Boston Day 1

Monday April 13

Monday was mostly a travel day. I got to the airport super-early... not entirely by choice... it was when my ride left for work! (Thanks, Mom!) I got through security (I'm getting to be quite the airport-security pro) and went to the gate... and sat... and waited... and listened to my iPod... and read some of my book... and plugged in my phone... and sat... and waited. Okay, it wasn't that long before someone else from the group came around. But it was a while!

Everyone arrived (though the person in charge was one of the last people to the gate - yikes!) and we all got boarded. The flight was fine... I slept, read, and listened to music. I got a window seat, which was lovely. Our group of 35 teachers all sat together in two blocks of seats, each 3 rows, so that was kind of fun to be all together. Not that many people noticed... the teacher sitting next to me asked me when we got to Boston where I was from, Utah or Massachusetts. I hope that I made him feel bad when I said that I was with him and all the others. (Really? We've been going to class together once a month for the school year... True, I didn't know everyone's names, but at least I recognized people... urgh!)

We shuffled ourselves off the plane, grabbed our luggage, and got the shuttle to our hotel, Embassy Suites, right by the airport. We took a few minutes to get settled (I lost the sofa-bed game) and then headed out to the T - Boston's metro system. We looked quite the sight, I'm sure - very touristy, bags, money and camera flying everywhere, on all 35 of us. We finally got our week-long passes (7 days for $15 - what a deal!) and got on the train.

I went with a group going to the Italian quarter for dinner. Five of us ended up at a great Italian place, owned and operated by real Italians! The food was great, our waiter was cute (and Italian, of course), and we had a good time. Yum-o! We headed back to Quincy Marketplace to do some window shopping... and real shopping too! There were some stores in the Quincy Marketplace building we looked in, and later, we went to some stores around the marketplace. We caught the T and headed back to the hotel. Woo-hoo for day 1!

Old State House

Cheers - where everybody knows your name. I should have gone on this trip with those guys!

Wizomania!

Easter Sunday Joee and I got to go to WICKED for our birthday! (I got Joee her ticket, and my mom got my ticket) Happy birthday to us - almost closer to our next one than the last one - but HAPPY all the same!

I've been 'practicing' with the Wicked CD for so long to get ready for the show. It certainly didn't disappoint - it was WONDERFUL! I loved Galinda's humor and her great words, and the references to the Wizard of Oz, and how totally unconcerned they are with Dorothy and her little dog, too. I LOVED Fiyero, and loved "Dancing Through Life" - especially knowing that "the trouble with schools is, they always try to teach the wrong lessons". "For Good", "I'm Not that Girl" (how many times have I felt just like Elphaba?), "Popular", and "One Short Day" were all favorites. I LOVED it all!

And then, just like now
We can say:
We're just two friends

Two good friends

Two best friends

Sharing one wonderful
One short...

Day!

April fools... all of them!

During the first week of school back in August, I had about ten of my new little darling students (now not as little or as darling) tell me that I don't need to bother to plan an April Fool's joke on them - they already were aware of all my tricks. (Last year I told my students I was engaged... then later, after all the jokes were over, they took a test they had to pass to be able to pass 3rd grade.) So, naturally, I've put a lot of thought into what I was going to do as a prank!

Yesterday, I had a sub lined up for the afternoon (and not just for the prank, I really had to be somewhere). I told my students right before they left for lunch that I had received a letter that my teaching license was not current, and it hadn't been all year. In order to renew it and not get in huge trouble, I could attend classes for 2 months (1 month if I were willing to go at night as well). Which would mean that I'd miss school for all of April, and possibly all of May! I did have a few who thought this might be a joke... the rest weren't sure. I told them the sub that afternoon was so I could things ready for them for the month, and they went to lunch and I left! I spent a few minutes in my class before leaving, and had one girl come in and say that she was sorry that I was leaving, and gave me a hug! Very uncharacteristic of this student to talk to me about something so personal as my leaving, and to admit that she might miss me... so cute!

This morning when first track came in, they were welcomed by Mr. Grimley, who was going to sub for me while his student teacher continued teaching his class for the rest of the year. I was in the library during this, and stood in the hallway for a few minutes after they came in... silence! Not a word. Such glum little faces! I came in, told them they were all April fools, and we got on with our morning. When second track time came around, first track agreed to buy in and play along to be in on the joke for second track. I came in a few minutes later and got them again! The girl who had come in to hug me good bye yesterday looked awful, like she'd been crying that morning - poor thing! She puts on a tough front, but I guess this got to her a bit.

Don't go thinking I'm all awful... I did get them cookies for being good sports. I also found out that three parents called the principal (I told her about the joke) to see what was going on... she let them in on the joke, and they laughed, thank goodness!

