When it comes, I wanna wail MAIL!

It's a happy day when Fabrice has placed a treasure in my mail cubby.  First off, it takes me back to elementary school when neat-o things appeared in my cubby as if by magic.  Very similar to high school when perhaps I'd find a note from a friend sneakily slipped into my locker.  The Gmail inbox just doesn't provoke the same thrill as a tangible little envelope in my mail room cubby.  Secondly, when I receive mail, I know that my little students' art work will be put to good use.  I thought I may get a big frame back in the states and fill it with all the drawings and such, but I'd rather share the joy.

The third great part about mail has everything to do with how lame school life has been as of late.  We are in the throws of tests before spring break.  It is serious for the 5th graders~standardized tests handed down from the higher ups in the school district.   I don't mind writing a test, but it's nice to administer something I didn't have to make.  Some of the responses in the writing section have been HI-larious, and I'd love to share them with you.  However, I've made it so far in the school year without getting fired; I probably shouldn't be giving the school board extra reasons to do it now...

Let me take a brief moment to blog about blogs.  I never want to go here because it's just so extreme and hardly cool.  I started my blog just to keep track of a few adventures Kyle and I have and to share with my family back home.  Over the last few months, I've loved reading about different folks' lives on their blogs.  Let's just say it was an unexpected gift for friendships to develop from this small writing venture.  My exciting mail moments were provided by two blog friends.

Lindsey and I went to high school together.  We were percussionists back in the day.  She could do it all, but I was strictly a mallet girl.  We had a lot of fun back then and kept up for a little while after I graduated.  I remember we went shopping at Kohl's once~I still remember a pink turtle neck sweater I picked out that day.  Random... I guess we fell out of contact over the last few years.  We both lived in Atlanta and I knew she was friends with the famous Jason Tatum.  They are so Octane, and I'm a Starbucks junkie.  Thus we rarely crossed paths even though we share the love for a tasty brew and a cozy coffee shop.  Lindsey kindly shared her blog with me on facebook a couple of months ago, and now I love to imagine her Atlanta life as I read what she's up to.  It's like home reading and seeing pictures of midtown.

Pretty little bird to brighten our home

 Put Up Your Dukes is written by Keight.  It is due to her enthusiasm and efforts that "Inspirational Squirrel" has become the internet sensation that he is.  We met sometime in college at CCF.  There has always been a sort of wonder and awe at Tech about ACC athletes.  Students become quite star struck when they encounter a campus celebrity.  For instance, Will Bynum was in my 20th Century Europe class; he slept through all of them.  PJ Daniels once saved my life.  Trey Clark and I were trying to get into Curran parking deck during one of Georgia's nasty ice storms.  It was very slippery, and I nearly fell on my back.  All of the sudden, a kind young man caught me and helped me back to the upright position.  Trey always likes to say that "PJ Daniels was on the carry" that night.  These examples are to convey to you how impressionable nobodies (like me) in college can be when crossing paths with an athlete.  Keight was one of these~she was a super cool volleyball girl.  Boys at the engineering school were drawn to the volleyball team like flies to honey.  In my memory, I just see volleyball girls at CCF surrounded by a great cloud of fellas.  Keight and I never really crossed paths too much, but now I love reading her blog and getting messages from her.  Even though I didn't know her well before blogs, it just sounds like her talking through what she writes. 

"never alone..."

 "...always in my heart"

French squirrels have never before been so charming, and yes, inspirational.

Ladies, you are welcome to make your student art requests known to me (well, really just Lindsey because I know what Keight's heart desires).

Show & Tell~So long as the children are so prolific, this might as well be a permanent feature.

After much guessing, Zackary informed me that he had drawn me the sun.  Then he told Zoe that she was no longer his girlfriend, and Margot had assumed the role of Zack's girl.  It was a whirlwind of a moment.

I believe Auriana is trying to trade me her lame-o English music cd for my hot Hokey Pokey track.  Seriously, the kids never cease to ask when the next time we can sing and dance the Hokey Pokey will be.  Who knows~there may be something good on this disc yet.

On a final note, forgive my title.  If you get the reference, you should know that I worked in child care on and off since I graduated high school.  If you don't get it yet, wait until you have pre-schoolers.  A plus amis!

We are now pleased to present...

It gives me great pleasure to make a special presentation today.  My little sister, Miss Foo, surprised me with an extraordinary piece of artwork.  After I chided her in the caption of a pictures in one of my last entries, she has made good on supplying me with some art.  For those who regularly read this blog, it hopefully will blow your mind as it did mine.  Before I post it, I'd like to venture into another topic.

Our region in France is the Lorraine region~oddly enough, I have never included pictures of the ever popular Quiche Lorraine.  It still retains a strong Catholic tradition including teaching religion (well, just Catholicism) in the public schools.  I've learned a bit from my students, and they are commonly surprised to see me wearing my "croix de Jesus" (my Jesus cross).  I've learned that our schools are closed on Christian holidays including a 4 day weekend for Easter.  They have also told me that their is a saint is named for every day of the year.  Obviously Americans have St. Valentine's day and St. Patrick's day.  The Swedes love a good St. Lucia day.  On a side note, if you know nothing about St. Patrick, you should google him.  He's a missionary hero.  Anywho, it was a happy occasion yesterday when I learned March 22nd is St. Lea day.  It's perfect for me because I dropped the "h" at the end of my name shortly after moving here (don't worry mom, I'll use it again back in the states some day).  Children and teachers alike wish me "Bonne fete" all day long and kissed my cheeks or hugged me.  It was as if they were celebrating me!

