Still Waiting........

This is Nima. She's from south India and I've been helping her for an upcoming SPEAK test (part of the TOEFL test). She's a dentist in India and is seeking a graduate degree in Public Health & Safety. Her full name is Poornima Gopalakrishnan!

And this cute little guy was speeding along the path when I cut across the Humanities Plaza to get to Melrose Hall for my meeting with Nima.

So I didn't hear from China last night. He never said he was calling exactly last night, just to tell him when I would be available. Surely I'll hear something tonight, right? Hope so.

I've been looking at rents in Beijing. This job pays a much higher salary but does not provide a shared apartment. I'll find my own. It won't be so hard. I don't want to pay more than 2500 yuan ($312) and I'd prefer to pay around 2000 ($250 per month). This will be a decent one bedroom. It's all I need.

Sigh. I hope they call me tonight. I'm anxious to get things finalized because I've got things to do to get ready. Ya know? Lots and lots of things......

Looking Good.....

Update: So last night's conversation went very well:
British Guy: Yes, LucyBlue, I believe they are very keen on you.
Lucy: Uh.....that's wonderful news.
Well, I'm very keen on living in Beijing for a year so it's looking good. I expect another call tonight and possibly even another tomorrow evening and then things should be pretty much wrapped up. Oh, the excitement. Oh, the crap to do before leaving for a year. I'm already exhuasted. More soon. LB

Good News on the 250th!!!

My 250th entry! I love my blog. I really do. It's a nice little friend of mine.

Okay, so this morning some good news via email. A kindergarten in Beijing is very interested in my application materials and would like to talk with me. This news came via the British man that I talked with last week (who helps recruit native English speakers). He will call me this evening with more details and then I'll speak with the director of the school later this week. Pretty exciting, right? I may actually get to see this lake at the Summer Palace in Beijing when it's not frozen!

Keep the Faith...

Okay, so I know I haven't been blogging much but I've got lots going on. I'll be glad to get my permanent crowns next week because my bite is off and I live in terror of these temporary things coming off and having huge gaps in my mouth. I even dreamed that all three came off at once! Then again, last night I dreamed I was in Thailand and when I went outside to go to the restroom (yep, that's how it was in dreamland) there were tons of cats and monkeys all over the place and the monkeys, let me tell ya, they were fierce looking so I high-tailed it right back inside my abode and into my bed and decided I could wait. Weird, huh?

I'm going through more and more tubs of clothes and things and it's just exhausting. Much of it is keeper stuff like Nick's baby clothes, baby toys that he liked, etc. But those clothes that I wore 10-12 years ago? Yeah, they can go. But then again....I could lose a bunch of weight and by then those clothes will probably be in style! :) Remember when we thought the gauchos (spelling?) would NEVER rear their ugly little legs again? Right.

I had a phone call from a recruiter in Shanghai about working at a kindergarten in Beijing but I haven't heard from them again. I'm a little discouraged. I guess it's time to step up applications and get this job thing nailed down for good. I'm also slowly working through my TEFL lessons and they continue to kick my grammar butt. Did you know the English language has 12 tenses? Yep. And you must be able to explain the structure and usage of all of them to different age levels. Present simple, present perfect, present continuous and don't forget present perfect continuous. Now substitute "past" and "future" for present and....yep, ya got 12 tenses. Where were these tenses when I was learning grammar???????

Anyway......tonight's a good night because Big Brother comes on. I love Big Brother. Love it. My favorite person this summer is "Evil." He just flat out tells it like it is and leave folks with their mouth dropped open. Gotta love it!

Okay, so forgive the lack of posts and interesting pics for a while until I get a bit more of my life straightened out. And remember? Lucy Blue loves you! :)

1977, don't cha' know.....

Can you find Lucy Blue?

Yeah....she's the tall one!

So I went to Nashville Monday to have three teeth prepped for crowns! I'd just as soon do ANYTHING than go to the dentist. Honest. But the teeth have been prepped, the temporary crowns are on and I'll go back in a couple of weeks for the permanent crowns. Then my mouth will be all set to go to China.

I was packing up stuff in the big old house for storage and came across all my yearbooks. I opened up 1977 (16 years old) and started reading what fellow students had written. My best and longest friend, Tammy (who lives here in Knoxville now), filled up an entire page! Apparently, I was a real clown in Geometry class that year. Here's some excerpts: "Lucy Blue, I don't think I can ever forget you in Geometry," "I don't know what we would do without you in Geometry," "Do you remember all the good times in Geometry?" Well, no, I don't remember! But I sure wish I did. And here's the very best one, written by Vickie Pardue: "Lucy Blue, good luck in everything you do. You're a funny person. Remember when you threw the frog's leg down my shirt and it got stuck?" ha ha ha ha ha Now that's funny!

I Need What???

A slow week for this blog. Just dealing with all the stuff in my brain, making lists, checking things off, etc. I went to Nashville this past Monday to take care of the eyes and the teeth. The eyes fared well. The teeth did not. This is what happens when you slack off those bi-yearly cleanings. I need three crowns. All three will be done next Monday and I am pretty sure I am going to die (of pain, that is). I could probably hold off but what if I get halfway around the world and need to see a dentist? And what if it is a dentist who believes that if your tooth is causing you pain, you merely pull it! So I decided to take care of all three teeth now. I'll be out of commission until next Wednesday. There is just absolutely nothing good to come from having three teeth prepared for crowns in one day. Oh, wait! Yeah.....the pain meds.

