Love/Hate Illustrated

The next day started out with good omens--FINALLY! Someone lent Flo a charger, and we met 3 sweet French girls at breakfast who had a car and also planned on visiting Pompeii. Pompeii was interesting--not eery like I had imagined, but perhaps this had to do with the bright blue sky that was looking down. The view of Mt. Vesuvius was great, and the ruins gave so much insight into the way of life, the mixture of Greek and Roman history, and the thought process of the people. It was so hot, that after lunch we decided to go straight to the sea to swim.

Amalfi/Ravello were the last towns we wanted to hit before leaving the Amalfi coast. We left at 9:30 the next day to take the bus to the train to get to Sorrento where we wanted to take a boat to Amalfi at 11:15. Classic Caitlyn/Flo style, we had to run, and when we finally got to the ticket window, they said we couldn't go to Amalfi--I have no idea why, it said right in my time table Sorrento-Amalfi, but we ended up buying the ticket to Positano and then figuring we'd take the bus from Positano to Amalfi. A boat even came that was headed for Amalfi, but they wouldn't let us on. In any case, the boat was wonderful, the air was fresh, the sea was blue...

In Positano we walked up the hill, Flo wanted to stop and eat, but I wanted to pick up something in the grocery store and eat at the bus stop so we wouldn't waste more time.. I had my heart set on Ravello--the city of gardens where poets go to die. At the top of the hill (once more) we ate our sandwiches and waited for the 1:30 bus to Amalfi. When it came it was standing room only around those tight corners dangling off the cliffs. Surprisingly, someone called to us, and it was the 3 French girls and the Italian couple from our B&B who had taken this bus directly from Sorrento and had been riding for 3 hours! They didn't look happy. We were glad to have taken the boat in between.

Another hour later we arrived in Amalfi. The French girls planned to spend the day on the Amalfi beach, and the Italian couple (who spoke not a word of English) were headed on to Ravello. I asked if I could go with them, Flo waffled. Finally she decided she wanted to see Ravello, too. So we headed to another bus station. Another hour passed waiting and enroute before we finally arrived in Ravello. Ravello was beautiful! Fewer people, a beautiful church in the central plaza with mosaics, 360 degree panorama views of the mountains, vegetation, the sea, etc, and up many steps in the little town we came to the Villa di Cimbrone where poetry met nature met art. It was divine. sculptures, views, terraces, trees, flowers, inscriptions, fountains, it was a combination Italian and English style garden. THIS is what I had been waiting for! Communication between us and the Italians was limited, because they really didn't speak ONE WORD of English, but we smiled a lot, and they were patient--making an effort to understand my cryptic Italian and speaking slowly and clearly with me, waiting while I translated for Flo.


It was time to go, because we were hoping to catch a 6:30 boat back to Sorrento, however when we arrived, we decided it was too expensive so we took the bus. 2 more hours of sharp turns, cliffs, stopping abruptly, and FAST driving (even the Italians were commenting), and of course we were in the very last row--which my mother warned me about, but they were the only available seats!--and squeezed 4 people into 3 open seats. Poor Flo had had enough. I watched helplessly as she turned green and then suddenly asked for a plastic bag from our backpack. She was throwing up for the last 45 minutes of our trip. Even after getting off the bus, we still had to take the train back to Vico and then thankfully the Italians had a car to drive us all up to the B&B. Poor poor Flo. I thought she would never speak to me again.

Halfway up the hill in the car with the Italians, we had to stop to let a patron saint procession go by. I swear it was half of the town processing down the street with candles, bearing the statue of the saint on a platform, singing. Cool to see, but honestly, don't they have side streets for that kind of thing? Back at the B&B, Flo went straight to bed, so I had dinner with the Italians. Such effort to converse! But I couldn't get over how nice they were. They walked me back to my room after to check on Flo, and then came back with pills for nausea.

THe next day we packed up, gave Vincenzo our offerings of American BBQ sauce and Belgian chocolate to thank him for taking good care of us, and headed to the beach with the Italians with the Italians for the morning before boarding our trains to Rome. This particular beach was refreshing, but crowded and dirty. It was good to be in the water, despite the brown film coating our bodies when we left. Getting off the train in Naples, the doors closed on Flo's backpack and we had to yank her out before the train started moving again. She says she's unlucky. I'm beginning to believe her.

On the Napoli-Roma train, the woman we sat next to struck up conversation and then told me my Italian was very good. I couldn't help but laugh, but I was excited for her to say so! We made it to Rome and our convent (yes, we stayed with the sisters) without difficulty (FOR ONCE!), showered and headed out to explore Rome by night. We came upon the Collosseum all lit up with the full moon hovering above and felt our troubles melting away...

