Marriage Proposals...

Don't get all excited people, it was from the mouth of a five-year old. Yes, that's right. My first marriage proposal came from one of the WORST students in my class! hahaha
Today was one of those Mondays that started with me being grumpy and just lacking in any joy. But once the little rug-rats began to wander in, I felt so much better. Some days they exhaust me before they even get there, but today they gave me energy and reminded me about what I love about this job: THE KIDS!

Blessings and Broken Glass

Ominous title, isn't it? But it really is a summary of what I did today. I was baking part of my dinner in the oven and when I took it out, I put it on a hot electric burner. I have done this multiple times before and nothing happened but I guess the burner was hot enough and the pyrex literally exploded. I was standing about 2 inches from the stove when it happened (you can see where the blessing part of it comes in). The glass shot out for about 7 feet (some of it melting into the carpet and on the kitchen flooring). I was shocked but managed to get all the glass up, swept, vacuumed, and mopped. And I only ended up with a small cut on my finger and a small shard embedded in my heel (and that hurt BAD to pull out). So my Sunday evening ended with broken glass and, more importantly, BLESSINGS!!! I am thankful and sharing this as a lesson: Don't put that pyrex on a hot surface, they aren't as indestructable as previously thought. :)

Superbowl and other stuff...

I know, I know... it's been ages. I have to admit that I just didn't have anything fun to write about. I was pretty sure that any of my readers weren't interested in reading about how depressed I've been about finances and all of that, or how much I've been exercising or eating, or how little I like where I work or any of that... I like to keep things positive... so I just elected not to write until I got myself out of my funk and back into a positive frame of mind.
And guess what?! I'm there!! hahaha.
The only new things to report are that I'm not getting a very good refund because I am a non-resident alien (yes, punished again for being a foreigner... gotta love it), I may be moving to a new apartment and getting a roommate so that I can save some money, and I will be taking my cat back to my parents' house because my new roommate is allergic to cats.
Other than that, today I am taking part in the great US tradition of watching the Superbowl... not bad. I've become a bit of a football fan (thanks to Kelvin).
So that's all the news of late... hopefully I get a cute story out of my students sometime soon so I can add that to the mix on here! :)

Back to Normal-ish

So the apartment is finally finished. Now I just have to put everything back where it belongs and clean because they didn't clean up after themselves after all the sanding etc that they did. So... YAH!! I have my cat back in my apartment and my privacy back... woo woo!!

Georgetown

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we (KJ, Isabel, Manuel and I) went shopping on Black Friday and then recovered on the Saturday by going into the DC area and wandering the crazy streets of Georgetown. Loved the neighbourhood and the million dollar homes we walked past (although I was cranky on the way back... my socks kept slipping down around my toes in my boots and it hurt!!! Funny to think about now though). Below are a few pictures of the Saturday...



Don't you want to live here? These are private residences right on the water and with a gorgeous courtyard...

um... really?! No standing? hahahaha

The reflection of a beautiful bridge...

A church as we walked from the Metro into Georgetown.

One of the embassies in the area... I just really liked the building.

Uh oh... there goes the apartment

Remember how I was so proud to have my apartment all organized, decorated and done? Well, it has recently been undone!! They are re-fitting all the potable water pipes in all the apartments in my complex and so they have cut holes in most of the walls and some of the ceiling to get at the pipes. Of course, they thought that this would be good to start on a Friday (they don't work on Saturday or Sunday) and then complete sometime in the coming week... *sigh* So, now I am living in a construction zone and my little kitty is living with friends... Below are a couple of pics of what it looks like at the moment.

The Gingerbread Project

This entry is dedicated to my friend Sophia who got me addicted to this project. The Gingerbread Project is one where kids research, design and create a gingerbread house that goes to charity in some form or another at the end. I did it twice in Korea and have now begged and convinced the people that I work with that this is a good thing and so I am doing it here in the US for the first time. It's much more convenient here because you can find all the ingredients in the stores and you can buy tubs of pre-made icing... hahaha... it's like I am cheating!!
Anyway, below are a couple of photos of what's been going on in my classroom over the last week.


The blueprints that the kids made to design their house...

Their cracked up versions of gingerbread people... very funny!!

The display board with all the things going on... there is a master plans section, the blueprints section, a reflections section and some progress pictures as well... very neat and orderly (thanks to one of my room moms!!)

Making the blueprints... so cute!!

More working kids!! Look at that, 5 year olds getting along and working cooperatively!!!