Seeing the other coast

This is a little overdue, but I kept doing other things and then going "Ohh, yeah, the blog..." around midnight.

So. This summer continued to be busy after Michigan. I had a week of rest, then headed out to the other side of the country.

All of this flying this summer made me realize something: I've developed an uneasiness about flying. Not quite a fear, but definitely not the easiness I remember having flying up to Canada and back multiple times. This was not helped by having to fly on a propellor plane once during my trip. It was terrifying.

I started in San Francisco, where I saw Emily, who is the MOST ADORABLE pregnant woman ever (seriously, look at her newest blog post with the pictures of her & her fantastic husband, Dan, and try and disagree with me). Emily & I met in an undergrad class we had together and then she ended up dating & marrying my boss/friend, Dan! I haven't seen them in two years and I saw I had to fly through SF to get to Oregon, so I asked Emily if it was cool to stop in for two days, even though she was ready to pop. Thankfully, she said yes (and also didn't give birth while I was there! As exciting as that would be, I didn't want to add any sort of complication to that time [or cut the cord, haha]). She was kind enough to walk around with me, even though she was mere days from her due date. It was awesome to just see Emily & Dan again and catch up, but I also got to see things in SF I didn't get to see the first time I was there, talk with Emily about all the TV shows we watch AND it was Dan's birthday the second day I was there. It was awesome to be a part of that and try out something new: Indian pizza! Seriously delicious. I wish there was a place in RVA that offered it.

After that small time in SF, I flew into Portland to meet Katy. Katy & I lived together in Kalamazoo for two years. Katy & Mike came to visit us in VA last year and we had a blast. This year there was a new addition to Katy & Mike's life: Alexandria! She is absolutely adorable! Seriously! I felt in love with her the moment I saw her. Katy & I went to an AMAZING bookstore in Powell's, then walked a little around Portland, swearing that next time, we would have ideas of other things to see, and headed to Eugene, where Katy lives. In Eugene, I introduced Katy to the IT Crowd and True Blood, and she introduced me to life in Eugene! We went to see Harry Potter (a tradition), talked about hippies and Eugene/Oregon culture, ate at delicious places (I now want a Cafe Yumm! in RVA), went to Saturday Market (all handmade things & a multi-cultural food area), went out on a girls' night, went to the Oregon Coast, went to an art museum, and tried to dodge the heat wave that hit Oregon.

When I first started this, I was going to include pictures & video of my trip, but they're ALL on my facebook and flickr & I don't feel like putting them here as well, since it took some time to get them on those two sites. If you don't know how to get to those, ask me.

This summer has been a summer of firsts, which is what it was meant to be. I want to stop letting excuses and anxiety get in my way of doing the fun things I talk about, and I think I've been pretty successful.

Firsts:

-Flew to Michigan alone

-Delayed luggage

-Flew to the west coast alone

-Ate alone in a restaurant

-went to a movie alone

-said "y'all" like I was born saying it. It just kinda popped out of my mouth before I knew it!

-sang karaoke (not quite alone, with two other girls, but STILL! way more than I would've ever done a year or more ago!)

-met the first additions to friends' families: Alex, Harrison (I didn't mention this in my Michigan post I now realize. I went to visit my friend Kate and meet her son, who is adorable, funny & smart!) and (sort of) Jackson. I'm just gonna put him on the list cause I got to feel him moving around :) All of my friends have such beautiful children! (Again, putting Jackson in that cause I bet you he will be just adorable!)

-many more I've forgotten!

I still have some plans for the rest of the summer. I need to start working on school plans more than I have, but I have some time...

Say Yes to Michigan!

This summer has been a busy one so far.

My last day of school with students involved giving 17 kids an exam, grading them and putting in all grades in a span of 2.5 hours. I then drove about 1.5 hours to Norfolk to see my first class graduate. It was AMAZING. I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy being bombarded by about 100 kids. It was crazy with hugs, screams, some tears, laughter and smiles. One of them spun me around screaming YOU'RE HERE! YOU'RE HERE!!! Another ran across a group of people screaming my name and almost knocked me over when he slammed into me to give me a hug while he told me I made his graduation day and senior year perfect by showing up. I didn't have time to talk to a lot of them, so our conversations were brief. Most of them said they missed me, and I told them the same. A lot of them said that they still had my notes and awards (some of them were reading them in the days leading up to graduation). I heard a lot of great news about their future plans. They reminded me why I teach and made me feel like I've been pretty successful so far as a teacher. They're all such great kids, I was really lucky to have the group that I did for my first two years.

