Late, late, LATE skirt!

I work with some great teachers.
They share and they wear great skirts!

Here's Nancy's skirt, which I love... envy actually. It's a simple A-line, denim skirt that she got at a second-hand store in Toronto. Love the purple accessories, and Nancy has the best accessories!


Nancy shared some of her fruit with me today. I had never eaten cactus fruit, or tuna as they are called here. You eat the seeds and everything. It was really tasty and sweet, very interesting to swallow the seeds...

I was eating my tuna outside when a friend came over and told me a dicho, or Mexican saying. I wasn't sure what he was saying... Something about the spinas (thorns) and that if a woman eats the tuna then she will have problems with her spouse???
Uh-oh...

Maybe I didn't hear him correctly... es posible!

Here is another saying:
Voy a comerme esta tuna, aunque me espine la mano.
I’m going to eat this cactus-fruit, even if it pricks my hand.

This saying expresses determination to carry out a difficult task. In other words, this goal is worth dealing with the thorns.

Tenacity ~ Reminds me of my 1,000 origami cranes project. With the help of the 3rd and 5th graders, today we have 937, plus the 45 that I folded this weekend, which brings the total to 982! Now, we have to string and hang them for this Friday... even if it pricks my hand...


This is Teri Jo's skirt. I love this skirt, because it's wrap around, beautiful and navy blue. This skirt was also bought at a second-hand store, but in Los Angeles.
Today, Teri Jo shared a poem with me, The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. It's beautiful.

I had a few errands to run this afternoon, so I strolled around downtown and ran into an artisan fair in Parque Hidalgo. I got a beautiful camera case for $30 pesos ($3 USD). Good thing too. It was time to turn in the sock, it's getting kind of gray.
I also bought a calendar for 2008. It's by this chic stationary manufacturer here in Mexico by the name of Gusano de Lux. The images are so colorful and I like what was written on the back. "Mexico, every day, a new friendly smile and a different color with each step."


A shot of la iglesia behind Parque Hidalgo. This skirt shot is different, but I think it's very poignant of the role of women that I have witnessed here in Mexico.

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I am cleaning out my classroom and found a project that we did at the beginning of the year. 3rd and 5th grade used pastels to tell the story of what they did this summer. This is my example, ironically I am wearing the same thing today.

Maybe, this is what I’ll do next summer too…

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Argh!!
Wearing hung-over skirt, Skirt 4, not because I'm hung-over, but because I was sooooo late to school today! I slept through my alarm, or it is set for p.m... I didn't stick around to check.

I left the house in such a hurry, that I totally nixed my morning routine and I feel so bleary eyed and confused. Thankfully, the bus got me here on time, sometimes a 15 minute ride can last 35, and like I said, thankfully this was not one of those mornings.

I had another skirt planned to wear, but it was for the Monday morning Flag Ceremony which happens every Monday. Every Monday the primary school, teachers and parents get together to watch an assembly for the students. The teachers call on students who have done an excellent job or at least shown signs of improvement. It's sweet and gives you a good feeling. I had four students picked out that I wanted to recognize, but I'll guess I'll have to recognize them in class.

Sometimes, things do not go as planned and all you can do is roll with the punches. To cope, sometimes we create a new plan or we decide to just throw it all up in the air and see what happens. I think I'll just see what's going to happen today. Like my hemline, it's already gotten off to a pretty dramatic start.

CRANE UPDATE! 836 this morning. *That doesn't include the ones that I did at the beach this past weekend. In my mad dash out the door this morning, I left them at home.

Tampon Skirt

Skirts on a tampon???
Does my tampon really need a skirt?

I just wonder, how many people were on the brainstorming team that came up with this idea? Not to mention the tag line, "Feel brave, wear a skirt." Do they even wear skirts? Or, are they scared...

Hey Tampax,
I wear skirts everyday, period or not!
xoxo
Skirt Lady

Origami Skirt

I was doing some research on line, letting my fingers do the walking... Anyway, I puched in "origami skirt" and look what came up! Available at TOPSHOP.com

What a cute skirt!

I also learned about origami pleating.
Hmmmmmmmmmm. This gives me another idea...

Mixed Up Skirt

Crane update: 779, and I just read
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr.

It's quite a good read. Very quick... very sad... I cried. To find out more about Sadako Sasaki, click here.

To find out more about MIXED UP day, scroll down.

Shirt and Skirt


All mixed up!

Skirt as shirt, and shirt as skirt!
(Sounds like a Dr. Sueuss story.)

