Apple Review

The new apple of the day today was a Gala, and it was excellent. And of course it was COLD! How -- why -- would anyone eat an apple at room temperature? Apples must be cold and crisp! That's what makes them apples, eh? Okay, okay, and I'm trying a Fuji tomorrow. I don't know if I've ever seen a Honeycrisp around here; I'll have to look in the fancier supermarket over the weekend. Maybe.

K passed her exam with a very respectable 88 -- a B+ -- which should give her a solid B for the course. And now she never has to know anything about economics ever, ever again, much like her mother.

I'm very itchy tonight; I took a benadryl about a half hour ago. Oh, my hearing is better today, too, so the magic prednisone is doing its job. I'm sure that the hearing thing is just another one of this year's allergy reactions, as the hives are; wherever I go these days, pollen is flying through the air, settling on the car, settled on my shirt before, even, when I was out.

I finally took the Sibs out for her birthday dinner, to the Cheesecake Factory, so as you can guess, I ate a very healthy dinner of grilled shrimp with no butter, steamed broccoli, and then a piece of key lime pie cheesecake. I can't even figure out how to put that into my WW food log, unless I write "... and then I ate a million points." But hey, that was hours ago, and I'm not hungry yet; haven't eaten a bite since I got home. Maybe I should eat a piece of cheesecake every night.

Then we went to the Land's End store at Sears, and I got a few little things, so now I'm going to try on the lightweight sneakery-shoes I got and see if they'll be good for Walking Away Pounds right here in the comfort of my own home. As soon as I stop scratching.

watching Friends :: entry #1481

Yes, Scarlet

Today is, indeed, another day. Let's see where the day took me.

Hey, here's a suprise. I woke up with my good ear all blocked again. Looks like this year, the lovely spring allergies have decided to attack me in the form of inner ear blockups, and hives. I'm adjusting my allergy meds tonight -- taking a benadryl instead of a zyrtec, that's for the hives -- and I started a three day course of prednisone this morning, although if I wake up this deaf tomorrow, I'm making it a four day course. This deaf thing is wearing very thin.

I didn't have to be at work today until 8.30; usually I get to school at 7.00, so that left me with time to kill. I Walked Away Some Pounds -- really -- and then reported to the Board of Ed. office for my workshop. It was as I anticipated, and yes, I will be facilitating at the all day workshop in October, the one I usually skip. Guess I'll have to skip the May in service next year. I'll be the one talking about using library resources.

I came home for lunch, by which time I had a killer headache, probably sinus, so there's that going on, too. Tell me, where can you live that allergies won't bother you? Not Alaska, I know; Alaska has its share of grass and trees and pollen. Maybe Antarctica, but of course, the ground is disappearing beneath your feet there, so that doesn't say much for property values.

Here's a quirky thing. When I was a kid, what I thought of as "apple" is what most people think of as a "Macintosh apple." I had no idea that there were other kinds, because my parents only bought Macintoshes. (They had a very limited menu, which I've described before somewhere.) Now that I am all grown up, I only eat Golden Delicious apples because I looooooove them. But today after the workshop, I was oddly motivated to go the produce market and buy a whole variety of apples, just a couple of each, to see if I like them. Now I will probably fall in love with Gala apples or something, and eat only them. I'm weird that way. I'll let you know.

Cosmic asked an interesting question: do I sign? The answer is that I do not (although it's a language I always wanted to learn), and it wouldn't help me if I did because no one else in my world signs, either. Signing -- and anybody, please, correct me if I'm wrong -- is the language of people who live in the deaf community, or who live with people who live in the deaf community. I do not, and the deaf community, I'm pretty sure, is not interested in people like me. I lost a substantial part of my hearing as an adult, but not all of it. I hear well enough to function in the hearing world the same way I did before I lost it, and even if I were to become completely deaf at some point, I would still live in the hearing world. I might learn sign at some point as a lark, or to help me along if I ever do lose a substantial part of what's left, but that's unlikely anyway. If I spoke sign, I'd have to have an interpreter with me all the time to sign to me what other people are saying, and I don't need that (and it would be really, really strange.)

The other deaf thing I don't have and don't want is a cochlear implant. For one, it's not suited to me because it's my actual acoustic nerve that's damaged, and that's what a cochlear implant implants to. There is some new thing, similar, called a "brain stem implant", which would work in my case. However, on December 17, 1991, I made an extremely serious vow that no human being was EVER to see my brain stem again while I lived (that's where my tumor was), and baby, I am sticking to that one like velcro. Like glue. Like crazy glue. I'm keeping my damn brain stem to myself from now on, thankyouverymuch.

Tomorrow is K's last day of the summer session, and she is studying like mad for her economics exam, which I think she will pass, because she exceeds expectations academically, but I think she is also genetically incapable of knowing this stuff. The Hubs, who was actually an economics major, has offered to help tonight when he gets back from his meeting. (Her mad math skilz come from me, of course.)

My headache is a bit better, and I'm having some shrimp for dinner. Maybe I'll take a quick run to the supermarket after that, since neither the Hubs nor K will be home for awhile. I didn't see R today, which is an achievement considering she doesn't live here anymore.

