Saturday, March 28, 2009

CD Release

My friend Abie Perkins has just released a CD entitled: Abie Perkins: Thinkin Bout U

You can purchase it here.
Please go and check it out!

Locked out!

I spent the morning cleaning my kitchen...and I mean CLEANING!!! I used bleach...this is how clean I wanted my kitchen. My parents are coming to visit this coming Thursday so I was trying to get my major cleaning done today so that on Wed. I can just do a quick vacuum or so...


I finished my kitchen and realized how hungry I was. I didn't have any food - I had just cleaned out my fridge of all gross yucky food and there wasn't anything in the cupboards either. I decided to just head on down to the market to get the shopping done early. I grabbed my coat, and my purse, my umbrella, and my backback (you have to either bring your own bags to stores in Germany or you end up paying for them!) and left the apt. Now, I usually do a double check for my keys before my door is closed....I did the check AFTER my door clicked closed.


THANKFULLY, I gave my spare key to Martine. I called her and she was home (yes!) and so I made my way over to her house in the pouring rain instead of going to the store. I got there and the good friend that she is, invited me to have some lunch with her and her son. That was so great, as I was quite hungry. We ended up chatting a bit and just hanging for a little while.


She had to go and pick her daughter up from school and so she dropped me off at the market with my spare key in my hands....


I must say, it's a very smart idea to always have a good friend with a spare key. It has come in handy a few times, I must say!


So....thanks, Martini for having my back today!

Back to childhood

I just started to follow Mama Kat's Losin It blog. She's got a great way of writing! I'm enjoying it! I found that she's got a little writing prompt to do. So here it is:

You can go back to your childhood for one day. What day and age do you choose?

This is interesting because I've just done a writing lesson (a memoir) with my first graders. We are studying the past and the present - how things have changed. I figured it would help them understand the "past" if they took a "picture" from their past and wrote about the moment. In order to teach that, though I had to think of a moment from my past. I didn't have the picture to help me as it's in a storage unit (I hope!) in Palm Springs, and I'm in Germany....kind of far to go searching for a picture. But I remember this day or rather this moment.

"Check out my new camera!" I said to Sandra. I had just gotten a new Polaroid camera and was enjoying taking pictures with it. "Here, let me take your picture." I swung the picture back and forth until the picture popped out and showed it to Sandra.

"That's so cool!" she said. "I'll take one of you!"

"Let me see the picture!!" I exclaimed after Sandra took the Polaroid picture of me posing by the clothesline. It was summer and Sandra had come over to play for the afternoon.

"Sandra, go stand over there," I pointed to the garage, "and make a funny face." She did. After the minute or so it took for picture to show up, we were laughing at ourselves. I stood on my head and Sandra took a new picture. "It's actually funny when you turn the picture over as if I were standing," I said. We laughed some more.

This went on for ages - well, at least until the film ran out. We thought we were pretty cool models. We used the clothesline pole to help us sometimes, with our poses (I think we might have been good pole dancers had we just had the music!)

*Being ten years old, with a good friend and a Polaroid camera was fun. Looking back at those pictures today (or when I move back) I remember how much fun the world was. No fears and no embarrassment.

Now, I didn't write all of that for my students. I wrote a portion of it, and then I wrote a version that was fairly dull so that they could see the difference and try to go with a more excited memoir of their own. It's fun to go and look at the past - especially when it's good memories!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Pale, down, and out...

Yesterday began with me sniffling and feeling a bit poorly. I managed throughout the day, albeit with friends and co-workers telling me how pale I looked. By the end of the day I was so done. I had a headache, I felt hot, and I couldn't really concentrate on much. But...I had a "team meeting" to go to. I managed to stay for a few minutes to give the info we had to give and then I went to, once again, work on the yearbook.

I was so grumpy working on the yearbook. For one, I got up to the Library (Martine's domain) and she was trying to add a picture to her library portal or something...I'm not sure. But she wasn't "with" me on the yearbook stuff. So I got grumpy. I left my meeting to come up to her area where her team meets (and this team is dysfunctional - I didn't really want to listen to them) and she wasn't really ready to start working. I didn't want to stay too late working on the yearbook as I was thinking I should get some sub plans ready in case I didn't make it in today. Good forethought on my part - I DID stay home today.

So as we're working on stuff, I just get more grumpy and sluggish. We finish what we're doing and only have a few more things (literally) left to do on this yearbook and I make my way downstairs to my classroom to write up some lesson plans. I get that done and I can barely make it home. It's raining and gross. I'm done. I can tell I've got a fever and yet I have to keep going.

Once inside the sanctuary of my home I collapse on the couch with my warmed up leftover tacos and eat. This perks me up a bit. As it's 6pm and I never stay at school that late! I head to bed around 8.