Since I left early from school, I had to go back in the day after to check out. It was basically almost three hours of cleaning up my room, packing up stuff, and then running around the big school to find everyone that needed to sign off on my check out list. Ugh.

After that, I had a day and a half to myself before David's parents came to visit for a week. We took them all around Richmond, they went to see Monticello and I went with them to Va Beach. It was a beautiful week, we were given perfect weather for each activity we chose that day. It was great to see them!

The day they left, Charna, Jordan and Dave rolled into town for the moped rally in Richmond. It was TONS of fun! It was great to be on a moped again and see Richmond from that POV. They took us on some great rides and I met some great people. My moped ran like a champ with the only problem being that it didn't want to idle sometimes (that's fixed now, though!). Everyone left Sunday morning, which was fine with me because I was exhausted, bruised, sore and blistered!

Plus, I only had one more day until I left to spend a week in Michigan. My checked luggage didn't come with me, but it ended up okay. I spent one night in Detroit so I could see Joey's bike shop and hang out with him. Megan came to pick me up and we headed to East Lansing. I finally got to see her apartment (cute!) and meet her pet rat (CUTE!), Eve. Of course, we had Tim Horton's, went shopping, had ice cream made on MSU's campus (delicious!), and relaxed. The next day, we headed to Kalamazoo, tried to find my luggage, and then had a get together so Megan could tell us all about her Uganda trip. I am AMAZED by what she got to do--truly the experience of a lifetime! The next morning, we got confirmation that my bag was flown back to Richmond and was now safe and sound in my apartment, so Megan, mom and I went shopping, got Root Beer Stand (I cannot tell you how much I miss this place!) and headed out to the cottage. We spend Friday to Monday at the cottage, it was amazing to be out there again! It was barely warm enough to swim the whole weekend, but we got some time on the lake. We also went to the Hayloft, which has amazing sundaes, and a flea market, which is fantastic for people watching. I found a few books to add to my classroom library there, too. Most of the time at the cottage was spent relaxing, playing games, and reading. It was nice having some cooler weather because I knew that when I got back to Richmond, it was going to be hot and humid for another few weeks! When we got back to Kalamazoo, I HAD to go to Kazoo Books, mostly to find books for my classroom. Thankfully, they ship books all over, so they had no problem sending the books I paid for down to VA. I also got to see Krista before I left! I'm so glad we got together! I hadn't seen her in years, and it was wonderful to catch up a little bit. I hope we get to see her when we go up for the holidays, too. :) All in all, it was an amazing trip to Michigan. I got to enjoy some of my favorite Kalamzoo or Michigan-only foods, go to Meijer (oh man, I miss that place so much), see a movie with my sister, see my parents and have an amazing time with them. I'm really lucky to have seen them so much in the past year.

Now I'm enjoying some time without plans or travel before I head off on my next trip: SF and Eugene! I'm so excited!

Oops.

I keep meaning to update this, but then I get distracted by something else.
Recently, I've been trying to hit my 50 books in 2008 goal. After the 2 books I have left to read from the library, I have 2 more to read to reach my goal. I think I can actually do it this year!
I've finally caught up and gotten on top of things school-wise. That feels amazing. My to do lists are shorter and get done quicker.
We went to Michigan for Thanksgiving. It was kind of a crazy idea, but this year we could actually afford to do both Thanksgiving and Christmas and we had no plans in Richmond, so why not, right? It was nice to get a few extra hours with both families.
Speaking of Christmas/winter break, we will be in Warren from December 20-24th and Kalamazoo from the night of the 25th-29th. I hope to see some of you then.

i'm having mimosfun!

Philly was fantastic. I got to see Amanda, Trish, Jaime and Beth, meet Amanda and Beth's Philly friends during a potluck, see a Frida Kahlo exhibit (!!! it was AMAZING! I totally nerded out in there), wander around an amazing art museum after going through the exhibit (but didn't see everything, so David and I could make another trip and look at it all), talked about Rock of Love, text messaged each other ridiculous presets texts, took pictures, explored and shopped South Street, ate delicious food at wonderful places, fell in love with a bar (it had couches! and was so interesting to look at!), saw Jesus and zombies in a bar while watching Beth, Trish and Jaime do crafts, and saw "The Odd Couple" at the Walnut St. Theatre (where Amanda works!). Oh! I also got to see Amanda kick ass at her job. It was a fantastic trip and I'm probably forgetting some stuff we did.
I have photos on my flickr site (click on the flickr badge on the right sidebar).

well, well, well...