Okay.

watching Still Standing :: entry #1480

Kind of a Hush

Things are very quiet today.

I called the audiologist's office this morning to give my report on the little repair they did on Thursday, and the report was not good. They asked me to drop the hearing aids off there and they are sending them back to the company to be taken apart and, hopefully, put back together again so they work. I had time to dash over there during third period; I have classes in the afternoon so that was the best way, since they close at 2.00 today. In the meantime, I'm at school without hearing aids.

Either the library is very quiet -- it actually is, at the moment, very few kids here -- or I am experiencing the world without its normal complement of sound. Or both. The public announcement bell just rang, which is normally unpleasantly loud to everyone, and it sounded muted to me. Some of the announcements are clear, others are not.

No one has spoken to me directly since I got back, so I can't tell you how that sounds. But lunch is starting now, and we're usually busy during lunch, so I guess I'll be able to let you know before long.

I think I mentioned yesterday how unpleasant the sound experience was at the movies. I think that put me over some kind of edge. I have no hostility towards the audiologist and what he's doing, but I'm very hostile towards the non-working hearing aids. I had actually toyed with the idea of not wearing them to school today at all, or not wearing them anymore in general. I may try the old ones again when I get home later, but maybe not. I already know they don't work, although with them it's not a matter of the sound randomly changing from one thing to another to another without warning. They just don't work. So I guess there wouldn't be much point in that, then.

I do like the feeling of hearing "naked", even though what I hear isn't loud enough. I like not hearing things channelled through a radio system, or mechanically reproduced or enhanced. It does make me more aware of the tinnitus, what I generally call "my ear noise," because when the world is quiet, the ear noise is often the loudest thing I hear. It's not terribly loud at the moment, but I'm aware of it. No ringing today, at least. The ringing sounds are most annoying. Can I describe the ear noise? It's almost as if there's another room, very close by, and in that room, the radiator is hissing softly. Once, I was walking in the park with my sister, and we approached a small waterall, but weren't close enough to see it yet. I stopped and listened for a minute, and said to her "That's it. That's what I hear all the time." The ear noise is always, always there, sometimes louder than other times, and with luck, I'd be wearing hearing aids that would make the sounds I want to hear louder than the ear noise. But not today. And loud ear noise is especially sucky when you're trying to fall asleep, since it's a sound you can't block out. Maybe that's why I like to fall asleep with the TV on, now that I think of it. I listen to that and i don't hear the ear noise. Hadn't thought of that before.

Later.

I had two classes after lunch which went pretty well, all things considered. The new building at the school, including the library and the library's computer lab/classroom, is all cinderblock, and the acoustics are just terrible for someone who hears well. For me, combined with the erratic hearing aids, teaching in the classroom was often uncomfortable; at best, I couldn't hear anything else going on while I was talking myself. (And if you know kids, you know that they're doing other things while you're talking, including talking. Come on, you all went to school.) But that was better today, somehow, I guess because my own voice wasn't uncomfortably loud.

After school, I ran a few errands and then went over to R's -- for a change -- to bring some stuff and pick up some stuff. She called in sick today, having gotten a sunburn yesterday and generally crashing after the last few weeks of intense activity. So she was home when she wouldn't normally have been. Her place is shaping up nicely; it's very cute. And with any luck, from this point on, she'll be doing her own laundry.

But the hearing was very good over there. Every time I was there since Friday, the air conditioner was so loud, I couldn't hear people speak, but today, that sound was muted and I could focus on the person speaking to me. I'm getting used to this deaf thing. I may be starting to enjoy it.

Tomorrow, though, I am at an all-day workshop, which should be a barrel of laughs. If everyone talks at once, I'm screwed. I'll just have to see what happens.

Must remember to tell you about the monster house. Perhaps tomorrow.

watching Reba :: entry #1479

What? Memorial Day?

Have you ever had this experience, that you are exposed to some loud noise for a period of time, say, at a rock concert, and it leaves you somewhat deaf for some time after, maybe an hour or two?

Yeah. So I have to keep the hearing aids turned up so loud to get them to more or less work, that my ear is bombarded with noise and when I take them off, I'm even more deaf. I've got them off now for the rest of the day, and I'm hoping some of my natural hearing comes back, or else I'll be back on prednisone tomorrow morning.

The really loud noise I was exposed to via the turned-up hearing aids was a movie. K and I went to see Shrek, which we both enjoyed, although my hearing totally sucked and was not at all adjusted for going to the movies. Here's hoping that's something else they can work on and I don't have to spend the rest of my life wishing I could get closed captioning in a movie theatre. I rarely go to the movies now, but I'd like to keep my options open.

Memorial Day. Aside from the true meaning of the day, which I'm saving for another time, Memorial Day is interlinked to my father because he was born on May 30, which was the real date for Memorial Day for many, many years. When he was a little boy, his father told him the parade each year was for him. In his earliest memories -- he was born in 1919 -- he remembered seeing Civil War veterans, in their uniforms and with their long, white beards -- marching in the parade in his Massachusetts home town. Like every other village and hamlet in New England, there was a Civil War memorial on the town green. For some reason, I don't see those all over New Jersey, but I know I've seen them all over Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Anyway.

