Welcome Back, Fall

Currently Watching: Planet Earth. (With my roommate who is student teaching in 4th grade, and has to take notes on parts that might be inappropriate to watch in class. I find that so amusing.)

I'm fairly certain that a week ago today it was still summer in Cville, but throughout the week it has crept slowly into the beginnings of Fall. It started subtly enough with some offhand comments about the incredible weather early in the week (brilliantly sunny without the humidity or heat, i.e. perfection) early in the week, but by the weekend I was wearing a cardigan. Fall can be pretty sneaky that way.

Last week was a busy week (I've completely taken on one block of sixth graders + I had a birthday + we had Back to School night) follwed by a busy weekend (my sister came to visit + I was sick + we celebrated my birthday by going to a Polo game), and next week is looking equally busy (I take on a second block of sixth graders!), so I think I will have to stop and remind myself to enjoy the quiet beauty that is Charlottesville seeping into Autumn. This might involve sipping some caramel cider while I write lesson plans, checking out the new Avett Brothers CD (the music video above is a good one, huh?) and wearing my new impulse-buy perfect-teacher-dress from Target. Actually, I am envisioning that all of these things could happen in one sitting...

Melkam Addis Amet!

Currently Writing: tomorrow's lesson plan

Today is Ethiopian New Year's!

In the Ethiopian calendar, there are 13 months -- 12 months of 30 days each, then a 13th shorter month called Pagume, made up of all the leftover days. And in Ethiopia, today is the first day of 2005! (Another fun fact: Ethiopians also tell time differently -- it's six hours off from Western time, because they start counting the day when the sunrises (and, being so close the equator, the sun rises at a pretty regular time the whole year round.) So, for example, our 8:00 would be their 2:00. I'm sure you can imagine the confusion in planning that this can sometimes cause...)

Five years ago, Ethiopians celebrated the millennium, and they celebrated it big. And as that year was a leap year, it meant that New Year's fell on the 12th, which also happens to be my birthday! This meant the day off school and driving to the outskirts of town and midnight to sit on the car's roof rack and watch fireworks shooting up all across the city. Such a good memory.

So melkam addis amet to all my habesha friends!

[photography by Esther Havens, via Pinterest. Isn't it beautiful?]

Tea Party

Currently Listening To: Ronan, Taylor Swift

In honor of my mom's birthday, which was yesterday, I'd like to show a little love to one of her favorite things: tea. She makes it about five times a day, and whenever I am there, she makes me a cup too. A hot cuppa (British style, with milk and sugar...or, as we used to say when we had a little Beatrix Potter tea set that had a little Peter Rabbit illustration on the inside of the mug, "tea to his tail, milk to his ears") always makes me think of home and my mama!

 

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Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you.