Library Thing

We had to use this website called Library Thing for some of our classes and this week, it is an extra credit assignment to use Library Thing. How cool is that? If you've never heard of or seen Library Thing, you should check it out. Go to http://www.librarything.com and take a tour. It is a great site for cataloging books, discussing books and reading what other people think about books. I'm trying to figure out how to add a widget to my blog that will show random books from my library, but haven't figured that out yet. Anybody who has and likes books needs to use LibraryThing.

Right now, I'm messing around with Library Thing, while I'm sort of watching the movie "The Punisher" on recommendation from one of my students. I don't know if I'll be able to stay awake, but at least I tried. Andrea and I are almost finished with our final, the last thing we have to do this semester. I am so-o-o-o-o- glad it's almost over. Today I actually shopped; I'm looking for sneakers, a particular kind of sneakers. I'm looking for Nike Air Max Zen 95, color number 771. I found one pair today in two Nike stores, on sale, which was good, but a size 8 1/2, which is too small for me. Luckily, we think they'll fit my friend Robyn. She called the Nike Outlet Store in Ellenton and we may have a line on some others. Wish us luck in our search.

T-shirt, Turkey, and Thanks!

Today was the last day of school before Thanksgiving break and boy, am I thankful for this break. We are lucky in our county that we get off for the whole week of Thanksgiving, so we have NINE days off. I am so excited. Today was a good day all the way around. Two weeks ago, I lost my camera at the soccer field at Makiah's game. Well, I assume I did, because that is the last place I had it and I haven't seen it since. It made me furious with myself, because I just learned how to use some parts of it while I was in London this summer. So, I tried to buy a new one just like my old one –not possible. So I got the new version of mine and it came last night, but was downstairs at my sister's house. I had to go down and get it this morning, and got to play with it today. That was the first really cool thing today. Also, I bought a small video camera this summer, and while I was in London, I dropped it and it quit working. I found it last night and was looking for my receipt to take it back to the store. I decided just to try it, so I put new batteries in it and turned it on and it works perfectly. How great is that??? I was so excited. Then today we did my new favorite thing. My radio station, the JoyFM (www.thejoyfm.com) does this thing during the month of November called "T-shirts for Turkeys." It is this really cool thing where they design a special T-shirt and on certain days, at certain Publix stores, you can trade a frozen turkey for one of the specially designed T-shirts. You can't buy them anywhere; you can only trade for a frozen turkey. The frozen turkeys are donated to local food banks and homeless shelters, to provide for people who need it over the holidays. I LOVE my JoyFM shirt from last year so much; I wore it all over London. I actually have some pictures of my Joy shirt in London. Last year, my sister, my niece and I traded turkeys for T-shirts. When we left, Makiah said "This is a good thing we did isn't it?" We told her yes and she said, "Can we do it again next year?" So, we did. Today, we went to Lakeland, got our turkeys in Publix, brought them right outside and traded for our new T-shirts. So now, it's vacation time, I have a new camera, my video camera works, and we did something good for people who need it. Tonight, by 8:00, I had my nice hot shower and was snuggled in my pajamas on the couch with a new book and time to read it. I have much to be thankful for. . .

Tshirts for Turkeys

My heroes for today

When I was little, my favorite cartoon hero was Underdog. I can still hear it "There's no need to fear, Underdog is here!" I only went to half-day kindergarten and my best friend Randy lived next door to us with his grandparents. We were poor as church mice (our mom didn't work and our dad was in college and was the janitor at the Lakeland Ledger) and we didn't have a TV. So, some days, I got to go next door to Randy's house and we would watch Underdog at 2:00 and drink cranberry juice. I don't remember why that was so special, but hey, I was only four and turned five, what did I know???

For some strange reason, I've been thinking about heroes and what it takes to be one. I've read some great articles lately about people who do great things but I'm noticing that my heroes tend to be people who do quiet great things instead of loud, in your face great things. For example, I heard a great story about a women's college softball team, and one girl hit a home run, but missed first base and went back to tag the bag. On the way back she hurt her knee and couldn't walk. Two girls from the other team carried her around the bases. That story made me cry! You can read it here: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24392612/

I read about a teacher who donated a kidney to a student in her class. That is unbelievably awesome... If you don't believe me, read it here: http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20131192,00.html

Those people are certainly heroes but I'll tell you about some more – only these, I know personally.

I know a lady who does stuff at my church. She owns her own shop and she sews. We do the Awana children's program at our church, and she sews on all the patches for all of our kids. Last year, she would come to church, get the awards, take them to her shop, sew them on and bring them back – ALL IN THE SAME NIGHT! At my old church, most of my own personal awards were held on with melted plastic zip bags. (They work great for a short-term iron on - the cheaper the better!)

Another woman I know has only been at our church since March. Since March, she's moved four times and one of those times was from Arkansas! She teaches a pre-K Sunday school class, is the Sparks director in our Awana Club, works in the time before Sunday school, and takes great care of her husband and her two boys. Besides all that, she keeps the most spotless house I've ever seen. I can't keep a spotless house and it's just the cat and me!

I have a friend in my Master's program that just had a baby. She has another child who was born in June of 2007. She teaches third grade, is doing the Master's thing, and has a brand new baby and a 17 month old. . . I don't know how she's not just crazy. Get this – she was in class ONE WEEK after giving birth.

Another remarkable woman I know does a lot too! She teaches first grade, is a single mom (who gets NO support from a dead-beat dad) is the greatest greeter I've ever seen at church, and is the Commander of our Awana clubs. Her daughter plays soccer, practice two nights a week and a game on Saturday, does dance class and never misses Awana club on Wednesday nights. This mom does this every week, with no dad to help. Also, at her school, they don't just send home report cards, they have report card conferences. So, in the last two or three weeks since report cards went home, she's done 18 parent conferences.

I think the most amazing thing about all these people is that they don't do these things to be the center of attention or to have people notice. They'd probably be embarrassed to read this. They just do it. I see other people who seem to have this need to have all eyes and all attention focused on them. I don't get that and I don't think it's necessary, it's actually selfish and self-centered, as well as annoying to everybody else. I have a poster at school that says, "Freedom is everywhere you look." So are heroes!

Fighting with myself

For about the last week, I have been fighting with myself. The good news is, when you fight with yourself, you always win. However, you also always lose. . . Strange thoughts I know, but if you know me, you're not really surprised. I'm fighting with myself over my compulsion to be negative instead of positive. Last week in Awana, I encouraged our TNT clubbers to be thankful for five things every day. Easy, right, we have five fingers, at least once a day, while we're praying, thank God for five things, one for each finger. Well, I tried to do it, but every time I try, I keep coming up with something negative for each positive thing. Why do I do that? What's wrong with me? Here are some of the odd thoughts running through my head. I'm thankful I have a job (I heard today that something like 10 million people are unemployed) but I'm irritated because I have so many children and we didn't get a raise (or even a step this year. According to our county, my year of work last year counts as . . . NOTHING!) I have a new car, but I have car payments. I have good friends, but no time to see them or talk to them. (Thank goodness for facebook—at least I can see pictures of them occasionally.) I am working on my Master's degree, but it's nearly killing me. See?? No matter what good thing I come up with, part of me comes up with some negative thing. I hate that! I wish I could just look at the positive. I'm going to have to work on that. Maybe I should just make a list of good things and carry it in my head, and jump right to the next one every time my mind wanders over to the dark side. I can use my habit of jumping from topic to topic to my advantage. . . So, here's my list of good things.

1. Master's classes – we are on week 12 and the semester goes to 15.

2. After nine more school days, we get a whole week off for Thanksgiving.

3. Thanksgiving. Yeah turkey and dressing, and I know Robyn will make a pound cake using Granny's recipe. .

4. My Aunt Mary Ellen is going to be fine, just fine.

5. My friend Stacy had a perfectly healthy baby.

6. I'm not the one who delivered a 9 lb, 6 oz baby last week.

7. My cat doesn't require around the clock attention (like a new baby does) although he is staring at my fingers while I type and watching the mouse move suspiciously. . .

8. Publix makes this great Chocolate Trinity ice cream. Chocolate, with Denali fudge and caramel cups. (It's incredible!)

9. I've got some great new friends at church (and on facebook!)

10. Those new friends have a great new business that is going to be incredibly useful for people.

See, my list of good things is MUCH bigger than the negatives. . Focus on that!!!

Random thoughts on a random day

Once again, I'm using my blog to blurt out my feelings about anything I want to.

My students at school this year may actually be more stubborn than I am which is saying a LOT! I have never seen such a group of kids so determined to have their own way. I, of course, am just as determined that there are things that must be done MY way, so it's not going well. Even after 10 weeks of school, it's still rough.

I'm irritated at some judge in my county who says that this guy that nobody knows can have all our private information because we work for a public entity. You can read the exciting article here: http://www.theledger.com/article/20081031/NEWS/810310360

This guy, who nobody knows requested information from the School Board, some of he got. Other information, they told him, they were unable to provide due to the HIPPA law. He sued the School Board, and won, which means that the district has to hand over private information, names, addresses, phone numbers, even names and birthdays of dependent children, of everyone who is on the School Board's insurance plan. According to my attorney friend, the judge just did what the law says. Well, then the law is stupid and needs to be changed. In the mean time, let's all just hope and pray that nothing happens to anyone's dependent children that this man gets information about. . .