So the days feel off to me, the dates feel off. If Memorial Day isn't the 30th -- and I don't think it ever is anymore, is it? -- I get all mixed up.

But I do have to go to school tomorrow. That much I've got.

watching Roseanne :: entry #1478

Five Years + One Day

I posted twice yesterday, but I didn't make mention of the anniversary, which I didn't realize myself until late in the day because I really didn't know what the date was all day.

My mother, the lady in the picture just over there on the right, died five years ago yesterday. It was Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, so in that sense, it could be five years ago today. Clear as a bell, of course, every minute of it.

The Sibs and I talked about it briefly before, but we talk about our parents often, so nothing new. Like me, I think she has way more trouble getting beyond Jack's death, since Shirl's was so obviously coming for a long time. His decline was much more subtle. Anyway, enough of that. Let me just note that it is the anniversary of her death and move on. Wednesday -- the 30th -- would be his birthday, this year the 88th. So I'll freak out over that one on Wednesday.

In the meantime, yet another trip to R's this morning, this time to pick up cartons I was taking back or taking to recycling, which I did afterwards. It's about a 20-25 minute drive over there, and it's becoming second-nature. But it looks like I have a day off tomorrow, both from work and from R, since she's on her way at the moment to visit friends from the UK who are visiting briefly with family in Pennsylvania, about 2 hours away, and she's staying with them overnight and until late tomorrow. So she gets a break from all the unpacking and settling in, too, although really, she's made tremendous progress.

Meanwhile, K and I did the food shopping, and I got the bills paid, and although I have more laundry to do -- some of it R's, what a surprise -- I'm actually pretty caught up on that, too. Tomorrow K and I are hoping to go see the Shrek movie. I haven't heard great things about it, but you know I rarely go to the movies in a theatre, and we've gone to the last two Shreks together, so we're completing the set. I'm sure I won't see another movie until the Harry comes out in July.

Have a good holiday weekend, all.

watching Wings on DVD :: entry #1477

Second Entry Today: Bitch, Bitch, Bitch

So we just got back from dinner with the ILs, which was mostly pleasant. K decided not to go, but my nephew showed up unexpectedly, which was nice, and a surprise. He came with his girlfriend, which made him a bit more animated and conversational.

Amusingly, if this sort of thing amuses you, of the ten people there, three have substantial hearing problems, which is kind of funny in a group. The FIL has age-related hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ear), so he wears one hearing aid. Uncle Al began to lose his hearing in his twenties and is now about 80, I guess, so he's pretty much profoundly deaf, and has a rather complicated hearing aid setup that of course is useless in a crowded restaurant. He makes funny faces and such, which is about all he can communicate in a place like that. I adore him, as does everyone. He is the Hubs' uncle, as in married to the FIL's sister, whom I adore as well. But we sat at a long table, which makes it really hard to talk to anyone who's not sitting right in front of you.

Anyway, the bitch bitch bitch is that, for a change, my husband is a lunatic. Fortunately for me, we were with his family, so everyone already knows it. The topic of the DVR came up. (This is like Tivo, it's the Digital Video Recorder that we can get in place of our regular cable boxes and it has a hard drive so you can save stuff on it.) So let's see, the Hubs' sister has one, and his aunt and uncle, and then he says, to everyone, that he's "not allowed" to use the DVR we have. His mother rolls her eyes.

"Not allowed by whom?" I asked him.

So he says that he's not allowed to program anything onto the DVR in the family room (where I watch.) I remind him that I have offered to record things for him many times. Yes, but that's not the same as him doing it. I remind him that I have offered to pick up a DVR box for his study several times, and he says he's "not allowed" to have one. (MIL rolls eyes again. She must have been the most thankful mother on earth the day I married him.) Again, I asked, "Not allowed by whom?" Now he says, well, you can only have one in the house, and it's in the family room.

Uh, hello? Did a mysterious vision tell him that tidbit of news? I didn't roll my eyes at him, but I did do the eyelid-droop "you moron" look at him, as I told him that in fact, we have two in the house now, as K has one in her room, and I will pick up a box for him any time he wants, since there's an office right here in town but which is only open during business hours (so I can go after school.)

On the way home, I mentioned again that I could get him a box anytime he wants. He says he thinks he will never figure out how to use it. No, but your 80 year old aunt can. Right. He is a pain in the ass sometimes, but he's quick and clever and smart, whatever smart is. I think he can figure it out. Oh wait, you need to use the remote, so maybe not.

He doesn't like using remotes. Really, he thinks it's some kind of cheating. Cheating what or whom, I do not know. There are varieties of technology that he will simply not indulge in. And yet the first thing he did when we sat down at the dinner table in the restaurant tonight?

He checked his Blackberry.

Yeah.

watching 2nd Pirate Movie :: entry #1476

And Then ...

