:: Ahhh.... ::

It's the end of the year already, can you believe it??  The last day of school is next Friday!  Today was the last day we saw some of our kids!  Wow, this year really has flown by.  I feel like it was just a little while ago that I went to Starbucks with Matt during pre-planning to talk about teaching together.  Now we're pros at the whole team teaching thing.  

I'll definitely be welcoming summer break with wide open arms.  I need the break, which is weird, because it's not like I've had a really hard year or anything.  But for whatever reason, I'm completely exhausted.  Maybe it's the traveling between schools thing.  

Have you ever been physically ill because of someone?  It's the strangest thing...and what does it mean when that happens...

:: D. Morgan's ::

For Valentine's Day, Andrew and I wanted to go to a nice restaurant.  I thought about all the good places we could go to in town, but when Andrew told me that there was a jazz concert that evening in Rome that he wanted to go to, I thought, "Hey, perfect.  We can go to that place in Cartersville we've been wanting to try for a year."  So I made reservations.  

Here's a little background story about this place.  Andrew lived in Cartersville last year, and ever since I read reviews about this place, I've been wanting to go.  We had reservations once, but we didn't make it out there because one of us got sick or something like that.  Anyways, the executive chef cooks for the James Beard House every year, got pretty good reviews and the menu looked great, so I was pretty excited.  Since it was Valentine's Day, they had a pre fixe four course menu, and we had a choice for each course.  

Well.  We got there, sat down and it was nice.  There isn't a lot of space in there.  I'm going to guess that the dining room seats around 50 (but there's a private party area on the bottom level).  The service was pretty good.  We never really had any problems with our waitress (except when I asked about a dessert, she didn't know the answer and had to ask another waitress, who also didn't know the answer, so she had to go into the kitchen to ask).  We ordered our courses, and waited.  Here's what we ordered and what I thought:

1st

Andrew: crab cakes with mustard remoulade (too much flour, not enough crab meat)

me: lobster bisque (holy crap, this was awful.  it was too salty, and it tasted like they used the lobster guts to make the bisque.  it wasn't as creamy as it should've been either.  oh...and it was BROWN)

2nd

A : I can't remember what he had, but it wasn't memorable, obviously.

G : seared ahi tuna with greens and ginger vinegarette (this dish pissed me off the most.  First of all, the tuna looked like dog food.  It looked gelatinous and completely not edible.  Second, it was COLD.  The seared tuna was cold!  Aren't seared things usually hot or at least warm?  Third, it tasted like it was made hours in advance.  It sucked, really, really bad.)

3rd

A : beef tenderloin with wine reduction sauce (the wine wasn't reduced enough, and it was also too salty)

G : scallops (okay, so I made a mistake with this one.  I ordered it knowing that I don't like scallops.  I mean, I guess I ordered it thinking "hey, if there's anywhere I should order scallops, it's here because they'll do it right, and maybe I'll like it."  Nope.  Didn't like it.  And the asparagus had the tough ends still on them.  BOO)

4th

A : keylime tart with raspberry sauce (this wasn't bad.  Andrew actually really like the sauce and the tart together, but thought that the tart wasn't tart enough for a keylime pie)

G : chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream (not bad...but I could've done it better.  The outer part of the cake was a little over cooked)

We basically spent the entire meal picking out what was bad about it, and by the end I was pretty pissed that I had to shell out $130 for it.  I think what they did was cook everything by the main course in advance and in bulk, so nothing tasted fresh, and it definitely looked and tasted like it was mass produced.  It was totally not worth the money, and the worst part is knowing that I could've produced a meal 100 times better for a fraction of the price.  We're never going back there.  NEVER AGAIN.  

:: For Troy ::

It's hard to believe that you're gone. It seems like just yesterday you were telling me about your student whose "belly done swoll." You got me through the toughest year of my life, and I am forever grateful. I don't know what I would've done without you. You took me under your wing, and I felt safe there. I always knew that you were there to support me. You challenged me to think deeper, especially when times got hard. You're a true inspiration to everyone - your students and colleagues love you and respect you. You were in every way a true friend to me, and you will always have a place in my heart. I know I can't call you anymore about oxtails at WholeFoods or to tell you about silly things that's happened that week with my students, but please know that you will be thought of everyday. I know you're at a better place now.

We're engaged!

:: Camp ::

School's out, which is pretty incredible. The school year's gone by so ridiculously fast, it's hard to believe that it's summer already. Our last day was a few weeks ago, but my real summer break didn't start until yesterday, because I was at ASTA camp for the past week and a half. I'm not sure if I blogged about the last time I was at that camp, but here's a recap: this kid got sick and got his roommate sick, and then the counselor who was taking care of them got sick and then the counselor who was doing sectionals with that counselor got sick, and then finally, I got sick. It was just the sniffles, people. It was ugly. UGLY. I woke up with a headache. Then I felt full even without eating anything. Then I had irregular and frequent BM. And THEN...it happened. Uncontrollable, violent, frequent yakking. It was TERRIBLE. And during the intermissions, it felt like something was inside my stomach trying to get out. Fortunately, it only lasted about 12 hours and by the next morning I was okay. My favorite quote after that experience was, "Grace, you alright? Well, if anything, you look like you've lost about 10 pounds, you look fantastic!" Hooray!

Anyways, bygones. It didn't happen this time. I actually had a really, really great time. I got to know people that I didn't really know too well, and I feel like I've made some good friends in the past few weeks. I miss them already! Oh, and the kids too, I guess. There were some very, very interesting characters there this year. Everything from a young cellist that got his "heart ripped out" by a girl (he's in 3rd grade for pete's sake!) and cursed her house, but then felt bad about it so he changed his mind to cursing the town she lives in so it wouldn't be just her house, to a small Korean boy that wouldn't stop crying about everything (seriously...he cried about everything). But the best part was during the last camp session when all the 4th graders started carrying in ticks from the woods, so we had to give them a talk about ticks which might not have been a good idea because they started freaking out about it. In addition to the outbreak of ticks, the little ones had too many s'mores and had stomach aches and one even threw up and had to go home early. Bless their hearts...

Now I'm back to life with cable TV, a functional kitchen (whew...didn't know if I would survive without cooking for so long) and NO MORNING WAKE UP. I'm glad to be back, but I really miss my fellow camp counselors!

How is it that this time of year, nearly every year, I feel this way? I always feel like I'm at a fork in the road or something. Maybe it's because I *want* the change in my life? I dunno. All I know is, I seem to feel this way whenever the weather changes. Typical Koreanness, I suppose. We like drama and melancholy, I can't deny that.

Interesting fact: Last year around this time, we had a super heavy allergy season. Why haven't we heard anything about it this year? Is it because of the lack of rain? I hope it comes and goes while I'm in Mipples with Bob. Yep...the frozen tundra during my Spring Break. Whoohoo!

I want something. But I can't have it. And I'm pretty sure I shouldn't. Life sucks.

::Change::

I've always thought of myself as accepting of change. I went through a lot of it when I was younger, so no big deal right? Nope. It's a *huge* deal. So there are a few things in my life right now that's going through some changes. I'd like to say that I'm handling it very well. I'd like to say that I'm enthusiastic about the opportunities. I'd like to say that I'm handling it with grace (hahahaha...right) and dignity. Is that why I got so completely "not myself" on Saturday? I've been a little under the weather for the past few weeks now, and it sucks. I can't decide what I want to do or what I should do. All I know is I want a temporary fix for everything RIGHT NOW. And that's bad. Perhaps decisions will be made for me. That would make life a whole lot easier.