Make some time for fun!

There was a little time for fun today. It wasn't all work work work. After I picked up my books from the courier this morning (all the way on the other side of town), I stopped in to visit my friend, Sandi, since I was in her neighbourhood. We had a nice chat over coffee, made some plans to spend a month in Paris next summer after we come back from our trip to Italy (I'm not kidding) and then I headed out to do a little shopping. I'm not really much of a shopper; I certainly don't go out every Saturday to browse at the mall, because I despise crowds and traffic. I went to one shop ~ and found two great spring shirts and a sweet little white jacket ~ and then I went home.

I think the three cups of coffee I drank must have given me an extra boost because I sure had a lot of energy. I vacuumed, cleaned out the front hall closet (a job I had been putting off for two months) and then took Derby Dog for a walk. He was very grateful for that, but the poor little guy was all tuckered out when we got home. He's become a bit plump over the winter (like someone else I know...?). Time to shed the chub, Fella!

Then...then... I did some sewing. I finished the OnlyChild's dress (the one she was supposed to make for herself) except for the hem. And I finished my Bunny Hill Tisket a Tasket April block. I had all the appliqué done last weekend so there was just the hand stitching to complete, which I did while watching a movie with Mr. P tonight. I'm quite happy with it!

Last weekend, I also finished my Seasons of the Heart April block, but I wanted to wait until both were done to post pictures. The pattern for this block had one tulip; but, following Sandi's suggestion, I added a second. I think this is a really pretty block too!

I think I might make the Bunny Hill blocks into a quilt and the Seasons of the Heart blocks into separate wall-hangings. We'll see... I've got lots of time to make up my mind.

So I did finally get some sewing done! I thought I had lost my sewing mojo. Poor Bernice was crying out for attention while I was tapping away at the computer last night, writing that @#%! learning guide. She's happy now, but I'm just getting started. Tomorrow, between laundry, the gym, more school work, and cracking the covers of those new (and expensive) textbooks, I hope to get the chance to start this:

To be made out of this:

(It will look nice with my new white jacket).

It's getting late, so I'm taking my book (no, not a textbook) and heading off to bed. Ciao.
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Other people have lives...

...but not me. I'm home on a Friday night, doing work. You know, work that should be done at work, but there's never enough time to do it. So, I'm reading this:

It's the new grade 12 social studies textbook. Hot off the presses... it arrived yesterday and I have until the end of the school year to write all the learning materials for the course that is to begin in August. Oh hurray!

So, I've got one learning guide written. I cheated ~ I had an "advance" of chapter 1 of the book so I managed to get most of the first guide done a while ago. Only 9 to go... plus 4 tests (x2 versions of each), plus a final exam. Yeah, I'm thrilled.

AND... I will be starting a course for my MEd degree this week. (Remember I blogged about that here in my very first post and here?) My textbooks are in and just need to be picked up from the courier and then I can start. Well, I need to pay my tuition first. It's very expensive. sigh. I hope it's worth it. Between school work and homework, I will have NO free time from now until eternity.

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So, I thought I'd be a good girl and get some of the school stuff out of the way. I'll pick up the books for my course tomorrow and start the reading for that. I'll try very hard to stay off the computer when I should be reading, studying, writing papers, marking my own students' work, writing learning guides. I'm a teacher and a student now. Oh well, Mr. P is downstairs watching his beloved Philadelphia Flyers play Pittsburgh; the OnlyChild is mad at me because I actually expect her to ~ gasp!~ do school work at school (how unreasonable). I've got nothing better to do...

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Except I do have better things to do than work on a Friday night. I do! I have BOMs to finish, skirts to sew, skiers to applique (yes, I still haven't finished that project). I have a sewing room badly in need of a clean and Spring clothes to return to my closet.

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But that's okay. I need to feel productive right now and I'm actually quite good at writing these materials (my boss told me so ☺). I'll plod along.