Lea, one of my 4th graders, drew me this lovely and colorful heart.  Since she's a seasoned pro at celebrating St. Lea day (having been at it for 10 years), I felt honored to receive her St. Lea day blessing.

So today it occurs to me, who is Saint Lea?  I took to the internet after classes to discover the woman who permitted me to have such a delightful day at school.  I didn't find much on her as she lived in the 3rd century, but what I was able to find was that she had been widowed and after the death of her husband she spent the rest of her life in a convent.  She was known my Jerome who is most famous for having translated the Bible from the original Hebrew into Latin (it is known as the Vulgate).  Jerome wrote this about Lea after her death:

Who will praise the blessed Lea as she deserves? She renounced painting her face and adorning her head with shining pearls. She exchanged her rich attire for sackcloth, and ceased to command others in order to obey all. She dwelt in a corner with a few bits of furniture; she spent her nights in prayer, and instructed her companions through her example rather than through protests and speeches. And she looked forward to her arrival in heaven in order to receive her recompense for the virtues which she practiced on earth.

She sounds like an altogether humble and devoted Christian.  

Alright, good things come to those who wait (or maybe just scroll).  I give you Miss Foo's rendition of Inspirational Squirrel:

Art imitating art?

She has got mad skills.  This was no doubt drawn using Photoshop and her wacom tablet.  This is only the beginning.  She has promised more and I anxiously look forward to the days I can share it with you.  There couldn't be a cooler little sister than mine.  Anywho, according to the calendar today is dedicated to Saint Alphonse Turibe de Mogrovejo.  Happy St. ATdM day to you!

Shameless...

I have these food moods.  I don't believe I noticed them until the year I was interning at CCF, but there are times when all I can think about is one particular food and I'll have to eat it a number of times before I'm over the craving.  It makes me fear the days when I am pregnant because I seriously will go to any means to eat that magnificent food.  My condition has been thwarted a bit since we moved abroad; things like Arby's mozzarella sticks and Tin Drum's pad woon sen are non-existent.  You may have noticed (if your that weird) that sushi kept coming up in the blog a couple of months ago.  From December to early February, I constantly thought of raw fish bound in seaweed and rice sliding down my gullet (from the Latin gula meaning throat and/or esophagus).  Kyle was preparing maki rolls sometimes twice a week because I had become possessed by my desire.  Well, I had recovered from that spell and continued living as a free woman until about a week ago when I was struck by my next flavor affliction....

The simple and glorious potato chip.  This particular chip was homemade by Kyle.

For days I have been begging Kyle to go to the grocery store and buy me some chips.  We have tortilla chips and crackers in the dorm, but they just don't quite hit the spot.  Kyle, being the culinary caper that he is, couldn't help not trying Alton Brown's recipe rather than buying a bag.  His first round was tasty.  Oddly enough, the dorm started smelling like soap which made my snack of crisps become quite repulsive.  I mentioned to Kyle that it reeked of suds instead of spuds...good eats?  I think not... Somehow the water from the taters mixed with oil can turn into something like soap, according to Chef Brown.

Chips in the making

In other news, I had thought about wall art above our sofa for a while.  White walls are boring, but even Ikea doesn't make a super affordable something to hang in our blank space.  Meanwhile our cards from home were clustered all on top of our bookshelf~we could only see the front row.  I had a "gee, why didn't I think of that before" moment and turned our Hallmarks into a colorful display.  Happy day...

I call it Cards above Couch

Quite a diverse array of greetings

This leads me to request that you, my friends, send more.  It'd be really great to cover the wall and then do something terribly dorky like post a picture on facebook and tag each card with the name of the sender.... In all seriousness, Kyle and I developed a dependency on going to the mail room and finding a treasure from the U.S. Since our birthdays and Christmas are long gone, it's unlikely we'll see anything again until Easter.  After Easter, what occasion will there be to send a card?  Happy Bastille day?  I'll make you a deal.  If you send Kyle and me a card, note, postcard, letter, drawing, receipt from Moe's, lock of hair, or anything; I will send you your choice of art created by one of my french students.  I've posted pictures of practically everything ever given to me so you should find something you like in older blog entries.  I hope that is a reasonable trade...

Our address is~

ALOES, chambre G205

4, place Edouard Branly

57070 METZ

FRANCE

Just imagine, this inspirational squirrel (as Keight says) could be yours!

A Veritable Menagerie

Show and tell~  I love sharing my class art with the readers.  This week yielded some zoo inspired drawings...

une autruche

deux zebres (sideways...blogspot is being difficult and keep rotating my image against my will...we'll assume it adds to the picture's whimsy...)

You Not Alonne O World Squirrel (i.e. un ecureuil)  I think this one's pretty good.

Enjoy my super cute drawings and hopefully I'll have more to showcase next week...