The mood

You wake up slowly, cause there isn't an alarm calling your name. You both smile at each other and know that you will have a wonderful day in the sun.

You get up, brush your teeth, and get ready for breakfast then beach. You exit the room onto your front porch, where you feel the warmth on your skin. The smell of mango is in the air, with birds singing in the background. Cracking of bamboo shoots into the air. A gecko runs in front of your feet.

You wave and say 'hello' to those who are sitting on their porches drinking coffee and tea, and smile, feeling like you are part of some old fashioned community.

You walk over a small bridge and see the pool in front of you. Thinking of hours in the future, you plan what drink you'll have as you sit at the pool bar, or how much sun you'll want to get while lounging on the float. The man cleaning the pool shouts a 'good morning' and you reply in kind.

Past the clubhouse and onto a sandy path, you continue on toward the restaurant. The squawking of the parrots follow you into the beach bar. You check out 'Today's Special' on the board, hoping to see some sort of rum punch like the one you had the day before.

And then on to your seat, following the lovely wait staff. Will it be waffles, omelets, fruit or all of them this morning?

But the beach beacons. Warmth, sea and sand. A loving look from your hubby. What more could a girl want?

Views from our honeymoon

Welcome to our honeymoon...as I said earlier, it was amazing! It stayed amazing. And so I thought I'd share a little slideshow of some of the pics. They aren't in any order, so may be a touch confusing, but I'm too tired to try to fix it. (Sorry) Let's just say that there are tons of plants, lots of sea views, pictures from our trip on the Brig Unicorn (used in the first 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie)...we have returned slighly more tanned than when we left (I don't tan well) with many more bug bites. But still relaxed. I'm feeling the time different and red-eye flight still. But should feel fine in a day or two. More to come later...

East Winds Inn

The place is glorious. Green everywhere you can see. Blue ocean. Sand. Wonderful.

We are staying in small cottages with a porch and a huge bathroom. The bed is a king and we luckily have air conditioning and a fan, so sleeping is comfortable. We unfortunately have tons of noise in the background...birds, insects, frogs...something a city girl like me is not used to. But it's so worth it to be here. Even the massive amounts of moscitos are worth it.

We arrived during a sunny afternoon, and went straight to check out the pool and beach. The pool water is perfect -not too sunny, not too cold. And there's a self-serve bar right there. One guy made us some brilliant rum punches that first afternoon. Then there's the beach. There are two sides and we tend to stay on the left side...it feels more intimate somehow. And there's a bar there with a bartender or two to make your drink wishes come true. I've enjoyed their specials of the day!

Meals are held in an open air restaurant. Cool breezes flow through, with small finches joining us in hopes of gaining a few crumbs or two. Cheeky little things they are! But we start the evening in the open air clubhouse where we are served champagne or any cocktail we want. What's great is that this is all inclusive! So we eat and drink what we want.

We went scuba diving on Tuesday and R. really loved it. I think he'd like to end up getting certified some day. I'd love it if he would. We'll see if he can do the beginner part in London and then we'll do a course somewhere warm. The place down south of the island where we scuba'd and snorkled was quite beautiful...overlooking the Pitons.

Tomorrow we go on a sailing trip down to the south of the island...this time we'll bring the camera. Can't wait to post pics.

Well...that's it for now. Back to the honeymoon. And sun!

Thoughts

Bought my friend, A's, used sofa-couch. R decided we could use his mom's car & roof rack to move it. It rained. Couch ruined. Way to start a holiday. £150 gone, what a lesson to learn. Damn. But life continues...and we leave in one hour. Won't let it ruin things. But he should have listened to me. Guess that's married life.

Shopping Spree

The unfortunate thing about gaining weight is that you end up not having as many clothes to wear as you used to. A lot of my favorite skirts have gotten a bit tight. And there's some things I just can't wear. With having my honeymoon beginning on Sunday, I thought that it might be time to buy a few things to have to wear that I'll be comfortable in. So I went shopping.

I had already purchased one dress from Next, but I wanted a few more things. And boy did I find them. I ended up at Debenhams, which is one of my fav stores. It's similar to Macy's in a way, having many labels under it's roof. It was a bit overwhelming, as usually I'm only looking for one thing...this time I was on a major hunt. And a hunt it was. I began shopping around 1:45pm and finished around 3:30pm. For me, that's a huge day of shopping. I found two more cute dresses, a few tops, two pairs of capris and something to wear to the beach. And it wasn't super expensive cause I went for things either on sale or from less expensive labels. Here's one of the dresses I found:

I'm hoping that some of them will become too big for me by the end of the summer...and that, due to their cut, I could use them eventually if I was preggers during warmer months. Either way, though, I didn't want to spend too much.

I've also found a bikini. I ordered one from swimhut. It's quite pretty!

I do not look anything like this model, but it still fit decently and I liked the colour. Along with a black tankini, I'll be fine in the water & while sunbathing.

The thing that is very cool...R was actually happy with my purchases. He saw that I needed a few things, that they are 'flexible' and he was happy for me. He didn't give me a hard time for spending my own money, cause he knows that I don't spend carelessly. It's a good feeling to be trusted...

Tip toeing to the end...

It's exciting times in our household...only 5 more days until the honeymoon! And while we're away, some relatives of mine are staying in the flat. We started the process of getting ready last night by vaccuuming some of it and cleaning the second bathroom. Lots of laundry has been done with about 3 more loads to go (which is driving R up the wall...he can't understand how we produce so much laundry...I point out sheets and towels as taking up at least 2 to 3 loads of this, but it still boggles his mind).

