Day 88 - Banana pancakes!

Its always bizarre when I wake up from a dream and think back on it only to realize that someone totally random or "irrelevant" in my life took the starring role. Today it was my sixth grade teacher. Weird.

It took a lot of motivation but I got out for a little while today. Mostly just to walk around. I strolled through the "farmers" market and stopped in a few shops before coming back to the house for lunch.

With Aris I did a poster project of Africa like I did with Alex last week. And then with Alex we made paper snowflakes.

When they went off to swimming I made myself some delicious banana pancakes and toast for supper and then headed off to my room for the usual. Shows on my laptop.

Tomorrow is undecided but I'm considering the zoo if I'm up early enough.
See you then!
xoxo

Day 87

6 more days!!
And that is all I have to say.

xoxo

Day 86

I found tape!! And a great many other things.. Remember that store I told you about at the beginning of my time here? Huge. Kids stuff. Crazy. Well, I went back. By myself this time which made it much more enjoyable. It's massive!!! And thrilling. Big rolls of packing tape are now mine. .75¢ each. Score!

When I got back to the house I managed to get everything I need to mail home all shoved into my bag and the bag is half taped now. I hope mailing a bag across the world works out ok... I couldn't find a box.

After getting all that sorted out it was off to war lessons. All the usual stuff. Then dinner, more taping and sobbing like a baby because they killed off one of my favorite characters on Grey's anatomy. Damn them!!
And now it's bed time. 1 week to go!

xoxo

Day 85 - Packing again

So, the time has come. Packing again. I have just over 1 week left until Chad arrives and we start our adventure together!
It turns out that packing is harder now even though I know exactly what to pack. Everything. Except I still need to live with everything until I leave.. Except the things I need to send home, but can't, because I still have no tape..

Tomorrow I should hopefully head out and continue my search for the tape.
Wish me luck!
xoxo

Day 84 - Tape

Monday has come again. And, it was very.. Mondayish..
I've really come to realize lately just how much I miss shopping at home. And not because the stores are different or better or anything like that, but simply because when I need to buy something I know which store to go to. Here on the other hand, I just have to guess. I've spent the last 2 weeks stopping in any store I can think of just trying to find packing tape. And I have had no luck at all. I'm thinking maybe a hardware store maybe, except I don't know where one is or the name of one to look up.. I MISS YOU WAL-MART!!!

That being said, I went out today in pursuit of toothpaste and tape. I did find toothpaste. And then got home and realized I also needed more floss. Except I like to wait until the last possible moment to buy it because the price tag on floss in this country hurts me. €4.50 for a pack of 20 floss picks. OUCH. That is highway robbery.

Moving along. Shopping, lunch and then lessons. Sort of. First half of lesson 1 was a success. Lesson 2 was a complete fail and horribly frustrating. (Think screaming, crying, throwing things, throwing tantrums and not doing any work.) And back to part 2 of lesson 1 which was also a success.

Dinner, t.v., and checking out Cyber Monday sales online. Sales I don't get to enjoy. Or maybe just a bit.

xoxo

Day 83 - Finally photos

I had big plans going into today, but I didn't stick to them at all. In fact I literally didn't do anything at all. The zoo will be happening next weekend instead. 

And now here are some much needed photos, now that I've figured out how to get them on here without it crashing!

Helmets - National Archaeological museum

Sarcophagus - (NAM)

Open sarcophagus with mummy - (NAM)

Statue - (NAM)

Aphrodite - (NAM)

Giant bronze statue from a shipwreck - (NAM)

Ancient Agora

Emperor Hadrien - Ancient Agora 

Temple of Hephaistos - Ancient Agora

View from the temple - Ancient Agora

Ancient Agora

Stoa of Attalos - Ancient Agora

Athens Olympic stadium

Olympic stadium

Day 82 - Ancient Agora

Less than 2 months left in this journey now! And chad will be here and I'll be done work in less than 2 weeks!!!

Today started off as it always does. Breakfast and taking my time getting out the door and to my bus. Normally I complain to myself that the bus stops are to close together and there are to many stops to begin with, but today while watching a girl struggle to not get sick on the bus, the next stop couldn't come soon enough. This did not leave me feeling very well. Thanx a lot, random girl!!

Anyway, after that incident and a stop at the mall I went downtown and to the Ancient Agora. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the whole thing though because it closes early at this time of year. It was exciting to see what I did see though. It's huge. And I'll be back again to see the rest with Chad anyway so it was okay.

