Vanilla

My youngest daughter arranged a rather impromptu trip to visit me this weekend... well really just a day - she and the grandkids arrived Friday at dinner and left Saturday just after noon...... 

I was excited she was coming -- and it was a great visit -- we went out to dinner on Friday then watched "The Good Dinosaur".  The 3 boys slept in my room - 2 in the bed and one on the floor, my daughter was in the guest room and I slept on the sofa (or tried to)

Saturday I made pancakes and bacon for breakfast -- we packed up the cars and went off to the beach............. Around 2ish I waved goodbye to them as they took the ramp heading east ....... and I took the ramp heading west .......... 

This weekend should have left me feeling happy and contented -- but it didn't really.  You see -- it has been over a year since my daughter came to visit me. This was the first time she saw my new home. That has really torn my heart out.  It's hard to put words to what I have been feeling.  I do know this weekend hasn't 'fixed' anything.. and a big part of me thinks that was probably the only visit she will ever make here -- at least while I am alive.

And that makes me very sad you know.

I was supposed to go to a munch on Saturday evening -- Hands messaged me and told me he wasn't going -- and that was the deciding factor for me -- I didn't go.  Maybe I should have -- cause it would have gotten me out of the very quiet apartment -- made me socialize with folks........... but I just curled up on the sofa feeling very sad and very alone.

If my kids don't have time for me -- why should anyone else ya know??
Negative negative thoughts going round and round in my head. 

BUT

I'll be ok in a day or two.  I am always ok.

Weary Traveller home from my Journeys

I started off on my BIG adventure early Friday morning - nervous as all get out.... honestly my life to this point did NOTHING to prepare me for the type of independence I now need (sadly)

I managed to make it to my brother's house where I was to pick up my camera (in the back yard in the barbeque) and then found my way to the 407 and the 400.  Once I got a short distance up the 400 I decided to stop at an Onroute (service center) and have a picnic lunch.  To celebrate further I took a selfie - to share with family and friends on facebook. 

Of course stopping for lunch then got me stuck in cottage country traffic but I still made good time and got settled into the hotel with loads of time.....

Huge room for one person no??? and the bed??!!!  a whole village could have fit in it I swear !!!!  I met up with eldest daughter and her partner for dinner and we feasted on good Chinese food ......... had a wonderful chat ....... and then we came back to the hotel - they went to the pool and hot tub and I went up to my room to watch some TV and veg.

Saturday morning I was up with the birds - went to the hotel gym - had breakfast and then headed out with my camera to explore Barrie.  Those pictures I will save for another day........ 

And then of course Saturday afternoon was the wedding.  It was beautiful (despite the cold and rain) but then aren't all weddings beautiful!!?? 

Sunday morning I had hoped to have a final breakfast with the family - but no one was up and about and I got restless so by 10:00 I was on my way down the 400 in the pouring rain.  

I have to admit it was a fun adventure - BUT - it was good to come home!

I'm Off...........

I'm off on an Adventure...........

My nephew is getting married this weekend and I am off for a 4 hour drive ... gonna stay in a hotel for 2 nights .... eat in restaurants - dance my feet off ... and hopefully have an amazing time.

Lot of firsts in this adventure
first time I have driven so far by myself............
first time I have navigated to a new city - through a new city ......
first time I have stayed in a hotel by myself.....
first time I have gone to a big social event by myself......

If I can do this - then I can do anything right??? 


(and if all else fails - my eldest daughter will be there - and my brother and his wife - so it's not like I'll be all by myself )

I'll be back on Sunday ............ and back on here on Monday to tell you all about it !!!

Behind Bars

Besides being known for having an excellent university - Queen's - Kingston is known for it's penitentiaries.  There were 10 at one time and I believe they are down to 8 now.   

The most famous penitentiary is Kingston Pen - a maximum security institution that housed some infamous criminals.  