Election Day is tomorrow. I'm so glad it will be over, but I'm so worried, although I know I shouldn't be. I'm so unhappy with all of my choices. I just want it over! I'm also tired of advertisements on facebook for one particular candidate. It's either him or the acacia berry colon cleanse all the time. I'm not sure which one is worse. I'm also sick and tired of hearing my 6^th graders expound on politics. We're voting for a potential new state bird because they are just out of control with this election. They are saying mean, nasty things to each other about the election and the strange thing is, hardly any of them really have a clue. I wonder if parents have any idea how their children twist what they (the kids) hear their parents say.

 

Now the good news: We have a great new couple at our church who I just like a lot. They just moved here from St. Louis and they are just the nicest people. They are starting a business here in our county and they found our church. Everybody who has met them so far just LOVES Cindy and Dan. I'm so glad they found us.

We had a Fall Festival on Saturday at a ranch that a couple in our church own. It was so much fun. There was apple bobbing, greased poles to climb, greased pigs to chase around, chickens to catch, lots of food and a dessert cook-off. There were some seriously good desserts there. The judges really had a hard time choosing the best one, and they all looked a little green around the gills later on. Our new friend Dan said he had to have something salty to get rid of all the sweet. Maybe we should make a cookbook with all those recipes in it. I really love my church.

What makes “FAMILY?”

What makes family? Is it just sharing DNA with somebody? I don't think so. I have my "real" family, and my church family, and then some people I just love a whole bunch. Today my real family and I (my 2 sisters, my nephew Josh and my niece) had lunch/dinner with some friends in Lakeland that we have known forever, I guess. Mrs. Rita and Brother Frank (that's what EVERYBODY calls them) went to church with my parents when they moved to Lakeland in 1970. My dad and Brother Frank picked up kids on a church bus and worked in junior church together. For years, Brother Frank and Mrs. Rita didn't have any children. They wanted some, but it wasn't in the cards. So, they picked us. We were dirt poor (we three little girls didn't know it, but we were!) and basically, Mrs. Rita and Brother Frank invested their time and energy in us. It was actually in my parents will for years that if anything happened to them, we were supposed to go to Mrs. Rita and Brother Frank. After years and years, they decided to adopt a baby. So in September they got Courtney. Her name is actually Robyn Courtney, named after my oldest sister. Lo and behold, in April, they had Whitney. After years of being told no, no, not possible, apparently it was. So, they went from no babies to two in nine months. We moved to Auburndale before that, but always at Christmas and holiday, we always saw each other. Fast forward a few years, until I'm in college. A freshman at USF in Tampa, my sister lives in Auburndale in my parents' house and I hate living in a dorm. So, I move out of the dorm at Christmas and into the house with her. We start going back to church with Mrs. Rita and Brother Frank again. One Saturday, Mrs. Rita is telling us her frustrations with the girls after school situation. They are in first and second grade now. We stumble upon the perfect solution. I am driving back and forth to Tampa three times a week, I pick them up at school, take them home, so the homework routine, until she gets home. She is driving back and forth to Tampa to work and Brother Frank leaves for work at 2:15. . It's perfect. This continues until I graduate from college. By this time, my sister has gone back to college and she takes over.

Time goes on, the girls don't need us anymore, we both start teaching, we change churches and don't see each other so much.

Then, we're sitting at the hospital in Marathon in the Keys waiting for the doctor to check our mom one more time. It's been three days, so today we have to tell him to turn off the machines. We hear something and look at the door, there's Mrs. Rita and Brother Frank. They drove hours to be with us. . We stand there together, around her bed. We pray, and we leave. A few minutes later, the doctor tells us it's over. So we cry and cry, together.

We go back to the rental vacation house. We have to get home, so while we pack up Mom and Daddy's stuff, Mrs. Rita starts to clean. By the time we're packed up, she's done. A few days later we call her and ask her the hardest thing ever, will she sing at our mom's funeral? She tells us that mom asked her to years ago, but she was hoping we'd forget. She can't promise she can do it, but she'll try. She can and she does. . .

One day, we get an invitation to a wedding in the mail. Whitney is getting married. Doesn't seem possible, but it is. Then, baby shower, then Courtney's wedding, baby number two for Whitney, then Courtney's baby shower. We see each other off and on again . . . but not nearly as often as we should.

Brother Frank and I share a birthday, so today we went to their house for lunch. I can't think how long it's been since I've been there, but it's amazing how it feels like home. We talked, laughed, ate, and tried to figure out how many hours we've spent in that house together. . . We can't even imagine. We catch up, watch the kids play, and wonder where the time went. We leave, promising that it won't be this long again.

What makes family? If it's blood and DNA, we're not related. If its memories and time spent together, and love between people, then today we had lunch with family.

The Wednesday Wars

I read an article not too long ago about the Newbery Awards. I follow "The Unquiet Library" on Twitter and read this article from their blog: "Has the Newbery Lost Its Way?" The article was written by Anita Silvey and was published in School Library Journal, Oct 2, 2008. Here's a link if you want to read the article: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6601546.html?nid=3242. In the article, that author starts with two examples of people who seemingly believe the Newbery Award has lost some of its luster. In case you don't know, the Newbery Award is given every year for the "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." During the summers, I work on reading through the Newbery books, all of them. I'm about 1/3 of the way through. Every year the ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children, part of the ALA) chooses the Newbery Medal winner and several Newbery Honor books. The Medal winner gets a gold seal, and the honor books get a silver seal. There is a list of current and past winners here: http://tinyurl.com/6cr7xy

I haven't read this year's winner yet, but today I read the Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, which is a Newbery Honor book. I can't imagine how good the winner must be, for this to be an honor book. It is fabulous! I read a LOT of children's books and this is the best one I've read in a long time. It's so good; I read it all in one sitting. We got back from my niece's soccer game at about 1:45 and I was going to read a little bit and take a nap. I had no nap, but I've finished the entire book already. It made me laugh and cry, all at the same time. It is just a wonderful, wonderful story of growing up, realizing the people we most expect to do the right thing don't always do it, but that sometimes unexpectedly, we find what we need in others. It's about being wrong, admitting it, and loving each other in spite of ourselves, and in spite of them. It's just a great book.

Sorry, ten minutes later. We just had some excitement in our neighborhood. The police, deputies, and state troopers are chasing some guy in a truck, and he chose to drive down my street. He cut through an alley, and hit two parked cars, right across from my street. The Sheriff's department helicopter just flew over, and all my neighbors are out in the street. One guy, in a truck, running from six or eight law enforcement people. Does he really think they won't catch him??? I just hope he doesn't hurt anybody else. . . Whew.

 

 

Is it wrong to wonder why?

    I heard some distressing news on Friday. A lady at our church unexpectedly passed away. This same family lost a daughter to leukemia, a son had a terrible car accident, nearly died, went through months of rehab, and now this. It just doesn't seem fair or right at all. I don't get it.

    Then, yesterday on Saturday, I went to my niece's birthday party. Ten years ago, my sister had to have a C-section to deliver this tiny little four and a half pound, seven-week early baby. (She ended up being born two days before my birthday – what a great gift I got that year!) We thought she was the prettiest thing we'd ever seen, but looking at the pictures now, maybe not so much. She was a skinny baby, and we're more used to babies with fat little thighs and round cheeks just made for kissing. She did turn in to one of those babies, but at first, she wasn't. The tip of my forefinger covered the entire palm of her hand, her foot – the length of my pinkie finger. She was tiny, like holding a breath of air. It was possible to hold her literally, in one hand. Now, she is such a great kid – and I don't just say that because I'm her aunt. She's smart, (only missed four questions total on her FCAT test last year) she just started playing soccer, which she loves, she loves her dance class, she's so pretty, and she's a sweet girl. She loves her teacher at school, and loves to help her, she is nice to new kids at church and school, and she loves to bake goodies for Mr. Harvey, one of her favorite men at church. Yesterday, after being hit with the astounding news about the death of our friend, I watched her and her friends at her birthday party. I watched the big girls, especially Abby; take care of the two little girls. I watched girls from church make new friends and talk to girls from school. I watched them all play together; some dressed up in their Pixie Princess party attire. It was good. It was good for my heavy heart.

    Then, I left the party, to attend the wedding of a former student who is also the daughter of a friend from work. I watch Maggie and David dance, watched Randy, Maggie's dad dance with her in her wedding dress, watched David dance with his mom. I watched my friend try not to cry as she watched her baby get married and I thought where does the time go. It seems like just yesterday Maggie was 12 and in my class, struggling to learn new things, and going through the struggles and trials of most middle schoolers. Today, she is Mrs. Booth. I wondered, how quickly will this be my girl, my sweet little four and a half pound baby? I watched the celebration and thought, "This is good." It was good for my heavy heart.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, the Bible says: 

    To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:

     A time to be born, And a time to die;
    A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;

     A time to kill, And a time to heal;
    A time to break down, And a time to build up;

     A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
    A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

Yesterday was both a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

McDonald’s French Fries and other random thoughts

One thing I love about blogging is that I can just ramble on about anything and it's OK. I guess if somebody doesn't want to read it, feel free to click somewhere else. So, here are some completely random thoughts for today.

