Oh I forgot what School Mode felt like...

Pictures A & B: My classroom after 3 full days of setting up. With Stewart's dedicated help. Yes I know it doesn't look like much but let me tell you I was almost going crazy putting those shelves into the frames and aligning all those metal thimmajiggies so the shelves wouldn't slant.

Picture C: 2 of 8 containers of nomenclature cards ready to go after being cut, laminated and organized by one of my wonderful parents. Now I get to organize and shelve them in a way the children can get their heads around. This means I have to think folks.

Picture D: Our little Godson taking a nap

School has started, and I am still in Europe mode. Not quite ready to relinquish long days of exercise and excitement. Now I have a different kind of excitement. I'm very happy to be back but I am determined not to relinquish my state of relaxation.

I am riding my bike to work 3 days a week. Up and down and up and down real hills has been good for my overall fitness and has really worked the breathability qualities of my gortex jacket. I love gortex. On the first day of school it rained to hard my glasses were fogging up and I had difficulty seeing. So after that anything will be ok. I walked into the office dripping wet and signed in. I felt very good about being dripping wet on Day 1 because it means I will prioritise my health and well-being. Good Amanda. Good Bike. Goal: Ride until it's icy. Next goal: cross-country skiing. Next goal: Spring bike riding. Next goal: Parachuting. Just kidding. You couldn't pay me to parachute.
Love Amanda

Back Home in Vancouver!

This is a picture of me beeing goofy but it represents how happy I am to be back in my own house with my own bed and have a shower that is used by a maximum of two people per day. The novelty factor at the moment seems astounding.

Hello everyone. We are back so the random letters and mixed up alphabet will no longer be an issue. Though I'm sure you had to really think when you were reading things I wrote in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We arrived back after a rather uneventful and boring flight, and have started back into regular sleeping patterns. And laundry. We even used hot hot water to fry out any random organisms picked up from camping & sitting on any available concrete surface for lunches/dinners. And regular work patterns also. Stewart and I have spent the past two days setting up the classroom, and for about 20 hours of work all we have to show for it is a few tables sitting at the right height (they were new and had to be adjusted)and barren shelving with the shelves added. I am determined to not let teaching take over EVERY aspect of my life and to be a healthier person throughout the year. So I will be riding my bike to school as often as possible to keep the fitness at a prime (woe is me -- almost 30 means strange things are happening to my body -- no more can I eat what I want with no exercise and see no consequences). Well, thanks for reading my random rambles and adieu for now!
Amanda :)

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland & St Goar, Germany

Well, nearing the end of 8 weeks of travel and I really can't believe how many things we've seen and done. Travelling has been very good for the heart and soul, and it also makes me feel more connected with my home and all our family and friends as you realise that life simply wouldn't be the same without our fantastic solar system of people.

Getting to Lauterbrunnen from Munich, was a 12 hour bus ride. We were diverted from the quicker route because the roads were under construction -- and we were on a very loaded bus and were going up and down mountain roads and winding Alpine "highways". And for those of you who don't know, I suffer from motion sickness. I was feeling quite awful by the end of it and when we arrived it was raining and everyone was feeling grumpy. So Stewart and I stayed in a nice little cabin and didn't think twice about plunking down 80 dollars for two nights. That was the night that the "real" campers were separated from people like us -- people whol like to camp only when the weather meets camping requirements. AKA generally sunny and not raining. So Lauterbrunnen is in the middle of the Swiss Alps, and there's a mountain there called the Jungfrau which was gorgeous. We walked to some waterfalls near the Jungrau and went up this very narrow passageway via a creaky elevator to access the walkways around the waterfalls (which are inside the mountain). The sound was deafening and the rock around us was shaking. It was a very powerful experience. We also had a fondu night. Giant pots of swiss fondu made their way to our tables and boy did we enjoy these with bits of bit. The crusty bits at the bottom were the most enjoyable. We were also served giant sausages which I promptly gave to Stewart. I'm sausaged out, I'm sorry to say. Lauterbrunnen was quite Swiss, with the cute Swiss houses and latices and lovely flower baskets.