Here are some pics of some of the cutest MIXED UP kids...

She's just precious!


You should have seen him walk around today... funny stuff!

The topic of today's post has put the 1990's San Francisco band Red House Painters in my head. It's been a long time since I listened to them...
Check out these songs whenever you are in a melancholy mood...
All Mixed Up
Japanese to English

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Today is spirit day in the primary school. The theme is MIXED UP. For instance, wear one flip-flop and one tennis shoe, etc. The student council put this together to collect money for the flood victims in Tabasco. It only costs $10 pesos to participate, and it's for a good cause.
I wasn't sure how to mix up a skirt, but my love gave me an idea and it has to do with the boyfriend shirt skirt.

This morning I'm up to 582 cranes. We've started to string them together and they look absolutely beautiful in the room. They really do bring about a sense of peace and tranquility, something that I really need more of these days.

Skirt 33 ~ Otra Vez

This is one of my favorite skirts, but I've only worn it twice. I like the sheen in the material, it reminds me of my summer in España. It's hard to believe I've been here almost three months...

I forgot to post this yesterday: cranes=254
Only 746 more to go...
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Teaching origami is extremely difficult. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? It's necessary to have a lot of patience, which I don't have these days for a number of reasons. (Sigh...)(More like deep breaths... Sheesh!)

I took out my frustrations from my classes with some exercise today. Seeing my state of tension, my friend invited me to take a couple of swings at the shuttlecock.
"It might make you feel better!"

She was right. It did. Badminton. Who knew?

My goal for today was to reach 500 cranes. We are now at 517.
Not bad. Not bad at all...
Thanks kids.

Falda Cinco

I am wearing my favorite teacher-y skirt, Skirt 5. And, if you must know, I've begun to wear my trainers to school. I know it's not fashionable, and I get loads of looks in Vallarta, but I don't care. It helps my back and I am on my feet all day. I've realized that I have got to take it easy and rest more. Simple advice from a co-worker, and it's made a huge difference.

Today is my busiest day of the week - good think I've got a plan of action! I wonder how many cranes we will make today?


Howdy folks! Jay walking in Mexico!
Everybody jay walks here...


Looks like some new coconuts are sprouting. I think I'm going to document the growth these little boogers. The babies are the yellow ones on the top left.


I drew my skirt and trainers for a project example today. I even looked up my name on Japanese Translator and tried to write my name in Japanese calligraphy. I have no idea if this is legitimate or not, but it was fun to try and looks nothing like the translation on the screen. Oh well...

Sometimes I am such an idiot...

So, I found this water balloon right outside my classroom during one of my breaks. Those crazy kids... I thought I would get rid of it, because it looked like it was ripe and ready to pelt some innocent soul (Maybe me!!!) Anyway, I thought I would do a good deed and snip the top so the water could escape and that would be the end of that, right?

Wrong.
At least I made Esmeralda laugh...

Skirt 38 - ¡Feliz cumpleaños mi gran hermano!

Any guesses as to why I wore this skirt today???
Could it have something to do with 38???
Hmmmmmmm....

¡Feliz cumpleaños mi hermano!
Te amo mucho
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Skirt 38! or Thirty great!

Cutting paper for Geography Week next week, the entire school is learning about countries in Asia. In art we are learning about Japan.

I teach the whole school, so we are making Japanese fans, scrolls, and 1,000 origami cranes. Actually the 1,000 cranes was my brother's idea (the same brother with the birthday today). He's a teacher too! In fact, he was teacher of the month last month, but I could have told them that he was great a LONG time ago.

I had heard the story of Sadako and the thousand cranes, but to see them strung and hanging is extremely beautiful. I learned that 1,000 cranes symbolize peace, and when you fold each one you are supposed to make a wish...
I'm getting really good at folding cranes.

My kids are doing a great job, even though some of them don't think we can make it happen...

Only 870 more to go!

Later that evening on the Malecon, I was looking for an interesting shot for my brother...

A sand sculpture of a monkey with sunglasses riding an iguana is pretty tacky...
P E R F E C T !

But wait! Here comes a hundred girls in red skirts, marching, jumping and dancing!

Woo hoo! Girl Power!
Hooray (again) for skirts!
Hooray for birthdays!
Hooray for big brothers!

Skirt 76

Table Skirt!
(hee hee hee)

We had Flag Ceremony this morning (as we do every Monday morning), but today was the opening for ASOMEX tennis tournament. ASOMEX are the American Schools of Mexico. To commemorate the ceremony of the tournament, a student drum and bugle corp from Ixtapa came to perform with pomp and circumstance. In any case, I felt that this ceremony was full of girl power.
Hooray for skirts!


