one fish, two fish

 As Dr. Seuss's birthday just went by, seemed appropriate to visit the Seattle Aquarium with my internationals (as I'm now calling them).  

And after the dearth of pennies to be found on this island, was delighted to find an entire quarter on my walk ferrywards.

As my students are in love with American hamburgers, I hid my disdain and loathing for chain restaurants and took them to Red Robin.  They loved it--especially the endless fries.  They all ordered in English and figured out the tip.  Lesson plans are everywhere in the hands of a teacher.

One of my favorite Seattle sculptures.

Blanca (Spain) and Hana (S. Korea) high-fiving the starfish.

Kevin & his new buddy, Cocoa (or at least that's the name we thought fit.)

Somehow these loaded out of order, but this is the other side of the table at lunch.

Friendly bread left for the birds.

Dabbling in the tide pools; while this is a marvelous aquarium, I am happy that I spent so many childhood/adolescent years at Lincoln City and got to play in the real deal.

Fuzzy crab kept trying to pinch the orange thing--no I didn't read all the placards--was trying to herd teens around.  (And may I just say crankily--could there be ONE day with a no-stroller admission policy?  My shins and the backs of my shoes are so beat up from being hit on both sides with stupid stroller drivers.)

Seattle has a baby otter!!  Born in January and as cute as can be.

The otter father just chillin' in the corner.

But the river otters were a close second in the cuteness race and this was SO eager to make friends with us. 

And I finally remembered, to shoot a photo of this menu holder outside a local restaurant.  I walk past it on my various errands and it just amuses me.

A good weekend.  But now I'd like another one to prep for Monday.

spring harbingers

 more than the croci and daffodils, more than the teeny forsythia buds, Bogart in the sunshine and the first asparagus spears spell the opening of spring's door for me.

whatever leads to joy....

It's Friday!  Time for some rest and a break in the routine.  And as always, time for some poetry.

I have begun,
when I'm weary and can't decide an answer to a bewildering question

to ask my dead friends for their opinion
and the answer is often immediate and clear.

Should I take the job? Move to the city? Should I try to conceive a child
in my middle age?

They stand in unison shaking their heads and smiling—whatever leads
to joy, they always answer,

to more life and less worry. I look into the vase where Billy's ashes were —
it's green in there, a green vase,

and I ask Billy if I should return the difficult phone call, and he says, yes.
Billy's already gone through the frightening door,

whatever he says I'll do.

"My Dead Friends" by Marie Howe, from What the Living Do. © W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.

si, senorita....mucho gusto tortillas

 One of my favorite things in teaching English as a language is the meandering path class often takes.  I'll begin with my prepped vocab or grammar point and let things go where the conversation heads.  The other day, tortilla was one of the unknown words.  And while showing photos is a quick way to explain a thing or concept, I thought making tortillas would be more fun.

 So, today as the snow pelted and drifted around, my first period boys headed into the kitchen to press and flip (and yes, eat!) tortillas.  After, of course, washing their hands.   Shuai took the first shift on the press, while Haotian manned the burner.

 At first, they wouldn't try the hot sauce because they said that American hot sauce was no good.  I showed them that this was imported from Mexico and assured them it was just as spicy and kicky as any Chinese pepper sauce.  They pretty much drank the bottle after the first taste.

 They were v. proud of the perfectly round shapes they were getting by the end of the session.

 And after a few pan fulls, they decided they didn't need no stinkin' pancake flipper and started flipping tortillas through the air like new chefs.

Haotian deciding that he wanted to make miniature ones and when they puffed up, he broke off a piece and filled it with hot sauce.

Guanbo finally decided to let me take a photo of him.

smorgasboard o' snark

Was going to find some clever Leap Day info to post, but was side-tracked by the following cartoons/sayings:

hip, hip, hooray

had my annual professional review today and passed with rave reviews.  Nice to hear as it's been a challenging academic year for several reasons.

Yeah me!

scenic sunday

Yeah!  The omelet didn't break; Julia would be proud.

Explored a new area of town and delighted by these whimsical stone creations.

The sun is gone by now and we're awaiting flakes o' snow!