WOW! Okay, WHIRLWIND of events but they counter the things that occur that are negative that occur.  I apologize to my readers who see a pattern of my venting when negative appear to the surface.  When I get pulled into the negative comments, remarks, etc, I explode and just want to say – “If you don’t like it, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!”

On that note, let’s talk about how AWESOME things are thanks to the people around me – Yesterday – Xochimilco – WoW – DOUBLE WOW! What a GREAT day!  I remember going last year as a new hire and was intrigued, but this year was FANTASTIC!  Thanks to Jack – Janet’s hubby, he hired a Mariachi before Elisa had  chance to – and well, okay they  were off- key and a little rough – but – this set the stage for – yes, the same group we had last year – and as Maraichi’s go – they rocked!  (Can Maraichi’s rock?) lol.

The sun was out, it was a perfect day, we laughed all day, I had my first elote  (YES, I will be having more!) – a followup Michelada – it was early but I have to say that combo of Chili – YUM –  this is the thing with the Elote – biting into this – a cooked corn on the cob, with luscious mayonnaise and chili – just for started, MOUTHWATERING! I mean it, it was better than  thought could be from a combo and well, I am hooked!

I keep forgetting the story of the baby dolls, so here is the link!

http://thelostdutchman.hubpages.com/hub/The-Island-of-the-Dead-Dolls

The music rocked but the company there made the day THE BEST! I love this trip out of all things, perhaps the most  Discussing the Steelers with a fellow colleague’s boyfriend/(or husband – I never did find that out!) was a little highlight that added to this day.

When we got to the plants, wow – no holds barred – I remembered what I wished I would have gotten last year – so – this year TONS of pots, between three of us hiring a wagon (Veronica, Bill, and myself) we looked like we could open up our own stand!  I took pics of the ones  I grabbed now at my house, grabbed, and then cool thing was we took a bus for just the plant buying people, and headed to our homes self delivering them, saving TONS – TONS of $$$$$!  The hard part was getting the huge bag of dirt, a pot the size of my sink, and several plants up 4 flights of stairs.  No casualties, except a cracked window trying to get it onto the balcony.  What is it with that, first Amanda’s apartment, my old apartment, and this one and cracked windows?  However, after setting the dirt in place and getting all arranged, I definitely made the right choice in getting these for the apartment!

I realized I have gotten to know better the area of Mexico City as we find everyone’s homes too! I loved this day and am so glad it came!

And speaking of firsts, selling almost ALL our Repentino. magazines thanks to the marketing skills of our staff and Mr. De la Parra, who single handedly went out like the musical Newsies and made all of ASF aware of the magazine – this was just a precursor to the event that would blow us away- receiving word the next day that we received –

drumroll

– the SILVER Trophy for our magazine from Columbia University!  WHAT? I had to read it twice, and the feedback we received  will be priceless to turn around make Repentino. for ASF – a landmark publication representing the four corners of the globe.  The staff, Admin, and all involved with Repentino. so deserved this!   I loved Back to School night despite the burps and inconsistencies we sometimes have with having food, etc ready!

Yet it got better- the faculty from Upper School took a bus to their homes and five of us – Mr Hamilton, Megan, Veronica, the newest English teacher from…(Chicago maybe?) and me hunkered down and just chatted the night away. To be honest, it was one of the best Friday nights I ever had, we had SUCH a GREAT time together and we didn’t even know we would as we well, never had done that all together before.  This was truly a GREAT end to a cool evening of parents at Back to School Night, ending in Roma Norte!

Sunday – the day that the Steelers play the Bronco’s!  I am psyched – PSYCHED!

Attending the Meetup.com today at Museo de San Idelfonso, La lengua de Ernesto exposition, with good friends just adds to the excitement of what a great month this has been!

Last night, I needed cat litter, which led e to an excursion, in my truck, where I thought I was going to just around a few streets to the grocery store.  Um, no, somehow, the grocery Store Chedraui that Deb Lawrence had shown me, was not in the place my mind envisioned (shocking), I stopped to refuel and PemEx and the attendant in great Spanish and my bad Spanish – we communicated our love for the Steelers and he directed me in the direction of what I thought would be Chedraui, but I ended up in Buena Vista, (AMAZING WAL MART THERE) despite I do not like Wal Mart. In getting lost for like 2 hours, driving, lol, I got all I needed, food, cat supplies, more dirt, pots, etc, giving the garage attendant 10 pesos which he bowed and thanked God for, (he might have been the nicest person I had met) since earlier  today…

What a crazy and unplanned day, of meeting people, I didn’t know, did know, and just celebrating the day – several times I knew I was lost but recognizing the metrobus helped direct me back to DF – although I passed the airport like THREE TIMES.  It was funny because I could actually see the inside route of the metro as it passed me and I could tell I was headed toward the pink line – and I was driving, and I knew I was headed back!

I came back home to the building next door, 4th floor, having a Karaoke party – it was hysterical listening and watching them singing to the teleprompter, yet there was something satisfying falling asleep hearing them sing to the songs by the Beatles after all the songs in English they were singing, for them, Karaoke was being used for their party but ALSO to help them speak English better – AWESOME idea!

My second floor neighbors also were having a party and as you walked by you could hear the parents singing with the children – way too cool party involving everyone.  It was a final night to a week of so many highlights, and this is only Sunday morning!

I have 1000 updates to the restaurant blog which will happen over the next week (fingers crossed) and missing the Friday night restaurant is okay- having one of those blinding headaches and sleeping all night into Saturday morning helped me prep for the good days that followed!

I tried to recap the last several days that have taken the negative aspects of things that occur, and counter them with the priceless events that occur among friends, students, and fellow colleagues, that boils down to one word – friends.  Time spent with the people that just want to enjoy life, and make it a good one, well, the three words – Life is Good – results. You haven’t even hard the best part yet about the Department of Defense, a call for papers about Librarians and Media Specialists impacting the international libraries, and…okay …next post!  Stay tuned for the pictures on Tuesday that will go with this blog (inserted later).

A lost Kudos to Tammy Pham, Anthony, and other volunteers that went back and cleaned up Soroptomist Park – activism happening in Delaware and warming me up to how awesome student are in Mexico and Delaware.  We are surrounded by some pretty awesome people if we take the time to notice…:)