Amanda Takes Off...

When I was a teenager, I wanted to grow up to become an adult who was an expat, who had a decent job, who felt comfortable financially, had a great partner-in-life, and who traveled widely.

Last week, I whined to Diana that I wanted to go somewhere this summer and wouldn't and couldn't and whine, moan, bitch. I told Diana I wanted to go to Iceland and that she needed to talk me out of it.

Diana instead decided to talk me into it. She claimed I tend to stockpile money and not actually spend it.

Hmm. Well.

An hour later, Good Man and I sat down. On paper we maxed out our Roth IRAs for the year, finished my gifted and talented endorsement, accounted for my missing August paycheck (since we're switching from modified to regular calendar, I end up losing a paycheck), etc etc. Diana's point has been made.

Iceland it was!

Except...not so much. With the crash of the Icelandic Kronor in 2008, Iceland is a lot cheaper than in the past, but because we were getting a late start on trip planning, we could only afford to sleep if we refused to eat.

The alternative was to only spend time on the southern coast, which we didn't want to do.

My mother suggested we try Alaska. She also said, "I keep hearing about the east coast of Canada, they say it's a lot like Gotland."

Good Man and I did some research and decided to go to head to Newfoundland. Apparently the rest of Canada hates Newfoundland (which means I'll probably love it). And it's an island. Gotland, Fåro, and Jeju-do have proven that we do islands well.

We'll be heading out for just over a week in July. Diana again offered up some great advice, telling me to check out the flights from Newark and taking Amtrak there. It ended up costing nearly the same as flying out of Baltimore and actually saves us travel time in the end.

We considered getting a package self-drive tour, but I am too cheap for that. The trip is mostly planned out I'm so excited to go! (Thanks for being a great friend and not supporting me, Diana! ^^)

I woke up after deciding that we could afford to go somewhere and realized that the life I dreamt of as a teenager? I've gotten it (and more!). And I'm not sure I actually expected that.

Today I checked on my garden and found these caterpillar holes.

But He Was Still Hungry!

I went caterpillar hunting and flicked the two I found off of the porch. Those suckers are good at hiding, damn green things.

I also found this lovely treat!

First Pepper Blossom

I'm trying out these add-a-bottle plant nannies to see if I can more evenly water my plants/take care of them when we're out of town.

Plant Nannies

The plant nannies consist of green adapters that fit on regular soda bottles (although not Coke brands). Then there's a clay stake that you stick into the soil near the root ball. You put the bottle of water on top of it, and the theory is that as the soil dries out, water is released into the soil. The plants are supposed to be watered evenly and continuously.

I don't know how they work yet, but I do know that the soil farthest away from the stakes is pretty dry, whereas the soil nearest the stakes is moist.

If these work, I'll very possibly water with them, since I tend to overwater, which leads to things like fungus gnats.

In totally unrelated news, I got this shirt dress and shocked my students by wearing a dress. I wear skirts more often than not, but apparently a dress is Very Different.

Shirtdress

The Look, which says:
Sit Down, Shut Up, and Work on Your Damn Grad Project Now,
Before I Make You Call Your Parent.

One of the joys (and hardships) of teaching the ultimate grade in a school is hormones, testing, middle school woes, graduation, and end-of-the-year parties. I've taught the last grade in (American) schools for five years now and no matter if it's fifth grade or sixth grade, you run into the same problems.

Hormones

This true conversation I witnessed last year should illustrate this problem perfectly.

Last Year's Grade Level Partner: I have a yes or no question for you. I simply want you to answer 'yes' or 'no.' Do you understand?

Student: Yes.

Last Year's Grade Level Partner: Were you kissing [Grade Level Hottie] in the closet yesterday?

Student, long pause: During class?

Last Year's Grade Level Partner: Yes or no question.

Student: During school?

Testing

"Why do we have math when we already did the SOL?"

"We still have to do Language Arts? Oh, come on!"

School should end three days after the state tests are done. End of story.

Middle School Woes

Inevitably, after the spring visit to the middle school (which usually involves a tour and course selection afterward), the students have mentally checked out. Their Nearly-Teenager status changes into Completely Teenager status and you get a lot of dramatic sighing and "I'm too cool for this place" attitudes.

Yet, the students are terrified of middle school and don't want to admit it. So they're all putting on these cool attitudes, but inside they're shaking.

Graduation

Graduation is a terror. The students suddenly forget how to walk. It takes four times more practice than it should. Every year, the teachers tear out their hair with worry that the kids will look incompetent at graduation. Inevitably, they suddenly get it together when it actually counts.

Of course, at least two girls will show up wearing completely inappropriate clothing, six girls will show up in too much makeup, and five boys will show up in trashed pants or a dingy undershirt, thus necesitating an emergency run to Marshall's or the clothing closet by the administration, in search of something—anything—to wear.

And then, I cry. And cry.

End of the Year Trips and Parties

When I taught (fifth grade) in Georgia, we went on a day-long trip to Tennessee. It was always a blast, but exhausting. We had the right to exclude real behavior problem students, but I was always annoyed that we left late because someone couldn't or wouldn't show up on time. We said we would leave at 7:00 sharp, but never did, which meant the visit to the child's science museum (one of the coolest parts of the trip) was always short.