St Goar was a quick one night stopover on our way to Amsterdam. But it really captured our hearts. It's in the Rhine Valley and supports the vineyards which supply the Ice Wine from the region. I ate a Berliner, which is just a fancy name for a jelly donut. I had to have one for historical reasons, as JFK announced to the real Berliners that he was a Berliner, but what he really said is that he was a jelly donut. So next time you sink your teeth into one of those, remember that there's some history to all that jam. We will definitely go back here someday. We saw a family of Swans and they even let us near them to look at their babies. We also saw gorgeous hand painted Steins (beer mugs) and one of them was $2300 hundred dollars. Better like your beer for that price. Stewart and I kept saying that Bruce, you would love it here, we thought. Especially the Steins -- they were classy and historical at the same time. Stewart and I stayed in a 1970's camper van because we were a couple and the owner gave all the couples a camper van to stay in. Apart from a couple big spiders it was a great treat.
Love you!
Amanda and Stewart :)

Vienna & Prague

Hello all,

Just for those of zou who donät know, we are on a camping tour right now. Zes, real camping. With air mattresses that have other peopleäs sweat stains on them and dirt from the bottom of the bus. And, when it rains,which it has for the past week or so, our tents get wet. And then we pack them in wet bag and there is then a lovelz smell the next night of wet tent. Wet tent is actuallz almost worse than the smell of wet dog. Let me tell zou whz, because zou sleep in that tent. Zou dont sleep in-or on-zour dog. So, mz bag smells like wet tent and mz clothes aslo acquire the wet tent smell. And Stewarts too, but it doesnät seem to bother him at all. But his bag smells more like wet socks than wet tent.

When we were in Vienna, we saz a prazing mantis+++ A real one. It flew over to the bush we were sitting next to and it perked up and looked at me, because it knew I was pazing lots of attention to it 00 and I was because I couldnät believe it was a real prazing mantis. It had those little pinchers readz to grab mz nose if I got too close with the camera. We saw all the sights in Vienna, went to QuickLees (just guess what kind of food that was) for lunch, and then I guarded our laundrz for an hour while Stewart talked to some reallz nice French people.


Prague was definitelz Eastern Europe. We walked around the cobbled streets and the people were nice enough, and it was cheap+++ We had some gorgeous desserts at a nice cafe and watched the world go bz. Mz drink was called Coconut lips which made me think about mz horse Hot Lips and Fish Lips from mz Timberline Dazs. We went to a machinerz museum &&&&& all under 30äs come and ask me later about the details &&&&&& and saz manz interesting machinating items. We had a couple wet nights, and the facilities were a little downgraded. So, I showered in a cess pool of soap, human hair and shampoo from randrom donors. Also, if zou ran out of time zou had to run over, naked, and put more monez into the machine so it would give zou more lukewarm water to add to the growing cess pool around zour feet, and there zou have it in a nutshell. We are having fun but we are definitelz readz to come home and see all of zou guzs++ And Rachelle is almost having her babz+++ WOW+ Rachelle, zou and Peter hang in there. Onlz a few weeks to go+++ Love zou everzone+++
Love Amanda

Venice, Italy... with Guest Writer SmacJazz!!!!!!!

They say Benito Musollini enjoyed working late at the office. italianos relish the bridge he built over to finally connect Venizia with Italia proper. Grazi mi amigo. We two appreciated the road bridge over to the filthy cannals. Yep...Venice has cool canal rides folks. Very cool Gugenheim museum as well. Nervous touristas rubbing shoulders at one of Earths weirest locales. They towns politicos have devised a master plan to reduce the foulest of featherd beasts. Supposedly...hucksters,merchants and shop-keeopers are selling birth controlled grains?? Amanda told me so and it makes good sense. Like sucking soupy lemon gelato through a straw...like refilling your water bottle at Guidos finest cafe! Ole! The camp site near Venice was very relaxing and even Amanda(the Blog Spot Grand PooBah) slipped into the very sensuous waters. I have photo shop proof of that. Note to self...we did attend a ameutish togo party. However;most of the pics were too dark to post? Amazing! Wow...we are chugging along with the grace of one legged camel at at the Nauturist Olympics. Gratzi Mila. Thanks to our stewardship of our crafty Ausie bus driver. Currently we are in Vienna or Wein, Austria. This guest writer totally loves the Austro-Germanic approach to living. Well organized efficient cities and actual biffies that are available to frugal blokes, college odd-balls and the generally exhausted nitt-witss(like me i reckon)! Smacjazz over and outta here...HELP???

More Pictures from Rome

See commentarz below....

Pictures from Rome

Here are the pictures from Rome -- see below for the commentarz.