Breaking into Spring!

Spring break is here!
About 12 hours from now, I'll be finished proctoring the SAT and be FREE for the week. I'm more excited than my students are to be out of school, I think!
It means sleeping past the alarm (on purpose instead of the accidental sleep-in mornings I've been having!), a little retreat time at a nearby hotel place since they will be doing some construction next door, and... catching up on this blog!

No, I haven't forgotten my home on the internet, but since it didn't have to be graded or require a meeting, I couldn't fit it in these past few weeks.

Here's to catching up with everyone in the States, in blogland, and spring cleaning the recesses of my mind that haven't seen a good dusting of thought for awhile...

For now, I'll have to say goodbye again because it is 1:00 in the morning and my bed is calling me with a thunderstorm soundtrack playing its rumbles and tap-tapping rain on my windows-- perfect sleep music =)

Life: To be continued....

Eventually, the blackout will lift. I guess it's more of a gray-out now. Here's some interesting numbers from this week:

• 5-- Delicious Jeju oranges eaten (little canker sores are popping up in my mouth to say I gotta stop now =)
• 0-- eggs dropped YAY!!!
  
• 500 bazillion-- papers graded
• 200 bazillion-- papers left to grade
• 1-- PTA meeting attended
• 2-- classes covered for other teachers
• 3-- degrees (Fahrenheit) the thermometer seems to rise each day to promise spring!
  
• 4-- loads of laundry I probably should have done to catch up
• 2-- really big loads I did instead (white is such a relative term =)
• 1-- book I've read
• 2-- hours spent gathering tax information
• 3-- amazingly cute pictures of Jason&Tauni's baby received by e-mail
  
• 0-- pictures of my own niece and nephew
• 0-- times the TV has been turned on
• 1-- meal eaten out
• 3-- new people I've met (and hope to remember =)
• 8-- podcasts I found that sound interesting (Prairie Home Companion-- pretty funny stuff!)
• 6-- sweaters I'm really tired of wearing! Want it to be spring now!
• 4-- inches of visible surface area combined on 2 cluttered tables and a hopelessly piled desk
• 1-- desk I found at school hiding under the piles of books and papers (they don't levitate after all!)
• 1-- Spring play started at Corban College (you still have lots of time to go see it if you live in the Salem area)
• 47-- blogs/letters I've written in my brain with no time to get them out
• 1-- letter that broke out for a friend who REALLY needed one
  
• 1-- sad little list blog that you've made it to the end of (yes, I'm ending with a preposition =)
  

Scheduled Blackout...

Going for days or even weeks without posting happens completely by accident, but this is an official announcement of my intention to completely ignore blogworld for about a week. I'm quite behind on schoolwork; stuff is growing in the corners of my house because I've neglected the simple cleaning tasks needing done; I'm taking a new class at church that has a bit of homework and I need to work up the next unit for my high school English Bible study too; some music tasks are coming up, grade reports due very soon for 3rd quarter report cards (can you believe it?!); other writing to catch up on; and generally emerging from the end-of-winter funk I've been living in-- it's time for a spring cleaning overhaul: mind, body, and laundry!

Because Somewhere in the World, It's still Friday...

FRIDAY FEAST

Appetizer
What is your usual bedtime? Do you like that, or would you rather it be different?

If I remember where I put the remote, my bedtime is about midnight or one because I find things to watch and just can't seem to pull myself away... if I'm catching up on grading, it's later. Those weeks when I crash early 10-ish, I always think it would be great to make it a habit.

Soup
When it comes to advice, do you give more or receive more?

Overall, I give more than receive, but as a people-watcher, others give me advice without even knowing it all the time!

Salad
Describe a memorable meal you've had.

So many of them here in Korea, but I think one of the best memories would be the first Korean BBQ meal I had with my great friends back in Oregon. We were celebrating my upcoming adventure and trying out the food I would encounter in my new land-- lots of laughs, yummy do-it-yourself food and wonderful company!

Main Course
Name a work of fiction that affected the way you think about something.

The two that come to mind have a common "self-discovery as a castaway" theme, so I'll name both:

Robinson Crusoe

and Life of Pi

When left on their own, these men are forced to do deep thinking, answering the questions that are too important not to ask and making sense of life. I remember being so frustrated with Mr. Crusoe after I read him through to get him off the island only to see him "throw it all away," but in the end I could understand. Then the incredible story that Yann Martel weaves together is turned on it's head at the end-- left with this ambiguity that turns my thinking upside down and inside out, I love to seek truth, yet mystery has it's place too. That also makes me think of Peace Like a River. I love love love the message of mystery and grace in this book. I'll stop now, otherwise there won't be room for dessert!

Dessert
What is your favorite type of fruit juice?

Jeju Island orange juice. It's just the right tangy and sweet!

Living in Snooze

You know that 9 minutes of waking time between the moment you hit the snooze button and the moment it comes alive again insisting that you throw off the covers and pretend to care about life? (OK, so I'm a night owl-- you morning folks don't have any idea what I'm talking about!) Well, that's all fine and good for the morning routine, but I've been living in that fog 24hrs for about 2 weeks! First because it was difficult to breathe and sleep, but then it was the medication they gave me for allergies. That's the problem with not knowing the language in the medical system here-- they prescribe little packets of pills for something as simple as allergies and something in that little packet made life only seem half real with the little annoyances blowing up into big frustrations and constant shaking in every cell of my body. Of course, I thought I was feeling OK and it was just a mood thing that was out of whack-- funny thing how my mood got back in step when I stopped taking the meds....
I'm back among the living for real and cleaning up the mess left by that crazy, listless person who has been living my life-- at least she didn't blog and make a mess of that too!