Here's to hoping...

Obama and Hillary held a rally here in Orlando on Monday night. Of course we had to go. It was a lot of fun, actually. The crowd was so diverse and so excited.

Isn't that a patriotic picture of my husband? :)

It's hard to see, but this gives you an idea of how many people were crammed into the space. The black box on the bottom left is the stage. So about 75% of the people there couldn't even see him! I wonder if they set it up like this because they weren't expecting many people or what. Oh well. I saw him walk on and off stage, and saw the back of his head a lot! It was cool to hear both Barack and Hillary speak in person.

Atti and Falloo - still so cute

Wheel of Fortune

Many of you know that I am a HUGE Wheel of Fortune fan. Also, I'm good at it. So when I recieved the email update that the wheel-mobile was coming to Orlando, I set aside the Saturday to go try out. Well, everyone who is there (over 500 people) gets to fill out a form and put their name in a box. Names get pulled from the box to see who gets to try to solve the puzzles on stage. From those that made it on stage, a few people are picked to come back for an audition. So if your name doesn't get pulled from the box, you are outta luck. Unfortunately, after 3 hours of waiting, my name did not get called. But my friend's did! And this is after her husband and I persuaded her to put her form in the box! She didn't even WANT to get on the show! Well, she got called for an audition, and made it through that...so now we're all waiting eagerly to see if she gets to play on the real show.

But alas...this was one of the biggest disappointments of my life. I was so hoping to get to play!

Epcot

A few weeks ago I took students to the food and wine festival at Epcot. Here's a picture of me eating baklava, drinking wine, and sitting in front of "Japan". I love my job!



I thought the tour of the hydroponic work that Epcot does was really fascinating.

OUR MICHIGAN TRIP

Jon and I took a trip to Michigan this summer. We spent some of the time tooling around the Upper Peninsula with my folks and we had a blast! Here are some pictures of our fabulous time together.

Riding around Mackinac Island.

Pictures on the island.

A winery, the bridge, and fun times in a coffee shop.

Pictured Rocks State Park on Lake Superior.

Sleeping bear dunes. And some dogs on a road trip.

This dune heads straight into the lake. The pictures do not do it justice. On the second picture you can hardly see Jon and I climbing up. You have to run down the dune, then climb all the way up to your starting point. Holy moly, that was a workout!

Anyhow...if you ever get the chance to check out the U.P., do it. It was gorgeous. Beautiful weather. Awesome company. We had a blast!

We miss Tim!

This is our friend Tim. He moved to Chicago. We miss him.

This is us at a Sponge museum. Great fun. Obviously this camera was set up on something not-so-level.

Here are Jon and Tim playing frisbee in the water. I have a dozen pictures like this, cause I was trying to get a picture with a dolphin in the background. We kept seeing them but of course I could never get it on camera! So instead it's just a really lame picture.

My Job...and other stuff

Myself, a student and two other instructors.

I just want to say again that I love my job. I work with such cool people and teach such great students from all over the world. I know that sometimes I complain about having to work because I should really be apprenticing right now (for my midwifery studies). But if I have to have a job, I'm sure glad it's this one. I currently have 12 students from the following countries: France, Morocco, Columbia, Venezuela, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Brazil, and Switzerland. Additionally, I teach an afternoon class on Tuesdays which is optional for our lower level students and I have had 30 students show up for the past few weeks. It's hard to keep 30 students (aged 18 to....50-something) entertained and interested in the lessons. But they're great and very positive. After that class though, I'm completely drained and just want to pass out. It's a good thing that Tuesday night is date night and not homework night!

Things are going alright here in Florida. Jon is quite frustrated with his job so that puts a damper on things at times. But we remain hopeful that there is purpose to him being here. If not - something else will come along.

Most of you know how passionate I've become about politics and this upcoming election. But recently I have been faced with a dilemma. OF COURSE I want Obama to win the election. BUT... the other day Jon told me that if McCain wins, he will look for a job in Canada. SWEET! So now who do I vote for..... ??? Part of me wants to move to Canada... but the rest of me wants what's best for the United States and the entire world.....okay, I'd better stop here....I don't want to rile up my republican friends! Still, I guess I'll cast my ballot in favor of Obama....but if the other guy wins...there is still a light in the darkness...home sweet home (and universal healthcare)!