When I arrived here in July everyone was all a flutter over the closing of the Kingston Pen........ being me I didn't pay much attention.  Then a couple of weeks ago W asked me if I would like to take a tour of the Kingston Pen when it closed.  It turns out that the United Way (a charitable association) were holding a fund raiser by offering tours of the penitentiary. 

The day the tickets went on sale - W was sitting on line waiting with credit card in hand.  I thought it was just his enthusiasm - smiled - and thought nothing more of it - until that night on the news they announced that the tours had sold out in the first hour!!  The United Way brought in two more sets of tours and they too sold out in just hours.  It would seem there are a  whole mess of people with a morbid interest in seeing in the inside of a maximum security penitentiary.

Well yesterday was our day to take the tour - from 11:00 a.m. till 12:30 a.m.  We were there when the doors opened.  

I didn't have a clue what to expect - but brought along my camera knowing full well there would be lots of opportunity to test out my knowledge on photo taking.

We were fortunate enough to have a retired Warden from the prison as our tour guide and he was full of stories of how things worked - riots - and  - the one bit that caught my attention - of tunnels that ran under the prison.  An example he gave - there used to be women housed in the Kingston Pen along with the men, and they would serve as maids etc for the Warden's house - which was across the street.  There is apparently a tunnel that runs underground from the main gate to the Warden's house.  These women would be shepherded through the tunnels to the Warden's house in the morning and back again in the evening.  I wanted to see the tunnels !!!  They - unfortunately - were off limits to tourists.

The tour was really amazing and we went through the oldest parts of it - built in 1845.   I took pictures of the architecture more than anything else.......... 

There was something unnerving about the miles of  barbed wire twisted and turned and threatening........

   
In the cells there was grafitti - from a calendar scratched into the wall.......

to the normal four letter words.............. 

these - believe it or not - were used by the prisoner to exercise

I kept reminding myself this wasn't a made for TV movie set - this was a prison that had held real prisoners for over a hundred years................

But there was something breath taking about the architecture.  (oh btw - the prisoners built the prisons - cutting the limestone into blocks - forming and creating the buildings)

These next shots were in the work shop wing............ the stone walls took my breath away..............

I

It absolutely boggled my mind that prisoners were housed behind these walls right up to and including last Friday!!

It certainly was a tour I won't soon forget!

 

Arty Farty

Yesterday I gave you all an update on my Tai Chi classes and today thought I would share with you my classes on photography that I take each Tuesday evening.  (see life isn't boring when you are retired !!)

Truthfully at the beginning I had grave doubts about this photography class.  I didn't much like the teacher - had serious doubts about her ability to teach.... I had NO doubts about her ability to take pictures - as the first 3 classes involved sitting through 2 hours of slides of pictures she had taken.  But her skills as a teacher??? well  they were questionable - W says it is the problem of having a teacher critiquing another teacher... he's probably right - but then he usually is.................... 

Anyway back to the class.  I realized when I did the last photo assignment that I was actually starting to get "it".............. well maybe not so much "getting it" as being able to produce the pictures she asked for. 

This past class we were given our 3rd assignment (it is working out to 1 assignment per week - god I had forgotten how much homework one gets in university!!)

This was the one assignment I was looking forward to......... (it was listed in our class outline)  We had to pick one subject and take 12 different pictures of this subject - using angles and lighting and everything we have learned so far in class.   It appealed to my sense of the absurd............. or as W calls it "my arty farty" side.

Here are my 12 pictures of one subject.............. (whether you want to see them or not - cheeky grin)

       

shopping

On Wednesday night W looked at me and said "time for a road trip".

As much as we are adjusting (ok ok as much as *I* am adjusting - W may never adjust to small town life) there are some things even I can't do without............ for example my Quebec bagels - and a french vanilla coffee creamer not available here - for W it is his 'Canadian' rye bread. )  Because of this lack of gourmet (said very tongue in cheek) food here in small town Canada - W had been driving back to Quebec every 5 weeks or so and stocking up on his rye bread - and french culture.

I have been baking my own bagels - but there is just something missing - a "je ne sais quoi" from my homemade bagels ........... and despite W praising my attempts to make bagels... they just don't cut it.  