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At least I have this: my dance class started up again last night. It felt so good to get back in the "groove". There were only a few ladies there ~ people have other activities going on this time of year ~ but I really hope more commit to taking the 8-week session or it might be cancelled. That would be awful!

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This picture was taken just over a year ago (end of last March) when I performed in a show. I made this costume myself but I've only worn it once because as soon as I did that performance I felt the need to buy a "real" costume with all the coins and beads and jangles... and that fancy bra! Scandalous!

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So, what are you doing this weekend? Hopefully more exciting things than I have planned!

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Edited to add: I finished (nearly) another learning guide! Now I'm off to the gym - even though it's kind of late (8:24 pm). I might as well use the energy I have.

Eating our way across Europe

Continuing on my thematic journey across Italy, Switzerland and France, I thought I'd show you some of the food we encountered along the way. Now, just a couple of notes about this... First of all, because we were a large group, our meals at the hotels were, for lack of a better description, "cafeteria food". I didn't take any pictures of them. The breakfasts in one or two places were good, but I never took my camera to breakfast, so no photos of croissants or pain au chocolat. Sorry. My poor Italian friend was dismayed because she thinks the students did not get a good idea of what Italian cooking is about. In fact, she's planning on hosting a "real" Italian meal for them in the next couple of weeks so she can prove that Italians DO know how to cook! Second, it was not really my focus to take pictures of food. I didn't even think about it until the day we had calamari in Venice. Darn! I missed so many good opportunities. Lucky for me, one of the students, Allyson, took some great photos and is allowing me to use them.

So, without further ado, here we go. Bon appetit!

One of the first places the kids went when we got to Rome was the gelato shops. They are all over the place and serve a huge variety of flavours. I only had gelato twice ~ but I wish I had taken advantage of the ubiquitous vendors. Not only do the flavours vary, but so do the prices. A couple of the students really got fleeced and ended up paying 15 Euro for a cone. That's about $25 Cdn. Ouch!

(Picture taken by Allyson)

We found this amusing: stands full of "North American" food. Look at those Pringles and Gatorade. Yuck! I thought we'd escaped all that.

(Picture taken by Allyson)

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This was by far the best pizza I have ever tasted. Authentic Italian thin crust, anchovies, tomatoes. YUM! We had this in Tivoli at this little stand where they treated us very well and were extremely friendly.

These are stunning pastries in a shop in Assisi. I was considering buying a few samples, but was saved from having to make a decision by a very rude shop girl who hollered at us when we took out our cameras. "Photos only for customers," she kept yelling. I guess it never occurred to her that we might actually be customers.



Beautiful Easter eggs were the feature in many store windows. I can't believe I didn't buy one! I was afraid it wouldn't make the trip home. No, not because I'd eat it; I thought it might get crushed.
A butcher shop in Siena. I didn't go in ~ meat is one of those things you can't bring back haha.

(Picture by Allyson)

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More gorgeous Easter eggs. These were featured in a shop window in Montecatini. There were so many of them and we were in a hurry, so I quickly snapped the picture. No time to go into the shop; we were on our way to catch the train to Florence!

Here you go: the famous calamari from Venice, served with polenta. The real reason I even took this picture was because of the tiny little squid, cooked whole and served with the calamari rings. It was almost too cute to eat. Almost.

Aaaahhhh... the best meal we had on the trip was served at the hotel in Thonon-les-Bains, France. We only stayed there one night ~ pity. Just look at this appetizer. Salmon. (Fish-haters were served a ham appetizer.)

This was the main course (the other choice was chicken). Whenever I have the chance to eat fish, I jump at it. Mr. P and the OnlyChild are not fish lovers so we rarely eat it at home.

And for dessert... Crème Brûlée. Heaven!

Okay, moving on to more chocolate. We went into this beautiful chocolatier in Geneva... to ask directions to another chocolate shop. Duh! I took the time to snap a photo, but didn't buy anything. Don't ask... I have no idea what I was thinking. I mean, just look at these goodies. I should have at least bought one overpriced Easter confection instead of running to the cheaper store. Sigh.

