rubbish, pants, sbwriel, hopeless and a lot of other adjectives!

So, spurred on by Nell actually asking what had happened to my blog and me realising that I was certifiably hopeless at keeping it..what can I say - I am a numpty!...and me knowing from hasrsh experience that i will truly regret not having a good record from this time in my life, I would like to take a pledge of allegiance(been in the US too long!) to my blog but know that would be highly suspect and interfere with my integrity and, oo-er missus, I don't want to do that..so I think, to myself, I will do better in the future - I even bought a write in journal in Nashville but only because it had quotes from Alice in Wonderland in it! and it has very little in it so far!

I am doing fine - I have been so lucky - no, blessed with the setup I have found myself in - I did tell Heavenly Father that if I had to do this,(and it seemed I did have to..... I needed to be a bit looked after - and I have been - the school is really lovely, very community minded and a few families from my ward attend there, as well as some other LDS families from the other stake ...I also have an LDS colleague which is a novelty and we go to the temple together after school every Wednesday - how spoiled is that? I can see the temple from my back garden - it takes me about half hour or so to walk. I love being so close and feel that it is a blessing. The people i work with have been friendly and helpful and so have the parents - one family had me over for dinner last sat night to go trick or treating with them, which was fab as they ahd little kids and that's one of the things i miss is those little kids in my life in Cardiff - It's a very different school culture from the one I am used in school in the UK and at first I was rather intimidated by it but now I find it's rather nice to be part of a community - I haven't encountered any of the 'power parenting' I thought may happen if the parents were too friendly - it's all been really positive!!! I am teaching grade 4 so the kids are about 9 turning 10 - they don't have such clear date cut offs for grades here so it is a fairly wide age range - a good thing for some kids who would have been the very youngest in their 'real' grade and have benefitted from being in the next grade - I can think of loads of kids I've taught who would have benefitted from being held back for a year .... the school is in a nice area - not too posh but nice and many of the children are in graduate student families so are very academic - lots of Korean and Chinese families.... my kids and their families come from all over the globe - Bosnia, Russia, Israel, Brazil, Phillipines, Nicaragua, Korea, China, Mexico as well as americans! They are like kids every where really! I sometimes wonder of they have any clue what i am saying and I occasionally hear a little echo as someone tries out their british accent or british words
I live about 20 mins walk from school and walk or cycle most days - I do now have a car but it takes longer to drive than to cycle because I cut through a park to cycle and it's along way round! I am one of the few cyclists/walkers it seems to me - the whole city is in love with their cars! Reliable weather helps too!
The neighbourhood is very friendly too and a few of the neighbours have been really welcoming and had me over for dinner - my direct across the street one invited me to their Yom Kippur dinner which was really lovely - she and I have been to the pictures or I go over there and watch a film (she has this film dowload thing on her telly!...whereas i don't have a telly!)

The ward is great too - it is really big but very friendly and because I didn't have a car when I first got here I got to know lots of people who felt I had to have a lift rather than walk places! One of my new friends and I are going to a concert at walt disney concert hall soon... another family live close by and we have done some craft things together, someone else takes me to farmers markets on sat mornings when I am in town and not otherwise engaged and i have done some babysiting - the young couples love me because I don't charge!

It was fab to see Deb and Lynne Barry at conference - I also caught up with julia and Dennis and Carly's twin sisters! Mini Welsh reunion - I know Luc was there too - just missed him tho - it was wonderful to go to general Conference and BE THERE! I wasn;t quite prepared for how mcuh that would mean to me....hope to get there again in April


I am meeting up with Deb next weekend in Washington DC(long way to go for a weekend, i know!!!) and we are also meeting up with Sarah Elliott as her husband is now at the LDS university in Virginia - Deb has work in DC so I am staying at her hotel and we are going to Amish country on the saturday...she is bringing much needed suppiles - like blu tac! funny the things you can't get hold of!
I have done loads of travelling - of course there was my epic train journey across America which I am glad to have done but will be a long time before I get on a train again !