The Coming and the Going

After our looooong travel day to the Amalfi Coast, Flo and I decided that we would take it easy on public transportation the next day. Vincenzo told us there was a spot just down the road from our place where it would take us about 1 hour to hike down the hill to reach the little town of Positano. We set off after breakfast and came upon Vincenzo in his car, he told us to get in and drove us to the trail head, then proceeded to walk down partway with us talking the whole way about this and that, pointing to the Bay of Naples, the Bay of Salerno, the towns, the church, etc. He snapped some photos of Flo and I and then sent us off.

It was a nice hike, switchbacks the whole way down the hill, and the air was clean and fresh. By 10:00 it was HOT and we were glad to have water and sunscreen. Suddenly we came upon a couple sitting in the shade who said, "where do you come from?" In a very good mood I threw up my hands and cried, "America!" at which point my feet started sliding down the hill unbeknownst to the rest of my body, and I very ungracefully halted inches from his feet. He lunged forward to catch me, and when all was well, he said, "I meant where do you come from right now?" Embarrassing, or patriotic, you decide.

It took us 1.5 hours to hike all the way to the town. Positano is a pedestrian town because all the roads, alleys, and streets that go through it are steps. The colorful houses are stacked on top of one another all up the hillside, just like your typical Italian coastal village on the Mediterranean. We reached the beach in another half hour, and swallowed the $$ we had to pay to access it. I immediately stripped my socks and shoes so I could experience the beach with all my senses, and regretted it as soon as I stepped onto the black sand which had been absorbing the sun's heat all morning. In the middle of a long row of chairs, halfway between the two boardwalks, I was committed--I started running, but every step was hotter than the last! When I finally made it onto the boardwalk, there were tears in my eyes and my feet were blistered, but that made the sea feel even better.

We swam, slept, and relaxed all day long (taking care to put our feet only on the shaded sand), and at 4:30 decided to pack up and begin the trek home. We stopped by the tobacco shop to buy our bus tickets to Vico Equense and marched up to the top of the hill to the bus stop. Once at the top, there were no signs about what buses passed by, times, nothing. I asked someone who looked like a local which side of the street we should wait on for Vico Equense. In a torrent of Italian he said we were on the right side and we should look for the bus to META. Every single bus that came was going either to Sorrento or Amalfi, no Meta, no Vico. I asked EVERY SINGLE driver if they went to Vico. All said no. One said that bus would come in 20 minutes. After 2 hours of waiting, Flo and I were hot, tired, and thoroughly disgusted. I hailed a cab and asked him how much to Santa Maria del Castello. He said 90 Euros. We said no thanks and crossed that option off our list.

Back down the hill we stopped in tourist info again to explain our situation. She said the bus to Meta had long since left, and we had some options.. we could either take the hour long bus to Sorrento and then take the train to Vico, or we could take the local bus to a certain point and then hike the rest of the way up the hill, but it was getting dark and there would be no lights. We had thought about walking back up, but weren't sure we would find the trail again. Close to tears we asked the girl to please call Vincenzo and tell him we'd be late to dinner AGAIN. When she got off the phone she said that if we RAN back up the hill, we could catch the next bus to Sorrento. If we missed it, there wouldn't be one for another hour.

So we ran for about 3 minutes uphill, and then had to stop because of the hoardes of tourists in the narrow streets and the fact that we were wheezing. We made it on the bus to Sorrento, made it on the train to Vico, and then before getting on the 9:40 pm bus to Santa Maria del Castello, we had to go in search of a prepaid calling card so we could telephone them to pick us up. When we finally got to the tobacco shop (we had to ask directions twice), I asked for a prepaid calling card for the public phone, and he just shook his head and said "molto dificile" (very difficult). Apparently nobody sells them. I don't know what use the phones are in that case, but who am I? Just an American tourist. In desperation we went into the bar next door, hurriedly and cryptically told the bartender our sad tale, and then I begged him to let me borrow his cell phone. We told Vincenzo that we wouldn't be able to call at the top of the hill, but would be getting the next bus and arrive in about 45 minutes. We dashed out of the bar and back down the street to the train station, and as we did, our bus passed by going up the hill.

Incredulous, we walked into the train station and asked when the next bus to S. Maria del Castello would leave and the man shook his head, confirmed that one had just left, and said the next and LAST one for the night left in an hour at 10:40 pm. We sat on the pavement outside the empty train station fighting back tears, when Flo suggested we take a cab up the hill. Renewed, we bounded up again and walked backwards up the main road to the center of town to catch one on the way. We got to town and I stood on the corner waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Finally a turned to a guy standing on the sidewalk and asked if it was ok to catch a taxi like this or if I had to go to a taxi stand. He looked sorry for us when he said that Vico doesn't have taxis.

