Wow, what a week. I've been getting up at 5:00 a.m. every morning (which would be 6:00 a.m. without the time change so it shouldn't seem so early but it sure does) and having to go to bed earlier so I don't fall asleep every time I sit down! We transferred a Chinese student from another elementary school so he can gets more hours of service but he has to ride the bus to the middle school which leaves and arrives an hour earlier. I meet him in the morning and then escort him back in the afternoon. Everything has gone fairly smoothly with the transition except on Friday when I went to meet the bus there was no Qi (pronounced Chi). I figured he was either sick or had just missed it and maybe someone from his family would bring him later. Around 8:30 we got a call from the Principal at his former school saying he had ridden the bus there and gone to his old class. She packed him up in her car and drove him over. He looked a little embarrassed but we didn't think any more of it. Later in the morning my teacher called his family liaison and I talked to Qi. From the family we found out that little Qi had told his auntie (who he lives with) that his teacher at our school had told him it was ok to go visit his old school! From Qi I found out that he "just wanted to visit my old school and teacher"!! I hope he gets in at least a little trouble for that lying. I know it must be hard but still!!
H was in Mexico for most of the week, leaving Michigan on Tuesday morning and not coming home until late Friday night. He flew in to Mexico City, drove two hours to a town called Pueblo and spent the week there for a VW Expo. Unfortunately for him (and us) he didn't make it back in time for bowling Friday night. :-(
So for bowling it was just me, Judy and Bill. His thumb is all healed up but somehow he bowled worse than when he was injured! I, on the other hand, bowled fabulously!! Best series I've had in ages. I bowled a 149, 163 and 181! I actually beat Bill two games and beat Judy all three! That never, I mean never, happens!! I had a 493 series, almost 500!! Fat lot of good it did us though as we only took 1 point unfortunately. Before Friday night we had moved up to 5th place but that's probably lost now.
Saturday morning H and I headed for the Farmer's Market to pick up some eggs. We took the Mustang since it was a nice, sunny day though it was too chilly to put the top down. Last week the weather was really nice except for Tuesday when it was foggy and drizzly all day. It has been unseasonably warm for Michigan in November. Often we've had really cold temps and snow by now. Then today dawned and it was gray again. This is how the sky looked most of the day:
Today when I took the pups up to the high school it was really chilly. It was about 40 degrees but the wind was blowing so I'm sure the wind chill was much lower! I guess Winter is finally showing up, or pre-winter anyway. My hands were freezing and we couldn't stay long. And for some reason my camera was taking really crappy pictures. I'm blaming it on the grayness. They were either dark or out of focus.
These two came out ok but no good jumping shots today.
But I did get these two videos. Ok, they aren't the best, but it's hard to film and throw at the same time!
In other news, we are expecting a visit from a certain little someone in just 5 days! Next Saturday we will be laying some serious kisses on this little cutie! She's 10 months old already!! That's so close to a year old I can hardly stand it!! She really is something else. Just look at this pose! Oh My Goodness. Serious cuteness there!
I also saw this great pic of Ty. Apparently he's doing a little sight seeing there in South Korea. I snagged this pic off his Facebook so I don't really know what's going on but he was visiting some kind of village I think. Maybe some day he'll update his blog and we can all find out what the heck he is doing over there! I miss you son.
So that's really all the news worth reporting. I am so looking forward to Saturday and our few days with Quinn and Amber. They are coming in a few days early and then Andy will come on Wednesday so they can head over to the west side to visit the Porters for Thanksgiving. Then they will all be back here in a few short weeks for Christmas! This will be a wonderful Christmas. The only one missing will be Ty. He can't afford to spend the $1,500 to fly home for just a few days. Guess we'll just have to wait until May.
It was a busy weekend though really I didn't do that much. Maybe I should say instead that it seemed to pass so quickly! But before the weekend came the busy week. Work was busy, as usual, but with some added work because we in ESL were preparing for the 2nd Annual Latino Festival on Thursday night. Things were being gathered around the community and then on Thursday we were running around picking up donated items and then getting the cafeteria and gym ready for the big fiesta! The doors opened at 5:00 so we only had a couple hours to get things ready. The parents showed up in full force and started decorating and soon after that the food started arriving. At 5:00 sharp the mariachi band started, followed by the dancers, both kids and adults. I somehow ended up being the photographer for most of the evening but I wasn't using my camera so I don't have any pictures. It was all very colorful and enjoyable though. I purchased a dozen tamales at the end of the evening to share with Scott and H. We ended up having them for dinner Friday night but I have to say, they just weren't as good a day later. The Festival ended at 8:00 but it was 9:30 before we were finished cleaning up and were able to go home. On Friday we were all dragging but kids still must be pulled and taught so there was no rest for the weary. Ok, I'll admit it, we did put a movie in for our very last group but I've been told ESL children need to watch more movies to understand dialogue, etc.