This morning I wake up and hit snooze. Then I hit snooze again, and again, and yet again. Now normally I have a 1 snooze limit. I just couldn't get up. My body needed sleep and I just didn't think I should TRY to manage the day like I did yesterday. So I finally get up long enough to call my boss and let her know. Then I lay back down and fall asleep for about an hour. It was nice. When I finally get myself up out of bed, I feel better.

For the better part of the day I rested on the couch, or in bed, and then tooled around the apt washing dishes or taking a bath. I'm tired and I have a headache, but I don't feel like I did yesterday. I'm going to school tomorrow, so...I figure an early night will help and tomorrow I'll be feeling ten times better!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Being truthful

So, I spoke with Eric, who is my, not really sure what he is beyond a friend at this point. I mean we were in a relationship and now that I'm so far away....it's kind of hard to have a relationship through that kind of distance. We are still friends, though. We email and talk regularly.

I called him last night as it'd been awhile. We spoke about many different things, but one of them was my job search. I had to tell him that I'm looking for jobs in other international schools. I didn't want to tell him that, because in my mind's eye I already see myself living back in Palm Springs. I see the two of us seeing each other regularly and just basically seeing where it all might go.

It was hard to tell that I might not be coming home. He seemed taken aback by the statement. He actually sounded sad. Especially when he asked how long the contract would be. It put me in a funk, I must say. I'm a bit depressed by this. He was able to be supportive about my searching elsewhere, but, I think he was disappointed that I might not be back. I can say that I'm just as disappointed myself.

I've already seen how I want to have my condo looking. Where I'll place things...putting certain things in a different place than before. I have plans of hanging out with friends at certain restaurants that I've missed. And I've planned to see Eric a lot!! It'll be very hard to do these things if I'm not there!

So, sadness has started to well up in me because of this and I'm frustrated that I might not find a job in the desert or surrounding area. I hope that I can. It's where I'd like to be!!!!! I don't blame Eric for sounding upset about my not coming back and being equally upset that if I did end up with another international teaching job, it would probably be another two years before I'd be back.

I don't want to be in this funk....but I suppose that it was best I told him now rather than too much later. At least he knows now. We'll see where this leads us!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Sunny Saturday

Tis wonderful when you wake up on the weekend to find the sun shining! The sun has now been out for 3 days in a row....it's a miracle! It may still be COLD but, I'll take it if the sun is going to remain!

I'm off, yet again, to school to work on the yearbook! Yippeeeeee! NOT! But, as we work a bit more each day, it becomes so close to being finished! I think Martine and I need to have one or two HUGE margaritas after this is done and over with.

As for what else is going on....the week was stressful and now it's over. THANK YOU! I am glad to have the weekend here. It's a good sign. And now that it's finally spring, and it looks like spring, I feel like things are looking up. I still have a lot to accomplish before the end of this month, but....I'm getting to it slowly but surely.

I have put out a few feelers for jobs this week as well. One in Monaco (boy it couldn't hurt to live on the Mediterranean, could it?) and one in Sydney. We'll see what comes of either one! They would both be fun. And where I really want to be home (or stateside, really) I also want to know that I have income coming in! It will all be sorted out soon enough, I'm sure - at least I hope so...

Well, have a fabulous weekend and enjoy the sun! I'm definitely going to enjoy it! Who knows how long it will stay.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Calm Friday

Well, at least I'm hoping for a calm Friday. I have two prep periods today with a lunch in between, so....shouldn't be too horrible. It's been a long, and stressful week. Ok, actually only the last two days have been LONG and STRESSFUL!

It's yearbook stuff! I'm done with it! I'm fed up, and I don't want to continue. I'll give back the money if I could be allowed to just hand it over to someone else! But we're so tantalizingly close to be finished....I'll see it through. I promise!

As for the calmness that I am seeking today....the sun has shown itself today already at it's only 7am. Good sign!! My friend is putting on a Peter Pan Story time in the Library after school! Cute! And I'm looking forward to the weekend. All in all this should help in the calmness today!

Here's to a happy Friday for everyone! Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Gripes...

Although I feel as though I've already griped about this topic, I have a few more gripes! The school yearbook...ugh! I'm frustrated beyond belief right now. I can't believe that what is going on.

Martine and I were checking up on what we had sent to the company publishing our yearbook. We wanted to make sure we were on the right track. However, the response we got was not all that great. The woman that is our helper person - Judy Jo - told us that we didn't "package" the document the right way. Now I'm not one to disagree....actually, I'm totally one to disagree! I emailed her back today and said that we followed the "packaging" procedures the way they were outlined and was confused about why it didn't help. Anyway...we haven't heard back from her as of yet. Or at least not by the time we left school. Hopefully we have a response by the morning.

