Really.. I tried!

I tried to get up to run this morning. I set the alarm for 5:15 and pressed sleep several times. I took this photo when I was actually awake enough to think to go get my camera and take a photo for the blog! It's hockey's fault- keeping me up too late at night!

Day 231 of 365: Let's go GREECE!

This is a panoramic shot of the 7th grade students all decked out in their Olympics shirts! We do field days each year by grade level. Each grade is divided into countries who then also compete against each other. This year the teams are (from left to right) Greece in blue, Sweden in yellow, Japan in red and Brazil in green.

At one point during the basketball games, Greece started cheering for Japan because they were in 3rd place and the students thought they could use it! How sportsmanlike, right?? :)

Day 230 of 365: Stupid work!

Look at this beautiful sunshine and blue sky!! And I'm stuck in my car working! Grf. I would rather go for a run on days like this!!

Day 229 of 365: H&M!!

Here are just a few of the new things I've bought recently at H&M and Kohls (giftcard!) for the trip. I laid out a few outfits to see how things went together. I'm very excited about how cute some of them look!

Day 228 of 365: Evening light

It's been such lovely weather that I've been able to turn off the air conditioning and open up the windows and balcony door. It looked a little darker, but my camera really came through and captured the remaining light of the evening!

Day 227 of 365: Macro gone wild!

It's awesome!! The lens was maybe a centimeter away from the keyboard when I took this with brand new camera!! Woo! It's a Canon Powershot SX110IS. Basically it's an upgrade in features and megapixels from my other Canon, but smaller with a bigger screen! There are a couple things I miss- mainly the moveable screen so I can flip it around for self portraits. But, I think the fact that it's a 9 megapixel vs. 5 mega pixel camera will make up for that!

Day 226 of 365: How'd that get here??

I swear.. I know nothing about how this got into my bag and home to my apartment.... but hey! Who cares, right?? It will be enjoyed just the same. ;)

Day 225 of 365: Lookie what I bought!!

I took this self portrait with my new cell phone using a mirror in my classroom to compose the shot! This is one of the (reasonably priced!) spoils I got last night at Shecky's. It's solid silver of course. It's hard to see in this photo because of the poor color quality, but I think it's really pretty! It will definitely be in my luggage to wear in England this summer.

Day 224 of 365: Shecky's

Spent the evening with my sister Mandy and friend Cathy at Shecky's- a sort of Girls' Night Out shopping event. On top of all the great vendors (the women you see behind them are checking out some stuff!), there are bags with free samples and free drinks all night! Needless to say, they are actually holding each other up in this photo. Oh, and I swear I can see something poking out of Cathy's bag there... ;)

Day 223 of 365: Meds

Well, since I went to the doctor in March for my sinus infections, he's had me on a lonnnnnnng course of Cipro and daily Allegra. The thing is, the pharmacy keeps doing partial refills and I have to keep returning, so I've ended up with all these medicine bottles all over my apartment (I just threw 3 away!) I'd recycle the buggers, but they have all my personal information firmly affixed to the sides so I just throw them away. I'm gonna be glad when I'm done with the Cipro especially!

day 222 of 365: Piles (sort of like Holes??)

Combination of laundry that was air drying and clothes I've worn recently. It just piles us after a few days when I get lazy about putting it away! I never learn that it would just be easier to put it up each day instead!

Day 221 of 365: Meet John Caleb

I got to hold the baby!! This is John Caleb, my friend Ashley's (first) baby! He is soooooo sweet. He didn't cry at all the whole time I was there- until the last 5 minutes when I passed him back to mama to take this photo!!! D'oh! In the end, I think this shot is very sweet. Ashley is a natural mother! And she's totally back in pre-pregnancy shape only 7 weeks after giving birth!

Day 220 of 365: Quelle heure est-il?

So after a comment from *someone* and also the fact that I was tired of wearing my running watch all the time (stylish as it was!) I finally broke down and bought myself a new watch today. Unfortunately, it's HUGE. I swear it is a women's watch!! Luckily, Target will resize their own stuff for free. As soon as I have a chance to get back up there, I will get it resized! Nice, isn't it? :)

Day 219 of 365: Free time

Normally I'd have a classroom full of eighth graders at this time, but they were gone to Six Flags for the annual "science and math" field trip. I put that in quotations, because I suspect they do very little actual science or math at the park. Oh well. I was happy to have a little down time on a Friday afternoon.