So yesterday we made a road trip back to Montreal to pick up W's Canadian rye bread - my Quebec bagels and coffee creamer. 

I guess we were outta here by just after 9 a.m. and got to Montreal sometime around noon.  We hit the pastry shop for the rye bread - then went over to W's train/hobby shop to pick up some magazines he wanted then we went to lunch.  To this amazing lil hamburger joint that makes the world's best curly fries !!!  (Now that was a real treat!!) 
Picked up my bagels and a dozen for friends here in Kingston - then we packed up and started back west.

Just as we were leaving Montreal W asked if I wanted to pop in on the kids........ oh hell yeah!!!  Yesterday was the first day of school - you bet I wanted to check in on the kids.  So we stopped for an hour or so - and I got to see the middle one come home from grade 2 acting oh so cool - on the bus without big brother this year!! 

And then the eldest grandbaby (he would shoot me if he knew I still called him "grandbaby")  came home from his first day in high school - acting OH SO cool - and grown up.

Then W and I headed back to the highway and trudged home arriving pooped around 8 p.m. 

I loved spending time with the kids - LOVED the fact my daughter was totally surprised and delighted to see us - loved that W was  more than willing to let me visit - BUT - the last 2 1/2 hours of the trip home was sheer torture.......... ughhhhhhhhhh  6 hours in the car (total traveling time) for some shopping??!  But I'll do it again the next time W says "road trip"
 

Promises

They (the proverbial "they") always say you should plan for retirement.  I listened with half an ear.  

But I did make some promises (plans) to myself about retirement starting almost 30 years ago.

I promised myself I would retire to Kingston - my parents had retired here - and I got a first hand look at the city.  I loved it !!  that's what I based the  promise on......... a 30 year old memory.  

Things have changed greatly here in 30 years........... and some things I didn't think through - like leaving my kids behind - or my favourite haunts - or my favourite shops - BUT there is a quiet small town quality to Kingston that I love!!  And just as 30 years ago - there is always something going on here.... one festival or celebration or another.  AND the people who live here are very friendly (for the most part) So.. I am glad I made this promise to myself .............

Then about 6 years ago or so I bought a fancy dancy camera,  I have always loved photography - saw it as something much more than taking holiday photos....but the camera was a wee bit too fancy dancy - and I use it (90%) of the time on "automatic" cause I have no idea what to do with all the other buttons - or what half of them mean.  I promised myself once I had settled into Kingston I would go back to school and take photography classes.

Yesterday was registration for the new fall session at the local college.  I went on line and feeling very much like a kid starting school for the first time - I filled in the online registration forms - paid the fees required - and registered for my photography classes.  Hopefully I will be accepted - and hopefully they will have enough students - and hopefully I will be starting back to school on Sept 10th.

I also (and didn't really tell anyone this promise) promised myself I would work towards stopping smoking.  (note I said work toward - I don't want another failure to add to my list of failures  - so it's a goal - a journey ) and I am pleased to say that when I arrived here I was up to a pack and a half a day.  Now I am rationing my cigarettes and am down to 10 a day.  

 
Retirement is good - if you make promises you can keep
 

Big Excitement

Wow - what an exciting day I had yesterday - I am surprised my heart could handle all that excitement!

Wanna know what happened ?? huh huh?? do ya??

I got my eyes checked - exciting right?? (cheeky grin)

and I am going blind - well not really - but I have managed to graduate to thick lens.  

Anywayyyyyyyy I decided if my prescription was gonna cost me THAT much I wanted funky frames to lift my spirits.

The young girl serving me got excited - FUNKY glasses for a grandma!!??  no problem.

The only problem was - when I put the funky glasses on - I felt stupid...........

I am just not a funky kinda girl I guess................ 

So I went from something like this..........................

To something more like this...................... 

ahhhhh well the pair I bought are a bit like the ones on the far left - but in purple - which is a little bit funky right??

