Randomness

I have to say it: I love my job. It is challenging every day to keep my patience and maintain some semblance of sanity amidst the sea of 100+ children for 3 hours a day Monday through Friday, but somehow it fits me well. Of course, I am only in my 4th week, so things are still new and different, yet the fact that every day is somewhat different from the day before makes me think that it won't get old super fast.

Unfortunately, the school is undergoing construction, which means there is no playground accessible. This seems tragically unfair because what school day is complete without expending a little bit of energy on the swingset or the monkey bars? Enter the challenging aspect of my job: No outdoor playtime = cabin-fever Pre-k thru 5th graders. Eek! It's also a shame because the weather has taken a turn for the lovely here in Florida these last couple of days. A beautiful cold front has brought bright, sunshiny days, a cool breeze and a cool temperature of 65-70 degress. It would be great to play outside in this weather!

Fall is my favorite season, hands down. Hot chocolate, warm, fuzzy slippers, hoodies - who doesn't look good in one? The always-funny trick of placing icy cold fingers on your beloved's back is also a perk of fall.

And now, here is a bug:

We found this big guy by the mail boxes the other day. Also in the picture is Ryan's lovely hand as a size comparison. If you can, click on the picture and check out the intricate details of the moth's wings. It was really incredible.

Thank you. Goodnight.

Wahooo! I finished my homework and turned in my assignments on time!

In other news, I am utterly exhausted. Last night I was up until the wee hours of the morning, tossing and turning. Mostly, I was just stuck inside my own head, worrying. Apparently for me, the terrorists aren't foreigners threatening the safety of our nation, but locals who seem not to care about people in general. I received an email the other day from UCF - one of those general letters to students about safety. It spoke of an armed robbery that happened last week, not 10 miles away from where I live. 2 men held another man at gun point, forced him to drive to an atm, withdraw money and then drop them off at another point. He only received a sharp blow to the head when the robbers first got to him, but the stress of the situation must have been through the roof! Of course, there will be violence wherever I choose to live, it is inescapable. But sometimes, the fear of that type of situation, especially so close to home (literally), can really shake my world.

Ryan's suggestion is to "just think about something else". Easier said than done my friend, easier said than done. My efforts to think of something else had me watching a show about "Amazing Cakes" at 4am. Clearly, that is not conducive to a good night's sleep.

Now let's see...

venti coffee - check
homework - check
books - check
motivation - missing, last seen before the cruise. If anyone has any information regarding its whereabouts, please contact me immediately.

I an no longer worhtless!

Ladies and gentleman, I finally have a job. I got a message from Seminole County Public Schools while I was on the cruise. We got in touch today and she said I can start today if I wanted to. I am officially an extended-day care "Child Care Provider". Holla.

My first day was interesting. There were about 100 or so kids and 6 adults. Some of the women working there were kind of terrifying, think tall, large women shouting at children to sit down and be quiet for the first 20 minutes. I chose a more quiet, and somewhat more effective method of pacing the tables and asking them to quiet down. I'm not sure that I would be happy with my kid getting screamed at if I were a parent. I think in some ways it was necessary to get control over the large group of children, but the shouting was a bit excessive.

It'll be good experience. We spend about an hour helping the kids with their homework by age group and then playing games and doing small activities. I was assigned to work with the 2nd graders which couldn't have been more perfect for me. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about that particular age group, so going over their work and looking at the activities/homework helps me see what level they're working on.

Everyone I work with seems friendly and the kids, though rambunctious, seem manageable. I am so thankful to be employed! It has really eased my mind.

Welcome Home!

We're back! We had a fantastic time sailing the Caribbean, visiting Key West, Cozumel and Belize. The food was delicious and the company was even better. Dinnertime was everyone's favorite part of the day. What other time will you have 2 people serving you anything you ask for? Guilly and Bahadir a.k.a. John Travolta always remembered our drinks, Mike's allergies and they were always so friendly! The weather was absolutely gorgeous. There were a couple of days on the boat where we could really feel the waves, but for the most part it was smooth sailing.