1. Is there anything in the world as good to eat as hot, fresh, McDonald's French fries? I don't think so. Wait a minute, let me back up – the grits I ate in London may have been pretty close. Maybe it's just my approximately 12-year-old palate, but I really, really, love those fries. I was at school late today, too many papers to grade, too much work to do and it was raining and of course, I have two umbrellas in my car, but NONE in my classroom, so on the way home it was late and I was hungry so I ate early. I just happened to have a book of McDonald's gift certificates in my purse, so why not? That first fry. . . Yummy! The second and thirds ones, Ok, the entire serving, they were just perfect. Now, I have a million things I should be doing, reading chapters, figuring out a fold-able for continents and oceans, and instead, here I sit blogging about French fries.

2. Media certification test – My friend Robyn and I passed our media certification tests on Saturday. Yay for us. We were a little stressed for several reasons. A) We weren't sure we knew enough to pass yet. B) No pressure but FSU has a 100% passing rate on that test. I was afraid I would be the first one not to pass. I mean we can take it again, but still. Nothing like being reminded that our school is the "#1 ranked program in the US and Canada for youth services and #5 for school media." That's fantastic, but while I was sitting there waiting for my test questions to start rolling up, I still felt like throwing up. But we both passed, which makes three out of our group of five in our county. Our other two friends take it later this month. According to the state, I can now (when the paperwork is done) work as a certified media specialist, without the degree. Of course we still go back to that "don't know enough about what I'm doing thing." We have to finish the two classes we have right now, do an internship and one more class, and then we are done. In some ways it seems like it's been forever and in some ways it feels like we "only just begun."

3. Bills and bills – I hate paying my bills. It's not the draining of my bank account, although that is certainly not fun. I just hate the time it takes to do it. I always feel like I could be doing something so much more fun.

4. Politics – I hate it. Can't we just vote and get it over with? Teaching 6^th grade is lovely – political thoughts from 12-year olds. . . Scary thought, right? I've decided that if somebody running for office can't tell me why I should vote for him/her without telling me how bad, evil, and rotten the other person(s) are, I don't want to vote for them. . .Oh I guess that means I don't get to vote at all ever again! That's a joke, of course, I'll vote – can I vote D) none of the above??

5. Nora Roberts – Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors. I accidently picked up a book of hers that I've already read and started reading it the other day in a weak moment. I know, I know, I should be reading chapters and articles on the organization of information and managing information organizations. I am, I am, but I just have to read something more fun. I love how she (Nora Roberts) writes trilogies because I like the people in them and one book just isn't enough. I love that the women in her books are always bright and funny, not stupid and bland. These are women I'd like to hang out with, seriously. In addition, her men. . . Sorry, drifted off there for a minute. There are such good stories in her books. I can't believe how prolific she is, and how many books she manages to write. My sister once said that inside my head must be a scary place, because of the way things just pop out of my mouth. I'd like to take a peek inside Nora Robert's head. . I can't imagine how she manages to create all these characters and keep them straight and yet still give them so much personality. BTW, the book I'm re-reading (for the third time I think) is Blood Brothers. It is part of the Sign of Seven Trilogy, the second book "The Hollow" came out in March. Book three "The Pagan Stone" comes in December, hopefully after the FSU semester is over. That's probably an all night, get it read it right away book.

All right, enough random thought for now. Chapters and articles are glaring at me from across the desk. To work, to work!

The Graduate school diet – I don’t recommend it

It is 10:23 and I just ate a strawberry pop tart for dinner. The other night I was eating Publix Chicken Corn Chowder at 10:45. I can't decide what's more embarrassing – how late I'm eating, or the fact that I have the palate of a 12 year old. Graduate school is so bad for my eating habits. I've never been a good cook, although I love cooking tools from the Pampered Chef and have LOTS of them. If I ever do decide to cook, I've got the right stuff to use. It's just easier, when it's just me, to eat quick, easy things. However, since I started working on my Master's degree from FSU, I've started eating horrible things, and on a horrible schedule and I don't know what to do about it. Sometimes I ask my friend Robyn what she is fixing her family for dinner and try to live vicariously through her dinner options. I know it's not good for me to eat peanut butter M & M's for supper. I eat cereal quite a bit, which is not too bad, except when I choose Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch. (Again, that 12-year-old palate thing.) I eat a lot of things that are hand-held or at least portable, and I don't eat at the table often enough. I eat with one hand and highlight (or type) with the other. I eat my pop-tarts on paper plates, that way I don't have to wash a plate. I know that's pitiful, but who has time to stand at the sink washing dishes? Not me, with six articles and two chapters for each class waiting for me! I just keep thinking, not much longer, not much longer. My digestive system will be glad when I'm finished.

Kudos to my friends, Kerry and Tommy

Twice recently, I've had the pleasure of attending a party for some of my friends. My father is a pastor, and so lots of people that I know are in full time Christian service. In August, and then today, I was invited to attend a pastor friends anniversary party at his church. Last month, my friend Kerry who pastors at Lone Oak Baptist Church in Plant City (his wife Laquita is my very best friend) celebrated 10 years at his church, and I just got back from my friend Tommy's church, First Thonotosassa Missionary Baptist Church, and his 15^th anniversary celebration. I've been thinking about those things a lot lately, and I just can't explain how proud I am of these two guys.

Being a pastor is hard work, if you do it right. If anybody ever says pastoring is easy, they are either fibbing or they aren't doing it properly. I grew up in a pastor's home, so I have some perspective that most people probably don't. Basically, a pastor is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's not just two hours on Sunday, and an hour on Wednesday night. To be in the same church for that length of time, is pretty impressive. No church is perfect, and no pastor is perfect, but when it's the right match, it's a great thing.

It seems like so many things in our life are disposable. If we don't like it, if it breaks, just throw it away and get a new one. People leave jobs because they don't like their boss, they leave a marriage because it gets difficult, we quit when the going gets tough. I can't imagine how many time in the 25 total years Kerry and Tommy have been at their churches, how many times they wanted to throw in the towel and walk away. But they didn't. I don't know what it is that makes some people just stick it out, and some people quit and go on.

I told Tommy's church tonight, and I wish I could tell Kerry's church, how much it means to me to see their churches love and honor my friends. It's a wonderful thing to know that my friends, who give so much of themselves to their church members, are loved and respected by those same church members. I'm so glad that the people at Lone Oak and Thonotosassa love my friends, and recognize the commitment that these men had made.

Kerry and Tommy

I love my church!

Every now and then, something happens that makes me think of things that I know, but don't often think about or verbalize. I was hit with one of these last night and today, of how much I love my church. My church is 80-something years old, and I had known "of" my church all my life, way before it was my church. I have been a member of my church for 10 years. That's easy for me to remember, because my friends son Noah was born a week before or week after I joined my church and Noah just turned ten in August. I use Noah's birthday as my anniversary date at my church. By the way, my church is First Missionary Baptist Church in Auburndale. (http://www.firstmbc.com) I was reminded again how much I love my church on Friday night, when I sat with Pastor Price at the AHS football game. A local tradition is that after half time the cheerleaders throw little plastic footballs into the crowd. Different business help pay for the footballs and the organization gets their name printed on footballs. I don't know how or why this was started but they've done in here in Auburndale as long as I can remember, even when my sisters were in high school – and one graduated in 1980 and one in 1983. Some of the footballs Friday night on Friday night said "First Missionary Baptist Church." How cool is that? Mr. Jimmy (as my niece calls him) who is our Youth Pastor was also at the game. It is amazing to watch high school age kids wave and yell "Hi Pastor!" I bet they will remember for a long time that their Pastor was at their game.

Today, our church hosted what we hope becomes an annual event the "Auburndale Sportsman's Expo." Most of the planning went on while I was in London this summer, so I came back not knowing anything about it. I guess this was the brainchild of Pastor Will, who is our Associate Pastor. Pastor Will and his wife Amy are some of my most favorite people in the whole world. I know that's not grammatically correct, but it is very true. This thing today was HUGE! There were guest speakers and prizes, auctions, booths, barbeque, exhibits, and a special area for kids. . . It was amazing. I heard someone ask the guys at the registration table what they owed our church for coming. They couldn't believe it when they were told nothing. Then, they asked what our church was getting from all this, again the guy said nothing – just an opportunity to give people some time with their friends and family and a chance to let us minister to your needs. How can I not love my church? I watched all the volunteers from my church run around everywhere today, doing all sorts of jobs from parking cars to serving food to passing out prizes and taking tickets. I was reminded of the passage in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, when Paul is talking about how every part of the body is important, and no part is more important than any other is. Every job today was important and it made me sad that my life is so caught up in my job and my schoolwork for FSU that I didn't have a job, and didn't even have time to know what a big deal this was. I heard that the guy who was there from the Bass Pro Shop said to go ahead and put him on the list for next year. Me too – put me on the list. Next year, I want one of those orange shirts.

