What's Happening!

No rest for the weary. After a long week of work, most people exclaim T.G.I.P. - - Thank God It’s Pyatnista (Friday). Here’s the "everybody's working for the weekend" recap:

FRIDAY
I taught until 8:00PM. No TV here, so I couldn’t chillax with Danny Tanner & the gang. Instead, Amanda & I cooked up a late dinner – burgers. Then I worked on a presentation for my English Club. Unfortunately, English Club has been a solo effort. I met with a crony at work earlier in the week to brainstorm themes. She told me in her broken English accent, ‘we will discuss ‘Rumis.’ I asked who the heck is that (apparently it’s some old-head artist). I got her to compromise and make the theme the broad topic - ART. I wanted to do something fun like travel or karaoke, but I gave in this time. Next time, it’s Joe Joe’s show. Turns out, she didn't even come on Saturday anyway – so I was stuck presenting by myself. Fortunately, I had Amanda to help with the group activities. Back to Friday evening… I did prep work (a 64 page power point & a bunch of activities to get these peeps to speak English) that I think was more interesting (at least to me) than Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, & Raphael. “HEROES IN A HALFSHELL!” Sorry, couldn’t resist. I even did a special section on graffiti & the beautiful wall murals in Philadelphia. I sprinkled in this photo of handsome Van Gogh Joe (back in art school - the drawing of the teal old-school Chucks is mine) and Amanda & I (mostly A-Fair) created this abstract cake (under the maybe not-so appetizing icing, there is a wonderfully moist ShopRite marble cake - we have to adjust our baking due to altitude) to share with everyone (Jackson Pollack, eat your no-talent heart out!):


SATURDAY
Greeted with a dusting of snow. Oh, and no real working hot water this weekend. Apparently, they are doing roadwork nearby & that has been the culprit of my cold showers. We sallied over to school, set up the room, snacks, power point for English Club. Small group due to snow – but we all had fun & thought it was, well, a piece of art! Next one is Dec 15th & it’s X-mas themed (executive decision by me!) We then went to Amanda’s school to scope out a student play. We managed to score tix & had time to kill so we got busy on Thailand logistics. We managed to secure flights to travel within T-land (and avoid 10-14 hour bus rides). Relatively cheap – about 400$ for two round trippers each (during the peak X-mas/New Years season) so that is good. Next up is reserving a handful of rooms for the many different areas we plan to visit. The school play started at 7PM – it was in English & was called “In Search of David’s Heart”. I kept my eyes open for most of it – so that’s an accomplishment in itself. Afterwards, we finalized our flights until pretty late – 11PM. (Note: Amanda’s school is the only place I really am able to get on-line, so internet time is precious & I don’t get to visit jollydwarf.com too much). Starvin' like Marvin, we stopped at a restaurant on the icy walk home. Chicken Cordon Bleu for me; some chicken curry veggie dish for Amanda. This $35 meal was actually quite cheap for steep Almaty. Amanda somehow had the energy to pop in the less than magnificent movie “Honey”. I tried to stay awake, but I prefer to dream about rather than watch the gifted acting prowess of “Lil' Romeo”:

SUNDAY
Walked over to the nearby Central State Museum. They were holding a craft show – lots of less than impressive wares, carpets, jewelry all at high prices - New Castle Co. Farmer's Market this was not. Managed to look at some of the exhibits before getting out of there. Went for a nice long walk further into the city (we kept warm by alternating Christmas tunes). I dropped such dimes as “Christmas In Hollis Queens”, “Dominic the Christmas Donkey”, & “Please Daddy, Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas”. People walking the street must have thought I was crazy with holiday cheer. We stopped in a grocery store, picked up a few items including “Superbad” on DVD. Finally, back to my crib where we had “Power Hour” – working out bi’s & tri’s with my wide collection of professional weights (Pringle cans filled with sand, 2 Liter Sprite bottles filled with water, & anything else that is heavy). Dinner was buffalo chicken cheesesteaks w/ a sprinkling of blue cheese on top. No buffaloes were harmed in the making of these snacks. Amanda went back up to her house – I threw in 2 loads of laundry & got ready for a busy week:

I hope everyone is doing their thing this December. Good wins by the Hawks, bad loss(es) for the Skins & Taylor family, & hopefully everyone is vibin’ & survivin’!

Holler. Miss you like a bullseye on a dartboard.