I get them next week - hopefully - and then my headaches should ease up - the need to lean into the computer screen and squint should be gone - and I should be able to run up and down the stairs again - and not feel like I am in some sort of fun house.

And that was my exciting Thursday.

(things had better start picking up in the excitement department pretty damn soon - I mean new glasses are the highlight of my week??!!)

June 30th 2013

Well yesterday I completed all the paperwork for my retirement...... June 30th 2013 will be my last day.  I filled in all the forms - signed every sheet - put it all in an envelope and sent it off to the School Board.  

It's official - I can't back out now.

You'd think - hell I thought - I would be doing the dance of joy - but I'm not.  If I don't sell this lil home by June 30th - I am in BIG trouble.  I won't be driving my car - or buying much in the way of groceries.  Talk about living too close to the line !!  

And the stupid thing is - I never realized how close I was living to the line.  Every two weeks my pay cheque would come in - I would pay the bills and put money in savings........ everything one is supposed to do.  

EXCEPT .... my savings were to pay for the taxes and the fuel to heat this place. So not really savings - definitely not a nest egg.  

I am sweating bullets - I HAVE TO SELL THIS PLACE!!!!!!!

Weekend at home

You'd think a weekend at home would be a quiet weekend for me........ not so much.

On Saturday I cleaned up - and did laundry and then had to leave the house at 3:00 cause there was a home visit .  I took advantage of being "kicked out of my house" to go and pick up my train tickets for next weekend.  I am going up to Kingston on Thursday afternoon (Friday being a Union meeting day - and considering as I am retiring ask me if I care about the damn Union meeting?!)

W went to a play party stag on Saturday evening. I spent the evening cursing there was nothing decent on the television - and wondering how he was getting along.........(turns out he had a good time !!) 

Sunday was another up and at 'em day - there was supposed to be another home visit at 11:00 so I got showered and dressed and organised and then joy oh joy !!  I got an email from my agent at 10:00ish that the visitors had cancelled (see my sad face?) 

I figure the more people that trek through here - the odds increase that one of them will actually want to buy it ........... 

Sunday afternoon was the littlest grandson's 3rd birthday........ AND an open house here at the townhouse.  I picked up eldest daughter right after lunch and we headed off to the Island for the celebration.

This little guy is the funniest one of the lot (in my humble opinion).  At Halloween when I asked him what he was going to be for Halloween - he announced in a very loud - indigant voice - he was gonna be "____insert his WHOLE name ___________" 
On Sunday when I arrived at the house little guy came running up to see me and when I said "who's the birthday boy today??" and he announced in the same indigant voice "I am ________insert his WHOLE name _______ not a birthday boy!!" 

I think the greatest delight I had was watching him open and react to his presents.  Everyone else gave him computer games - Skylanders?? do you folks know about Skylanders??? Personally I think that is the biggest rip off computer game going.... having to buy all the different characters (at between $10 and $15 each) to be able to complete the levels !!!  What a marketing tool !!!

Anyway - way back when the eldest grandson was about 3 I gave him the starter set to the Brio trains........ and have added to it from time to time.  I had about given up on giving anymore because the eldest and the middle didn't seem to ever play with it - always wanting their electronic toys.  

Then this summer when I was out visiting - youngest grandson dragged the train set into the living room and demanded someone make him a CIRCLE.  Once done he sat for ages playing with the Thomas the Tank trains round and round the circle.  

So for his 3rd birthday I decided to buy him a bridge and some gates that make train sounds when you push the button and the lights flash ........... and W decided to buy him the dinosaur car complete with a video filming car.  

I was thrilled to see his excitement when he opened the dino car gift from W.  He really was thrilled.  And doubly happy when he opened granny's gift and saw he had more "stuff" for his trains.

After all the excitement of cake and happy birthday was done......... all the grownups were standing around chatting - the older kids had disappeared downstairs to play video games ......... and when I looked around the little guy was sitting happily in the center of the living room playing with his new  Thomas the Tank train accessories.

