Time Management

It's Saturday. I love the weekends.
No, really. I really love weekends.

I love not having to set my alarm. This morning I woke up at 7:15. Although that's not exactly sleeping in, it beats setting the alarm for 5:45 am like I did yesterday.

I love not having to get dressed if I don't want to. Here it is 2:20 and I am still in my pj's. Love that.

I like the option of making a hot breakfast. Today I made myself a cheese omelet and roasted potatoes, toast with apricot jam and hot tea. And I ate it leisurely at the kitchen counter. Relaxing!

I have my super-lengthy to do list looming of course, but on Saturdays I don't feel the pressure to tackle it or the stress of not having tackled it like I do on Sundays (and every other day that week frankly). I haven't done one thing on the list yet today but the day is young and full of possibilities and, yeah, as soon as I finish this post it's on and poppin'!

One thing I am really trying to incorporate into my life is the concept of a no-errand/no-stress weekend. A good friend of mine in LA does just that. She schedules something for every day of the week. It goes something like this:

Monday - grocery shopping and cooking for the week
Tuesday - wash hair, nails, laundry
Wednesday - errands (dry cleaning, post office, etc.)
Thursday - clean the house
Friday - car wash

And as soon as she pulls out of the car wash on Friday afternoons, her shiny red Beemer convertible is gleaming and she's ready to hit the town with nothing to think about but having fun. Her weekends are her own! I love that!

For the life of me I can't seem to figure out time management and spend every day of every week running some errand, planning what needs to be done, thinking about what I should be doing or stressing about what I am not getting done! I am so totally impressed by people who are able to have a full time job, keep their houses clean, do crafts, cook gourmet meals, read books, volunteer, exercise, raise children and look fabulous doing it! How on earth is that humanly possible?! The only thing that I think will make it possible for me is to create a schedule like my friend and stick to it. Mothers out there - especially single moms - what do you do to get things done? How do you manage your time? I need some tips!

Snow Day!

Yay! A snow day today! The best thing about being a teacher! (is that a problem?!)
Meanwhile, I have strep throat.

I called in sick Monday and Tuesday so at least I only have to use one day of leave now. I really should be saving up those days for when my little one comes home... although I'm really not sure how that works anyway. Do I get to use sick days for materinty leave? Do I even get maternity leave if I haven't worked there a year? Can I extend FMLA if I don't feel like we've bonded enough? Hmmm... things I clearly need to figure out!

Inauguration Weekend (cont.)

A few more pictures, a video, and hilarious comments from my Kindergartners...

I met Andrea at Union Station.

Brrr... Let's huddle!


Looking like a stuffed turkey in front of the Capitol Building!


Everybody was selling something!



At school on Wednesday many of the kids were excited to tell me that they had watched Obama on TV so we sat in a circle and I asked the kids to share what they did over their 4 day weekend. Here are some of the answers I got (some relevant to Obama, some just damn funny!):

Esteban: "My whole family watched Barack Obama on TV. I saw him in a limousine and I saw the secret service."

Rafael: "I went to the inauguration. I was wearing two pairs of underwear, two pairs of socks (two on each foot), and I wore two pairs of pants and two shirts. I was a mile away but I watched it on a gigantic TV screen near me called a jumbotron."

Lydia: "I played with my dog and my tooth fell out and it was bleeding. I dranked some water and I sucked the blood. Then it fell behind the toilet but I found it and put it in a special box."

Fabian: "My mom and her boyfriend painted my playroom bluish-green. He's bald. I put a futon in it and light and dark tiles and my old TV."

Yasmin: "My mom cooked pepper tacos. They have sliced peppers and melted cheese and Iranian butter and eggs."

Jazelia: "I saw Obama and the White House and I saw the swimming pool and we went swimming!"

Emily: " I looked at the TV and I loved Barack Obama cause he's the last president and he wasn't dead."


They had me cracking up! Kindergartners are hilarious!

Inauguration Weekend - Monday

What an amazing day! So much energy and enthusiasm! We braved the frigid temperatures to watch Barack Obama make history!

(my metro card)

(it was SO cold!)
(BTW ~ I was offered a ticket to the "blue section"-- right up front-- but it didn't pan out. My friend with the tickets had a good reason why she opted out of the festivities altogether but I can't say I wasn't disappointed! Andrea and I headed down there anyway and at least I can tell my grandchildren I was there!)