So this morning, as I was reading Miss Judy Jo's emails, I became more and more upset. By the time I got to school, I was so frustrated that I was ready to cry! I went up to the Library to just give the "oh my God, I can't believe this crap!" look to Martine, but she was in the same mood as I and didn't want to talk. I don't blame her, because I don't think I could talk then either. I feel like I just needed to know that we were both feeling the same thing.

Now...as the day and evening has worn on, I've become a bit more calm and cool and collected - still pissed to high heaven, but....at least I'm feeling a bit more rational about it all! I am feeling as though this experience is not worth the extra 90 euros I get each month! Too much stress and too much time spent on something that, in my opinion, isn't a necessity for elementary school kids!

Ok....gripe over!!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Transitioning Moments

What do you do when you have to cover your butt, but you don't really want to do that? What I mean by this is: I'm searching for a teaching job. I'd like it to be back in California where my condo is currently and sadly sitting empty. I'm in a holding pattern with one school, and because of that, I'm starting to look at other schools (international schools - and other states) to work at. I would prefer to go home. I've been away for 2 yrs and am homesick. But...in a weird way, I'm kind of excited about the prospect of living in another country....

So....here lies my quandary. Do I forge ahead and cover my butt so that I have a paying job next year, or do I hold out that there will be a position for me in California? I think I know that answer, but that answer is putting me at odds with myself. I want a job, but I want it where I want it. So....I suppose that I'll still have to be patient and wait for a position to show itself to me and then....we'll see where I end up. I guess I just need to let the breeze take me where it will take me!

I really don't enjoy transitions....but the thought of a new adventure is kind of alluring!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Saturday Morning

A little poem to bring in the day...


On Saturday morning the weather was dull
The air was cold and the birds sat still
But all the colors surrounded my skull
And made me think of sharing some skill.

All around me there seemed to be quiet
Then a plane shot overhead and roared
No sighting of the plane in the dim light
But through the clouds it surely did soar.

Sleep was what I wanted today
But the world wanted me awake
for what I really cannot say
Become clear for goodness sake!

A list of items to be done
Is filling my mind right now
Twill be hard without the sun
To complete all with a bow!

Yawning, stretching, all in all,
I know that it will be okay
I would love to go out and hit a ball
But I cannot do that today.

So here I end to get to work
Upon that list that lingers
I will really try to not shirk
my jobs today with my fingers.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Joy of Friday

I absolutely love Friday's. Let me tell you a few reasons why:

1. It signifies the weekend.
2. I have 2 preps with lunch in between (so basically I don't see my kids for about 2 1/2 hrs today - bliss *sigh*)
3. Frequently there is alcohol being served after school in the teacher's lounge to help us unwind from the week (you can't do this in the states!!) Supposedly some of our Irish parents are going to teach us how to make Irish Coffee the Irish way after school today - too bad I don't like coffee, maybe they'll let me just have the shot??

And today, so far, the sun is peeking out of a thin layer of cloud cover (my spirits are raised already because of that!). The rain has stopped so the kids get to go outside for recess today!Yippeeeeeeeeee! 19 first graders stuck inside all day is NOT a good thing!

Even though I have some homework to catch up with, and my apt needs to be cleaned this weekend, I'm looking forward to enjoying this Friday for what it will bring! At the moment it's definitely bringing me joy!

I hope that everyone out there has just as pleasant of a Friday as I hope to have! TGIF!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Weather, weather, weather....

I'm so ready for spring I can taste. It's so close....the crocus' are starting to bloom. But today is a great example of German weather. It started out cloudy - not raining - just cloudy. Then there was a bit of a break in the clouds and the sun shone through for a bit. While the kids were at their lunch recess, a freak cloud burst happened and it started to pour - all the while you could still see blue skies and the sun. Then it stopped and the sun shone once more. The same thing happened at the kid's last recess. As they were coming in, another raincloud burst upon them! It was so crazy!

As I came home from the store the sun was out and there was a pretty blue sky with a few clouds scattered here and there. As the sun set, though, the clouds start to come together....I'm sure there will be another bit of raining tonight!

I'm done with the crazy German weather. I would like to be in the desert right now where the sun shines all the time and the sky is more or less empty of clouds! That would be fabulous....I guess I just need to wait a few more months for that one to happen, though, won't I?

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

IM Chatting ettiquette

So...are you allowed to laugh out loud while having an IM chat with someone? Is it ok to spontaneously start clapping at something that was just good? Is equally ok to start snorting because of the laughter? If all the answer to those questions are NO, then I can tell you that I was very, very much out of order for about 20 minutes while chatting with a friend. We have lost touch over the years and always seem to find one another suddenly and usually when we need to have a few good laughs and some memories brought back to us.

Norma is a fabulous friend. I love her and I've missed her. We were chatting about what we're up to in our lives and what we remember about some things from high school. But it was great because the laughing I did was exactly what I needed. I hadn't laughed like that for quite some time. I'm so glad.