Thoroughly defeated and frustrated beyond words, we needed gelatto. STAT. In the gelatto shop we again explained our sad tale to the 17 year old girl behind the counter and pleaded with her for her cell phone. We ended up waiting there while Vincenzo came to rescue us AGAIN. We exchanged email addresses with the girl and rode back home with Vincenzo speaking his Italian louder than ever.

Not fully having command of a language when someone is giving you directions means you might miss a few key details--like the fact that you can't get to Vico Equense by bus. Only train. So we waited in Positano for 2 hours for a bus that didn't exist. Probably this information was also in the torrent of Italian that the local at the bus stop told me, but again, details. Over dinner, at 11:00 that night with the staff that had stuck around to feed us, Vincenzo wrote directions down for all of the cities that we could possibly want to see during the rest of the trip.

We made SURE not to let anything happen to that precious piece of paper.

Randoms

These pictures have been sitting in my camera, waiting to be shared with the world. Elinore discovered the long forgotten dress-up clothes closet and got creative with them.


Then there's the jumbo blueberry, that dwarfed all others and reigned supreme...until Caitlyn ate it.











Last...I FINALLY started stiching the baby blanket I started 3 years ago! I can't give you a time when it will be done but at least I started sewing it! YAY!!!!!

Italian Holiday

The Italian part of my European trek is officially over, but what a time we had! You'll notice that I didn't insert an adjective into that sentence--what kind of a time we had. It was intentional. Truly, we had a great time, but I also developed a love/hate relationship with Italy over the last week. The people are amazingly beautiful, kind and generous, but the systems and the structure BITE. There's a reason Italians are always late...

Antonietta and Tino's wedding was INCREDIBLE out in a small village in the country about an hour outside of Campobasso in South-central Italy. Antonietta lives on a farm even further out from the small town and this region of Italy is soaked in tradition. The day started at 9:30 am with the close friends and family of the bride and groom meeting at their respective houses for pastries and mingling. Anto was not mingling during this time, but getting ready upstairs. At 10:30 Antonietta appeared at the doorway on her father's arm, where her two best friends stretched a ribbon across the doorway. Before proceeding, Anto cut the ribbon signifying her departure from her family's home to her new life with Tino. At that point we all followed her in our cars down into the center of the village. We parked about 1/2 mile away from the church and we followed Anto and her father through the center of town down the middle of the street all the way to the church. We were like a parade and people were hanging out of the doors and windows of the buildings to watch us pass. When we got to the church Tino was already inside, but all of Tino's family and friends were standing outside the church waiting. Anto and her father went in first and the rest of us followed her in down the aisle.

The ceremony was like normal, and then we mingled outside the church for a while before heading over to the reception site. We arrived at 2:30 (after getting lost on country roads along the way--thank GOD we were being driven around by some of Anto's Italian friends, or we would probably still be wandering around lost in the country) to appetizers and cocktails set up under the trees of a beautiful garden. Florence and I filled our plates and were munching away, when an Italian warned us about going too fast. Apparently we didn't know what we were in for with the amount of food that was to come. After the cocktails, we moved inside to be seated for the dinner.

3 pasta dishes, 8 seafood dishes, lemon sorbetto, 4 meat dishes, salad, fruit, and wine over 9 HOURS! In between courses there was dancing, walking, visiting. It was incredible. We thought it would never end. And these were full-sized dishes! One of the pasta dishes was a square of lasagna, a fish dish was an ENTIRE fish, a meat dish was a piece of veal with peas. The music was all traditional folk music from the region--LOTS of polka, and the occasional YMCA. When we thought we could not take anymore, we all shepherded outside for the cake-cutting. Anto and Tino popped an ENORMOUS bottle of champagne, cut the cake, toasted, and then behind them the fireworks began! Fireworks! Like the 4th of July! They lasted for about 15 minutes, we went back inside to eat the cake, and then came back outside to wander in the garden with appetizer-sized desserts again--eclaires, panne cotta, pastries, etc, etc. By the time we made it back to the Bed and Breakfast at 12:30 am we were exhausted and our feet were killing us. An entire day of high heels, ouchy ouchy.