Inauguration Weekend - Sunday (wtih videos)

I woke up Sunday early to meet my friend Pierre (visiting from Cincinnati) for breakfast. We went to the same spot as Durrell and I went! Andrea met up with us, too. We talked about whether we wanted to go to the concert that was starting at 2:30... Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Usher, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, Stevie Wonder and more! But then again it's soooo cold outside! I know my readers from Canada are used to this kind of weather-- and being that I grew up in Pittsburgh you would think I wouldn't mind it either-- but it is SO cold that it had me questioning how many inaugural events I really wanted to do. We went back and forth on whether to go or not--Pierre was saying definitely yes and Andrea was saying definitely no. I knew it sounded like fun, but I don't like to be cold! But then I would feel guilty about all the people around the country, around the world who would love to be here but can't and here I am living right here in the heart of it all and want to just watch everything unfold on TV? I kept going back and forth until I got this email from my mom:

Hope you're going everywhere and doing everything possible and watching the events elsewhere, such as...... Did you watch some of the Obama whistle stop train ride from Philly to DC? Hear any of his speeches. we are so excited, constantly teary eyed... It is just all so amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get thee to the Lincoln Memorial for whatever it is tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!! Lucky lucky you to live in that great city at this fabulous time. Get as close as you can to things. Breathe the charged air. Live! Wow! Oh to be thirty years younger... Have a blast for us! Mom

Well, that settled that! Stuart (in from North Carolina) joined Pierre and me. First I went home to bundle up. I put on two pairs of long johns and some ski pants, a silk undershirt, a thermal, shirt and a fleece; two pairs of socks and some hiking boots; a scarf, a hat, mittens and a parka and guess what?! I wasn't cold! LOL Then we drove to Target so I could buy a new camera (could NOT do the weekend without a camera!) and hopped on the Metro from there to head downtown. That was a bit scary as the crowds were pretty big (I can't even imagine how much more crowded it can get on Tuesday) but we made it! We got off at the Smithsonian stop and started walking towards the Lincoln Memorial. We didn't get anywhere close to the stage, of course, but there were jumbotrons set up and we, along with the thousands of people around us could see and hear everything. (I even ran into my co-worker!) There was so much energy in the crowd--everyone so joyful and full of hope and exhilarated to have the opportunity to celebrate this historic moment!! Here are some pictures of the day:






Afterwards, we decided to forgo the metro and walk uptown instead. We braved the now dropping temperatures and walked about 20 blocks until we reached one of my favorite Thai restaurants where we stopped to have dinner.

More celebrating! This is an amazing time in our nation's history!!

Inaguration Weekend - Friday & Saturday

Work was fun today. I created an Obama book and my students worked on filling out the pages. For example, one page read: 'Obama rides on Air Force One. I like to ride on ____. " My kids filled in the blank with answers including motorcycle, bike, Southwest Airlines and bus. Another page read: "Obama's favorite food is chili. My favorite food is ____". Answers there included rice and beans, pasta, peanut butter and jelly and ice cream. Another page read: "Obama is our new president. When I grow up I want to be _________." Answers there included mail carrier, soldier, ballerina and chef. It was very, very cute. I wish I had taken pictures of some of their pages to post.

After work I went to my 6:30 hair appointment. Tami recommended the place and I think they did an excellent job. A friend asked me to if I wanted to meet up for drinks afterwards but then we reminded ourselves that this is a black salon and I would probably be stuck in there for hours. We had a good laugh when I called her at 10:45 on my way home. Ridiculous. The owner of the salon did my hair. It really was in terrible condition when I went in there. It was many different colors from all my at home coloring jobs including auburn, dark brown and black and some new grey growth. It was uneven from my butchering job, extremely dry, and had terrible split ends. It was really embarrassing. She had to strip my hair in order to get all the colors out and then recolor it. Apparently she told the girl who stripped my hair not to let me look in the mirror but she forgot to tell me cause I did. This is what I saw!


Shocking!!! I was NOT happy. And I was really horrified about how it might come out. But it looked amazing. I was thrilled! Sad as this may sound, but it made my self esteem sore. (I know, shallow). It took forever though and I was trying to determine what it might cost in my head. I figured it would probably be in the $200 range so I was mentally preparing myself for that. Imagine my utter horror when she told me it was $388! WTF?!? That is a movie star price tag, not good for a kindergarten teacher. I was horrified but what could I do but pay it? It does look great now and it's healthy but DANG! Oh well. I figured at least it would look cute for the weekend and maybe a cute new haircut would bring me a cute new boyfriend! :-) I didn't take a good pic of the finished look, but you can kind of see if in these photos. Not too short, not too out of the ordinary. Just healthy and still easy to style.