 

P. S. Check out all the incredible decorating the ladies from my church created. That's another thing on my list for whenever this Master's degree is done – I want to be on the decorating crew!
P.S. again - I left my card from my camera at my sister's house. I'll have to add those pictures tomorrow!

Friday Night Lights

I don't know about everybody else, but in my little town, which I dearly love, high school athletics are a HUGE deal. So, that is part of the reason that on many Friday nights in the fall, one can find a whole lot of Auburndale's population at Bruce Canova Stadium, watching the Auburndale Bloodhounds play football. I honestly don't care much about high school football, but my nephew plays in the band, so on many Friday nights, I take my place in the stadium as well. Tonight was one of those nights and was a perfect night for football. I was trying to think about what made it such a nice night and I really can't pinpoint any particular thing. The Bloodhounds lost 9-7, but it was a pretty good game. My niece loves to watch the cheerleaders and the band – that's all she cares about. I have taught middle school for so long that I have a good number of students who have moved on to high school, so I'm always listening for names of "my boys." My family and I always laugh, because there are very few times we go out in public where someone doesn't say "Hello Ms. Jimmerson." Tonight was a usual night, the woman selling tickets teaches with me, we barely got in the gate when someone said "Ms. Jimmerson" and then on the way up the stadium someone yelled my name. I love that, to be perfectly honest. The weather was nice, not too hot; it rained earlier, so there was no rain, no bugs, and a nice, clear night. I know that Hurricane Ike is getting ready to beat up Texas, but it was a perfect night for us for football. I love the sound of the bands, and the smell of hotdogs and hamburger cooking and the whole atmosphere. It was a great night. It was even more fun when my pastor and youth pastor came, and to watch our youth pastor eat a boiled peanut for the first time in his life. He's from Chicago, and I don't think he'll rush to have any more anytime soon. It was really cool to sit at a football game with my pastor – but that's for another post. Of course, there are the eternal questions that I wonder about – why does a high school have 22 cheerleaders? Isn't' that a lot? And why are there girls who won't graduate until 2012 on the varsity cheerleading squad? And why do cheerleaders choose such unattractive uniforms? The high school in my town has uniforms with one shoulder only. Why would anybody choose a one-shoulder outfit for girls who jump around and cheer? Every single one of those 22 cheerleaders, regardless of their size or shape, sometime tonight was pulling on the side with no shoulder. And isn't it a shame that the announcers have to remind people to take off their hats while the band plays the National Anthem? Didn't people used to know that without being told? Over all, though it was a great night. If you haven't been to a high school football game recently, find one and go. Its great fun – and pretty cheap! You'll probably enjoy yourself as much as I did.

Prevention Lessons

I have had the dubious honor this week of having the county prevention nurse in my classroom. There are some really great things about that and some negative aspects as well.

Here are the good things first!

    1. Mrs. Barfield, the nurse taught all of my classes (all 155-ish students) every day all four days of last week, and will finish up tomorrow.

    2. The extra free time gave me LOTS of time to catch up. I know it sounds inefficient to be behind after only 2 weeks of school, but it's true, it happens. I did lots of sorting and putting away, the letters my students write to me on the second day of school, the parent information sheets that I send home, they are all filed, hole punched and put away!

    3. Someone else teaching all my students every day. Did I already mention that?

    4. Mrs. Barfield is a fabulous teacher, as well as a nurse. She is so matter of fact and easy for kids to understand. She just puts it right out there and has better classroom control than lots of teachers I know.

 

Now, the negative things about the health lessons:

    1. I teach Geography, it sounds really stupid to explain to people why the nurse teaches in my class instead of science class. (The FCAT – there's not one for Social Studies, there is for Science, so we take time away from Social Studies because it apparently isn't that important to the state of Florida anyway! That's also why monthly, I get to traipse all my students down to the nurse's office to do head lice checks! NOTE- this is NOT my idea!)

    2. For the first two days of health, the boys and girls are separated while they learn the lessons about puberty. I get the boys. Trust me; I could label a diagram of the male reproductive system in my sleep! The same lesson seven times in one day, followed by the embarrassment of 11, 12, and 13 year old boys having the learn about the female reproductive system. For some strange reason, on the day of that lesson, my boys won't look at me when they leave the room and they are really glad my desk is in the back of the room, not the front!

    3. Being constantly reminded that there are so many things that parents should teach their children, which apparently they never get to. I'm amazed that kids who are so streetwise can be so clueless about their own bodies.

    4. Only one more day!

 

 

I LOVE the beach!

In my family, we are beach people. I love the beach. My parents first real date was at the beach, the day after my mom's senior prom. My parent's last date was at the beach, in a manner of speaking, as my mom had the heart attack that ended her life on a beach in the Keys. Now, I'm not brave enough to go back to that beach yet, but I do love the beach. For two and a half years, my parents and sisters lived in the Bahamas, where they swam on a daily basis. My mom was pregnant with me at the time, which may be one reason she only gained 12 pounds the entire time she carried me, and I was 7 pounds and 15 and a half ounces of the 12 pounds. Anyway, when we were young, we were so poor, so it was a huge treat to get to go to the beach. My sisters and I go the beach nearly every summer, although for a couple of years we tried the mountains instead. This summer, I missed our week at the beach, because I was in London. I know what an incredible hardship right? We decided, after a bit of begging on my part, to spend Labor Day weekend at the beach. We got a place at Weston's, which is our favorite place at Englewood. On Friday, right after school, (after a delay for a haircut) I picked up my friend Mrs. Smith, and then Patti and Makiah and we headed to Englewood. Robyn left right after work, so she got there first. My friend Mrs. Smith just retired, she and I taught together for 14 years, and she is thoroughly enjoying her retirement. It makes me a little jealous! She and her family have spent time at Englewood for years, and she and I have spent some summer days there together. Actually, right after my mom died (on Wednesday after the funeral on Monday) she was spending time at the beach and I ran away to join her. She and the beach were just what I needed to sooth my raw feelings. She and I spent hours floating around on noodles in the water and just sitting on the beach. With her, I didn't have to pretend I was OK, because I really wasn't. It was OK for me to cry for no apparent reason with her, and most of the time, she just cried along with me. I didn't have to talk if I didn't want to; I didn't have to be gracious and kind. I could just rant, rave, and carry on and it was OK.

This weekend was not necessarily nice beach weather, thanks for Gustave hanging around, but still, it was the beach and it was marvelous. On Friday night, we got there so late, we just had time to go outside and see and smell the water and watch the stars for a while. On Saturday, we floated around, were amazed at the swarms of dragonflies in front of our room, and then were rained on. We went to eat a late lunch/early dinner at the Fishery in Placida, which is one of our favorite places to eat. We ate, and watched the crabs and the fish jumping right outside the restaurant. It was fabulous, just fabulous. The weather was awful, but we sure enjoyed watching the water. I don't know what it is about the beach, but it's good for me. If I ever win the lottery (which would require me to play), I'm buying a house near the beach. . .

Home, back to my real life

This week I left behind my traveling days and realized my adventure truly is over. I had to go back to work on Monday. I usually spend an extra week at school getting ready for school to start, and I missed that this year. I am a little worried about catching up and getting ready on time. It's somewhat depressing. Today was Orientation and I met some of my new students. They seem to be a good group, although every time I say that they turn into spawn of Satan. We can only hope! I'm tired and can't seem to catch up on my sleep. Part of it is the pesky Olympics. I love the Olympics, but I stay awake to watch, even though I know I should go to bed. Then, I'm still waking up about 4 o'clock in the morning. I usually can make myself go back to sleep, but I still wake up. On Saturday and Sunday, I can take a nap maybe that will help.

Of course, the more I think about it, I realize my job is the real adventure. Every day is a new challenge, every day gives me the opportunity to "embrace the differences" and every day there will be something to remind me that no matter what is going on, at least we're not being bombed by the Nazis. Hey, anybody who doesn't think teaching is an adventure is welcome to come and teach my sixth graders for a day or two. Besides, a new adventure looms, my sister and I decided to change our cell phone service and our bill has not been right for several months. I hate talking on the phone and I hate fussing with people, but apparently, I'm going to have to do both in order to fix it. That irritates me as well. I've been home for a week and I've managed to keep my house clean for the whole week. I'm very proud of myself. My cat still isn't quite himself, although he's getting better. This is kind of a strange post, but my life is in kind of a weird spot right now.

Home at last!