My mentor teacher from my school, Gary,- who, I should say, has been an absolute star - nothing is too much trouble for him and as many of you know I am a heap of trouble! - and I went to Nashville for a conference a couple of weeks ago and had a brilliant time - we were at the university there which was very stately looking - old , well, you know American old! For some reason in Nashville there is an exact replica of the Greek parthenon - which the bloke on the plane was earnestly telling us was better than the original - yeah, right - we also got to go to a real country music dive place and we went line dancing - well, it had to be done!!!! It was great to meet up with the other UK teachers and hear of their adventures and touch base with them - the people who organise this programme work really hard top make sure we are all as successful as possible.(unpaid plug for our friends at AED!)..not necessarily an easy task when we are all at such different schools and communities and having such different experiences. I think having the ready made church community has definitely helped me to settle in but I have been really lucky with the other people I have met - I just say yes to everything! I have joined Nancy's(my exchange partner) book club and met a lovely group of bright intelligent women (just like our book club!) I feel bad that our book club has collapsed a bit because I know Nancy would have liked to have joined it.
On the Nashville trip I also met up with the Chadwicks and stayed with them and that was so good to see them again and met up with one of the girls who used to live with me in manchester when she was on a mission - long time ago now!
I am going to Northern california to stay with Julia and Dennis for Thanksgiving and we are going to go to .....I think it's Yosemite park but it could be Lake Tahoe - I can't recall what we decided on!
I am off to New Zealand to stay with the Wilkies and especially to see the KiddlyWilkies as Tom leaves after Christmas - he arrives Dec 18 and leaves 28th(I leave an hour later)...we are off to Vegas, baby, for a few days when he is here...I am looking forward to showing him around and having him meet some of the great people here...maybe spend part of Christmas day on the beach....
Spent yesterday doing a bit of Guy Fawkes stuff - we made guys - my classroom was funny this morning as many of the children hadn't finished so there were lots of headless corpses! great fun!
So, so far, so good! I miss home from time to time,...the endless sunshine makes up for it somewhat and the knowledge that this isn't forever(it isn't, is it??????), altho I hadn't realised how much I enjoy just being able to rely on the weather being pleasant. I take the kids out every morning under a shade structure for a 20 minute morning meeting, knowing that we will always be able to do it, just about! couldn't do that at home!
We had a top time at the school hallowe'en hurrah which was like a Christmas Fayre but for hallowe'en - dressed up as an ostrich...see the photos on Facebook!
Every day there are lots of little things that amuse me, enrich me and make me think...sometimes about what I have and soemtimes about what i don;t have....getting a bit philosophical now - I missed the smell of gunpowder this morning, the day after Guy Fawkes night, you know that smell that lingers in the air??? I'll miss the atmosphere in Cardiff tomorrow for the rugby



- I feel really blessed to be here and have this experience - if I HAVE to be somewhere then this a great place to be -


Well, that's it, hope it hasn't bored the pants off you!



Maybe if I can just discipline myself a bit to wrrite each few days I will have it licked! Look on FB for photos!

Striking out on my own....

SO, as Jules and Dennis left on the Saturday, I considered my position... all alone in a city bigger than my whole native land, knowing just about no-one - well, make that no-one and thousands of miles from home - it was not a good feeling, I can tell you! I quickly consulted my journal which I had brought for just such an occasion to remind myself why I was here...
I had a dinner invitation for that evening with the couple across the street and they had invited their immediate neighbours - it was a lovely evening and I chided myslef for my earlier feelings!! Then there was church the next day to look forward to...
The ward(congregation) seemed to number about 200 or so - very much larger than home! They meet in a chapel on the temple site and it is big - I felt a bit at home as they have a balcony like you get in old Welsh chapels...reminded me of going to Merchant's Hill Baptist in Pontypool as a very young child with my Great Uncle Bill, who used to pass me peppermints! People were friendly and welcoming and one lady, Alysa, offered me a lift home - she lives abou a 5 minute walk away and was telling me how many ward members live close by. I'm sure the church thing will all fit into place over the coming weeks. This Sunday (5 Sept) Alysa invited me to a block party next weekend - I have no idea what it is but accepted the invitation graciously. This week I met a lot more people, remembered some people's names, even and met a girl who is applying for the Fulbright for next year too...there is a Relief Society social on Thursday evening so that's another opportunity to meet people. It feels like I am being kept pretty busy, doesn't it!?

