17 July 2007

catching up on tags...

So, first Lauri's "4" tag:

Four new things I did last year:
1. I travelled to Nice, France in the fall. I'd been to France, but not to Nice. Nice was nice. (Second graders find that hilarious...) I had a nice Nice haircut.

2. I bought my own train tickets in Russia by myself. I negotiated the lines (I do not have the genetic disposition and years of practice that my fellow line-negotiators have to manage this well), held some other lady's place, defended her right to leave and come back (in Russian, mind), AND got my tickets on the fast train.

3. I learned new things about my city. I really like the fact that the man who repaired the angel on the top of Peter and Paul Fortress (Despite my efforts, many of my students think it is named for Peter the Great and that his middle name is Paul--Peter Paul Fortress.) was rewarded with the privilege of being able to eat in any restaurant/pub FREE for the rest of his life.

4. I met lots of adoptive families!

Four new things I'm hoping for in the next year:
1. a daughter
2. or two
3. 12 weeks of FMLA
4. coming home to the US

And, Rachael's long-ago tag about summer. Rach, I didn't forget. I just don't like summer in general and in the city in particular. The white nights are impressive for a day or two, but make it impossible to sleep. I like sleep. The heat and humidity... nope. Fall is my favourite season with spring and winter tied for second place. But, always one to play the glad game, I'll give it a shot. Here is my best effort at the top ten little joys of this season, here in St. P, in 2007:

1. NO SCHOOL! That one was easy.

2. I can hang around in scruffy clothes because there is no school.
3. I don't have to get up at six in the morning because there is no school.
4. I can eat breakfast at 10, lunch at 1 and dinner at 4 and be done with food...because there is no school.

5. I like to wear capris, but don't know if this can go on a strictly summer list b/c I wear them all spring, too...

6. I used to love summer camp, both as a camper and as a counselor, but I haven't been in years.

7. Fresher and more abundant fruit. Yummy fruity drinks that serve as a meal.

8. The sound of a fan and the breeze it generates. The bliss of remembering to turn the pillow over to the cool side.

9. Summer doesn't last forever. The heat will go away, the bugs will die, the tourists will leave and nighttime darkness will return.

10. Fall is coming next!

10 comments:

Rachael said...

Oh Kate, you're a good sport. I'd actually forgotten that I tagged you (by now).

Come on, how can you not like summer with the no school and all?

Actually, fall is my favorite season too, but I really dislike winter, so that kind of puts a damper in my fall....just knowing it's coming.

JennStar said...

Capris are wonderful! We live in FLorida and I wear them year round (don't be jealous! LOL).
And what a wonderful list for then next year!!! Check them off one by one!

Holly said...

Fall is my favorite season too...can't wait to go pumpkin picking with Grace :-)

BTW...I have the d70, I don't think there's much size difference between that and the d40. If I were to do it all over again, I'd get the cannon. I'm increasingly unhappy with my nikon. It underexposes each shot...to keep the highlights, but what happens is that if you use the automatic button or forget to change the exposure by three stops, then the pics are too dark. You can photoshop them and then they're fine, but what a pain in the tush! I'm in over my head now with nikon gear, but if I could, I'd switch it all out for a cannon digital rebel.

Holly said...

Ok, another btw...I've decided to sell off my nikon gear and buy a canon. For some reason, my nikon now won't focus automatically, and that was the last straw. Costco has the rebel digital xti for a good price right now and I think that's my next camera :-)

Holly said...

Now I'm hijacking your comments :-)

I have a panasonic pv-gs 250, and there are several other models with different numbers...I like it, good, sharp pics, easy to use. I don't care for the software that came with it but that's ok.

Shutter lag is not bad with either the nikon d70 or the canon XTi...much better than point and shoots. I've played around with the canon...much smaller than the nikon, easier to hold.

Lea said...

Good post. So, in the winter, are there very few daylight hours there? Is it similar to Alaska in this regard?

ferenge mama said...

hey, what civic task can I do to get to eat free for life? Seriously, that was a great deal!

Holly said...

Bought the Rebel...keeping it, getting rid of the nikon. It takes better pics!

Deb said...

Great lists. So... are you happy about no school!! :o)

Anonymous said...

See? This is why we are friends. I LOVE fall, the best part of summer is fresh fruit, and while we've been blessed with a generally low humidity summer thus far, I'm counting the days until crisp autumn weather!!