The treehouse stinks of burnt plastic plus magnolia vanilla air freshener and a powerful but delicious gingerbread candle. I'm freezing because the windows have been open half an hour and slightly delirious from the smell... This may be a signal from the universe that I am really meant to do nothing during this winter break...
I've been doing a lot of relaxing this break because my body has given me serious signs I need to slow down - weird piercing random headaches along with total lightheadedness for a week had me quite concerned and I totally slowed down (aka: retired to being a slug on my couch) for a week before Christmas. (I "passed" all the tests the doctor put me through, so all signs point to stress that I need to manage a bit better.) This was followed by a Christmas cold/flu that my husband shared with me, so it has been all about reading good books and watching lots of movies the last week and a half. The only truly constructive things I have done include the following:
1. KB drove me to school for one hour so I could change the water in Bubbles' tank so that he survives the holidays. He is spending Christmas and New Years at school by himself this year after the close escape from death that we had last holiday season...
2. Spent Christmas Eve in Burtnieki with IG's family. It was quite nice to be in a family setting again for Christmas this year. We baked more piparkukas and piragi and had lots of great food to eat, and we sang Christmas and other songs. I hope we didn't get anyone else sick.
3. I have been attempting to dye fabric. Thus the treehouse smells of burnt plastic and I think I may just need to go back to only relaxing....
I am participating with five other women in my family on round robin quilts, where each person adds something to each quilt, writes a little something a journal that travels with that quilt, and it the end everyone has their own special quilt to keep, along with the story of the quilt. Since I, however, do not quilt, I have a different task. To dye fabric.
My sister sent me fabric dye before the holidays and I bought the linen here to dye a bit for each quilt within each person's color scheme. Krix and I have been in serious communication for a week now over email and skype as she has been trying to coach me through a technique they all learned for dying the fabric. This invovles sprinking the dye on damp fabric, putting it into a ziploc bag and microwaving it for two minutes. The part about the plastic bag in a microwave concerned me, but both Krix and mom confirmed having used this technique before.
The first attempt was just amusing, as KB was helping me with his advice (including using a fish net for a better "sprinkling" effect). We stared down the microwave nervously during the first two minutes, but other than some leakage, which I was able to clean up, nothing too damaging occured. A few of the other dyes did leave as permanent stain in the microwave, so I decided to set it aside for the night.
Tonight, however, during the second attempt, my microwave burned a massive charred hole into the first plastic bag. I turned it down from 800 power to 600 and the microwave still burned holes into the next two bags, which I quickly removed before they charred. So the question is, are European microwaves really that different from American microwaves? Or should I really just not attempt any work during this holiday and stick to 100% relaxation?
I'm slightly too delirious to make the decision now. Maybe I'll attempt it again tomorrow when I can think more clearly again...
Monday, December 29, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
In waiting...
Hooray! Tomorrow is officially the shortest day of the year. As of Monday, we gain back three seconds of daylight. That is the best news all year. :)
Ziemas un Saulgriezu kalnos
Saule un cilveki kapj -
Parlukot darbus, kas veikti,
Sagaidit jaunos, kas nak...
Ziemas un Saulgriezu kalnos
Saule un cilveki kapj -
Parlukot darbus, kas veikti,
Sagaidit jaunos, kas nak...
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Commentary on the black and white
I've been deep in thought about the black and white world for the last week or so. It was triggered by a concert we attended last week, a legendary Latvian rock singer celebrating thirty years on the stage. The concert was quite well done with a short text, poems or food for thought in between every couple of songs. The thought that stuck with me most was the idea that winter is the time of year that we should use to rejuvenate ourselves much like nature does, to be quiet and still and look inside ourselves to see what work you can do on yourself. In a bleak outside world, you look inside yourself and in other people to find color. Perhaps not the most eloquent translation/paraphrase, but you get the idea.... Also, not this was not a novel idea to me, but somehow it has really spoken to me this time around.
This was followed by our trip to Jaunvitagas to get the Christmas tree. (As an aside, Ojars the Batmobile is officially banned from another trip to Jaunvitagas until spring - this time we got stuck in the snow for only three minutes, as opposed to the three hours we were stuck in the mud the week before.....) KB and I are finally "feeling" holidays again for the first time in years and decided to start creating our own traditions. We chose our own tree to bring home, but also decorated a tree that stays (thus the ribbon tieing in the last post).
There was very little snow on the ground in Riga, but the scene changed quickly as we drove out of town. Everything was breathtakingly, beautifully white and we couldn't help commenting on it the whole drive. It was another cloudy day in LV, but the grey skies have a very different feel when everything else is covered in white. We decided it felt like we were living in a black and white photograph, and suddenly the winter did not seem so bleak anymore, but rather extraordinary. When KB saw the photos we had taken (in particular, the one of me carrying the tree), he said it looked like one of those black and white photos with just one part colored in. And so, at least for now, the way I look at everything around me has changed. During my recess duty this week, I wasn't feeling down about another cloudy day, but I looked at all the color the kids were creating in a black and white world - not only in the literal sense with their multicolored snow gear but also the color and energy they were creating from inside themselves - each one something special enough to be colored in so it could stand out in a black and white world.
Living in the extremes here in LV, the cycles of life are that much more pronounced and I have developed a much deeper appreciation for the way our universe has been created and all that we can stand to learn from it, if we are just open and willing. So here's to the black and white which is winter - of course the white always helps (so send some more our way please, if you've got it), but there's just as much to be said for the grey, too. Because this morning when I woke up with my eyes on a bright, crisp blue sky, it felt like winning some sort of lottery, and I know it's going to be a good day!
This was followed by our trip to Jaunvitagas to get the Christmas tree. (As an aside, Ojars the Batmobile is officially banned from another trip to Jaunvitagas until spring - this time we got stuck in the snow for only three minutes, as opposed to the three hours we were stuck in the mud the week before.....) KB and I are finally "feeling" holidays again for the first time in years and decided to start creating our own traditions. We chose our own tree to bring home, but also decorated a tree that stays (thus the ribbon tieing in the last post).
There was very little snow on the ground in Riga, but the scene changed quickly as we drove out of town. Everything was breathtakingly, beautifully white and we couldn't help commenting on it the whole drive. It was another cloudy day in LV, but the grey skies have a very different feel when everything else is covered in white. We decided it felt like we were living in a black and white photograph, and suddenly the winter did not seem so bleak anymore, but rather extraordinary. When KB saw the photos we had taken (in particular, the one of me carrying the tree), he said it looked like one of those black and white photos with just one part colored in. And so, at least for now, the way I look at everything around me has changed. During my recess duty this week, I wasn't feeling down about another cloudy day, but I looked at all the color the kids were creating in a black and white world - not only in the literal sense with their multicolored snow gear but also the color and energy they were creating from inside themselves - each one something special enough to be colored in so it could stand out in a black and white world.
Living in the extremes here in LV, the cycles of life are that much more pronounced and I have developed a much deeper appreciation for the way our universe has been created and all that we can stand to learn from it, if we are just open and willing. So here's to the black and white which is winter - of course the white always helps (so send some more our way please, if you've got it), but there's just as much to be said for the grey, too. Because this morning when I woke up with my eyes on a bright, crisp blue sky, it felt like winning some sort of lottery, and I know it's going to be a good day!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friend or foe?
I bought a new hat. We're not sure if Mima is wildly in love with it or hates it with a passion, but either way, she attacks it any chance she gets. Because of that, the hat strategically lives at the highest place on the coat rack, though I wouldn't put it past Mims to plot out a late night attack while we are sleeping.
And here is evidence of how I take winter seriously now that it's my third winter in LV with recess duty. (I don't know why my face looks crooked or what the goofy expression is all about, but it's the only picture I could get KB to take on our way out the door today.)
And here is evidence of how I take winter seriously now that it's my third winter in LV with recess duty. (I don't know why my face looks crooked or what the goofy expression is all about, but it's the only picture I could get KB to take on our way out the door today.)
Monday, November 24, 2008
How we celebrated Latvia's 90th birthday
This first picture is totally unrelated to Latvia's 90th birthday, except that it happened that day. It is too cute not to share. We started the day at the studio because KB had to be there for a photo shoot, and here is godson A with his dad, learning the tricks of the trade.
This was the first sunny 18th of November I have experienced in Latvia! It was like a big birthday present for us. The night before it had snowed enough that everything was just white and bright that morning. The wind was brisk, which made it a crisp day, but the blue skies made all the difference.
So we started our celebration by laying flowers at the freedom monument.
Then we met AD, IG and Mr. and Mrs. P. for a quick cup of tea to warm up before the military parade. Here we are all bundled and patriotic trying to scope out the best spot to stand for the parade. (2pm in the afternoon, you'll notice the sun is already on it's way down.)
I swear the parade keeps getting shorter and shorter every year (or I'm already just familiar with everything I will see). Regardless, the best part is always the helicopter carrying Latvia's flag. This year we decided to stand on the bridge, which is the best view of the helicopter as it goes right overhead. I felt a bit teary about it all this year (I think especially after having seen the movie Rigas Sargi) as we were standing on the very bridge where people had risked their own lives fighting for their vision of independence for Latvia excatly 90 years ago.
After the parade we were not quick enough to get to a restaurant before they were all full, so the six of us came back to the treehouse, made our own pizzas and watched some of the concerts on TV. Then we headed over to the P residence, where they have access to a 15th floor balcony, and watched the fireworks from afar. Considering this was a Tuesday, waking up for work on Wednesday morning was tough enough, but well worth it.
This was the first sunny 18th of November I have experienced in Latvia! It was like a big birthday present for us. The night before it had snowed enough that everything was just white and bright that morning. The wind was brisk, which made it a crisp day, but the blue skies made all the difference.So we started our celebration by laying flowers at the freedom monument.
Then we met AD, IG and Mr. and Mrs. P. for a quick cup of tea to warm up before the military parade. Here we are all bundled and patriotic trying to scope out the best spot to stand for the parade. (2pm in the afternoon, you'll notice the sun is already on it's way down.)
I swear the parade keeps getting shorter and shorter every year (or I'm already just familiar with everything I will see). Regardless, the best part is always the helicopter carrying Latvia's flag. This year we decided to stand on the bridge, which is the best view of the helicopter as it goes right overhead. I felt a bit teary about it all this year (I think especially after having seen the movie Rigas Sargi) as we were standing on the very bridge where people had risked their own lives fighting for their vision of independence for Latvia excatly 90 years ago.