It is 12:57 a.m. on Friday, August 08, 2008 and I am home, in my house, in my brand new bed. I got up this morning; well, yesterday, at 5:00 a.m., London time. We dragged ourselves to the coach, just for Great Russell Street to be blocked off, and the coach to have to do some convoluted three point turn thing and get out. We got to the airport, went around and around in circles for no apparent reason, getting in a queue to check in our bags, being told my bag was too heavy and not only do I have to pay for it, I have to take it to oversize bags. We were allowed 23 kilograms, my bag was 32.7. Get in another line for a new boarding pass, take the bag to oversize luggage, get in the line for security, oh wait, my carry on is too big, go back to check in and check it in, go back to the desk. Now, it's back to security where in one line they checked my bag, and then lucky me, I'm a random check, so the strange woman checked me, which involved lots of bodily contact and an up close and personal meeting with a metal detector. Finally, into yet another queue just to take off our shoes and run them through a scanner. Mind you, Andrea and I are both wearing flip flops. Now, walk through a million (OK, maybe not a million) just in time to give our passports to yet another stranger, answer even more questions and guess what, another check of our persons, our bags and our shoes. Now, sit and wait while small siblings behind me chase either other around playing slap, poke and tickle until one starts to cry. Finally, we get on the plane, just in time to sit, going nowhere. Our flight that was supposed to leave at 10:40 didn't leave until 11:20, giving me 8 and a ½ long hours to worry about my connecting flight. Add to this mix, surly airline attendants and about six crying babies. It was a lovely flight. I did watch some interesting things along the way – I watched Nim's Island, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and an incredibly interesting documentary on hot dogs, and another on truck stops. I watched part of an Ugly Betty episode and some more stuff that was so interesting I can't remember it.

We landed in Charlotte after 3:00. Apparently, one must carry their own bags through immigration. We rushed off the plane into yet another line (now we're home in the US, so we're calling it a LINE, no longer a QUEUE) to show our passports. Then we fetch our luggage, of course, my bags, along with Andrea's were some of the last ones to come along. Then we drag our bags through customs, just to throw in back to another baggage person. Then we have to go through airport security. My flight from Charlotte to Orlando was leaving at 4:30. I finished with airport security at 4:15. I ran madly through the airport from Concourse D to Concourse B, flung myself upon the check in desk, and flopped into my seat, just to hear the captain say "The doors will be closing in about 3 minutes." I'm still panting like a racehorse and pouring sweat. We roll out of the gate, roll out to the runway and STOP! We are tenth in line for take off. While we are waiting, the pilot tells us that there is bad weather south of Charlotte. So, to make this long drawn out story a little shorter, we pulled out of line, ended up back at the gate, and finally left Charlotte about 8:00. My sister in the meantime is waiting for me at the airport in Orlando, expecting me to be there at 6:07. By the way, if you ever need a personal tour of the Orlando Airport, call her. She spent about five hours there today, she knows it pretty well. She, my niece and a clerk named Sandy are all on a first name basis now. Thankfully, my neighbor let me use his phone to call her. We landed in Orlando at about 9:15. The first people I saw were my sister and my niece, right before my niece jumped up for me to hold her. She's grown about a foot since I've been gone. We went to pick up my bags, and guess who I see? My buddy Jessica, who left London about half a day behind me. She got to the airport the same time I did. We went to get my bags, the big oversize one doesn't come. I handed it to the guy in Charlotte myself. We wait and wait and wait, until another flight's luggage starts coming in. I go fill out the paperwork for a lost bag. By this time, it's 10:00. The woman at US Airways baggage center was WONDERFUL. She was efficient and polite and told me exactly what to do and what should happen. There was another flight coming in from Charlotte at 10:16 and she said my bag was probably on it. She was right. We wandered down to Chick-fill-a, which my sister knows where is, and got some food to go, wandered back and the new flight was just coming in. There, lo and behold, was my bag.

We left the airport and drove home, to find my dad's truck in my front yard. He and his wife have been the official cat sitter's while I was gone, and I was worried about finding time to go get my Bubba from my dad's house but he brought him home. My friends Laquita and her husband Kerry were also here waiting with my other sister. Laquita and Kerry cleaned my house while I was gone and it looks fabulous. After everybody left, I took a shower in my shower and now I'm sitting on my new bed with my new sheets and pillow cases that my sister got for me, writing this. I had a fabulous time in London, but to sit here in my own bed, with my cat, and my family and friends all close, that's a good thing. All is right in the world.

Farewell to London

Well, time is up! My bags are packed (seriously overweight I'm sure) and all except for my last few things in the morning, I'm ready to go. I have checked in at the airlines, I have my boarding passes, and the coach will be here to pick us up at 6:15, even though our flight doesn't leave until 10 something. Tonight we took a group picture; I look completely stupid, but anyway. We had dinner at the OXO Tower, which is right on the Thames, and took a ride on the London Eye. Then, we came back to our flat, our professor had arranged a little going away celebration, during which we found out some interesting things about Dr. E. I can't post any pictures, because my card reader for my camera is already packed up. We land in Charlotte at 2:25, I leave for Orlando at 4:30, Andrea stays in Charlotte for a while longer, and I'll land in Orlando at 6:07 p.m. barring any Florida thunder or lightning storms. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in London, but I will be SO glad to get home. Home to my house and my family, and my bathtub and my church! My plans for Friday are a pedicure and a nap. Saturday, I may have to see if my dad will meet me half way between his house and mine to get my cat and bring him home, and if I can squeeze it in, another nap is on the agenda. Sunday, back to my church, and guess what – a nap! Monday, it's back to school, without my dear friend Mrs. Smith for the first time in my teaching career. I will surely miss her, but I wonder if I'll get more stuff accomplished. . . So, summer is over, the fabulous travel is over, no more weekends in Paris or Scotland, back to my same old life. Right now, it sounds pretty good!

Web 2.0. . . What is it?

For one of our assignments, we had to write a reaction paper to Web 2.0. We had to include an interview and a digital component. My interview was with Donna Hall from Pinellas County, (thanks a million!!) My blog is part of my digital component, and this video from YouTube which helped me understand exactly what Web 2.0 means.

The last few days. . .

As some of you may have noticed I have not posted anything except schoolwork for a few days. I don't know where the time has gone. It just hit me the other day that all my stuff for class was due and I wasn't finished with anything. And, of course, since those of you who know me well, know that I never do anything the easy way when there is a much harder way to do it, realize what that means. So, I've spent days and days (it seems like at least) doing schoolwork. I really don't understand why – it's not like I haven't done anything the whole time we've been here. Well, let me catch you up on what I've been doing lately. Thursday night I worked on my podcast and digital story, while all my flat mates went to a show. I was feeling quite virtuous. I actually had my mind set all day on Thursday that I was going to work that night, so I was in a working mood. I actually got a lot accomplished with everyone gone. That was one of the few times I've been alone since we got here. Friday morning I went to the computer lab with Andrea and we sat there for hours. Saturday we did the same. We left for lunch (??) about two o'clock, and then worked some more. Lenese joined us in the conservatory and we worked away, after I ranted and raved for a while about APA citations. Just for future reference, I can't even tell you how much I hate APA citations. I feel like it makes no sense and I don't understand it, and no matter how much I try, I don't understand it so I hate it. Its fine for things like books, but the internet has made citations, at least for me, really difficult. See, I started ranting and raving again. I finally had to apologize to both Lenese and Andrea for my bad behavior. Lenese finally told me to stop asking her, if I was going to argue with everything she said, which sounds harsh, but I absolutely deserved it. About 9:30 we were so disgusted and tired of looking at our computer screens we went for a walk. We have discussed the fact that we would like to see London at night, but it takes so long to get dark, we're always too tired by the time it gets dark. So we decided to take a walk down by the river. Staci, one of the GCs decided to wander along with us. We had no specific plans; we just wanted to be outside, breathing some different air. We rode the tube to the Embankment station, crossed the Thames on one of the pedestrian bridges and just wandered along the river. The tide was out, and we were amazed at the amount of space between the walls and river. One guy was building sand creations down there. We crossed back over Blackfriar's Bridge and realized we only had a little time until the last tube left, so we had to almost run back. We passed a big group of drunken Vikings, complete with helmets with horns and some sort of plastic (I hope!) battle axes. We also passed a guy who had just vomited on the sidewalk –that was pretty gross. Anyway, we just made it back for the last tube and made it home safely.

On Sunday, Lenese and Andrea and I tried to find our way to Wimbledon. One note of advice - when traveling someplace you've never been before, take a map with you. We had no idea where we were going, but finally, after asking people we found our way to what are probably the most famous tennis courts in the world. We walked right through the gates, we bet it was a lot more crowded a month ago, and wandered into "The Wimbledon Shop." I owed my buddies lunch at least, since I dragged them all over creation, so we found the Renshaw Café where we had a little bite to eat, including strawberries and cream. We also had a chocolate mousse and the best bite of all was a bite of strawberry with cream, dipped in the chocolate mousse. It was fabulous. After another venture into the store, to pick up something I missed the first time around, and after some photo opportunities, we headed back "home" to our flats. Poor Lenese had to go to work and Andrea and I still had stuff to do. I did take a little nap, got up, and went to church. On the way home from church, it was raining a little, so Andrea and I both decided to go ahead and take our showers and we went back to the computer lab in our pajamas.

Today, we went back to the lab and stayed all day. I was having the worst luck getting my projects to load to my blog. Finally, it all worked. Katherine had found cheap tickets for Hairspray so we left the lab about 6-ish to get ready for the play. It was absolutely fabulous. I wanted to sing along so badly, and at the end, we were all invited to dance along. I really wanted to, but since I have very specific instructions from my 9 year old niece to NEVER dance in public, I restrained myself. It was so funny; the guys playing Edna and Mr. Turnblad started laughing and had to stop their song. I've never seen anything like it. Edna looked at the music guy and apologized. It was hysterical. It was just what I needed after these last days of nose to the grindstone working, and especially the computer frustrations today.