The classes I am taking right now are Aromatherapy (yup..it's a class!) and Research Analysis and Statistics. Well, I haven't actually started the research/stats class yet - I'm waiting for the textbook to arrive in the mail. I tell ya - I'm building up quite the library! I've been quite motivated lately and have been plugging away at this coursework. I recently asked a midwife here if I could apprentice with her on the weekends...I'm still waiting for her response. I'd really like to work with her because in her practice she works with a lot of low-income women who have medicaid. I can learn a lot from her. She had ZERO low-birth-weight babies in her African American women last year! Isn't that awesome?!?! Only a few for the Hispanic and White women. Those numbers are WAY better than those of the county or the city of Orlando and its hospitals. Why? Awesome prenatal care.

Our cats are still fabulous. I love them to bits. Last weekend Jon made a fort for them out of liquor boxes. He cut holes in the boxes (doorways, tunnels) and taped them all together. Ridiculous. I think the cats went in once. This morning Atticus was attacking the fort from the top - jumping off the windowsill unto a box. It would smush a bit, then he'd get back up on the windowsill and jump again. Fallujah's awesome because he really thinks I'm a cat. Every morning (anytime between 4 and 7) he jumps up on my side of the bed and starts nuzzling me and he puts his paws all over my face. I used to think he just wanted to be fed, but I now know that he just wants love. I pet him for a while and then he just curls up beside me and sleeps. I love those guys.

I have more pictures on my camera that I need to post, but my camera is at home and I am not. It will have to wait.

Now it is time to do some more work. It was nice taking a break with y'all.

Wekiva Springs with Students

I arranged to take a group of students to my favorite spot here in central Florida: Wekiva Springs. Well, it turned out to be only guys..but we had fun nonetheless!

This is the group: Venezuela, Turkey, Libya, Brazil are represented...and Canada of course!
For a few of them, it was the first time canoeing. As you can see here, we made a few river-blocks, and the other canoes had to manoever around us.

Venezuelans posing. The one in front is gonna be a famous baseballer one day.
We picnicked and played with the frisbee and beach volleyball.

Now here's talent: playing frisbee, drinking water and smoking cigarettes - all at once! Why isn't this an olympic sport? Turkey would for sure get gold.

Some of the guys swam, and some of us stayed dry. It was an awesome day. Most of these guys don't do "this sorta thing" so it was unusual for them, but they loved it. I have since been asked to plan all the field trips for the upcoming year. Sounds fun!

I know you don't know any of these people, but they are my life. At least Monday to Friday they are. So they were worth a mention and a glance.

Animal Kingdom

A group of students and I went to Animal Kingdom a while back. It's a pretty cool park. Lots of animals to see, a couple fun rides, etc. This group pictured here represents El Salvador, Libya, France and Tajikistan.
A student and I in front of Mt. Everest -- although the photographer chopped off the mountain. This was right before we got soaking wet on the river rapids.
And here's a baby elephant saying hello!

Well, well, well

Well holy baloney! I had TWO comments posted. TWO. That means at least TWO people still look at my blog. Thank you to those two lovely ladies.

Which means I should write more and post pictures more. I will do my best. Cause really, my life is somewhat interesting. And I have good stories every now and then.

For example, this morning Atticus jumped up onto the counter and hit his bowl while Jon was preparing his breakfast. That sent the bowl and all the food flying. The bowl shattered and the kitchen was covered in cat food. SICK. And of course, it happened on a morning that I was already late for work. Good going Atticus.

Okay...but that was a cat story. I'd better not tell too many more of those.

Instead, I will brag to you all that I know all of the English verb tenses like the back of my hand. Yup, I quizzed my students today and I realized that I knew all of the answers NO PROBLEM. I came into this job really only being sure of the simple present and simple past. But now I'm a verb tense guru.

Also, I taught them idioms today that meant someone was stupid. For example, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Or he's a few bricks short of a load. Then, I asked them to come up with their own idioms that would follow these formats. One kid wrote: He's not the openest door in the house. Another wrote: He's a few legs short of a body.

Hahaha. Good times teaching English.

And if you're up for a challenge, try to explain the word "will" to a bunch of non-native speakers. Will as in "willingness to do something", NOT the future tense. Ya...had a hard time with that one today.

Anyhow, today is Tuesday - my favorite day of the week. I don't have to go to the gym. And NCIS and The Office are on. Sweet. Date night in front of the television.