THe next day Flo and I left for the Amalfi coast. Anto's brother picked us up at 11:30 to drive us back the hour to the train station where we had to wait for 2 hours because it was Sunday and the trains came infrequently. Finally we got to the station where we had to change and wait another 2 hours-- we were starving and NOTHING was open except a tobacco shop where we each bought 1/2 of an awful ham and cheese sandwich and a bag of chips. We arrived in Naples around 8 pm and changed to another train. At 9:30 pm we arrived in Vico Equense where we had to take another bus to our B&B. We finally arrived at the top of the hill at 10:30 where we were supposed to then call the B&B to come pick us up from there. Flo's phone had died that morning because she brought the wrong charger, and luck of lucks--mine wasn't working. We looked around the empty plaza, in the dark, hungry, tired, frustrated, and wondered what we were going to do. There were 2 older women sitting on a porch looking at us curiously, so I summoned up the courage to go and ask if there was a public phone nearby. They indicated across the plaza. We dragged our suitcases across the cobblestone steps to the phone and started trying to decipher the Italian instructions.

Suddenly, as if from heaven, a woman appeared with a pre-paid phone card and told us (in Italian) that this phone didn't take coins, so we should use her card. We molto-grazie'd her profusely and then proceeded to do something incorrectly. Thankfully she was still waiting just in case, and came back to help. We got through this time to the B&B and a delightful gentleman who didn't speak a word of English answered the phone. I did my best to explain the situation in Italian, and then he said a whole lot of things back--something about 5 or 10 kilometers. All I could say was "aspettiamo qui?" (we wait here?) and then he would say a whole lot of things again with 5 to 10 km.. and I would say "ok, so, aspettiamo qui?" Finally I looked at the angel woman who was still standing by and just handed her the phone. She said "ok.. ok.. ok.. ciao signore," then looked at us and indicated that we follow her. She marched us up the narrow street to a bar, set us up with a couple of espressos and said that our signore would be coming to get us.

Finally a lovely gentleman with rosy cheeks walked in, paid for our espressos, and drove us to the B&B--Vincenzo was his name, and he was the owner of La Ginestra, the agriturismo. He was so good to us and patient, and we were somehow able to communicate with him speaking slowly, clearly, and very loudly in Italian, and me doing my best to say what little I could, mix in some Spanish, and invent the rest (I acted a few things out too). He fed us dinner, sat with us while we ate, (Flo has a great photo of him and I deep in conversation with our respective Italian-English dictionaries), walked us to our room, gave us hugs and kisses, and called us his adopted daughters.

I have more stories to tell and pictures to share, but this post is already long, and I am writing from my friend Etel's apartment in Switzerland. If I get a chance to post more while I'm here, I will, otherwise after I get back, I'll finish and include pictures too!

Love to everyone!

Delicious

Here's a photo of Tobin and I doing one of our favorite things - picking blueberries. It seems like every picture of me these days has us attached to each other. I'm so glad that he likes riding in the carrier, but I wish he weighed less! He's getting so heavy! At least he took a good nap and let me pick 7 lbs or so. Elinore loves to go and pick with me, although she doesn't contribute all that much. She usually eats all of her blueberries before we get to the barn. I'm just glad she likes them! Well, we'll be eating Blueberry Buckle this weekend!!

Catch Your Breath 5K

I completed a 5K this morning for the first time ever!!! What a rush!! Those of you who know me know that for the majority of my life I've been a 'don't-run-unless-you're-being-chased' kind of girl. I really haven't invested much time in exercise or athletics, period. However, around the New Year I decided that 2008 was going to be the year I changed that. When my roommate suggested that we sign up for a 5K together in July, it seemed like a daunting, yet exciting challenge. When we signed up in March, July 20th seemed SO FAR AWAY!

We began "training." My first attempt to run left me panting and wheezing at .3 miles. OH NO, thought I, I CAN"T DO THIS. However, step by step and bit by bit over the last 4 months I've been gradually adjusting my speed and increasing my stamina. This is not to say that I run fast--(women pushing strollers were passing me, and just before the finish line I was passed by the woman who won the 10K), but this morning all 3 of us completed our runs in less time than any of us anticipated!

I had NO idea that my body was actually capable of running 3.2 miles without stopping. We all feel great about our accomplishment and are talking about signing up for the 5K coming up in October. As soon as we crossed the finish line, Colleen suggested we run the 10K next year! I'm thinking about that one.. not committing yet.

You may all now safely refer to me as a runner.

Outer Banks, North Carolina

We had a beautiful Perry/Denham/Bodine/Wolthuis family reunion on the Outer Banks of North Carolina last week. The 22 of us were divided up into two beach houses about .1 mile from our beach access. Every morning we woke up, had breakfast, went to the beach, had lunch, relaxed/read/explored, had dinner, went to the beach, and then to bed.