Afterwards was some walking around, a bit of shopping and more bus time heading to the house.
It was a short day out but a good one. If all goes well I am planning to see the zoo tomorrow!!

xoxo

Day 80

I have no idea what happened with this day. All the usual things. Food. Children. T.v. Shows. Shower. Nothing exciting. Except that it is nearly the weekend. That is always. Exciting!

Day 81 - Out again

I woke up today with energy and feeling like I wanted to go out again. Because this never happens I figured I would go.

Back to the mall just because and I even found a few stores with Black Friday sales! I didn't get much time to shop at the mall though because I left home later than I usually do. I fit in some lunch though. Of course. I do like to eat.

Back at the house just in time to make tea before lessons. Then reading books I've already read, some work pages and then Lego and playmobile.

Dinner comes next followed by nothing.
Good night!
xoxo

Day 79 - Starbucks for the rain

For some ridiculous reason my body decided that after spending the last week waking up between 10:00-12:00 that today it would be fun to get up at 7:20. Well, it was not fun. But I accepted it and took my time getting ready to head out.

Of course it was pouring rain and not warm at all, but nice to be out anyway. I like the rain when I'm prepared for it.

After a quick stop near where I live I went over to the mall. Mostly because I wanted Starbucks. Partly because it was cold and partly because I was falling asleep on the bus. And I am not ok with bus sleepers. I don't want to be one. It's weird.
Because I finally figured out what a praline is, I got a mocha praline drink. It was pretty good. And warm. And cozy. It's to bad though that the holiday drinks here are different than what I have at home.

After shopping for a while I went back out into the rain to go back to the house for lunch and lessons.

I was left alone with the kids again today. This doesn't happen often, I must admit I'm glad it doesn't. Boys are boys, and that makes for lots of yelling and hitting and generally being ..boys.

By the time I was relieved from them I was dying of starvation. Ok, ok. I'm being dramatic. But I was hungry. So I ate. Shocking, I know.

And that's all folks!
xoxo

Day 78 - Painting

So, I was right. Today was just like yesterday. Are we surprised?

It was another cold rainy day so I stayed in and did nothing productive until 3.
Alex and I did a giant painting of Africa to go with the reading I did. No complaints here. I do love to paint. I made a giraffe and an elephant!

Afterwards, family swam, I ate and ran a little bit and then went back to not being productive. I have such a thrilling life..

xoxo

Day 77 - Rank 14million

Today it was back to my usual weekday stuff. Nothing much. Really that's fine with me though. I've adjusted. And my current Grey's Anatomy addiction is keeping me occupied and happy.

With Aris I did his work with him and then he insisted on jumping off the bed onto me again. It's all fun and games until I get knee'd in the ribs, and that doesn't affect him so it continues to be fun and games. 15 minutes of it.
With Alex we read about Africa and then he ranked his au pairs.
1. Swedish girl
2. British girl
3. German girl
4. Tie for all Canadian and American girls
14,000,000. Me

Thanx for that..

Anyway, that was my day. I expect it will be just like this again tomorrow, but there is always the chance of me doing something..
xoxo

Day 76 - Mummy!

Today was a very busy day and I finally got places! And at a reasonable time! Go me!

My first stop was another new metro station and then a bit of a walk around trying to find the National Archaeological Museum. It took a little bit but I got there.
It was awesome! It is huge and seemed to never end. Room after room of antiquities. Life size (or often much larger) statues of marble and bronze, gold jewelry and death masks, weapons and pottery. Everything had so much beautiful detail. From the folds in the gown of a stone goddess to the intricate images on pots, nothing is flat or dull.

My favorite of all that I saw was the Ancient Egypt rooms! I have always had a fascination with Egypt and getting to see real artifacts close enough to touch had me pretty thrilled. Most exciting of all was that there are sarcophagus' and 1 of them still has its mummy inside. How cool is that!?!! I could only see the bottom of the feet because it was still bound and covered but it was amazing anyway. What Egyptian artifacts have that most Greeks don't is color. Beautiful bright colors. On statues, jewelry, sarcophagus', burial boxes, etc..

As well as the permanent exhibits I also got to see the temporary showing. An ancient shipwreck. Plenty has been brought up from the depths even though the ship itself is practically gone. A massive bronze statue was a significant find as well as the "Antikythera mechanism." This mechanism was a series of gears closed in a wooden box attached to dials. Of course it doesn't look like that now, but it has been recreated many times. Someone referred to it as the "first computer". All the connecting gears moved everything in a way that it showed the date, the moon, sun and planets, when and where the next Olympics would be, zodiacs and many other things. Very cool. Look it up.