We did finally get the TV to work last night. Stupid us, we had the cable from the digital cable box connected to the thing on the TV that was labeled DIGITAL CABLE INPUT, and not to the thing labeled ANALOG ANTENNA INPUT. Once we connected the digital cable signal to the analog antenna port, it all worked jim-dandy. Go figure. And the DVD plays, too, as evidenced by my coming home before and finding K watching the School House Rock videos. All of them. They're still running.

So I did my normal Saturday cleaners and ShopRite, and then headed over to R's old place to help her finish cleaning. But she had really done everything -- the bathroom was perfect; she should come do that here -- so all I had to do was countertop cleaning in the kitchen. We moved the last of the stuff to her car or mine, and I finally got to meet her batshit old landlady, my first chance to do so although the kid has lived there for just about a year. This is the elderly lady who is not shy about voicing her thoughts on Italians -- they work hard, Jews -- they're very good with money, and "colored people", most of whom, in her opinion, are lazy. And this is all more the curious because a) she has shared these opinions with R (whom she does not suspect to be half Jewish) and R's former roommate, who is black, and b) the old lady is herself black. Hence our determination of her 100% batshitness. Okay, R's done with her.

So R came home with me to unload some of the stuff that's moving back in -- hey, wait a minute -- and do her laundry. But she's passing on dinner tonight with the ILs, leaving K undecided, since she would then be the only grandchild who could make it. R has more and more to do over at her new place, settling in, and is visiting a friend out-of-state over Sunday night, so.

R, in the meantime, has no cable, TV or Internet, for a week, because her goofy cable company couldn't just transfer her account -- she only moved a few blocks away -- and have to send someone.

I, in the meantime, am pretty achy and sore from yesterday, but not nearly as bad as I expected to be. So that's good. The headache is still deciding whether or not to afflict me today; it's not sure.

So that's my Saturday. Dinner out tonight. Talk to you tomorrow.

watching School House Rock :: entry #1475

Quiet So Far, With Turmoil to Follow

Or maybe not. I know it's been a not-unpleasant day at school so far. (It's about 1.30 now as I'm writing.) They sent in a sub for the SCM today, a former student, cute as a button; boys were flirting with her this morning. She did a few nasty jobs for me that no one else would have had the time to do -- cut up about 2000 printed sheets into halves, for one -- and watched over kids during lunch and otherwise got her resumes and whatever else typed, which was fine with me. She hasn't left the library for a minute that I saw, which means no bathroom breaks and didn't even leave for lunch. She likes it here.

K is subbing today for a gym teacher -- good laughs were had by all -- but they're in Health now, so she's in a classroom all day with an air conditioner. It's supposed to hit 92 today, but so far it's 88. The new library, it turns out, actually is air conditioned. It's even a little chilly in here, but very pleasant, really. We'll see how things progress over the next four weeks.

Which reminds me: take this week's calender off my desk and move them all down a week, so that all four remaining weeks are showing. Sweet. That's 18 days to go.

The turmoil I anticipate is not so much turmoil as it is activity with a glitch. R's movers were scheduled to arrive between 2 and 3. She called me at 1 to say that they had just arrived. Now, normally, this is a good thing, and it also means that the kid does not have my mazel (which means luck) with service people. Uh ... wait ...

So she just called again, and we do have a problem, Houston. These wonderful movers are already unloading at the new apartment. But I have her TV, which they need to bring upstairs, in my car. Which is here. A 25 minute drive away, and I can't leave for nearly an hour yet. Hmmm.

So I told her to have them put her current TV in her car, and in an hour or so, she and I will move the 27" TV up to her new apartment. That would be up the three flights of stairs. Because the movers, those efficient little devils, will be all done and gone by then, I think. If it took them a half hour to load their truck, it ain't gonna take them an hour and a half to unload it, even up three flights.

Okay. I'll let you know what happens. In fact, it'll be right here, in this post, since I'm not putting it up until I get home tonight. Chapter Two to follow.

Chapter Two. Three. Et Cetera.

I am the oldest person who has ever lived. Oh wait, my body just feels like that.

The whole story is a comedy of errors. Here's the summary:

Got the TV upstairs. TV is too big for its shelf and the apartment and blocks all access to the outlets. Stashed the TV on the floor under the kitchen table and headed out to Best Buy.

Bought the kid a TV, a flat-screen. RESOLUTION: Never buy a TV with a traditional picture tube again, only buy flat screens. She carried up the three flights under one arm.

Carried up several loads of other light things from her car. Thought I was gonna die.

Backed up my car to hers and moved her 32" TV into my car. The movers had put it in her backseat for some reason and let me tell you, it was a bitch to get out.

Came home. K and I used a handtruck and lots of insanity to bring the 32" TV into the house so that when the Hubs got home he didn't do the macho thing and try to carry it in, thereby dropping dead on the front lawn.

TV does not work. Well, it works, but we couldn't get it set up. Went back to R's for the remote and instructions, which I had forgotten to take the first time.