And so to school.... which after all is the main reason I am here - it was easy to lose sight of some of that over the course of the train trip and my immediate arrival. I rang the principal, Sharon and made an arrangement to go into school. I walked over (so I would know the way!!!) and was pleased to find it took less than 20 minutes - it appears to be much longer when you drive because you have to drive around, walking you take a short cut! hurrah for walking. I think my collagues all think I am balmy and some think it is way too far to walk...I may feel like that after a hard day when it is hot! I had lots of offers of lifts and told them I may well ask for a lift home. Sharon showed me to my classroom , introduced m,e to my colleagues - Gary and Barry - sound like and they act like a double act - they have been teaching Grade 4 together for about 9 years so they know what's what. gary has the adjoining classroom in what they uniquely term a 'bungalow' - it is lovely, light and spacious and has air con! I am still lamenting the lack of an electronic interactive whiteboard but will manage - will be interesting to see how I get by - I have no option soooo... although I do have a great little contraption that is a data projector with a camera arm that I can put a book under and project onto the board and I can hook up my lap top (school issue - no CD drive and no internet access!) All part of the fun..
The classroom was literally all packed away at the end of term so I spent last week unpacking it, finding what I needed, asking Gary a million questions which he patiently answered and getting set for the off - which happens on Wedsnesday officially when the kids arrive. Oh, and cleaning the desks and surfaces - I will miss Leanne my ace cleaner from last year at Severn who EVERY day cleaned the floor, the carpet, the sink and the desk tops! I have stocked up on J cloths and aim to bribe the kids into cleaning. I went to the most amazing school supply shop - where I could have bought a LOT of stuff but restrained myself... i did buy a great bag of assorted buttons for my 'marble jar'. At home, if a child does something good, I tell them to put a marble in the jar, when the jar is full, the whole class chooses a treat of some kind - we have done all sorts of things - tie dye t shirts, extra play time, ice cream sundaes, watched a bit of a video, even had a fashion show! However, marbles are expensive and buttons were cheaper so I have a great little tin and we will have a button tin!
I have sorted out all the text books (a mountain of them) for each child to have one each, along with consumable books that I suppose we would call work books for Maths and 'Language Arts' (literacy) and Social Studies - which will take the sting out of having to teach Californian history -about which I know very little, but then when I move year groups at home I usually know nothing either.. some would say that is a position I continue to be in after teaching the year group! I have spent today getting some other things ready - like the cards for my famous Times Tables running game(should have brought them!) alphabets for the kids to try to pep up spelling lessons - yuck - it doesn't look any better here than home - just the usual really... Gary has been great in supplying lots of the stuff for next week - and we will really only get going on the curriculum on Friday. The school building itself seems really odd to me but then it so much outdoors here that I am still amazed that , for example, their canteen area is outdoors - I wonder how long it will be before I realise how reliable the weather truly is - anyway, there is no real entrance hall to the school just a row of doors leading into ofices and then the classrooms are clustered around a central courtyard, then more portables have been added as the need has arisen - there is loads of open spaces, volleyball and basketball areas, playground equipment, shady spots, seating, grass - it is a lovely environment that is a massive contrast to life at Severn Road where we really do lack space in general. That's the main difference in life here in the US generally tho is the idea of space - homes are spacious even when not large and ostentatious ...just a feeling of openness in general.