After 3 hours I finally made it through the whole museum. I got lost several times trying to find my way out but eventually did. From there it was a long walk to Syntagma square and then into the National Gardens. Again, huge and maze like. Inside the garden I found a museum (which was closed), a "zoo", playground, roman ruins, kids library and several fountains. Big place. I'm sure it would be much nicer in the summer though.

More walking, some food and the my long ride back to the house.
Exhausted now and sore feet. See you tomorrow!

Day 75 - Gas mask

Today all-in-all would be considered another unsuccessful day. I had 14 (literally) alarms set, 15 minutes apart starting at 7:30 and somehow I still managed to sleep until noon.. Not ok. Not the end of the world though.

After dragging myself out of bed, eating, getting ready and deciding where I wanted to go I took my usual long trip to city centre. Except that the metro didn't stop at my station.. I still have no idea why, but it was closed all day. Fortunately the next station is very near to it and it gave me the chance to explore a new area and see new things, and I did. I found the ancient agora which I had previously only seen from up on the acropolis. I wasn't able to go into the site because it was closed, but I'm hoping to go tomorrow. Because I was at a different metro stop it took me longer to get over to where I was going, except I didn't even get there. I wanted to go to the national gardens next to the parliament. Parliament is at syntagma square, syntagma square was covered from every direction by police, military and riot police. Uniforms, shields, batons, gas masks... I decided it was a very good idea to turn back. I think they may have told me to turn back anyway except I didn't understand (obviously). So like I said, unsuccessful.
By this time all the shops were closing so I took myself to the mall for dinner and then home.

I'm really hoping to actually get up tomorrow and see what I couldn't today. Fingers crossed!
xoxo

Day 74

Another day like all the others. Except I planned to get up and go out in the morning. Planned. Was not successful. I woke up at 8:30, and then all of a sudden it was noon... Oops. That being said, I didn't do anything.
It's been a strange week. It's been up and down and just sailed on by.. I was planning to do something this weekend and now I'm not doing that but will hopefully be doing something.

It was just the kids and I home for lessons today and therefore it was a little louder than usual. But we got through. And when we did, the parents came home and took them away to swim and I was left to feed myself and go to bed.

Hopefully I make it out somewhere this weekend. The 4 walls of my bedroom are making me a bit crazy.
See you then!

Day 73 - Life lately; according to my iPhone

Day 72 - Auntie Dani

The day has arrived!! It came a week early, but it's still wonderful! Today I became a very proud auntie! (Again). I'm so excited that my niece is here and all is well. I can't wait to meet little Abigail. And I'm so touched that we share our middle names.

Congratulations, Joey and Jen.

xoxo

Day 71 - Not Wednesday

You know, I walked around all day thinking today was Wednesday. It was 5pm before I realized it wasn't. That was no fun. It really throws me off.

Up until that point I had showered, done more laundry even though yesterday's is still not dry, had breakfast, lunch and several glasses of hot honey water to keep me warm.

With Aris we drew pictures of what we read about in his story and then he decided that I should make him more scenes. "3 isn't enough. I need 10" he says. Hahaha. I don't think so. I did finish number 3 though.
After that was Alex's lesson, kids swimming lessons, my scrambled eggs (again) and some organizing while watching shows.

Day 70 - Monday

Another Monday come and gone. Get back into the swing of things, do some laundry, wish it was the weekend again.
Lesson
Lesson
Paper house
Aris jumps off the bed several times expecting me to catch him
Dinner
Done.

In other news, I've now been away for 70 days. I've also become addicted to Grey's Anatomy. Good times.

See you tomorrow

Day 69 - Virtual reality

I finally had a successful day out and actually went somewhere new.

Early afternoon I met up with my Au Pair friend that lives in Athens. She had heard about a place and we decided to check it out after lunch. When we arrived I thought it was going to be like the space and science centre at home but it's not quite. You pay to see individual exhibits, each one has a video, all in Greek though so that didn't do either of us very good. We did find one that sounded good and it's presented live so we got an English description. What we saw was a 3D virtual realty tour of Ancient Olympia and the original Olympic Games. It was awesome! You stand inside what they call "the cave". It's a room with screens to the front, left, right and under your feet. You wear 3D glasses and the "tour guide" uses a controller to move you around. It was like being inside of a video game. It's only downside is that it screws with your balance. I nearly fell down a few times though I was standing still, and I'm sure I probably would have been sick if I stayed in any longer. The "tour" is 15 minutes long and then automatically shuts down because apparently the mind doesn't appreciate being in virtually reality for any longer.
While inside I got to see what everything would have looked like, as well as seeing the statue of Zeus, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. He obviously isn't around anymore so it was kind of exciting to see him where he would have been, even if just on a screen. It also shows the flame, gymnasium, pools, shops, "hotel", etc. After seeing all that we watched a bit of how the games were played and the award ceremony.
This was an awesome thing to see and if you ever have a chance to see something like this, on any subject, I highly recommend you do.