The weekend ended happily !!!  Even if the stupid ole townhouse didn't sell.

TA DA !

Some of you offered up great suggestions to get the paint to stick to the Christmas ball yesterday. 

But ya know - you don't spend 30 years doing crafts with kids (little kids at that) and not have some tricks up your sleeve.

So Thursday evening - before I left school - I mixed two parts white paint with two parts school glue and re-fingerprinted my blue ball and left it to dry.

Friday morning I took a big breath and picked up the permanent markers and started to add the details to my snowmen.  

The paint didn't flake!!

The glue worked !!

And everyone was impressed with my Christmas Ball craft.  

 Now the fun will be helping each kiddie make one to take home ......... BEFORE Christmas 2012 !!

Easy as pie.....

Ya think I'd learn - nothing is ever as easy as they say............... 

I wanted to make the above ornaments with my lil guys at school.  The directions sounded easy ......... 

Glass Christmas Ball
white craft paint 
permanent markers for details.

Paint the child's hand white - then place the glass ball in the palm of the hand - separate fingers - and gently roll them up the side of the ball - pressing the fingers onto the sides.  Remove hand - wash hand - store ball to dry.  Once dry add snow man details.... 

Well I tried one first - and it went ok - my snowmen were a little smudgy - and not nearly as distinct as the one in the picture but it was ok.  I let it dry - and several hours later when it was dry I went back to add some quick details.

And that's when the problems happened.

When I tried to draw on the simple details - the white paint started flaking off... and didn't stop flaking............ 

The only good thing was - by the time the flaking had finished - a quick rinse under hot water and all the paint was gone and I could start all over again on the same ball......... 


I have looked everywhere for suggestions to keep the paint on the ball - I googled it - I surfed it.......... and everywhere they say - craft paint (well on the sites for children and as I am working with children - I need kid proof paint!!)

 
can I say HELP !!!!!

 

The Day Before

Yesterday was the day before the last day of school.  

It was hot.......... so hot the vets were on the radio warning folks not to walk their dogs on the pavement because they might burn their paws.....so hot the weather people and doctors and all manner of health officials were warning people to stay inside and drink lots of water.....so hot that the minute you stepped outside your clothes stuck to you like they had been vacuumed bagged on .......... so hot that the 6 ice cubes I put in my glass of water melted - completely and totally - before I finished downing the water..... so hot you could see and feel the heat rising off the ground ..........so hot you didn't want to even move ......

It was that hot! 

Heat has a way - this much heat anyway - of bringing out the worst in people.  I watched a mother and son get into a fight on the street corner - it came on sudden like - and escalated into a whole lot of arm waving and stamping of feet and mouths flapping....  I had a mother at school call me the "wicked witch of the west" (where the hell did THAT come from!)  I watched kids snap at each other and staff barely be civil with each other.......... it felt as though i was watching the world slowly melt into a puddle of anger and frustration and emotions before my very eyes.


And in the midst of all this emotional melt down - two of my staff called my office phone and asked me to come outside to them.  Were their brains fried?? come OUTSIDE ???
But I did............ and they stood there like two proud kids grinning at me... and they thrust a HUGE gift package at me ........ there in the middle of the parking lot - heat rising off the pavement and bouncing off the walls of the school.......... and like the dummy I am I stood there in the glaring sunlight and opened it.. balancing it precariously on the trunk of my car (cause of course I hadn't brought my car keys) and they were chattering about how they wanted to give me something to thank me for a wonderful year.. how it was a themed gift... and because I guess I was all thumbs and going too slow - they both started helping me pull gifts out of the gift bag............. 


The first gift was a white porcelain picture frame - and I was told  to put a picture of "our" new home in it......... to remind me next year what I am working towards....... 

And then they pulled out a piggy bank .. a big polka dotted porcelain piggy bank - they said it was for my retirement fund...... 

And they pulled out a room diffuser to help keep the house smelling sweet........... 


And I cried.