I missed my train to Philly. For some reason, I thought I was leaving at 6, even though the last train out of WBG is always, always, always 4:45. I realized this at 4:45. We got there at 4:55 and guess what was actually on time? The train. Wow.
This is the first time I've ever done this. But, really, I guess it's for the better? We rushed out of here so fast, I forgot my water and my coat for colder weather. I hate being rushed when I travel, too. The guy at the station was incredibly nice, rebooked me for tomorrow morning--no questions asked. Plus, it's a better view during the day time? The only problem is that the $30-50 I was hoping to save by going on Saturday night instead of Easter Sunday went into paying for the $107 (!!! WHAT?!) ticket to Philly. Drat.
But! Spring break goes on and, after kicking myself for a good 30-45 minutes, I asked David if he wanted to go to a movie. We went to see Doomsday. If you're in the mood for a ridiculously gory, bloody, and hilarious action movie-- do it. You'll also see a trailer for one incredibly freaky looking movie, called The Strangers. Supposedly, it's based on a "true story", but you can't find anything about it on the internet.

Also, this week's episode of This American Life, "The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar", is simply amazing. I was lucky enough to finally catch the airing of TAL since I left my teacher work day at 1 PM. WHRV apparently hates people listening to TAL and airs it every Friday from 1-2 P.M., so I always miss it. I was absolutely fascinated by this story, it was amazing. If you missed it, get the podcast and listen to it! Another good one to get the podcast for is "Shouting Across the Divide", which is about Muslims and non-Muslisms communicating. The first part of it almost made me cry.

Also #2, my birthday is coming up (JK! It's in a few months, but let's just say it's soon). Would you like to buy me an iPodcase for my cold, scratched up iPod? Or how about a new wallet? Or a reusable lunch bag? I really need to stop looking at cute things on the internet.

surprisingly productive.

Whew! What a few days!
Yesterday, we had a 12 hour drive from Warren to Williamsburg. It went smoothly, the weather was perfect and we made really good time. Our cats had survived the days without anyone, since I gave Megan K. (aka "Megan Senior") the wrong key. There were cracker packages chewed through and left all over the floor and an empty cat treat can. Poor kitties! They drank water for about 10 minutes, took a break, then drank some more. Last night, both the cats slept with us, cuddled nice and close. Gabriel has been purring and near us all day long.
We spent last night with Megan and Corey, watching a SNL special and making fun of all the other NYE specials. David and I were exhausted from the drive, the clean up of the house and then staying up past midnight, so we didn't stay too long after the ball dropped.

Today has been very productive. I got up earlier than I have all break (mostly because it'll help with getting up tomorrow, ugh.) and made a to do list. I unpacked my bag, washed the trip off of me, and reorganized stuff in my bathroom to accomodate all the new bath/beauty products (and cute cosmetics bag from mike). We headed to former Food Lion, now Bloom (think Farm Fresh or D&W with a Harding's past, for those of you outside of this area) and as we were heading in, we saw a few people leaving with those reusable grocery bags from Ukrop's and Trader Joe's. We started discussing how we should've gone to Meijer when we were there and picked a few up. When we walked in, though, bam! 3 Bloom reusable bags were sitting right there, for $1 each. Awesome. The good day continued when we went to New Town to use up some gift cards and find a weekly planner I saw at B&N with Frida Kahlo artwork (it was still there and 50% off- yesss!!). We got home, rearranged the computer room so it works a lot better, put the Christmas decorations into storage as well as suitcases and other random stuff, cleaned up and whew! Most of my to do list is done and it's only 4. Thank goodness, cause I'm tired and need to figure out what I'm going to do with those students Wednesday-Friday. I don't know how many kids (or teachers, for that matter) are going to show up for a 3 day week--a lot of them don't show up for Thanksgiving week.
Right now, though, we're watching the hockey game between Pittsburg and Buffalo, played outside in the snow. Later today or tomorrow, I'll share pictures and a run down of the holidays. I still have a few things on that to do list to finish.