After we finished the tour and had a short walk around the building we went back to the metro and took it to the modern Olympic stadium here in Athens. It is a really bizarre structure and kind of makes me think of a play structure that I want to climb on. We didn't go inside but walked around to see the different areas and took pictures.

Another ride on the metro and back to Plaka for tea and hot chocolate at Starbucks and a short walk around before it got colder and we both headed home.

Again, on the metro, headed towards home, I have never seen it so crowded in all the times of been on. And I'm on a lot. It was the kind of crowded where your arms get pinned at your side and you don't have to worry about holding on to something because you couldn't possibly fall over. After seeing so many people all dressed in the same colors and wearing scarves and carrying flags I figured out that there was a football/soccer game tonight. Once everyone unloaded at the stadium the metro was nearly empty, and much less smelly.
My stop is not far from the stadium and then my usual bus and walk before getting back to the house. Dinner. Retire.

And that is where my night end.

Day 68 - Rainy

After a long night featuring a very strange disconnected dream about a lot of random things and staring some pretty random people (think high school), I finally got myself out of bed and up for breakfast. It turned out to be that annoying kind of breakfast where you have already poured the cereal and crushed the now empty box before you realize that there isn't any milk. Damn! Because dry Special K doesn't really cut it for me I drizzled on some honey and had it with strawberry yogurt. It was quite good actually.

I'm usually up and out of the house pretty early every Saturday but today was very cold and wet and rainy so it took me a while to get going. I had a strong urge to actually do my hair and make up today, something that doesn't happen much over here and so I did it. Curls and eyeliner. And then I realized I had no where to go...
Fortunately it stopped raining right before I decided to leave (2:30pm, a bit late).
Nothing really new, I left without a set destination. There's plenty of time to figure it out while waiting for or riding the bus. Instead of thinking about that though, I was trying not to be sick. My motion sickness has been acting up on the buses lately. Not terribly enjoyable. And because I felt sick AND it was cold I figured the mall would be better than walking around outside.

The mall had nothing new to offer and all I bought was a muffin. It was a good muffin though. I also noticed that Starbucks has released their holiday drinks, they are not the same drinks we have at home though. Mocha praline and something toffee.
What is a praline???

Anyway, wandering didn't last long before I turned around and headed for home.
Motion sick - 1
Dani - 0

Of course when I got home I felt fine again.. Oh well. Another night spent in with my laptop. What an exciting life I lead.

Until tomorrow,

Day 67 - Out again

I finally did it!!! I woke up and actually left the house! ... Unfortunately it was another failed outing. I looked a few times online earlier in the week to see when the metro would be running again and it said that it would be on Friday, it lied. So it was another useless bus trip. I cant really complain though, its nice to just be out of the house again. And on the subject of being out, I could really tell that it's Autumn here now, I thought it was before, now I really know for sure. It's not even hitting 20 anymore. But honestly, +16-18 might as well be tropical compared to what I'm missing out on at home. Facebook has kept me in the loop, I can't believe I missed a real snow day!

Back to the house for lunch and the rest of my normal day, part of which is now making things from paper, Aris is addicted. He wants yet another scene. A house this time. And with Alex we planted seeds in his mini greenhouse. Beans and lentils. I couldn't convince him that this isn't an ideal time of year and that his desk lamp doesn't count as sunlight. Oh well.

Dinner, shower and now ending my day off with some Celtic Woman Christmas music. If you have never heard of or just never heard Celtic Woman I highly recommend you do. They are amazing.

No exciting plans for tomorrow as of yet, but I am hoping to get out somewhere. I do know that the metro is running so that is a good start. I may just hop on and get off somewhere I haven't been yet.
See you there!

Day 66

I keep telling myself I'm going to get out and do things but it hasn't happened. Instead I unintentionally slept until 12:30, which I'm not terribly pleased about and then when I did get up I cleaned my bathroom and bedroom so I could feel like I've done something recently. Though, I do enjoy cleaning anyway.