I had a friend stay last night who is also a Fulbrighter - she is up in Santa Barbara, she had a friend staying with her from Texas - we went off to Hollywood and did the tacky tourist stuff, then they went off this morning and did the tourist bus.
This evening I went to the pictures to see Amreeka which was a very moving film about a family from Palestine moving to the US - very thought provoking and probably very true to life... made me a bit teary....see it if you can - check it out at Chapter in Cardiff, I would think.
So that's me brought up to date -more or less
I did make it to the temple again this past week to keep my promise to me, I had lunch with my friend Bryn at Santa Monica - caught the bus for 75 cents - so cheap and easy! - lunch was very delicious, the Pier was very tacky - we loved it! Should have bought snow globes! I ate at various places with the people I work with who love to eat out! I went to bar bq at a colleagues on Tuesday and met more of my work colleagues. I went to the equivalent of County Hall to sort out my paperwork and was promised a return phone call on Thursday to sort that all out, which suprise, surprise did not come - see you can change continents but bureaucracy still twists you in knots! I tried to open a bank account and was told that I needed a social secuirty number which I know not to be the case as I know people do not have to have any residency or visa stuff to have an account but think I will have to cave on this matter and go and get one! I pondered why I have not lost any weight when I have been walking everywhere and walking the dog twice a day - the answer seemed to be staring back at me from the cinnamon bun I was scoffing and the number of Cold Stone ice creams I have consumed.
And tomorrow it all begins for real, wish me luck!

How rubbish am I at doing this??

Please don't answer that question, I already feel bad enough about myself!
So since New Mexico I have spent some time in Flagstaff, seen the Grand Canyon (another tick on the Bucket List!) and finally arrived in LA - which I was more than ready to do to be honest.

Nancy's friend, Holly, met me at Union Station and the next part of the adventure began...
First to the house - it as all very mind boggling - the traffic was bonkers and I began to feel like I would never venture on to the freeway - a feeling I still hold to be honest. Arriving at the house, i met my new house mate - Zoe, the dog....I know, I know, we were told not to exchange pets but this felt like it would be ok! Not as i entered the house and she stood barking at me tho - however, she does have a tendency to wag her tail as she barks which, y'know makes you realise she is really not very fierce! Holly showed me over the house, took me to Trader Joe's to do some shopping which was all a bit of a blur as on my last night on the train I didn;t manage to get a double seat to myself and the woman next to me snored all night - not noisily - but of course, it was RIGHT IN MY EAR!!!! So I was absolutely shattered. I bought absurd things at the shop because I had no clue what I needed or what I wanted or what I recognised and everything was in large packs - they don't seem to do 'one person' sizes in that shop... then when I got back I allowed myself a few hours nap, took the dog around the neighbour hood and started to unpack. Unfortunately my get and go, such as it was had got up and gone and I had no inclination to unpack...surveying it all and I wondered why I had thought it was all so necessary when it went into the cases just a few short weeks before. Even now 2 weeks on, I think I packed way too many clothes and have started a drawer of stuff for Tom to take back with him at Christmas. Maybe once I begin to work I will feel differently...

So, that evening Aug 24th - Julia and Dennis arrived from Northern California - and over the next few days we set about orientating me and getting in supplies, making sure I knew how to get to school, the shops and church and having some fun too.
We spent some time on the beach at Venice Beach watching a very weird world go by, we drove up the Pacific coast highway to Malibu to rubber neck at the houses and look out for the rich and famous (none were spotted), we took a bus tour on one of the open top buses - we got on the first bus of the day and of on the last one - it was exhausting but fun - we walked down the boulevard with all the star's names on, hung out at LA Farmer's Market and had lunch and saw lots of LA...still disappointed in our search for 'faces'! We also went to the LA temple and enjoyed that. I am just a half hour walk from it and can see it each day on my walk to work and back - it's hard to miss it, it dominates the skyline and is lit up each evening. I smile to myself and sing the primary song 'I love to see the temple'...feel very fortunate to be so close and promise I will be there!