whirlwind

(on the way to South Haven. Too bad it was only in the 70s that day.)
I am lazy, so I'm going to direct you to my flickr site. Link in the sidebar, look for the square with the pictures in it. There are pictures of mostly Chris, Cherie and their time in Kzoo, but there are also pictures of the surprise guest (!!) Joey, my new favorite drink (amaretto sour, which at first sounded disgusting), Mr. Ryan Dinkgrave, who was kind enough to visit and go out to dinner (and patient enough while we drove around kzoo trying to find somewhere open!) with Chris, Cherie, Joey and I, stuff we saw in D.C., etc. etc.
I had a blast in Kzoo. I was so happy to see Chris and Cherie there, I've missed being around them a lot. It was really awesome to get to see Ryan and Joey and for them to travel across the state to hang out for a few hours. Ryan gave me a CD with a few different albums on it, all of which are amazing (and the MP3 CD works in my car's CD player--wooo).
I got to hang out and catch with some of my favorite Kzoo (although some not for long) and Michigan people: Katy, Erin M, Kim, Bill, Emily, Dan, Petro, Brian, Jen, Kate, DJ, Clay, Josh F, Mike, Scotty and Traci! Amazing! I think that's everyone. I was lucky enough to get to see just about everyone I wanted to and luckily ran into a few people. I finally got to see the new Harvey's, revisited the Green Top, eat at Shawarma King, Saffron, and Crow's Nest, laugh a lot, and hug everyone I've missed so much. Erin, Chris, Cherie and I got to relive (sort of) horror movie night with Slumber Party Massacre and Tom Collinses! I hung out at Rocket Star a lot. Katy and I got Culver's, went to the cottage and wondered if the pontoon was moving. I got the best voicemail ever from Chris and Cherie (Doritos! A whole bag of Doritos!). Chris and Cherie helped my family have the best grilled meal ever. We went to South Haven and walked around, unfortunately on the only day that was in the 70s! I finally got to try Summer Thyme Cafe (delicous!!) and catch up with Jen and Kate. I also got to see the midnight showing of Harry Potter OotP with Megan, Mike, Scott, Chris, Cherie and Katy (the tradition lived on!). It was pretty awesome.
This is such a mess of thoughts! BUT I loved seeing everyone's faces and no longer just hearing your voices or reading your letters/emails. I hope that I convinced a few people to move down to Virginia or at least visit. haha.

Okay, so, our trip back deserves a story. We hop on a train from Kzoo to Chicago. Eat in Chicago. Get on a train leaving at 7:05 PM, supposed to get into D.C. at 1:05 PM. We sleep really bad because the lights are kinda bright in the train and there is a baby in front of us that will. not. stop. crying. (mostly because the mother and grandmother with the baby weren't choosing very effective methods to quiet a baby down. "Stop that" and "quiet now" are probably not going to fix whatever that child needs) We end up being SIX HOURS LATE. Yes, SIX! Frieght traffic, signal problems, brake problems, you name it-- we had it. We ran out of food on the train. People missed trains. We were certain that we'd miss our 5:50 train to Williamsburg because we were schedule to come into D.C. at 6:10 (this was changed about 5 times while David was waiting at the D.C. train station for our train to Williamsburg. It went from 5:15 to 5:35 and so on... ugh) We talk to the attendant as we're all waiting to pull into the station and I ask him if there's another train to the southeast part of VA. He tells us that that train to Williamsburg/Newport News can't leave until the conductor on our train gets on there. WHAT?!! Holy crap! How lucky! So, we ended up on the same train that David was on and we all headed to Williamsburg. Meg and I were exhausted. What an adventure.

David tagged me to do this thing:

Five (5) things about me you may not know:
1. I get really nervous and anxious going out to a public place, party, get together, etc. unless I'm with people I know really well. Like I'm talking jumpy, sweaty, etc. (I know this happens to most of you, too)
2. When I was little, I thought that I was safe from ghosts and goblins if I had a cat with me or if I made some sort of music (singing, whistling, humming, etc.)
3. Alternate dream careers: Radio show on NPR, singing in a band, photographer, owner of a coffeeshop (who didn't see that one coming?! but seriously, since I was a teenager, I always wanted to own a cafe)
4. I am really paranoid and scared of losing memories.
5. I get really annoyed when people hold back because they are absolutely petrified of what someone else will think of them. I hate seeing people hold themselves back from something that could be an amazing memory, moment, adventure, or fun! One life to live, people! (this is probably because I was like this all through middle and most of high school and I still get a little like this.)

