Now For a Commercial Break

For several months I have been following the creation of a new business website. Rose Petal Betty Bath Co is finally up and running. Check out her soaps, bath salts, and hand lotions. I ordered some as soon as she opened. The package arrived today. I am loving the White Tea and Ginger lotion and soap. Even my husband who is not a big fan of smelly stuff liked the smell of the soap. I suspect he just might be sneaking some in the shower soon. The lotion is going to school with me tomorrow.

Being Crafty and Psyched

It has been a whirlwind since returning from our trip and then immediately starting school. Haven't done much with my knitting or sewing except for this baby bib. I made it for a neighbor who wanted to give it to a friend. The pattern called for two colors but I played around with using several colors and was very pleased with how it turned out.

I also have made a belt out of yoyos. I saw a belt like this selling in a gift store for $22 and thought how cheap it would be to make one. The store owner said she has sold many of them. Boy, is someone making a killing on a few scraps of fabric? Naturally, I examined the belt closely and then proceeded to make one myself. 25 one inch yoyos and some cording = a cute belt.




I am the webmaster at my school and since I have had such a great time blogging at home, I approached our principal about placing a link to a blog for our school. I have submitted two entries so far. It has been fun reading the comments from students, parents and teachers about different items on the blog.

This picture makes it looks as though there isn't a tree in sight. Quite the contrary. Our new building is a fairly large facility. When students change classes, the halls are no longer crowded as it was in the old building and we are all in the same building. We had 10 portables at the old school. We now have 6 new science labs where before we had to share one lab. The four halls in this building are in the shape of an X. From the center of the school to the end of one hall and back is one tenth of a mile. Whew! On the first day of school, I logged 4 miles on my pedometer. I could go on and on but....Can you tell I'm psyched about our new school?

Schools in Honduras

Being a teacher, one of the things I wanted to do while I was visiting family in Santa Rosa de Copan was to visit my niece's school. She is a 9th grader at an all girls' Catholic school which is considered a private school. This is what I learned:

The school year runs from February to December.

High school is only three years.

Students have very few textbooks. The teachers provide whatever materials they can find or have on hand. Students take many, many notes. When I visited her school, she was in her science class. I asked her about labs and any hands-on type of activities they did in class, Sadly, they do not have many labs due to lack of materials. I also learned that the university in this town also has major issues with the lack of science materials. University chemistry students protested one day while we were there. I wondered if it did any good. The response I got was no.

Students do not change classes. The teachers are the ones that go to different rooms.

Public high school run in shifts. Some students attend in the morning while others attend in the late afternoon.

All students wear uniforms - white shirts and blue pants/skirts. Even students in the middle of nowhere. I saw children walking everywhere we went with these uniforms on.

When school is dismissed, vendors selling candy, soft drinks, etc. are waiting outside the schools.



Tonight we had 6th grade orientation at my school. We have moved into a new building with all the technology a teacher could ever dream of. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful environment to teach our students. I could not help but think about my niece in Honduras and the contrast between these two worlds. We take so much for granted in the US. If only those Honduras students could have the same experiences.

Language Barrier and The Beauty of Honduras

Instead of trying to share everything about our trip in one entry, I'll divide and conquer. ....

After arriving in San Pedro Sula we began our 2 1/2 hour ride to Santa Rosa de Copan. My brother stopped for a moment for us to take a "bano" break - aka bathroom break. (I know I am botching the spelling due to my lack of understanding in Spanish and my lack of not knowing how to write the things you put on top of some Spanish words. Sorry if I am and I hope I don't offend anyone.) This station looked very similar to stations in the US. However, I soon learned this station was an exception to the rule. Let's just say, there wasn't another station that I saw with inviting facilities. As I entered the bathroom, a woman mopping the floor smiled and provided me with my first experience in trying to communicate. It was apparent she had something important to tell me by her jestures and words. After a few seconds of trial and error, I determined from her jestures that I was to take some paper towels into the stall with me. ( I later learned that in many Latin American countries, you don't flush the paper. We won't go there at this point.)

While we were taking this break from our ride, I noticed these huge yellow flowers. As it turns out these are called yellow mandevilla, also known as yellow dipladenia. I know we have these flowers in the US but I have never seen such huge blooms. As the week passed, I also noticed that many of the plants we call "house plants" are plants that grow wild and huge.

Pothos aka philodendron with at least 5 inch leaves.

Air plants growing in trees and on electric lines.

Mother in law's tongue growing naturally along a bank in towns and in the mountains.

Banana trees and coffee plants everywhere

Ceiba tree, the Mayan Tree of Life. That is my niece standing in the trunk to show how huge these trees are.

Honduras is a beautiful country.

We're Home!

Courtyard of Hotel Elvir

We arrived back home Sunday, school began Monday, and as a result, I haven't had time to share with you our experiences in Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras. It was an amazing, shocking and humbling trip. I'll share as soon as I can. For now, let me just say, Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Central America, but filled with such loving, big hearted people.

And We're Off....

Tomorrow begins our adventure to Honduras. We drive to Atlanta and catch a very, very early flight Sunday morning. Excitement has arrived in this household. Adios, ya'll!

Soooo Excited and Then Shocked!!

Look what was sitting on my porch when I arrived home this afternoon....

Mary Ann over at a very mary design mailed this to me as part of the Paying It Forward project. It is an amazing bag made from a old and apparently very much loved quilt to hold my yarn and stuff. Plus it had a bright bold pink skein of yarn tucked inside.

This was the "soo excited part." I love this bag.This bag not only traveled by way of the US Postal Service, it is now going to take a trip with me to Honduras. I had already gathered my knitting materials ready to use in case we have to sit in the Atlanta or Miami airport longer than we are suppose to because of late airplane connections, or whatever. Instead of using my usual bag, which does not even come close to being as nice as this one, I'll have this gorgeous one. I know I'll have comments of envy from my sister-in-law once she sees it. Love it, love it, love it!!! Mary Ann is the best! Thanks!

Now for the "Then Shocked" part.....

If receiving the bag wasn't enough excitement, Mary Ann nominated me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger.

I am speechless. Thank you, Mary Ann. I never considered my blog as ever coming close to all the wonderful, well written and creative blogs as there are in blogland. You know....like yours, Mary Ann! Thank you, sweet, sweet Mary Ann!