Tomorrow we take our last class field trip, to Buckingham Palace and then to Harrods. I haven't been in Harrods yet, but I'm pretty excited, although I'm sure I can't afford anything. I love the Barbara Taylor Bradford books about Emma Harte and I think Harrods will meet my mental picture of what I think Harte's is like in those books. It's just one more instance of my favorite books coming to life here in London. Wednesday, we're taking a group photo – all the students at the whole FSU Study Centre, and then we're having dinner at the OXO Tower. We saw it the other night on our walk along the river and it looks pretty swanky. I may need to find something better to wear than anything I bought. After that, we ride the London Eye, come back and pack up all the rest of our stuff, because I have to be outside ready to go at 6 the next morning. Thursday will be a long day, but at the end, I'll be home.

Photo Book

If all goes well, clicking on this PHOTO BOOK will link you to my photo book.

I have been trying all day to upload some of my assignments to this blog - just so you know, it's not going so well. I'm trying to upload my podcast, my digital story and my photo book. So, as you can probably imagine, I am not in such a great mood right now.

OK, ten seconds later, thanks to Lenese, it may work. Click on the word podcast and it will play for you. It is 2 MB and is about 2:19 long.

Ok, roughly two hours later and another part may be done. If all goes well, it will play for you. It is 4.7 MB and is 2:34 long. Enjoy!!

Greenwich, a “Prime” day

Yesterday, July 31, we went on another class field trip to Greenwich. I was so excited about going to Greenwich, for lots of reasons. First, I teach Geography, and the Prime or Greenwich Meridian is VERY important. Secondly, I love the movie "Mary Poppins" and Burt, the chimney sweep says "The world gets its time from Greenwich, but Greenwich gets its time from Admiral Boom!" If you haven't seen "Mary Poppins" lately, go watch it, you'll remember. We rode on a boat down the Thames to get to Greenwich (pronounced "GRIN-itch" not "Green Witch, which I know, but the IT guy here felt obligated to correct me while I was telling Lenese how to spell it the other day – yuck!) and I was again struck by the architecture along the Thames. There are old buildings that look abandoned, new building built in old styles, old buildings being refurbished and new, and fantastically designed buildings like the one called "The Bullet" or "The Gherkin." I took even more pictures of the Tower Bridge, and St Paul's as we went by, but I'll restrain myself from showing you those pictures again!

As we got to Greenwich, we saw the Greenwich Wheel, which is a mini version of the London Eye. It's cute, where the Eye is massive. We wandered through town to the complex that holds the Queen's House (which we didn't go in), The Royal Observatory, and the National Maritime Museum. We went first to the Royal Observatory, which is up a STEEP hill. I think we were all gasping for breath by the time we got up there. The view from the top was worth the climb. At the top, the first thing is an official clock and the official lengths and measures for Britain. You can also see the Time Ball, which falls every day at 1:00, which is 13:00 hours, I think. I called it 13 o'clock, which I know is not right. Apparently, to find longitude, in the old days, ships had to know the official time at their home port to figure longitude. The Time Ball is located high on a hill, so ships anywhere in the vicinity, could see it fall and set their clocks for official time. It still falls nearly every day at 1:00. We went into the Observatory, where we saw some bits and pieces of old things used to figure longitude, and then we went around the corner, and there is was, right there – the Prime Meridian. People were lining up to take their pictures, and of course we took our turn. You can see some of my pictures of me standing in two hemispheres at once. It was seriously cool! There is a gift shop, and of course I found some stuff to wear when I teach the Prime Meridian.

We had lunch, and then we went back to the National Maritime Museum. If I didn't have my Uncle Bob, and my cousin Michael who is retired from the Navy, and my cousin Barry, who is about to retire from the Navy, I don't know if the Maritime Museum would have interested me so much. There are huge anchors outside, and some great stuff inside – figure heads from ships, huge propellers, and a great display of uniforms. I still don't know if any of their uniforms look any better than Michael and Barry in their dress whites, but the ones we saw were still impressive. It was just cool. There was a shop, of course and they had the cutest shirt – of course none the right size, but it was a red shirt that reads "Hello, Sailor!" I thought about my Aunt Mary Ellen – she would have loved it.

We wandered our way back to the dock to get back on the boat – it started to rain. Now, I have discovered that English rain is NOT like Florida rain. At home, it rains hard and fast, and it's over. This rain doesn't do that. It sort of spits rain. It's vaguely irritating – not enough rain to make it worth fishing out and fighting with your umbrella, but too much rain to go without it. Then, when I do decide to open up the umbrella, I worry about poking out someone's eye. I only worry about this, because I nearly run into other people's umbrellas all the time. Maybe I should have gotten an eye patch at the Maritime Museum. . .

We came back to our flat, and all my flat mates when to see a show – Linda and Katherine to see "We Will Rock You" and Jessica and Pamela saw "Zorro." I was a good girl and stayed here and worked. It was worth it, I got my podcast and digital story mostly finished, they both just need a little tweaking. Jessica and Pamela came in dancing and swashbuckling and Linda and Katherine came in singing. It was a good day!

Heaven in a bowl!

Today is starting off GREAT! Today we are going to Greenwich which is very exciting to me. I don't know how excited the rest of my class mates are, but teaching Geography, I'm excited. And to get even better, last night at our American dinner, Dr. E found some grits! Yes, I had two monstrous bowls of grits with my fish last night and it was so good – I don't even have the words. So guess what I'm having for breakfast this morning. Right another big bowl of grits with lots of butter. Heaven in a bowl, I am a happy camper! Dr. E, you are the Queen of the World!

Paris, part 2

Today I'm doing homework, and I can't imagine that anyone would want to read my thoughts on that, so I'll finish my weekend in Paris. The view from the Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre was incredible. Our guide told us that the church has been open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, nearly since it was completed. That is pretty impressive. Notre Dame has the most gorgeous stained glass windows I've ever seen, and the rose windows are incredible. A book I bought about the stained glass says the west rose window is the smallest; it's only 10 meters across. Only 10 meters? Now, I know that I am innumerate, but I do know that my meter stick and my yard stick are nearly the same length, so that is sort of like 30 feet across. ONLY? Of course it doesn't seem so big, when you're standing at the bottom looking up at it. I really wanted to see some of the gargoyles on the corners, but we could never figure out how to get up there.

After we left Notre Dame on the bus, the guide and driver took us to the Opera House. This is a fantastic looking building, with gold figures and massive steps. We were given more free time and the bus was picking us up again at 6. Katherine and I were tired and hot and I was getting a bit irritable, which I know is hard to imagine. We asked our guide how to get back to our hotel, and we left. We took the metro, right by ourselves, except for the lady from Taiwan and her two little boys, who followed us. We only made one wrong turn, we went the wrong way when we came out of the metro and walked about three blocks away from our hotel instead of towards it, but we figured it out. Actually Katherine figured out most of it, I just followed her. When we got back to our nice cool hotel room, I took a long, cool bath and read a book. I thoroughly enjoyed the bathtub at our hotel. Katherine read a book, and then I took a nap. We woke up about 7:15, I think. We braved the Metro again, and went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner. Why the Hard Rock? One big reason is that they have free refills – Yay!!!! After the Hard Rock, which took about 2 ½ hours (and we weren't waiting in line) we went to the Eiffel Tower.

Now, up to this point, I was really not so thrilled with Paris, and was sort of regretting the trip. I know that part of this was the ineptness of our guide and driver and not the city of Paris itself, but regardless, I was not impressed. But when we came out of the metro station and saw the Eiffel Tower through the trees, all lit up in blue, it made up for everything.

The Eiffel Tower is such an iconic image – everybody knows what it is and where it is. It dominates that part of the skyline. I just couldn't keep myself from taking pictures of it, even if I could only see one little teeny tiny part. On Friday afternoon, I took about 20 pictures of it in the daylight and I think I took more than that when we saw it on Saturday night. I was amazed how something so big, and so massive, can still manage to look so delicate and almost lacy. That sounds really stupid, but when I look at it, that's what I think. Katherine and I waited in line, the top level was closed, and we could only go to the second level. I was a little worried about the little elevator (we did NOT climb the steps) but it was OK. While we were waiting in line, for about 15 minutes, there were flashing lights that just exploded all over. It was incredible, and the collective gasp of "OOOOO" and "AHHHHH" was quite impressive.

When we stepped out in the 2^nd level, there are hardly any words to explain how beautiful Paris looked. I made a video for my family, while going from side to side. You really can't see anything, except lights, but it's beautiful. While we were up there, there were fireworks somewhere in the distance. While we were on the first floor of the second level, we heard some serious cheering and congratulating from the second floor, and I wondered if someone proposed to someone else. I don't know why I thought that, but it would be awesome if it were true!

