Mes Nouveaux Amis. My New Friends.

I know, I know. . . I haven't blogged in months and months and months. I've been slacking for sure. However, I had to write about this last weekend, because it was très magnifique.

Ardon works at the University Inn right off campus of the University of Washington. Many of his work stories include interesting guests from all around the world, whether they're visiting campus as incoming Freshmen, or need accomodations while they visit from overseas. Last week, his guests included a group of African ballet dancers from France who conducted workshops and performed at Meany Hall all week. They were all members of Compagnie la Calebasse in Paris. Ardon kept telling me how cool they all are, and how much fun they are to have as guests at the hotel because they brought a great energy. He made friends with them over the week, and they gave Ardon 2 free tickets to see their show. So, he and I went not knowing what to expect to see, and the show was amazing. After the performance, they invited us to join them backstage, and I got to meet them. I was quite excited because it was a great opportunity to brush up on my French skills! The following night, we took them out into the city to DANCE, and we all had such a great time together. They returned to Paris on Sunday, and I miss them already. They are such wonderful, beautiful people who are truly great company, and they all have such intriguing life stories. I can't even begin to describe how talented and wonderful they all are because it wouldn't do them any justice. I'm so blessed to have crossed paths with an amazing group of gentlemen. Ardon and I just keep talking about how we miss them, and how we need to go to Paris to see them again. If you ever hear about Compagnie la Calebasse, I encourage you to go watch the show. . . Or better yet, watch the show and meet them. You'll never forget it.

Backstage after the show with Ardon and Serge (in orange).
Serge is a principal dancer in the company. He grew up in Africa and has travelled the world through dance. I don't remember the names of the other guys, but they were all so much fun.

Tony and Ardon. Tony performed all week with a broken wrist.

Merlin, Ardon, Serge, and me
Merlin is the founder of the company and the choreographer of the program. He is incredibly talented. His vision as a choreographer and artist is on a whole other level. He and Serge grew up in the same village in Africa and are now very successful dancers.

Bile (Bee-lay)
He was quite excited to see that I love Paris too, and he had to pose with le Tour d'Eiffel. Man, he was such a great character.

The Incredible Couch. Merry Christmas to Me!

At long last, my new furniture has arrived! After a week long delay due to the snow storm and terrible road conditions, the furniture made its way. My new dining table came right before Christmas and my new couch came yesterday! I'm so excited. My house is finally feeling more like a home. Now, I know the couch is quite large. I became aware of this as the delivery men were putting it together, and I ALMOST thought it might be too big for my place. . . until I sat in it. It's soooo comfortable, and I can't let it go. Al and Shawna stayed the night last night, and all 3 of us slept on the couch, WITH ROOM TO SPARE!

I LOVE MY HOME! Come over and hang out!

My new couch and dining table.
(Excuse the extra clutter.)

The view of the living room from the front door.
It really is a massive sectional, and I adore it.

Tin picked out the throw pillows. They look great.
I'm still waiting for my new ottoman, so those two end table won't be staying.

Shawna and Al waking up from a comfy slumber in the new couch.
They give the new couch 10 thousand thumbs up. They say it's a keeper for sure.

The Snow Brings City Lights and New Recipes

For the last couple of days, Seattle has been covered in ice. Automobiles have been skidding through intersections, people have been falling on the sidewalks, small businesses around South Lake Union are closing at earlier hours, and many folks have decided to just stay home. Auntie Lita and Mel are in town for the holidays, and I couldn't even drive down to my parents' house and see them! To add to the horrible outdoor conditions, it began to snow yet again today in the early afternoon. And the snow still falls as I blog at 10pm. Looking out my window over 9th Ave, I see that what was a super slick road this morning is now a crunchy white path.