So, the DC area is gearing up for an exciting inauguration weekend and I can't wait! Two of my good friends, Pierre and Stuart, will be in town. I am looking forward to seeing them! I have gotten many, many emails about events but after paying $388 for my hair I can't really justify spending hundreds of dollars on parties. I am totally down for the free events. It should be fun either way as it is an exciting time to be alive!

On Saturday I got an early morning phone call from my friend, Durrell. He asked if he could take me to breakfast so I got out of my warm and toasty bed to join him for some french toast and coffee. The restaurant was so cozy and we got a prime spot in from of the fireplace.



After breakfast I went home and baked some homemade banana bread to take to Nadirah's Honor King/Celebrate Obama gathering. there was a lot of good food and I ran into a lot of people I know! Unfortunately I misplaced my little camera so I was only able to snap these two of Jen and Andrea with my camera phone:


But luckily Nadirah sent me these:


After the brunch I was so exhausted that my hour nap turned into three hours (I woke up at 11:30pm) and I no longer felt like going out. But the weekend is young!!

20,000 Hits?! .. and still no further in the process... Sigh

I've been watching my ticker lately and it's been creeping up ever so slowly. Today it finally reached 20,000 hits! Wow! When I started this blog, it was just for my close friends and family. But now, almost two years later most friends and family don't even check in. I know my mom checks it every once and awhile but no one else in my family reads it. Maybe a few friends read it but mostly it's folks whom I have never met; really nice and supportive people all over the world. Who knew it was going to blossom into such an obsession wonderful way to connect with other PAPs and APs! I love my blog! It makes me happy.

This time last year I was debating about going overseas and ultimately decided to do it before adoption. It was strange to go back and read those old posts and really discouraging to feel that in many ways I am in the exact same place. I didn't get to move overseas this year but I didn't get my baby either! In fact, I am doing the exact same thing - trying to complete my homestudy. (grrr) For the past several weeks two of my good friends, Hattie and Tracy, have been calling me every night to talk overseas jobs.

Hattie taught in Brussels and right outside of London for a total of five years abroad and she swears by overseas teaching:

"Laura, you'd love teaching abroad!"
"Your colleagues will be interesting and well traveled."
"You won't have behavior problems."
"You can travel the world and still save tons of money."
"Come on! Let's go together!"


Tracy has never taught overseas and is more practical in her approach but also has a good angle.

"You know you've always wanted to teach overseas."
"You don't want to be in the exact same spot next year wishing you had done it."
"Do it now before you adopt--it'll be so much easier."
"C'mon! Let's go!"


Hattie:

"You know childcare is so much more affordable overseas."
"You could afford a live in nanny!"
"There are so many more men your type in that type of setting... other men who love to travel."
"You could meet someone in the diplomatic core or in international development."
"We could share an apartment to save even more money!"
"Come on! Let's go together!"


Tracy:

"Your whole adoption could be paid for in one year!"
"Imagine being able to pay off any remaining debt!"
"Go now before you get settled into a routine here with your child."
"You can even rent your house out and make even more money."
"C'mon! Let's go!"

Dang.
They are both right.
I want to go.
But I can not adopt from overseas. I already tried that. Didn't work.
But this time of year is so difficult because it's job fair season. The wanderlust in me gets all worked up and I foam at the mouth thinking of the exciting life I could have if I lived abroad. And the crazy thing is, I already have lived abroad more than many people I know so you would think I'd be satisfied (a year in Nigeria, seven months in France, ten months in St. Thomas,USVI) but sadly I am not. I still want to go.

I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!

I thrive off of experiencing new lands, traveling to parts unknown, learning about new cultures, trying new foods, living an amazing life. And right now things just don't seem all that amazing. They are downright humdrum at times.

So as I work on seemingly never-ending adoption paperwork I pray that my child will arrive in 2009 so I have the option of attending the job fair in February 2010. Will I want to go next year, once I am a parent? I don't know. But living a remarkably life is so important to me so right now I trying hard to suppress the urge to run off...

A few pictures from Senegal, Dubai and Ethiopia...







I miss you big world! But I will see more of you at some point, I guess...

On a happier note, how 'bout The Bachelor?! Last night was so good! He's cute. I think he's really feeling the ex-cheerleader and the hot dog girl. I like Sophia's mom (the one he has the date with next week) but I think she's too serious and mature for him. He seems to like the happy go lucky ones without any baggage. The light and breezy type who Sophia's mom most definitely is not. I also think it''s high time he axed the lacrosse coach. She is so negative and has a major chip on her shoulder. Right?!

Rediet - pt. III

The last day...