Some nights after dinner, Ryan and I played Scrabble. One day, Ryan, his mom and I played Monopoly. Ryan beat us handily, though he hit some hard times with taxes on his plethora of hotels and houses.

We went on a cave tubing excursion in Belize. There was a 35 minute hike down to the river, followed by a slow ride through a couple of caves. We made a human chain on our tubes and used our headlights to see through the dark caves. I was kind of creeped out by the darkness and the bats nestled above us. It was an interesting experience. The water wasn't terribly cold, except when it dripped down on us from above which added to the creepiness.

Anywya, we had a great time and here are the pictures to prove it:



Me and Ryan in the Solarium.



The first day we had lunch in the Windjammer Cafe.

Ryan's mom won the first night's raffle! A huge bottle of rum.

The nightly shots with special shot glasses. There was a different color for every night. Nina's shot glass had pineapple juice and cranberry juice. Mine was something way too strong for my taste. Ryan downed it for me.

Here we are on formal night.

Now it's back to the every day life in Florida for all of us. We will definitely have to plan another trip soon!

Farewell!

Home for the next week. Bon voyage!

Fall in love

Today is me and Ryan's 4 year anniversary! After all these years together, it still melts my heart to look into his eyes and see how much he loves me. We had a spectacular day just hanging out together.

We started a tradition of going to Stonewood Grill and Tavern for our anniversary dinners every year. We always order basically the same thing, he gets a steak, I get the porkchops and then I'm always jealous of his steak. You'd think I would learn to just order the steak, but not yet. I ordered the chops again this year and envied his steak the whole time. And why doesn't Stonewood have regular, good ol' fashioned broccoli? They have some weird relative of broccoli which is nowhere near tasting good. I'm just saying.

This is us on our 1 year anniversary:


2 years together:

We didn't have pictures from the actual day in 2007, so here's a picture of us on our first cruise. We were, together, a full 42 pounds heavier! 3 years:

For our anniversary last night, I made a second attempt at baking. I chose to use a metal pan instead of a glass one as a precautionary move. This time the cake actually made it into the oven. See?

And finally, here we are with our lovely cake. Strawberry supreme with butter creme icing. The lettering is supposed to be red, but apprently it takes a million drops of red food coloring to make icing the red I wanted. I settled for that shade of pink.
On a side note, whenever I make a card or anything artsy for our anniversary, I always spell "anniversary" wrong. I spelled it wrong on the cake this time...I shouldn't have been an English major.

Anyway, we are happily in love.

disaster in the kitchen

I've never exactly been a great cook. I put together very simple meals for Ryan and I, not venturing too far out in recipes. I frequently miss an ingredient there, burn something a little here, just little things that don't exactly ruin a meal, but don't make them gourmet either.
Today, I was making a blueberry bread out of the mix instead of the run of the mill muffins. I was even going to try a new glaze to go over it. It was going to be so tasty and I was very excited.
Ryan was standing behind me washing the dishes. I had used pretty much all of the very limited counterspace we have to work on the bread. The oven was preheating and I was trying to get at a piece of tape. The box for the muffin mix was taped close at some point, the tape landed on the counter and then got stuck to the baking dish. And then the whole glass dish filled with blueberry goodness (which was completely ready to go in the oven) slipped out of my hands and shattered on the tile floor. My pants were covered in blueberry goo and there was glass and the rest of the mix everywhere. All I could do was stand there and stare at the mess. All hopes of a new vanilla glaze atop a fresh take on blueberry muffins were out the window. I can't remember a time when I have broken a dish like that. It was my mom's loaf baking dish, too. I've had it for years, but somehow she can always walk into my kitchen and point out what used to belong to her.
Anyway, we cleaned up the mess and headed to Publix because I was still craving something sweet. We ended up with a slice of key lime pie, a boston creme something and buy one get one free cake mixes. In the next couple of days, I will try the whole baking thing again. Strawberry supreme cake with a light vanilla glaze sounds scrumptious. We have family coming in on Sunday night, so we can all take off for the cruise together on Monday. They can help us eat the yumminess if it doesn't land on the floor.