Aris spent his whole lesson asking me over and over if I was done his igloo yet. He seems to think its a toy. Of course I did finish it eventually.
After that in Alex's lesson he set up a mini greenhouse that he is determined to plant in tomorrow, either lettuce, carrots, basil, broccoli or cauliflower.

Omelet for dinner and then normal night time stuff.

I really am planning to get up and out tomorrow. Hopefully that actually happens. It will require my normal alarms, but that I actually get up when they go off.
Until then,
xoxo

Day 65 - Igloo

Chad gets here in 1 month!!!!! Im so excited! That also means I'm 2/3 done!

I stayed in again today because of the the strike, and honestly, because I'm really lazy... that's ok though because it was quite cold and rainy again.

During Aris' lesson he asked me to make something else like my camping scene. Being the crafty person I am I couldn't refuse. Now I'm making an igloo scene. I didn't finish though, which he didn't like, he asked me every 2 minutes if I was done yet. I assume he wanted to play with it.

After dinner it's time to hide in my covers until tomorrow.

Day 64

Just like I expected, it was another day of staying in and doing the same old things. Knowing that I can't go anywhere has a real way of draining me. I could pretty happily stay in bed all day.
No such luck there though, the children still need there English. Some reading, (Frog and toad and Tom Sawyer), a bit of writing, vocabulary..

Crash.
xoxo

Day 63 - Stop striking!

I would love to be able to tell you about all the exciting things I did today, but there aren't any. Because of the strikes I couldn't get anywhere, and even if I could not everything is open anyway. Even the kids didn't have school. I assume that's because of the strike as well, but I could be wrong.

Between breakfast and lessons I was on my laptop. During lessons I was pulling my hair out and freezing my butt off. After lessons it was supper and then accidentally falling asleep to early. I'm obviously up again now to write this, but not likely for very long.

I'm sure tomorrow will go pretty much just like today because the strike will still be going on. Maybe if its nice I'll just go for a walk.. Maybe.

Day 62 - Favorites; Month 2

My second month away from home is official behind me now, so, like I did last month I will share a few of my favorite things.


Savory food: Does a salad count? Everest's Caesar's salad with cucumber and tomato added in. Also the sashimi I had on my birthday.

Sweet food: Classic flavor frozen yogurt with honey and fresh raspberries.

Place I've seen: As I haven't been away much this month it is a bit easier to choose. I would have to say my favorite was Nafplio even though I was there for such a short time. I just really liked the feeling of the town. Its so charming!

Way to spend my free time: Any 1 of 3 ways.
Wandering around the mall that is 'close' to me.
Walking through old Athens, the tourist streets and the shopping area they are connected to.
Reading blogs. Travel, fashion, beauty, DIY or everyday life. I love them all.

Random others:
- The night circus, by Erin Morgenstern
- Pinterest. It is my addiction. If you haven't gotten on it, do so immediately.
- Korres. A natural make-up, skin, hair and body care brand that is based in Athens but available world wide. Loving it more now because the price tag is significantly better here. Like, 17Eu vs. 45$
- Plaka on Saturdays.
- Taylor Swift! Red, 22 and Begin again. Excellent songs.
- Even though It's still really warm here, which I do like, I like even more that it has cooled down some without being really cold.
- Everything I see and learn from being away.
- That smart feeling I get whenever I learn a new Greek word.

Day 61 - Shorts in November

Hello there!
Today was a pretty relaxed Saturday. Nothing much exciting or different. I slept in a bit and didn't go out until after lunch. And when I did finally go out I was wearing SHORTS! In November!! How bizarre. It was a struggle to leave the house in them because I couldn't believe they would be warm enough. They were. It's still plenty warm enough. 24 degrees when I check.
And while checking the weather I decided to do the smart thing and check to make sure the train would be running before I left the house. It was and will be on Sunday as well, but then it will be on strike again on Monday and Tuesday and possibly even longer. I also found out there will be lots of other areas striking and there are going to be demonstrations and marches in Athens on Wednesday and Thursday.

I spent the afternoon strolling around Plaka. I really never get tired of that place. Especially because all the food smells soooo good. And because it smells so good I had a gyros in pita. With no onions of course.
After a few hours walking there I got back on my train towards home. First stopping for a Starbucks.

When I got home it was business a usual. Food and shows on my laptop until bed time, which is now.

Good night!

