Z is for Zoinks!

Remember Scooby Doo? And "zoinks" anytime anything weird happened? Yes, that's where I am.

Zoinks! that I'm in Spain. Zoinks! that I finished (sort of) the A-Z challenge. Zoinks! that I'm still here and loving every minute.

Here's hoping your life is filled with all the good zoinks you can muster!

xoxo

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I am participating in the Blogging from A-Z challenge for April 2012. Today's post is for the letter Z.

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Correction - B is for Birthday!

Sunday April 29 was Hubs' birthday and he is/was/will be on a plane, headed to Spain. Where the rain falls mainly on the plain (but mostly in Madrid all. day. long. for several days in a row. We hit a rainy streak. Ack!)

Happy birthday to the love of my life!

He loves his Coke Zero, even in Spain! ;-)

Y is for Yoga

My post for last Saturday was supposed to be about yoga. Duh! What else would I write about? As I am sitting in the lobby of a small hotel in Sevilla, Spain on a crunched time schedule, I invite you to read the series I wrote about yoga last October. 31 Days to Practicing Yoga

Yoga is definitely something I need to do more of while traveling.

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I am participating in the Blogging from A-Z challenge for April 2012. Today's post is for the letter Y.

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X is for Exhausted, yet Excited

I have been exhausted enough that I dropped the ball on writing this post in time for Friday. It's just as well, though, because Friday I was more exhausted than anything else. My week with Pueblo Ingles was utterly amazing. I met inspiring people, ate incredible food (though I'm not in the mood for pork again, thank you!), and witnessed selfless acts by everyone around me. I spent Saturday wandering around with new friends and bracing the cold. We popped in and out of cafes like a progressive dinner plan. Sunday morning, I woke up early, took the Metro to the wrong airport terminal, got stuck, then took the bus to the correct terminal, and met up with Hubs almost an hour after he arrived. So sorry!! Seeing Hubs' face this morning (on his birthday!) again lifted my spirits. I will write more about my travels, but now I'm going to snuggle my birthday boy. Much love to you all!

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I am participating in the Blogging from A-Z challenge for April 2012. Today's post is for the letter X.

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W is for Wander

When traveling, I love to meet different people. It's interesting to come across people who are from the same place(s) I have lived, and I enjoy finding common ground, of course. My favorite, however, is meeting someone from a place I know very little about.

I love the connection that happens between or among folks who appear - on the surface - to have very little in common. I love watching the interactions start out formal, polite, and reserved, then evolve into teasing and laughing, punctuated with hugs as kisses.

Note: Europeans are kissy. The double cheek kiss is my favorite greeting and I'm getting a lot of those this week. Yay!

The hardest part about meeting new people, for me, is saying goodbye. As I write this early on Thursday, we have already had to bid farewell to 2 of our Spanish partners and it already led to tears.

The more I travel, the more I learn. The more I wander, the less lost I feel. The more I travel, the more I want to travel.

I believe pretty strongly that everyone should travel outside their comfort zone, preferably outside of their home country, at least once. The ways my mind and heart have opened and accepted others is a gift I don't think I could have gotten any other way.

-*-*-*-*-*-*
Of course this song talks about wandering in a different sense (another reason English is difficult to learn!), but it reminds me of the music I grew up listening to.

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I am participating in the Blogging from A-Z challenge for April 2012. Today's post is for the letter W.

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V is for Verbiage

As I mentioned yesterday, I am spending this week listening to and speaking with Spanish people, trying to help them improve their spoken English. I learned to speak English as a child in Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula near Marquette, and I've been speaking it with various degrees of success since then. My grades were usually decent in school and I enjoyed my English classes especially. This week, I am learning that I don't remember specific parts of speech as well as I thought I did!

U is for Unforgettable

I am staying in a rural setting outside Salamanca, Spain, volunteering with an organization called Pueblo Ingles. Their goal is to help Spanish speakers learn English in an immersive environment with a group of native English speakers from various countries. There are about 20 people here from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, India, and the US, paired up with the same number of people from all over Spain, and one person from Argentina. They call those of us who are native English speakers Anglos, which felt weird to me at first, but now I'm used to answering to it.

Side note: apparently, Anglos are better hydrated than Spainiards. I have reached this conclusion after a very scientific observation of the people in the ladies' room when I go. Very scientific. This has nothing to do with Hubs' nickname for me, Tiny Tank.

image from morguefile.com

T is for Tanner

Tanner is our biggest cat and was found around the same time Justice was. We're not sure whether they were littermates, but people ask us that all the time.