Saturday H and Scott helped me out at the garden. We were supposed to go out there to turn over our plots and work in manure but unfortunately no manure was delivered. Instead they just turned the soil over and we smoothed the plots. We will try to top dress the plots if the manure is delivered in the next couple weeks. It was disappointing that no one had let us know as we could have waited and done it all at once. I wasn't much help as I've been having shoulder pain that just doesn't want to go away and doing things like shoveling and raking makes it worse. When we got home I planted about 70 tulips in the front yard and just that motion has made my shoulder hurt all weekend.
We also spent a few minutes skyping with our favorite girls!
Quinn really seemed to be able to see us and was waving and saying hi but soon lost interest and just wanted to wiggle and squirm on her mommy's lap. I can't wait for the day when she realizes it's Mimi and Grandpa H that she's talking to!
After our chat I took the pups up to the high school field for some frisbee play. After a week cooped up in the house they were very anxious to run and play. When I got home I fixed H and Scott a nice dinner of chicken enchiladas as a thank you for all their help at the garden. During the prep I happened to look out the window and saw this beautiful sunset. They are pretty rare around here and unfortunately the trees block most of it but it's still a pretty sight.
After setting all the clocks back this morning (man do we have a lot of clocks) and fixing breakfast I decided to head out for a little shopping. Now that the cold weather has arrived and I'm having to give up my capri's for long pants I realized I only really have 3 pair of pants (plus jeans that I can only wear on Friday) to wear for 4 days which means I'm wearing one pair twice. Not good. Plus I wanted to pick up some things for H's brother's son's (our nephew Aaron) new baby, Caleb. Shopping for baby boy clothes sure is different than shopping for baby girl clothes. Everything is gray or tan, with a little red or blue thrown in. I managed to buy 4 pair of pants, including cords which I probably won't wear until it gets a bit colder, a couple tops and a sweater. They are playing Christmas music in every store and have all the decorations up and gift displays everywhere.
After my successful shopping trip I took the pups back to the high school field. The light felt so weird as it was only 4:00 but felt like 6:00. A good time was had by all!
This next week should be interesting. I have been offered another hour a day of work. Unfortunately it comes first thing in the morning, like at 7:00 a.m. Let's just say, I have enough trouble getting to work by 8:00. Getting there by 7:00 should be interesting. I'm definitely going to have to go to bed earlier. No more staying up until 11:30 every night. A student I see at one elementary school but only 2 days a week, is going to be riding the early bus to the main school where the program is housed. Kids at that school, who are lower, are seen every day. Plus I will be giving him one on one tutoring for that hour in the morning. This is a 4th grade boy from China and he has only been in the country since February. He can already speak a little English but has a reading level of about a first grader. He's really good at math though and is very sweet. So, we'll see how this goes. I'm really not looking forward to this getting up at 5:00 or 5:30 though. I wish I wasn't so high maintenance, like a natural beauty who didn't need make-up or a gal who could just put her hair in a pony tail and go. Unfortunately, that is NOT me. I need maintenance time. Wish me luck.
It's been a busy weekend!! It started with Friday night bowling. We picked Judy up and were waiting for Bill when we got a call that he was getting stitches in his hand and would be a couple minutes late. Thankfully the other team was kind enough to let him catch up when he got there though they were probably cursing that decision since we ended up taking all 4 points from them! Bill ended up with 3 stitches in his thumb up where it joins the hand so didn't really get in the way of bowling though it did continue to bleed all through the 3 games. But hey, we still won all 4 points which we really needed since we were in 10th place! I didn't bowl well at all due to this stupid shoulder pain I've been having. All 3 games were under my average of 135. Oh well, thankfully my team rocked!!
It ended with a nice hour of Trick or Treating and sitting on the porch handing out our big bowl of candy. But there was so much more!!
Cookie (people) baking, H's complaints finally got to me so I baked him cookies first so he wouldn't complain about the rest of the baking!
