Another month has gone by ;

The time is passing quickly and I have been trying to fit in all the things I feel I have to do before it all comes to an end . Hard to do when work gets in the way !
Since my last blog I was about to go to the Shamrock fest in DC . The main attraction was a group called Flogging Molly !!!!
Now it rained heavily the whole day and they were of course last on so they would have to have been really special for me to think they were great .
Very disappointed . They swore a lot and pretended they were Irish .
The regge music in the afternoon was more to my liking and the company I was with were not used to me just well ..dancin !
The alcohol I stayed WELL away from as the venue and crowd were very much a reminder of a saturday night in any Scottish town !!!!
I enjoyed the day and something I had to do .
Next day I returned to DC for the St Patricks Day Parade .
The Americans do like a parade . Lots of school bands and lots of green !!

A BONDING WEEKEND :

To give Melissa some time to rest , Stuart and Emily came to visit me for the weekend .
Grandma did the park , read books ,sang songs ( Badly ) and grabbed a lot of cuddles .

ANOTHER GIRLY WEEKEND :

Marianne the Finnish Fulbrighter and myself decided to go to a wonderful dance show on the friday night and then drive to Pensylvannia to the battlefields of Gettysburg on the Saturday . I really enjoyed seeing that . Weather was not good but did not spoil the day . We then drove on to the Famous Hershey chocolate factory . Well you know what happened there and yes it is all on my hips already .
Now the next part of our jaunt was hilarious .
We decided to go B & B and chose what we thought was a lovely farm . Which it was . The couple were really nice and welcoming but the rooms !!
They were very quaint . Yours truly got put in the Pig Pen and Marianne got the Herb Garden . Enough said !!
We fed the animals at 6.30 in the morning . Marianne was so excited . Just like me !!!
On the Sunday our next task was to see the Amish Country .
We saw we went and we were not impressed .
Ask me about that when I get home .

HERITAGE NIGHT :
This is an event at school where all the register classes make a display of a country giving the whole cultural information thing . I was quite excited about that until the list came round and my group were given Germany .
Needless to say I changed it .
Anyway just mentioned it because my class won . Tee Hee .

CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME :

Spring is the time for the Cherry Blossoms to go into full bloom around what is called the Tidal Basin in DC . I went to see it all at the start of the easter break . The sun was glorious and I really enjoyed my day . Bands playing . Stalls, another parade .
I finished the day by going to see Chicago the musical . It was Brill .
On the sunday I finally returned to see the gospel choir . They really are amazing .

EASTER IN NY :

My weeks break was spent with the family in NY and very enjoyable . Stuart and Melissa went away for a night and I got Emily to myself for two days . We girls had fun . Lots and lots of tea parties .

MORE FAMILY VISITING :

My sister Christine and my niece Alison came over to NY for Easter and we all travelled to DC in time for me to return to work !!
Easter Sunday was lovely as Melissa's Mum and Dad put on yet another wounderful spread .

THE WHITE HOUSE :
You will all have to be impressed with this one !! doing a bit of networking I managed to secure a tour of YES..... The White House . This was arranged well in advance of my sister coming over and I was allowed to have 6 people on the tour . So the 3 of us , two fulbrighters and a probationer in my department got to go .
I WAS THERE !! Will be my swansong and it poured all day !

MY OTHER BOY CAME :

My first week back was tough but by the friday I was heading for Dulles Airport to pick up Brian and lovely Hannah .
I saw them at christmas very briefly but up until then they had been on honeymoon since their wedding 17th August 2007 . It was soooo good to see them .
Hannah did lots of shopping and I got to talk lots to my boy . The weather was by this time now good .
It was time to say goodbye to all my visitors and for the first time I did feel homesick . I suppose it is because I am near the end of the road .

ATLANTIC CITY :

Just to cheer me up another girly weekend . This time to the gambling mecca of the East coast . Atlantic City is in New Jersey about 3-4 hours away .
The company this time was the clinic nurse and the school police officer and her gun !!!!!
They were great company and a good laugh was had by all .
I made 10 dollars on the machines but spent a fortune at the outlet shops .

As usual I have missed out a lot but just keeping in touch with you all .
Hope Easter break was good . It will seem a distant memory now .
I want to wish Andy and Jenny my best wishes . I know you had a great time at your wedding and Linda you will have shed a few tears .
I have missed a few birthdays so many happy returns to you .

36 teaching days to go .
Baby will be soon and I will let you all know

Take care everyone . Will keep in touch Helen xxxx