There were lots of highlights--most importantly spending time together catching up with aunts, uncles, and cousins, some of whom we hadn't seen since the last reunion 12 years ago! We went out in search of wild horses, kayaked through brackish marshes of the sound, visited the Wright Brothers museum, saw some great sunsets, watched 360 degrees of fireworks from our back decks on July 4th, counted stars from our private hot tub. The #1 highlight actually took place in a gas station on the way back to the airport. Dad went in to pay and walking back, paying absolutely no attention to what he was doing, actually tried to get into someone else's car. The terrified woman in the driver's seat was holding the door closed, and it was only then that Dad looked up and realized that the terrified woman didn't look a bit like Mom, and in fact, the car didn't look familiar either. Luckily the errant car was also a rental and not a pickup with a shotgun rack in the back window, or we might have a different story to tell. If there was ever a doubt about where my propensity for foibles came from, it is very clear now.

The family-wide shots are on Aunt Candy's camera, so someone else will have to post them. Hopefully, it will not be another 12 years before we do this again!

Unemployed

Someone once said that music is created as much by the notes as it is by the rests. I am officially done with my job as of last Saturday, and day 2 of unemployment feels pretty good. I'm living a pause right now. Similar to a fast--a time to retune and readjust my lifestyle and make sure I am making time for the things that are really important to me. As my friend Lynn said, this is the time to discover what it is that makes life rich and juicy and fulfilling and satisfying to ME. And it might not be the same thing as for everyone else.

My day:

woke up
read in bed
went for a jog on the lakefront
ate breakfast
walked to the farmers market
ate lunch of farmers market purchases
pruned my plants
siesta
prepared picnic contribution
open air movie in Kingsbury park downtown with picnic dinner

I am resetting my dials, alright. So in case you are dying to ask, no, I don't have a plan yet. I'm just pausing and enjoying life.

Life Decision

Well I wanted to let you all know that I have taken the first steps toward a big life decision I made today. I've applied to take a few classes at COD so that I can attempt to enroll at Rush University for nursing. The program is an accelerated program that would take 7 quarters...a little over 1.5 yrs, including clinical work and would allow me to graduate with a master's in nursing. I've been mulling this idea over for a while and with the encouragement and advice of Mom, I've decided that I want to move forward with it.

Just wanted to let you all know, woohoo for big life decisions!!

I started Elinore in her musical education this weekend while she was in Chicago. We worked on improvisation:

And concert repertoire:

Grace

Last night I had my 3rd official tango lesson. I signed up for an 8-week course through a dance studio in Chicago, and I have been LOVING it! Amazingly enough there have been equal numbers of men and women each week, and the instructor is hilarious. All in all, a great experience. Tango makes me feel tall, strong, graceful, seductive, DIVINE.

Then I get on the train. Still on my dancing high and chattering away on my phone. I boarded the train and went for my favorite sideways facing seats (they face the interior of the train instead of front or back). As I lined myself up with the seat and bent over (while still standing) to put my bag on the floor between my feet, the train lurched forward and I was launched into the air. I effectively squashed the girl next to me and caused all the other passengers to avert their gaze awkwardly. The squashed girl didn't even look up from texting on her cell, but I'm SURE that the conversation switched to the idiotic girl she now had to sit next to. It was a great ride all the way home facing all the people who just saw me and my tango shoes eat it. I had flashbacks to my infamous train ride through France to meet Jennifer, though this time I didn't have the cover of being the Stupide Americaine.. just stupide.

BUT I read something yesterday that said: If you can't laugh at yourself, you're not doing enough stupid things.

Cheers.

Graduation!

I did it!!! I graduated! AND I didn't fall off the stage :-)

I got to wear Psi Chi and Beta Beta Beta cords with my black Harry Potter gown. Thanks everyone for coming and supporting me, I was really happy to have you all there.

Congratulations, Laura!!

I'll let someone else post about it, but here are a couple photos.

Elinore in real time

pictures don't capture personality.. so ...

PS I sprained my ankle

Hit the Dirt

I've been working on my bio take-home all day and there was a dinner for graduating seniors in the biology major at Cascarelli's, so I invited Halley to go with me and she asked if I wanted to go with her to the barn afterwards and ride her horse Raleigh. I said why yes, yes of course I'd love to. So we gathered up our riding clothes, went to relli's and got a free pizza. So we headed out to the barn and changed into our riding attire, Halley tacked up Raleigh and we headed into the arena. After about 20 minutes or so Halley decided he was getting tired so I should get on. It was great, he was really controlled and easy to ride, the gait changes were awesome and his canter was really nice. So I changed directions and picked up a canter going the other direction...only he picked up the wrong lead (wrong foot in front for the direction we were going) and he got confused, flustered, I don't know. Just to fill you in Raleigh is an ex-racehorse. So he takes off full gallop and I thought at first we were just going to go through the fence to the other side of the arena, but then he changed direction so we were headed for the viewing gallery that has no windows. My last thought before bailing off was "I'm going to be the first one to go through the viewing gallery." But I didn't, I landed, flat on my back against the wall (I didn't hit it) and Raleigh took off to the other side of the arena. I got a lot of dirt in my pants and a scrape on my back, but I came up laughing and I would've gotten back on, but Halley decided she would make him work a little longer. I would like to thank Don from Aerial for forcing me to learn how to fall, it has come in handy :-)

I really wanted to end my college career with a bang. Though I may still have a chance to fall into the viewing gallery on Tuesday for my last riding lesson.