We left the Eiffel Tower and grabbed a cab back to our hotel. It was nearly one o'clock when we got back to our hotel. The next morning, we went to the Louvre. We had a little issue with traffic as the Tour de France was ending in the city in the afternoon, and they were already beginning to close streets. We spent the morning in the Louvre; we saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Again, I was just amazed at all the people snapping pictures and this time, there was no sign to say not too, so I snapped right along with them. We did hear that near the Mona Lisa, there is a sign that says "No Flash photography" but we didn't see it and it didn't stop anybody at all. We left the Louvre, avoided the Tour de France barricades and headed back "home" to London.

On the ferry from Calais to Dover, Katherine and I stayed outside the whole time. This ferry was MUCH smaller than our first ferry and actually had an open deck. The "White Cliffs of Dover" were fantastic, and I was so glad to see them. I wondered how much more I would feel if this were actually my country, and I had been away for a long time, how it would feel to see those white cliffs. I thought about airmen during World War II who were flying missions and not knowing if they would make it home, and seeing the cliffs. I can't imagine how it would feel.

Life Lesson # 2

Last week I learned a life lesson – to not quit my day job and take up photography as a career. Today I learned another life lesson – never talk with your hands while eating a donut on the beach at Brighton, at least if you stop to talk. Today we went to Brighton. A two hour bus ride from London is this beautiful beach. Not at all like a Florida beach, no clean white sand here, this is a pebbly, rocky beach but the rocks are smooth, not jagged. (I'm not sure what the difference is between a pebble and a rock.) It has a pier with all sorts of interesting things on it, rides, a game room, and all sorts of "fair food." As I write this, my stomach is feeling a little ill from all the junk I ate today, but it was good. When we first got there, the sky was cloudy and the wind was blowing, it was COLD! We got off the bus, with Brian, our fabulous Blue Badge guy, and walked to the Royal Pavilion. On the way, we had to put on our sweaters and I even zipped mine up. We took an audio tour of the Royal Pavilion, which was just incredible. Of course, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so I can't show you what we saw, but the dining room of this place was incredible. The chandelier in the dining room is a dragon, and it is holding the biggest part, with five or six smaller dragons holding lotus blossoms where the lights are. It is magnificent. I think the audio guide says the chandelier weighs a ton. The kitchen was remarkably designed with a steam table to keep food warm and an actual menu from a meal with 35 entrees. Unbelievable! The whole pavilion looks almost Indian in design; with domes similar to the Taj Mahal, but the decorations inside have a definite Chinese flair.

After our tour, we walked back to the beach and Andrea, Lenese, Katherine and I struggled our way down the pebble beach closer to the water. Three of us got our feet wet and wow, was it cold. Trying to get back up was much harder. Pebbles in your shoe hurt a whole lot worse than sand in your shoe. We had fish and chips for lunch. According to Brian, the real way to eat fish and chips is with vinegar on it, but I had ketchup anyway. We ate outside with the sound and smell of the water – by now the sun was shining and it was quite warm. It was fabulous.

After lunch we went down the pier. We walked past the candy shop and the jewelry shop and through the game room. We made our way to the ride section, where we were amazed at the prices of things. All the rides took tokens and each token cost 1. Most of the rides took between 3 and 8 tokens. That means for the ride called the Booster, which required 8 tokens, which is equivalent to $16, for one ride!!! Needless to say, we didn't ride anything. There is an electric train, which goes from one end of the beach to the other, and we rode on that, right past the "Naturist Beach" which is a story for another day. While we were on the pier, Dr. E found some cotton candy, which is called candy floss over here. It was delicious, so we helped her eat it. Then we saw this booth selling waffles on a stick, which is regular waffle batter, made sort of like a corn dog, but with chocolate and nuts on it. Quite delicious. Later, we passed a booth making and selling fresh donuts. They actually dropped into the hot oil right in front of us and made their way down this little hot oil bath, where they fell out into sugar. Lenese and I had to have some fresh, hot donuts. They were so hot when we first got them, that we couldn't eat them. So, we're walking along, minding our own business, eating our donuts. I stopped to look at a sign that said "Fish and Chips, with Mushy Peas" which is a cultural anomaly. How can a country as civilized as Britain actually eat and be proud of eating mushy peas? How gross is that? Anyway, while I was pointing at the sign and commenting on mushy peas, I felt this "whomp" against my hand, and my donut was gone. I looked up and a giant sea gull flew away, with my donut. I even looked all around thinking I dropped it, but nope, that bird snagged my donut. I was not a happy camper. I hope it made him sick! So, we learned while eating donuts don't stop walking, and don't stop and point at anything. If you stop, I guess the sea gulls think that you are fair game. So, we got on the train and rode down to the end, and then rode back. It was a fabulous, relaxing, fun day.



A weekend in Paris

Katherine and I spent the weekend in Paris. When I read that, a weekend in Paris, it sounds sort of glamorous and lovely – it wasn't. We went with a tour group, the same group that we used for Scotland last week. When we got on the train to leave for Scotland, we all got an itinerary with the address where we were staying, what time we were doing what, and even what time we would be leaving, and what seats were reserved for us on the train. Because that was our experience, we were expecting something like that again this weekend – it didn't happen. When the coach to pick us up was about 15 minutes late, we started to worry a bit. Then, the tour guide person, who we thought was the tour guide, told us that we would meet our guide in Paris, we worried a bit more. Then, when he added that we would be meeting the other tour, and that our whole group would be 49 people, it just got worse from there. Our driver never said a word to us, until we got to Dover. At that point, about 25 minutes before we parked, she walked through the coach yelling at people to wake up. Literally yelling, I'm not just exaggerating. She said "You have to wake up; you can't stay in the coach on the ferry." Mind you, we hadn't even been given permission to drive onto the ferry yet, much less driven on. She was quite an experience, all by herself.

So we finally drive onto the ferry. My experience with ferry boats is limited to the ferry at Disney World that takes you from the parking lot to the Magic Kingdom, and even then, I prefer the monorail, so I was not prepared for how monstrous this thing we got on really was. The ferry had four parking levels, and it was just monstrous. We didn't actually get a great view of the "White cliffs of Dover" until the way back.

I'm skipping over some stuff here, our driver getting lost, our great 20 minute lunch stop at a rest station, and some other stuff. On Friday, we got to Paris, took a river cruise on the Seine, wandered around the bottom of the Eiffel Tower, and checked into our hotel. Katherine and I checked in, and went for dinner.

On Saturday, we took a bus tour and went to Montmarte, and to Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. It was a fabulous view, although the men trying to tie these string things on us at the bottom were seriously creepy. They were very aggressive and would actually grab you. I have a thing about being touched by strangers and it was very uncomfortable for me. They wouldn't just go away. We rode the little elevator thing up, and then walked down the steps. On the way back to the bus, I had a wonderful experience; I had to use a public restroom. Thank goodness for Jill and Thomas, a couple from New Zealand we met, Jill saved me. She had disposable toilet seat covers and disinfectant wipes, because the toilet wouldn't let me wash my hands, even though there was a place to do it. I tried really hard not to breathe the whole time I was in there. That may be the most disgusting thing I've ever had to do in my life.

    Next, we went to Notre Dame, and wandered through the church. I was amazed at the people snapping pictures like mad, even though there were signs everywhere that said NO PHOTOGRAPHS. It was like fireworks on the Fourth of July in there, with all the flashes going off. I was also amazed that no one was telling anyone to stop. Katherine and I both tried our own little brand of subversive-ness; we tried to get in the way of as many pictures as possible.

I think I need to do laundry now, so I'll come back to this later.

Not quitting my day job. . .

I have made a monumental life decision today. If I intend to continue paying for the things I enjoy in life, like electricity, my car insurance, groceries, I can cross "photographer" off my list of career choices. Basically, when it comes to photographs, I stink. I can do the basic stuff, sure, here's where we were today, this is what we saw today, but when it comes to pictures that make people go "Wow – what a great shot" that will never be me. I'll stick with my day job.

Today, we had the opportunity to take fantastic pictures. We began in Regent's Park in the Rose Gardens. I have never seen so many roses in my life, I actually didn't even know that there were this many different kinds of roses. We wandered through, taking pictures of one gorgeous rose right after another. According to the Royal Parks website, there are over 30,000 roses and over 400 varieties. There were red one, white ones, yellow ones, and pink ones, some that were an orangey color. My favorite ones are pink and yellow together. I think they are called Fulton MacKay roses. My other favorite is the Nostalgia, which is white, but has pink or red just on the edges of the roses. I didn't see any that were ugly. The grass is perfectly manicured and it is just amazing to look at the ocean of roses. Today was a nice sunny day, and the only mar in an otherwise beautiful morning was the man sitting on a bench in just a Speedo swimsuit. I guess he wanted to enjoy the roses and the sunshine, but it wasn't such a pretty sight for the rest of us. . .

