Living The Good Life

There are many perks to being a middle school Language Arts teacher.  Namely, the opportunity to continue to read young adult literature without shame or guilt.   Yes, I read the Twilight series.   Yes, I claimed it was because I had to "keep up" with the current YA lit craze. Yes, I'm a little in love with Edward. Let's face it, YA literature is a lot of fun to read.  They are quick reads designed to first get kids interested in reading and then to introduce them to different ideas in the world.  Interest first, ideas next.  They aren't typically the books you pick up to show how sophisticated your reading life is (not a lot of YA books comparable to War and Peace out there), or ones that you only read to give yourself a brain-break (oh, how I love you Janet Evanovich during the dreaded third quarter of the school year).  A lot of Young Adult literature is somewhere in the middle of those two reading extremes.  You have to love a book that gives you a heavy do...

Confession:  I love those getting to know you questionnaire, tag games, roving emails.  I just can't help myself.  I love reading what other people say, and I love filling them out myself.  First off, I love discovering that new piece of quirky information that just wouldn't come up in typical conversation.  "Oh, you once ate a live goldfish while dancing the mamba?"  Interesting.   Second, I love having to figure out my own answers.  There are moments in our lives that are natural to share, and therefore always at the front of our minds.   And there are those moments that don't fit in any socially natural box, they just are too obscure or bizarre to have an open forum.  These tend to turn into the moments we cherish in someway, that we only share in those magical moments of unexpected confessions.  They often define us, or show an aspect of our character that hasn't really gotten a chance to shine.  After confessing these, and hearing them confessed, you usu...

As promised, here is the Amazing Richert Christmas Adventure 2008, with special guest star, Sherry Silvers. Bogota, Columbia.   As you can see...this city and I were obviously made for each other.  Bookstores, libraries, and coffee shops were on every block.  Yes, the majority of the books were in Spanish which causes some slight difficulties, but I don't like to focus on those kind of details.  I'm more of a cup half full kind of gal.   Also, the city is bike crazy.  There are hundreds of miles of bike lanes; we saw bike lanes throughout the city and even along the highway.  They just created a bike/walking lane in the middle of the highway, incredible!  They even close off some of the major streets every Sunday and holiday so people can ride their bikes through the main arteries of town without dealing with the potentially dangerous obstacle of cars.  The city had me at hello. Dave found a wonderful place for us to stay that was right in the heart of the historic district of ...

This is craziness.  Dave and I have been living and traveling around South America for a year and a half.  We come across many fellow travelers and adventurers.  How many of the people we have met do you think have been from the United States?   Do you have your guess? Counting the people I work with, the number is in the low double digits.  I'm thinking maybe 10 to 15%.  And that, again, is including the people I work with.  The majority of travelers we come across actually have been from Europe.  See, they know something you North Americans haven't seemed to grasp yet... South America is the place to be!  It's beautiful, unique, has beaches, mountains, jungles, and the best part, is incredibly affordable.  I ask you again, what exactly are you waiting for? Exhibit A:   Colombia .  I know, I know, the first things you think of when you hear Colombia are drug cartels and guerrilla warfare.  But seriously, that is so 1995.  Visit Colombia today and you will be amazed at how ...

I have to admit, it has been quite awhile since I have actually been awake to ring in the new year and say goodbye to the old.  Dave and I have always been a bit more concerned about the eight hours of sleep necessary to enjoy life rather than seeing the ball drop.  But this year...is different.   It is 12:58 and the neighbor's hired band just started, there are rapid fire explosives (aka fireworks) going off in three minute intervals, and the car alarms throughout our block seem to be answering the loving call of said fireworks.  There will be no eight hours to start off the year for the Richert's this time. Nothing about our experiences in Ecuador could be classified as typical, and New Year's Eve is proving to be no exception.  The evening started out quite and low key, dinner at home with a movie.  There were the occasional firework, but that isn't anything atypical.  I was even contemplating continuing the tradition of snuggling into bed by 10:30.   Before I called...

Now, my husband would have you believe that his current life is like this: I think this is his, "I'm on the brink of death" look But in all actuality, his life is currently this: And this... And a whole lot of this... Yeah, life might be a little less mobile, but it is still pretty good.

I don't think anyone will be surprised to know that I am having D-O-U-B-T-S about signing up for another year of teaching and living in Ecuador.   Part of the problem is me, I'm a chronic second guesser who always questions decisions I make.  The other part of the problem is it's just that time of year, the crazy "school has got to let up soon or I will go bald pulling out all of my hair" time of year.  Kids are starting to go wild because they can smell the three week vacation that is just around the corner, high school finals start tomorrow (exactly what is a middle school teacher doing writing a senior literature final?  I have no idea what I'm doing here!), report cards are due soon, and I stupidly have assigned major projects/papers/presentations (the curse of the triple p) to be due this week. Not to mention the weather... Oh yes, the rainy season is almost upon us and we all know how well that went for me last year.  By the end of February, the faint so...