I'm sitting at home (alone) and I'm sure that my German neighbors were thinking, "There goes that crazy American, again." But...I don't care! I am glad that I got to laugh. The weather was horrible today. It's been pissing down rain since I woke up and it hasn't let up at all! I spent the entire day with 19 first graders stuck inside. UGH!!!

So...this bit of laughing was a much needed thing. Thank goodness for good friends who can always make you laugh. I am very grateful for that! And....laughter truly is the best medicine!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Grace in Small Things...

I just found a great blog called Grace in Small Things. It's mostly to start looking at the small things in life and appreciating them. I thought I'd give it a whirl tonight as I started out the day with a bit of skepticism about the yearbook. So here it goes:

1. Our yearbook is tantalizingly close to being finished and that is something to celebrate. Working on throughout the year as opposed to waiting until now...was a smart decision.


2. My friends are a part of my family. I love each and everyone of them. Those that have come into my life recently and those that have been around for awhile.


3. The flowers are beginning to bloom here. I guess all the rain is a good thing because it helps grow those wonderfully magnificent flowers.



4. The sounds of the birds are music to my ears in the morning. It also shows how close we are to Spring! I cannot wait for the first official day!

5. I'm grateful for the consideration I'm being given for a teaching job I would love to have. I won't know for awhile yet, but...just being considered is very nice.

So...here are my 5 small things today. My goal is going to be to do this everyday. I think it will help me through some of the tough times yet to come.

Friends and the yearbook

So, I love my friend Martine. We bonded very quickly upon arriving in Germany. We have loads of fun together and we are able to tell each other when we get on one another's nerves without getting too hurt. But...she talked me into doing the yearbook for our school this year (which by the way, I think is a load of crap to have for elementary school) and now we're in the final moments - I say final because that's what I'm hoping for - of putting this together.

It's Sunday, the clouds have swooped in, yet again, and the day is dreary. We're heading into school in a few hours to add more layouts and pictures to the yearbook. Oh what joy!!! (said very sarcastically!!!) Amazingly enough, Martine and I haven't had too many fights over this yearbook stuff. At the beginning there was a little discomfort and we sorted it out, and then a month later there was another little scuffle that we worked out. Now...I think we're both feeling the same thing, so there's no need to be upset with one another over anything to do with the yearbook.

On April 3rd, hopefully this will be over....at least for a few weeks until we're informed of what we need to do in order to fix certain pages or whatever. Keep those fingers crossed!!!

So, onto waiting until Martine picks me up...joy to the world!!! We've said all along that if we make it through this (meaning the yearbook) and are still friends, then we'll be friends for the long haul! So far, it's looking like that might happen. Hopefully there are no scuffles between now and the end (of the yearbook, that is...).

Saturday, March 7, 2009

As the day wears on...





So...the day started out with all good intentions. I was ready to clean and do dishes (which, by the way, haven't been done in about a week save for the few items that were done just so I could eat off of them.) I hate not having a dishwasher. I also started out cleaning my bathroom and was ready to head down to the laundry room with at least one stack of clothes...haven't managed that yet.

What I did manage to do today, aside from the bathroom, was take a shower and walk down to the store to get some food for few dinners and breakfasts. I'm glad I've done that at the very least since I won't be able to shop tomorrow. (Stores are all closed in Germany on Sundays). Where this is a good idea on some days....it's a very poor idea on other days. There are those few Sunday's where I wish I could just go down to the store and grab all the things I forgot to get on Saturday. But, alas, it cannot be.

I'm waiting for a friend to call me back to see where we'll end up for dinner tonight. Should be interesting. I haven't gone OUT for dinner in awhile. I tend to stay close to home lately. The weather hasn't been so great (although today the sun came out and that was so fabulous to see.) In the last two days it has been pissing down rain. Ugh! Why is Germany so rainy. If I wanted to spend all this time in the rain I would have moved to Seattle, which is one of my favorite cities!!! Oh well. Anyway, it's 5:45 and it's still light outside and that is a bonus. Can't wait for the flowers to pop out full of color!
Here's to a lazy Saturday....maybe Sunday won't be as lazy. Here's hoping!

Job Searches

In this economy it's a bit rough to look for a job. I'm heading back to the states after working in Germany for two years and looking for a teaching job back where I have a condo. I hope that I'm able to find one. This will be a bit of a test for me.

There is a fabulous school that I'd like to go back to, however, there are some waiting issues that are going on at the moment. I have to wait until the end of the month to find out if the "unofficial" opening becomes "official." I hope that it does as I would love to work with those folks again.

I'm ready to be back near my friends, as well. We'll see how this whole job hunt goes. This will be a few grueling months.