So Much in a Little Time

I have to say that things have been like a whirlwind around here.  The best part was our sweet phone call with our cute missionary.

We got to talk to him last Sunday.  He called us about 9 pm and we got to talk for about 50 minutes.  It went so fast, and his companion was knocking on the door for him to hang up at the end, but it went well.  I think I miss him more now then before I talked to him.

He was most excited about the people they are getting to teach in his area.  He loves them.  He was glad to hear we are all doing well.  He talked a lot about the blisters he had.  He sent pictures of what they look liked while they are healing.  I won't gross you out with the pictures, but he did not tell us how bad they were.  Poor thing. 

 

My partner at school got very sick.  Stress got the best of her heart and she was out a week.  We did her lesson plans and graded her papers to keep her from having too much work when she got back.  We worked hard for her so that she would not have stress of what to do when she came back.  Teaching is a lot of pressure now a days with all the state testing accountability.  Now, there is nothing wrong with being accountable, but a lot rides on a 2 hour test, that a student takes to reflect what has been taught for a whole year.  Not too many jobs are like that out there.  Teachers work many hours outside the school day.  Summers are filled with lesson planning and meetings.  It sounds good that we have the summer off, but in all reality we work 10-14 hour days all school year.  That is not seen by the public.  We get yelled at often by parents who think we should have done things differently.  I once had a parent tell me, that I should have typed my assignment differently.  I had another call a meeting because their child's A wasn't high enough.  The pressure is incredible.

 

We had Open House this past week at Osborn for people to come and tour the building before it gets closed down.  I did not get to take pictures because I was making ice cream cones for everyone who came to visit.  It is a bittersweet time.  Two more weeks with students.

A Little Italiano

We took a little date on Saturday, chaperoned by my mom I suppose.  I got Kyle 12 dates for Christmas.  We haven't gone on any of them.  I told him if we didn't go on one of January-April dates I wasn't going to let him open any more.  So he chose the April date.  That was a one-tank trip that Neil Zurcher does.  Anyhow, we went to Little Italy in Cleveland.  It was SO much fun!!!
First, we started at...

It was an authentic Italian Market.  It has been in the family business for over 100 years.  They had fresh pasta, homemade sauces and baked goods.  I tried my first ever cannoli.  Oh my goodness!  Soo good.

I will drive all the way to Cleveland, just to eat another one of these guys..MMMMM!
Next, we headed to Lakeview Cemetery.  It was one of the most interesting cemetery visits I've ever made.  First, we visited James A. Garfield's memorial.

 It was gigantic.  I've never seen anything like this before.

 He is one of the only president who lays in state, instead of being buried.

 The rotunda was gorgeous.  This is the view looking down.  Then we walked around the balcony taking pictures of the murals.

 We went up a few more flights of stairs and we got the skyline view of Cleveland.

 The art work was very well done.  It was an interesting visit.

The cemetery was in full bloom.  The magnolia trees, we gorgeous and were hard not to photograph them everywhere.

 J.D. Rockefeller is buried here too.

 I loved the flowers around these headstones.

We bump into Crawford's everywhere, so I need to do a bit of research on this family.

Mom really enjoyed the history of this place.  I learned that my mom enjoys history, just about as much as I do.  Who knew..

 This guy was the only baseball player to lose his life playing baseball.  He was hit by a ball and died during as game.  He played for the Cleveland Indians.

 Eliot Ness brought down Al Capone, interesting story.

 Wade chapel was one of my favorites.  The interior was done by Tiffany.  The mosaics were absolutely stunning.  The left side portrays the Old Testament, or Jewish side of the story of Christ's coming.

 The right side portrays the New Testament or coming of Christ.  The main stained glass window was the resurrection of Christ.

 The building was amazing and has so many details and stories that you should see it for yourself sometime.

The last touristy sight was the dam in the middle of the cemetery.  There were scenes from the movie Captain America.

 We finally made it to Little Italy.  We ate lunch at this bakery.  It had a New York style deli in it.  Serving all things Italian.  It was good.  We enjoyed a lunch out on the patio.  It really was full of restaurants and not many shops, so it was a quick stop.

 Mom has been asking me a long time to go to the 25th Street market.  Honestly, it was not for me, TOO crowded.  It was not worth fighting the crowds to get fruits and veggies.  I was not impressed.  If you like being in hordes of people to get your groceries you might like to try it.  For me, it was a stressful and overwhelming experience that I do not wish to ever recreate.

We ended the day, overall happy with the experience.  My favorite part of my day was the cemetery visit.  We drove by Progressive Field on the way out.  I think that I would do some parts of this trip again.  Plus, I have to have another cannoli!