photo by Dee Q8

Let’s see, in 2008 I…

• traveled to Costa Rica, Turkey, Venezuela, Jamaica, and Spain.
• traveled with Aaron twice (Costa Rica & Spain) and Shannon once (Turkey).
• developed and delivered several new intercultural workshops and a plenary to fantastic audiences.
• visited all of my families this year over the Christmas holiday.
• reconnected with old friends on Facebook.
• stopped lurking so much online, actually reached out to some people, started Twittering.
• went to SIIC and IDI training.
• celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary with Aaron.
• worked on our house.
• coached Otto into being a lap cat.
• saw the Cure and REM in concert.
• started CulturallyTeaching.com, a blog project exploring culture and education around the world.

I could go on. But you get the idea. Sure, there were some really sucky things that happened in 2008. But mostly, it was a really great year.

Now, onward to 2009. Even better things are ahead.

photo by cesarastudillo

Usually I’m not this happy that it’s Sunday. Usually I’m wondering where the weekend went and looking forward to the next weekend. It’s not that I don’t enjoy my job. It’s that I’ve got so many projects going on that I can’t focus on each of them as much as I’d like. And that makes me unhappy when Sunday afternoon rolls around.

But today I’m happy. Because I only have to go to work Monday and Tuesday and then I have five whole days off to focus on my projects. Yeah!

Aaron and I have been busy getting ready for Thanksgiving week. We bought all of our groceries for Thursday’s dinner and we started cleaning the house so we can de-flea it and Otto. Aaron used his new leaf blower (yes, we broke down and bought one) and blew the leaf carpet up to the road and is now planting bulbs. I’m so glad Aaron enjoys, or is at least willing, to do yard work.

I’ve been switching out my clothes closet and getting rid of as much as I possibly can. I still have clothes from the year I graduated from college (1995)! What’s up with that? And, of course, I’ve been working on culturallyteaching.com

But I’ve got even bigger plans for my five days off. To keep me accountable, here’s my very manageable  to-do list:

1. Blog. Write posts and get the word out.
2. Bake. Muffins, breakfast bread, pie, and cupcakes.
3. Bathroom. Scrub the bathtub, ’cause oh my does it need it.

There are several other things I need to do around the house, and several other fun projects I’d like to work on (like uploading my Spain photos to Flickr and finishing my Spain blog posts), but the three items above are my top priority.

We’ll see how I do…

2. I’m making lemon/strawberry and lemon/blueberry cupcakes for a party tonight and to bring to work on Monday. Maybe I’ll remember to take a photo of the finished product instead of simply eating the finished product.

3. I’m now on Facebook. Please be my friend.

“I think Otto has to use the litter box,” Aaron said as he opened the bathroom door.

Otto scooted around the barely-opened door and leaped into his litter box. He stuck his butt over the side of the box, pooped onto the floor, and pawed at the bathtub in an attempt to cover it up. Then he silently exited.

Aaron told me that he had been cutting up a tree limb on the deck when he saw and heard Otto meowing loudly at him through the French doors. When Aaron opened the door, Otto made a beeline to the bathroom, frequently checking that Aaron was close behind.

Since we have to use the downstairs shower right now there have been many mornings where Otto is not-so-patiently waiting for me to leave so he can use his litter box.