GRADUMATATING!!!!

Well, I'm done with classes, FOREVER...or at least until I decide if I'm doing more school.

I will miss cum laude by .1, bummer. But I'll definitely make the Dean's list with somewhere between a 3.6-3.7 for the semester. I was also fortunate to have my only sit-down final cancelled for graduating seniors if we did well enough on our papers. So once I finish my Bio take-home I'm done!!!

Dumpster Diving for Clipart

The title pretty much says it all.

Monday I came in to work and there was a pile of broken down boxes inside the back door. Before he left I asked our cleaning guy to take them out to the trash. A few hours later I got a call from one of our Parent Volunteers asking if we'd gotten the art projects she'd dropped off through the mail slot in the back door over the weekend.

I hadn't seen anything. Neither had Deborah, neither had Yecid or Angelica. I had the sinking feeling that they'd been tossed. Unfortunately this is also Parents' Week where everything has to be PERFECT so we have our best foot forward. Luckly we didn't need the projects she'd done until Tuesday. The day went on.

Tuesday morning comes and all the teachers are frantically looking for the clipart locomotives, wagons, and cabooses that are supposed to be cut out on red, yellow, and blue cardstock. DARN. I had forgotten. I quickly started pulling out similar colors of cardstock so we could make photocopies ourselves. Then I realized photocopying and cutting out 100 of each was going to take more time than we had and wouldn't be done for the start of class.

I took a deep breath, rolled up my sleeves, hiked up my britches, and headed out to the dumpster. Sure enough, after some pilfering, I found them.

I've hit a new low. Or maybe a new high. Is this what motherhood is like?

Baby, baby, baby

As promised, better pictures of Tobin

A day in the life

I don't want to downplay the Tobe, but I've GOT to recount my day.

8:30 am arrive at work and begin looking over the day:
100 children
7 teachers
2 managers (me and a part-timer)
6 trial classes coming in (3 scheduled to arrive between 9 and 9:15)

8:45 am conduct a quick start of the day meeting with the team, and run my assistant through how to welcome and follow up with trial classes.

9:00 am enter trial class #1, Elle, 3 yrs old clinging to her mother's leg. I walk them down to the Spanish classroom, the teacher says, "hola," and Elle bursts into tears. Mom thinks she'll stop crying faster if she leaves the room, so I sit with Elle sobbing and screaming on my lap while the teacher teaches and the other children arrive.

9:15 am Bella arrives to class and immediately bursts into tears because Elle is crying. Elle's mom comes back in to sit with Elle and I sit with Bella.

9:20 am a mother of an Italian student walks into the Spanish room looking for the bathroom. (the downstairs bathroom is accesible only by walking through this classroom, so we typically don't use it) I ask her if the bathroom upstairs is in use. She tells me there's an out of order sign on it.
"Great," I think (or say, come to think of it).
I extract Bella from my lap, give the teacher a the-show-must-go-on look, and head back upstairs to find out what's wrong with the toilet.

9:25 am after serious plunging I manage to fix the toilet

9:30 am teachers go into panic mode because our copy machine is out of toner

9:45 am teachers panic because the Italian poster is missing!

9:50 am resolve to use the Spanish one since the 3 and 4 year olds can't read anyway. I call the education team to order another poster for delivery tomorrow.

10:00 am UPS man arrives with our toner!

10:05 am copy machine is back in the game
---------
And they wonder why we have so much trouble getting to follow up calls with inquiring families.
---------
Cut to the afternoon
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5:00 pm get bored for the first time EVER at work because the only things left on the to-do list are things I don't want to do.

5:45 pm scoot out the door to make it to an interview on time

6:30-8:30 pm sweat through a LONG group interview full of role playing and case studies surrounding being responsible for groups of high school students (birth control and diary entries included). I begin questioning whether I really want to do this...

9:00 pm arrive home, begin dinner, walk into the corner of the open microwave door that is just perfectly at forehead level. That's gonna leave a mark.

And with all of that under my belt, I'm going to bed to get ready to start over tomorrow.

Glad you're here, Tobin. Happy birthday. Maybe someday your crazy Aunt Cait will teach you a thing or two about how to remain calm in times of trial. Can't wait.