While very sweet, Tanner is possibly our dumbest cat. He's certainly been the most expensive in the past few months as he ruined our bedroom carpet, which led to new wood flooring. And he didn't even offer to pick up part of the tab. Freeloader.

S is for Spain

For those of you who have been following my journey, I am writing this post from Spain.

Hola! I figured S is a good time to write about Spain so far.

Image from morguefile.com

R is for Ridiculous

I'm writing this blog in my pajamas in my house in Austin. You're reading it while I'm in Madrid, Spain, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing. Thankfully, I've already figured out this "scheduled post" thing in Blogger. Yay! Happy Friday!

This one is purely for fun. Though this is my least favorite conversation.

Image from morguefile.com

"What do you want for dinner?"
"I don't know. What do you want for dinner?"
"I decided yesterday."
"What did you have for lunch?"
"Umm ..."
"Did you eat lunch?"
"I think so."
"Must not have been that good."
"Or bad."
"True."

"Okay, let's go to Pei Wei."
"I don't want Pei Wei."
"What do you want?"
"I don't care. Just make a decision."
"Have you had a snack recently?*)

Q is for ... Quite a Lot

I'm writing this blog in my pajamas in my house in Austin. You're reading it while I'm in Madrid, Spain, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing. Thankfully, I've already figured out this "scheduled post" thing in Blogger. Yay!

When I was making my list of A-Z topics, I admit I felt a bit like I was playing Words with Friends and trying to finally beat my cousin Gena who routinely whoops my arse. (hi, Gena!)

I talked to Hubs about it and he suggested I list Q words. What? No! That's silly. Wait, um ... maybe that's genius!

P is for Patriotism

I'm leaving today (on a jet plane). I love to see the world outside my borders. I love to learn about other cultures, other languages, and hello - food!

Image from morguefile.com

O is for Optimism: (sort of) a book review

I consider myself an optimist. Actually, I sort of dislike being categorized, but bear with me here.

I've always been a "glass half full" "silver lining" kind of person, at least since that ex-boyfriend in high school told me he was tired of my negativity.

It may not surprise you, then, to learn I am a fan of Michael J. Fox. Besides loving Back to the Future (how is that movie nearly 30 years old?!) and watching it every time I pass it while channel surfing, I happen to think Fox is a pretty neat guy. Plus my little brother reminds me of Alex P. Keaton. Sigh ;-)

Anyway, one of the things I like best about Fox is his incurable optimism. His books are realistic and he recognizes he is a very lucky man. I like his combination of self-deprecation, humility, optimism, reality, and candor.

Shop independent bookstores

Shop independent bookstores

Today's song is by the incredible OneRepublic (filmed in Boulder county, by the way). Yes, I've seen them in concert multiple times. And this song is appropriate as I finish packing.

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I am participating in the Blogging from A-Z challenge for April 2012. Today's post is for the letter O.

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N is for Now

Shop at Indie booksellers. Image from indiebound.org

I've been doing lots of reflecting lately. I feel sort of like I'm approaching a crossroads of sorts in my life and that comes with the desire/need to evaluate where I've been, the decisions I've made, and the direction I'm headed.

M is for Merlin the Nerd

The first cat I had that was truly "mine" was Magic. She was born my junior year in high school and followed me through college, roommates, boyfriends, and into my marriage. She was pretty awesome. And fluffy.

Magic - Xmas 2000
(first pictures taken with first digital camera! It was the size of a BRICK)

Magic died shortly after my Dad did, and I was devastated. Justice hadn't quite attached himself to me yet, but had certainly loved Magic.

L is for Live Music

We bought our house from a family who lives two houses down. They're great neighbors, and even better, they're great friends. A group of us usually gets together for dinner on Friday nights at the local Jason's Deli. Tonight, however, an old friend of theirs, Will Kimbrough, is in town.

We were able to sit down and chat with Will before his show as everyone shared drinks and dinner. We liked him on a personal level immediately, and when we heard him play, we liked him even more.

K is for Kids

You think you know what I'm going to say here. But you don't. Maybe. I'm sleepy and feeling a little ranty. Hm, maybe you were right on what you thought I was going to say.

I don't have children. That's intentional. I have cats. That's also intentional. I'm not crazy about kid places and I don't like snot or sweaty grimy hands on my 'lectronics.

Image from morguefile.com

None of this means I don't like your kid(s). I do kinda think ultrasound pictures are creepy, though. Sorry.