Stopped for a Happy Meal on the way home. Finally, something about this whole fiasco makes me happy.

So, K is trying to figure out how to get the TV to work. It's an input or a connection problem of some kind; the TV worked at R's old place this morning. Nothing wrong with the TV. We just don't know what we're doing. I, on the other hand, know why I don't eat McDonald's burgers more often, because now I feel bloated and gross. Ooh, that would have been a good title for the entry.

It may be time for me to take the remote and the instructions, or just pass out, I haven't decided yet which.

watching no TV yet :: entry #1474

Third of Three

I'm working on a three day headache. Funny, though, it's not a killer headache, nor does it seem to be sinus-related. Just a headache I can't shake. All I want to do is sleep a lot, and I've been sleeping better, but still not enough.

So, first, Idol. You can't imagine how annoyed K and I are. We watched Lost, and set the DVR for Idol. Which was scheduled to be on from 8.00 to 10.00. So that's what recorded, but of course, it was a live show and went over, so when we watched it after Lost, fast forwarding to the reveal, we had no reveal. Nuthin'. We had to read who wom on the Internet. We were not amused, and I do not feel kindly disposed to watching Idol next year. But we liked the season ender for Lost.

They made some adjustment on the hearing aids today -- I went at lunchtime -- and there is some improvement, although not total. This audiologist -- and apparently, the technician at the hearing aid manufacturer -- are totally committed to getting this to work. That's some comfort, for sure. But all I really want is to put the hearing aids on the morning and take them off at night. That's the idea, that they're part of you and you don't think about them. The last few hours have been a little closer to that, anyway.

R is moving tomorrow. Her boss gave her the day off, which was awfully nice. I'm going as soon as school is over; I don't know yet about K. She's at school today, but has no classes tomorrow. She only has three days of classes left next week and then this summer session is over! That went fast.

The Hubs has caught the cold that I had a few weeks ago and K had last week; I'm expecting him home from work any minute and then I'll see how he is. He said last night he might even stay home from work today, but he didn't. I think he's taken three sick days in the nearly 30 years we've been married. My favorite was when he had a terrible sunburn, sun poisoning, really, on his thighs -- we had been sailing on the Hudson River the day before in a friend's sailboat -- and his skin was so blistered, he couldn't get pants on. So he stayed home. Another time, he had wisdom teeth out and they gave him painkillers and told him not to take them and drive, so he didn't take them and went to work, and was in agony, but he didn't miss a day.

As for me, I see that whole sick-days thing differently. Which you know.

So the SCM was not there today, and will be out tomorrow, because he has a second home in Vermont and it's so far away! It's not worth it to go just for the three day weekend! I've heard people say this for years, you know, they have a house at the shore and the traffic is so terrible, I have to go the day before! Yeah, okay. Dude, you have two houses, you've already got the advantage. Nobody is feeling sorry for you.

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The Hubs is home, and is feeling much better than last night, just a stuffy nose now. Which is good, because I felt terrible asking someone at death's door to carry a TV to the car for me, but I did, and we decided that he'll do it in the morning, since I basically fall asleep here with the TV on, and this'll be better than bringing up the little TV from the basement. I should be coming home from R's tomorrow night with her TV, slightly bigger and with working closed captioning, and she'll have this one, a bit smaller for a smaller room. The only condition is that if the one I'm giving her dies, I buy her a new TV, since the one she's giving me is less than a year old. Which works out, since if I had bought a new one for myself, I would have bought a bigger one than I'd end up buying for her. All clear now?

It's after seven now, so I'd better get my call in to the Sibs.

watching The Simpsons :: entry #1473

Done. Aaand ..... Done.

I got a lot done in the last hour for someone who's too exhausted to be upright, let alone standing on a stepladder and putting things away on the top shelf of my closet. But I did all my evening chores: put out clothes for tomorrow, set up the coffee for the morning, made tomorrow's lunch. I made today's lunch today, and I left my apple home, so clearly, the evening before is the way to go.

So once again I had trouble falling asleep, although I slept once I did, no nasty esophogeal illness to deal with. I was totally moving in a fog this morning, though, and most of the day. I believe I did doze off while I was having my nails done. I am developing the family ability to sleep sitting up, which could come in handy, I guess.

Funny, I can't sleep in my own bed at night, but I can now take brief naps sitting up in a chair. My Grandma Ida was The Pro at this; if she felt she needed a ten minute refresher, she would just say "I'm going to sleep for a few minutes" and close her eyes, sitting up, sleep for ten minutes and wake up fresh as a daisy. My Cousin can do this, too, and it's a gift. I, of course, do not wake up refreshed, but I wake up less non-functional than I was, so that's something. Gotta work on it.

According to flightarrivals.com, the Hubs is in Chicago, and will take to the air once more in ... about an hour and 15 minutes. It is weird when he's not here. I mean, duh, but he keeps to himself so much, you'd think it wouldn't make that much difference. I picked up some veggie lo mein before for him to eat when he gets home; I'm always afraid that when he travels, he won't have anything to eat the whole time he's gone (but I suppose you can get lo mein in Chicago, too, although this is what he asked me to pick up for him.) I know that the first night, they were all going to a steak house, so they were probably all pretty uncomfortable when he sat there and didn't eat a thing. People generally are, I've noticed, although I don't care anymore. (Or do I?)

