Another Temporary Home

My room for the time being. Note the piano! And fireplace behind my suitcase!

This is the house in Windsor, NC where a bunch of TFA teachers live. Ridiculous! I can't get over it, it's like living in Gone with the Wind, except we're next to a Wachovia and the library instead of cotton fields. All the rooms have fireplaces, high ceilings, and are huge. The backyard has a tree house, a playhouse, a shed, and a fountain. Insanity!

Biscuits and Gravy . . . and machetes

I took a weekend road trip to Wilkes County to visit Grandma. There I was stuffed full of good food (I didn't protest too much), lay around on the couch, had a good conversation about gayness, and walked to the falls at Stone Mountain. The funniest part of the weekend was learning that my Grandma owns a machete. She mail-ordered it in '81. Just because she always wanted one. When Luke (cousin) and I asked her why this was the case, she said she wasn't sure but maybe because she'd always like pirates. Hilarious!

This only came up in conversation because on the news, a murder trial was being discussed. A man killed his wife in self defense, after she attacked him with a spear. Luke and I couldn't get over the spear- why in the world would anyone have a spear? My Grandma kept saying that it was because they were fighting in the garage or workshop- and again Luke and I asked, but why would she have a spear? Such an odd, random weapon to have. A sword, not so weird. Numchucks even (is that how you spell that?). But a spear? I don't get it. So then Grandma says you never know what people have, and that we would be surprised to learn she has a machete. She then went and dug it out of one of the bedrooms, where it was wrapped in 2 flat cardboard boxes, getting a little rusty. It could put a hurting on someone, if you could get it out before you were killed.

Don't mess with her, she'll bust out her machete!

The Brushy Mountains, taken from Grandma's front yard

Isn't the one on the left cute?

Grandma making biscuits and gravy- vegan even!

Mmmm finished product

I can't wait to see the leaves change in the fall.

At Stone Mountain

Stone Mountain Falls

There were lots of butterflies on the path.

I had to pull over to take a picture of this gem on my way back to Chapel Hill.

And just to clear up some apparent confusion...

... no, Mary and I are not dating. Nor will we ever. We don't like each other in "that way."
:-)

Foam Pit

Oh yeah, I went with Holly to check out the brand new gym where she works. I walked on the balance beam and jumped into the foam pit, which was kind of scary, that thing is higher than it looks, I don't know how the kiddos do it.

Follow the Rainbow

I went to the NC Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on Saturday, and it was great! The area was crawling with gays- I was in heaven. I went by myself, and when I got downtown I wasn't sure which way to turn, when I realized the car in front of me had a rainbow bumper sticker. I followed them- and they led me right where I needed to be, it was fantastic. It was held in the historic (I think, it seemed very historic) Carolina Theater, which was beautiful. There were lots of booths and I picked up a copy of Q-Notes, NC's gay newspaper, and some "Welcome to Durham" brochures. There were so many people there, I was truely amazed. It was more exciting than Portland's festival, which is held in a few different theaters, so everyone's not all together, this seemed to have a larger sense of community. I saw "Hannah Free," a really good movie about a long-term lesbian couple at the end of their lives. It was funny, well written and acted, only the tiniest bit of cheesiness at the end, and had a message without being too heavy-handed. Well done. If it comes to a theater near you, go check it out.

Like Driving in a Typhoon

I was briefly caught in a true example of East Coast rain today, it was crazy! I thought I was in a typhoon for a second. Wipers going at full speed, huge waves coming from the cars next to me, I could barely see anything. How do people learn to drive in this stuff? Scary.

Murfreesboro, NC = Middle of Nowhere, NC

This picture isn't from Murfreesboro, but from a high school in Gaston, NC where we had a TFA meeting. The town had a street named "Gay." Sadly though I didn't have time to stop and get a pic- but next time I go visit Mary, I'm doing a little detour! From left to right are some of my TFA buddies: Mary, Carol, Elizabeth, and Emily.

I stayed a few nights with Mary in her new town of Murfreesboro, NC. It is a tiny town, but we didn't even have time to take in all the sights- next time! We did eat lunch at her neighbor's (known as "Big Tony") restaurant, and it was nice. We drove around the historical district, the university, I tried some late night Chinese take out, rescued a turtle, and did a little shopping. And, I definitely broke in the new car with all that driving, it takes a long time to get to the middle of nowhere. We also drove to Elizabeth City to pick up her new car, and to get there we went through the Great Dismal Swamp. Isn't that a great name? We passed by a sweet homemade sign that warns drivers not to pull off the road or you'll get stuck. Luckily we were stuck-free.

This University is right by her place. Looked it up online, apparently it has 63 majors, though I don't know how they support that many cause it is really tiny.

The University had a green space with lots of porch swings in the trees, it was lovely.
Mary totally looks like a Southern lady doesn't she?

One of the exciting cites in the historical district

The local library is super adorable, though I was horrified at finding these in their collection. Shudder.

Driving from the other bustling metropolis of Ahoskie, where we shopped at Belk for teacher cardigans, we stopped for a turtle rescue mission.

The watermelon festival was last weekend, but they still had the archway up.

Traipsing Down Memory Lane in Mebane, NC

"Downtown" Mebane. In the center is a dance studio, now called Extreme Dance or something. I think this is what was once Patty Laws School of Dance, where I had my first few years of ballet and tap classes. Good times.

Since I am free from planning or doing much of anything productive until another job comes through, I took a drive through Mebane, where I lived from the age of 4 till 14 when we moved to the good old Pac NW. I went by our old house, my elementary and middle schools, the library, and stopped in the bustling downtown for a pedicure.

This was the area where the 8th graders hung out before school started

Woodlawn Middle School

The Old Library- they've upgraded now. I still remembered exactly where this was.

Posing in front of the sign for South Mebane Elementary- I was in 4th grade when we voted on our school colors (red and blue) and mascot (dragon).

Our old house. There used to be more trees in the front yard, but they perhaps have been replaced by some cars in the backyard. Tegan has now told me she put a plastic dinosaur in the pecan tree by the driveway before we moved, so sad I didn't know to check for it. Though that may have alerted the neighbors. It felt creepy enough taking pictures, not need to draw more attention to myself than necessary.

Nevermind!

Um yeah, so the state finally signed the budget today, and signed me out of a job at lovely Henderson Middle School. I really liked the 2 assistant principals I met with, so it's too bad. So, TFA is going to be setting up more interviews for me next week. Fingers crossed that they're successful finding me something in the Durham area so I can live where I want to. Aren't surprises fun?

My school!

Here's my new workplace, Henderson Middle School.

I saw my tentative classroom today, though I still don't know for certain if I'll be teaching 7th or 8th grade. Either way, I'm looking forward to it. I'll be teaching 4 Language Arts classes a day. Either way, I'm excited!

South of the Border

I took a day trip with Holly on Saturday, and we stopped for gas at one of the tackiest tourist traps ever seen, South of the Border. It's advertised for miles ahead of time with these billboards that feature "Pedro" in a sombrero and have ethnically innappropriate slogans on them, or just really cheesy ones. Of course, I had to document the location.