bike and bag o’ ice cream: a Saturday morning

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Very rarely do I find that I have a Saturday morning at home with nothing to do. Today, however, was one of those days.  I slept in, caught up on Mad Men, ate some pancakes, did my laundry, read/fell asleep outside, and then did Jillian Michael’s Power Yoga (those push up chaturangas kill me!)  Because it was a beautiful day and I noticed that most of my activities thus far (besides taking a nap) happened outside, I decided to hop on my (Rasita’s) bike and do some exploring.    My exploring took me all over Sakiai.  First I rode around some of the little dirt roads where I usually run. Only this time, I went further than I usually do to wear the little dirt roads meet the big, busy road. Because this big, busy road was actually not that busy this morning, I took it around the outskirts of the city, past a Sakiai diary farm, and into the city.  I road past the lake and checked out the new (at least new for me) fountain. Then I went to check out the turgis (market) that my students had told me about. Unfortunately, it was about 2:00 by this time and markets happen earlier in the day. So, it was pretty much empty by the time I got there and I missed out on my chance to by some livestock and seeds. So, I looped around back to the city center, where I decided it was time for a break and bought some delicious, refreshing ice cream cone in a bag. I found a park near by where I grabbed a bench and enjoyed my vanilla with strawberry ice cream with a chocolate shell. Can you believe all of that came in a nice little bag?! How did you spend your Saturday?!

old-er

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Yesterday, there was almost a collision in the halls of our school.  I was rushing to get into a classroom while a 5th grade student coming from the opposite way was trying to do just the same.  We saw each other and stopped just in the nick of time.  Being polite and sweet, the little girl looked up at me, smiled, and said, “Shay, please go first. You’re old.”  My response, “Old-ER, sweetie…not old.  But, thank you.”While of course  this was just a cute little grammar mistake that made me laugh, it also made me think. I am not old. But I am older. I am at a place where, 10 years ago, I thought I’d be somewhere very different (teaching wasn’t even on the radar then…let alone living in Lithuania).  I’ve tried new things, met fascinating people, and followed paths not knowing exactly where they’d end up. And it’s been good.  While getting old is one thing, growing older is an invigorating process and one that often happens without stepping back to notice it. Each new stage in life brings about new adventures and choices and stories and people that couldn’t have even been imagined before their time. And each one of those new stories sets the foundation for future ones to follow.  Growing older is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s pretty darn amazing.

(p.s. did you get my connection with my dandelion photo–dandelions grow older and change and then blossom again and again and again! maybe it’s a stretch…or maybe I just liked this photo I took! :) )

Blast from the past

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So this morning, I hopped in the car as a 26 year old on her way to work. But, when I got out, I was 7 years old in my favorite black and white polka dot dress with a hairbrush microphone in hand. How did this transformation happen?! Well, Amy Grant’s “Baby, Baby” played on the radio!!!!

Lithuanian radio is amazing because they don’t just play 1 genre or the top 40′s or really any kind of playlist at all. Instead, it’s like having your entire iTunes library on shuffle and it’s really the luck of the draw with what you get. Today we hit the jack pot! When I was little, I thought Amy Grant was just about the coolest person in the world. I went to her Christmas concert every year, knew every one of her songs by heart, and made my friends put on Amy Grant concerts ourselves when they came over to play. It’s funny how an old song like this could bring back so many good memories.

While “Baby, Baby” was always my fave, “Every Hearbeat” was up there too. And the video was way better…

Thank you, Lithuanian radio, for this blast from my past! :)

red sky at night…

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Until I moved to Lithuania, I was never really the kind of person that would casually start a  conversations with the old “So, nice weather we’re having” trick.  Talking about the weather is often seen as boring and uninteresting. And I guess I never really noticed the effect it had on me. And then, I started living in Lithuania. Now, the first and last thing I do each morning is look outside. I’ve taken more pictures of the sky and the different elements than I think I ever have.  At the bus stop, every morning I speak in a combination of English, Lithuanian, and German with the German teacher about how cold and/or hot it is and whether I wore the appropriate clothes for the day.    During tea time every night, I ask my host dad what the weather forecast will be (he knows it better than the computer itself!). I care about the weather and love talking about it!!!

