...a carrot

I have been here for six months.  Six months!   August 4th, 2011 seems like an eternity ago.  Life has gotten easier in many ways, but school continues to get busier and busier.  It's mid-year and the push is on to get paperwork taken care of.  We were observed last week and heard through the grapevine that Teacher Portfolios will be checked this week.  (Just what exactly is supposed to be in said portfolio hasn't been shared with us--one of the many things we're supposed to "know" without being told.)  My observation went well and I expect I'll be told if my portfolio is missing something important.  The girls and I are having fun with our chosen theme this trimester (The Cinderella Story) but I still feel like I'm in that mid-year slump. 

It helps to have a carrot out there to keep me going.

My sister Arlene and I have been planning and saving for a trip to France and Italy for the past five years, and this summer is THE summer.  We'll be meeting in Paris on the 18th of July, spend two weeks traveling, then fly home together.  We have a house on a lake reserved for a week in Provence, and plan on going to Venice, Bologna, Pisa, and Assissi, if time permits.  To say that we're excited is an understatement.

My last day of school is the 12th of July and I've been wondering how to spend those days until meeting Arlene on the 18th.  I was thumbing through my Lonely Planet book today and something caught my eye: Fat Tire Bike Tours in Paris.  Yes!  Question answered. I am even more excited, if that is possible!