Weekend With Mickey

Mickey came in this weekend for our annual girl's weekend. It's the weekend when Stein goes up north to golf, and we're left alone to do all things girlie. Actually, it ends up being a weekend of non-stop teacher-talk, with other talk mixed in.

She got in Friday night after driving through a horrendous rainstorm. When I got out of school and turned on the radio in the car, they began announcing the tornado and storm warnings and watches. What started worrying me is that they were all in towns that Mickey had to drive through. When she finally arrived later that night, I was so relieved.

The minute she stepped through the door, we were talking. We had gifts for each other (we're both gift people) and waited for the right time to open them. We waited a while. There wasn't a break in the talking for a long time. Finally we dug in. I got a bag of books which made me giddy (remember, we're book geeks). I gave Mickey some magazines (remember, we're magazine hounds), a game, and some licorice. That led to me searching for my box of games, which led to a game of Skip-Bo. Stein doesn't really like to play games, but I love them, as does my whole family. So it was the perfect opportunity to play a game.

The next morning, I woke up early and tossed and turned thinking about school. I ended up doing some planning for this week while I let Mickey sleep. We ventured out to Target for some early-morning-beat-the-crowds-shopping while we sipped our Starbucks and chatted some more. The funny thing about us when we're together, is that most things take twice as long because we're busy talking. Man, we sound like some old bittys, don't we? I guess, but boy was it fun...

After a quick breakfast break at home, we went to get pedicures. Like the Seinfeld episode where Elaine has no idea what the people at the salon are saying, we sat and tried to decode the unfamiliar language that was directed our way. We laughed every time we looked at each other with puzzled glances.

That afternoon we visited with my good friend Regina and my mother-n-law. It was a great afternoon, filled with more girlie talk. Each of us is at a different stage in our lives, so the conversation flowed with stories, struggles, and experiences. We coached each other through various stories and stayed optimistic through some of the hard, depressing topics.

After they left, Mickey and I took advantage of the cooler evening, and decided to go for a walk. We went in the direction of the burrito place, as that was going to be our dinner that night (only the best when Mickey comes to town!). We came home, ate our burritos, and watched the chick flick P.S. I Love You. True to form, I started falling asleep, and Mickey suggested we turn it off and finish it the next day.

We didn't end up watching the rest of it the next day because we were busy! We went to a cooking class in the morning, where we learned how to make quiche, crepes, and a sauce for the crepes. We sipped belinis, and savored every bite of the food we prepared. It was only Mickey, another woman, and me at the class, so it made for a really intimate gathering. We were able to pick the brain of the chef and learn a lot more had there been more people there.

After we left, we went home to do some planning for the week. Mickey warned me to be overly prepared for the last week of school, since all the learning would be mostly fun stuff. I heeded her warning and looked up lots of stuff to do. I thought a unit on the Olympics would be good, incorporating this year's Summer Olympics and learning about China. I haven't yet taught anything on it, but hey, I'm prepared when I have a moment to do so...

Monday Mickey came with me to school. I really appreciated her being there. She is a seasoned teacher and I was able to learn from her in the short time she was in my classroom. She had the class' attention while she taught them the parts of speech. She even used a bit of bribery with chocolate. And then she introduced them to Mad Libs. Can you believe that most of them had never done Mad Libs, let alone heard of them? It was a hit. I plan on doing it again with them tomorrow. At lunchtime, she made the journey back to her home. She's on summer vacation now, and she is savoring every minute of it.

The good news? I'll see her next week when we meet up north in Petoskey. There we'll be joined by another (retired) teacher, our mom. Let the teacher talk commence.