Sedona Style

We truly have priceless friends.  Several months back, well before our wedding date was decided upon, I brainstormed a hoodwink*** opportunity to provide for Charley as a Christmas (2012) gift.  I considered Sedona - how can hiking, spas, wineries, and mountains NOT be considered, right?  That wasn't my only consideration, but I shan't reveal the others here since Char reads this blog.  Heh.  In a passing conversation with my beautiful (on the inside and out) friend W, I wound up with an offer I simply could not refuse.  W and her equally beautiful (on the inside and out) hubs participate in a travel program and there just so happened to be made available a lil stay at a property in Sedona.  Kismet!  

Over Memorial Day weekend we jetted off to Arizona and enjoyed the sights, scenery, and smells.  Fresh air!  I took, er, a few photos.  The link is below.  This outing was my first adventure with my big girl camera, so you can see from the outset that I'm enamored with vegetation.  Especially up close and personal shots of vegetation.  Don't worry, we're all hoping this phase will pass.  You can also see from the photos that there are a LOT of rocks in Sedona.  Beautiful rocks!  

We'll assuredly return, and spend more time in Sedona, as well as venture out to Flagstaff, Jerome, and other suggested parts out there yonder.  If you find yourself in the neighborhood, we can wholly support these choices if you need recommendations:

We ate breakfast here three consecutive mornings.

We hiked at Red Rock, heart stopping vistas.

We made friends with a soon-to-be-married couple at Page Springs Cellars.

Piktors: I will learn how to cull photos from albums in the future. #biggirlcameradisease

***Hoodwink:  otherwise known as the stink-eye, according to Andrea, is something Charley and I do for each other now and then.  One plans a trip for the other, without revealing the destination until we depart at the airport.  A hoodwink!

Gold Rush

Whilst (such a snobby term) on honeymoon in Puerto Rico (details and photos in a future blog), why NOT catch up on previous blog-worthy notes?!

In April, before the wedding countdown preparation schedule conked us over the heads and shouted, "I'M HERE!" we traveled to San Luis Obispo, CA, with a stop en route in Santa Barbara.  One word, for all of it:  drool.  Once we departed the concrete wonderland that is LA, we stopped for sleep and stomach fuel in Woodland Hills, CA.  From there, we landed for a brief afternoon in romantic, picturesque, quaint, and charming Santa Barbara.

You were right - Andrea, this place is "hubba hubba."  A lunch of fresh seafood, some photos, and people watching, then we were on our way north to San Luis Obispo.  Along THAT route, we stopped at Gaviota State Park.  Aside from the cameo appearance the park makes in the movie Sideways, the beauty was astounding.  Here is a sneak peak:

Once in San Luis Obispo, we checked into Madonna Inn (no relation), which - to me - is a hybrid of what Liberace's guest house in Canada may resemble if he had partnered with a nature enthusiast.  Did Liberace ever have a guest house in Canada?  Did he ever have a nature enthusiast partner?  Doesn't matter.  Just picture it.  Go on, you know you wanna.  Here's a peep into our hotel room:

During our two night stay at the Madonna Inn, we spectated at the San Luis Obispo show of The Postal Service. Quality show.  San Luis Obispo is a charming community, and we enjoyed each moment spent in the open air restaurants, shops, and lounges.  Charley ventured out to see http://thefaint.com/ the second evening, while I stayed in our room and admired the rock formations and flocked wallpaper.  