We wandered through the park some more, and ended up on Primrose Hill, which apparently is one of only two hills in all of London. (One of our Blue Badge guides told us that - the other is where St. Paul's is located, I think.) Climbing to the top was not easy – my calf muscles were NOT happy. But the view from the top was worth it. We ate our lunch with London spread out beneath us. Then we flew kites, just like they did at the end of Mary Poppins. It was very difficult to keep from singing "Let's Go Fly a Kite" but I managed to restrain myself after only one round. Actually, climbing to the top, I didn't have enough air to sing anything. I forgot my kite, I remembered it in the check in line at the Orlando airport, so Andrea let me fly hers, and Dr E offered to let me fly hers, but hers was inflatable and I was worried about popping it. We had an amazing variety of kites, an owl, a ladybug, Dr. Seuss, Dr. E's blow up Winnie the Pooh, Hello Kitty, and two other Winnie the Pooh kites, and Linda's dragon, which was seriously cool. Linda's flew like a dragon, swirling and diving. The wind was pretty strong and it was pretty to see all the kites in the sky. Of course, my pictures of the kite flying turned out awful, as it was hard to see what I was aiming at. One more reason I won't be opening up shop as a photographer. After we flew the kites, everybody gave them away to children nearby, so even after we left, Hello Kitty, and the owl, and some others were still flying.

We went back down the hill, which was MUCH easier, to the London Zoo. We went through the Zoo backwards, so my first glimpse of animals was some sort of predatory bird (the cage said Golden eagle, but I'm not sure!) carrying a chick in its beak. I'm not sure if it was its own chick or a chicken chick, but he/she/it was carrying the poor dead chick, and then it took it over behind a bush and ripped the chick's head off and ate it. That was my introduction to the London Zoo. Let me say, the PB and J from lunch was not sitting so well. We wandered on past some kind of vulture, who was enjoying some small furry creature for lunch. He was pulling out entrails and seemed to be enjoying his lunch very much. Second glimpse of animals in the zoo. Yay. We moved on to gorillas, and couldn't figure out why the water in their water bottles was brown. We watched the keeper hide their food out in the grass, so they could forage. We went into the petting zoo part, but didn't pet anything, even though there were sheep. I think I caught a glimpse of a roadrunner, but could never get to it to see if that is what it really was. We spent lots of time at the penguin pool. I love penguins. I think they are so cute. None of the penguins would swim for us. Two or three kept teasing us, walking right on the edge, and I would swear to you one stuck in his toe to test the water and then walked away. One was posing, so we could get great shots of him. Okay, other people may have great shots of him; I have pictures of the penguin.

Tomorrow early, Katherine and I leave for a weekend in Paris. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures when we get back. Right now, I'm just worried about being carsick on the coach. I do have some great herbal motion sickness medicine that Andrea gave me, so 5 hours on a coach, let's hope it works. We leave from Dover, so we will get to see the "White Cliffs of Dover", which I'm pretty excited about. I also can't wait to get pain au chocolat. I did check out a French English dictionary from the library. I think I'll mark the word for bathroom ahead of time.

Avebury, Lacock, Salisbury

Today was a busy, busy day! Today, we started out our day on a coach trip to Avebury. Avebury is a stone circle that is older than Stonehenge, and the big plus about Avebury, is that you actually get to walk among and touch the stones. It is fascinating to be among things that are so ancient. It really made me feel kind of insignificant and puny. Another really cool thing, at least for me, was the sheep. Apparently, the National Trust, who is in charge of this henge (as all stone circles are called, according to Hugh, our fantastic Blue Badge guide – more about that later) allows some farmer to let his or her sheep graze among the stones. We wandered in-between a whole flock of sheep. This is good, because it keeps the grass down. This is not so good, because it requires you to do some sort of weird poo-poo dance as you walk through the grass. It's hard to look at the stones while you are watching where you put your feet. There is a big hill that the ancient people built with the dirt they dug out of the ditch that surrounds the circle and from the top of the hill, the view is just incredible.

After Avebury, we moved on to Lacock. Lacock is this town with an abbey that used to be a nunnery that has been standing for hundreds of years. Hugh told us that this is one of the few remaining really old manor homes that remain, as the stones for some were used to build other things. He showed us the "ha-ha" a ditch dug to keep the grazing animals away from the front of the manor house, I guess so the lord and lady of the manor didn't have to do the poo-poo dance. (Funny, I wouldn't have realized how important the ha-ha was, if we hadn't been to Avebury first.) The Cloisters of the Abbey were used in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which over here, was called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. On the way back, we watched the movie in the bus, and it was really cool to see them walking in places we had just walked. I found this room called the Warming Room, which is the only place the nuns were allowed to have a fire, and it has a big rectangle tank in it, that they think may have been used to hold fish to eat on Fridays. Pretty cool stuff. We had lunch at the Red Lion, which is a bed and breakfast, and the people sitting next to us asked us what part of the States we were from. What is it, do we have a sign that says "Hey look, these are Americans?" When we told them we were from Florida, they asked if we knew Placida, which is near Englewood, which is where my family is at the beach this week. We have both eaten at the Fishery, which is this great restaurant in Placida. How cool is that? It really is a small world.

Last but not least, we went to Salisbury, to the Cathedral. Salisbury Cathedral is celebrating is 750^th birthday this year. Go ahead and do the math; that means it was built in 1258. Now, I learned during Dr. Kotrla's class that I am innumerate, that I have basically no concept of numbers, but that completely boggles my mind. It is just hard for me to comprehend that I was standing in a 750 year old building. They are working on it, refurbishing some parts, but still . . . 750 years is just beyond me.

We have had several tours now with Blue Badge guides and of course, being the nosy, or rather, the curious person that I am; I have had several questions bubbling through my head about the guides. So today, poor Hugh was the recipient of my questions. So, here goes, way more than you probably ever wanted to know about Blue Badge Guides. First of all, to be a Blue Badge is not just any old guide. They are recognized as the best guides around. Each guide chooses, based on their own interest, sort of a specialty, some things that they are really interested in, and has to study to know all the big facts but also the little bits and bobs that make a tour really interesting. They have to take a really big exam, and do practice tours. I also think that they practice an authoritative tone, so even if they are making something up, it sounds really good and they make it sound like they know what they are talking about. We have had fantastic guides, Hugh and Brian are both fantastic. I have no idea how anyone would get in touch with them, but if you ever need a Blue Badge guide, try and get one of them. They even satisfy my curiosity, which sometimes is not an easy thing, since I want to know everything, and sometimes have some pretty weird questions flying around in my head.

National Portrait Gallery and the British Library

Today we explored the National Portrait Gallery, well, there's no way we saw everything, we zipped through the National Portrait Gallery. It sort of overwhelms me that there are enough portraits of important British people to fill up an entire gallery. We commented on how so many portraits of certain time periods, all the people looked alike. We also wondered how many people really looked like their portrait, or was the painter being kind. One guy whose name I can't remember had a black bandage to cover a scar on his nose. Wouldn't the scar have been a lot less noticeable than this big black gash across his nose? And why didn't he have the artist just paint it out? I don't get that. I examined the picture of King George lll; he didn't look like such a bad guy. We've always learned how mean and nasty he was, I guess I expected him to look like the devil or something. Some of the portraits are so massive; we wonder how anybody could get the people to sit still that long. One picture was monstrous, it was some other guy I can't remember, his wife and their five children. I don't believe for one second those five little ones stood still for any amount of time. Maybe that's why they all look alike. . .

We also saw some really great photographs. There is an exhibit of Black Film Actors that is awesome. There are people who have been actors for years, and some just starting out, and they are all in different clothes and poses and attitudes, but all of the pictures are looking right at you. It was incredible.

After that, we went to lunch, and then back to St. Martin-in-the-Fields for a lunchtime concert. This very young guy, not even 20 yet, played the harpsichord. I was fascinated by the harpsichord and actually wanted to look at it much closer but a big crowd gathered around it and I think some part of it hit the floor. I heard a big crash. I wrote myself a note to figure out the difference between a harpsichord and a piano. The man next to me kept taking pictures, even though the paper said not to and the lady at the beginning said not to. I was getting irritated with him. The teacher in me wanted to make him stop. His wife was studying her map of Harrods's the whole time. I'm not even sure why they were there. One time the man fell asleep, I think. He certainly did the whole head bobble thing that happens when people fall asleep in church.

After that, we went to the British Library, after a quick trip to King's Cross for a group picture at Platform 9 ¾. As we walked up to the British Library, the massive statue outside caught my eye first. Then I noticed, thanks to Andrea, Anne Frank's tree. It is a tree planted in her memory, and to the memory of children everywhere who die in wars. I think I got a picture of the tree, I know I did of the plaque. We went inside and explored a bit. It is a massive building, and we went first to the exhibit, Treasures of the Library. This was the coolest thing ever. We certainly did see some treasures. I looked at the journal of Captain Cook, from his trip on the Endeavor, where he landed in Australia, and Admiral Nelson's logbook of HMS Victory, from October 21, 1805. I also spent time looking at a Gutenberg Bible and one copy of the Magna Carta. There was a letter from Florence Nightingale, and Lewis Carroll's diary. There was a whole section on lyrics from Beatle's tunes, and Mendelssohn's sheet music from the "Wedding March." It was just incredible. We wandered around some more and just saw so many things. It was just incredible. The whole building is unbelievable. It was a fantastic day.

Tomorrow we are going to the Avebury Stone Circle, and to Lacock and Salisbury. I'm hoping for no car or bus sickness.