Tobin Peter Wolthuis

Tobin Peter
born 4:37pm April 16, 2008
8lbs 12 oz
21in long

I know the pictures aren't amazing, I'll put up better pictures tomorrow

...

I think it is time to let you guys know that I have been self-diagnosed with a very severe case of Senioritis. The symptoms include:

Lack of focus on school work
A complete lack of desire to do anything related to my education
Slight laziness
Frustration at the future ie: not having a job
and Annoyance that I have not yet graduated

It is not clear in research whether or not this illness is contagious but oddly enough and hence the name it appears only to affect graduating seniors. If anyone has any suggestions for treatment, as none are listed, that would be greatly appreciated.

Daddy Fell Into the Pond

This is a poem in one of Elinore's poetry books. She absolutely loves it. We read it over and over. I always want to laugh because it reminds me of the time the canoe flipped over and threw Dad (and Mom?) into the lake. We all wanted to laugh, but we were afraid we would get in trouble. I remember someone's arm held above the water holding the camera!
Anyway, here it is:

Everyone grumbled. The sky was gray.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And there seemed to be nothing beyond,
THEN
Daddy fell into the pond!

And everyone's face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight,
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed." Click!

Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.

O, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
WHEN
Daddy fell into the pond!

by Alfred Noyes

We took advantage of a 48* day last week to ride our bikes over to Window on the Waterfront. We took along Elinore's rain boots in hopes of their being puddles. We found a good one and Elinore had a blast splashing away. Then we walked over to the boardwalk and she threw sticks into the marshes. We saw some red-winged blackbirds (which my field guide claims mean spring is definitely here).

Thought I would share something funny with you. At a playgroup a few days ago, another mom asked me, "Does your daughter like to pretend a lot?" I told her yes. She said, "Because she just told me her name was Susan, and her nametag says Elinore."

It's Official

I'm looking for a new job.

It's actually been official since the beginning of November, but I am recently at liberty to declare it publicly. I am committed to my current job through the end of the semester, which will most likely be the beginning of June, but beyond that, who knows?

I've been working with my life advisors (aka: Mom and Dad) to articulate my personal mission statement, and thus propel me into a successful career change. As I have it:

To kindle in Americans an appreciation and enthusiasm for the world's cultures using the arts as a medium.

I love nature, the arts, and world cultures. Does anyone have any ideas about how to combine those things? I'm open to suggestion.

Ode to Late February

The snow is blowing sideways.

When will it end?

Spring is in my heart,

But in my lungs, phlegm.

Pooped out

I haven't posted over here for a while. I don't really have much to say, but Elinore always does. So I thought I'd let you in on what she said at lunch today.

As we were getting out of the car today I said, “I’m pooped.”
When I walked around to get Elinore she asked me, “Mama, did you poop in the car?”
I explained to her about that expression meaning that someone is tired.
About a half hour later while Elinore is eating lunch she asked me if I needed to sleep. “Yes, Mama needs a nap today because Mama is tired,” I said.
“You been pooping?” she said.

Birthday List

So, my birthday is coming up soon and I guess I should probably get a list out there for you guys. I don't really need anything but here goes...

The Queen DVD
Wedding Crashers DVD
Every Living Thing and The Lord God Made Them All books on CD (Amazon wishlist)
Vosges Aztec collection (I miss Argentine Dulce de Leche)
A good book
National Treasure DVD
Pirates of the Caribbean 2 DVD
Real dishes/silverware
Crockpot
some fun games
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray (I'm not sure if Mom got this already)
tube socks
a massage

I'll see if I think of anything else that seems like a good start

The Third Shoe

Thanks for everyone's sympathy last week. Some of you were lucky to avoid the "I'm-sick-please-feel-sorry-for-me" calls during the 2.5 days that I was home from work. Mom received multiple... per day... and into the weekend. You're a real trooper, Mom.

Well, I have news. They're not over. Whatever I had in my chest last week has moved on up to my sinuses and "taken up housekeeping," as Mom put it. Today at work while my head was pounding and my nose running furiously, I threw in the towel and scheduled myself to see a doctor tomorrow morning. So you can all call tomorrow to feel sorry for me.

On the way home from work I decided to stop at my local grocer to buy some vegetables for a soup. But as I approached, a green sign in the window read that my grocer's license has been suspended effective today by the Chicago Dept of Public Health. Great. I just bought groceries there last week.

Don't mishaps come in threes? I'm waiting for the last shoe to drop. Stay tuned...

Star-Struck

Dear Blog,

Long time, no contact. Remember me? I'm the middle sister of the Bodine crew--the one who lives life from one awkward moment to the next.

