Fire in the Rain

Tomorrow is the Chinese exchange students farewell picnic. the last 4 weeks have been packed with China stuff... A few mishaps with lost papers, toothaches and hand injuries the Chinese ambassadors seem to be unscathed from their journey to Baltimore.

I should put the calendar on my blog. They have been very very busy touring the area. Our trip to New York was quite literally a life changing experience for me. Sometimes New York rolls you around, chews you up, and spits you out... This trip she welcomed us, I'm sure because we gazed at the entire city from the outside and from the top. We only saw the streets of NYC for about 45 minutes in Times Square. I felt the same way when I first see the mountains in SL,UT as I did entering the Lincoln Tunnel. Boarded the bus at 6 am with bagels and doughnuts and coffee etc. Several parents joined us so it was really helpful and fun. My favorite part was the Circle Line boat. It was fantastic to see the city from this view. Two hours later we boarded the 2 hour line to the top of the Empire state building. So we saw the top of the city and where we had just cruised around. If anyone is worried about how P is going to do in Xi'an with 15 students in exactly 56 days... well Tim and I got 32 people from the top of the Empire state building to Times square in 45 minutes. I also said for the first time in my life "I demand to see a manager (with a fist smash on the counter)" at the Hard Rock Cafe. The Chinese kids sang all the way home. all the way ;)...

Not that my March in all its Marchiness didn't have it's normal madness without all the Chiners running around. I also had two school field trips, an uncomfortable parent teacher student conference, a ping pong table elevator aerobic workout, a serial killer library project in forensics, a field walk to the school stream where we saw 3 deer run right past us, another uncomfortable teacher student classroom incident, a minor car accident (dent), broke up a fight in the hallway between two girls, accidentally said retard in front of the special educator, and a quite intimate and brutal incident with the copy machine for packets I had already handed out...

and in my real life second place in trivia, second place to an Italian, second to last person to do my taxes, second bottle of wine open from the case left on porch by neighbor, and last night's barbecue at the neighbors with friends around a campfire in the rain second only to none.

Why don't I have that cleaning addiction?

I wouldn't mind being a clean freak. I would probably actually like taking the time to be organized, clutter free, and clean. But I am woefully not. AND now with being super busy with China stuff I feel even more desire to keep the cat frat in a constant state of disorder. I wish I had a place for everything, changed the oil in the car when the sticker says to, graded assignments as they came in, and matched my socks... I would really like it. And I know my mother taught me how.

Presented to the Teacher Fellows at the Center of Marine Biotechnology Saturday. I brought with me a few yawns and a nice hangover. Then this week is full of professional sports... Plus I have a nice paper due tomorrow. Yummy. I'm going to make the coffee now and if I spill I may clean it up...

Go Wizards (Monday)
Go Capitals (Thursday)
Go Blast (Friday)