After the parade we were not quick enough to get to a restaurant before they were all full, so the six of us came back to the treehouse, made our own pizzas and watched some of the concerts on TV. Then we headed over to the P residence, where they have access to a 15th floor balcony, and watched the fireworks from afar. Considering this was a Tuesday, waking up for work on Wednesday morning was tough enough, but well worth it.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Being a bear
Today, I hibernate. I really should go the grocery store, most importantly because we are totally out of dish soap, second most importantly because the food Mims has left in her bowl is all the cat food we have in the house, but I think it will wait until tomorrow. Snow has been blowing from the sky all day (not falling, but fiercely blowing), our slanted windows are fully covered with icy white crystals, and I can't bring myself to get off this snuggly couch. I can't even say I've been productive about my hibernation. I wrote a lovely to-do list this morning, which did not include playing computer games, yet that is how I've spent the day. I have homework to do, newsletters to write, Xmas presents to knit, a book to read, naps to take, movies to watch, but I can't stop the addiction of trying to beat my own high score on pathwords and staries.
I realize I've been delinquent about blogging lately. Work has been a bear (and not in the hibernation sense of the word). We had a four day weekend for Latvia's 90th birthday on November 18th - two days of which were filled with interesting stuff and one day of which was totally wasted recovering from the interesting stuff, but those posts will have to wait because I don't have the pictures in order yet. Hopefully that will get done before December.
The good news is that the mega doses of Vitamin D my dad researched and recommended are seriously helping with the mood this year. That doesn't mean I don't long for a bit of sunshine, but I'm not experiencing the same sense of doom I have in the past. Additionally, as my body was kind enough to dream me a Ben and Jerry's experience, it has also allowed me to dream of the beach and sunshine several nights, where I literally feel the warmth and glow of the sun on my skin, and that seems to be enough.
Homework or newsletter next? Ok, one more computer game, and then I'll decide....
I realize I've been delinquent about blogging lately. Work has been a bear (and not in the hibernation sense of the word). We had a four day weekend for Latvia's 90th birthday on November 18th - two days of which were filled with interesting stuff and one day of which was totally wasted recovering from the interesting stuff, but those posts will have to wait because I don't have the pictures in order yet. Hopefully that will get done before December.
The good news is that the mega doses of Vitamin D my dad researched and recommended are seriously helping with the mood this year. That doesn't mean I don't long for a bit of sunshine, but I'm not experiencing the same sense of doom I have in the past. Additionally, as my body was kind enough to dream me a Ben and Jerry's experience, it has also allowed me to dream of the beach and sunshine several nights, where I literally feel the warmth and glow of the sun on my skin, and that seems to be enough.
Homework or newsletter next? Ok, one more computer game, and then I'll decide....
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The next chapter in the adventures of Mims the Wondercat
Full moons make Mims completely mental.
It was a very bright full moon last night and as the treehouse (aka: our apartment) is on the top floor of the building with slanted ceilings and therefore slanted windows, we have no curtains. Mims has been sleeping in the bed lately since it has gotten colder (usually creeps her way directly between us and make a little hotdog of herself during the night), but all of a sudden at 3am last night, she had to start running laps around the treehouse. Then she got into the potpourri in the bathroom, which meant she was batting dried flowers around the bedroom. I kicked her out and closed the door. Somehow she broke in about two seconds later. I kicked her out again, moved the potpourri to the kitchen counter (at 3am it made sense that this would stop her craziness), closed both doors leading to our bedroom, and continued my nyquil induced sleep until the morning. (Yeah, you know she was being a serious maniac, when she roused me from nyquil sleep.) In the morning, there were bits of dried flowers in every corner of the treehouse and the potpourri bowl was totally empty, so she had been dancing on the kitchen counters as well. KB had been so kind to bring me home a pack of cough drops which he had left on the kitchen table - I still saw them there at 3am, but at 6am they were missing and nowhere to be found. Still haven't found them. Maybe she ate them and that's what made her so cuckoo. Who knows, but clearly I'm not the only one affected by the full moon in our house.....
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Warning
If you go to see a Russian play which is called a comedy, it might not really have a funny ending. In fact, it might have a pretty morbid ending. Like the main character kills himself and then the play ends.
We had a lovely evening at the theater last night. As KB does some work in a music studio which is in the building of Dailes Theater, he has the chance to get tickets for 2 Ls (as opposed to 12-20 Ls) a couple of hours before the show, depending on what's still available. We haven't taken too much advantage of this yet (preferring up until now to instead go the route of creeping on shows from backstage while sipping wine and snacking on food from the cafe), but this winter we decided one cure against the blahblahs would be to do something cultural now and again. We had some friends join us for the show last night and had ourselves a pretty nice evening.
Except it was just a learning experience about the cultural norms of what is a comedy. Don't get me wrong, there were some funny parts (in an absurd, psychotic sort of way)... I just understand now that comedy doesn't mean the same thing everywhere around the world.
And for the record, it was a Russian play translated to Latvian (I have not yet learned Russian).
We had a lovely evening at the theater last night. As KB does some work in a music studio which is in the building of Dailes Theater, he has the chance to get tickets for 2 Ls (as opposed to 12-20 Ls) a couple of hours before the show, depending on what's still available. We haven't taken too much advantage of this yet (preferring up until now to instead go the route of creeping on shows from backstage while sipping wine and snacking on food from the cafe), but this winter we decided one cure against the blahblahs would be to do something cultural now and again. We had some friends join us for the show last night and had ourselves a pretty nice evening.
Except it was just a learning experience about the cultural norms of what is a comedy. Don't get me wrong, there were some funny parts (in an absurd, psychotic sort of way)... I just understand now that comedy doesn't mean the same thing everywhere around the world.
And for the record, it was a Russian play translated to Latvian (I have not yet learned Russian).
Saturday, November 8, 2008
It's been busy
Come November, and I'm working much, much more, not less. There seems to be no end in sight to this maddness of working until 6 or 7 pm on the average evening and still bringing home work on the weekend. I seriously find myself wishing most nights that I could just put on my pajamas and stay at school over night. Not because I would rather be at school than at home, but the thought of bundling up in winter gear just to go out into the dark to have a thirty to fifty minute walking and trolley bussing commute home (complete with elbowing, pushing and shoving) only to eat dinner, fall asleep and get up at 5:30am to exercise and come right back to school again in the morning is exhausting. Next week is accreditation week, meaning a team of ten people will be spending the week at our school, coming in to observe at our classrooms any time, free to ask me or my students questions about anything at any time. Just a bit stressful. Ok, at least that is followed by the a four day weekend thanks to Latvia's 90th birthday! I'd like to say that after that things will calm down, but by then we are gearing up for the madness that is the winter festival. So I'm already counting down the days until December 19th, the first day of our winter vacation. It cannot come quickly enough.
Luckily, the good news is that my students are still stellar! I have started aerobics on Thursday nights at school, which happily gives me more energy that evening to do a bit of homework when I get home. (I just started an online class about teaching children with dyslexia to help out one of my students this year.) Also, we have a field trip planned to Lacu Maiznica to see how bread is made and make our own cookies as well. For those of you who have been there, or had the chance to eat their bread, cookies or grauzdini, you know what a treat this is to look forward to!
So sorry for not having more exciting things to write about lately, but the extent of my existance is truly eat, sleep, school. It's a good thing I like what I do.
Oh, and knitting season has started again, so during the five minutes I can keep my eyes open at night, some lovely Xmas presents are being created. :)
Luckily, the good news is that my students are still stellar! I have started aerobics on Thursday nights at school, which happily gives me more energy that evening to do a bit of homework when I get home. (I just started an online class about teaching children with dyslexia to help out one of my students this year.) Also, we have a field trip planned to Lacu Maiznica to see how bread is made and make our own cookies as well. For those of you who have been there, or had the chance to eat their bread, cookies or grauzdini, you know what a treat this is to look forward to!
So sorry for not having more exciting things to write about lately, but the extent of my existance is truly eat, sleep, school. It's a good thing I like what I do.
Oh, and knitting season has started again, so during the five minutes I can keep my eyes open at night, some lovely Xmas presents are being created. :)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Yum.....
Big thanks to MP and JS! We cashed in the second part of your wedding gift last night and had a major sushi fest at home - YUM!!!! The funny thing is, they gave us six sets of chopsticks, clearly they didn't think just two people would put back this much food. Oh, but we did. It was lovely. :)
Monday, October 27, 2008
Time to get more active
Nekā nedarīšana ir visai nogurdinoša, jo tu nevari apstāties un atpūsties.
Translation: Doing nothing is completely exhausting, because you can't stop and rest.
That was in my horoscope today, and it helped me set my goal for fall break, to start doing more! Reading that resonated all too true for me, as this school year I have been working so much and convincing myself that I'm too tired for anything by the time I get home. It is good to choose to be lazy sometimes, but I think I've been choosing it too much lately. I've set some projects for myself this fall break - some school-related which I have forbade myself to even think about until Wednesday and some personal projects. I'm optimistic about a good week coming.
We cleaned the house like maniacs (9 am until 5 pm yesterday), and realized the house hadn't had a good cleaning since well before the wedding in June. It feels good and it's so much easier to be productive. The mess just made me feel like closing my eyes and sleeping all the time. We rewarded ourselves (or really created motivation for ourselves) by having a group of friends over to play Apples to Apples last night, which is always fun and funny. We also started watching the Trailer Park Boys with them again. Ricky, Julian and Bubbles are such a great way to combat the winter blahblahs, I think we'll go through all seven seasons again this winter.
Translation: Doing nothing is completely exhausting, because you can't stop and rest.
That was in my horoscope today, and it helped me set my goal for fall break, to start doing more! Reading that resonated all too true for me, as this school year I have been working so much and convincing myself that I'm too tired for anything by the time I get home. It is good to choose to be lazy sometimes, but I think I've been choosing it too much lately. I've set some projects for myself this fall break - some school-related which I have forbade myself to even think about until Wednesday and some personal projects. I'm optimistic about a good week coming.
