"Vaginas have tastebuds. Why else would they make flavoured condoms?"

That was just one of the comments that had me in stitches Monday night. This is how our year 7s think... Scary, eh?

Monday night was a great success. It has been a long time since the whole department was together and laughing like that. It reminds me why I like working here. And makes me sad that it takes a night out for us to really enjoy each other - it wasn't always that way.

My first holiday package arrived early Monday morning - 5 pounds of cookies and fudge from my grandmother! Mmm!! Friday I received a package from my sister and brother-in-law - lots of goodies to keep my hands and feet warm. :) Cashmere socks are heavenly. Plus, some art to hang on my walls (pictures of the darling Tarro, their australian shepherd) and a Toad the Wet Sprocket CD. Sisters send wonderful packages!!

Yesterday I woke early to be at the school by half 6 (6:30). I had signed up for a WWI history tour of Ypres. We spent the day in Belgium, visiting various WWI sites near Ypres. My knowledge of WWI history is shite but I was still moved by what we saw. It was interesting to see that the area was fairly flat with gentle slopes and that is why the trenches were so important. We visited Bayernwald, a German trench system and ate our lunch inside the trenches. We drove past many war memorials and cemeteries, stopping at a few. There were just so many. I couldn't believe how much that history is a part of their everyday life. Can you imagine having abandoned bunkers amongst your sheep or vegetable gardens or cemeteries lined with white gravestones just across the street from your neighbor? They say that there are still mines that did not go off in some of the fields. We watched a re-enactment of the Christmas Truce in the very area that it broke out between German and English troops and where a game of football was played before killing resumed. The trip ended in Ypres, a town completely destroyed in the war but has since been rebuilt. At the Menin Gate Memorial we watched the Last Post ceremony which has been sounded every night since 1929, except for the four years that German troops occupied Ypres during the second World War. It was a pretty spectacular day. We even had snow.

Tomorrow I am heading to dinner at a co-worker's then we're off to the Dog Races. I also have to start packing... Thursday I leave for my trip: Oxford, York, Edinburgh, Loch Ness, Glasgow and Liverpool. Lots of stuff happening and all I can think about is:

I DON'T HAVE TO WAKE UP FOR SCHOOL IN THE MORNING!!

I'm such a little kid! :)