Note to self: learn the Mexican national anthem...


Ladies and gentlemen: the color guard.

I thought I had blown my chance for a skirt shot. It was a beautiful warm day and I ran some interesting skirt related errands but, I forgot my camera and I just wasn't feeling it after teaching 3rd grade today... sheesh!
However, on the way home I caught the bus, and lo-and-behold it was the EXACT SAME bus that I had taken that morning. You can tell by the artwork on the bus. Each driver owns their bus so they are able to decorate it as they wish. Sometimes you see lots of ladies butts, sometimes you see decorative fringe or dingle berries hanging from the visors, sometimes you see blue lights all over the front. It's pretty tacky, but in a splendid sort of way... Anyway, this morning I noticed a painting of St.Christopher, patron saint of travellers, and my bus was unusually clean and new. I thought that was pretty rare, and what the heck... I took it as a good sign, so I took my picture.


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What's this?


Why it's a Christmas Tree Skirt, and it's only the 5th of November!

Skirt 76 is new to the blog, but I've worn it several times here in Vallarta. It's an A-line, red linen skirt, but what's great about it are the buttons and the front panel... It's from J.Crew and I bought it on sale late last summer. I'd had my eye on it since last spring, and I waited and hoped that they would have it when it went on sale. Lucky me! They did. :-)

I ♥ J.Crew and I miss getting the catalogues every couple of weeks... I suppose I could shop on-line, but what's the point? I have every thing I need here... well, almost everything.

I do like my skirt and I ♥ my blouse which I bought in Sayulita last Friday. Sometimes a girl needs a little retail therapy to get her through those lonely times.

Skirt 75 ~ dia de los muertos

Skirt 75 is actually a sundress from H & M that I bought when I was in Boston last June; before I knew about Mexico, before I knew about anything that I would be doing 5 mos later... The fabric was the main attraction for this purchase. That, and I do enjoy the easy breezy style of the dress: A-line, smocked top with two tie spaghetti straps. It's black cotton with colorful calaveras (skulls) all over it. It was too long, so I shortened it. Good thing too...
Now, it doubles as a skirt when I feel like it.

November 2nd is a holiday in Mexico, which means a holiday for teachers! Hoo-ray! To celebrate, some friends and I headed to Sayulita for the day...
R O A D T R I P ! ! !


An internet search pulled up this Sayulita Skirt available from Athleta...
"Designed for strolling through town on your tropical vacation, this linen skirt has inverted pleats to accommodate your full stride. "
Woo hoo! I ♥ Sayulita!


Check out esta mujer en la playa. She is working her skirt off!
$7 USD will bring you fresh juice and rum by the beach, if your ♥ desires...


The day was perfect. I enjoyed a message at Nirvana Massage (still trying to work that kink out in my back), found a new delicious flavor of paleta - jamaica (hibiscus flower - MAN! is it good! So sweet and delicious), and discovered the different ways that dia de los muertos is celebrated here in Mexico.

Altars are set up to honor the deceased in the home or place of business. At the cemeteries, there is more of a party atmosphere. It is quiet and moving, but families are at the graves of their loved ones with music, fresh flowers, BBQ and beer. It's quite an experience, and I am thankful that I got to experience it first hand.


Here is the altar beyond the steps in the photo above...
Typically, the alters have marigolds, papel picado, water, the deceased favorite foods, pictures of loved ones, candles, pan de muertos, calaveras and other items depending on the family or the deceased loved one. They are so beautiful and moving, and less complicated than ones I have seen in the States. It made me think of what I would want on my altar... Is that morbid?


To commemorate this occasion, I bought a Mexican handicraft: a bowl to keep my keys in, I always misplace them... It was an impulse buy, but I HAD to get it... She's wearing a skirt! I ♥ Sayulita Gypsy! Great shopping for a great day!


Many kisses...
Love,
Skirt Lady en Sayulita

Love Bubble...

What fun last night was!
I was an adjective: bubbly ;-)

I made my costume out of bubble wrap from OfficeMax. All you need is a stapler, a pair of scissors, a little American cable TV and a bottle of Mexican wine.

Here is a little more of the costume. I had a hairpiece and everything. You would not believe how sweaty bubble wrap gets after a while...


I was quite "POP"ular with the 3 year olds.

One of the little girls asked me where my groom was...
Awwww... he's in Texas.

I ♥ Nursery!