June 8, 2009 - Une soiree sauve

June 8, 2009
Une soiree sauvee.
After finally making it to my hostel, I took a long nap (I was soooo exhausted and frustrated.) from about 2:30-5:30. Then, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself. I got dressed and took the metro/RER to the Eiffel Tower to ride the Bateaux Parisiens one of many boat tours on the Seine River). I bought a croquet monsieur and a bottle of water off the street and ate while I was waiting for the metro. It was the first thing I had eaten since 6am on the airplane. The metro at 7pm is soooo crowded. I felt like a sardine, but at least I found a seat, most did not. To my surprise, when I exited from the metro, it was pouring rain. It was not raining when I entered the metro, but it was when I exited. By the time I made it to the boats and the Eiffel Tower, I was soaked. Luckily the tour boats are enclosed in glass—good for rain, bad for pictures. ( Please forgive my blurry, spotty pictures...lol.) The bateau was definitely the turning point in my day. I found myself remembering how beautiful and charming Paris could be. I started to relax and enjoy. After the baot ride, I went to the gift shop and bought 50 postcards to send to my students. Then I took a few pictures of the Eiffel Tower before heading back to the hostel. I an impressed that I remember how to maneuver the metro after more than 15 years. Before going to the hostel, I decided to really enjoy the French way of life and I am ,at this moment, sitting in a café (Café Republique) eating quiche and French bread, and drinking hot chocolate. I have to keep reminding myself to slow down, to savor the moment, to enjoy life. The only thing I wish is that I had someone to share my birthday with today. It is a little lonely spending my birthday by myself. Well back to the hostel… it’s almost midnight after all. Bonne nuit, tout le monde!

June 8, 2009 - Happy Birthday to me!

June 8, 2009
Bienvenue à Paris or Happy Birthday to Me!
Well, I’m in Paris. I wish I could say that my arrival was wonderful and glamorous, but it wasn’t. The flight was fine, no problems at all. I got all my luggage, then found somewhere to sit down and reassemble my bike. As I started to reassemble, I realized that my bike was broken. Something was not right with the handle bars and the brakes were broken. (I am sooooo glad that I paid a professional to pack my bike for me…. Can you hear the sarcasm in my voice...lol.) I decided to take it right away to the brake shop. I walked the bike all the way to the opposite end of the airport, then took a train to as near to the bike shop as I could get (which wasn’t very close at all). Then I walked the bike about 2 miles to the bike shop…. Only to discover that they were closed on Mondays. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! I actually left the bike chained (with two chains) near the entrance of the bike shop. Hopefully, no one will steal it before tomorrow. I took all of the bags off the bike, then took the metro over to the Place de la Republique. I was so tired by that point that I paid for a taxi to drive me the last mile with all those bags.
What and incredibly long trip! I left for the airport at 11am Sunday morning and here it is 2:30 pm Monday afternoon and I just got up to my room. I am soooo tired. I think I am going to take a little nap then do something fun this evening. Tell you all about it later…. =0)

June 7, 2009 - LIVE, LIVE, LIVE!

June 7, 2009
Well, here I am sitting on an airplane waiting to take off. It’s 3:01 CST (10:01 in Paris, Paris is 7 hours ahead.) I am pleasantly relieved. I had a huge fear that the seats were going to be too small for me and that the airline was going to force me to buy a second seat and/or wait for another flight. BUT, no one even mentioned buying another seat, and the seats are larger than I remembered, and the seat belts longer than I remembered. I was also worried about checking my bike, but that went off without a hitch as well. A skycab worker met us at the truck. We unloaded the bike box right onto the cart, added the saddlebags, then he rolled me right up to the special services counter. I didn’t even have to wait in line. Security went relatively well also. A word to the wise: Take laptops out of bags before sending them through the scanner. Well, we’ve finished taxiing and here we go. We’re taking off. I love the feeling of taking off in an airplane. It’s such a rush, so exhilarating. The sudden burst of speed as you go racing down the runway, building to the moment when the wheels finally lift off the ground. Then climbing, climbing, till buildings, people, responsibilities are but a memory. You enter a cotton cloudy world where anything is possible and all goals are attainable. I want so badly to be successful at my venture. Of course I’m afraid and nervous, maybe even a little petrified and terrified. BUT, I am NOT going to let my fear keep me from trying, succeeding , and LIVING. Several quotes and thoughts have been going through my head in the last couple of days:
1. We should work to LIVE, but for the last 15 years or so, I have been living to work. I want to LIVE.
2. “LIVE, LIVE, LIVE! Life is a banquet and most poor bastard are starving to death.” - Auntie Mame.
3. Jeffrey Chen, Valedictorian, DHS—”You deserve to reach for your dream. You deserve to be successful.
I do deserve to reach for my dreams. I deserve to be successful. I deserve to be thin. I deserve to be happy. I deserve to LIVE!!!!

The Final Countdown

Only 21 days left until I leave for France, I can hardly believe it. I still have soo much that needs to be done before I leave. Of course I still have to diet and train. I also need to make sure I have all the necessary tools for my bike, adjust the angle of my new bike seat, attach the frame that holds my saddlebags and panniers. I need to figure out how I am going to fit every thing I need into the bags on my bike. I need to attach the odometer to my bike and set up my pedometer. I need to go to continental and get a box for my bike. I need to have my journal pages copied and made into a book, and finish my agenda book with maps and directions from town to town as well as a wish list of sites to see. I need to have my t-shirts made too. Al of this is in addition to writing reviews and final exams, grading papers and planning lessons, and cleaning house. I am going to be one very busy little bee for the next 21 days. I'll keep you posted. =0)

Flickr: Your Photostream

Here is the link to access all my photos of "La Grosse Tournee de France".
I leave June 7th for Paris....I can't wait!

Flickr: Your Photostream

Training for Real

Since I found out that I did indeed recieve my grant, I have definitely stepped up my training. This past week I was able to cycle over 16 miles in 45 minutes and today I walked 6 miles to and through Oyster Creek park. Boy am I sore! I soaked in the tub for an hour afterward. I can't wait to see how I feel tomorrow morning...lol. Oh well, I must go prepare my salad for lunch. Toodles!

GAB

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