Mi no hablo espanol....but luckily people speak English!

So on to New Mexico which I guess is a lot like old Mexico.... the thing that surprised me the most was the greenery - I expected it to be far more barren - but there is lots of green everywhere and you can see how they are irrigating the land and ditches line the road for the run off to be collected - a great example of harnessing the environment. The land is a rich red in places and on the train to Santa Fe today you could see the strata (is that the word?) of the rock and the colours in it - the mountains were rising up and from behind them poked the fluffiest whitest clouds I ever did see. Got chatting to some lovely people on the train (don't tell Julia I speak to strangers) who were keen to tell me about lots of great places to see while I amhere - i am clearly not here long enough! Included in those people was an Australian woman who told me within 5 minutes of meeting her that she was gay...why? Why did I need to know that?? I don't actually wish to ponder the question to be honest...is it normal to go around letting people know of your sexual preferences? Obviously I have led a very sheltered life...
Anyway, Santa Fe... is proper old in American terms -well in Euro American terms - Spanish arrived in 1608 but natives were here long before that but that seems a fact little acknowledged. The town is a bit Disney-fied with new buildings built to look like old ones but looking 'new' and is definitely a big shopping destination if you want tourist tat.. could have got Kizz and Ben some brilliant snow globes but resisted - I ask you, snow globes of the desert????????????
There were some great places too - the cathedral was amazing and had THE most stunning paintwork inside... I do have some photos - will try to sort them out... and great stained glass - I am a bit of a sucker for stained glass done well (like I would know if it wasn't!) AND, get this, I went on a TRAIN, because I've not travelled far enough on one of those yet this holiday...but it was just $8 return for a trip 60 miles away - definitely couldn't do that in the UK! I think it costs Tom more to get to Newport and that's 12 miles!!! So, impressed I am with Albuquerque and New Mexico in general and wish I had longer to see more things - highly recommended.
As for the Spanish, well, you hear it everywhere and it gives the place another dimension... I like it - Am off to Flagstaff, Arizona tomorrow afternoon, staying with Mike Casey and his family - more big country awaits me, I'm sure!

Mega blog update…
Have had a mega time in all places…. Not sure where I got up to with it all on here – writing in Word to upload when I have net access… suffice to say DC was just great – I love the place….still feel like I could spend a load more holidays there and still love it.
Left on Monday afternoon… was easy to get the train, all very civilised… great big seats with masses of legroom and a lay back chair so that you can sleep reasonably comfortably. They put little tickets above your head with your destination on so that they can wake you up at the right place, so you feel like it will be ok if you fall asleep. The train was late by about 20 minutes… I met some lovely people in the buffet car and chatted for quite a while before I went back to my seat to settle down for a bit of a kip.
I recognised Nancy straight away – we had never met and are 5th cousins – very distant, then. It wasn’t too far to the gorgeous place that they live… it’s near Brooklyn, Michigan and literally right on the side of a lake – Wampler’s Lake… absolutely beautiful. I needed a bit of a nap and set my alarm for 9 to try to catch up a bit.