We cleaned the house like maniacs (9 am until 5 pm yesterday), and realized the house hadn't had a good cleaning since well before the wedding in June. It feels good and it's so much easier to be productive. The mess just made me feel like closing my eyes and sleeping all the time. We rewarded ourselves (or really created motivation for ourselves) by having a group of friends over to play Apples to Apples last night, which is always fun and funny. We also started watching the Trailer Park Boys with them again. Ricky, Julian and Bubbles are such a great way to combat the winter blahblahs, I think we'll go through all seven seasons again this winter.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
I can still taste it!
I just spent at least half the night dreaming that I was eating all my favorite Ben and Jerry's ice creams in turn - half baked, chocolate chip cookie dough, caramel sutra, peace of cake, phish food - and I could truly taste every sweet bite in my dream! Upon waking this morning, I wasn't sad that this hadn't really happened, but I atually somehow felt satisfied because it was such a real dream (and how nice that I didn't feel like I rolled out of bed - no calories in dream food, even after eating ice cream for about four hours straight). So many of my colleagues have headed out of the country to Ben and Jerry's selling locations during our fall break, so last week I had countless conversations of "Eat some ice cream for me while you're there!" How nice of my brain to offer me an escape to ice cream land as well. It's really great how our bodies and minds can find ways to give us what we need sometimes, even if it feels impossible. :)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
High noon
It's been a beautiful and relatively sunny October in Latvia this year. Yesterday, however, when I had recess duty at high noon on a crisp and sunny fall day, I noticed that shadows were quite long and the sun was sitting rather low in the sky. I felt the first morsels of dread, as I know the next time I will really, really get to feel and enjoy the sun on a sunny day won't be until about April again. Sigh..... It's pitch black as I wake up in the morning, I'm walking to school as the sun is rising. It's still light out when I head home, but it won't be much longer, till it's all happening in the dark. Daylight savings is this weekend. Hmph. It's nearly time to bring out the happy light again.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Creepy
Two night ago, on the eve of the full moon, I dreamed that someone from the American embassy came looking for me at work and needed me to prove my American identity, because there was a pending terrorist attack on Latvia and they were going to need to evacuate all Americans. The dream proceeded with a plane coming toward the building, us not being sure if it was the bomb or the protectors. It ended up being the bomb and I felt myself hanging on for dear life as long as I could, but then I also felt myself exploding. It wasn't painful, actually quite peaceful, like I wanted to live as long as I could, but I was able to let go when I knew I couldn't live anymore. Then I was still around on earth to be able to see what happened after I was gone.
Imagine my surprise when I go to work this morning and the administration let's me know that there is a team of Americans from the Department of State here to talk to all the American teachers! I totally panicked. It was ok, and of course was something unrelated, but that was certainly a jump start to my morning!
And for those wondering, dreaming your own death is not actually bad or ominous. It's the signal of change and new beginnings. Since I went into it all peacefully in the dream, I take that all as a good sign.
Imagine my surprise when I go to work this morning and the administration let's me know that there is a team of Americans from the Department of State here to talk to all the American teachers! I totally panicked. It was ok, and of course was something unrelated, but that was certainly a jump start to my morning!
And for those wondering, dreaming your own death is not actually bad or ominous. It's the signal of change and new beginnings. Since I went into it all peacefully in the dream, I take that all as a good sign.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Is our earth getting sick?
One of my kiddos asked me today if I thought that the earth was getting warmer or cooler, and then proceeded to tell me her theory that the earth is getting warmer because it's getting sick. Like when we are sick, we have a fever, the earth is getting a fever too. Because people are not taking care of the earth.
I, for one, would like to let kids rule the world for a while. At least their priorities are in the right place and they might help fix this place up....
I, for one, would like to let kids rule the world for a while. At least their priorities are in the right place and they might help fix this place up....
Sunday, October 12, 2008
A bit of pre-Thanksgiving advice
I celebrated the Canadian Thanksgiving last night, and thank goodness I now have six weeks of recovery before we host the American Thanksgiving at the end of November. This is what I learned this year:
There is a very good reason you should wear pants that fit to Thanksgiving dinner!
Yesterday when dressing, I purposely looked for the pants that would least squeeze my stomach at the Thanksgiving dinner. (A bit of a challenge for me these days, as I've been slacking on the Pilates lately.) We debated with KB, IG and AD for a while why we couldn't actually wear pajama pants to the dinner, as the point is to be elastic and eat as much as you can!
Take my advice, friends, do not go this route this year. Wear pants that actually fit you! The problem is, if you don't have the waistband of the pants squeezing and telling you when to stop, the next thing that squeezes and tells you when to stop is your skin. And you can't loosen your skin when you get home.
I'm quite sure I've never eaten so much before in my life as I did last night, because my skin still feels too tight this morning. Aijajai......it was amazingly good food - a turkey cooked just right in a convection oven, gailenu gravy (mushrooms just freshly picked from the forest), KB's famous stuffing, AD's homemade from scratch macaroni and cheese, roasted vegetables and butternut squash, yum....... And for dessert, I had made pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, and AD had made cinnamon buns, of course we all had to eat both desserts.
Today we're heading to Jaunvitagas for recovery. I'm on a mission to collect moss for a science experiment we'll be doing in class tomorrow and I'll be searching for the last of this season's mushrooms (though we've already had a frost, so it's doubtful), and KB will be going to town with his trimmer. Hopefully the fresh air will do a world of good.
There is a very good reason you should wear pants that fit to Thanksgiving dinner!
Yesterday when dressing, I purposely looked for the pants that would least squeeze my stomach at the Thanksgiving dinner. (A bit of a challenge for me these days, as I've been slacking on the Pilates lately.) We debated with KB, IG and AD for a while why we couldn't actually wear pajama pants to the dinner, as the point is to be elastic and eat as much as you can!
Take my advice, friends, do not go this route this year. Wear pants that actually fit you! The problem is, if you don't have the waistband of the pants squeezing and telling you when to stop, the next thing that squeezes and tells you when to stop is your skin. And you can't loosen your skin when you get home.
I'm quite sure I've never eaten so much before in my life as I did last night, because my skin still feels too tight this morning. Aijajai......it was amazingly good food - a turkey cooked just right in a convection oven, gailenu gravy (mushrooms just freshly picked from the forest), KB's famous stuffing, AD's homemade from scratch macaroni and cheese, roasted vegetables and butternut squash, yum....... And for dessert, I had made pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, and AD had made cinnamon buns, of course we all had to eat both desserts.
Today we're heading to Jaunvitagas for recovery. I'm on a mission to collect moss for a science experiment we'll be doing in class tomorrow and I'll be searching for the last of this season's mushrooms (though we've already had a frost, so it's doubtful), and KB will be going to town with his trimmer. Hopefully the fresh air will do a world of good.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Mima the Wondercat's top list of favorite foods
10. Dry crunchy food in this order: salmon is the best, then chicken, then liver, finally the blahblah indoor fat cat food I'm usually given on a daily basis. (Thank goodness the local grocery store has discontinued selling the indoor fat cat food - I need to put my winter fat back on, says Mims.)
9. The moist cat food I'm given once in a blue moon, when I'm especially well behaved. I point to the one I would like - tuna is always the favorite.
8. Crabby cat treats which I get after I am well-behaved for a manicure (usually I'm pretty good about getting my nails trimmed).
7. Tuna juice, but not the tuna. And no salmon for me. My people are not sure why, but I jump like I've just seen a ghost when salmon is offered to me.
6. Frikadelu zupa (a Latvian soup).
5. CHICKEN in any way, shape or form!!!!!
4. Barbeque pulled pork sandwiches, as I discovered tonight.
3. KB's spicy chili. Seriously, Diana can't even handle the stuff, but I love licking out the bowl afterwards!
2. MILK!!!! I get tail seizures about milk, it makes me so happy! Yogurt too! Cheese, not anymore. That was my favorite food as a baby, but I'm all grown up now.
And my number 1, top favorite food of all time.... Carmex. I love to lick Diana's fingers after she puts her carmex on at night and then I clean my fur like a maniac. Once she left the carmex open for me to see how much I'd eat. I would've scarfed the whole thing down if she hadn't stopped me. I love that stuff....
9. The moist cat food I'm given once in a blue moon, when I'm especially well behaved. I point to the one I would like - tuna is always the favorite.
8. Crabby cat treats which I get after I am well-behaved for a manicure (usually I'm pretty good about getting my nails trimmed).
7. Tuna juice, but not the tuna. And no salmon for me. My people are not sure why, but I jump like I've just seen a ghost when salmon is offered to me.
6. Frikadelu zupa (a Latvian soup).
5. CHICKEN in any way, shape or form!!!!!
4. Barbeque pulled pork sandwiches, as I discovered tonight.
3. KB's spicy chili. Seriously, Diana can't even handle the stuff, but I love licking out the bowl afterwards!
2. MILK!!!! I get tail seizures about milk, it makes me so happy! Yogurt too! Cheese, not anymore. That was my favorite food as a baby, but I'm all grown up now.
And my number 1, top favorite food of all time.... Carmex. I love to lick Diana's fingers after she puts her carmex on at night and then I clean my fur like a maniac. Once she left the carmex open for me to see how much I'd eat. I would've scarfed the whole thing down if she hadn't stopped me. I love that stuff....
Friday, October 3, 2008
This and that at the end of the week....
1. I did answer my own "what's worse?" this week. Having your alarm clock wake you deep in the middle of a sweet dream, only to realize that it's not really a sweet dream but you have spent the whole night nigthmaring (too bad that's not a real English word like "murgot" in Latvian) about the lesson you have planned for the next day.
2. People who care too much about their own nails should not give manicures to others. I guess as one of my improvements of myself before I'm not 29.5 anymore, I started getting bi-weekly manicures this year, in an effort to break an approximately 23 year old habit of picking at my nails. This week I was so irritated with the manicurist who had her own artificial nails over an inch long, trying to desperately not to ruin her own manicure in an effort of completing mine. I really spent the whole hour thinking, "would you like me to do that myself, because I could do it a whole lot faster?!"
3. My second graders still rock the world. :)
4. I still work too much. As we were still at school at 6pm on a Friday night, another teacher and I pondered why we are always there so late and how do other teachers actually get prepared without working late. We decided that we are either "very committed or need to be committed....."
