How Easy It Is To Forget

I love being a teacher. It really is a great job. I also love back to school time. I LOVE back to school shopping. I love getting new things for my classroom. New markers, pencils, containers, etc. etc. What I do have a love/hate relationship with is the setting up of my classroom. I know that all of you in the non-teaching world think this is crazy because it couldn't possibly take that much time. How very wrong you would be. VERY WRONG. It take hours and hours, days and DAYS. This part I do not love. It is exhausting. I do very much love the result. I love when it is all done and I can stand back with pride and gaze upon its beauty (because honestly it will only look that nice for about two days before the kids make a mess). What I did not like about today was that I spent four hours at work and felt like I got very little done. The problem? My classroom may not be my classroom. All week I have had the fact that I may get moved into a different class- my current room down stairs, my possible new room upstairs-looming over my head. Today I was informed that I would be moving into the classroom next door so I spent my whole day moving stuff from one classroom into the room next door and then moving what was already in that room to the other (confusing way to say it, but I just switched stuff). I don't know what I am going to do if I get to work on Monday and I am told to then move it all upstairs. It could still happen. If one more kindergartner adds then we add a new kindergarten class and then classrooms shift. I don't know if I will be able to move it all over again, at least without crying.

Gaynor Hopkins, Eat Your Heart Out!

Ladies and Gentlemen, today, the painters are in the house despackling and respackling the bathroom and hallway (confidential to my upstairs neighbor: Try plumbers). Let me tell you right here and now, you cannot truly call yourself a citizen of this world until you hear a sing-a-long of Total Eclipse of the Heart en espagnol.

It's magical.

A Hiking We Will Go...

Websters says:

Hike (verb): to walk or march a great distance, esp. through rural areas, for pleasure, exercise, military training, or the like.

Urban Dictionary (just for fun, I looked it up) says:
hiking: 1. walking where it's okay to pee. 2. To crack a joke on someone or something. ex:Yo, they was hiking this dude down about his clothes. 3.A common euphemism for having sex/having an affair. This term was popularized by Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who went missing for several days and informed the public he was hiking 4. outdoors, that is, usually not on your property. This is impossible in urban areas, because being undetected is a top priority 5.when you and your girlfriend hang out in the middle of the night while naked (or the guy can wear boxers). Ex: Me and Jenny were hiking last night and it was phat.

* I didn't make these up I took the definitions, and their examples straight off the site.

wow, urban dictionary, you sure know how to ruin a word. We went hiking, in the Websters dictionary definition way, this morning. Which made me SOOOO happy because I LOOOVE to hike. I have this thing about having to get away from DC every once in a while. The NOVA/DC area can really bog you down sometimes. Too much traffic, too many people, just too much everything. One thing I really like about where I live is that a good get away is never too far away. I've been wanting to hike Old Rag all summer, but alas most of my friends work all week and I won't do longer hikes alone. Lucky for me, Becca is a good friend. Becca is a great best friend who will let me wake her up at 6:30 a.m. so that she can sit in a car and try to read my messy handwriting and bad directions. (best line of the day? Becca at 6:45 a.m. - "I love you, but I don't like you right now.") A good friend who will deal with me stopping twice to make sure I am going the right way because I am pretty sure but not 100% (I blame google maps, worst directions EVER.) A friend that will deal with me repeatedly pointing out the beautiful view. A friend who put up with swarms of bugs that kept attacking her, and some pretty nasty heat and humidity. For me, it was a great day. A good hike that wasn't hard, but wasn't so easy that I felt like I was taking a stroll, you had to work for it a bit. A good drive and plenty of singing at the top of my lungs. Bonus: lunch in a very cute little town. Minus: we could not find a dairy queen (why are they not everywhere?!).

Yay for a fun day, boo that it was probably one of my last fun times of the summer. As of Monday, I am a working girl again.

R.N.Y.C.