The students would show up with tons of junk food for the coach trip to Tennessee. The teachers would fall asleep at the IMAX movie and on the way home and the students would ask how we could possibly be so tired.

Still, it was a delight.

At this school we usually have a day-long party. Every other grade gets a half-day party, and the sixth graders are supposed to get a full-day party. But last year it was miserable. You just can't keep 12 year-old kids entertained for a full day at school. This year we were asked to do a three-hour "lock-in" instead.

It was planned by the PTA with little input from us (they actually wanted to go to a water park, which requires all sorts of hoop-jumping, and they announced it without finding out about any of the hoop-jumping!).

I dreaded it. Of five years of teaching, this group of students has been the worst for end-of-the-year-behavior. They've been terrible. And we weren't allowed to tell students they couldn't come.

Well, the lock-in was yesterday and it was wonderful. The kids pigged out on food and played Wii and danced, made friendship bracelets and painted hats with puff paint.

Two students challenged me to Wii. I beat Dead Meat on round one of Wii boxing and then he knocked me out in round two. (Ouch.) A child who is one of the most... spoiled kids on the grade challenged me next. I went three rounds and beat him each time.

When I finished everyone cheered, I gave him a high-five (it was close) and turned to the principal, who laughed and said, "I saw you get out months of frustration right there."

Yeah, and it was like target practice at taekwondo. My shoulders still ache!

The students had claimed they were going to slow dance. Fairy Godmother and I laughed, knowing full well they would never do that. Instead, it was dance tunes the whole way.

Toward the end of the party, "Boom Boom Pow" was playing and we were all in a circle and one of my quieter students suddenly started break dancing! We were in so surprised. Who knew he could do that? And even better! Even better! Our new principal joined him.

The teachers were in shock. None of us had ever seen anything like it.

At one point, almost everyone on the grade was jumping around, screaming and shouting and dancing to "I've Gotta Feeling." And in that moment, all of the frustration I've felt toward my students for the last month just melted away. Fairy Godmother, a resource teacher, and I were with the students jumping and dancing and there was just such an energy.

I've gotta feeling that I will miss these kids. And I will cry at graduation.

Even if they've been making me crazy.

This year we've joined a CSA (community supported agriculture). A CSA is somewhat like a co-op with a farmer. Back in February, I mailed a local farmer several hundred bucks for 15 (16?) weeks of fresh produce that I pick up from a local house once a week.

The produce is local (we could get to the farm in less than 90 minutes...can't say that about the produce from the grocery store), organically grown (although not certified), and fresh, fresh, fresh!

Since we paid cash back in February, if the crops fail, we lose out on our money. If the crops are bumper, we get a bumper share.

We don't get to choose what we want to eat, and if we get something we don't like? Well, we have to find someone to give it to or something to do with it. Of course, we could also discover foods we've never eaten before but really like (last week it was Japanese mustard greens—really good).

We can also order locally made cheese from another farmer through our CSA. We haven't done that yet, but I'm sure we will.

The farmer sends an email a few days before the delivery telling us what we're getting, some recipe ideas, and a farm update. There's also an optional email group made up of subscribers who share recipes.

Today's update said, in part, that the lettuce is a hodge-podge because the heavy rains made a bunch of lettuce rot, and now the heat is causing the rest of the plants to bolt.

That is why I wanted to join a CSA. I want to know where my food comes from, and I want to support the local farmers, even if it means getting almost-bolted lettuce.

While researching our CSA, I found another website for buying locally produced goods (the Virginia Food and Beverage Directory). I look forward to using it to buy more local goods from "the little guy."

***

I started reading Little House in the Big Woods in Korean, but it was really hard because I don't know words like "bladder" (오줌통) or "butter churn," so I've put that book down temporarily in favor of 이상한 나라의 앨리스 (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland).

I've read Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass several times. Yet I don't know that I realized before just how nonsensical it really is. Something about slowing down to read it in Korean made me realize that the book is a long, strange trip.

It's two weeks later and my garden is looking good. I had a small battle with aphids this past week and ended up burning my plants with a little too much oil and the help from the sun. But the plant will be fine, and I've since diluted my oil mixture. The pepper plants I used the mixture on (after dilution) are fine.

Marigolds

Peppers

The peppers have been potted. At the ends of each planter are peppers. In the middle, Thai basil. The peppers are starting to get tiny little buds at the top. I expect flowers, soon.

I potted the peppers deeper than they were in the Jiffy pots to help stabilize the peppers. Still, we had a thunderstorm Thursday night and yesterday a few of the plants were really leaning over. I'll stake them this weekend.

Poppies

I don't know if these poppies are doing well or not, but the seeds were a gift, and they don't make fruit, so no big loss if they fail.

Basil

The basil is finally growing! Maybe I just plopped them out in the garden too soon temperature-wise.

Sesame

You can tell sesame is a mint, because this stuff grows so quickly. I had some aphids and accidentally burned the leaves, but I strongly suspect this will pop back quickly. I'll start harvesting the leaves soon.

The plant on the lower left is strange. Its leaves are all slightly off-kilter on one side, almost like a corkscrew.

Dill

The dill is kind of floppy, but I'll also start harvesting it soon.

Mint

And the mint. Can you kill mint? I'm doubtful. Again, I've given the mint a haircut since the photos two weeks ago, but you can't tell.