5. I like my bed warmer. And I've finally discovered a good solution, as my bed warmer has a much later bed time than I do (being that I am a teaching, I am pooped at night and I wake up at 5:30 am). 6 nights out of 7 I fall asleep on the couch. At such an embarrassingly early hour I can't even post it here. KB used to wake me a few hours later and send me off to bed, as he felt sorry for me sleeping on the couch, but would only join me even later. The couch was so warm and the bed was so cold! So now, the new routine is that I happily sleep on the couch until KB is ready to go to bed. I get up and brush my teeth and wash my face, while he lays on my side of the bed warming it up. Then he gets on his own crisp side of the bed (which he prefers - what????) and we both happily drift into sleepland - me in my warmth, him in his cool. It is a great and wonderful deal.
6. The leaves are nearing their brightest, most colorful peak, and a nice weekend is forecasted ahead. We're hoping for a great adventure somewhere outside tomorrow. Hooray for the weekend! :)
2. People who care too much about their own nails should not give manicures to others. I guess as one of my improvements of myself before I'm not 29.5 anymore, I started getting bi-weekly manicures this year, in an effort to break an approximately 23 year old habit of picking at my nails. This week I was so irritated with the manicurist who had her own artificial nails over an inch long, trying to desperately not to ruin her own manicure in an effort of completing mine. I really spent the whole hour thinking, "would you like me to do that myself, because I could do it a whole lot faster?!"
3. My second graders still rock the world. :)
4. I still work too much. As we were still at school at 6pm on a Friday night, another teacher and I pondered why we are always there so late and how do other teachers actually get prepared without working late. We decided that we are either "very committed or need to be committed....."
5. I like my bed warmer. And I've finally discovered a good solution, as my bed warmer has a much later bed time than I do (being that I am a teaching, I am pooped at night and I wake up at 5:30 am). 6 nights out of 7 I fall asleep on the couch. At such an embarrassingly early hour I can't even post it here. KB used to wake me a few hours later and send me off to bed, as he felt sorry for me sleeping on the couch, but would only join me even later. The couch was so warm and the bed was so cold! So now, the new routine is that I happily sleep on the couch until KB is ready to go to bed. I get up and brush my teeth and wash my face, while he lays on my side of the bed warming it up. Then he gets on his own crisp side of the bed (which he prefers - what????) and we both happily drift into sleepland - me in my warmth, him in his cool. It is a great and wonderful deal.
6. The leaves are nearing their brightest, most colorful peak, and a nice weekend is forecasted ahead. We're hoping for a great adventure somewhere outside tomorrow. Hooray for the weekend! :)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sometimes I still surprise myself
Some days I look at myself and am amazed at the things I'm doing in my life. If you would've told me ten years ago what I would be doing today, I wouldn't have believed you for a second. (It reminds me of a saying I once read, when someone asked God why we can't just know about what's going to happen in our own futures, and the answer was, "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me anyway...." Isn't that the truth?) Anyway, yesterday was definitely one of those days. From 7am until 11pm, I was an actress, filming for a commercial. The last scene was even of me dancing in a night club, and somewhere, somehow, I've built up enough confidence that I was able to do this on camera.
How, you may ask, did this come along? In LV, it's all about who you know, not what you know. So as some of you may remember, last spring, I received a phone call on a Sunday morning from a friend who is a film director, asking if I couldn't come and just play one short scene as a school psychologist in a series of video clips being recorded to show in LV schools. That in and of itself was a big experience for me, as I showed up, got make-uped and then handed a fairly long text (certainly not the "one sentence" I had been promised) and was told that "we're on" in two minutes, memorize it and be ready to go. I survived that experience, and was fairly certain that was the extent of my fifteen minutes of fame in life.
Not so. Mid-week this week, the same friend contacted me, asking if I would be willing to help out with filming for a commercial on Saturday. I said sure, thinking this would be another small, quick favor. The next day, I received another email saying that I had been chosen for the lead female role in this commercial and that I needed to send more photos of myself for the Estonian directors to look over. So I had to pull KB out of bed and we did a quick photo-shoot at home before school that day, because I don't have a model portfolio just ready to go. (Why, why, why they chose me over the other professionals, I still don't understand.....) Finally I found out that we would be filming two different commercials for a European hotel chain to be shown in all the Baltic countries. This required me to be ready to go at 7am on Saturday morning (I had to prepare and bring all my own outfits to change into) and the plan was that we would work until about midnight. Whew.
Luckily, I did not have to prepare speaking roles, as there will be a voice speaking over the scenes in the different languages for each country. The first scene was checking in to the hotel. They only had to stop recording once because of me, when I tripped on a light. Fortunately, that was the extent of my clumsiness for the day. :) The next scene was eating at the hotel restaurant. That was pure and perfect torture. This scene started being filmed at noon, we were all starving already, and we each had a beautifully prepared, aromatic meal in front of us which we were not allowed to touch. They also kept pouring wine into our glasses and taking it away to pour it back into the bottle, which we were not even allowed to sip. We were truly beginning to drool our own make-up off by the end of two hours of this torture.... Finally, when this scene was done, we asked the waiter to heat up the meals, ate them anyway and downed the wine. Then we all went to join the rest of the crew and ate part (or in the case of the men - all) of another lunch. Then we needed some serious coffee to pull ourselves out of the wine/food coma which followed such a good meal.
The next scene was filming a business meeting in the conference room. Then we filmed a scene in one of the hotel rooms, where I had to stand at the window drinking coffee and turn to approve the other guy's choice of shirt and tie. Whew, I had to drink lots of coffee during those shots (with my left hand, nonetheless) and it was so hot because of the lights I thought I was going to pass out. Luckily, I did not.
Then we had some time to get ready before the night club scene. We raided the mini bars in all the dressing rooms and I took care of all the Bacardi. :) I did not even recognize myself by the time my make-up was done for the night club scene (black eyeshadow, anyone?) but it ended up being pretty fun. Thank goodness for those hip hop dance lessons last year, which made me not quite so scared to dance in front of a camera (or maybe it was the Bacardi?). And that was a wrap, for a very very long day. It's funny how tourists at the night club were taking pictures of all the filming and really treating us like we were some kind of big stars....
But my favorite moment of being treated like a big star was actually on Friday after school. On Friday, I had a bit of a warm-up in acting, as my class finally put on the play of "The Lazy Teacher and The Working Kids" for the whole school. They were absolutely superb (or so I hear, as I was acting the role of the lazy teacher and had my eyes closed for most of the production)! I was so, so proud of them! Even the ones who have been shy and nervous to get on stage in the past, really opened up and everyone did such a great job. :) After school when I was leaving, there were only a handful of kids left on the playgound, but a first grader ran up to me with big eyes and says, "I know you!!! You're the lazy teacher from that show!" It was crazy cute and put a big smile on my face at the end of a long and tiring week.
So today, I rest. I'll tell you why filming was so tiring yesterday and why my brain woke up well before my body was able to move this morning. Not because you are doing anything so strenuous, but because your energy is so on and off during the entire day. KB told me when I'm filming, be ready to "hurry up and wait", which was so true. You film one take, then they spend a long time reajusting things before the next take. Then you hear "get ready!" and your body jumps back to life, only to wait another ten minutes as they "quickly" readjust something else. And all day, you are requiring your body to jump to life at a second's notice. At least with teaching, you are "on" all day. Also tiring, but in a very different way.
In conclusion, I enjoyed trying something new again (and surprised myself that I was able to do it), I really enjoyed earning so much money in one day, but I'm glad to return to the classroom on Monday, because most days that's what makes me really happy.
How, you may ask, did this come along? In LV, it's all about who you know, not what you know. So as some of you may remember, last spring, I received a phone call on a Sunday morning from a friend who is a film director, asking if I couldn't come and just play one short scene as a school psychologist in a series of video clips being recorded to show in LV schools. That in and of itself was a big experience for me, as I showed up, got make-uped and then handed a fairly long text (certainly not the "one sentence" I had been promised) and was told that "we're on" in two minutes, memorize it and be ready to go. I survived that experience, and was fairly certain that was the extent of my fifteen minutes of fame in life.
Not so. Mid-week this week, the same friend contacted me, asking if I would be willing to help out with filming for a commercial on Saturday. I said sure, thinking this would be another small, quick favor. The next day, I received another email saying that I had been chosen for the lead female role in this commercial and that I needed to send more photos of myself for the Estonian directors to look over. So I had to pull KB out of bed and we did a quick photo-shoot at home before school that day, because I don't have a model portfolio just ready to go. (Why, why, why they chose me over the other professionals, I still don't understand.....) Finally I found out that we would be filming two different commercials for a European hotel chain to be shown in all the Baltic countries. This required me to be ready to go at 7am on Saturday morning (I had to prepare and bring all my own outfits to change into) and the plan was that we would work until about midnight. Whew.
Luckily, I did not have to prepare speaking roles, as there will be a voice speaking over the scenes in the different languages for each country. The first scene was checking in to the hotel. They only had to stop recording once because of me, when I tripped on a light. Fortunately, that was the extent of my clumsiness for the day. :) The next scene was eating at the hotel restaurant. That was pure and perfect torture. This scene started being filmed at noon, we were all starving already, and we each had a beautifully prepared, aromatic meal in front of us which we were not allowed to touch. They also kept pouring wine into our glasses and taking it away to pour it back into the bottle, which we were not even allowed to sip. We were truly beginning to drool our own make-up off by the end of two hours of this torture.... Finally, when this scene was done, we asked the waiter to heat up the meals, ate them anyway and downed the wine. Then we all went to join the rest of the crew and ate part (or in the case of the men - all) of another lunch. Then we needed some serious coffee to pull ourselves out of the wine/food coma which followed such a good meal.
The next scene was filming a business meeting in the conference room. Then we filmed a scene in one of the hotel rooms, where I had to stand at the window drinking coffee and turn to approve the other guy's choice of shirt and tie. Whew, I had to drink lots of coffee during those shots (with my left hand, nonetheless) and it was so hot because of the lights I thought I was going to pass out. Luckily, I did not.
