Snow Day

I wish I could take the day off of work and curl up in an armchair with a great book. I would spend the day reading and watching the snow fall out my front windows. Aaaaah.

Trees covered in snow are some of the prettiest things to me. They look delicate like lace, but pretty (unlike lace).* I also love the look of the Rockies covered in the snow and reflecting a golden, pink, or purple sunset. I hope I get to see that a few times before I go. Especially because there are no mountains anywhere near Paris.**



*I'm guessing none of you know this about me. I hate lace. I think it is ugly, with only a few rare exceptions. I'm more of a minimalist, and so lace just looks gaudy and over-embellished to me. Though there are rare instances when I think it is beautiful. Rare instances.
**I don't know how I'll ever be able to tell direction. You can click here to see a panoramic shot taken from the top of the Eiffel Tower. It's got a lot of distortion, but you can at least see that there are no mountains. :)

Just A Month...

until I fly away on a jet plane.

I started packing yesterday. Is that too soon?

I am a classic over-packer. But I'm looking forward to packing for a 5 month adventure, because I'm pretty sure that means it will be impossible to overpack. Suh-weet!!

I have two checked bags, a carry-on, and a laptop bag. I don't actually know how I'm going to get all of my luggage from the airport to my apartment in Paris, but I'm pretty sure I'll be shelling out a few Euros so I don't have to do it by myself.

And I'm not going to lie... I'm probably going to ship my pillow and my earring organizer over. Mock me if you must, but a good night's sleep and NOT sifting through hundreds of tangled earrings are totally worth the extra effort (and cost).

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

One of the blogs in my Google Reader is Paris Daily Photo by Eric.
Today Eric shared about a meeting he had with Yann Arthus-Bertrand, a well-known photographer (and the genius behind Earth From the Air, one of my favorite series of photographs).

Eric also shared the link to 6 Billion Others, a massive project being done by Arthus-Bertrand. I think it's an incredible project: very personal and detailed, but global and eye-opening at the same time. And the BONUS is that they are going to have an exhibit in Paris from January 10-February 12th. I'm definitely going to make an effort to get the exhibit. (School doesn't start until February 10th, so after the first couple days of getting settled in, I'll be off on some fun adventures, doing some exploring, and going to several museums.)

Check out these two projects. I think they're both fascinating. Arthus-Bertrand seems like a man with BIG ideas and the ability (and resources... wow) to see them through. I wonder if he needs an intern... :)

No Christmas Eve Hustle and Bustle for Me

I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday. I hope everything gets here in time (I bought half of my presents online).

Now I just have to wrap everything.

IKEA wrapping paper

A Vision of Students Today - OR - Why I think YouTube is a Great Teaching Resource

Have any of you seen this video before? I think it's fascinating.




Maybe part of why I like it so much is that when I get home from France part of The Plan includes trying to get a job as a teacher at some point.

I think it's important for teachers (and as a trainer I thought this was very applicable to me in my job, so I promise... I'm not judging) to incorporate technology into the classroom. I think it provides an additional audio/visual/interactive element that is very often lacking, and it provides a sense of continuity and relevance between what is being taught in class and the things the kids are Googling or YouTube-ing or blogging on their own time.

Plus I think it allows teachers to access resources that they might not have been able to track down as easily otherwise (clips of certain songs, movies, etc.). Even better, a teacher could upload a specialized video or presentation of some kind. This could be viewed in class or as part of a homework assignment. Even better than that, there's a whole world of potential interactive projects that the kids could record (in or out of class) and post online themselves (or have their parents or teacher upload it) to be viewed in class, reviewed by the teacher, or shared with family and friends.

Maybe you think this is a good idea, maybe you don't. But I'm not gonna lie... when I'm a teacher, we'll be You Tube-ing.

Brian Regan

Another comedian I really like is Brian Regan. He's much less scandalous and still really funny. Here are a few good clips from him.

The Squealing Princess

Hayleigh is quite the squealer. She doesn't seem to laugh so much as just squeak and squeal when she's enjoying herself or thinks that something is funny. I can't wait to see what she sounds like when she talks.

I think Dad took this video last week while we were putting up the Christmas tree at Mom and Dad's.

I wish I still thought peek-a-boo was this funny... there's hours of free entertainment to be had there.

SOLD!

Well, it's really official now. My house is sold!! It funded today, and I feel rich.


Don't worry, the feeling won't last. I am moving to one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Photo by TracyO via Flickr.

Oh, So Helpful

This interactive map of the Paris metro/RER systems and I will be best buds while I'm in France.

How cool is this? It's like MapQuest for the Paris Metro and RER system (which is more like a commuter train, because it has fewer stops and goes farther out into the suburbs).

You just enter your beginning and ending metro stops, and it shows you the most efficient way to get there, including the names of the stops where you have to switch, and which direction you need to take on each new line you jump onto. Via this site I discovered that I don't actually have to make two transfers to get to school... I can just hop on the RER instead of the Metro. Hooray!

This is how I get from my apartment to school. Or the Musée d'Orsay. Or the Eiffel Tower. I would also just have to hop over the river from this line to get to the Louvre. Convenient, no?

Daaaarling Paper Flower Ornaments

If you don't feel like blowing a bundle of money on christmas tree ornaments, you could make a bunch of these super cute ornaments designed by Jessica at How About Orange. Cute, easy, and budget-friendly. Perfect.