Is sleeping over at school scary?

It is if you turn out all the lights in the corridors and play flashlight tag; and extra if one of your teachers plays 'the demon' and just scares people in corners.
When the fall play, The Fabulous Fable Factory, came to an end, we had a slumber party in the theatre to celebrate. S o f u n . If anyone ever said it is more fun to dance at a club then with a bunch of twelve year olds... they may need to reassess.

Bosphorus Boat Cruise


I steered a ship on the Bosphorus! And... most importantly, I met new people; educators from Europe and the Middle East, while eating yummy Turkish food, on a boat, on the Bosphorus... while meeting new people....

Istanbul, Turkey - There I went!


I was lucky enough to be sent by my school to the ASCD (Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development) Middle East conference. So in the zwischentime between conference sessions and days, I got the chance to get a small taste of the city and its culture.
It felt so alive there, with people out and restaurants open all day and well into the night. The traffic wins the Alysha Award for the scariest she has ever experienced. busses drive like they are Mini's and if there were Mini's than I guess they would drive like bumper cars. Amazing!
Everyone seemed so friendly. I walked into a shop and asked if they had the CD for a Turkish artist I had heard in a taxi and they didn't, on sale, but the clerk ran home and burned me a copy of his own for free! Then, I went into a restaurant to order a kebab to go and while I was sitting there, chatting with a waiter, I commented on the charm of the table lamp. It was made of beads and a candle went under the shade. The waiter came back with my kebab, an extra bag and some newspaper. He wrapped up the lamp and gave it to me. Right off the table!

Buckle down, get out the boots


How did this happen?
My sandels are still sitting by the door.
My t-shirts and tank tops are still forefront in my closet.
I have berries in my freezer for frozen drinks.
Where are my mucklucks?
What about my hot water bottle...
and soup!
mmmm.... soup.

Hallo-what?






When we showed up at Paddy O'Reilly's, I think they must have thought that we were celebrities... VIP's. All dressed up so fancy and all. That would explain why they made us wait outside for awhile. You know, so they could prepare the bar and the other patrons for our arrival, and arrange a spot for us. Where was that spot anyways? What happened to Devon and Ugly Betty, aren't those sunglasses?




On the international scene though, my advisory definitely rocked the Door Decorating Contest. Woot woot! Made with mostly recycled materials, I now have a alternative solution for those students whose dogs eat their homework. The Guillotine!

These decorations were up during Family Conferences and one father walked in and said,
"Hey... those are my Armani jeans!"
Oops... we just sewed them to the door.

Zurich Tennis Open

An ace, a deuce, a match, a game, matchpoint and points in a game. I learned about tennis from Charlie and Venus! A perfect example of something I didn't know that there was so much that I didn't know about it. I am almost inspired to grab a racket!