Gypsy Comes Naturally To Me

My dad is going to Lebanon next week. He went last year to work on a short term assignment with some government department..It is the same as before. He will go to work with farmers on implementing food safety standards so that they can move forward with trade. Right now, Lebanon is stuck with apples it cannot sell because larger countries in the area cannot legally trade with them due to their lack of standards. My dad is sort of an expert on food farm safety. Kind of funny that farming is international!

I know it's not the best time for him to travel to the middle east, but he is not going near large city centers so I am okay with it. Remember this is the man who traveled for 7 straight days without a bed when I was adopting Anna from the Russian Far East.

Ahhh, that week was a good one. Let's review for those who missed it..
Day 1: Fly to Moscow, sit in the airport for 8 hours.
Day 2 Fly 9 hours to Khabarovsk.
Day 3: Take a train to Komsomolsk to visit Anna prior to court.
Day 4 Take the train Back to Khabarovks and go STRAIGHT to court.
Day 5 Take the train to pick up Anna in Komsomolsk.
Day 6 Take the train back to Khabarovsk to spend the month...

*Because of the time differences, it was 7 days of continuous travel!!

It didn't really matter that we never stopped moving. It was pure bliss. I cut out the world while in Khabarovsk and lived in my little adoption bubble. And my dad was in the hotel room right beside Anna and I giving us space when we needed it, getting us pizza when we were sick, and spoiling Anna with scrambled eggs when I wasn't looking.

So a flight to the country side of Lebanon isn't so scary for me. My dad is living his dream and I won't burden him or myself with worry. Neither of us deserve that.

That brings me to my gypsy story. I have settled into school and my situation with the commute is no better, but I can't change it, so I have decided to just go with it..I have 22 years of teaching, but only 19 in my county/state. So the plan is to finish this year, and next year. If I left then my retirement would be terribly low, so obviously I would only leave it the PERFECT situation came along. Private/International schools are out of the question, and with the budget cuts of the DODea, it's out too. So I am back into graduate school as my big option. There are two areas I consider, history..which won't help me career wise, and ESOL which may help..
Right now, I am too busy with everything to focus on "what's out there" so I am just focusing on school and my girlz.

Locked Out...

So what do you do when you have a giant safe with all of your documents inside and there is no key...

Hmmm. We are trying to renew our passports but everything is in the safe. One suggestion was to drop the safe on a corner. Yeah, but it weighs about a million pounds.
Any ideas?


Reasons for the passport? A few, but for now I won't jinx it.

Dog Smiles

So this is what happens when Anni bugs the everlovin' crap out of the dog..He isn't smiling..He just growls at her! She thinks it is so cute..Yes I have told her to put him down when he does this. But she can't help herself~ 
I see the emergency room in our future.

A Candy Coating....

August never picked out how to decorate her room..It started out with her favorite color and then we went with that..

But this summer while in Florida, my sister and I took the girlz to a movie...And yes, as a group the choice was Katy Perry's movie..The girlz love her songs and I knew that it would be mostly concerts so we went..Turns out, it was pretty amazing. Many of the themes went over the girlz heads and they focused on the songs and staging of her concerts..And from there, AugustRose started talking about having a candy room. This summer I started looking through Pinterest, (find me there if you are on) and started picking up odds and ends to start Auggie's candy room...

Starlight Theatres are amazing. You order food and drink and take it in with you..Giant leather seats and a perfect view of the screen no matter where you sit..And it ain't cheap. Something like 12.00 for each child, and this was during the day..Yep, we spoil ourselves in the summer. For the record, this was the SECOND movie I have ever taken the girlz to see. We saw the Smurfs last summer..(My sister has taken them to a couple of movies..AugustRose slept through them so....)


OK, so onto Auggie's room...
I have been finding little things here and there and this is what I have so far..

I found these adorable little cupcake lights at Claires..They were on clearance for $5.99! I tied random ribbon around the cord so it isn't as ugly..(I used ribbon from AugustRose's birthday presents..Hint, always keep the gift bags and ribbons.. You will always find a craft for them!!)

These are the Popsicle..They are sort of hard to see when they are lit up..But they are cute!!!

I painted and put lots of ribbons and Christmas gumdrops all over this little guy!

Here is the spot above the bed. One side is cupcakes, the other side is Popsicle lights..Again, Claire's has great deals on just about everything!

I used Anna's old comforter cover which is sort of solid hot pink..We have candy pillows from Anna's dance recital, and Anna was such a darling and gave it to AR for her room..Sometimes Anna can be such a lamb! (YES, there are many times I wanna scream at her!!)



Oh, about the dog. The damn dog.
He has gotten really territorial about me and my bed and barks anytime the girlz walk into my room. There must be something in his history that causes him to be fearful. The girlz handle it well, since he is awesome unless I am around. He is pretty good otherwise.
But just like Aunt Lee said, "I gotta dog..Not my girlz!!"
Damn it!

