answer to the "guess what"

As Mrs. Happy Housewife guessed from some great observation . . he was waiting for a hair cut!!

Here is the ticket that the machine gave us . . . the store is called "Just Cut House" because all they do is cut hair--no washing, no styling, noting else but cutting.

And here is a before and after. :)

As Lisa mentioned, it is really simple--at first she trimmed him up, but then I told him just go for it and get it buzzed all over.  It's perfect for summer time. :)

And do you know what!!  My man has curly hair too!!  Granted not nearly as tight a curl as mine, but there is some definate curl going on there.  Too cute!!

living my dream (aka: doing my man's laundry)

Summer vacation is not here for me quite yet.  Grades are due this Friday.  And, Lawrance just started working full time two weeks ago (YAY!!  PTL for his new promotion from part-time teacher to director of the English program!!) .

Everyone keeps asking me what I'm doing for my summer break.  I reply "just being a housewife." 

Without exception every Taiwanese friend, student, and stranger I've had this conversation with then expresses their sympathies for me, trying to cheer me up.

What they don't realize is that I need no cheering up.  I am SO looking forward to the month of July where I get to be a full time housewife for the first time in my life.  I've already enjoyed these past two weeks of laundry and washing dishes . . . it's so much easier and more enjoyable when I can do it during my day as time allows and as my work for the day rather than as a chore I must squeeze in before going to work.

They don't get it.

 I don't know.  Maybe you won't either . . . maybe you think, "silly girl, wait to you've done ten (twenty, thirty) years of your man's dirty laundry--then we'll talk about the 'joy' you have then."

They also worry about me being lonely being home alone all day.  How could I possibly look forward to being home alone all day with nothing to do but take care of the home? 

Depending on the situation and/or depth of the relationship, I will remind them that not too long ago I was living alone all day everyday.  Now, I have someone to anticipate coming home to me.  Now, I get to eagerly wait for him to call me and return back to me.  It's WAY better than living alone 24/7. 

 And, crazy as it may sound, it is way more fun to clear the table, change the sheets, dust the furniture, or what-have-you when I know I am blessing someone else.  When it was just me living here . . . OH it was SO miserable "keeping house." 

I hated it with a passion. 

I secretly wondered if I'd even make a good wife.  My married friends were able to manage their households of 3 or 4 or 5 . . . . and me?  well, I was struggling with my little household of 1.  :( 

I know I wouldn't score perfectly in housekeeping 101 (I thank God my hubby is so patient and understanding), but I do know (again, crazy as it may sound) keeping house is a lot more fun and rewarding and joyful when I'm not the only one making the messes. ;)

So, yes, I totally look forward to a "boring" summer of being a stay-at-home wife.  I'll be honest: it almost feels as if I get to "play" at being a house keeping wife.  I'm all giddy and happy about it.  Is it weird that I feel that way?

And, actually, it feels like I'm getting to live my dream.  For the latter half of my 20's I dreamed about being married . . . I longed to have someone's socks to wash and underwear to fold.  

Speaking of . . . I think there's a basket a clean laundry awaiting me in the other room right now as I speak!

guess what he's waiting for

Sunday evening at about 9 pm, after visiting with Law's parents, we stopped by the grocery store for some milk and chocolate ice cream (basic necessities, you know).  After walking into the grocery store, Law saw this and just had to stop and get in line. 

He put 100 NT (about 3 US dollars) into the machine and it gave him a ticket with a number.  So, can you guess what he prepaid for?  Why is he waiting in line? 

 

By the way, the red light means wait time will be 15 min, yellow means wait time will be between 5-10 minutes, and green light means no wait necessay.  I think we waited about 3-5 minutes . . . not too bad for a Sunday night! :)

faith like potatoes

Lawrance and I picked up this movie based on a true story yesterday afternoon not knowing what it was all about . . . .

It was EXCELLENT!  We both really enjoyed it.

I don't often recommend movies . . . but this I would recommend.

Has anyone else seen it yet?  What'd you think?

about this time a year ago

. . . Lawrance asked me to be his wife.

Ahhh . . . what happy, happy memories!

God is KIND!!! :D

"Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!  What joy!"

(Psalm 126:3 NLT)

happy birthday, sweet boy!!

Dear precious Nate, 

Your Aunt Minda and Uncle LawLaw so wish we could have been there to celebrate your very first birthday!!  It makes us so sad that we couldn't be there to watch you enjoy your cake and open your presents!  We love you very much nonetheless.  Happy Birthday, little guy!!

We love you,
Aunt Minda and Uncle LawLaw

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Photos my mother, Nate's Nonny, sent to us so we could see the celebration from afar . . .

some fun sites for EFL purposes

A few days ago, I stepped outside of my normal internet activity as I looked around on a few EFL teacher blogs. 

After my few minutes online yesterday outside my regular path of places I go online, it was like I discovered a whole new planet.  I mean seriously . . . I thought I did a pretty good job of keeping up with online stuff.  But, OH MY WORD! 

It gets overwhelming all the places you can go and things you can do and archives you can explore and conversations you can be a apart of.  For someone who likes finality and closure and to be able to say "I read the whole book" . . . the world wide web is a very overwhelming place if you ever tread off the beaten path.

Here are few of the random places I "discovered"  that could be used in helping students use English to express themselves online . . . (and just a little disclaimer, surf at your own risk . . . I've not used any of these sites at length.  I just discovered them and think they might be interesting to use with my students who are learning English, so I wanna check them out some more.)

visuwords: an online graphical dictionary.  just plain COOL.  I saw something similar awhile ago that was a visual thesaurus that was more like word web, which is also JUST PLAIN AWESOME.

gloster.com: poster yourself (looks like a teen thing that mixes photos, words, music to create "posters" for "self-expression")

amap: visual argument maps built on "informal logic"

pixton.com: make your own online comics

bubblr: another online comic maker but using photos from flickr.  here is one I made using my own photos about gilby in just a matter of minutes. :)  This could be used in SO MANY ways by both teachers and students.

piclits.com: an interactive word and picture application (from the about page: "a creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you. The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture.")  Here's one I created in just a matter of minutes.

See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

bubbl.us: brainstorm in clusters online (could be used for actual brainstorming or for creating word webs)

bombaytv: students can add subtitles to short clips that are filmed in a "foreign language" (this is one I worry about maybe not being all clean.  I watched a handful, and the ones I saw were ok.)

xtranormal.com: is an online application that allows non-movie makers to make movies.  with text-to-type technology and a few creative choices, teachers could create short converstaions that use vocab or ask students to create their own movies. Intonation is a bit weird, but could be fun to use to peak motiviation

shahi: self-described as a visual dictionary that combines Wiktionary content with Flickr images, and more!

fodey: students can create a newspaper, a clapper board, talking squirrels, talking flowers, talking tomatoes, and more.

And of course there is wordle (that I've seen around before on other blogs).  That can be used in really cool ways in the classroom too.  (Preview or review the vocab in an article, have students create one based on something they are working on or learning about or reading, create one to use as a conversation starter or a writing prompt.)

Yeah . . and that's just the TIP of the ice berg!! 

Anyone else recently discover other "new" sites that could be used to promote langauge learning or know of any other sites that could be exploited for their English teaching purposes?