Then we had some time to get ready before the night club scene. We raided the mini bars in all the dressing rooms and I took care of all the Bacardi. :) I did not even recognize myself by the time my make-up was done for the night club scene (black eyeshadow, anyone?) but it ended up being pretty fun. Thank goodness for those hip hop dance lessons last year, which made me not quite so scared to dance in front of a camera (or maybe it was the Bacardi?). And that was a wrap, for a very very long day. It's funny how tourists at the night club were taking pictures of all the filming and really treating us like we were some kind of big stars....
But my favorite moment of being treated like a big star was actually on Friday after school. On Friday, I had a bit of a warm-up in acting, as my class finally put on the play of "The Lazy Teacher and The Working Kids" for the whole school. They were absolutely superb (or so I hear, as I was acting the role of the lazy teacher and had my eyes closed for most of the production)! I was so, so proud of them! Even the ones who have been shy and nervous to get on stage in the past, really opened up and everyone did such a great job. :) After school when I was leaving, there were only a handful of kids left on the playgound, but a first grader ran up to me with big eyes and says, "I know you!!! You're the lazy teacher from that show!" It was crazy cute and put a big smile on my face at the end of a long and tiring week.
So today, I rest. I'll tell you why filming was so tiring yesterday and why my brain woke up well before my body was able to move this morning. Not because you are doing anything so strenuous, but because your energy is so on and off during the entire day. KB told me when I'm filming, be ready to "hurry up and wait", which was so true. You film one take, then they spend a long time reajusting things before the next take. Then you hear "get ready!" and your body jumps back to life, only to wait another ten minutes as they "quickly" readjust something else. And all day, you are requiring your body to jump to life at a second's notice. At least with teaching, you are "on" all day. Also tiring, but in a very different way.
In conclusion, I enjoyed trying something new again (and surprised myself that I was able to do it), I really enjoyed earning so much money in one day, but I'm glad to return to the classroom on Monday, because most days that's what makes me really happy.
Friday, September 19, 2008
If I don't write about it, I just might cry
I can count on one hand the number of times I've cried of happiness in my life. But this school year, I seriously feel that I will cry nearly every day from looking at this group of children just being themselves. Seriously, if you feel that the world is going to crap (as I do many a day living in LV), come take a look at my classroom because these are the kids who are going to save the world.
I was feeling a bit grumpy upon arriving to school this morning, when two girls, who get to school early because their moms also teach, are hard at work making a nametag for Mr. A, the assistant in our class, because he doesn't have one and they decided he needs one too. One says, "Mrs. Diana, you look just LOVELY today," and my mood already starts improving.
But this is what takes the cake. Show and tell today. I have never been a fan of show and tell - it drags on, it is nearly the same junk every week, it gets boring quickly, but the kids love it. This year I put a spin on show and tell in my class - each week there is a theme and they have to think ahead and choose something that will relate to that theme. It is all about what we are doing in the classroom - either related to our unit of inquiry or the PYP profile or attitude that we are focusing on. Since the beginning of the year, we've been focusing on the profile CARING, so today they had to bring something to demonstrate caring. Not such an easy task, fairly abstract. They blew me away.
One girl brought in her brother from kindergarten, and told all about how they are caring to each other in their play. Another brought a miniature table from a dollhouse with everything to set the table, and told us how on the weekends, when she and her sister wake up early before their parents, they set the table for them and prepare everything in the kitchen "so it looks and smells nice" when they wake up. (Really, I promise, these are real children!) Others brought photographs of themselves doing caring tasks at home (helping in the garden, etc.). Still others brought favorite books with characters that did something caring. Others brought their stuffed animal "pets" (some represented real pets, others were really just imaginary pets) and described how they care for their pets. Seriously, seriously, I was nearly in tears by the end, because if you could see how gently and sweetly they described all of this, how they listened and complimented each other, how perfectly superb they all are as individuals and as a group, you may start thinking the world might just turn out ok after all.....
A bit of freetime followed, because they have been working so hard for me, and again, I watched them all make sure to include each other in their games, involve friends who were sitting out on the side, and find ways to include each other or play new games if something was hard for someone. Then we walked down to music class, I was the tail of the line. When I arrived, there was no music teacher yet, but my class had arranged themselved perfectly, sitting on the risers, going "shhhhshhhh, let's surprise the teacher!". A group of angels on earth, that is what they are.
All props to their families, of course, for doing such a wonderful job at home. I also have mentioned to some that if you believe in that type of thing, I would say I have a classroom full of "old souls" this year - though I'm not an expert at second grade yet, I can say with a fair amount of certainty, that this is no ordinary grade two class. I am a lucky, lucky teacher this year. :)
I was feeling a bit grumpy upon arriving to school this morning, when two girls, who get to school early because their moms also teach, are hard at work making a nametag for Mr. A, the assistant in our class, because he doesn't have one and they decided he needs one too. One says, "Mrs. Diana, you look just LOVELY today," and my mood already starts improving.
But this is what takes the cake. Show and tell today. I have never been a fan of show and tell - it drags on, it is nearly the same junk every week, it gets boring quickly, but the kids love it. This year I put a spin on show and tell in my class - each week there is a theme and they have to think ahead and choose something that will relate to that theme. It is all about what we are doing in the classroom - either related to our unit of inquiry or the PYP profile or attitude that we are focusing on. Since the beginning of the year, we've been focusing on the profile CARING, so today they had to bring something to demonstrate caring. Not such an easy task, fairly abstract. They blew me away.
One girl brought in her brother from kindergarten, and told all about how they are caring to each other in their play. Another brought a miniature table from a dollhouse with everything to set the table, and told us how on the weekends, when she and her sister wake up early before their parents, they set the table for them and prepare everything in the kitchen "so it looks and smells nice" when they wake up. (Really, I promise, these are real children!) Others brought photographs of themselves doing caring tasks at home (helping in the garden, etc.). Still others brought favorite books with characters that did something caring. Others brought their stuffed animal "pets" (some represented real pets, others were really just imaginary pets) and described how they care for their pets. Seriously, seriously, I was nearly in tears by the end, because if you could see how gently and sweetly they described all of this, how they listened and complimented each other, how perfectly superb they all are as individuals and as a group, you may start thinking the world might just turn out ok after all.....
A bit of freetime followed, because they have been working so hard for me, and again, I watched them all make sure to include each other in their games, involve friends who were sitting out on the side, and find ways to include each other or play new games if something was hard for someone. Then we walked down to music class, I was the tail of the line. When I arrived, there was no music teacher yet, but my class had arranged themselved perfectly, sitting on the risers, going "shhhhshhhh, let's surprise the teacher!". A group of angels on earth, that is what they are.
All props to their families, of course, for doing such a wonderful job at home. I also have mentioned to some that if you believe in that type of thing, I would say I have a classroom full of "old souls" this year - though I'm not an expert at second grade yet, I can say with a fair amount of certainty, that this is no ordinary grade two class. I am a lucky, lucky teacher this year. :)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
What's worse?
Having your alarm clock wake you in the middle of a deep sleep or waking up on your own ten minutes before your alarm clock is supposed to ring, realizing that you have just totally missed out on ten minutes of sweet sleep? Latley, my body clock has finally adjusted to waking up early again, but it's overachieving. I don't really like it.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
A Latvian miracle!
I went to the post office today. There was not a single line and three whole ladies were working and available to help me. I actually froze up with confusion about what to do next. I'm still in shock....
Monday, September 15, 2008
For your reading pleasure....
Please enjoy the first story composed by Grade 2B this year. We had read "The Little Red Hen" and talked about cooperation a fair bit, and how that would apply to our classroom this year. As our first group writing project, we talked about how good writers can take ideas from other writers - not copy them, because then it's not original, but simply use good ideas. So we planned our story. I had picked the characters (Grade 2B teachers and students) and the setting (our school), but the plot is totally and completely the fruit of their awesome minds.
Not only did we write the story, but we are publishing a book which will be donated to our library, and further, we are presenting a play of this story for our entire school in an assembly in less than two weeks. Once you have read the story, you will understand why I am now also shopping for new pajamas in addition to new shoes.....
I present to you.... "The Lazy Teacher and The Working Kids" by Grade 2B
Not only did we write the story, but we are publishing a book which will be donated to our library, and further, we are presenting a play of this story for our entire school in an assembly in less than two weeks. Once you have read the story, you will understand why I am now also shopping for new pajamas in addition to new shoes.....
I present to you.... "The Lazy Teacher and The Working Kids" by Grade 2B
One cold fall morning the teacher of Grade 2B came to the classroom in her pajamas and said, “I’m so tired.” Then the teacher made a bed with the pillows and laid down on them.
The children started doing circle time by themselves. They did calendar, date writing, counting sticks, writing the weather and doing their jobs. Then the children turned on the Jack Johnson CD and started doing their work.
When the children finished their work, they went to Art, I.T. and Sports.
Then they ate their snacks because it was time. They listened to Johnny Cash while they ate snacks.
During snack there was a fire drill. The teacher kept sleeping. So the girls closed the windows, turned off the lights, turned off the CD and got the red and green paper while the boys put the teacher on the chair with wheels and rolled her out the door. And they did not forget to close the door!
They went outside and the other teachers said, “What is this teacher doing in the chair?” The students answered, “She’s sleeping!”
They went back inside and put the teacher back on the pillows. The classroom had a fish called Bubbles. Sometimes Bubbles talked. Bubbles said to one student who had brought cake to school, “Give the teacher her coffee and the cake you brought.”
The children opened the teacher’s mouth and poured the coffee in. She woke up!
There was a note by the cake. Who would read the note?
“Not I,” said the teacher.
“Not I,” said Bubbles.”
“Then we will!” said the kids.
The teacher was so lazy she had forgotten how to read, but the working children taught her how to read and write again. And the teacher never slept at school again because she wanted to read and write like her students. The end.
Just to be clear, the kids really just wanted to call her the Teacher of Grade 2B (not Mrs. Diana, as I had suggested) - which I appreciate. However, I do get to play that role in our play.... Additionally, the story is quite accurate about how our days go (and I really do believe this group of kids would run the class on their own just like so!), all the way down to the Jack Johnson CD. No Johnny Cash yet, but I'm not totally opposed to that either.... :)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Shoe shopping
Very sadly the time has come. I have been living in LV for two years and seven months. I walk almost everywhere I go. My shoes have started dieing. I can no longer put off the need to buy new shoes.