We had a great few days together – we went down to where the Nobbs family settled when they first came to the US and went to the grave of John Nobbs and his wife Jane Mason, whose parents are our mutual ancestor. It gave me a new appreciation of the uphill battle these pioneers faced when they arrived here – the land was a forested swamp with malaria rife…but the lure of cheap or free land that would be their own was clearly a big pull and they were prepared to work and work until it was productive. It was most definitely not a case of ‘oh, good free land!’ with no work attached. That first winter in Ohio the Nobbs family lived in a covered wagon as they tried to get their house finished. The harshness of the seasons must have been a shock too – cold like they had never known and heat like they had never known could not have been easy. I take my hat off to them and to the life they carved out and the determination and courage it must have taken to uproot from that small Gloucestershire community and bring their little family so far – just travelling to Liverpool to get the boat must have been the biggest adventure of their lives. The fact that nearly 30 years later they were still writing to family back home, which is the letter written in 1852 that Great Aunt Em currently has, attests to the closeness they must have still felt to those family members left behind.
So I spent some lovely time there, messing about on the lake and dossing around in the hammock, snoozing and reading – relaxing into cottage life – I am uniquely adapted to slothfulness when the opportunity is presented – and all too soon it was time to be hurrying on. I was glad though, that I had rearranged my schedule to have that extra day – 3 days was not enough – we had so much to say! We have earnestly decided on another descendant reunion in 180 years although I sincerely hope to spend more time at Wampler’s Lake before then!

So, on to Chicago – we had to get up at stupid o’clock (3.15a.m.) to catch the train – AND then it was nearly an hour late so we went for waffles – what else can a girl do? THEN I tried to get on the wrong one! The train managed to arrive in Chicago another hour behind schedule – I was beginning to wonder if we would be days late by the time we got to LA but it has all been on time since then (I’m on my way to Alberqueque as I write)..


Chicago, Chicago…. What a great city…. I walked around from Union Station to the hostel which has a great position near the lakefront, through massive towering buildings that dominate the skyline. I took the obligatory bus tour and thought I would melt in the heat – it has been an unusually chilly summer in Chicago this year bit it has perked up of late and it was HOT! Too hot to sit on the top deck of a tour bus but a good way to get an overview of the city. The buildings are magnificent and a mix of all different styles and even heights but it gives the city a vibrant feel. The river winds through the middle of the city, crossed by numerous bridges that give access and then the whole city is topped off by the elevated train that snakes around, above ground, forming weird tunnels over the streets and forming strange light and dark pools, as the trains thunder their way to their destinations. This is all crowned by the glory of ‘The Lake’, which was shimmering an almost unreal blue on the days I was there, and gives a holiday feel to the whole place. There was an air show on the weekend so there was the additional excitement of air force jets screeching and diving, weaving in and out of the buildings, looking for all the world like they were too close for comfort.
I took a bike out along the lakefront trail on the Saturday afternoon and the beaches were tightly packed with people enjoying the water, the sunshine and the air show. I will never again imagine beaches at home to be packed – these were literally cheek by jowel. Saturday morning I took a walking tour from the hostel with a volunteer who told us he wasn't going to give us the history of each and every building and then proceeded to do just that! After, we all went back for a cold glass of lemonade – well, that powdered stuff that passes for lemonade – and biscuits and it was a good chance to chat to people. I made an arrangement to meet up with some of them for a real Chicago pizza that evening. We went to a recommended place and the pizza was good – if a little over large, even for the young lads in the party who had hearty appetites. What made the evening tho was the waitress who was a real card – she started off by thinking that Chris, a lad from Merthyr, wasn't even speaking English! Well, maybe he wasn’t – so they had a charade about draught and bottled beer…the service was dreadful, but the food was good and the company was excellent. We walked down to the lakeside for the fireworks – there was an open air Beethoven concert we wanted to catch but we stopped before that at an open air swing dance to listen for a while, by which time the classical concert was finished.
The fireworks didn’t start until 10.30 in the event – during which time I discouraged Chris from mooning to passing boats (you can take the boy out of Merthyr etc…)…
Sunday morning I went up the Sears Sky Deck with Jess and Charlie (big shout out, girls!) and was SO not able to go out onto the clear, perspex decks that hang out of the 103rd floor! The view was amazing tho and had to be done! So I 'let' the youngsters do it and *I* selflessly took the photos!

We wandered over to The Bean near the Art Institute – Chicago does street art better than anywhere I have ever been and spent a lot of time marvelling at the many ways it reflected.