It was difficult to leave this beautiful country, especially after discovering the easily accessible wine vineyards - where we made friends with at least one native Texan - but for now we have photos to quench our thirst for the scenes:  http://piangenti.shutterfly.com/pictures/478

“Travel is the art form available to Everyman. You sit in the coffee shop in a strange city and nobody knows who you are, or cares, and so you shed your checkered past and your motley credentials and you face the day unarmed ... And onward we go and some day in the distant future, we will stop and turn around in astonishment to see all the places we've been and the heroes we were.” ― Garrison Keillor

It's a garden party

If you don't know Donna T., well, let me assure you that she's a basket of blessings and beauty in one, tough, funny, and charming package.  She hosted a bridal tea party for me, and we invited our colleagues along to celebrate with us.  She left us thirsting <punny> for more Donna time, as well as time at her spectacularly warm and inviting country homestead.  The T.'s home is a testament to family, creativity, and craftsmanship.  I could write an entire blog post on Mr. T.'s carpentry, artistry, and engineering talents.

But on to the gal time bonding, because, honestly, that's in a typical female's top five favorite pursuits.  We had the best of estrogen, sans the drama.  We had chickens running amok, minus the poop.  We had culinary delights and tasty beverages for the palate.  We had lovely little humans, and we EVEN had our own guitarist serenade us!  I mentioned Mr. T.'s numerous talents, right?

I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story:  http://piangenti.shutterfly.com/pictures/229

Blackboard will want me to be a BbWorld VIP blogger because...

Disclaimer:  the post title will not be included in the BbWorld mandated 100 words or fewer count because, well, I reserve the prerogative to establish my own rules in my blog.

"…I sometimes take roll in the classroom with a megahorn.  Because I know a key to keeping middle school students on their toes is to fool them into believing I’m JUST.a.wee.bit loonier than them.  Blackboard will want me to blog at BbWorld because I can bring zip to the doo-da, while effectively and richly communicating with anyone who will listen just how vital a role public education plays in our culture. I’m passionate about painting a picture through words, particularly when related to placing students first.  Always." #BbWorld13 @Blackboard

I wrote this piece that was, amazingly enough, published in Newsweek's "My Turn" column:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/10/10/i-am-not-a-babysitter.html

A teacher will do just about anything to leave campus for a rare lunch away, at a table, seated in a chair, including riding in the hatch of an at-capacity vehicle:

Megahorn Maiden

 Real men marry teachers. 

"They will never, EVER forget this shower!"

I haven't stopped ranting exclaiming that statement since Andrea hosted a most magically magnificent spa bridal shower - a SPASHER!  For me.  Me, me, me, me, me, meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.  Honestly, I always thought I'd feel super awkward, selfish, and too "center of attention-ish" <in a negative way> to be the shower recipient but after this experience, well, I'll be transparent here again and admit - that treatment ain't half bad!  Even in the midst of semi-silence while I was in between gifts and many pairs of eyes were awaiting, I felt zero awkwardness.  Zilch.  Zip.  Nada.  Maybe I'm not as selfless as I thought.  Snort.

Now, onto the highlight of the shower:  the spa.  My friends are still raving about Andrea's creativity and generosity.  What gal doesn't love a spa day?  The massages, the pedicures, the manicures, the steam rooms, the saunas, the refreshing beverages...oh my!  It was, hands down, one of the single BEST and most enjoyable days of my life.  I am so fortunate to have friends and family that gathered around, "showering" me with fun and love.

Andrea, you knocked this out of the park, over the bay, along the street, and down the rabbit hole.  In line with several of my friends having asked, "Where can I find an Andrea," I'm incredibly blessed with a best friend connection that's spanned many years, many miles, an international date line, and more bottles of 'cham-pan-YA' than we care to tally. My cup runneth over. I'm just so, so, so spectacularly grateful and appreciative for her friendship.

Andrea also surprised me with my first "grown up" handbag, and here it is, pictured with one of the other top shower gifts of the day, compliments of Alexis, my precious, the megahorn***:

Speaking of top shower gifts and surprises, my Mudda blew me away with my first "grown up" camera that I never suspected I'd actually own.  I've thirsted for an SLR camera for years, YEARS I tell you, but I'm entirely too frugal to invest in one and I tossed it onto the wedding registry merely for kicks.  Photography class, here I come!

"They will never, EVER forget this shower!"