I bought a crêpe when we were in Montmartre, but I forgot to take a picture of it. It was a work of art, too.

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On our last night in Paris, we went to that crazy fondue restaurant. I have a few pictures of the food served there. Here is our appetizer ~ just little bowls of meat and pickles.

A pot of hot oil for cooking the chunks of meat (beef, I think, but who really knows?) and some sauces (I think one was ketchup mixed with mayonnaise). Fancy schmancy.

A boiling, bubbling pot of cheese. This was the best part of the meal. That greasy cheese and the bread filled me up.

I'd show you the dessert we had that night, but I'm sure nobody bothered to take a photo of it ~ it was fruit cocktail. You know, the stuff out of a can. I'm not kidding!

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I know I took a picture of a beautiful cappuccino I was served in Tivoli, but I think I took it with my friend's camera. She's going to bring me in her pictures so I can steal some so maybe I'll post it later. We drank plenty of cappuccinos, mostly so we could use the bathrooms in the bars (for customers only). Not really, my friend is addicted to them. I am a decaf drinker, but I sure needed the caffeine to keep me going on that trip!

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You've probably figured out from this post why I am having such dismal results in the Diet Challenge. Temptation is everywhere! Thanks for accompanying me on this Food Journey. I hope you've enjoyed the edible sights of Europe.

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Uh Oh! Loser Monday

I actually forgot it was Loser Monday today, because it's a holiday. Then I visited Jen and she reminded me. My first reaction was, "Oh crap!" And that was my second and third reaction, too. Remember my goal to give up sweets and Facebook for Lent? Well, I did great with the Facebook and I didn't miss it one little bit. But the sweets... let's just say that the trip ruined it for me. I mean, Italian gelato, Swiss chocolate, French pain au chocolat and croissants. What's a girl to do?

I haven't stepped on the scale today. Like I said, I forgot all about it and I've already eaten breakfast and drank two cups of coffee. I can pretty much guarantee that my weight is UP, rather than down! Is that enough information, Sharon?

Before I left, I promised that I would go back to Weight Watchers and I fully plan to. I used to attend meetings on Tuesday nights so I might do that tomorrow. My other option is to go Fridays at lunch. I'll have to check my schedule at school and see if I can fit it in. Fridays are weird days for us at school as the students are done at 12:50, but we have to stay for the whole day. I have a prep somewhere in there, but I can't remember when it is. Duh.

For Easter, Mr. P bought me a "Bag of Bunnies" ~ tiny little dark chocolate bunnies. I was chomping on those yesterday but I didn't eat them all. Oh no I didn't! There was still half a bag left on the counter when I went to bed last night. This morning... GONE! Where have all my bunnies gone? Yeah, I know... the OnlyChild had a friend stay overnight. Those cute little bunnies are in the bellies of two greedy teenaged girls. I'm half annoyed and half relieved. You know what I mean? Note to self: NEVER leave chocolate unattended in this house.

If you need an appetite suppressant, I'll tell you what I just spied outside my sewing room window (which looks out over the back yard and alley). A crow pecking at another crow. I feel a little sick now. Crows are awful, mean birds. Now there's one dead and the other flew away. I'll just have to picture that little scene if I feel like gnoshing later in the day. Ugh!

This is the last day of the holiday. I've slept, cleaned, sewed, exercised, eaten, scrapbooked, made a mess, watched a movie, read a bit... but mostly I've just putzed around wasting time. It's been glorious. Tomorrow I have to go back to work. My student teacher has just two weeks left with me, then she moves onto bigger and better things and I move back to teaching my own classes and doing all my own marking. Sigh. It's gonna be tough! So ~ here's to Holiday Monday and getting the most out of it!