As Ardon and I just sat at home, we watched the snow fall and fall and fall and fall. We were getting cabin fever, and we weren't going to let the snow get in the way of fun. We thought it would be fun to bundle up, grab the cameras and face what news reporters are calling the December Freeze. So, that is exactly what we did, and it was all so beautiful. The snow was falling, the ground was covered in white and hardly uninterrupted by tire tracks, the streets were lined with lighted trees, and it really felt like Ardon and I were the only people left in Seattle. Sometimes you couldn't even tell where the sidewalk ended and the road began because the snow had piled on so thick. After about a half hour of walking around the area in the frigid cold, we headed home. If we had stayed out any longer, our noses would have frozen off of our faces. We had pretty much frozen our bodies out there, and we instantly began to thaw as soon as we entered the warm condo. It was a perfect moment for comfort food, so I got out some recipes and filled the condo with sweet and savory aromas. So, while the snow storm put the city's hustle and bustle to a screeching hault, I managed to have a lovely day.

9th Ave directly in front of the condo.
Ardon stood in the middle of the road and jumped for the camera.
Usually at 5pm on a Saturday, this would be a much busier road.

The snow, lit by the street lamp, falling on Ardon.

Westlake Ave. Not a car in the road--a complete rarity. The lights were pretty.

The Space Needle from 9th Ave and Harrison.

After coming home, I baked some of my special Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

And I cooked Tinola for the very first time!
It was a success. The warm soupy broth with the chicken, baby bokchoy, and papaya over warm rice was so good on a cold day. It's truly my idea of comfort food.

Seattle Snow: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The snow accumulation on my deck measured about an inch and a half at around noon. And the snow is still falling, but even harder now! If downtown is this bad, I could only imagine how much worse it is in the surrounding areas.

9th and Harrison.
Cars have been skidding through this intersection all morning. This guy's tires spun a little after the light turned green.

The parking lot across the street. Notice the Audi having a bit of fun as he exits the lot.

The tracks that the Audi left in the parking lot. Donut galore.

The Good (Actually, the GREAT):
My work load this week has been. . .

• Monday - 2 hour delay

• Tuesday - 2 hour delay

• Wednesday - School Closed. A flake of snow did not even fall, and I got a lot of my Christmas shopping done--finally.
  

• Thursday (Today) - School Closed. I get to catch up on the deep cleaning of my condo that I've been meaning to get done.

• Tomorrow - Who knows? I'm keeping my fingers crossed for closures, and then Winter Break starts! I don't have to go back until January 5th.
  

I love my job this week!!!

The Bad: Roads are really awful today and I can't finish my shopping. The furniture that I'm expecting to be delivered to my condo are no longer going to come due to the bad road conditions. So, here I live in a rather empty home, which will remain empty until the weather improves. This is unfortunate because the relatives are coming to visit this weekend and there is nowhere to sit or nothing to show. Welcome to my home with some area rug, a TV, and a Christmas tree!

The Ugly: West Seattle is ugly right now. The snow is thicker than downtown and the roads are turning into ice skating rinks. I would say that of all Seattle, West Seattle has been hit the hardest by the storm so far. Because of this, I can't get to school to feed my poor fish! This could get really ugly.

Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other is GOLD!

Our new Golden Chinese Algae Eater. The children named him Junior.

While Sharmin will forever be remembered as the OGAE (Original Gangster Algae Eater) of the tank, we must welcome our new addition to the crew. After a devastating loss, and a thick accumulation of algae, another family from our classroom gave us a wonderful new friend to help keep the tank nice and clean.

Each day after the loss of Sharmin, the tank got a little greener. After about a week, one of my students's moms approached me one morning and said, "I think I'm gonna go to PetCo down the street and get us something to clean up all that algae." I thought that was a swell idea. That afternoon, when she came to pick up her child, she had a new algae eater in tow. Looking at in the plastic baggie, it looked TINY compared to the hefty Sharmin, so I wasn't even sure if it was even an algae eater. Furthermore, I wasn't sure if it was going to survive in a tank with Sparkles, who can be quite aggressive at times.