In the first week of school, two of my long-faithful pairs of shoes broke. Working in grade two, the kids let you know that kind of stuff. I had just finished giving some long-winded explanation, asked "any questions?" and get, "Mrs. Diana, when are you going to buy new shoes? Because yours are broken on the bottom." There is no escaping, no trying to hide it......I only have one suitable pair of shoes for work at the moment. Hmph.
As many of you near and dear to me know, I have not had the best of luck in the shoe department here in LV. The first experience was in trying to find a suitable pair of black boots. Let's just say that the email I wrote about that shoe shopping experience made the black boots I did buy infamous with my friends and family back in the States. When I had flown back for my grandmother's funeral, the second words out of everyone's mouth, after condolences, were, "Are those the boots?"
My second shoe shopping experience in LV ended up with a pair of sandals that literally broke within the first five mintues of me wearing them and two months of jumping through hoops and more ridiculous stories before getting my money back.
So yesterday, KB finally threw me in the car and said he was taking me shoe shopping. Yes, yes, I think we both realize in hindsight that was a pretty nutty thing to assume that this would actually be productive for us to do together. My attempt at shoe shopping with my new husband looked something like this:
KB: "These are nice shoes." Me, thinking, could you possible pick a more horrific pair?? (Answer: of course, yes, because you haven't seen anything until you've seen shoe choices in LV.) After a few attempts of this, Me: "Why don't you go and look at your men's shoes?" KB: "Fine, I'll just go the electronics store." Me, calling him on the phone a few minutes later: "I don't want you so close but I don't want you so far away. What if I find a pair I need your opinion on?" KB meets me at the next shoe store and obediently looks at men's shoes until I find two pair I need an opinion on. KB's opinion: "They look like grandma shoes." Me: "Ok, it's time to go home now, I'll try this again on my own later this week."
MP, I miss you!!! I need your opinion on shoes!!!!
Later in the evening, I uncovered more of my trauma about shoe shopping. As a child I had extraordinarily narrow feet, which meant I could only shop at one children's shoe store and had about two options in that store. I never got to get anything I liked. To top that one off I also had flat feet. So in kindergarten I had to spend the year wearing brown orthopedic shoes. All of this has led to shoe shopping leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I remember the year I agreed to buy a pair of shoes (sometime in elementary school) which I hated, just to be able to stop shopping for shoes. I had to wear them the whole year and it was horrible. Most men would probably appreciate a wife who is not obsessed with shoe shopping. That's fine. Until it comes to the point when all your shoes are broken. I don't know, I just may be barefoot this winter....
In the first week of school, two of my long-faithful pairs of shoes broke. Working in grade two, the kids let you know that kind of stuff. I had just finished giving some long-winded explanation, asked "any questions?" and get, "Mrs. Diana, when are you going to buy new shoes? Because yours are broken on the bottom." There is no escaping, no trying to hide it......I only have one suitable pair of shoes for work at the moment. Hmph.
As many of you near and dear to me know, I have not had the best of luck in the shoe department here in LV. The first experience was in trying to find a suitable pair of black boots. Let's just say that the email I wrote about that shoe shopping experience made the black boots I did buy infamous with my friends and family back in the States. When I had flown back for my grandmother's funeral, the second words out of everyone's mouth, after condolences, were, "Are those the boots?"
My second shoe shopping experience in LV ended up with a pair of sandals that literally broke within the first five mintues of me wearing them and two months of jumping through hoops and more ridiculous stories before getting my money back.
So yesterday, KB finally threw me in the car and said he was taking me shoe shopping. Yes, yes, I think we both realize in hindsight that was a pretty nutty thing to assume that this would actually be productive for us to do together. My attempt at shoe shopping with my new husband looked something like this:
KB: "These are nice shoes." Me, thinking, could you possible pick a more horrific pair?? (Answer: of course, yes, because you haven't seen anything until you've seen shoe choices in LV.) After a few attempts of this, Me: "Why don't you go and look at your men's shoes?" KB: "Fine, I'll just go the electronics store." Me, calling him on the phone a few minutes later: "I don't want you so close but I don't want you so far away. What if I find a pair I need your opinion on?" KB meets me at the next shoe store and obediently looks at men's shoes until I find two pair I need an opinion on. KB's opinion: "They look like grandma shoes." Me: "Ok, it's time to go home now, I'll try this again on my own later this week."
MP, I miss you!!! I need your opinion on shoes!!!!
Later in the evening, I uncovered more of my trauma about shoe shopping. As a child I had extraordinarily narrow feet, which meant I could only shop at one children's shoe store and had about two options in that store. I never got to get anything I liked. To top that one off I also had flat feet. So in kindergarten I had to spend the year wearing brown orthopedic shoes. All of this has led to shoe shopping leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I remember the year I agreed to buy a pair of shoes (sometime in elementary school) which I hated, just to be able to stop shopping for shoes. I had to wear them the whole year and it was horrible. Most men would probably appreciate a wife who is not obsessed with shoe shopping. That's fine. Until it comes to the point when all your shoes are broken. I don't know, I just may be barefoot this winter....
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Snoozing should be illegal
All in all it was a great first week of school. My personal goal for next week is to get more disciplined with actually waking up with my alarm clock. That has to be one of the top worst thing about going back to school - suddenly being obligated to wake up to an alarm clock five days of the week. I was really running to get to school on time Thursday and Friday, but fortunately was organized enough to get myself totally prepared for the morning the night before. That also meant that I was at school until 6pm every night last week. I am really trying to cut out earlier, but somehow it just doesn't happen.
I am really enjoying grade two so far. I got to do cool things like give a spelling test and was quite impressed how I was able to lay down the law so that no one dared to make a peep during the test. Friday was the first day that my students did not beg me to stay overnight at the school for a sleepover. I think I finally tired them out by the end of the week.
The best thing all week was to really observe what a great group they are in working together and supporting each other. Honestly, I was nearly in tears at random moments throughout the week, because of how absolutely wonderful this group is. It's not just me, on Friday after school I talked to their kindergarten teacher from two years ago about them and she said she spent nearly the whole year in tears for the same reason. She still has their pictures up on a wall at home.
For example, we talked a lot this week about how we all learn differently, at different rates and in different ways. Partly this is because I have two students in the class with significant enough special needs that they have personal assistants. But also, in general, I've got a class of extremely talented learners and learners who are really stuggling - I got the extremes. So we read several books and had many discussions about this. Near the end of the week, I told them the story of Helen Keller from an old book which I had read in the third grade. They were mesmerized and asked so many questions about her and talked about it all day. We also talked about how learning is like going up a hill, we are all learning more each day, but each of our hills look different. Right away, someone commented, "Yes, and some of the hills are hard and some are easy!" Then we drew what different hills might look like - some more steady, others with flat parts (when you might not be learning so fast) and then parts that go straight up when you are really learning a lot. They got it! Someone else was totally relating by saying, "Yeah, Mrs. Diana, I know, I was in one of those flat parts one time." So we talked about not worrying if you are in a flat part, that your day will come when you will get it too. And also, that we can all help each other out when we see them at a hard part in their hill. And then, they asked if they could draw their own hills. THAT is exactly how it's supposed to work in our school, where the students suggest their own ideas for inquiry and activities. So we did draw our own hills. It was way cool to see what everyone came up with because they were really all very different and I would say from what I know about them already a very accurate reflection of each individual.
And it helps when on a weekly reflection, you read that someone's answer to the question, "What is something new you learned this week?" was "That there could be so nice a teacher as you, because you are so calm."
I like grade two. :)
I am really enjoying grade two so far. I got to do cool things like give a spelling test and was quite impressed how I was able to lay down the law so that no one dared to make a peep during the test. Friday was the first day that my students did not beg me to stay overnight at the school for a sleepover. I think I finally tired them out by the end of the week.
The best thing all week was to really observe what a great group they are in working together and supporting each other. Honestly, I was nearly in tears at random moments throughout the week, because of how absolutely wonderful this group is. It's not just me, on Friday after school I talked to their kindergarten teacher from two years ago about them and she said she spent nearly the whole year in tears for the same reason. She still has their pictures up on a wall at home.
For example, we talked a lot this week about how we all learn differently, at different rates and in different ways. Partly this is because I have two students in the class with significant enough special needs that they have personal assistants. But also, in general, I've got a class of extremely talented learners and learners who are really stuggling - I got the extremes. So we read several books and had many discussions about this. Near the end of the week, I told them the story of Helen Keller from an old book which I had read in the third grade. They were mesmerized and asked so many questions about her and talked about it all day. We also talked about how learning is like going up a hill, we are all learning more each day, but each of our hills look different. Right away, someone commented, "Yes, and some of the hills are hard and some are easy!" Then we drew what different hills might look like - some more steady, others with flat parts (when you might not be learning so fast) and then parts that go straight up when you are really learning a lot. They got it! Someone else was totally relating by saying, "Yeah, Mrs. Diana, I know, I was in one of those flat parts one time." So we talked about not worrying if you are in a flat part, that your day will come when you will get it too. And also, that we can all help each other out when we see them at a hard part in their hill. And then, they asked if they could draw their own hills. THAT is exactly how it's supposed to work in our school, where the students suggest their own ideas for inquiry and activities. So we did draw our own hills. It was way cool to see what everyone came up with because they were really all very different and I would say from what I know about them already a very accurate reflection of each individual.
And it helps when on a weekly reflection, you read that someone's answer to the question, "What is something new you learned this week?" was "That there could be so nice a teacher as you, because you are so calm."
I like grade two. :)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tired but happy....
After day three I'm feeling quite good about grade two. Mostly I have to say that the group of kids I have this year are a truly amazing collection of people. Angels in disguise I might say, because I really can't think of another place I've ever been with twelve such genuinley kind and caring people at once. No exceptions.
Not that it's all been a walk in the park. We have one little boy in our class with significant disabilities - both physical and academic (which we were prepared for) but also emotional/behavioral as we are coming to find out. Our school has never had a case like this before and is really not equipped for it. We knew it would be a learning curve going in, but it's proved quite exhausting already. However, I will not dwell on this at the moment, in part because I've talked about it nearly day and night for three days already, but also because the group of kids together is truly amazing in helping this all to happen. We have also seen huge progress in the adjustment process in the first three days alone, which is extremely encouraging.
