OMG - I GOT THE GRANT!

OMG - I GOT THE GRANT!

OMG,OMG, OMG, I GOT THE GRANT!!!!

Oh my goodness! I am so incredibly stoked! I just found out that I did in fact receive the grant. I am all a twitter with excitement, a bubbling ball of hyperactivity, at 11:00 pm no less. I can't wait now to get into the gym and step up my training, as well as iron out all of the final details of my itinerary. I am so incredibly grateful to receive this life-altering opportunity.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Fund for Teachers, and thank you, Mr. Mendoza for your article on chron.com.

MERCI BEAUCOUP! MUCHAS GRACIAS! DANKE SCHON!

MERCI MILLE FOIS! ( Thanks a thousand times!)

J'adore ma vie! (I love my life!)

Gabrielle

Linguistic Lollapalooza

On March 27th at 4:00 pm, Shannon and I will be presenting our workshop entitled "Linguistic Lollapalooza" at the Texas Foreign Language Association Conference in Waco, Texas. We also presented last October, but we were personally invited by the president of TFLA to present again. (I feel special.) THe workshop consists of games, activities, and songs that we can adapt for the classroom to make learning more fun.

Sometime this week I have to go to school and make copies of our presentation packet, then meet with Shannon to put them in the red folders. Oh yeah, I also need to buy and make labels for the folders. Boy, am I going to be busy this week.

GAB

Preparations for La Grosse Tournee

Last month I opened a savings account at a local credit union and started to stock-pile the $2000 I will need for the trip (if I get the grant of course.) It would take me at least 3 years to save enough to make the journey without the grant. I also filed my taxes and am looking forward to adding my tax refund to my savings account. I also checked my passport and realized that it would expire much sooner than I remembered. SOOOO, two weeks ago I applied to renew my passport. It should be coming in very soon.

I also have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to get a full physical. I'm still training, some days more than others. I still have a long way to go and am grateful that I still have two and half months before my proposed departure date.

I have also started to inventory my biking and walking wardrobe to determine what still needs to be purchased. I am also creating my own travel book with my schedule, travel route, maps, a list of sites, prices, hours of operation, train schedules, etc. I am also creating a special journal to record distance cycled, distance walked, travel times, calories burned, cities visited, sites seen, and my observations and thoughts, of course. If I do get the grant, I'm even going to have cycle shirts made with the "La Grosse Tournee de France" design on this page.

I have also just found a French meet-up group that meets once a week to have dinner and to practice speaking French. They also meet to see French films and go to French lectures. I will go to 2 lectures and 2 movies this week. (You gotta love spring break.)

I am also using this week to catch up on household chores and responsibilities so that when I go back to school, I won't have to worry about it. In addition, I am taking time this week to cook several healthful dishes that I am then packing into individual meals and freezing them. When I am teaching and training, I don't always have the time or energy to cook at the end of the day. This way, I will have healthful lunches and dinners that I can pull out of the freezer, instead of resorting to fast food. When I go back to school everything will be in place, which will make sticking to a workout schedule much easier.

WELL, I've still got a lot to accomplish this week. Chat again soon. Toodles!

GAB

Fish out of Water

Sometimes I feel like a fish out of water. I feel more natural in the water than out of it. Of course, water is relaxing and theraputic, but it is also freeing. I can do anything in the water. I am WONDERWOMAN in the water. All of the activities that are difficult and painful out of the water, are completely possible in the water. I can run, jump, flip, lift weights, etc. all in the water. I can swim for miles with no pain or blisters or obstacles. May be I should have been a mermaid...... I don''t know... I am rather fond of seafood....lol.

The Comfort of Fractions

I've noticed that while I am training, especially on the treadmill or stationary bike, I use fractions to motivate and comfort myself. Everytime I pass a small milestone, I convert it into a fraction. The self-talk in my head sounds like," OK, 1/10 down, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, alright I'm half way there. Only 1/3 more, 1/4, 3/10, 1/5 - I can totally do this. 1/10, almost there, 1/20....YES, I did it." I don't know why I find such comfort in fractions. You'd think I were a math teacher instead of a French teacher, though I was always good at math. I think the fractions allow me to think in terms of what I have already accomplished versus what I still need to accomplish. I do know that fractions motivate me to keep going and never quit until I've completed the WHOLE.

Geography Photo Powerpoint

Yesterday after school I was inspired, and a I whipped up a 45 slide powerpoint presentation on the geography of France. (OK, so I might have gotten a little carried away.) I used it today and it was very effective. Seeing these geographical features is so much more interesting than just hearing about them. I'll wiil try to attach it to this blog. I hope it works. I.ve never done this kind of attachment before. Here we go!.... H:\La Géographie de France

La Geographie de la France

Today, I taught a geography lesson on France. Already, I was able to add several interesting tidbits to the lesson because of all of the research I've done over the last 3 months preparing to write my grant with FundforTeachers. However, I was so wishing that I had more information, and more importantly that I had pictures and visuals to show. I will try to find some pictures online for tomorrow, but can you imagine how much I could add if I actually were able to win a grant and go to France. OMG, I am soooo excited and nervous. I can't wait till March 31st. J'ai besoin de la bonne chance.

A plus tard!

Walking Training Schedule

This is the training schedule for the

walking portion of

La Grosse Tournee de France.

Cycling Training Schedule

This is the training schedule for the

cycling portion of

La Grosse Tournee de France.