Christel and Faith

I was in Epping on Wednesday and I got to spend a couple of hours with Stacey, Christel and Faith. I hadn't seen them since Christmas (!!) and Faith has gotten so big. She is very animated and completely enthralled with everything her big sister does. Christel was her usual funny self and she kept me entertained for my entire visit. It was impossible to get a picture of the two of them where they were both looking at the camera and smiling, but this one is still pretty cute!

Girls Weekend in Boston

Sarah and I spent a girls weekend in Boston and it was great! Both of us were very happy to get away for a few days and be in the city. We used to go to Boston at least once a year before I moved overseas, so it was fun to start up our tradition again. No matter how many times I've been to Boston, it is always great to go back and spend more time there. I'm definitely a city girl!!

Our weekends in Boston are usually filled with shopping, sight seeing, and drinking wine and this weekend was no different. The bar in our hotel was great and we spent some quality time there. Here we are when we returned to the bar after going out to dinner (we had already been at the bar for pre-dinner drinks too). We also went to a great piano bar and listened to this woman sing show tunes, which was super fun.

Before we left on Sunday, we stopped by Fanueil Hall to have lunch at Wagamama, my favorite noodle restaurant. I first ate at a Wagamama in Amsterdam and loved it! I thought they were only in Europe, so I was very excited when they opened two in Boston in the last couple of years. It is very yummy and it always makes me so happy to eat there!

Sunapee

I realized I haven't taken many pictures of Sunapee so all of you can see where I am living now. It isn't nearly as exciting as Berlin or Lima, but it is still a nice place to live. Here is a shot of the harbor at Sunapee Lake. Everything is closed up for the winter, but I'm looking forward to spring when there is a little more going on around here.

My friend Karen came to visit at the beginning of the week and we took a walk through the harbor and around part of the lake. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was nice to be outside and to show Karen the "sights" of Sunapee.

The three story building up on the hill is my apartment building. I'm really happy living here and the building is in a great location. I'm right up the hill from the harbor, so it will be nice to walk around in the spring and summer. Spring is coming, right??? :)

Newport Winter Carnival

Winter Carnival in Newport is quite a big deal. This is the 93rd year of the Winter Carnival and according to people in Newport, it is the longest running winter carnival in New England. There is a full week of events, including snow sculptures, sports, town suppers, the Winter Queen pageant, and a parade. The sculptures in the town common are pretty impressive - on this one people can slide down the back of the alligator.

My students had to play for the parade, but instead of marching in the parade (don't ask - for some reason the previous band director didn't have them march) we set up on the Common and played as the parade marched by. It actually worked out really well - we got to entertain the crowd on the Common before the parade started and everyone was very appreciative. It was incredibly cold (don't let the sunshine fool you) and windy and my kids weren't super impressed to be out there, but they did a good job and were good sports.

The whole event was actually a lot more fun than I expected. I had forgotten how nice it is to be involved in town events - that was something I missed when I taught overseas. It is always good to get out in the community and for people to see the great things the kids do. And spending time with the kids at something like this is fun. A couple of my kids were super sweet and brought me a strawberry and whipped cream covered Belgian waffle - they had met before the parade for breakfast at a local restaurant and when they were telling me about their plans for breakfast earlier this week I told them how much I loved Belgian waffles. It was such a nice surprise to see them bearing this gift for me and they looked so pleased with themselves for their good idea.

Job Fair = Friends

The job fair I attended last weekend in Boston ended up being a bust. I only had two interviews and both were for choral jobs I wasn't interested in at all. The day was a huge waste of time and it was disappointing not to have it be more successful. I'm not completely discouraged yet - my associate says it is still early in the private school job search process and I actually got two referrals on Monday for instrumental jobs that I am interested in - one in NYC and one in Oakland, CA. I'm still optimistic that I'll find the right job for me for next year.

The best part of the job fair weekend was that I got to see a lot of friends in Boston. I stayed with Rosemary, which is always great. She made me homemade mac and cheese and we made smores in the fireplace and it was just great to hang out with her. The job fair I attended was also the same weekend as the international job fair in Boston that I have attended in the past and that friends of mine go to. Since there were no jobs for me to interview for at my fair on Saturday, I headed over to the other fair to meet up with friends from Peru. I had lunch with Terie and Kelani and heard about Terie's potential new jobs (she decided on Istanbul, which is very exciting). It was so great to see Terie and catch up with her. I also got to see Philip, my principal from Lima. He and his family are moving to Thailand next year. I miss working for Philip - he was a great, supportive administrator for me and I would love to work for him again. It was so good to see him.

I rounded out my weekend of catching up with friends by meeting David, Deb and Isabel for breakfast in Exeter on Sunday morning. They are friends from Lima, but Deb is originally from NH so I get to see them when they are home, which is great. It is always so good to see them and to see how much Isabel has grown. They are headed off to Zambia next year, so I am saving my money for a trip to Africa at some point while they are there.

All and all it was a good weekend. Seeing friends I haven't seen in a long time definitely made up for the lousy job fair.