A FEW THINGS....

Since I'm in a funky mood today (that's a nice way to say I'm kinda annoyed, but I don't exactly why), I thought I'd make a list of things that have been getting on my nerves, see if any of them annoy you too. Here goes....

Things That Annoy Me Lately

1. Blogger: when I first click on it, the blogs in my reading list are never there. I have et out and log back on. That's annoying!

2. TV: even though I have 500 gazillion channels, there never seems to be anything on worth watching.  I don't like watching movies I've seen already, and when I read the synopsis of some of the movies they're playing, I feel like retching. Reality tv is even worse; Amish Mafia, really? Who watches that stuff, or the housewives from anytown USA...better stop before I have to run to the bathroom....

3. Work: you knew this was coming sooner or later. The problem with teaching is that when you're off for a few weeks, you DON"T want to go back to work, you really really don't, and that's not good.

4. Weather: yep, I'm gonna pick on the weather too. It has been rather cool for August, which is good for some things like cycling, nut not so good for going to the beach. Which brings me to #5

5. California beaches: if you've ever seen a movie where they show a sunny beach in the golden state, do not believe it! California beaches are always foggy in summer and the Sun usually comes out for about 15 minutes, if at all, in the afternoon. 

6. Bad drivers: pretty much anybody in this valley I live in. I don't know but I think people around here  wake up with  huge brain holes where all their driving knowledge gone on a regular basis.

Well, I think I'm done, I kinda feel better, maybe I should do a 'things that make me happy' list soon....  So, do any of these things annoy you too? 

THE END IS HERE....

...of my vacation, that is. I must warn you, this post is going to be a whine fest. I don't usually whine too much (do I?), but I really have to get this off my chest, cause you know, it's not good to keep things in, and far being from me to do something that is not good....(not buying it either, uh?). Anyway, in all its wisdom, my district decided to line its school year with that of the local high school district, which starts in one week. Great, since the high school district begins and ends before we usually do, this next year we also should end sooner, right? Wrooong! We don't end  at the end of May like the big kids, that would make too much sense, instead we end a whole two days earlier. We do have three weeks for Christmas and two for Spring break, but I'd much rather have a longer summer.

Ok, now for the real whining (you thought I was done?). Thanks to all the big mess that happened last year with the principal from hell, I was moved to another school, which in and of itself would have been just fine, except they also changed my subject, so now instead of teaching science - my true love - I have to teach history, which is so far away from anything even resembling love, it's not even funny. Just because I can teach both, it doesn't mean I want to teach social studies, I really really don't. I don't just like science, I totally dig it, I dig it so much I read science textbooks for fun (I know, I'm sick...). When I'm online, I'm usually on some science website reading articles etc., I watch the science channel, Discovery channel, National Geographic, you name it, on a regular basis. I feel at my ease talking about the major organs of the human body as well as the big bang theory (not the show), which is not the case with the revolutionary war, the French and Indian wars, the Civil war etc. World history I can almost muster, but I don't get to teach that cause 8th grade is U.S. history...oh joy!

Don't get me wrong, I think American history is very interesting, very relevant and thankfully, unlike that of other countries, but it's just not what I'm into. So, this year I plan on doing a lot of whining about this, in the hopes that somebody might get tired enough to move any of the science teachers from any of the middle schools. What I think is actually messed up is the fact that there are people currently teaching science, who do not have the proper qualifications for it, in other words, are not 'highly qualified', like that stupid NCLB law says. Most of them are elementary teachers to whom the district gave a 'temporary limited permit' to teach science, when there was a big need for science teachers a few years back. Now, those people, whose permits should only be renewed once, are still teaching science, while people like me, with all the requirements etc., have to suck it up and teach history. 

Well, if things don't change this year, it looks like I'll be going back to high school. For now though, a little more whining is in order.........

Trucking Italian style....

I'M BACK....

