mov-ed

Not sure if this little knot just fell out or if I haven't noticed it in the past eight months. But as I trekked up/down/up/down/up/down the stairs today, it made me smile.

I am all moved! The moving company (once again) was prompt, efficient, and careful. I am unpacked enough to have clean clothes and be groomed for tomorrow.

New classes! New students! New commute! New month! 

I'll do a full posting of my new digs next weekend. For tonight, I fall asleep grateful that it was a clear day and I have my own space again.

quiet moments

As yesterday was our first sunny day...in what feels like a month, I took advantage of it for nice long walk. My legs were surprised, but then began to enjoy the miles again.

Spotted a bit of tinge to one tree~surprised, as it's been warm. 

Moving tomorrow morning~tales from a new 'hood coming soon.

open a book~

& open a world. I am going to confess right here that I have finally caved and used an e-reader. With my books all in boxes and the library ones returned and HELLOINSOMNIA, I've needed words to escape into.

Can't say I will continue the practice~at least not on a laptop, but it's been useful this week.

Life is chaotic and wonderful right now. Next week, I begin teaching six new classes (three of which are brand new) and back by demand~my cooking class! That, plus three new music students, and oh yes, A MOVE. I'm a little scattered at present.

But the sun is out and it seems that the humidity has perhaps packed up for the year, so things are pleasant.

Happy weekend and ending of September.

mine, all miHinnne

Guess the student who made these saw my effusiveness yesterday while eating~so I got an entire box of treats for myself today! Bribery to finish those last bits of packing/cleaning.

dancing & chocolates & kabsa

Or, just another lunch at ILA. 

Our party people/community gatherers are back.

It's very kind that they make sure there are veg options for me.

Getting the recipe for this tomorrow. I did learn that the marvelous crunchy bits in the center were not coconut as I guessed, but vermicelli. Stay tuned for the recipe. 

I tried taking a movie, but it's more fun to dance than to film.

#notallboys

As this is a blog about finding joy~I keep politics out of it. But the foment and consternation of current events is too big to ignore. So. For the purpose of this blog, I will say that I am grateful that I went to high school and college with boys who respected women. Yeah, there were the jerks and oblivious clods/cads, but being assaulted was not part of our parties and gatherings. 

The whole line of "boys will be boys"?

No. No, they don't have to be. I am thankful for all the male classmates who were decent humans. 

This was the car parked next to me at work~I need these plates. Let's hope I live in DC or MD, so I can use their idea!

fall flanuese

Very cool copper/tin ceiling.

Just read one of those lists that names the Best of Your State~this one was dedicated to the best pizza places. Decided that since I live very near two of the pizza restaurants listed, that I ought to visit them and see if the places lived up to the hype. 

Wiseguy did!!! I tried the white mushroom truffle slice~delish!!! And for only $3, for about a quarter of a pizza? I will return. Handily, it is right by my favorite museum and the Shakespeare theatre.

Today was free entrance to several museums that normally charge admission. As I've already been to the excellent Newseum, I opted to get a pass for the National Building Museum.

A truly beautiful building with the detailing that comes with older architecture. 

But. It was overrun with amped-up children, so my visit was brief.  

Back to my fav~National Portrait Gallery to see a couple new exhibits. Since I'm always trying to get a good shot of the moon, figured this would do for this week.

Really lousy photo, but this comes from a movie about how a computer sees music. This was a string quartet playing some Debussy. Much more interesting than that Turkish slog I saw at last week's museum outing.

Some nuclear waste from Fukushima.

And now, when I walk by this exhibit of original license plates, I can feel the glow of accomplishment that I helped to put together the 10,000 piece (well, maybe not that many, it just seemed like it) puzzle that was my Father's Day gift this year.

And while I am not thrilled about the upcoming move, it does mean that in seven more days, I will NEVER have to walk into my home and be hit with the stench of prawns/shrimp/pork loins being boiled.

And that, my friends, is an enormous joy.

equinox=balanced days?

Look what I spotted when I opened my shades today! It may be 80 and rainy, but fall is creeping in!

Blossoms so perfect we thought they were fake.

Spent the day with my Littles. Whether it's the thrill/agony of who wins Candyland, dealing with papercuts/band-aids (almost an ambulance-calling-level of trauma), or delighting in everything on a neighborhood walk~they live with an intensity that I admire. With the older two in school, I really get some good tales of the day; while the littlest one is just learning to laugh and makes us all laugh with her chortling.

And for some reason, you get two of these head scratchers in a pack~so my sis sent me home with one. Practically a spa in your hand.

