1. How do you define beauty?

Wow, make things hard already! Um, I guess it is whatever strikes you as compelling. I have seen beautiful sunsets, plants, acts, and people. And it is always a surprise. It’s not objectively beautiful but evokes in you that feeling.

2. Have you ever taken a trip by train? If so where did you go and what did you think of the experience? If not do you have any desire to do so? Where would you like to go? (You might find inspiration here-The Best Train Trips in The World)

We took the Chunnel in 2001 and then we took some trains in Germany and into Czech Republic last year. When I was a kid, my dad and uncle both worked for the railroad so we were on trains pretty often. I feel like train travel is pretty cool from a sight-seeing standpoint but I feel like you move side to side too much and for someone who gets motion sickness, it’s not my fave. I would do one of those Pacific Northwest trains, since it would be so pretty.

3. Shell shocked, bombshell, bandshell, shellacking, in a nutshell, walking on eggshells…choose one and tell us why you chose it, or how it relates to your life in some way currently.

I honestly can’t think of one of these that really relates. My life right now it moving quickly, very full of activities. None of those really relate!

4. Tacos, pistachios, oysters, clams, eggs…your favorite food on the list that comes in/with a shell?

I like all those except oysters – those are nasty! Sure, you can douse them in other things and cover up the grossness that is that snot in a shell but I have tried them many times and still hate them. Now on the other hand, I do really like clams and the other foods are all dang tasty.

5. Are birthdays a big deal in your house? Is your own birthday a big deal in some way? Elaborate.

They used to be, when the kids were little. At least, I made sure they got a party and usually something kind of big. Two of my kids have August birthdays so we’d get a big inflatable slide or something when we didn’t have the pool yet. We always let each kid pick where they want to eat out, though within reason. My oldest this time wanted to go to the Hibachi place…with his girlfriend and all of us… on a weekend. Um, nope. Weekday lunch prices are reasonable but dinner is twice as much or more. We settled on a local burger place and had a nice time, which is kind of the point.

My birthday is never really a big deal, mostly because when I pick where I want to go, I end up picking a place everyone else likes, so I can enjoy my meal with minimal complaining.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m having one of those “at odds” days; I am on the one hand sort of stressed about how much I need to work on and at the same time, really satisfied with what I have done. Yesterday, I got home and cooked up some bratwursts and helped the kids make some stuff, then I got motivated: I used the leaf vacuum in the pool, brushed it like crazy, then I did a little weed whacking, blowing off around the pool deck, then I skimmed. It was a lot but once the kids finished mowing, everything looked really nice back there!

This morning, I looked at the notes about today’s middle school cross country meet – the only one in the middle of the day – and apparently girls run at 11 instead of 10:30. In some ways, this is even better because it takes up the time I’d be in 4th period planning/mass/lunch, and won’t need any kind of sub. Sadly, we do have a faculty meeting after school, which is always annoying, but I realize, necessary. We have testing next week so I’m sure they want to run it all by us, especially the new teachers.