Ashes to Ashes, Fishbowl to Toilet

Only the strong survive.

And by strong I mean 1 of 9 goldfish.

Thankfully, my students lack observation skills that notice things like 8 fish missing. I mean oh dear.

So while I break out Where's Waldo books to practice this needed skill, I will be wrapping up this fishy unit and moving on to worms.

Worms, consider yourselves warned.

Drop the Top

ahh dreams...

I have always been quite the vivid dreamer. For example, I can still picture in my head quite clearly a nightmarish dream I used to have when I was 3 - 5 years old.

an old farmer-ish man in blue overalls and tall, yellow straw hat climbs over the red brick wall into our backyard. he carries a burlap sack to kidnap me in. I wake up.

I am also a classic dream i got up and left for work dreamer. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I've been so disappointed to really wake up and realize I have to get ready for work all over again.

Or how about these recent dreams (in which apparently all my subconscious fears of leading a team come out)...

our team gets all the way to banta to discover that i have left one of our team members at the jfk airport. i leave freetown and fly back to new york to retrieve her, only to discover that i left my passport in banta. yes. my dream ends with the menacing airport security approaching me for my passport.

i arrive a couple of days early to sierra leone only to discover i've brought almost nothing in my carry-on and didn't take my other suitcase (not sure why).

There's a kind of anti-malarial medicine you can take just once/week, instead of every day. However, there's a side effect of potentially crazy dreams. Obviously, it is not for me.

It's Not What You Pay, It's Who You Know

This is my belated Valentine's Day post of something I love.

I love Mavericks Basketball! So when my union offered up cheaper tickets on cheap seats, I convinced Eric and a friend to jump at the chance. Not only was it basketball, but the Mavs were in town, which made it all the better. On the way downtown to meet Eric for the game, my friend happened to call her friend. Going to the game came up in conversation, so my friend's friend called her friend who had the connections to get us a-maz-ing seats! If I was a children's author it would go something like this:

This is the friend who scored the seats
To help out a friend
To give to her friend
So that her friend could watch Dirk in style.
(or something like that)

We sat in folding chairs people. We were that close. It really made it feel like a high school basketball game (a poor analogy to watching the Mavs I know).

I guess I should also mention that the Nuggets won (on a buzzer shot). I guess Texas can't always be bigger and better.

The One I'm too Full to Write

I am so full of a mixture of joy and happiness and excitement (and a little bit of trepidation).

The idea for this post has been on my mental backburner for a few months now. I've alluded to it several times. And if you're lucky enough to live close by, you're probably tired of me talking about it. In fact, the absolutely awful break from my new streak of better blogging is because of it. I knew this was the next post I needed to write, so I've been putting it off.

dum. dum. DUM. -que dramatic music-

I will be in Sierra Leone for most of June and July this summer!

- que the celebratory-

After working full time last summer to save for this, I am missing this country in West Africa like crazy and am so excited to return. And by country, I really mean people and the stretching toward the Prize that is happening there. I will be returning with this year's teacher team- this time as team leader/team host (re: trepidation). I will be working with two international people who are much, much more knowledgeable than me and who know Salone in a much deeper way, which is quite encouraging. And I know this will probably be a sweet and stretching time coming into a leadership role. But it will be so good. So good to see Janet. And Aunty Miatta. And Aunty Khadi. And Aminata. And Joseph. And so many others- I hope they're there. And it will be different. Life always is. But it will be so good. This is why this post is challenging. Because my heart is so full, it's hard not to stare at this box I'm typing in and just smile. mmm. More to follow.