More cookie (dog) baking, Complete with dogs under foot, waiting for said cookies to fall on the floor or for the people to finally give them one since they are looking so pitiful.
A trip to the park (and they were so happy)
Sunday trip to the park, more happiness,
This was so funny! He had it over his eyes and was running in my general direction but was about to run past me when I called his name and he did a quick turn towards me!
It was quite a dreary afternoon but every great once in a while the sun poked out, but not while we were at the field and it was quite chilly!!
After dropping the pups off at home I headed out to the garden. It's been so long since I've been out there I can't even really remember the last time I went. Things looked bleak. The tomatoes were history. Nothing left to do there but pull them out and take my cages home. I harvested everything that was worth saving and surprisingly there was quite a bit. There were quite a few of the hot peppers left and the real shocker was the broccoli. It was still putting out small heads so I harvested those and pulled out the plants. I also pulled the last of the carrots and managed to get a gallon size bag worth. Then I harvested my herbs, Rosemary, Thyme and Parsley. I put the Rosemary in the fridge and dried the Thyme and will probably dry the Parsley too, maybe tomorrow.
Parsley
Rosemary & Broccoli
Peppers (including one bell pepper)
When I got home from the garden there was just enough time to carve the pumpkin and put the candy in the bowl before the Trick or Treaters started arriving.
This little cutie got to enjoy her first Halloween! I hope she didn't eat too much candy! I wouldn't want her to rot out those new little teeth she's getting! So Cute!!
Happy Birthday Andy! And it's a big one too, 30 years old today! This is probably what he looked like just a short time ago, young with hardly a responsibility! He was The King of the World!!
Plenty of free time to enjoy life!
Time to sit around on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy a beer or two.
Then his world turned upside down.
There were a few sleepless nights (though he doesn't always remember them).
And this will probably be his happiest Birthday yet!
Happy Birthday Andy! Hope you find time to enjoy life and your beautiful family! May this be your best year yet!! How could it not be when he has this to come home to every day???
I had a really nice 3 day weekend in Virginia. I had hoped to return to Michigan on Monday but due to a miscommunication between me and my Principal, I had to change my return flight and come hone Sunday night instead of Monday afternoon. One thing I found out as a result, Sunday night is the busiest travel night in Detroit of any day. Apparently everyone is trying to prolong their return to the Big D until the last possible moment. It was a madhouse in the parking garage trying to find a ride back to find my car. Finally when the third van arrived I was one of the first to reach it and jumped in the front seat before anyone else could get to it!
Friday morning's flight was totally uneventful. The drive to the airport, however, wasn't quite as easy. I took the route I usually take, a surface street, 4 lanes, that goes straight down to the airport but unbeknownst to me there was construction going on for most of the drive. Finally, after about 1/2 hour in bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic, I called Amber to google me an alternate route. I took a couple wrong turns and had to stop at McDonald's to use the bathroom but I made it with about an hour to spare before my flight left. The only other inconvenience with the flight was that for some reason my seat selection had been cancelled so I had to sit in Row 36 (out of 38) so I was waaaaay at the back of the plane right next to the engine. Thankfully I hadn't checked a bag so I got off fairly quickly and Amber and Quinn picked me up without a problem. I jumped in the back seat with Quinn and at first she was ok but then that lower lip started quivering. In another few minutes she was smiling and everything was fine again.
Except for a quick trip to the park we just hung around the house for the afternoon. It was kind of cool and windy at the park so we didn't stay long. I took a few pics but she was totally out of it, hardly smiled at all. This next one was about the only one where she cracked a smile. I had to be ridiculous!
Saturday morning we 3 girls headed to Kohl's for a little retail therapy. I had $30 Kohl's cash that I wanted to spend before it expired. We didn't find too much that was worth buying so we quickly found a few things and we were easily home in time for Quinn's nap. While she was sleeping Amber and I went to get pedicures. I really needed one but the woman who did mine was really rough and tickled my feet like crazy! The rest of the day was spent hanging out with Quinn, watching her perfect all her new skills like crawling, pulling up on furniture and sitting back down. She has gotten so much bigger in just 5 short weeks. Amber and I also spent a little time cleaning out and organizing her closet. Amber found this Aussie pup I had given her for Christmas a few years back and Quinn had a ball with it. Every time we made it bark she laughed and laughed! I tried to talk Andy & Amber into going out to dinner or a movie but they just wanted to get a pizza and hang out at home. Quinn was in bed before 8:00 and we watched Julie and Julia and I was barely able to stay awake through the whole thing.