The Powers That Be have decided that my library is a lovely venue for them to have all their Board of Ed. and other various night meetings. While I understand that it's certainly their library, and that this is common practice in many places (and was in my district in the early years), it means that I'm uncomfortable leaving anything personal out on my desk, and I've always had a bounty of things: pictures, quotations, the Thomas Jefferson bobble-head, Jefferson the book-reading gargoyle, and so forth. So it's all put away for tonight, in locked drawers, and I'll start taking things home, I guess. Yet another notch in the belt of the slow decline towards burnout, which unfortunately generally comes way before one can afford to retire. Every day it's something else, and I think you have to numb yourself to it to keep going, which only leaves you numb. It ain't good. There was more shit yesterday, but I don't even want to go into it. The Colleage and I bitched to each other over the phone about it last night. (We really can't talk there at all.) It's sad, really.

Well, everything is done. I'm going to hit the couch now.

watching The Simpsons :: entry #1472

Not So Much

So, did I sleep the sleep of the just last night?

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(See title, above.)

I went to bed at 9.15, ready to sleep, with the tv on, as I always fall asleep. By about midnight, I had gotten up twice, eating both times. By 12.15, I was settling in, I thought, and then ... Da Da DAH!

GERD.

The gastric reflux, which was just lying in wait for me, woke me up within minutes of falling asleep. I guess that's why I hadn't fallen asleep in the first place. And now I know that I can't eat tomato sauce any more. Greeaaat.

My morning, which I expected to be very relaxed, was also not so much. I overslept a half hour; my alarm must have been ringing the whole time, but I was lying (if you could call it that, because I was practically sitting up) with my good ear on the pillow, so I didn't hear the alarm until I shifted around. Then I was discombobulated, just a bit, but not actually late. It was too cold to wear what I had taken out, I forgot to make the coffee for my thermos, and so on.

I got to work, and as I walked into the library, the SCM calls to me from across the room: "I left a note on your desk! Our Smart Board is here!" (A Smart Board is a kind of high tech blackboard that connects to the computer.) I got to my desk and there is a note -- from the SCM -- that says: "Our Smart Board is here!" I turned around and looked through the window into our classroom, and you know what? Big as life, there was a Smart Board hanging on the wall. Shit. He was going to be insane today, of all days.

He came over to my desk to start some harangue, and I said "You know what? Let me just warn you: I'm not in a good mood today." He backed off a little, but I told him that the shout out, the note, and that fact that a blind person could see that the Smart Board was there was all a little overkill. He didn't need all of that. Which he got, and didn't take offense, which was unusual for him, but, come on. Can't I ever find anything out for myself?

Did I over-react? I had to stop him before he seized control of my entire day.

No more about school. It sucks there.

So, home. I did manage a bit of a nap this afternoon, since I don't want to fade away before Heroes. I really hope I sleep tonight. I deserve it.

watching The Simpsons :: entry #1471

On Beyond ...

(On Beyond Zebra was the first Dr. Seuss book I fell in love with, when I was 5. But I digress. Just explaining the today's title.)

... exhausted. I am On Beyond Exhausted. But at least with good reason today, and not the usual bitching about being old and tired et cetera et cetera. For one, I haven't slept great the last few nights and I wake up feeling like I haven't slept. The real reason, though, is that K and I went over to help R pack and move a bunch of stuff, and you know, her new place is on the third floor. So that's lots of steps for old mom. And inside, there was no place to sit, really, except the floor, and that just creates its own problems in getting up, so mostly I was standing, which is hard on my back and also on my feet.

But we got a lot done, kitchen stuff moved and put away, her shelving unit put together, and even a new Ikea chair assembled before we left. And then she treated us to dinner, which was a nice new experience.

The Hubs is in Minneapolis; he called to say he'd arrived while R was assembling the chair. He'll be gone until late Tuesday. I'm curious to see if this will affect my sleep in any way. Part of my sleep problem is that I'm a light sleeper and easily distracted, if I can put it that way, while I'm asleep. I think if the Hubs is sleeping restlessly, then I will, although if he's sleeping soundly, you could set off an explosion in the room and he wouldn't wake up.

Feet. I mentioned to my sister this morning that my feet always hurt. She asked what I meant by that. I thought for a minute and then I said "My feet always hurt." Was that not clear? Anyway, the soles of my feet are always sore, sometimes more than others, but pretty much all the time. The orthotics from the podiatrist have not made a difference. And yes, I'm still considering the chiropracter. I'll see how I feel tomorrow after school.