I know that it's been awhile since I've posted on this thing. I guess about a month. A few reasons for this:
1. I am using my parent's computer and while I am not ashamed of anything I write on here, I really don't want to have to explain it, talk about, create blogs for my parents etc. etc.
2. I didn't really think that I had anything to share. No funny stories, just moving and trying to fit all my stuff back in the apartment already filled with stuff.
3.I am lazy.

The past few days, I have been in Florida visiting some old friends who I haven't seen for awhile. They have spawned a cute little kid with pigtails since I saw them last, moved houses, and it was great to kick back with some wine and great to catch up with them.

Most importantly, it was great that Ape took me to the Redneck Yacht Club. For those of you who do not know this song, I suggest you look it up, at least for the lyrics. The video from YouTube is basically what it looked like...except there were more muscle tees and fewer attractive people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsGOX7DMVCg
I met someone with a mullet and a Dale Earnhardt Jr. koozie named Darryl. He's my new boyfriend. As soon as I can figure out how to get the pictures off my camera, I will post the pics of PVC pipe anchors and fully clothed rednecks named Bo and Bud hanging out drinking Natty Light.

I felt like a cultural anthropologist.

Until You Drop

Hi, my name is Amber, and I'm a shopaholic. (I imagine you fellow shoppers responding with the typical AA type response, but I also imagine most of you non-shopaholics are rolling your eyes and shaking your heads) It is a shameful part of my life, but I am. I have sadly been known to participate in retail therapy. Yes, I have used shopping to make myself feel better. Yes, I know that is sad. I decided I needed some new clothes for work. I know what you are thinking- by "needed" does she actually really mean "wanted"? No, I really did need some new clothes because 90% of what I own is either not appropriate to wear to work, or too big for me. So I decided to head to the Leesburg Outlets because I knew I needed to do some considerable amounts of shopping. Here is my thing when it comes to shopping, I HATE to have to search for a good deal. I am not one of those people who will sift through the sale rack until I find that $5 skirt. I find it annoying and honestly I would rather pay full price than waste the time and energy. I do however LOVE a bargain. This is why I love outlets- everything is on sale, but the stores are still nicely organized so I don't have to do a ton of digging. I can still fully enjoy my shopping experience. Another thing about me and shopping, I probably should not be allowed to do it alone. Now I don't shop like many girls out there. I know what I like and I make decisions quickly. So I will often shop alone to avoid having to spend hours with a friend who will try on everything in the store and make me give my opinion on it all- it takes forever. There are however a few friends who I know I can shop with and I should be forced to always take them along. Reason being that I need someone there to tell me no. If I ever do get married, I feel for the man because he will have to tame the shopping beast. I need someone to tell me to put it down, you don't need that 4th pair of jeans, even if they do only cost $35. I say this because although I do love to shop, I am also a guilty shopper. I think that this is in part due to my time in Kenya. I do my shopping, get all excited about my purchases, and then get in the car and feel like a horrible human being for spending all that money on something as stupid as clothing. I notice that every once in a while I will have an experience that makes me stop and realize how easily I have slipped back into my old habits. Experiences that make me realize how much has changed in the year I have been back. How I used to stop and really think about making a purchase because I had constant visual reminders of how that money could be better spent, but now I just hand over my credit card because I can. Not should, but can. So I came home with my shopping bags (I will not admit here how many that was) and decided I had to give away at least once piece of clothing currently in my closet for every piece I bought. Does this make it better? No. Is this probably just my way of justifying the choices I made today? Most likely. But, at least it's a start.