That being said, I am hugely thankful that this will be my first grade two class. They are even patient with me as I'm learning the ropes of grade two and remembering/rediscovering what it's like to work with this age group.
Along with the traditional lapful of flowers which I received on the first day of school, I have also already received two pieces of handmade jewelry as well as a thank you letter from my students. From the first day already they did not want to go home, but have begged every night to have a sleepover at the school with me. I'm glad I dreamed all my anxieties before school, because as the character Bob says in the great movie What About Bob?, "If you pretend it, then it's not really happening." So far so good.... :)
Not that it's all been a walk in the park. We have one little boy in our class with significant disabilities - both physical and academic (which we were prepared for) but also emotional/behavioral as we are coming to find out. Our school has never had a case like this before and is really not equipped for it. We knew it would be a learning curve going in, but it's proved quite exhausting already. However, I will not dwell on this at the moment, in part because I've talked about it nearly day and night for three days already, but also because the group of kids together is truly amazing in helping this all to happen. We have also seen huge progress in the adjustment process in the first three days alone, which is extremely encouraging.
That being said, I am hugely thankful that this will be my first grade two class. They are even patient with me as I'm learning the ropes of grade two and remembering/rediscovering what it's like to work with this age group.
Along with the traditional lapful of flowers which I received on the first day of school, I have also already received two pieces of handmade jewelry as well as a thank you letter from my students. From the first day already they did not want to go home, but have begged every night to have a sleepover at the school with me. I'm glad I dreamed all my anxieties before school, because as the character Bob says in the great movie What About Bob?, "If you pretend it, then it's not really happening." So far so good.... :)
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The end is near.....
We are losing four and a half minutes of sunlight a day (roughly half an hour a week). Three years ago, I never thought I'd be sad about the sun setting at nine pm and rising at six am. Seems normal, but now it feels like everything is dying. Only because I know what is coming. I've discovered that for me November 18 (ironically, Latvia's independence day) is the moment when it all really shuts down for me, until about mid-February. So from now until November, I'm hanging on to every moment of precious sunlight I can. Come spring, I'll be celebrating sunlight from six till nine, but for now, it's the beginning of the end...... :(
Friday, August 22, 2008
Ready for Monday
Kids start school on Monday! Today was the last day of nervous and excited preparation, you could really feel the energy building in the school. The day ended with an open house for students to visit their new classes and a barbeque (which sadly got rained out rather quickly, but that is LV). About half of my new second graders have now visited the class and I'm feeling quite good. They were also for the most part extremely smiley and excited. Several parents metioned that their children have said in the last week that they are really ready for vacation to end and school to begin. We are all pretty excited for a new beginning.
(Note: one of my favorite events each year in my childhood was shopping for new school supplies and getting the backpack ready for the first day. Seriously, right up there with Christmas. Maybe that's why I became a teacher, because I get that feeling times thirteen as I'm getting ready for thirteen kids!)
But hands down the best part of today was seeing a few of my kids from last year. The way they ran to me when they saw me and threw themselves on me and hugged so tight and just smiled and smiled while we talked.....it's still hard to let go of the last class. Every year. A few weeks will pass and I'll be in it deep with the new guys already, but these guys were my life last year and it was great to see them again. I'm already planning a visit to my old class as soon as my new class goes to specials on Monday. At least it's nice to finally be working in the same school instead of moving around each year as I have been, so I can still check in with them and follow up on them, even after they're not "mine" anymore. I still have moments when I sit back and think about all the kids I've taught, way back to the very first Head Start kids (who are now fifth graders!), and wonder how they are doing now.
So here's to starting a whole new year and getting to love a whole new group of kids...I think it's gonna be a good one!
Side story: The second graders LOVE Bubbles. I thought they might not care so much but they are really excited about him, and dragging parents and friends over to show him off. I did the sneak attack of bringing Bubbles in, just packaged him up and took him with. He was totally fine when I settled him in and while I was paying attention to him. But when I got with work he started belly-uping. A few colleages came in and said, "oh, he doesn't look so good" and I said no, he faking and you have to talk to him nice and he'll be fine. So everyone told him how beautiful he is and how great he'll be in grade two, etc. Then when Bubbles and I were alone, I went to the tank, he belly-up swam over to my finger and I gently tapped and told him to turn over, which he did. I told him that's enough faking, he'll be fine in grade two and he'll love it and the kids will love him just like they did in preschool. Then he we down to the bottom and slept for a while (not belly up, just normal as he does) and before I left the classroom that day, he woke up and screamed at me to feed him again. Today he was already screaming at me as I walked in the door of the classroom and he was totally fine all day long, loving the attention from the kids. You may think I'm full of it, but I tell you, he's a fish with personality.
(Note: one of my favorite events each year in my childhood was shopping for new school supplies and getting the backpack ready for the first day. Seriously, right up there with Christmas. Maybe that's why I became a teacher, because I get that feeling times thirteen as I'm getting ready for thirteen kids!)
But hands down the best part of today was seeing a few of my kids from last year. The way they ran to me when they saw me and threw themselves on me and hugged so tight and just smiled and smiled while we talked.....it's still hard to let go of the last class. Every year. A few weeks will pass and I'll be in it deep with the new guys already, but these guys were my life last year and it was great to see them again. I'm already planning a visit to my old class as soon as my new class goes to specials on Monday. At least it's nice to finally be working in the same school instead of moving around each year as I have been, so I can still check in with them and follow up on them, even after they're not "mine" anymore. I still have moments when I sit back and think about all the kids I've taught, way back to the very first Head Start kids (who are now fifth graders!), and wonder how they are doing now.
So here's to starting a whole new year and getting to love a whole new group of kids...I think it's gonna be a good one!
Side story: The second graders LOVE Bubbles. I thought they might not care so much but they are really excited about him, and dragging parents and friends over to show him off. I did the sneak attack of bringing Bubbles in, just packaged him up and took him with. He was totally fine when I settled him in and while I was paying attention to him. But when I got with work he started belly-uping. A few colleages came in and said, "oh, he doesn't look so good" and I said no, he faking and you have to talk to him nice and he'll be fine. So everyone told him how beautiful he is and how great he'll be in grade two, etc. Then when Bubbles and I were alone, I went to the tank, he belly-up swam over to my finger and I gently tapped and told him to turn over, which he did. I told him that's enough faking, he'll be fine in grade two and he'll love it and the kids will love him just like they did in preschool. Then he we down to the bottom and slept for a while (not belly up, just normal as he does) and before I left the classroom that day, he woke up and screamed at me to feed him again. Today he was already screaming at me as I walked in the door of the classroom and he was totally fine all day long, loving the attention from the kids. You may think I'm full of it, but I tell you, he's a fish with personality.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Please knock
It is getting more ridiculous by the moment. Mims was (of course) in her home under the coffee table tonight and KB was talking to her (telling her how he's not too thrilled that she has "moved in" down there) and she was totally ignoring him, as cats do - eyes open just a slit and head stubbornly facing the other way. He called her name which she really always responds to, but this time nothing. Jokingly, I said that he has to knock to be able to talk to her in her new home. He knocked, and she turned her head with a look "yes, can I help you?" Too funny - I needed a good laugh today.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Did you know?
In Latvia it is against the law for a woman to lift more than 10 kg at work, but men can lift 50 kg. I learned that at my work safety training today. I think I may need to take this up with my boss at Jaunvitagas.... :) I could be demoted from branch duty to stick duty!
Monday, August 18, 2008
A tribute to my pets
They are weird and wacky. Some days I really do fear for my future children, because I have never owned a "normal" pet....
I was preparing myself for the fact that this post was going to be something like R.I.P. Bubbles, so in a panic I took several pictures of my faithful fish below. (Bubbles is the white and speckled guy.)
He is my school fish. I got him last year at the beginning of the year with preschoolers, because classroom pets can be a great transition for those tearful mornings when saying goodbye is tough. Feeding the fish his breakfast is a tremendous responsibility and a very cool thing to do. He was great with the little guys - extremely patient with the curious tap-taps (though they were pretty good about it pretty quickly) and even patient as they learned to fish him out using the net on the days they helped me change his water. He is also a bossy little guy. Just this morning to KB I said I should've named him Bubba instead of Bubbles, because he can truly create a lot of noise when he wants to eat (which is ALL the time). Anytime someone walks past he screams (if that's possible for a fish) loud fishy noises and flips his tail all about until he gets fed. Ok, he got used to many breakfasts a day with the preschoolers.....
I almost lost him once already. During school breaks, Bubbles came to live with me at home. The day I was transporting him back to school after winter break, it was so cold and his water got so cold that when I was filling his tank again at school I couldn't even get the water out of the tap to be cold enough to match that which he was swimming in. For about a week, Bubbles just laid at the bottom of the tank. Of course the kids were all very worried and asked what was wrong with him, and we had some great conversations about how he was sick and how when they are sick they just want to sleep all the time too. They asked about taking him to the doctor of course, and B even said, "When I am sick my mommy takes care of me until I feel better, so now I want to take care of Bubbles until he feels better." We were all rooting for Bubbles - me most of all, because I was really preparing the death talk for three year olds. I avidly googled how to nurse sick fish back to health, and it really worked. For as much as it's possible to love a fish, I love this fish - he's a great classroom fish. I was getting ready to take him back for the second graders this year.
Last week on the morning I was talking about taking him back to school, Bubbles started floating belly-up every time I walked by. So I panicked, took a bunch of pictures because I wanted to remember how great he was, and didn't end up taking him to school that day. When I got home at night he was fine. I kid you not, two days later, when I was getting ready to take him in again, belly-up. Didn't take him, then he was fine. The weekend passed and he has been fine. I haven't talked about taking him in again, and he has been fine. Coincidence or not, I think it will have to be a sneak attack to bring him in - no talk of a plan. The little stinker is clearly not ready for summer vacation to be over yet!
And then there is Mims the Wondercat. We recently got a new small area rug to put under our coffee table. Mims has now decided that this will be her new home. She lives under the coffee table now. She only comes out to eat and use her box. She doesn't even come out for pilates anymore. Mims in her new home.... :)
I was preparing myself for the fact that this post was going to be something like R.I.P. Bubbles, so in a panic I took several pictures of my faithful fish below. (Bubbles is the white and speckled guy.)