Then it was time for me to assemble myself for the train station….en route the handle on my suitcase fell off, leaving me feel like part of a Rhod Gilbert sketch – look it up on Youtube! – not quite sure what to do with the separated handle – so chucked it. Makes moving my stuff more difficult but I can still manage thanks to the bungee cord I got from Ron – how did life happen without bungees?
Uneventful trip to Kansas City,Missouri, which summed up the whole time in Kansas – was raining when I got there, storming when I woke up and when I hired the car to go out to Independence there was a severe weather warning and a get off the roads message – so I returned the car to Hertz and wondered what to do – soon found out there was little to do in a wet town – went to the pictures and saw Julie and Julia which I enjoyed and then looked in vain for a book shop – had fnished dawn French and couldn’t face the 18 hours to my next stop on the train without a book – NO shops in downtown Kansas! ‘None, not a sausage, bugger all’ to quote Monty Python! Did find one eventually, way out of town - brave expedition to get there and then back again. Spent time updating emails and stuff in lounge of hotel which I can heartily recommend.. so if you ever find yourself in dowtown Kansas City,Missouri with nothing to do, well don't say you haven't been warned! But Hotel Phillips did cushion the blow somewhat!

Was great actually to post a Facebook status update bemoaning my fate and within minutes got a phone call from Deb Barry - what a star! That brightened me up and then Julia phoned too -Hurrah for FB!

The train left Kansas at 11.00 p.m. and I mamanged to get a double seat to myself all the way to Albuquerque - my, that's hard to spell - so managed to sleep reasonably well and drifted in and out of sleep all day really. The scenery was pretty samey through Colorado until we got to some mountain bits but then the train guard announced we were in New Mexico... The soil started to change colour and those strange flat-top outcrops started to appear...

Thursday
Just getting ready for the farewell dinner - the week has flown and my brain feels like it is about to explode with information.. so much to take in... lots of it has been really useful, interlaced with bits of rubbish but that has been the minority of the time.
Have taken half a bus tour of Washington DC - we dumped it at the Capitol building - is it wrong to do that just because the guides voice was too irritating and she had very little of real interest to say.. we walked down through the Mall to the Art gallery, then to the Sculpture park - see the link on my facebook page for the truly amazing Lichtenstein house that turned while standing still... fabulous, it really was.
Walked down to the Lincoln Memorial one veening - that is a very imposing monument and was all lit up - although it was past 9pm, there was loads of people around and it all felt very safe. Also have taken a walk down to Georgetown whihc is the older part of the town. Hoping to take a trip to Mount Vernon on Saturday or Sunday.
Mindy Coon came and picked me up from the hotel last evening about 5 and we went out to hers..

Totally on top of the packing now - just weighed it and still have a bit of slack to fill - just as well as Jules rang and asked for jaffa cakes - made me consider what else I will miss -

• Marks and Spencer food for sure!
• Good chocolate!
• Radio 4!

Still have some mundane tasks to fulfill and MUST pick up some dollars - have a dollar card loaded up but would be useful to have cash as well.....renting a carpet cleaner tomorrow... and going over Amanda's to go over school stuff....

Hoping the books I ordered from Pont will arrive too - I'm going to phone them tomorrow - they were quick enough to debit my account...

Spent today with mum and she seems to have the basic idea that I'm leaving for a year... she has moments when she is quite lucid about it all. Had lunch with my brother Roger and his wife in Blackwood. Phoned Lisa and found camp was postponed for a day - glad not to have that on my agneda - ugh!

Trying to get my i-pod sorted - how do you get the music separated out from the podcasts and how do I get rid of the podcasts from yonks ago that i have listened to? I have no clue!

Phew!