They blindsided me ........... after a year of staff back stabbing and running to the Union and doing everything in their power to drive me crazy - these two quiet women - showed me that there are some that appreciate what I try to do........ some who support me.. some who genuinely care........... 


I hardly noticed the heat - life suddenly looked a whole lot brighter - on the Day before the Last day of School

Winding Down

Yesterday was our last "celebration" of our countries that we have visited over the last 180 days.  We have been in Hawaii (and yes I know Hawaii is NOT a country) since the beginning of June.  Yesterday was our luau - a very non-traditional luau. The kids made ice cream sundaes - and added pineapple and tropical fruits - my acknowledgement of local foods.

I snuffled and coughed and sweated my way through setting up tables - organizing the fruits and marshmallows and chocolate sauce and caramel sauce - the leis - and the ice cream and the bowls and the spoons. 

 And when it was all over - except for the cleaning - I shooed the kiddies outside to run off the sugar ...... left a few staff to clean up the mess - and I dragged my sick body home to bed.

Now it really is wind down time....... hold the roof on until Friday .... finish up last minute paper work - visit with the kids some - go to the Grade 6 graduation exercises (tonite if I can hold up long enough) go to the Kindergarten graduation exercises tomorrow (don't get me started on graduation exercises for Kindergarten!!) and set my sights on Friday June 29th when I lock my office door and walk out of the building and start my summer vacation!!!

TGIF

I made it !!  I did .. I did .. I did!  It's Friday - finally!

What a bloody week.......... from drama with the daughter ... to drama with my staff... to drama with my parents......... I honestly wondered at one point if I would make it to Friday.

No seriously - I honestly wondered if I would make it.

I had one parent on Monday give me hell .. HELL... because I didn't give her children a message - despite the fact I never spoke to her (she did come into my office last evening - eating humble pie - she had dialed the wrong number - and as fate would have it she got a daycare - she didn't listen to anything after the word "daycare" just assumed she was talking to me...... le sigh)

Then I had a parent - who is collecting money from all the families in her child's class - come bouncing into my office and inform me all these families would be dropping off the cash with ............... ME.......... yup me. I said "absolutely NO" and she threw a hissy fit......... le sigh

I had 30 parents - yeah 30 !!  forget they had cancelled their child's hot lunch on Thursday.......... which meant at 12:30 I had supervisors storming into my office asking for lunches - 30 of them total............... now I am running a restaurant......... le sigh

I have staff members who think they are god ............ well then I must be the devil right??  So I have been shaking up some long held beliefs on who is the boss and who isn't..........it's May for god's sakes - you'd think they would have the basics down by now right?? ............ le sigh.......

On the slightly sweet side - and silly side - my principal called me into her office to go over the budget with me .......... why??   because, according to her, I am SO good at accounting....... go figure !! ...... le sigh

Throw into that mix - the usual kid problems - the fact I have more staff out sick than I have working - that the vacation schedules have to be done by today - that I am over due getting a bank deposit done - and a million other jobs............... 

And yeah I am looking an awful lot like the cat in the picture - and I am chanting TGIF TGIF TGIF...........  

The Lil Engine who Could

I tend to put the finishing touches on my lesson plans/themes in August - when I am sitting totally relaxed ... totally refreshed... under my lil red umbrella in my secret garden.

Last August when I was looking at what would add some pizazz to my theme "Around the world in 180 days" I came up with this brilliant idea to hold a celebration at the end of each country.  That celebration would involve food for the children from the respective country - music - and maybe some entertainment. 

It is now May - 9 months into the year and yesterday we finished up our second to last country - India.  True to form we had to have a celebration.   

Remember the story of the lil engine who thought he could??? "I think I can ....... I think I can... I think I can. ................. I KNEW I COULD!!"  that one - remember it?? 

Well that was me yesterday.  I was at the Board in the morning - then back to school for lunch to handle some problems - then off to pick up the supplies/food for the party.  By the time 3:30 rolled around I was (and there is no polite way of putting this) dragging my ass.  WHY in god's name did I think - way back in August - that this celebration idea was such a good idea???!!!   ................ right I remember now - for the kids !!