Have a great one
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Going to Church(es)

Happy Easter! Mr. P went off to church this morning (as he does pretty much every Sunday morning) and I stayed at home (as I do pretty much every Sunday morning). I know that it disappoints him to go alone, but for many years I accompanied him, hoping to find a sense of peace and belonging and it never materialized. Instead, I'd sit in the pew, looking around at the other parishioners and feel, well, annoyed ~ annoyed with the chatting, annoyed with children crying, playing, talking, annoyed with the nosy old women, annoyed with the smell of unwashed people. It was petty of me, yes I know, but after a while my discomfort outweighed any benefits of attending and I have more or less avoided going for the past year. I didn't grow up in a religious family (Mr. P did), but I did give it a shot ~ really, I did. I'm actually not comfortable with outward displays of anything: religion, affection, anger. I am British, you know.

That being said, on the trip we visited an astounding number of churches and, I admit, I was moved to tears a number of times by the sheer beauty of them. I thought it would be appropriate, on Easter Sunday, to share some photos. All of these pictures were taken by me ~ no pilfering from the internet this time.

Did you know that there are 720 churches in Rome? Seven-hundred-and-twenty! Wow! We saw them all ~ just kidding, but we did see a few. The first was the Church of Trinità dei Monti overlooking the Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps) in Rome. We didn't actually go inside this one ~ but isn't it pretty! With that palm tree, you'd think we were much farther south.

This next one is the Basilica of San Giovanni, which is also known as Christo Salvatore because of the inscription on the facade. This is the eccesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) and is, therefore, his parish church in Rome. Again, we didn't go into this church. I found it interesting that the Pope, like any priest, has a parish church, not just St. Peter's at the Vatican.

Basilica di San Pietro (Saint Peter's) at the Vatican in Rome. There is a set of huge doors that is opened once every 25 years. Anyone who passes through those doors is cleansed of sin. I think maybe I need to go next time they open it ~ just to be safe.

The Church of San Sebastiano on the Appia Antica (Old Appian Way). It's much bigger inside than it looks.

Santa Chiara (St. Clare) in Assisi.

The Basilica di San Francesco d'Assisi in Assisi, Italy. St. Francis was a simple man ~ he would probably be dismayed at the opulence of the church that bears his name. It was built after his death in 1226. St. Francis was pronounced a saint on July 16, 1228 and the next day, the first stone was laid for this church.

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore at the Piazza del Duomo in Florence. The facade of this church is entirely made of marble. It contains a dome designed by the famous engineer Filippo Brunelleschi and it is absolutely beautiful! On the same site are the Campinile (bell tower) and the baptistry. Most towns in Italy have these three buildings on one site. In Catholic church tradition, a person could not enter the church until he or she was baptised; therefore, there was a need for a separate baptistry. In the Renaissance, the baptistry was open to the public only once a year.

The Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence. This church is known as the Temple of the Italian Glories because it is the burial place of some of the most famous Italians, including Michaelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Rosini, and Marconi. It also contains a memorial to Dante Alighieri.

Santa Giustina in Padua, Italy.

Basilica di Sant'Antonio da Padova. St. Anthony was actually born in Lisbon, Portugal, but due to a storm at sea, his ship washed ashore in Sicily; from there he made his way to Assisi. He spent his life travelling around northern Italy and southern France. St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost things ~ there were bulletin boards in the church full of photographs of missing children, relatives who had died, etc. It was heartbreaking.

Santa Maria della Pietà in Venice.

Chiesa San Zaccaria in Venice.

Basilica di San Marco a Venezia. The decoration adorning the church is made of up mosaics of thousands of tiny glass pieces, including tiles coated in gold. This church is connected by an ornate walkway to the Doges Palace, the home of the rulers of Venice.

St. Peter's Cathedral in Geneva, Switzerland. This is the church where John Calvin gave his inspiring sermons during the 16th century. We tried to go in but it was locked. Unlike Catholic churches, Protestant churches are not required to be left open to those seeking sanctuary.