I got a letter from my bank telling me that they think someone may have been trying to access my account via the Internet. Really? IT WAS ME, YOU IDIOTS. I'm supposed to have online access, and my computer is supposed to be authorized, but each time I try to get in, it tells me it has no record of this computer and it asks me a sneaky question. The questions are obviously based on my credit reports, because there was an error on my credit report (which I thought I had fixed, but I guess not) that listed my in-laws' address as a second address because it got me mixed up with my mother-in-law. The bank's question was "In what county is [her address]?" Well, shit. How the hell would I know? I took a guess and I got it right, but I imagine it's all these repeated legitimate attempts to access my own account that has the bank all nervous, so I have to call them tomorrow and try to straighten this out. If I have to , I'll go into my local branch where there are actually several people who know me by name, and for years, but I have to call their fraud (or whatever) department first. Sheesh.

If I stop writing and sit on the couch, or god forbid, my bed, I think I will conk right out. My hope is to make it through The Simpsons -- 400th episode tonight -- and then collapse. I'll let you know how that worked out for me.

watching King of the Hill :: entry #1470

All I Meant Was

I never meant to imply that teachers have it rough. I was only comparing different ways teachers use their in school/out of school time between what I know and what boxx writes about. Although, people who say that teachers have it easy are a real hot button thing for me; I'll leave that rant for another day. People who think that teachers have it easy, though, should try it for a couple of days and see how they like it. As for the pay, teachers are just your basic middle class people with jobs, no more, no less. The pay is compartable to police officers and firefighters, in most places, although if you ask me, firefighters should be paid more than corporate CEO's or anyone else in society, for that matter.

Well, then.

R was supposed to work today, but it got cancelled (unfortunately, after she and all her co-workers had already commuted into the office in the city), so she got here by 1.00 and we went out to pick up a few things for the new apartment. She got a chair, but was unsuccesful with the hunt for a futon frame, or for that matter, anything to put her mattress on. So we need to keep looking for that. No idea of tomorrow's plans yet, although her new chair, in its box, is in the back of my car, so I'm definitely bringing that over tomorrow. We'll see whether she decides to pack more when she gets home or go to the new place and start assembling her shelves into a place to hold her TV as well. (She saw a picture of a new configuration at The Container Store and is anxious to give it a try.)

I finished The Half-Blood Prince a few minutes ago, and now I want more Harry. I'm just saying. I have to wait along with everybody else. Haven't decided what to read next; I have the newest Traveling Pants book and a biography of Ingrid Bergman. Hmm.

It's a gray drizzly day today, was yesterday, and will be for another day or two. Bummer. It's cold, too. I had to wear a jacket when I went out the morning. I don't like that. It's May.

My desk is a mess here, and I've got a couple of bills to pay, so I guess I'd better sort that all out. Good weekend, all.

watching Top Model :: entry #1469

Life in the Ivory Tower

boxx commented about the extra hours she puts in at school, uncompensated, and I know this is so because it's often in her entries: that she'll go in and work in her classroom on a Sunday afternoon, for example, to get things ready for the coming week.

No one does that here.

Now, lest we think that all the teachers in New Jersey are uncaring, I shall explain. I have never known any teacher here, at any level K-12, to go in and work on a weekend, at least, not in their classrooms. I'm sure that in my school district, for example, classrooms aren't accesible to teachers on weekends. The elementary and middle schools are locked up tight, and the high school is only open for the sports activities, i.e., the locker rooms and gyms may be open, but nothing else is. Or for certain activities, like the drama club, which rehearses on Saturday mornings, and the auditorium is accesible to them. Otherwise, there are heavy gates pulled down to block off other corridors and areas of the school. So that's one thing.

But every time boxx says something about working weekends, it makes me think. Certainly, most teachers do not work according to their agreed upon, contracted hours; anyone who says that teachers have easy hours really doesn't get it. No teachers do that. Here at my school, where the first class starts at 7.55, many people come in early. The SCM gets in most days around 6.45, and his isn't the only car in the parking lot. Yes, some people rush into the building at 7.54, and just make it to their classrooms. These are the people who are more likely to stay until 5.00 in the afternoon or so. (The last class ends at 2.35.) Here's part of the difference, I think:

Elementary school teachers often use the extra time in their rooms to work on the room itself (putting up bulletin boards and displays, arranging work stations for the next day's lesson), and I routinely see teachers' cars parked at the elementary schools around town until five or six. (Their day of classes ends at 3.00.) They don't spend the extra time with kids because little kids go home (or to an after-school program) right after school because of safety concerns. And in a lot of places -- not here in B-Town, though -- kids are bussed, and so of course they have to leave when the busses come.

It's different when you're in a high school. Teachers who are staying late are less likely to be preparing for the next day's class, or grading papers, than they are to be giving kids extra help, or working with a club or a sports team. (Most teachers I know do their preparation and paper grading at home.) When I was the junior class advisor, I met with my officers one morning a week at 7.30, with the full class council one afternoon a week from 2.45 to 3.30 or so, and one night a week to work on whatever project was at hand, either preparing for the big Spirit Week pep rally, or for the junior prom. When we put up the decorations for the junior prom, we worked for two days, a Thursday and a Friday, from 8.00 am until we were done, which was often 10.00 pm or later, and then came in Saturday morning to check them and then back Saturday night for the actual prom. (The kids working on it were released from classes to put up the decorations.) And coaches, in season, work with their teams every day after school for hours.