When it’s cold and dreary, it really is cold and dreary. But when there’s sun. Oh, man. Nothing can go wrong.  The sun brings with it life.  People are running and walking and playing all around you.  Cafes turn themselves inside out so that people can lounge on their patios outside. Kids leave at lunch time for ice cream cones. And then, after school, they stay out until 9:30pm playing because the sun still hasn’t set yet.  You find yourself making excuses to walk or ride your bike to your different meetings, always taking the long way.  Your skin takes on some color so that you’re (I’m) no longer translucent and freckles start coming back.   There is nothing better than warm, sunny Spring days. And I love talking about them!

So, when I see a red sky at night…and I know that means sailor’s delight…then I go to bed with a smile on my face because I can’t wait to see the gorgeous Lithuanian sun that will great me when I wake up the next morning!

Book 22/100: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, translated by Richard Howard

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The other week while perusing through a Latvian bookstore, I stumbled across what I really think was the only book in English in the entire store.  For whatever reason, I was compelled to pick up the book, go back to the checkout lady (I had already bought my 2 postcards) and purchase this book.

I know that I’ve read The Little Prince before. I know that I liked it. But I can’t remember when I last read it and why I liked it so much.  And now that I’ve read it again, I remember. It just makes me happy (which, after reading The Road, being happy was way needed!)  The drawings are charming and the story is sweet. It reminds me to appreciate the little things as if they’re the most significant things in the world (because, really…they turn out to be the important things).

Grown-ups love figures… When you tell them you’ve made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you “What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies? ” Instead they demand “How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? ” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him. ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Photo Project 19/52: Imperfection

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These cupcakes were far from perfect. The icing was runny. The cakes may have been a little runny too at first on the inside.  It took 4 trips to the grocery store to get everything we needed. We hung out next to the oven just in case the oven were to go crazy (it had only ever been used twice). I most certainly would have been voted off Cupcakes Wars.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was how much fun we had making the cupcakes and how much fun I’ve had since sharing them (and how much fun we’ve had eating them ourselves!)

Sometimes the most imperfect things turn out to be just exactly what was needed! :)

the hunt

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In my last post, I told you all about my amazing birthday scavenger hunt and where we ended up, but I didn’t show you how we got there! My wonderful friend Christine took pictures of each step along the way on her phone. Here was our journey:

1st stop: Christine’s house to drop off my suitcase and be whisked away on the “Shay Games.” My first clue was to go to where I always had Lithuanian class (this was easy for me because I had actually just come from Lithuanian class). And, so, we were off!

We successfully made our way to the Vero Cafe where I had just been to pick up a lovely clue tied to a balloon and a drink (how did I miss that balloon when I was there before??!)   Next clue…a place where I could get “girly things”. I found the girly things at the drug store around the corner, where the ladies who worked there gave me another balloon, another clue, and some nail polish.  Next clue, walk towards Old Town but look to your right. Why look right?! BECAUSE GRANT WAS THERE! Grant had told me that he wouldn’t be celebrating my birthday with me because he had class. That trickster…AND he met with with some goodies from Tiger (my favorite junk store IN THE WORLD).  Grant had a clue that took us to the used clothing store to pick up my awesome new purple sun hat and the clue that told us to walk to where I eat breakfast with Christine every Saturday (duh…SPURGA!)  And who was waiting for me with some delicious spurga su varskes ir su dzemas?! OMG, is that LUKE?!? Luke also made the trek from Vilnius to come celebrate with me!!But he gave me a scary clue…go to where you’d never eat Kibin in Kaunas (there is a Kibin place that we tried to go to one day because we thought it’d be a cute little place like the one we go to in Vilnius…we were wrong…it was dark, scary, and empty….) BUT there was a clue waiting for me…so off we went! (Also, Luke brought me some Annies Mac & Cheese as a gift from his wife and daughter who had to go back to the States for a wedding! It was so nice of them to think of me!!!) The scary kibin place wasn’t so bad because we didn’t have to go in because Jaq was waiting for me outside!!! His clue was the hardest..go to a place where it’s always dark but there are always flowers….I was stumped…Until I saw Ryan waiting for us with some gorgeous red roses in the tunnel to Old Town (where it’s always dark but there’s always–well usually–flowers!) Now the whole gang was together…well mostly…Christine was taking pictures and Agne was waiting for us at the Sushi restaurant!! And so off we went to join her!

I had the most fun afternoon running around Kaunas, collecting clues and friends and spreading joy to all the people we passed to who laughed at our fun birthday hats and balloons! :)