La Escuela

Friday was my first day of school. When I got to my car to leave in the morning, there was a card from David on my windshield! I all but squealed with delight! I am so loved and so blessed.

My first day was amazing. The new hires were all so kind, the administration was beyond supportive and the community was completely welcoming. It's such a great feeling to know that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. I'll be working hard, no doubt, but it will be a great place to do all that hard work! My most amazing discovery at orientation? One of the assistant principals has a GREAT hair color and cut, and of COURSE I asked her where she gets it done and by whom! Ladies and Gentleman, I found my new hair stylist: Kristen, at Heidi's Salon in Westfarms Mall. I can breathe a sigh of relief. Now I just have to find a doctor, dentist and chiropractor (not necessarily in that order) who I trust and who can put up with all my questions :)

After our morning events, the District arranged for us to take a bus tour of Farmington! It was so neat!! I learned that most of the road names have a "colonial" significance: "Silversmith," "Red Coat", etc. My favorite was "Wolf Pit"... a street in the area where the Native Americans used to dig wolf pits to catch and kill the wolves. Farmland here is protected by the city for farming, which I love. There is also a place called "The Meadows", which is a giant area of land that is rented out in small plots...like a community garden. One man rents a plot right in the middle and puts a big rug down for poetry readings amidst all the crops and flowers. Cool! There is so much history and beauty here. Soccer is the town's past time, along with golf, and I was told to get some coffee on a Saturday morning and head to the soccer fields to chat with the town... which is ALMOST Gilmore Girls-enough for me! :) Let's see... oh yes, the bus went through the Highlands, which I was told is the BEST place to be on Halloween. AWESOME!!!! The bus driver actually said, "Bring buckets for trick-or-treating." Hahaha. I found out that Farmington is home to 50 Cent and also to the Westfarms Mall (home of my new hair salon), which is the third highest-grossing mall in America! There is a great historic district, and of course, you can't beat the river, biking trails and mountains.

After that, I met David at J. Timothy's for a work party and we finished off our evening by an hour at the gym. All in all, a great day.

I felt a little homesick today for Michigan, but also a great feeling of love and pride for my new home. It is the strangest feeling, but a good one to have, I think. There's nothing like knowing your heart has many homes.