I got back a couple of days ago from my visit home, and I realized I haven't written for quite a while. I know how you're all waiting on pins and needles to hear some news about me (ok, maybe not exactly, but I can dream...), so here it goes.
It's kind of a funny thing, when I go home to visit my family and friends, I'm always very happy but I also feel like I'm looking for something, though I don't know what it is and I regularly come home without having found it. Anyway, among my friends and colleagues here, I'm known as 'the Italian'. Everybody knows that's where I'm from and it has become sort of a running joke. I don't mind. Trouble is, when I'm over there everybody refers to me as 'l'Americana', which after careful translation form Google translate, I can tell you it means 'the American'. So, when I'm here, I'm from over there, and when I'm there, i'm from here. It's enough to make your head spin. Truthfully, I don't know anymore what to think about this. I've been here for over 30 years now (yes, I came when I was 5, on my own....), so I do think of this country as my home, but part of me still thinks of Rome as my true home, though to be honest, I hardly recognized it this time around. Sometimes, it even feels like not having a home at all.

The city of my youth is long gone, and I think that is what I go to find, and that is what leaves me empty handed each time. While I was over there, I stayed with my sister, and we were talking about our future, as in what will we do when old age will be upon us. I have often said that I would like to retire and move back home, if my husband were to kick the bucket before me ( I know it sounds mean, but I'm just being realistic). After all, I have no family here and very few friends, but I'm afraid that it might not be such a great idea, mostly because the place I would be retiring to would not be the same place I left so many eons ago, so it would be like going somewhere almost totally new and foreign to me. Maybe it's just me, I'm getting a little weird cause this week is my birthday, I've been 35 for so many years, I've forgotten my true age and I can't remember where I hid my birth certificate....Oh well, enough pop psychology for one day, here's some pics I took on my trip, hope you'll like them!

Marche region, little town named Comunanza...

The main church in my dad's hometown

Medieval fortress built on Roman ruins - Urbisaglia

Cool roof garden with view...

Italian countryside

Somewhere downtown Rome

In the middle of the city, near a train station...

QUICK UPDATE

Time sure has flown by. I'm still in Rome but leaving this coming wednesday. Had a great time all in all, will have plenty of pics to post, but my feelings.....that's another story. I'll be back on these virtual pages to lay them out, and to catch up with your lives. Hope you're all having a good summer. Time sure marches on......

I LEFT MY BUTT....

....on the saddle today. Not, the equine kind, rather the cycling kind. I went on a ride with the group, though this was a mixture of the two groups I ride with. Because of the holiday, there was 100mi ride, the Firecracker 100 and the reduced version, the Ladyfingers 50. Although the shorter ride was put together mostly for the ladies (hence the name), a lot of the guys also did it, probably because the longer one would have taken the majority of the day (about 7 hrs.).

This being the desert, we started promptly at 7 AM. SInce I got sick last weekend from the heat, I was hoping today wasn't going to be as hot, and obviously I was right....it was not only just as freaking hot but windy to boot. Somehow I made it to the first stop, about 18 mi up the road. Almost everybody, except the few guys doing the 100 ride, was huffing and puffing, fighting the heat, the wind and the terrain which was rather hilly, sounds like fun uh? We ate and drank about 100 gallons of water before starting back up. We were supposed to go up to the 25 mile mark and turn around, but then a bunch of guys decided that there wasn't much difference between 25 or 22 miles, and I wholeheartedly agreed. Knowing we still had a long way back to our cars, we turned around and made another pit stop at the market, before heading back.

The guys started arguing about the best way to get back, you know, everybody knows a shortcut. In the end, we split up and I went with three other guys back the same way we came until we picked up the aqueduct and rode it all the way back. It was so freaking hot and windy and we were all running low on water. 

This is what the aqueduct looks like

Since I didn't want to get sick again, I took a dip in the water. It felt heavenly. One of the guys jumped in as well, it was great. The rest of the ride back was much more pleasurable. After 4 hrs. on the bike, I was ready to get in my car and head home as fast as possible. Unfortunately, the rest of my body and especially my butt was not as fast. Once I got home, I could barely walk, mostly because a large part of my behind was still on the seat. Cycling is fun, but I gotta find a way to keep all my body parts when I get off the bike. Hopefully, you all had a restful and cool 4th of July!