Last night some of my girlfriends and I attended an event at Vosges Chocolat (normally a gourmet chocolaterie). Once a month they use their retail store to host an event that celebrates their theme of "travel the world through chocolate." Last night was their Chocolate and Henna soiree with a focus on aphrodisiacs. In addition to delicious Indian appetizers, they served kir royales of champagne and rose water, had plate after plate of exotic chocolates and carmels to sample, and arranged for guests to have their hands painted by a henna artist from NYC. Mine is the one with the diagonal vine.

After being painted we had to hold our hands over candles so the henna could dry. It was at that moment that I looked up and saw a woman that I recognized walk through the door. This was my first ever celebrity-spotting! Unfortunately none of you know who she is. Katrina Markoff is the owner and founder of Vosges Haut Chocolat. She is such an inspiration of a woman who has followed her passion and created a unique and succesful company doing what she loves and bettering the world in the process. She is also gorgeous with a kick-a** sense of style. I want to be her when I grow up. So anyway, after squealing and exclaiming to my friends about who she was--they all know I'm obsessed--I looked back down at my henna tattoo and realized that I had singed off all my arm hairs.

Nevertheless, as the night wore on my girlfriends encouraged me to go over and talk to Katrina to tell her what an inspiration she was and ask for a job, but I couldn't muster up the courage. Finally Colleen walked over to her to tell her what an inspiration we all thought she was. She was warm and personable and told us that you just have to not give up, and all I could do was stand there sheepishly with a stupid grin on my face.

So much for being bold and going where no woman has gone before. At least I didn't introduce myself, so if I apply for a job she won't know that I was the star-struck one.

Watch this video, and you'll understand my obsession.

http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/who_we_are

Digital Portfolio

My roommate showed me how to edit my digital portfolio that Albion wanted students to work on so I've been working on it lately and I thought I would send you guys a link to check it out:

http://people04.albion.edu/LLB10/dp/

Chipmunk Cheeks

I just thought you guys might get a giggle from my fat face, 2 days post-wisdom teeth extraction.

From South to North

We have made it back from South America in the best shape of our lives. We had many challenging days of hiking amidst 60 mph winds, sleet storms, blizzards, and aching feet. But the views (when we had them) were spectacular and made the difficulties worthwhile. These pictures are not entirely in order, the first is Mom, Dad and me at Perito Moreno glacier just outside of El Calafate, Argentina. We took a boat tour around one side of the glacier and even then we did not appreciate the size of this massive glacier. It was 14 km long (approximately 8.4 miles) and at its widest point about 9 km wide (5.4 miles), it was also really active, calving all the time because it moves about 2 meters a day, about 6 ft! We got to see some of this action but the glacier seemed to wait until just after I had put my camera away to allow a piece to break off, so rude.

Our second hike in Torres del Paine national park left mom's and my feet in agony. Sure an 18 km hike doesn't sound so bad...until you're doing one everyday, including rock scrambles and lots of up and downhill. We decided it was important to document the invalid feet, post-hike. Not long after this picture was taken, having decided that our call for hunger was greater than the pain in our feet, we went to dinner and returned for a friendly game of Rummy. Our campsite in this particular area was in a valley constantly flayed by wind and one massive gust shook our tent to the core. All of the sudden I noticed the rain-fly was hitting the tent and I believed the stakes had been ripped out of the ground. WRONG we opened the tent to find the stakes and skirt of the rain-fly securely in place while the remainder of it was flapping wildly in the wind and our guide was staring mouth open wide with the site manager. The wind had ripped our rip-stop nylon tent! Needless to say, sleep did not come too easy that night.

This picture was taken of Los Cuernos-The Horns, in Torres del Paine. Our campsite was across the lake from these mountains and our dining area had an amazing view of them every night.

And the last picture is from Buenos Aires, our last night there before heading to southern Argentina to being our hiking expedition. Our hostess at the Bed and Breakfast in Palermo directed us to a Tango show that included dinner and a FREE TANGO LESSON!! Mom and Dad even gave Tango a try, I have the pictures and a video for proof. The show was pretty amazing and we all really enjoyed ourselves. Buenos Aires was definitely a unique city with a much greater European influence than I had anticipated. The sidewalks were a bit gone to seed and we found ourselves fearful we were going to sprain an ankle before having made it to Southern Patagonia! All the same, we are happy to be back at home and we have many more stories to share from our journey.

Gingerbread House

This is Elinore making a gingerbread house. Or I suppose I should say that I am making the gingerbread house and Elinore is eating all of the candy.

addition to list

I wanted to add

Peter Pan (2003 DVD)

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray...it doesn't come out until Dec 26 buuuut I still would really like it