I know, 2 posts in one day, isn't that amazing? Not too amazing considering the text for the last post has been written for a while. Life has been busy here but to terribly exciting.
Knitting yesterday was interesting. At about 1:30 pm the person who was going to host cancelled due to illness and about an hour later I volunteered. I did this knowing that no one else had stepped up to host and know that my house was not ready for company. So, I left work at 3 pm and went home to clean/straighten up my house. I got home and started working on the kitchen. My neighbors had come back from vacation the previous night and she came over to bring me some fabric she found for me (which already has a spot to be put in a project). Anyway, I have to get ready for knitting so I tell her what is going on and she says "What can I do to help?" I told her I just needed to clean and she started straightening the living/dining room and working on the floors. The only reason my house was ready for company last night was because of her, THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!! Knitting was fine but a busy time. I am helping 2 people with some projects so that was interesting while trying to make pancakes. Everything turned out well so I am very thankful for that.
So, at the end of February I started Weight Watchers. I am finally trying to do something about being too heavy and it is working. I have lost
at least 9 pounds and my clothing is looser. I still have a long, long, long, long way to go but I have taken the first step. I've been exercising more too and that has helped. I know several people on the program so the support that we can give each other has been amazing and really helps when all you want is a pizza with extra toppings and chocolate. I'll keep you posted to how it is going.
Summer trips, ah, my favorite part of the year! I had to make some changes to my summer trip due to visas. I found out that to take the train from Warsaw, Poland to Vilnius, Lithuania you actually travel through Belarus. I would love to go there (Eastern Europe is my thing right now.) but any visas given to US citizens cost $180 and I would have to get the visa while in Poland. A one way plane ticket from Warsaw to Vilnius is $110. I personally think it is a no
brainer. So, what that means is that I'll overnight 1 more night in Warsaw so I have to find another place to stay.
Another funny about the summer trip. I was think that I would like to go to the city of
Danzig while I'm in Poland. I thought it would be interesting but I couldn't find it in the Lonely Planet book. So I went to google to search for it. I found out the it was officially called the Free City of
Danzig and in 1945 control of the city was back in Poland's hands and it reverted back to its Polish name of Gdansk. I had already planned to be there! So that worked out nicely I thought and I'll let you know how the city is in August.
About the title of the post, the semester is almost finished. I have 1 more lab to teach, a review session and then 3 finals to give next week, oh, and lots and lots of grading. I'll be teaching summer school this summer so that will be interesting especially since it is a class I have never taught before.
Anyway, I hope all is going well wherever you are and I hope you had a Happy Easter. Mom asked if the Easter Bunny came to my house this year and I say that he did, just via Fed Ex. :)
This is the Palace of Culture and Science and yes I went to the top, in an elevator. This last one was a ‘gift’ from the people of the USSR to the people of Poland for being such a good puppet government. Ok, the last part I added and probably isn’t totally true. 
This is at the Warsaw Uprising Museum and was what was left of the Warsaw Castle/Palace after the Germans put down the uprising. 
This is Saxon Garden Park on a day that it didn't rain on me. Pretty, isn't it?
So I arrived in Warsaw on Friday the 10th about noon. I had a tight connection at London Heathrow and I made the plane but the bag got to stay longer in the UK. It was delivered later that evening so I had it before I went to bed. I was staying in the city center, a little bit away from old town, but I was close to the transit system so it made it very convenient. The first afternoon I walked around the city center and went to the Saxon Garden Park and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I was reading outside, in the park, and it started to rain. I didn’t have my coat with me so I sat underneath the tree and watched it rain. The tree kept me dry so I was fine. After that I went to a mall to find a backpack since my camera bag was hurting my shoulder. 
The next day I went to old town and walked around. I went to Warsaw Castle/Palace. The floors in the Palace are amazing! They were all wood and rebuilt in the 1960s. You could take pictures all over in here which was awesome, especially since I couldn’t do that at the Palace in Krakow. 
This is the symbol of the Warsaw Uprising and was also important to the people around the time of the fall of communism. Pretty cool. 
So I like knitting hats, a lot. I've been knitting to give stuff to Lutheran Social Services in Anchorage because my family doesn't need any more but I love making them. From top left to right, waffle hat, Beaufort Hat, Basic Cable Hat. The bottom row is the ski hat with ear flaps, and without ear flaps, and then the knit flat hat. 
This is the matching hat with scarf that I also made for LSSA. 
Ok, so here is the summary of the Dubai trip over spring break. It was 4 days/3 nights and rather enjoyable not to have to pack and plan for a long trip.
Day 3-The liquid water park was at the Atlantis Hotel and was called Aquaventure. It was awesome. We got there earlier than we thought and so walked along the edge of the Palm Island and looked out at the ocean. There was a tour guide there that started talking to us and then gave me a lecture on how it is better to be married than single. We left ASAP. Ok, the water park was smaller than some I’ve been too but it was awesome. I don’t think I left my tube for the first 2 hours. They have ramps that you sit in your tube and get pulled up to the top of the ride so you don’t have to walk. The lazy river isn’t so lazy here, there are lazy parts as well as rapids. I did get cold there because of the wind and the sun hiding behind clouds. I also got a sunburn there too. We left about 6 pm and went back to the hotel and back to the shawarma place for dinner.
Day 4-We got moving slowly this morning but it was fine. We got dressed and packed and then went to breakfast. Afterward we went to the airport to store the bags so we could go to the Ski Dubai Snow Park. We got there, bought gloves (I felt very stupid), and went sledding and tubing. Think a solid water park. Oh, on the tubing hill they has an conveyer belt for you so you don’t have to walk up the hill! There is a person at the top who hold the tube so you can get it and then will spin you and get you going. It was fun until some local kids showed up and were very rude and everywhere. We left there about 11:30am and got lunch and went back to the airport. We got back to Doha about 5pm and were home by 6pm.