Now I've got to start planning for next year... :)

What happens in Vegas...

... apparently stays in Vegas... and off the blog!



Okay, no...

We had a great time! The weather was great, the food was yum, our hotel was okay, the flight was fine (even if we were in the airport longer than the actual flight, especially coming home when the flight was delayed because of the weather in SLC), the books I took to read were good, shopping was fun, walking through all the casinos was a great way to earn our cheesecake (twice!), losing money was quick and mostly painless, and almost fun... (I'm no Charlotte!). Best of all, we were able to get away for a few days!

Where we stayed - the Excalibur. Very no-frills... and fit our budget exactly!

We believe in public transportation. Scary? Not so much. Mostly tourists were on the Deuce Bus that we took most of the time. The right price? Definitely!
The fountain in front of the Bellagio. We came to several fountain shows on purpose and saw a few more by coincidence. Have you seen Ocean's 11? See it, then you'll look for Danny, Rusty and Linus in front every time you pass by. (Sadly, they were unavailable the days we were there. "Of course I'm in the casino. I'm staying in your hotel. I have two words for you: 'Mini bar.'")
We spent a bit of time in the Conservatory inside the Bellagio. It's quite the garden. There is even a butterfly house. What beautiful flowers! (and then there's us...)
(I apologize for all the pictures here... but they fill my quota of artsy photography for a little while...)

What would a trip to Vegas be without a trip to the Cheesecake Factory (twice!)? Yes, I'm fully aware that I live less than 10 minutes away from one... and yet I've never been to that one. Chocolate mouse cheesecake... yum-o!
The Apple Store at the Forum Shops inside of Caesar's Palace. I bought my iPod Touch - woot! They didn't have to do much selling, I was pretty sold when I walked in. It was only a matter of time before I bought one anyway... why not get it some place fun? (and I love it!)
Caesar's Palace. When it's said that casinos are built to keep people in, they weren't kidding in here. We walked and walked - from both ends of this place - to get where we thought we were going. Imagine if we had left the side of the wall - we might still be trapped inside! (which actually wouldn't be so bad...)
The show we wished we'd gone to... Ahhhhhhhh!
The show we did go to - Knights of the Round Table. This is Prince Christian, the victor over all the other kings and over evil. Check out his blue eyes! Our king was from Norway. He won a competition and was hottie-on-the-bottie too!
We did some shopping at the Coke store. They have everything! I'd love to go back sometime and do their "Sodas of the World" taste-testing.
The M&M store - right next to the Coke store! My two favorite tastes in life, right next together on the Vegas Strip! Smells like chocolate in the air... kind of like Hershey's!
The add for the buffet in our hotel was a girl looking just like this. We couldn't resist this picture when we went there to eat. (Not joking, this is what the chick looked like!)Ah, Vegas. See you again some day!

Another countdown!

Wicked - 2 weeks minus 1 day - This seemed like it'd never come when we got tickets for this on Halloween... almost closer to our next birthdays than the birthday for which it was intended... almost, but not quite!

Boston - 2 weeks - Wahoo! I'm so excited to go! So much history, so many things to do, such great food to eat!

Year-end tests - 2 weeks of school, 1 week of spring break, 1 week 4 days of school - I thought we'd make it, then we hit fractions! Argh!

Last day of school - 2 weeks of school, 1 week of spring break, 2 weeks of school, 1 week of testing, 3 weeks of school - woo-hoo! (39 days... a man on my team is leaving at the end of the school year... he has less days than I have years!)

Philadelphia - 14 weeks - for a seminar and (hopefully) fieldtrips about the Civil War! Yes, it's for school and learning and knowledge... but it's in Philadelphia!

First day of school - who cares?!

(Anyone know where I can get a countdown widget to put on my blog that will do auto countdowns for me? I've only really seen countdowns for pregnancy/babies, and that definitely will not work for me...)

Countdowns!

Last day of school - 10.5 school weeks (11.5 calendar weeks)
Last day of school - 51 school days!
Year-end tests - 6 school weeks (7 calendar weeks)
Wicked! - 5.5 weeks
Boston trip - 5.5 weeks
First day of school - 24 weeks
Vegas excursion - 8 days!

Tippy

We got a new family member today - Tippy!


Tippy belonged to one of my students (whose mom also teaches at my school). They needed a new home for her - dad was allergic. She knew I was catless and wanted to know if I wanted the cat. I sure do!

She's awfully cuddly. She is a great lap cat, perfectly content to sit and snuggle and knead her claws into my arm! She's hardly stopped purring since we got home, and even purred quite a bit on the drive.