La Basilique de Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre in Paris, France. Montmartre is traditionally known as an artists' district. In fact, one of the streets leading from the basilica (waaaayyyy up all those steps) hosts an artists' market where tourists can watch the painters and sketchers at work.

Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris, known by the locals as La Trinité.

Of course we visited Notre Dame de Paris ('Our Lady of Paris' in French). This is the main Catholic cathedral for the archdiocese of Paris and is a striking example of Gothic architecture at its finest.

This is the last church we saw on the trip. L'église de la Madeleine was built as a temple glorifying Napoleon's army. It is located near the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

I hope you enjoyed my Grand Tour of European Churches. I'm trying to present my photographs thematically so as to not bore you to tears with the whole chronology of the trip. It would take forever for me to share all our adventures. However, the teacher (and A-type personality) in me still requires some order, so all these pictures were put in sequence of when we saw the churches. I hope that helps you to keep the story straight about when we went to each place.

Until next time; à bientôt.

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Good Saturday

I'm in an unusually good mood today. I say unusually because it's been a very long winter and I've at times been a bit foul and morose. But it's finally SPRING! The snow has melted (we had a heck of a thunder, lightening and rain storm last night), the sun is shining, temperatures are way above zero and there are signs of life all over the city ~ by that, I mean people out walking their dogs. Hello Spring! It's about time you showed up!

Plus, today is the Saturday of an extra-long weekend. When today is over I still have two days ~ or a whole weekend's worth ~ to hang around the house, do some sewing, clean, read, or whatever I want. Since the OnlyChild is a teenager, she's mostly not too demanding, Mr. P is engrossed in hockey (the Flyers made the playoffs woohoo), so the days are mine. Are you jealous, all you mothers of youngers? Don't worry; your time is coming soon!

So... today I got up at a fairly decent time (for a Saturday), did some laundry, went to my hair appointment (no more grey hairs! yay!), sewed for a while, went to the gym and now we're all getting ready to go to a friend's house for the evening. Not a bad day at all.

This is what I'm sewing right now (well, not right at this minute because I'm on the computer while I wait for the OnlyChild to get out of the bathroom so I can dry my hair):

I'm making the jumper (dress) for the OnlyChild. We started this project quite some time ago and it was originally supposed to be her sewing project. But, as usual, she stalled and procrastinated so Mum has to finish it. It's a bit winter-y so it's doubtful she'll get much wear out of it this year, but as we all know, Fall is just around the corner (did I really just say that? ouch).
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Anyhooooo... no Europe pictures today (collective sigh of relief ~ hey, I heard that). Just a wish for a Happy Easter to you all. We have no big plans ~ we have no other family in the city so it's just the three of us. We'll probably have a roast and I've got some parsnips to cook. Yum.

Take care.
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I am my own Flat Stanley

You remember the story of Flat Stanley, don't you? He was the fictional boy who was flattened by a bulletin board and became only half an inch thick. He was able to go on all kinds of adventures and be mailed around the world. Flat Stanley has become something of a sensation amongst elementary school teachers; they take a paper doll version of him on vacation, mail him to relatives and send him places with their students. Everywhere Flat Stanley goes, he is photographed in front of well-known sites and monuments.

On my recent trip, I decided to be my own Flat Stanley, having my picture taken at various places around Italy, Switzerland and France. Have a look...

Here I am with my colleague, a colleague's wife and our tour guide by the hotel in Rome. Notice the palm trees... beautiful!

We went to the Spanish Steps in the heart of old Roma.

I saw the Roman Forum.

The whole group was photographed at Capitol Square.

I touched the foot of San Pietro (St. Peter) at the Vatican.

At St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.

Here I am with my two colleagues, Erminia and Pamela, at Villa Adriana (Hadrian's Summer residence).

In front of the Cathedral of St. Francis in Assisi.

At the town square in Siena, where they hold the famous horse races.