Sunday was a beautiful day. The sun was out and it wasn't as windy as Saturday. The weatherman predicted a perfect day for the Zoo. We all ate breakfast and Quinn took her morning nap before we headed out. The best thing about the day was spending time with Quinn and Amber and Andy and being outside on a beautiful Fall day. Here's Quinn (and me) waiting for Amber & Andy to make a quick stop in Starbucks before we hit the zoo.
Oh, here they are now!
First stop, Sloth Bear. He was very slothlike.
The Pandas were supposed to be a big draw but they were mostly hiding behind stuff and if not for my telephoto lens we wouldn't have even been able to see them. We tried from several spots to see the Pandas but they weren't very cooperative either. This was the best I could do. This was probably the best panda shot of the day! Unfortunately the animals weren't really into people looking at them at the zoo. Here are a few pictures I managed to get.
Cute little monkey!! After we left the zoo we walked to a restaurant nearby for lunch and ate outside on the patio. Quinn was fascinated with the pigeons who waited anxiously for any crumbs to drop. When we returned home we girls took a nap though one of us not nearly as long as everyone would have liked. I've never known a baby who can get by on such little sleep. I spent the afternoon trying to get some good video of her for her Uncle Tyler. I feel bad he's missing out on all her growing up and won't get to see her again until she's over a year old. This is the best I can do. I wanted to get her "talking" in so you'll have to forgive Amber & Andy discussing a home improvement they are working on in the background. Guess I should have told them I was filming!! :-)
The trip home was uneventful, other than what I said before about it being such a busy time at the airport. The Reagan airport is fairly small and the gate was pretty packed when I got to it, barely a seat to sit in. I was in Zone 4, the last zone to board and as I learned earlier this year, I never want to be the last to get in line when my zone is called so I got close to the line when Zone 3 was called. Even with doing that, I was one of the last people on the plane in Row 13! How does that happen? Of course I had a window seat and the other two people in my row were already seated so they had to get up and move and wait for me to get settled. Somehow in the process my cell phone fell out of my pocket and disappeared somewhere under the seat. You are so jammed into the seat there is no room to maneuver and look around so I just decided I would wait until the plane landed and try to find the phone then. Of course then I worried about it ringing but then figured if it rang at least I would hear it and could possibly find it and then after all that worrying, remembered it was on vibrate. After all that worrying, about half way through the flight, I felt something hit my foot, slid off my sandal and felt my phone. It had returned to me after all!
Weekends like this make me wish we all lived closer together. Even with getting to see Quinn every month or so it's just too long between visits. Oh well, I have something to look forward to! Hurry up Thanksgiving!!!
So I wrote this post last Monday but the week has been so busy I didn't have time to download and get the pictures on here until today.
We in ESL finally finished giving the MEAP on Thursday. I was the last one. I ended up reading 3rd, 4th and 5th grade Math tests and 5th grade Science and just supervised the 3rd and 4th and 5th grade reading and writing. It really was a busy two week period. Things should return to normal next week except for the dreaded anticipation of Halloween! The kids really start getting wound up by Wednesday and after that, forget it, you aren't getting much out of them! Friday afternoon will be the parties so we won't be getting anything done on that day!
It's cold, gray and raining off and on here this weekend. I have two very disappointed pups. Every time I head toward the back door they get so excited and then realize they aren't going with me.
Speaking of going places, I talked to Tyler briefly last night on Skype and he was heading to Seoul for a few days of training. I guess most of the teachers arrive there in September and go for training now. Even though he's been there since May I guess they figured he needed some training too. Hopefully it will be a nice trip for him and he'll take lots of pictures and update his blog!! (subtle hint)
Not too much else happening around here this weekend. H took my car down to the tire shop today to get some badly needed tires, just in time for winter driving. Even though the car doesn't have 40,000 miles on it yet and it's a 2002, I guess the tires have worn out. I'm glad I don't have to worry about driving those 3-4 miles to work and back every day on bad tires!
I do have to get out to the garden soon and pull everything out but I'm guessing it won't be this weekend as the weather man is predicting more rain for tomorrow. I haven't been out there in weeks so I'm sure most everything is brown and dead by now. I also have about 40 tulip bulbs to get planted before we start getting hard frosts that will make it too hard to dig them in.
Tyler-hope you enjoy the videos of Quinn. She's getting so big!