My student started last week. Oh Lordy, am I tired. The first week is usually the hardest. We have very large classes for a Title 1 school, but it is what it is..My students are mostly English speakers and bright, and funny, and tiny! I forget every year how little they are.  One child goes by his middle name and when I wrote his firs name on everything he told me, "That's not my name." So I asked him what his name was and he told me...."Guess!!!"  I had to laugh..He is the littlest nugget and I kind of want to squeeze his little cheeks.


I am still feeling the ease of living without "other burdens" and know now more than ever that sometimes you have to remove yourself from situations you can't control. Friendships are about honesty and when someone simply wants to please them self and doesn't consider the collateral damage, you just have to move away from it. Forever.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDrcVOQ3KJE
This is how my life was...  And I am Jacqueline in this little demo!!
(The first 8 minutes are pretty much how I have felt)
But, at the end of the day, it will be Teresa who WONT own up to her wrong doing and will blame everyone around her..Instead of saying, I shouldn't have trusted, she should say, I was wrong and it was my fault.

another catch up post..

So I am back at school. I didn't get a transfer so my drive is still a nightmare, but the beauty is, I know what I am doing and have lots of support in my building.
We have a lot of new procedures, forms, requirements etc. so it is good that I am at my familiar school. I would hate to have to learn all of this at a new school where I am learning the basics of that building.
..
We got back from Florida a little over a week ago. And when we arrived, we arrived with a brand new dog! He is a pound puppy and awesome. He is a cross between a yorkie and a mini schnauzer. So he is very light, but with very long legs! We are adjusting to our life with him but thankfully he is four years old so he doesn't have the 'puppy' needs. His name is Marty.
It took me over 2 years to decide about the dog, and I am certain we made a good decision.

I have been happier than ever at school. We were given 2 days to set up our rooms and plan. These days are in addition to the week prior to school starting. Oh and these were PAID days . My main boss is basically awesome and spent this money to give us a jump start! Afterall, 40% of our evaluations will be based on our students' successes so she wanted us ready to go by the time school started. I have been at school til 8 or 9 each night this week. Luckily my boss is awesome as I said and many of us would get our own children in the afternoon and bring them to school. This way we could stay til the school closed for the night without having to make our sitters keep them all day..There are loads of little ones so my girlz LOVED being there!
After being in Florida and with me all day, this gave the girlz a chance to ease into life without Momma by their side all day.

Summer was relaxing and wonderful. No extra toys to keep up with, no extra "stuff" to deal with, just time with  my girlies. and my dad!

I was able to visit my BFF from Florida on our way home. She and her hubs took us on a 'mudding' run through her equestrian neighborhood. Acres and Acres of nothing but beautiful homes and paddocks of horses. They have a jeep that has been refitted with very tall back seats and Anna and i rode up there..My phone died on the ride so no pics..boooooo!!! Lee's area is about the only place in Florida I would like to live. If it snowed there, I would honestly consider moving..Lee's daughter turned 16 yesterday. and that is one I can hardly believe. I remember the day she was born. I was up here, living in DC at the time.
This rockin' lil 16 year old is a really down to earth cross between a country girl and city girl. She is a "yes maam" kind of girl who is more stunning than is humanly possible. She is doing well in school and is a joy to her parents. She is a great big sister! 

I love you Mary Allison M!!

 

We had such fun catching up while at Lee's house. The girlz loved being there since we got to go on the boat one day and fish. Out of all of us, AugustRose was the only one to catch a fish..And she caught 2!!  But before and after that, she spent the better part of the day screaming at all of us to "Sit DOWN, we are going to TIP OVER!"  She was so thrilled to ride the boat, then once on it, not so much. And I giggled at her all day. She can be bitter beyond words.. and it made for some laughter on my part!



So life is good. And I am ready to start another year.
I hope your summer gave you the "re-charge" you needed to begin the cycle again.

Summer Update

So we have been in Florida for a little over a month now. And I gotta say, It is just as good as it has ever been. We traveled up to Saint Augustine to go to our family reunion a week ago and had a fabulous time. It is sort of like shoving a mini-vacation into our summer holiday.
For those who don't care much for beaches, this is your kind of town. There are tons of historical spots to visit and a precious downtown area for shopping and people watching. We have visited most of the historical spots in years past, so this year I planned a trip to Marine Land for Anna's 9th birthday treat! We went to a dolphin research center when Anna was 5 and that is where she threw her very first EPIC-giant-"Oh my God, I don't know this kid" sort of fit..
(Back story: Anna was too young to swim with the dolphins, so we paid for her to have a meet and greet with a dolphin. When it was over, she wanted to swim with her dolphin, and all but threw herself into the sea to be with the dolphin. And as luck would have it, there was an audience watching Anni and her little sister. I guess the people visiting thought it was cute to see 2 little gals touching and feeding a dolphin. Boy were they surprised when they saw Anna lay herself on the dock and try to boodie scoot herself into the water. August seeing Anna very near the water felt She should be there, so she also threw herself on the dock and did her Russian best to get into the water. It was amusing as hell to the audience who clapped and laughed, but it was one of those rare times when I gave pause and considered just kicking both of my precious girlz into the water..But I didn't. And that is when Anna began a two hour screaming fit shouting, "I need to get in the water."   Yeah, all the way from the upper Keys, to Miami.)
OK, so given the back story, I knew that Anna would much love the dolphin experience at Marine Land. Because of the huge expense, (400.00 has never been so worth it!) Anni didn't have a birthday party. She was totally fine with it. August said she wanted to do it also, but I know my girlz. August would stand on the water's edge and say, "Yeah, Hell no am I doing this." so I chose the Feed, Touch, and Paint program for her.

