Google templates/Summer "Rain Dance"

So, I have to admit that when I first got wind of the Google templates, I was pretty disappointed.  I think a lot of them are really corny (just like a lot of "blog skins,") but, the other day I decided to change mine to a beach scene and it makes me super happy every time I check my email.  I have been pining for summer for a few weeks now (okay, fine, all winter), and the deceptively bright skies outside break my heart every time I step out the door and realize I still need a coat. 

But I am wondering: 

Have you chosen to decorate your inbox with a Google template?

Which scene/color scheme?

Do you like it?  

Comments please!

PS - How do you summon Summer?  I have been wearing brighter clothes (against my greatest fashion sense) and a little bit shorter of sleeves to make the sun shine brighter and more readily.  I think it's working!

Love you Grandma.

Sigh.

I.  Miss.  Italy.

A gangster at heart?

Okay, so, weirdest thing ever.  Last night I was absolutely exhausted and going to bed early (I had to leave for work at 6:15 this morning), but I couldn't sleep.  Why?  Because there was this really catchy song going through my head.  And not just any song.  A hip-hop, R&B masterpiece.  Composed by ME.

This was a very surreal experience.  I kept hearing these anonymous, Macy Gray-esque females chanting, singing, oo-ing and ah-ing in the background.  And intermittently I would hear an anonymous--obviously black--male (perhaps P. Diddy?) "singing" about how he couldn't fall asleep, he stayed awake at night, etc, etc.  

I'm pretty sure this song would be its own, double-platinum single hit.  

...but I can't remember any more than I just told you.

The life of a BYU "teacher."

Well guys, it has begun.  I have been observing different schools all semester, and now I have started teaching lessons in some of these classes!  Here are the projects we are working on at the elementary level.

Here are some of the airplanes and helicopters we are working on in conjunction with the students' studies of WWII.

We also designed and built an AIRCRAFT CARRIER.  Can you believe that?

This is my favorite of all of the projects...Taka's "flying pig" helicopter.  "When pigs fly," get it?

And we are also building a CASTLE to cover the entryway of the kids' social studies room.   We talked about architecture briefly and reviewed the parts of a castle (which the students had already learned) and then let them design the facade.  They are all really self-directed learners.  I love these kids!

Painting the door.

Towers!

Facade.

An anchor for the aircraft carrier...way out of place but I don't feel like fixing it.

Door and coat of arms.

Ha.

Well, that lasted a long time.

New layout.

Okay guys, so I see all these cute little blogs and I think, "Man, if I had a cute little blog, that'd be cool."  So I found a cute little blog background that I thought I liked...but now I'm missing my old Italian buildings and plain white background.  What do you think?  Should I boot it or keep it?

I have an announcement.

I started reading Harry Potter.  I read the first three when they were new (years and years and years ago), and never picked up on it again.  But now I am starting with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and hopefully finishing them all!  Yay!

PS - You thought I was going to say I was engaged, right?  Ha!