On the downside, I haven't had much time to go shopping. I bought one dress, but still would like at least 2 more and/or perhaps a few skirts with cute tops. I've unfortunately grown out of some things (gotten heavier) so I need to restock cute stuff for the summer. I did try ordering a bikini (since R wants me to wear one) and Figleaves said it was shipped on the 31st of May. Is it here yet? NO! So I ordered from another company with express delivery and it should be here by Thursday at the latest. Sigh. Hopefully, I'll have time to shop tomorrow and/or Thursday.

Today is going to be exam grading day and night. I'll be crazy busy. R. will have to take care of cooking dinner. I've done some, but expect to get a group of them by this afternoon to grade. Ugh. I can't wait to be done.

Wednesday, we have to be all dressed up and go to awards day (I'm in jeans today...woo hoo). Then we pass back the exams. I can give the kids their final grades, put them in the system and then I'm finished!

Thursday, I get a mani/pedi, and then we have some faculty lunch to say 'goodbye' to all the faculty who are leaving and celebrate those who have been here forever (20 years, 25 years, etc). I'll go shopping after that if I don't get a chance to on Wednesday. And then home to start packing and do some more cleaning.

Friday will be a lost day - we have graduation in the morning, go to lunch with A. after that, dinner with A. & R and a few others...and it'll probably be a late night drinks session.

Saturday, we finish packing and cleaning, I get my bikini wax (ouch!), we pick up a couch we bought from A. & take it to my in-laws' house, and then take off for the hotel near the airport. We have a 9am flight on Sunday and didn't want to have to get up at 5am and rush to get to the airport on time (in case of train disruption or the like). Much easier...and it means our honeymoon begins on Saturday evening! We'll just be able to get up, shower and go to the airport at a reasonable hour.

So that's it. My crazy week. But it will all be worthwhile!

One more week. Yes...only one more week left of work and then I'm off to my honeymoon!!!

What do I have left to do? Let's see:
- 8 more sleeps
- grade final exams...I've done 4 of them, but have 11 more to go (7 kids still have to take it)
- proctor an exam (Monday morning)
- play in a six-a-side cricket match this Saturday
- go out to dinner with R's parents and his uncle on Sunday
- figure out grades and turn them in (so happy we don't have to do comments this quarter!)
- clean the flat in preparation for my aunt and cousin...they arrive the day after I leave for the honeymoon. Plus I like coming home knowing I did some cleaning before I left.
- pack
- do a little more shopping for the honeymoon...this is my chance to buy cute little dresses. May have to buy a bikini as the ones I ordered have not arrived...they are VERY overdue. I hate UK mail sometimes (that's another blog topic at another time).
- get a bikini wax...one of those times I wish I was a guy and could wear boxer like bathing suits!
- mani & pedi...those are pure pleasure
- bunch of school events culminating in graduation on Friday
- hang out with my friend, A....she's leaving to go back to the States. I'm going to miss her. A lot!

So as you can see...I will have a very busy week or so ahead of me. But it's all worth it. Just keep your fingers crossed that the weather is good for me on my trip!

Finals

I'm sitting at a different desk this morning than the one I'm used to (in my office). And it's amazingly quiet. But that's the way it is when you give a final exam.

The kids are nervous, but ready to go...they are plodding away at 100 multiple choice and 10 identifications. They have two hours. I don't expect that it will take them that long. I try to get them fully ready for my test and to give them a relatively easy (but definitely) fair exam. There will be a few questions that will stump them, but most are very basic. The identifications shouldn't challenge them too much. But this all depends on if they've reviewed - and if they've done some work through the year.

Every year, when I give an exam, I remember back to the days of taking exams. In some, I felt so good - I knew my stuff. In others, like my French exams, I struggled. I much preferred to write something than to have to study for hours. Many of my friends preferred the opposite.

Do you remember how it felt just before the exam? Kids asking each other questions, raising the anxiety level of all around, even those who were decently confident. The slight panic of finding the room where you were being tested. Having the exam placed in front of you. Taking that deep breath and then beginning. Hoping that you knew it all. Knowing that you probably did not...but maybe could fake it anyway.

Exams are a lot like life for me. I hope that I can prepare for things. And I try my best sometimes...sometimes I don't cause there's something else going on. I know that some things I'll do well in, but others not so much. And when those big life events happen, I'll jump in and do what I can...

Not 'stumped' by this game!

Yesterday we had our first cricket game of the season. Both teams get to play 20 overs...and we had about 3 hours to get them all done before the boys' game began.

We arrived at the pitch at 10:15am and began to warm-up. We ran a bit, stretched and then did some tossing around of the ball. We did a little bit of fielding and then some of the bowlers went to warm up while the rest of us continued to do some fielding stuff. Happily, I was not a bowler!

We were on the pitch first with the other team batting. The other team consisted entirely of teenagers. Young teenagers. So they had youth on their side. But they were a bit intimidated by the fact that we are all adults (with one teenager on the team). And we were 'on'. In my three seasons of play, I haven't seen us look so good. We bowled reasonably well, with a few exceptions. We played did a great job of fielding. And we just looked more professional somehow. It was good! We went through all 20 overs and they had 100 for 7 (I believe).

Then it was time for us to bat. I was first batter, which is a great honor. My partner, K. is usually a great batter and we had high expectations. She unfortunately got an LBW with only a score of 3 runs. And then the next woman came on, who had never played before. But somehow we just were a scoring machine. I actually stayed on to the very end, scoring 34 runs on my own. We won, with a score of 101 for 1, after only 18 overs. Woo hoo! I played the entire game! And had my best score yet. And I got several 4s, and even better a 6. Only the second person on the team to have gotten a six! For those in the know - it was a flat six, sailing just over the boundary.

It was wonderful. A win! Sunny and hot. And I played well. What a great weekend!