Ready to go into the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

This was an absolute dream come true! I studied art history in university and Botticelli's Birth of Venus has always been my favourite Renaissance painting. We weren't really supposed to take pictures in there, but I couldn't led this event go unrecorded. If it looks like I'm crying in this picture, it's because I was - totally overcome with joy!

A cheesy tourist photo taken in Pisa. Love it!

With my beautiful student Chelsey on the boat ride into Venice. Isn't she a sweetie!

Posing on the Rialto Bridge in Venice. The rain couldn't dampen my spirits.

Hanging out with the group at the Piazza San Marco in Venice.

Our last stop in Italy - Verona. Notice the pizza box? I had to have it one more time before we left the country. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to stop for gelato because we were too busy seeing Juliet's balcony and statue, and shopping. Always shopping...

Saying good-bye to our wonderful Italian bus driver, Giovanni, in Thonon-les-Bains, France. European rules dictate that you must have a domestic bus driver. We loved Giovanni, and he was so sad to leave us!

In front of the lake in Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. It is so clean and orderly ~ it really appeals to my A-type personality. Plus, it's the seat of many of the UN's agencies and I have always wanted a job with the United Nations. If only I were 20 years younger (or single and childless), I'd be making plans to move there.

At a rest stop in France. This is when it hit me, "Oh my God! I'm finally in France!" It has been #1 on my Places to Visit List for decades.

We went to the Palace of Versailles so the kids could see what all the fuss was about during the French Revolution.

Can you believe it? I'm at the Eiffel Tower!!!!!

Well, one picture isn't enough. Here I am with my wonderful colleague and trip room-mate, Erminia (a bona-fide Italian gal). We had the best time together and she taught me loads of Italian words and helped me remember my French verbs!

With Venus de Milo at the Louvre. She may be a symbol of beauty, but at least I have all my body parts. haha.

And with the headless, winged Nike, also at the Louvre.

In front of Liberty Leading the People, another of my favourite paintings from my art history studies.

The whole group in front of the Louvre pyramid.

On the steps leading up to the Cathedral of Sacre-Coeur at Montmartre. We climbed all those steps twice.

We went back to the Eiffel Tower the next day to see if we could go up. There were thousands of people and the wait would have been 3-4 hours, so it was a no-go. The kids were disappointed (as was I) but it was fun to hang around and take photos. Everyone was taking the "artsy" pictures of the tower from underneath and at angles. I am posing here with my lovely colleague and our fantastic Austrian tour guide, Barbara. She was so much fun!

The trip supervisors (me, Erminia, Pamela and Roman) at the Eiffel Tower. I told you one picture of the Eiffel Tower wasn't enough.

Our farewell dinner was held at a Fondue restaurant. Believe it or not, this place is extremely popular among Parisians and tourists alike. Their claim to fame is that they serve all the drinks in baby bottles. The food was mediocre, the restaurant was small, hot and crowded, and the service was... well... dismal. Yet, there was a line-up outside. Hmmm. After the meal, we took a boat ride down the Seine River to see the sights all lit up. The Eiffel Tower puts on a great light show every hour.

When we returned to the hotel the last night, it started to rain. Paris was crying because we had to leave the next day. I was crying, too (I seem to have shed quite a few tears on this trip, but mostly they were happy tears). We are pictured here after presenting Barbara with her gift of thanks.

On the way home, we had a layover in Montreal. We took the opportunity to phone our families to let them know we would be arriving soon.

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I hope you enjoyed my Flat Stanley European Tour. I'm starting to think this was more of a Where's Waldo exercise; considering that in most of the pictures I'm wearing my black and white coat, I'm fairly easy to spot. These aren't the only places, we visited of course. In fact I'm sure that somewhere there are pictures of me at the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Versailles gardens, on the boat on the Seine River, etc. But I think you've probably had enough for one go.

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I've got lots more photos to share with you; I promise to pace myself, though. .

Have a great Easter Weekend!

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