Happy Groundhog Day!

6:00 comes early every day!

It's official . . .

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I'm back in my fat clothes.

The diet begins again.  Now the question is which one . . .

just thought I'd share

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aint that the truth. . .

this morning on my way to work. . .

The weather is beautiful here in Portugal.  The climate is temperate and the 2 times that there have been snow flurries here in Lisbon in the last 50 years were considered major events and still talked about today - hahahaaha.  For months now we have had sunny skies and beautiful afternoons.  The nights dip down and you really need a comforter but overall we are blessed.  Except, that we need more rain. . .

We had showers Saturday and Sunday nights, wee into the early hours of the morning.  How accommodating is that of Mother Nature? 

On my ride to school this morning I experienced a mishap that shook me. Last night it rained and the roads were slick. I was braking in a curve in a round-about when the brakes locked and I lost control of my car.  Suddenly nature was in control and I sat helplessly as my car skidded into the outside lane.  I wondered if I would hit the white car in the outside lane and thought about how much trouble that would cause.  I hoped for the best.  Luck was on my side and I missed hitting the white car by a nanosecond and no one hit me. Amazing! I experienced an adrenaline rush and my heart was beating fast and I felt shaky. My car stalled and as I hurried to start it again and get out of the line of traffic someone started blowing his/her horn at me.  This would have played out like a reality TV show for the people in the cars behind me.  They would have seen the near miss.  But instead of empathy, I got someone who blew his/her horn insistently at me. 

The human race still needs a lot of work.

Just another example of how the world is not a better place. . .

This week's door

This was my "softer" version . . .

Santa Cruz street and steps

This is a typical looking street sign here in Portugal.  It's beautiful.  It's made of glazed tiles and I imagine that these street signs are hand-made.  So lovely.  The downside is that these are all placed on walls and the sides of buildings. They are not on every corner and are often not easy to spot.  It's really difficult to know the names of streets here and people use landmarks when giving directions. (Go up 2 blocks and turn left at the pharmacy . . .)

Anyway, this street sign was at the top of a pair of "city" steps which lead to a small street.

The translation for the street sign is "Santa Cruz street and steps".

Medieval Clothes Dryer

inside the castle walls at Castelo da Vide - August, 2011

They are still drying clothes in this sleepy hilltop town the same way they did it 1,000 years ago. It's still the most economical and eco-friendly way of getting the job done.

Technology doesn't have much on the medievals. . .

e e cummings

Source: Uploaded by user via Julie on Pinterest

yeah, that's so true . . .

Welch's Grape Jelly

I've been living in Europe for a while now.  After I first arrived I craved food from home.  When I visited the States I would bring back foods that I could not get here.  Over the years that's changed and while I enjoy hoagies, meatball sandwiches, ranch dressing, Big Boys, Primanti Brothers, Benkovitz, breakfast at Pamela's in Shadyside, and Reese's anything and gain at least 4 pounds each visit,  I no longer stock my suitcase with these items.

We now have a couple of small grocery stores that carry international food items.  I stopped at one such shop that opened very recently and noticed that they carry Welch's Grape Jelly.  They don't produce grape jelly outside the US and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are not the same with raspberry jam.

Be still my heart.  As we get older, we realize that it's the small things that count.

moving forward

I live on Av. do Lago (Lake Avenue), only there's no lake.  It's a circle and you enter off Av. Saboia and the street snakes around and comes out about a 1/2 block up on Av. Saboia.  I think originally there was a plan to create an artificial lake and build condos around it.  But, it never happened.  About a year and a half ago the borough did some work on my street and the block where you enter Av. do Lago and the block where you exit Av. do Lago were made 1 way streets, BUT the middle block was not.  Go figure.  Anyway, this past week the entire street is now 1 way and it's all going in the same direction. Showing good sense on someone's part.

We're moving forward in more ways than one. . .

New Year's Resolutions

This is the door to my classroom at school. I'm trying to make a "feature" out of this unwelcoming, cold, metal door by decorating it and using it as a bulletin board.

Some of my students wrote their New Year resolutions on post-it notes.  Hahahahaha

Happy 2012

and another thing

hahahaha

Newton's laws of motion

This law has many implications.  One can rightly conclude that if I am pushed, I will push back . . .

YES

yes,   Yes,   YES

I just don't get it . . .

I don't get it.  I understand the concept of graffiti especially when used a a forum for revolution or to express social unrest or political messages.  I can also appreciate and would welcome street art. But this . . .

Sometimes I just sit and shake my head.

Happy 2012

Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.                                                                                                                                             Charles Richards