Last night K and I had a wonderful dinner at Woody's on the Water. Yummy food (lamb was amazing!) and the server had a nice sense of humor (after a little political joke here and there from hubby).

There was some live jazz playing which was a great added bonus, the hostess asked if we wanted to sit in the room with the band (we arrived a few minutes before they came to set up) and anticipating a loud band, we chose a room away from the band. We didn't need to, the band was a nice, mellow jazzy duo just setting the mood perfectly.

Afterward we went to The Grand Cinema just up from my studio...and saw the show Choke. Yeah, and I almost did. not so much into this movie...there were some funny parts to it, like when the "hero" has gone on a date with a woman who wants him to pretend to be raping her...and it is funny...but past that I found it hard to identify or really even care about this guy, and his wasted messed up life. Whatever. I wish I liked it more, K thought it was very funny, and that, I wish I could have shared with him.

Amay Krouse Rosenthal is a person who likes to make things.... namely books.  But she has a wonderful couple of posts on YouTube....first watch here, then see this.  Ahhh, so wonderful.  Makes you want to be a part of it right?  Then check this out!

I recently came home from a trip to Nairobi, Kenya. I went to explore some options at the International School of Kenya in the heart of Kenya. Amazingly beautiful school. I had a wonderful time. An old colleague of mine from last year is currently teaching there. Strong, beautiful, independent, pretty much everything I feel like I am lacking, this woman possesses. She hosted me in her house and we had a wonderful time. Another teacher from the school came along on a whim…and it seems as if it was fortuitous for her because she got the job she interviewed for while there!

Anyway, while in Kenya, we went away for a beautiful weekend to a couple of “soda lakes” just west of Nairobi. I had seen Lake Nakuru before when we had traveled through from Egypt for a “quick safari” during Christmas time of 2005/06. It was great to see how the population of the different wildlife changes from time to time.

So, the picture above is from this trip. I am planning on uploading some of my sketches soon, but until then, here is one of my pics. The picture above is a beautiful giraffe at the giraffe center….amazing!

LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULEZ!

This past Saturday, while all y'all state-side were getting ready to celebrate a nice 3 day weekend, we in Lagos were celebrating Mardi Gras...attached is a photo of our beautiful selves....

Lagos is famous for it's beer. There are so many to choose from, it is hard to pick just which one to drink. Oh sure, people in the Pacific Northwest seem to think they have the market cornered on this delicious temptation, but actually, Lagos has many many many more.

As a salute to the hops of Nigeria, we chose to honor our favorite beer here, Star Beer. It has a nice formaldehyde aftertaste, if you can get past the fuel taste of it. Put it in the freezer, make a beer-slushie and it is even better (mmmmm...the thistle is calling me....)

Being educators (can I really call myself that?!?), you must know that we hold ourselves up to the greatest public scrutiny. (HA!) Anyway, not that you guys really need to know that we in Lagos like to celebrate our drinking habit, but, incase you were wondering, it is how we get through our week. So, in recognition of that, we were the crew of Stars, there were All Stars, Rock Stars, Fallen Stars, Porn Stars, Seeing Stars, Stars and Strips, the North Star, Movie Stars... even the kids were Nebulas. And, do I really have to say...we were all drinkin’ cold cold Star beer. (and, throwing water balloons...we learn well from the kids....it is really funny to watch people rush for something they think are beads and candy, when, in fact, it is a water balloon! Hehehehe....)

So, since most of you are…well, okay, both of you (hi mom, hi sis) know what has happened to my family in the last month, I won’t go into details. Suffice it to say D-man and I got to go on an unexpected trip to Paris. The above sketches show some of what we experienced. While the first half was scary, unsure, anxiety ridden, hospital overload…the second half of the week was the Pi not allowed to fly, and us stuck in Paris. What a place to be stuck. We made the best of it. We are planning on visiting Paris on our way home so Dunc and I just didn’t want to do all the things we would be doing with Daddy and J-Bear. Instead, we figured out the metro (easy!), ate lots of good food, fed lots of birds, and enjoyed the café scene.

Actually, the end of school has come upon us, and as we say farewell to all those wonderful friends we have made here, we get ready to embark on yet another adventure. A little time in Paris again, then another surgery for Pi’s arm. We will then be traveling onto the NW, while K gets ready to head off to Hawaii again. J and D are coming with me to Hawaii to meet Dad’s boat as he lands. Then, before we come back to Lagos for one last final year, we will stop off in Firenza for a week to recharge our batteries for that long hard Nigerian winter.

I am not sure how much I can post this summer, depends on family and their willingness to let me use their computer. If not…then a fond farewell till fall.