We traveled up to S.A. and had a day with the Green family. It is so amazing to see everyone. We  meet at my cousin Kelly's house. She and her sister are a lot like my sister and I. Kim has children and even grandchildren now and Kelly doesn't have any. She just loves on her nieces and nephew. They do a great job of planning the party and making everyone feel at home. Kelly has the best pool and lives on the bay side of the beach so everyone who goes gets a little mini-vacay. My dad is one of 8 children so there are many cousins for my girlz to play with.
We stay just down the road from my cousin's house and my sister flew in from DC to be there..

Our Marine Land visit was beyond worth the money. My neighbor told Anna, "Your mom is rich. She pays for you to do a lot in the summer." I had to share some basic economics with my girlz so that they know this is NOT the case. I plan, plot, and scheme to put away money for special events. Single motherhood and rich NEVER go together. I don't want my girlz to think of themselves as wealthy or spoiled so I shared with them the basics of how to save for a summer of "special birthday" treats. I reminded them that our SUV is almost 8 years old. I reminded them that we shop for many items at thrift stores. I reminded them that we only plan a couple of trips a year. I reminded them that although we want a pet of some sort, it takes planning. Mostly financial planning so that we are ready when the time comes. The are pretty clear on the fact that Mommy is not quick to make any big purchases, and although we spend a big amount of money on trips, we have planned them at least a year in advance..

Okay back to Dolphin Day. August and Aunti did the painting first. It was a perfect program. Although my lil' Auggie seemed excited to be with the dolphins, I could see there was NO WAY she would have gotten in with the dolphins.
Anna and I got to swim the dolphins. And let me tell you. It was amazing. One day I am going to write a book on water/swim/ocean time as an alternative bonding therapy. And if I did write the book, dolphin therapy would be at the top of my list. It was the most precious thing I have done with Anna. The joy on her face, the love in hear heart, the excitement of the process was too much. I was teary eyed for much of the event, but then the dolphin would come up to us and I could only joy in my heart.   Twice while in the deep water, the dolphin would swim away do some sort of trick and then instead of returning to the trainer, it would swim up to Anna and I and allow us to give it it's "reward rub."   We knew this wasn't what she was supposed to do, but we loved it. The trainer would end up swimming up to us and move the dolphin away from us and back to the middle of the pool..
It was an awesome time and I highly suggest it to anyone with children who need a birthday treat!


There is much to share about my job. But I won't muddy up my happy post with the "Icccckkkk" that is FCPS. Just can't even allow myself to think about it right now..So I will leave you with some pretty pictures!!






Aunti and AugustRose painting, touching, and feeding their dolphin Dazzle and Roxy!

Anni and I during our Dolphin Experience!

Birthday

So today is Anni's 9th and I had to post this, more for my own memory..I can guess this isn't stuff Pulitzer's are made of!

So what does a 9 year old pick out for her birthday cake? Usually we have a party so the cake goes along with the theme. This year, we aren't doing a party with friends so as I was planning to go pick out a small cake she said she wanted to go and pick it out..So, we went to one of my favorite places, the Publix down the road and headed for the bakery..There were many cute mini cakes that would have been perfect. But she headed to the pies, and what does she see? A key lime pie..Hmmm...And then her other favorite, a cookies and cream pie..Hmmmm? Difficult troubles..THEN, we see what must be a mini miracle, we see each pie sold in halves...So she looks up at me and smiles and says, "Can we Momma?" I think you know the answer!
So we started with this...

And after Anna made a few modifications,  added candles, and fire, we ended up with .....

 It may look like a mess of a cake, and maybe it was, but we were happy with it!

     Auggie picked out the cutest little diary with an M on it..It had a cute glittery pen and book mark, as well as a sparkly LOCK! Go ahead Anni, put your secrets in that sucker. Momma knows how to pick a lock! Anni and Augg were in the sweetest "thank you hug" here!



Right now, Anni is very into DS..I can only say, it has come in handy while her computer is down..Sadly, the duck tape stopped holding it together and we are trying to get it repaired. She got lots of little odds and ends  and games to go with her DS. She loves to organize her stuff. Yeah, until we get home and she has to organize her room!





And here is a horrible picture of me at the pool during a night time swim..It proves I am actually at the beach with my girlz..(Single motherhood sucks when trying to actually get into a photograph!)