He is my school fish. I got him last year at the beginning of the year with preschoolers, because classroom pets can be a great transition for those tearful mornings when saying goodbye is tough. Feeding the fish his breakfast is a tremendous responsibility and a very cool thing to do. He was great with the little guys - extremely patient with the curious tap-taps (though they were pretty good about it pretty quickly) and even patient as they learned to fish him out using the net on the days they helped me change his water. He is also a bossy little guy. Just this morning to KB I said I should've named him Bubba instead of Bubbles, because he can truly create a lot of noise when he wants to eat (which is ALL the time). Anytime someone walks past he screams (if that's possible for a fish) loud fishy noises and flips his tail all about until he gets fed. Ok, he got used to many breakfasts a day with the preschoolers.....I almost lost him once already. During school breaks, Bubbles came to live with me at home. The day I was transporting him back to school after winter break, it was so cold and his water got so cold that when I was filling his tank again at school I couldn't even get the water out of the tap to be cold enough to match that which he was swimming in. For about a week, Bubbles just laid at the bottom of the tank. Of course the kids were all very worried and asked what was wrong with him, and we had some great conversations about how he was sick and how when they are sick they just want to sleep all the time too. They asked about taking him to the doctor of course, and B even said, "When I am sick my mommy takes care of me until I feel better, so now I want to take care of Bubbles until he feels better." We were all rooting for Bubbles - me most of all, because I was really preparing the death talk for three year olds. I avidly googled how to nurse sick fish back to health, and it really worked. For as much as it's possible to love a fish, I love this fish - he's a great classroom fish. I was getting ready to take him back for the second graders this year.
Last week on the morning I was talking about taking him back to school, Bubbles started floating belly-up every time I walked by. So I panicked, took a bunch of pictures because I wanted to remember how great he was, and didn't end up taking him to school that day. When I got home at night he was fine. I kid you not, two days later, when I was getting ready to take him in again, belly-up. Didn't take him, then he was fine. The weekend passed and he has been fine. I haven't talked about taking him in again, and he has been fine. Coincidence or not, I think it will have to be a sneak attack to bring him in - no talk of a plan. The little stinker is clearly not ready for summer vacation to be over yet!
And then there is Mims the Wondercat. We recently got a new small area rug to put under our coffee table. Mims has now decided that this will be her new home. She lives under the coffee table now. She only comes out to eat and use her box. She doesn't even come out for pilates anymore. Mims in her new home.... :)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Test run...
This weekend godson A spent the whole weekend with us. Usually we hang out for a few hours - play cars, play every musical instrument in the house, terrorize Mims the Wondercat and have him wash our dishes (I swear, he loves to do this!) - and then we send him home. However, we did the whole nine yards with three meals a day times two days, bathtime and bedtime at night, all from our very own treehouse. It was a test run for having a little person around, and I say we did quite well. They were two very relaxed and fun days for all three of us (only Mims does not make it four....).
Saturday we had big plans to spend the day outside to tucker the little guy out, but mother nature had different plans. Though rain was in the forecast, the sky was blue when we woke up, so I set about packing up our picnic lunch while KB made sure A felt happy and welcome during the drop off. By the time we got all three of us in the car, the sky turned gray. By the time we braved Jugla traffic (meaning random lane closures each day for neverending construction and work on water pipes) and made it to the outdoor museum, it was pouring on us. So we turned around and headed right back into town to the mall with a fast food place that has a playland. We figured while we were out we might as well give little A a run for his money. Not so much though. The only part of playland that really drew his attention was the big spiral tube slide, and he was fascinated as the big kids went down. He stood at the top babbling to us in A-talk (really, it is a language of its own) and finally decided to go for it. However, he hadn't caught on to the sitting down thing, so he was trying to walk down. Got scared about five steps in - wouldn't come forward or backward but just started screaming. So KB is at the bottom trying to coax him out, I am standing on the side near the top (it was built so adults can't fit in there) encouraging him, but neither of us could see him. Finally, finally, he walked down and fell into KB's arms screaming at the top of his lungs. Calmed him down with a strawberry milkshake and a song. He went right back up again. We thought he was being so brave to try again, but apparently he had just forgotten and the whole story repeated. After the third time, we didn't feel up to anymore evil looks from the staff and patrons, so we packed up the bags and left. This was one more screaming fit as we left, but we calmed that one down just as quickly as the rest.
We did some shopping, as we were at the mall. KB bought five new shirts for work for the price of one and we bought a hammock! Meanwhile, A had fallen asleep in KB's arms and my allergy eyes were acting up bigtime, so we headed home. The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully at home, which was nice. We played with cars and expanded A's interests to insects and frogs. Below is photo evidence of how we passed the afternoon. Apparently, my legs serve as a great road (my head is not in the photo because I didn't want documentation of my eyes). At one point I had a mini-nap while I was holding the ice pack over my eyes and woke up to plastic flies, grasshoppers and worms strategically placed on my neck and shoulders. :)
Then KB went out for pizza and we all ate our fill. At this point we decided to brave bathtime. To avoid tears, it ended up with me rolling up my pajama pants and getting into the tub with A while KB washed him up, but by the time we were ready to get out he was just getting started. There was a lot of saving the frogs in the boat and then sinking them again. Meanwhile, KB slowly removed the rest of the toys one by one, while I pulled the plug and the water gradually disappeared. Then we transitioned into bedtime nicely by making the couch into a big bed which he happily jumped up on and put on a bit of Baby Einstein (seriously good stuff for the little guys) and we all fell asleep on the couch. I put myself to bed but left the guys on the couch for a campout.
The next morning the sun came out and we did a beach day!! Repacked the picnic lunch and off we went. By the time we got to the beach, it was raining again (hello, Latvia!), but it was only a drizzle so we went for it anyway. A few minutes later the sun was out again and we had a great time, filling and emptying buckets and kicking around a ball. And here is the king of cute....
The boys did go in for a bit of a swim as well. :)
As we were packing up to leave in order to get A home, a yellow jacket got tangled in my hair and stung me on the neck. Not knowing if this is the beesting I'm allergic to, we got a bit scared and really had to hurry. I took my pills, got some ice on it and realized that when a little one is relying just on you to keep him safe, you can't even let something possibly life-threatening like that stop you from caring for him even for a moment. We acted fast, stayed calm, and were on our way back to Riga, with KB driving just this side of safe to get us back quickly, but talking to A the whole way, and me icing my neck and feeding him the picnic lunch he refused to eat on the beach because it was way too much fun. Dropped him off at home and I proceeded to pass out on our couch all drugged up and KB passed out not too far after, exhausted but happy from the weekend.
Saturday we had big plans to spend the day outside to tucker the little guy out, but mother nature had different plans. Though rain was in the forecast, the sky was blue when we woke up, so I set about packing up our picnic lunch while KB made sure A felt happy and welcome during the drop off. By the time we got all three of us in the car, the sky turned gray. By the time we braved Jugla traffic (meaning random lane closures each day for neverending construction and work on water pipes) and made it to the outdoor museum, it was pouring on us. So we turned around and headed right back into town to the mall with a fast food place that has a playland. We figured while we were out we might as well give little A a run for his money. Not so much though. The only part of playland that really drew his attention was the big spiral tube slide, and he was fascinated as the big kids went down. He stood at the top babbling to us in A-talk (really, it is a language of its own) and finally decided to go for it. However, he hadn't caught on to the sitting down thing, so he was trying to walk down. Got scared about five steps in - wouldn't come forward or backward but just started screaming. So KB is at the bottom trying to coax him out, I am standing on the side near the top (it was built so adults can't fit in there) encouraging him, but neither of us could see him. Finally, finally, he walked down and fell into KB's arms screaming at the top of his lungs. Calmed him down with a strawberry milkshake and a song. He went right back up again. We thought he was being so brave to try again, but apparently he had just forgotten and the whole story repeated. After the third time, we didn't feel up to anymore evil looks from the staff and patrons, so we packed up the bags and left. This was one more screaming fit as we left, but we calmed that one down just as quickly as the rest.
We did some shopping, as we were at the mall. KB bought five new shirts for work for the price of one and we bought a hammock! Meanwhile, A had fallen asleep in KB's arms and my allergy eyes were acting up bigtime, so we headed home. The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully at home, which was nice. We played with cars and expanded A's interests to insects and frogs. Below is photo evidence of how we passed the afternoon. Apparently, my legs serve as a great road (my head is not in the photo because I didn't want documentation of my eyes). At one point I had a mini-nap while I was holding the ice pack over my eyes and woke up to plastic flies, grasshoppers and worms strategically placed on my neck and shoulders. :)
Then KB went out for pizza and we all ate our fill. At this point we decided to brave bathtime. To avoid tears, it ended up with me rolling up my pajama pants and getting into the tub with A while KB washed him up, but by the time we were ready to get out he was just getting started. There was a lot of saving the frogs in the boat and then sinking them again. Meanwhile, KB slowly removed the rest of the toys one by one, while I pulled the plug and the water gradually disappeared. Then we transitioned into bedtime nicely by making the couch into a big bed which he happily jumped up on and put on a bit of Baby Einstein (seriously good stuff for the little guys) and we all fell asleep on the couch. I put myself to bed but left the guys on the couch for a campout.The next morning the sun came out and we did a beach day!! Repacked the picnic lunch and off we went. By the time we got to the beach, it was raining again (hello, Latvia!), but it was only a drizzle so we went for it anyway. A few minutes later the sun was out again and we had a great time, filling and emptying buckets and kicking around a ball. And here is the king of cute....
The boys did go in for a bit of a swim as well. :)
As we were packing up to leave in order to get A home, a yellow jacket got tangled in my hair and stung me on the neck. Not knowing if this is the beesting I'm allergic to, we got a bit scared and really had to hurry. I took my pills, got some ice on it and realized that when a little one is relying just on you to keep him safe, you can't even let something possibly life-threatening like that stop you from caring for him even for a moment. We acted fast, stayed calm, and were on our way back to Riga, with KB driving just this side of safe to get us back quickly, but talking to A the whole way, and me icing my neck and feeding him the picnic lunch he refused to eat on the beach because it was way too much fun. Dropped him off at home and I proceeded to pass out on our couch all drugged up and KB passed out not too far after, exhausted but happy from the weekend.
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