So the tables were set in bright colours - the diwali pots were set with lit candles - the samosas fresh from the oven were on the tables (thank you god there was a restaurant that agreed to make fresh piping hot samosas for 3:00 p.m.) And the kids filed in......... you could have heard a pin drop when they saw the lunch room decorated in Indian style.  Then there was laughter and chattering and scrambling for places at the tables.

I have to say the funniest part of the celebration was when my wee lil ones decided to dip their samosas in the dipping sauce........ all of a sudden I had about 12 wee ones jumping up with their mouths wide open - tongues hanging out - rushing to the drinking fountains.  

Unfortunately I cannot  put up pictures of the children celebrating India - I would love to share with you two of my young girls dressed in traditional Indian costumes.  BUT I can show you the tables .. and the samosas and the diwali pots........ 

 Now we're packing our bags and heading off to Hawaii (seemed a suitable country to visit as we head into the heat and muggy weather of June) .......... with one last celebration on the horizon at the end of June.......... one last celebration !  I think I can .. I think I can.. I think I can............. 

Tied up

Honestly I haven't deserted you all - honest true !!!  It's just I have been tied up - and sadly not the good kind.............. 


Between work - and meetings for work - and finalizing details to close down the Prek (which will only get worse as June comes) - and trying to find a house on line for W (and eventually me) - and organizing a weekend in our projected new city to actually SEE those houses - and getting that visit to correspond with a BDSM event -  and coping with family drama........ I just haven't had any time or anything left in me to write here...

Looking into my crystal ball - I don't foresee any improvement in my schedule for a longggggggggggg time............ and certainly nothing in the way of interesting play time for about as long.... 

And though there is 'stuff' going on in my BDSM world - truthfully I can't find the words to write about it just yet.

I keep hanging on to the thought as long as W and I have each other - everything is gonna be ok....... better than ok........ I just have to hang on to this bumpy speeding ride until the end........... 

I hope you will all hang on with me... endure the bumps and the speed and the revving engines and land with a soft bump at the end of this journey............

How do you spell "tired"??

Before I get started on today's blog.... is anyone else annoyed with the new blogger dashboard???!!!  OH MY GOD !!!  I absolutely hate it !!!  Why is it everyone has to 'fix' things even when they aren't broken??? First it was facebook with their stupid - impossible to read - time line .... and now blogger..... sigh.. god I hate change!!!



Ok enough bitching.. on with the purpose of today's blog... 


Yesterday was our last day in Africa (at school)  and as with all the other countries we have 'visited' ... we held a celebration....... 


As with all the other celebrations - I wanted to find a food we could cook and sample from the country.  However I have to take into consideration cost, difficulty to make, allergies.... the list is long .. and makes me want to shoot myself each time.  

After a lot of recipe searching I finally found Tanzanian Baked Bananas.  The recipe was quite easy - green bananas - cook in a 450 degree oven till the skins turn black - then remove the skins and slice.  Then they are supposed to have rum and brown sugar drizzled over them - but truthfully I didn't think anyone would be impressed with my getting the kids drunk.  So we skipped the rum and just sprinkled them with brown sugar. 


Trust me when I say the girl at the grocery store gave me some weird looks when I went through the cash with 100 green bananas... 


I worked for two hours cutting up the bananas - burning them in the oven - slicing and sprinkling...  

green bananas waiting to go in oven...  

blackened bananas waiting to be sliced 

bananas sprinkled with brown sugar and ready to go

My staff set the tables and added the kids African drums as centerpieces... 

Then after much feasting and some yucking (over cooked bananas) one of my staff who visited Africa last year - taught the children a song in Swahili and a little dance to go with it...

Then I sent them all outside to play in the sunshine while I collapsed exhausted in my office.  It took the last bit of energy I had to drag myself out to my car and home to the peace and quiet ......... 

Next week we're off to India.................. god give me strength!!!