back to the daily grind or how i spent my weekend

     Phew. I have managed to keep myself extremely busy in the past few weeks. Between work, job hunting, a broken dryer, car repairs and an unhealthy need to torment myself, I was one exhausted lady chickadee. Cue a three-day weekend. My intention was to do absolutely nothing, but nothing, all weekend. No BBQs, pool parties, camping trips, kayaking, or anything. I updated my Netflix queue, saved up some shows to catch up on via on demand & DVDs, stacked a few books I’m currently reading as well as magazines I’ve been meaning to tear apart, and I downloaded so many photo apps to putz around with. Not to mention my extensive collection of ridiculous pop music that requires dancing. Clearly I have a raging social life.

     My hermit plans were thwarted with a few invites. Since these are few and far between from anyone but my coworker friends these days, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. So I started my weekend with some delicious beverages, girly movies, venting sessions, and giggles. On a side note, are there any great waitresses anymore? I seem to miss them every single time. On another side note, Bugaboo Creek has very bizarre chicken tenders but extremely yummy & inexpensive mud slides.

     As someone who teaches New Hampshire history, I’ve realized that I haven’t been to or seen far too many of the things that I teach about. Covered bridges? Never seen one. Christa McAuliffe? I know the stories, but I’ve never been to the planetarium. Other than a trip I once took to the Old Man in the Mountain once with my aunt when I was,  hm… say… 10, I wouldn’t recognize the area where he fell from any other slab of granite up north. So, on Sunday, I went to see the Old Man memorial. I think I spent more time snapping pictures and raving about showing them to my kids than I did actually taking in what was around me, but it’s hard to take off the teacher hat.

So you can identify the deceased old man, or artist formerly known as Old Stone Face.

I'm so terrible at following directions, I stared for a good minute irritated that it wasn't working.

Are you drunk with anticipation?

Trickery!

The little tool that allows you to go back in time.

     I also went for a hike up a steep mountain & got eaten alive by black flies & mosquitoes. The little buggers got me on each side of my neck- right in the jugular. I’m apparently allergic to them, too because the welts ballooned up on my skin. Red welts the size of super balls? No me gusta. The cascades I saw from the trail; however, pleased me. 

The view from the top. The air up there. Other movie title references...

A rare animal: Patti wearing sneakers AND a tee.

I've also decided that {although I enjoy trail blazing} the north country just isn't the place for me. I need the bustle of a city and more importantly, delectable food from a variety of locations.  Also, I discovered the north is like the land that time forgot. 

Am I right or am I right?

     Now I’m rested and ready to tackle a month of heavy assessments, grading, packing up my classroom, finding a new job {and possible domicile relocation}, preparing my science summer program, catching up on Girls, and just all around being amazing as usual.