Tag, you're it:
1. Miss Fancy Pants
2. Natalie
3. Emily H
4. Jen

delayed

I will post pictures and the happenings of the rest of my Kzoo trip later on.
Today/yesterday we celebrated the first year anniversary. Nothing too spectacular because I was extremely tired (and still am) from the trip, especially the train ride home. Nothing good ever happens while traveling (or attempting to travel) to D.C. The place is cursed. Anyway. Yesterday I got a Sidekick ID (loooove it!), so I can now text message and email (alipants@tmail.com) back and forth. We also checked out the adorable beach in Yorktown. Yorktown itself seems pretty freaking cute and less crowded than WBG (also, I think they have a tattoo shop there that we should look into).
We also decided that I will be getting rid of the eMac and getting a laptop in the fall. I think what convinced David was that we can get him a free iPod nano. What convinced me is that my Safari crashed half the time and, other times, takes 5 minuts to load something.

I leave you with some interesting reading and viewing:
(mostly stolen from Feministing and Feministe, but that doesn't mean that you "I'm not a feminist and I don't like them Feminazis" people can't enjoy them as well. haha.
About a networking site called Late Night Shots and what all those priviledged, golf-loving, country club members, ivy league school dudes do with their free time. Creeptastic.
"Fewer high school students are having sex these days, and more are using condoms. The teen birth rate has hit a record low"
"Love is Revolutionary (The Threat of Friendship)" Long-ish, but really good. David and I were discussing this a lot this weekend: the lack of empathy in people.
Two things for you to check out:
Cure This. From their "About" section (I couldn't say it any better): For two and a half years, "Cure This" was a pipe dream shared by just a handful of us. We envisioned a grand goal: to create an online space to discuss health in its broadest sense, share personal stories, creatively make positive change, and build an online community along the way — connecting us locally, nationally, and perhaps internationally. We envisioned a humble beginning: here and now.
Cure This has now transformed into a reality, and we’re excited beyond words. We welcome it into this world with a loving, gentle nudge and an encouraging whisper in its ear. Let the beautiful journey begin.
Health08 Election news, analysis and events

"Guys and Dolls". About men who use and have relationships with "Real Dolls".

I don't know if I should be creeped out or feel really bad for these guys.

back in the midwest

Whew! We're in Kzoo, after three different trains and my first experience with motion sickness. The train was very nice, a lot more comfortable than I was expecting. It's really amazing to take the train, because you can really appreciate the landscape you go through.
Last night, we went to dinner after getting into Kzoo (and a shower! after 20 hours on a train, it felt amazing!). As I was eating, I felt like I was still swaying. Then I started to feel like I was going to puke. I was meeting Scotty and Traci and once they showed up, I felt out of it and sick to my stomach. It got better for a while and I tried to keep talking and not focus on it. I left around 8, because they ordered food and I knew that the sight of food would not help the tummy. I hope to see them again before I go, this time with no stomach issues. I think the combination of anxiety and excitement of traveling with the feeling of still swaying left my body very confused.
I went home, laid down, took some medicine, drank some Vernors (yayyy Vernors!), and felt better after resting a while. I went to hang out with Katy at her house and enjoyed slouching on her couch and catching up with her, Emmy, Mike, and a few other friends of Katy's that I've met and chatted with a few times. Three of them left after a while and I stayed for a while longer to chat with her. We'll be going to the midnight showing of Harry Potter on the 10th, as well as going to the cottage on Sunday.
Today is a beautiful day and I had no plans. The family already went out to the cottage to spend the night, so I headed to Rocket Star. I chatted for a while with Tim and Clay, but it probably came out as a bunch of rambling because I drank too much coffee this morning. Brian came in and we sat and talked for quite a while, then most everyone I know in Kzoo went to Mike and April's reception. Since I was not invited, I told Clay to tell them congrats and headed over to New Addiction to catch up with DJ and talk about getting a tattoo later on.
Now I'm at home, sipping Vernors and resting up so I can head out tonight for some fun (hopefully). I called Krista to make sure I'd see her while I'm here and dropped off Meghan and Alex's wedding card at their apartment. A pretty productive day today, so far.
Happy birthday to Cherie (who probably won't even see this until she's already here in Kzoo!). I can't wait to see Chris and Cherie in Kzoo. There's even a chance Ryan will drop into Kzoo tomorrow. So far, so good.