Home Sweet Home!

Home is always great! I flew home last Sunday (well to Jacksonville, FL to meet mom for a couple of days) and I have not stopped since! Below are some photos from the cookout at Beau and Hilary's and some other events with some friends.

My amiga Jes!! She is getting married on August 2nd! She was so helpful in getting everything together for the party... and just hanging out!

The real host: Beau (far right) and Hilary (far left). They opened their house for my friends and I to hang out and eat!

My sweet friend Christine! Her and her husband Russ are expecting their first baby girl in July!! How exciting! But they are not the only ones! Holly and Derek are expecting in December!

Having some fun with the kids in the backyard!

Gift surprised me by coming up! She had said she was unsure if she could come, but she made it! I was so happy to see this amiga... I wish she was coming back to Guate!

Good gals Katie Beth, Katherine and Jessica! Such fun ladies!


TATUM!!! I love this lady!! We had to stop for our annual bagel trip! She is moving to Hawaii! Maybe I will go visit her soon!

I was able to get together with my high school friends Kassie and Kathryn to watch the UGA Baseball team play in the College World Series... unfortunately I was not good luck for the Dawgs!

Some times you're the windshield... Some times you're the BUG!

This time, I was the bug!! I am fine... my car is at the shop...

I was turning a corner near my house and making an immediate right into a parking lot when a small Ford Ranger truck tried to pass me on the right (I was turning) and he SLAMMED into my car. This all literally happened in the side parking of the store (yes he was going to cut through the parking lot to CUT ME OFF). Thankfully Opel (my car) is very big and sturdy and the man just hit my passenger side door. His car got the brunt of the damage (radiator fell out of his car and his bumper had punctured his tire) and was unable to drive off. Unfortunately I was taken advantage of (as the system goes here) and because he did not have insurance it was easier for me to take the blame (which I did only through tears and very frustrated) or they would have confiscated my car and I was off to court! That is why I have insurance, I guess. One thing that makes me mad is that my insurance pays for his car too!! BLAH!! The other thing that I found out (and this is important for all you Guatemalan drivers), your blinker means NOTHING!! It is only a suggestion. There is no law that you need a blinker to turn. Also, even if a road has no marking, it is possible that there are two lanes for traffic. YUP!! So ultimately, I had to write that I was in the far left (non-existent) lane and cut across traffic to turn right! Now that I am done ranting and raving... I feel better. I am thankful for insurance. I am thankful that I am alive and no one was hurt. And I am thanking for this sweet man, Don Rafael, who helped me as much as he could!

I am suffering from a little sickness I like to call BOWLER'S THUMB

Yes, that is right. Bowler's Thumb. You may understand right away, but if not, just keep reading. I had a class party on Wednesday afternoon at one of the local Bowling Alleys. It was great, but the next day, our end of year party was at another local bowing alley. The two days of bowling have caused pain (not extreme, but sensitivity) in my right thumb. For this reason, I have given up bowling for the rest of the month. This is a major challenge because I normally bowl 4 times a year, therefore I still have 2 more times this year to bowl. But let it be known, this will not take place in June!! I googled Bowler's Thumb and found that I am not the only one who suffers from this disease/sickness/issue! Whatever it is! Kate Grossman, MD studies this... just read below!

Bowler's Thumb

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by Kate Grossman, MD

Definition: Bowler's Thumb occurs when there is damage to one of the nerves in the thumb. The damage occurs because of improper sizing of the thumb hole in the bowling ball. Repeated friction or compression causes damage to the nerves that provide sensation in the thumb. The most common symptom of Bowler's Thumb is numbness of the thumb.

Thank you and please don't worry to much for me... I promise Bowler's Thumb can be cured.

I will miss these sweet faces....

Today was my final day of teaching for the 2007-2008 school year. It was kind of a big deal because it was my first year having my own class. For the past two years, I have taught 750 kids, but this year, it was just 23. I am gonna miss them. I think they are the cutest bunch of kids I know!! It was a bitter sweet day that involved a lot of tears from my kids, but I held it together. I doubt that I will ever have a class that is this special to me! They corrected me when I called the folder a notebook (which happened almost everyday!). They had a surprise party for me that was planned completely by them! They got SOOO mad at me when I would not let them bombard the Mayor of Guatemala City (but later every kid received an autograph from him in an orderly line, thank you! :) ). They made me cry almost every time they sang "World's Greatest" by R. Kelly (which was often because it was part of a show). They truly are the world's greatest group!! They even giggle when I call them Kiddo (got that one from Mom)! Well all that can be said is I will miss these sweet faces.... (just a couple of fotos for you to see)"I don't want to leave 3rd grade"

I really don't want them to go either....

Knox-Vegas BABY!!

So two weeks ago, I accompanied a group of students and parents from my school to the Destination Imagination Global Finals in Knoxville, TN. My students (4th and 5th graders) were the champions here in Guatemala so along with the other team from CAG, we made up 19 of the 119 from Guatemala to represent our country! It was an experience for these kids and a great time for me to be on my home soil! Unfortunately I carried the Guatemalan stomach bug with me to the US so I was sick for about 24 hours, but I just called it the DI diet!!
17,000 people at the UT arena.

Those representing Guatemala in the opening ceremonies

My students participated in two separate challenges. The main challenge was a 6 minutes improve skit in which the kids brought 12 prop items to a room and were given 30 minutes to come up with a skit based upon their situation. Each skit involved an obstacle (always a chore that went awry), a famous person, 5 sound themes, and Obstacle 2. What is tricky about the task is that the kids find out the famous person on stage, one minute before they begin! Oh yeah, and they must pick up Obstacle 2 during the skit!! It is incredible! The group was 16th out of over 80 teams!! WOW!!!!

right before the kids went on stage

The second competition was called and Instant Challenge. In this event the kids are given between 4 and 10 minutes, depending on the challenge, to plan and complete the task. The kids know ZERO about what is going to happen before they enter the room and what happens in the room cannot be discussed. All I can say is we were 4th out of the 80 teams!! VAMOS AMERICANO!! They did great!! After the event, the kids exit to an area called TAH-DAH! My team, The Black Belt Monkeys, are shown below.
Well this trip would have not been as fun without the gal below!! Amanda (the middle school sponsor) and I made the week adventurous! We had a very fun time!! Sadly she is moving on to Singapore next year.... she will be missed by all!

Some of my favorite ladies from school!! These ladies and I were in the teacher talent show. We were super cute!! The first picture ws out our goodbye party last week!! Just a quick update!!

THRILLER

Ain't Going Down until the Sun Comes UP!

Hey Micky!!