Life on a Lucky Saturday

07/07/07.....lucky couple, lucky in love. Wedding on the World's Fair lawn.

I was standing on the Clinch Ave. bridge, using zoom on my little camera.

The Sunsphere is open again! There's the wedding party.

Downtown Knoxville

N's living room with freshly painted white walls (from sunny yellow)

Looks clean enough to me.

After work on Saturday, I took a walk down to World's Fair Park to see the Sunsphere from the inside. Very interesting but I'm not sure if I want to go up there again. One of the odd things that has occurred as I get on in years is a slight fear of heighths. I say slight because obviously it's not bad enough to prevent from going up in such tower-like structures as the Sunsphere. I just don't want to hang out there too long. It gives me an unpleasant odd feeling and I especially don't like looking over the edge of the railing. This from a woman who once had "skydiving" and "hot air ballooning" on her list of things to do.

The observation deck of the Sunsphere is in the lower part of the gold ball, the second floor of five floors. There is a big flat screen on the wall and wonderful footage from the 1982 Fair is being shown. I saw several people I once knew, including a wonderful mime couple. In seeing how folks were dressed, I realized that 1982 was further back that I realized. If I had seen footage in 1982 of folks in 1957 (25 years prior), I'd think they dressed a little odd as well. It just doesn't seem that long ago and I have many, many fond and wacky memories of working at the '82 Fair! Nothing like hip-hopping down memory lane.....

This Land is Your Land......

A huge flag at World's Fair Park!

The Sunsphere's observation deck re-opens today and the restaurant is opening September 1. A brave man slowly came down a zip-line from the top of the ball across the street and into the Park lawn yesterday. We also saw him do a practice runs on Tuesday. The Sunsphere is higher than it appears.

Nana shows a little patriotic/UT attitude!

I love standing here and watching the kids play in the fountains! They laugh and squeal and have tons 'o fun!

Patriotic shadows

The huge moving Rubik's cube from the '82 World's Fair was refurbished by UT engineering students and is now on display in the Exhibition Hall of the old convention center.

Because you never know when you're going to need emergency cash....

Over 20,000 folks listening to the Knoxville Symphony and waiting for the fireworks display!

My camera doesn't do well with firework shots but you get the picture!

Yesterday, at World's Fair Park, there was a festival celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1982 World's Fair. I took time off from college and worked 2 jobs at the Fair. It was a wonderful time as a 21 year old and I loved working at the Fair. During that six months, I dated a musician in the World's Fair Band and a magician (who was very good at disappearing acts!).

We walked around, had some homemade ice cream, checked out the exhibits, and then all went home for a rest before heading back down for the fireworks. The symphony plays wonderful patriotic music during the fireworks and there are hordes of people spread out on the lawns, streets, wherever they can. Last night after the fireworks, I get a call from my son:

N: So I just cooked a pizza and I have no knife to cut it up!

Me: Okay, well, just tear it.

N: No, no, I can't do that. It's one of those rising crust ones. I'm coming over to get a knife.

Me: Whatever.

It's nice to live less than 20 yards from your mother. Imagine the horrible crisis if I had already left!

The Galili Family Comes to Knoxville!

Amory (15), Adina (17), Benny and Lynne

Benny ponders how he would look in a nifty pair of overalls!

Melrose Hall, where Lynne and I lived over 25 years ago.

Unfortunately, Melrose Hall will be torn down in a few years to make way for a newer residence hall. This is unfortunate as it is the most unique residence hall on UT's campus and has a wonderful enclosed courtyard unlike any other building on campus. Just look at these arches! I'll be sad to see it go.

Adina gives me a theatrical pose in the Melrose Hall courtyard.

Amory, looking very handsome on the rocks of Clingman's Dome.

I did it, I did it, I did it!!!!! Finally!

Lynne Getter (now Galili) and I met when we both lived in Melrose Hall during our undergraduate years at UT. We also had German class together. At the time, I would have considered Lynne a liberal Jewish girl and she would probably have considered me a conservative Christian girl. After 22 years, Lynne and I were reunited as she took a "southern driving vacation" to see many long-time friends in the south. Lynne and her family live in Boston and Lynne has become a friend to Tracy and Hua, now that they live in Boston (well, technically, they all live outside of Boston proper). The four Galilis and I had a wonderful two days together as we toured around Knoxville and Gatlinburg, climbed up Clingman's Dome, had a picnic and rode go-carts in Pigeon Forge. We even had the soup, salad and vegetable buffet at Shoney's to give them a well-rounded Southern experience. Speaking of southern, after priding myself in my ability to "lose" my southern accent, one of the first things Benny commented on (who is from Israel) was my southern accent. I took great offense and from that moment on took great joy in teasing him about his Israeli accent ("Did you say "mudder" or "mother"?). ha ha It was great fun to meet Lynne's husband and children, who were very articulate and well-behaved (despite what Lynne may think). After 22 years, Lynne is still Jewish and I am still Christian. However, it was interesting to observe that Lynne has become a bit more conservative and I have become far more liberal. At least this was my observation. I'm looking forward to spending more time with Lynne and her family in future times.

In other monumental news, N moved into his own apartment yesterday; the first time he has ever had his own place without roommates. More on that, complete with photos, tomorrow!