Not me....but close...

MY SUPER DUPER MEXICAN VACATION

Wow, where has the time gone? We got back last Wednesday and I still haven't found the time to write my post, what a procrastinator. Ok, better get to it. We spent 5 full days in Los Cabos, which include Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo and Cabo Pulmo. Our hotel was in between the first two Cabos, it was a resort right on the beach and our package was all inclusive. The place was nice enough, lots of palm trees, sun and ocean. It looked like this from our balcony

Our room was nice and clean and though we didn't spring for the more expensive 'ocean front' room, we could see the beach just fine form our balcony. There was a nice pool area, which you can see through the trees, in the picture above. The people that ran the pool were rather attached to their towels,  they kinda reminded me of the towel nazis ( a la Seinfeld). We had these two cards (one each) that we gave them in the morning in exchange for a towel. At the end of the day or whenever we were done with out towel activities, we were to return the towels and get our little cards back. They wrote down our room number and name each time and if we didn't return the towels, they would charge us $30.00....for each day we failed to return the towels. You bet I kept those puppies close by. 

Then, we tried to use one of the volleyballs that were in the pool the day before, but we had to get it at the pool desk **cue scary music**...Yep, the guy made me sign an affidavit in blood that I would return the volleyball or I would be charged another $30.00 (apparently they buy their sporting goods at the same place where they get their beach towels). I found the whole thing a little weird, but since I was on vacation, I decided not to make a big deal out of it.

One of the things we did, which I totally loved was stand up paddle surfing, I love it now, and would love to do it here, but it's kind of hard to stand on a surf board and paddle in the sand....

Taking a break....

We were supposed to go kayaking and snorkeling on the last day before we left, however, the weather was not very cooperative. There was a hurricane in the south Pacific whose effect came all the way up to Baja, so the sea was rather rough and the surf even worse.

kinda hard to take the kayak out in this....

That was a bummer, but at least we got our $$ back since we didn't do the excursion. Baja California is very nice, even though the ocean is not as warm as I thought. The sea of Cortez (on the other side of Baja) is supposed to be warmer, but you have to go quite a ways up, as where we were the temperature was not that different from Cabo. There is a very cool rock formation at the end of Baja, which most people call the arch. You have 'lovers' beach' on the sea of Cortez side and 'divorce beach' on the Pacific's side. It looks like this..

All in all we had a great time. When we got hurricaned out (new word, cool uh?), we spent the afternoon shopping in Cabo San Lucas, then we realized that San Jose del Cabo is much nicer, cleaner and newer. We'll go there next time. The locals are always trying to make a profit on the tourist trade, I can't blame them, Cabo is full of foreigners that will pay for just about anything...

Horse back riding on the beach during the hurricane..

I'M DONE!

Finally, school's out for summer, except I still have three days of meetings next week. Oh yeah, what a great idea uh? Make a bunch of over worked, super tired teachers get together and talk at them for three days, yup, that's my idea of fun. Hopefully, my snoring won't be too loud. Today, it was promotion day, we had three of them due to the large number of students. My 'job' was to keep the parents from wandering on campus while the 6th and 7th graders were there, which meant I spent the majority of the day in the quad, on my feet, in the sun, loved every minute of it....NOT!. Oh well, the kids were all cute and had nice clothes on for a change. Some of the parents/relatives though made me scratch my head and close my eyes, guess they don't know about that age old saying, 'just because they make it in your size, it doesn't mean you should wear it'.  About half of them would have made the perfect guest on 'What Not To Wear', the disaster edition...

On other news, after the snore fest next week, we'll be flying to warmer waters to the south of us, Cabo to be exact. Can't wait to do some snorkeling, sunbathing, swimming, sunbathing, eating, sunbathing...finally I won't be a cracker anymore! Then, I'll be going home for a couple of weeks, where I will finally get some decent coffee, among other deliciousnesses. Besides my family, of all the things I miss, food is definitely up there, maybe even #1. Sumer is kind of short this year, only six weeks, so I better make the most of it. Gotta catch up on some sleep too, better start now...