mspandatrain

Hello, I am a celebrating my 25th year as a high school Spanish bilingual history teacher and joined Swapbot for a new adventure! Please do not send: anything scented or food items with gluten (sorry I have health issues). On a positive note, I have lots of favorites: pandas, Pepsi, good thoughts, royal blue and hot pink are my fave colors, generally I prefer happy and bright colors. Additional favorites, Harry Potter Gryffindoor (love Hermoine she’s brilliant) Disney (Goofy, Tinker Bell, Daisy Duck and Minnie) and the old time cartoons. I enjoy crafting, hanging out with family and friends, traveling, visiting our national parks and learning about new places. Due to my busy schedule I do not have any pets, it's not fair for them be alone and I would forget to feed them :o), I can barely keep my plants alive. Tell me a bit about your part of the world. I think one of the best parts about swapbot, is a personal note with the swap, I enjoy hearing about your life too. I am also impressed with your talents as crafters! Wow! Thanks for reading, have a great day!

FAVORITE BOOKS; Hmm...that one is tough. I love the story in the Harry Potter series. I generally don't sit and read books. I do enjoy audio books. I can turn up the story and work on other things at the same time. I like fiction stories and will listen to almost anything, science fiction, mystery, military action stories, westerns and the occasional love story. I am also re-reading the old Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Black Stallion series. Send me a book suggestion. This year a friend and I decided to tackle one of the lists of 1000 Books To Read Before You Die. There are several versions, but we opted for the "popular" books, the classics would have tasked my brain too much :o) I was surprised I already read about 200 of them. Only 800 more to go! If you're interested this is the link: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die

FAVORITE MOVIES: Summer 2021 I watched all the Marvel movies, in order, whew. I still need to find time to watch the recent additions to the series. Some of my other favorites are Lord of the Rings (extended versions), most Rogers and Hammerstein musicals, musicals in general and most Disney movies (Peter Pan is my favorite movie, and Goofy my favorite character). I also like the old westerns: Tombstone, The Cowboys and generally most John Wayne movies. Movie series can keep me entertained for hours: Back to the Future, The Hobbit, Star Wars, Transformers, Shrek, Jurassic World, Toy Story, Star Trek Original, The Next Generation and Voyager, and the Furious Franchise. Stand alone movies: Newsies, Wizard of Oz, It's a Wonderful Life, Meet Me in St. Louis, and The Sound of Music.

FAVORITE TELEVISION: I enjoy old criminal type shows: all the NCIS franchises, Criminal Minds, Bull and Law and Order SVU and the original Law and Order. Action shows are always welcome, 9-1-1 (both versions), Station 19, SWAT, Hawaii 5-0, Chicago Fire and the new FBI series. I am also hooked on most shows on the Hallmark Channel. Some of my other favorites are also on PBS, Father Brown, Call the Midwife and Royal Flying Doctor Service. Last but not least, I can lose hours watching home improvement shows. Property Brothers, Love it or List it, Married to Real-estate and recently HomeTown.

OLD CLASSICS: I love the old cartoon shows, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, Looney Tunes, the original Transformers cartoon and the Smurfs. Classic TV reruns, MAS*H, Love Boat, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Perry Mason, the Twilight Zone, I Love Lucy, the Brady Bunch and Fraggle Rock.

FAVORITE CRAFTS: Now this is the section that will get me into trouble :o) I have a dream sewing room which keeps me quite busy...I am the queen of simple sewing projects: bags from coin purses to grocery bags, composition book covers, bowl cozies and Kleenex pouches. In addition I have a separate craft room, with crochet, card making, painting supplies, and a cutting machine. Another recent obsession is learning to make things with heat transfer vinyl. My newest craft is Gelli printing, definitely fun but lots of messy creations. I am always working on a project for family, friends or charity. I could spend hours in my sewing room or craft room listening to audio stories all day. Feel free to send me ideas or tricks of your crafts.

FAVORITE MUSIC: I love most types of music. My online radio has old country (I mean from the 1950's to 80's), old school rock and roll, anything from the 1950's to late 1980's, then there is Spanish, from cumbias, rancheras, salsas and Latin Pop. I also enjoy easy listening Jazz. Generally I enjoy music that tells a story.

THANKS SWAPBOT! OMG, My Swapbot partners shared so many of their great talents with me. You inspired to try new crafts and techniques, I absolutely love flip books and homemade and chunk of cardboard postcards. You brought a renewed sense of creativity into my world. It is so easy to get into a creative comfortable mode, that we don't try new things. I was sent an ATC kit, in a swap and it was fun and so tiny. Still need to improve this type of craft! Bless those who make them regularly!!

Summer 2022, East Coast summer road trip! Final tally, Albuquerque to Acadia National Park in Maine and home again, 30 days, 6595 miles, 22 states and countless adventures. Thanks to my Swapbot buddies I had the inside track and hometown secrets to Newport, RI, Lancaster, PA, Upstate, NY, Niagara Falls and Columbus, OH. The trip was amazing! Thanks again, I am so pleased you shared information about your state with me. Muchas Gracias! :o)

Summer 2023, on the road again, and headed south: roundtrip from Atlanta, Chattanooga, Pigeon Forge, Columbia, Charleston, and Savannah, it was a whirlwind of activity. Our rental vehicle was a brand-new neon green Toyota Forerunner, who I named Kermit. Final stats: 1996 miles, 17 days, nine national parks, historic sites, or battlefields, and 128 postcards. Some of our most interesting locations: World of Coca Cola, Ruby Falls, Rock City, Mayfield Dairy Farms, Dollywood, Bush’s Baked Beans Museum, Charleston Tea Plantation, Angel Tree, Savannah Ghost Tour, Atlanta Braves game with fireworks, Atlanta Zoo and Delta Airline’s Museum. Great food: 423 Tacos, Aunt Granny’s Restaurant, Gilligan’s Seafood, Lady and Sons and Mary Macs Tearoom. Once again, thanks, swapbot for the local tips.

Summer 2024, staying out west and in the car again! Headed north from NM in search of more National Parks. We visited Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Minute Man National Historic Site, Little Bighorn Battlefield, Pompey's Pillar National Monument, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Golden Spike National Historical Site, Arches, Canyonlands, and Mesa Verde NP and several state parks and regional museums. Most memorable were Minute man, the geology and geography in Yellowstone, John Wesley Powell River History Museum and Benson Sculpture Garden. The animals were spectacular, bison, brown bears, wolves, elk, big horn sheep, pronghorn and an eaglette. Total miles 3591, 210 postcards, 8 states and too many mountain passes. Great food: Beau Jo's Pizza, Bar T 5, Chuck Wagon and Mi Mexico. Thanks Swapbot for recommendations.

POSTCARDS: Thanks to Swapbot, I am in love with postcards-once again. I loved collecting and sending them as a child and am happy to find them again. I am not picky about which postcards I receive because I like all of them. I enjoy seeing different places across the world. I also like the whimsical, cartoons, children's style, Did you know?, interesting facts, touristy, off the beaten path, and recipe postcards. As usual I am often astounded with the talents of crafters and their homemade projects and postcards are no exception. I also enjoy sending them to family and friends. If it makes you smile, then it will most likely make me happy too. I do keep them and enjoy reading them from time to time. Thanks.