J is for Justice

I could have turned this into a thought-provoking post about current events and how to act in the interest of justice for all. I am definitely interested in those things.

Yet, if you hadn't figured it out before, you surely know by now. I'm kind of a crazy cat lady. My goal was to have enough cats that neighborhood kids would cross the street on their way home from school to avoid me. I would sit on my porch and yell "hey you kids! Get off my lawn!"

Then, much to my delight, I met Hubs. I think true Crazy Cat Ladies are single, so I'm good for a long time.

I is for Italy

We're headed to Italy soon, and this is a list of places we think we want to visit, though it's not in any specific order. I'm not that organized tonight!

Image from www.indiebound.org. Visit your local Independent bookstore.

I've been reading through Off the Tourist Trail - 1,000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives for ideas on places to go that don't involve hours of lines. I am uninterested in spending my vacation time in ridiculous lines with 5 billion other people to see stuff in person that I could see pictures and read stories of online. (I'm kind of snotty that way.) I'd rather spend that time chatting with a local, or walking through some less-overrun place and being able to relax a little about keeping my backpack on my front to deter pick pockets.

H is for Hunger Games: book/movie review

Credit: Goodreads.com

I've been mentally sitting on this post for weeks and am so excited to have a "reason" to write it. I'm not going to replay the plot here. You can read about that anywhere. I want to compare and contrast the movie and the book. I loved them both.

Wait, you haven't heard of this book? You have no idea what I'm talking about? Okay, take a look at this clip I found on YouTube.

The Hunger Games is currently the #1 book, #1 album, and #1 movie. The trilogy is even apparently on the challenged books list, which has to be the mark of excellence, right? (I jest. A little.)

Do I think you should read it if you haven't yet? Well, yes, if for no other reason than to understand what on earth everyone's talking about.

For those who say it's too violent and too graphic and children shouldn't be reading it (it's classified as young adult), okay. For those who have neither read the book nor seen the film, I'd suggest a bit of research before you form an opinion about it. Do I truly care whether you read it? Nope. Unless you're going to start voicing opinions. Then I will care. The first book took me about 7 hours to read the first time. This isn't too much of a time investment for you to be informed.

Not interested? Okay. Then have a great day and come back tomorrow when I write about Italy and our plans for next month's trip. :-)

***spoilers ahead***

G is for Goosed by a Gander

I've been avoiding telling this story for a couple of weeks now. I keep reliving the whole thing and the worst part, the worst part, is how no one came to my defense. They sat and watched, nay, they laughed. Laughed a horrible, terrible, heartless laugh. I think there were tears in his eyes, and he almost fell off his chair. In retrospect, I sort of wish he had.

Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up.

F is for Fiction Friday

“Hey there, Gorgeous."

Juliana felt the whisper of his breath on her neck more than she heard the words. She felt her heart flip and wiggle in her chest.

“Hey yourself,” she turned and smiled.

Alan’s voice deepened and seemed to physically pull her closer. “I am so ready to get out of here. What about you?”

E is for Europe!

You may already know this, but I'll say it anyway. We're planning a trip to Europe for my first sabbatical from work. I know. Try not to feel too sorry for me.

Our itinerary is pretty loose and we're looking forward to going with the flow more than we usually do. I'll spend a week with an English immersion program for Spanish speakers. I'm pretty fluent in English myself, contrary to what you might think from reading some of my rambling. As a volunteer with this program, my room and board is complimentary for that week. Hubs will then join me and we'll go from there.

D is for Dancing

In a previous life, or maybe it was just the earlier version of this one, I was quite the dancer. No, I didn't go to school for it, though I did take a dance class in high school. I can't remember the name of the class, but I know we had a routine to this song.



Did I just date myself? Meh, it happens.

C is for Costa Rica - Travel Tuesday

Come on. Did you expect something else? Surely not! Let's talk Costa Rica for a little bit, shall we?

I spent the week in Grecia for my yoga retreat with 4 other students and our instructor, Ana. Ana lives in the Phoenix area and is from Grecia, so we traveled with a local, which was at least 100% awesome.

B is for Beauty

On our drive yesterday, we saw endless fields of wildflowers. Bluebonnets, paintbrushes, and flowers I have no idea what they're called. Pretty blues, purples, reds, and yellows.

Enjoy the drive.

A is for Abundance

A is for abundance. As in, I have an abundance of things to talk about, to write about, that I've been thinking about. Alas, we have spent the last few days visiting with family and friends in Oklahoma and I'm pooped. I have an abundance of tiredness right now. ;-)