I gathered the children together to introduce them to the new alleged algae eater. I warned them about what could happen, and to not be surprised if we find him floating or if we don't see any remains at all when we come in the next morning. We also needed to decide on a name for the new fish. After gathering all their ideas and voting on one name, we ended up with the name JUNIOR, as suggested by my student Lance. Junior actually kind of looks like Sparkles' mini-me, so I think the name suits him well.

It's been a little over a week, and he's still alive and really sucking down that algae! Our tank is getting clearer and clearer by the day, which is quite impressive considering how small he is! He and Sparkles are getting acquainted beautifully. The children love to watch them chase each other around in the tank, or they love to look for Junior because he's so small.

I'm glad that the children and Sparkles are enjoying Junior. All is well in the world again.

R.I.P. Sharmin =(

The late Sharmin, a Siamese Algae Eater

I just experienced my first major pet loss today. Sharmin, my Siamese Algae Eater was found floating at the top of the fish tank when I walked into my classroom. He has been with me for a little more than 3 years. I adopted him from one of my former students' family about 3 years ago, and we've been together ever since.

He was an addition to the fish tank after my first fish (Sparkles, who is still alive) was swimming in murky water. He remained nameless for a day, and I left it up to my students to name him. Before we decided on a name, I explained to them that he's an algae eater and that he keeps our tank clean, and all the green stuff that they see will be gone because he eats it. And then I said that he needed a name, and they suggested Tony or Rudy, which are the names of our school janitors. I suppose they wanted to name it after somebody who kept things clean. Then one student suggested Sharmin (Yes, like the toilet paper), and the rest of the group loved the name, so we went with that. The tank has been squeaky clean since he's lived in it. That summer, I didn't want to leave the tank in the classroom because the fish would not be looked after, so I moved the tank into my apartment.

When I moved out of my old apartment last month, I transferred the fish tank back into the classroom. Fast forward to today. Ardon and I stopped by my classroom today just to grab something. As soon as I walked in, I noticed that the fish tank looked a tad murky. I went over to feed the fish, and noticed a discolored Sharmin floating next to the filter. Sometimes he would float around like that, but when I'd put food into the tank, he'd move around. But this time, after I had put food into the tank, he didn't even move a fin. I knew we had lost him. I called Ardon over to come and scoop him out with the net (Ardon was across the room smuggling snacks out of the cupboard). As tears welled up in my eyes, Ardon was so great and graciously put him in a plastic bag, we brought him outside, and buried him under a tree. I'll miss the little vacuum fish. Now I have to get a new one because the algae is accumulating fast!

I don't know how to break the news to the kids. Wish me luck.

The Big 2-7

Oh, yes. It's that time of the year again. . . My birthday. I turn 27 tomorrow, which means I am officially in my late 20s. I had a fabulous birthday weekend. I got to spend it with all the people that I love--mom, dad, Mar, Tin, Vince, Michael, Isaac, Mia, and of course Ardon. On Friday night, Tin and Michael came over, and we went out to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. After dinner we stopped by my parents' condo just across the street from the restaurant, where Isaac was also staying. Boy, did he keep us entertained. The next morning, Ardon and I went back to the condo for a hearty breakfast cooked up by Mom, and then we all took a stroll at the Sculpture Park. Later that night, Ardon and I went to a friend's house warming party on Capitol Hill. On Sunday morning, Ardon and I met my parents at the 10am mass at St. James Cathedral, and then we all had brunch together. That evening, the whole family--Mar, Mia, Isaac, Vince, Ardon, Michael, tin, Dad, and Mom--met up for dinner in Bellevue. I didn't need a big party. As long as I had them with me, I was fine. Creating wonderful moments with my family over the whole weekend was much better.

Man, I'm 27. In the grand scheme of things, I'm still pretty young. However, it's the oldest I've ever been, so I don't know any different. How do I feel about it? Eh. I still feel like I'm 24, so I guess I'm ok. Life's really great, and I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I have wonderful family and friends, a great career, and an awesome boyfriend who got me a shiny new coffee maker that I can program to make me coffee every morning. He says I need to save money. What more could I ask for?