Cali, Baby, Cali

Where do I even begin? Maybe with how this all came about- let us take a walk down memory lane shall we? So, this has been a particularly yucky year for me, topped off by a mini-sort of-midlife-crisis surrounding my 29th birthday (which in hindsight seems ridiculous now). My solution was to find some thrilling adventure to liven things up a bit. Now, I know I may not seem the thrill seeking type but do not let my preppy looks deceive you. I love a thrill. Give me any adventure and I'm there. Throw me out of a plane, send me down a river, I'll take it. Tell me I can't, won't or shouldn't and I'll be even more likely to do it- and just to one up you, I'll do it first. This need for adventure drives my poor mother crazy, but I figure you only get to live once right? I got it in my head that bungee jumping was what I needed to tackle next and I was determined to do it. So, mission #1: find someone willing to do this with me (because adventure is never as fun alone). Sadly most of friends are not the thrill seeking types, so I could easily check almost all of my female friends off the list of possibilities. Boys, however, are more likely to take you up on this type of adventure. Mission #1 was completed; Mike was in and I didn't even have to do any convincing- now that's my kind of friend. Mission #2: How many activities can you cram into 4 days? Well, if you're us, quite a few. So in four days we hit Stockton, Yosemite, Gold Country, Jumped off a bridge and San Francisco. So here are a few comments on each:

-Stockton: looks like this when you look it up on line. This is what it is really like. (read the crime section) Our hotel was on the same line as the Bates Motel. I thought we were going to get jacked in the night. Take my advice and avoid like the plague. Do not convince yourself that driving half way to Yosemite after being on a plane is smarter than just driving the whole way- in this case it was not.

-Yosemite: Is beautiful. My love of photography was on overload. Big trees, big rock formations, curvy roads. Apparently there were also bears, which we could not find anywhere. I wish there had been more time to see it all. Only downside was people everywhere.

-Gold County: is interesting. There are some cute little towns but it seems as though they haven't quiet figured out how to really make them all that interesting. The area is pretty and very peaceful, and historic.

-Bungee Jumping: is excellent. It is a total rush. Where we jumped was remote and beautiful. It was a feeling I will never forget and hope to repeat. I got a little banged up, pretty much due to user error, but nothing too bad and very worth it.

-San Francisco: is a pretty cool city. It seems like 90% of the city has an amazing view that I am admittedly jealous of. I would hate to drive/park there, no doubt about it. Although I saw so much of the city, again I wish I had had more time there.

Then came the problem of trying to decide which pictures to post here. Too many good ones, and posting pictures of the bungee were a no go. So hopefully these will do... (you have to click on the collage to really get a good look)

So, all in all, I give California an A. Bungee jumping definitely A++++. Now I just have to figure out what adventure to tackle next...

It Ain't Pretty

Sometimes I find myself in a funk for no good reason, like today. I have every reason to be in a good mood. I just returned from a good evening with friends that included watching the Red Sox win and pie, what else could a girl ask for? Instead I found myself grumpy. (my guess is actually lack of caffeine. Darn you coffee what have you done to me?!) This can go one of two ways for me: Way #1: I recognize and do something to slap myself out of it quickly OR Way #2: It's probably better for me to spend the day alone because no one is going to want to be around my mood. So, I got out of the house and tried #1. Nope, didn't cut it today. So, I resigned to #2. Having to do that only worsened the mood. This can only lead to things like stubbing my toe and spilling an entire bottle of water down the front of my shirt. Ugh, is it bedtime yet? Let's try out tomorrow please.

Then came dinner. Although I love to cook when I am in a mood all I want to do is grab a bowl of ice cream and call it a day. My psyche may thank me today for that decision, my butt won't thank me tomorrow- and I'm only trying to have one bad day thank you, so no. Also, I have a fridge full of food and leave shortly for vacay. So, I grumped my way into the kitchen to make myself a batch of what I like to call "everything in my fridge." Is it pretty? No. Would I serve this to you if you came to my house for dinner? Not on your life. Did it taste fantastic? You better believe it. Did it get me out of my funk? Oddly, yes. I may not be good at a lot of things, but I can figure out how to make something out of seemingly a whole lot of nothing. Tonight, I can make chickpeas and a banana pepper work together like no one else. There is something about a culinary success that turns my day around. I suddenly have the energy to rejoin society without telling everyone off.

Too bad it's now 8:30 at night.