Day 60 - An unintentional long walk, again

This morning I got up early so I could go into Athens to meet a friend. While sitting on the bus to the train I watched a man pull a bottle of something (kind of looked like peach schnapps, very manly) out of his pocket, and then drink a quarter if it in one glug.. I had been wondering why everyone was avoiding the seat next to him. I guess now I know. Who doesn't like people watching?? It's so entertaining!
When I got off the bus I took the short walk across a park to get to the train station. When I got there I found that all the gates and doors were closed and locked, and the train was parked... What's going on?!?! I was told before that the buses and trains here frequently go on strikes, I guess today was one of those days. Now, not only did it take me 50 minutes to get to the train that I can't ride, but my friend was waiting for me at the other end and I had no way to let her know I wouldn't make it.
SORRY!
Since I couldn't do anything about either of these issues I decided I would take a walk around the area and see what I could find. Though I am there several times a week, I've only seen the bus stop, train station and the little bit in between them. I found a cute pedestrian shopping area and some restaurants/cafes. Nothing to exciting but now I know what is there for future reference.

Because I hadn't been there long I knew another bus would be a while and decided that I would walk in the general direction of home and hopefully match up with a bus at another stop along the way. This turned out differently than I had expected and somewhat like last weekends walk. It was 70(!!) minutes of walking before I got on a bus, took that bus for 15 minutes, then got off and walked another 15 minutes home. I think if I had have walked the whole way it would have been another 30-50 minutes.

When I finally got home, sweaty and exhausted, I had lunch and then a well deserved hour long nap, waking only because I set an alarm for lessons.

Aris wasn't in a particularly happy mood today so lessons were a bit bumpy, of course as soon as play time came around he was all cured of his grumpy. We chatted about what he was playing with on the floor and I made him this delightful camping scene. Why? Because I'm crafty and sometimes an idea just happens and I get carried away.. I like it!!

I know what you are thinking. "Damn, she's good with those scissors!"

I was thinking the very same thing!!

Look at that skill! The fishing rod with a rainbow trout, or gay pride fish, whichever you prefer. I was going for rainbow though... The adorable fire pit, bush and trees! There is even a pillow in that sleeping bag!

OK, ok. It's probably only awesome to me and Aris. I'm ok with that.

Alex was also in a bit of a sour mood today. It seems some children woke up on the wrong side of their beds. No play time for him today because lessons took his whole 2 hours.

Dinner. Scrambled eggs, toast, apple.

And that is all for today. I'm not sure if I'll be going anywhere this weekend but if I do you can be sure you will hear about it!

Day 59 - Dreamer

Today, like most days, I woke up quite early (relative, I suppose, since I have no where to be I consider it early). Around 7:30 I was awake and considering actually getting up but then I realized it was one of those nights where I had really bizarre dreams that seemed to be going on all night and I woke up feeling like I had hardly slept at all. And when I say "one of those nights" I mean it was like most nights. I am a crazy, bizarre, vivid, frequent dreamer, and honestly I wouldn't have it any other way. It's so amusing to wake up and try to figure out how your mind could have possibly come up with the things you saw.

The dictionary of Aris:
Dreams: "Those pictures you see in your brain when you are sleeping"

So anyway, after my early wake up I went back to sleep until about 11:30. As much as it is nice to get up feeling rested, I really am not a huge fan of sleeping in.. it leaves me feeling like I've wasted my day. The funny thing is I have no where to be and nothing better to do... silly me!

Lately in Aris' lessons I have noticed a real change. He listens so much better and is very willing to do what I ask, without a tantrum or a war! It's really an awesome feeling realizing that he really likes me now. Everything is so much more enjoyable when I dont have to rip my hair out trying to get things done.
Now, on completely the other hand, I seem to be going in quite the opposite direction with Alex. I think he doesnt like that I tell him what to do and then make him do it. He's like a male version of the 13 year old me.
Scary, I know.

After finishing lessons and having the family go off to swimming, I had dinner and then got ready for bed so I could sit in my room for the rest of the night. (Hermit)..

As i'm writing this I am also thinking up where else I want to go with this blog. I've really fallen in love with writing it. Its like a journal for me, except not. And I also really love to be able to share with everyone. I'm hoping to keep it up after I get home but it obviously won't be about travel anymore at that point. I think it will morph into more of a general life blog. Anything that i'm doing or liking or feel like sharing. A shop or restaurant i've found, something i'm obsessing over, what im wearing or eating or making on any given day. And then keeping with the 'Out of the nest' theme, it will be how my life is transitioning and changing since leaving home.
I'd love to know what you think of this, so please do let me know!

Good night!