May the joys of autumn be happening in your 'hood as well.

it's what's for dinner

This magical mushroom was riiiight next to my car this morning~tempted to saute it in butter with garlic.

welcome, old friend

The first sunny day is a looong time and everyone is bursting with energy and friendliness. Which is needed as I'm at the blah part of packing~when all the easy stuff that packs neatly is done. 

But it's getting set aside for a nice long walk~hope my legs remember how to trail walk!

Was ist Das??

My eyes! They hurt! The pupils no longer constrict. What is this brightness???

Pleased to say that I introduced a new class to the joys of Scrabble.

all the yesses

Feeling relieved that we only had rains today and I was able to make it to both of my campuses.

metro time

Enjoyed a one-day ESL training/conference this weekend~was both fun and helpful to be around a group of teachers again. (Yes, both of my current schools are good places to work, but they are hourly, so there is minimal time with colleagues and I miss that.) 

Went back in today for a Turkish Film Fest and enjoyed my street tacos at one of these hidden tables I've discovered. Since it feels tropical, figure I may as well eat amongst the plumeria and other wild foliage.

I'm already missing the convenience with which I can pop on Metro and explore the city. Already planning my next move and am adamant that it must be walking/bus distance to a station.

I really love leaves that are purple~something about them is surprising and stunning. 

And may I just say that a three-hour Turkish film is not perhaps a good pick me up?  Oy to the vay.

This was the blurb that lured me in (that, and it was free):

The Freer|Sackler is honored to welcome Nuri Bilge ("Once Upon a Time in Anatolia", the Palme d’Or winner "Winter Sleep"), Turkey’s most accomplished director, to screen and discuss his latest film, which debuted to near-unanimous accolades at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. In it, an aspiring writer returns to his hometown to try to further his career, only to be forced into a reckoning with his father’s shadowy past. Suffused with the philosophical, visual, and narrative richness that characterize Ceylan’s films, "The Wild Pear Tree" is “a gentle, humane, beautifully made and magnificently acted movie . . . It’s an unhurried, elegiac address to the idea of childhood and your hometown, and how returning to both has a bittersweet savour" (Peter Bradshaw, "The Guardian")

And don't be lured in by this clip. There's zero romance~in any of the generations, no one dies (although the protagonist is such a miserable git, you're rooting for him to get offed) and it's all grim endurance and the hopelessness of life. 

But the scoring and most of the scenery was incredible. So, there's that. And I felt all intellectual and artsy for an afternoon.

Eighteen more resumes went out today~I don't know what I'll do for a hobby once I actually land a steady job. 

And that wraps up my weekend. A busy week of teaching & tutoring ahead~and if, Alexandria isn't flooded~a field trip on Friday to the Torpedo Art Factory.

recognize anything?

My life. Once again.

While Florence makes her debut in the Carolinas, we're just hanging out in fairly calm stickiness.

and just like that,

I'm craving ice cream at 8:27 a.m.

another suitcase in another hall

Just signed a lease for a basement flat out in the 'burbs. While it will be nice to empty boxes that have been stored for 16 months, am not looking forward to moving. Yet again. 

In cheerier things. we're getting closer to the first technical day of autumn!!

riddle time?

What is missing from my cup of tea? (Movie trivia as well~what movie is that line heard~'cup, cup, cup, cup'). It is not honey, as my sister guessed...

It's funny as a memory came up on my fb feed that said something about coffee being better if there were actually beans/grounds in the carafe. Must be something about early September that causes me to lose bits of my mind.

Culture~the importance of,

Meanwhile, Florence (sounds like a Snickerdoodle-baking grandma, rather than a vicious storm) is deciding on whether or not to pop into our neighborhood. My students earnestly told me that I ought to skip the mid-term this Thursday as we'll be "too busy with the storm" to come to school.

I complimented them on their creativity and moved right along with the grammar lesson.

crafty arts

Who knew that I would have an entire Pinterest board devoted to toddler life?  But I do, and I also follow a couple of toddler sites online. My latest craft was 'painting' with forks. 

Perfect rainy day activity. And patting myself on the back for buying a cheap plastic tablecloth to throw down under our said craft~while the six-year-old is "meticulous & focused" according to one of his teachers, the three-year-old has a little more free-wheeling approach to life. And art.

I'm ALL about the bribery~whether my Littles or my students. It is amazing what you can get them to clean/organize/pick-up with a few rainbow sprinkles as reward! 

It was a cosy afternoon~snuggled in with a purring kitty and my sweet baby niece.