After the spasher, we enjoyed a long, late lunch at a nearby cafe.  Grace and Emileigh (my niece, 2.0) entertained themselves, while the adults dined and chatted, by taking many dozens of selfies and posed shots in the restaurant, in front of the restaurant, and near the restaurant.  The novice junior photographers would then reveal each photograph taken by trotting back to our table, touring the perimeter, while showing each pic, to each gal in our party.  Good stuff.

Photos of the day:  http://piangenti.shutterfly.com/pictures/139

***Alexis hijacked and coveted my precious megahorn so frequently immediately after I fired it up with batteries, that I was left with no choice but to purchase one for her as well.  I could falsely claim it as a selfless act on my part, but it was 100%, sheer self-preservation.

Two Bebettes, My Mudda, & Me, on the Bayou

Two nights were just enough to convince me that Caddo Lake, Tejas is officially a new stop on my get-a-way radar.  Mudda and I - with little human sidekicks - are scheduled to return this fall, in fact.  Texas boasts many lakes and appealing landscape features in pockets of our vast state, but Caddo Lake is the only au natural Texas lake as well as the most intriguing scenery <in my opinion> destination in the state under six flags.

As rich as the aesthetics are, the history woven through the area is equally impressive.  I learned more in an hour on The Graceful Ghost, a "replica of an 1800's era steamboat and is the last known wood-burning, steam powered, stern paddle-wheel touring vessel in the world," than I have in quite some time, probably since an entire semester of a high school or college history course.  A few highlights:  

• Lady Bird Johnson, perhaps my favorite historical First Lady, was born and raised near Caddo Lake
• I'm aware of a 2011 movie titled "Uncertain, TX" but I'm not CERTAIN if it contains any factual features
• The handcrafted lift enabling large volumes of luggage and travel gear to be transported easily from an upper level parking cliff to the lodging levels of http://www.gatorlodge.com/
• A clock in the lodge that chirps a varied bird tweet for each hour of the day and night
• A leave one/take one book library, complete with a "Knife Laws of the Fifty States" guide
• Weeks of obsessing over a child (or adult) being snagged by a gator, thereby prompting me to include a baseball bat of Char's in my lake luggage - which had the unfortunate result of a certain little boy repeatedly chanting "I wanna kill an alligator" several times each day, while brandishing the bat about
• I don't possess a firearm (which is probably fortunate for mankind) so my logic ran along the lines of if I could not bop said gator about the head in my many imagined attacks with the aforementioned bat, I could simply shove the bat into the awaiting gator's jaws

My adventure photos:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/piangenti/sets/72157633169505154/

Mudda's adventure photos:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/94351246@N05/sets/72157633163569419/

Side trivia:  Don Henley has a small house on the bayou but it's so nondescript that this photo was focused more on the waterfowl than the structure's corner.

General factoids:  Click here! But watch carefully for gators.

I'm on a shirt.

Just a mere few weeks from officialism!  This is the backside of our school's girls' soccer team shirt, for the current soccer season:

In other news, I can most optimistically hope that, like this article asserts, my students' worst fear should ever be boredom:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/03/17/school-security-newtown-gun-column/1979723/

Of course!  ---> @ristolable: A fun thing to do is walk up to a crowd of people, take off your shoe, put it up to your ear, say "Is this thing on?" and walk off laughing. <Genius, I would glee to meet that Twitter person one day.>

I experienced a flashback/grab-my-heart moment recently when accidentally catching a segment on 60 Minutes.  While working with Job Corps prior to entering public education, I had the privilege of working with one of the Lost Boys of Sudan.  I regret that I do not know what became of him and his journey, and I met the young man when he was extremely new to America - the term "Lost Boys of Sudan" had not yet even been popularly established for the group of around 20k child refugees from their war-torn African home.  The update story that 60 Minutes facilitated is linked below, if you're interested in learning more.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57577085-10391709/our-amazing-12-year-journey-with-the-lost-boys/