Friday already - have collected a lush Ford KA - was up in the Forest of Dean - definitely had pangs of envy...the place as always was gorgeous - Lisa and I went back yesterday to get it and sat by the river and watched the world go by, wandered through Tintern village and wondered about the richness of life in such a community....the Abbey always amazes me - those Cistercians knew how to pick a spot for their abbeys - and there it has sat for the best part of 500 years in ruins since Henry ransacked them to swell his royal coffers to squander (and after his dad had been so careful and all!) Then we treated ourselves to a strawwberry cream tea before reluctantly heading back down the valley to civilisation - or was it? Lisa was glad to get to the garage and get some petrol - she said it was running on fumes! So it is sitting outside the house, cute as anything and then I started to try to get insurance - ended up at Swintons in Canton - Sian there is ace and sorted it all out... have even now cleaned the kitchen and started on the washing.... am getting there - looking forward to the beach party tomorrow - sun is going to shine and I am going to forget how much I have to do!

Losing my mind, my glasses, the will to live...

Sitting here in my notoriously dark and dingy dining rom in my prescription sunglasses writing this as I can't put my hand to 3, that's right, THREE pairs of specs! What is wrong with me? (No answers, it was rhetorical)...eating peaches that according to the tin are 6 years out of date but taste just fine...Just another average day,then.
Have moved everything from the lounge that shouldn't be there - how does it all creep in there anyway - numerous magazines, colouring pencils, sets of scriptures, little toys( I know how they got there), DVDs that I keep removing to the attic, packs of wet wipes.. the list is endless and wondrous - now it's all piled up in the dining room - lounge is off limits!
Garden is looking peachy - my home teacher rang this morning and just said 'I know that garden's stressing you, let me come and do it for you'... and so he did.
The lists don't seem to get shorter but it is satisfying to cross things off them.
Other whirlwinds have calmed down and I'm grateful to know that I can leave knowing Tom has made good choices and my mum is in good hands with him.
Everyone on the Fulbright seems to be having different stresses - seems some insurance companies are happy to insure cars, houses, etc and others aren't - I'm off to see a KA this evening up in the Wye Valley so will be a lovely drive even if the car is rubbish... Paul also tipped me off about a couple of cars he has seen for sale just down the road on Whitchurch Common - I must walk by there dozens of times and haven't even noticed the cars for sale!
Took the book the kids in my class made for me to show Jo last night and read through it again -is it a compliment to be told 'you look at least 39'??? not sure - but were beautiful sentiments in there altho I may have told them too often they were the best class ever! (but they were!)
Well, going to tackle the kitchen floor and make that out of bounds as well - will have to eat out more... have the most random array of food left in the cupboards anyway...

School's OUT for Summer....

So, first day of the school holidays - as ever, didn't need an alarm to wake at 6.15 - what is THAT all about!
Have large bowl of papers on dining table to address and can no longer put any of that off - love paperwork - know what needs to be done and am excited to get it sorted - mixed feelings saying 'bye to my class yesterday - they have been the best class I've taught - what a lush bunch - I have loved the way we have worked together and they have picked up and run with so many ideas - they are going to be a great Year 6, real leaders....Also mixed feelings about saying goodbe to friends - Jan came to Mamma Mia singalong(not sure what the new neighbours made of that...although we talked through most of it!) and that's probably the last time I will see her before I go - good job I know this is absolutely what I should be doing with my life at this time - otherwise it may be too hard to do.... I would say I am mighty blessed with great friends and will miss them tons.
Tom is now on his own path and happy so it's my turn...not that I haven't been happy...but life beckons for new adventures...
Off to see the Banksie exhibition in Bristol today with Sue...bit of culture!

Getting ready for the off....

Have had so much to do that I'm a bit fed up of it all and just want to get on with getting out to the States and beginning...
Think I have it all covered now and am looking forward to meeting up in DC and then my amazing trip on the train to LA...
Have alomst decided to do the dissertation too - despite the rahs of encouragement not to do it... I just want to dress up in an academic robe!!!!(new dress,shoes,bag, methinks) - and I think it will definitely open some doors I'd like to push in the future..
So with 3 weeks to go before I leave I have to make some inroads on that research methods assignment (ahem) as well as work a latter day miracle on the house!