Some of this, though, is compensated. A coach gets good money, outside of a regular salary. I got, I think, $1500 a year for junior class, which came to something like 25 cents an hour. I didn't do it for the money, nobody does. Teaching is a solid job and career, but nobody is doing it for the money, other than the survival aspect. It's not the road to big-ticket success.

Anyway, I don't know where I was going with this, just showing a difference, I guess, between different places and how things are done, no value judgments. Oh, and I think we have very strong teachers' unions here in New Jersey, so that may account for something. We've had years when the Board of Ed wasn't willing to negotiate a new contract with us, and our union put us on "job action" status, which means, among other things, that no one works outside of contracted hours. This sucked for elementary teachers, who normally went in during the last couple weeks of the summer to set things up, and others as well, but you do what you have to. I've always come in and done certain things during the summer, but I always did them while hanging out with the Colleague, so I don't know what I'll do this year.

Back in the real world

I've been thinking of going to a chiropracter, but I'm still too chicken to pull the trigger and go. The only one I know of is the one K goes to sometimes, whom I've met and he's very very nice, but also chatty, and his kids go to the high school. Hmmm. But I've had this ache in my shoulder/neck, and I'm thinking I should go, but ..... still not so sure how I feel about chiropracters; I had a weird experience years back. Not sure if I'm ready yet.

Okay, time for more Harry. Tomorrow.

watching Raymond :: entry #1468

Still *yawn* Here

I'm having the kind of day where everyone who looks at me says "Gee, you look tired!" Thankyou. Thankyouvermuch.

So things have been quiet. K has been in school all week until 9 or so, and the Hubs was out the last two nights, first a business dinner and last night teaching a class. K is actually home early today, having skipped her second class because she has the terrible cold I had a couple of weeks ago, and getting caught between classes in last night's deluge didn't do her any good. And she's already booked to sub tomorrow, so she wanted an early night.

So. Had a busy day at school, which was was good, and probably a busy day tomorrow. This weekend isn't coming fast enough for me, but next weekend is a three-day (or more?) weekend, which should be really nice, even though R is moving on that Friday and the ILs are coming up for dinner on Saturday.

We are embroiled in the controversy over the extra snow day that we didn't use in our school district. Now, why we didn't use it is a mystery, since we had one snowy day and one horrible rainy day when every other school district in north Jersey was closed, but we were open, so we should have used all our days. But we have one unused day in the calendar, and there are those who feel we should "get it back." Not that I wouldn't like a day off, but honestly? I don't think it was ours to start with, let alone to get back. Although most of the other nearby districts do give back their unused days. Last year, they gave us back the last day of school, which is to say, the last day for staff, the day after the kids' last day. This did not sit well with most people, since it left them no time to clean up their classrooms for the summer and many people ended up coming in anyway, just on their own time. What people want back is the day before or the day after Memorial Day weekend. So far, they claim that they are generously giving us back ... the last day of school for staff, like last year. Doesn't matter to me, since I just leave the library as it is for the summer, so for me it is a day off, but it used to be a day when we had a staff barbecue and softball game and it was nice to hang out together. Anyway, the powers that be could yet be prevailed upon for next weekend. I doubt it, but it could happen.

I see by the clock on the .... editing page, that I started writing this entry at 4.46, and it is now about 6.44. How did that happen? Oh, I did go out and pick up dinner at the deli so K could have chicken soup .... and I talked to the Sibs .... and R ... and the Hubs came home and K told him a joke from her Economics class; how lame is that?

I'm going to post and get back to Harry before the Ugly Betty season finale in a little over an hour. Tomorrow.

watching VH1 :: entry #1467

Reaching Critical Mass

I don't believe I can eat any more broccoli. Ever. I have reached the end of my rope with broccoli.

You know, I've got these strange eating habits. As it is, I have exactly the same thing every day for breakfast, and exactly the same thing every day for lunch. We had Chinese food on Saturday, which we do nearly every Saturday, and I had steamed shrimp and lobster -- very low points, good protein and fiber -- and I decided that it was good, and that I would have steamed shrimp and broccoli every day for dinner from then on.

I made it through four days. Tomorrow, on to other things.

So, K was indeed offered the opportunity to be a graduate assistant, and she was going to accept today, but the next step is submitting her resume (which she did today) and waiting to see if a professor or two picks her. So it's not a done deal, but I can't imagine why they wouldn't. She's got a great background in doing research, if they need a research assistant (which wouldn't be her first choice) and if they want her to help teach, that would be great experience for her, and she's up to it. I think, though, that she'll probably be grading papers and stuff like that. Which is also good experience. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

So I went to see Harry Katz the Sinus Man today, and to avoid my horrible long-wait experience of last week, I arrived prepared to wait, and armed with The Half-Blood Prince. But today, I was in and out in a flash, first to see the doctor, then to get a hearing test, and then to see the doctor for the results. I don't think I finished a page during any wait, and, not surprisingly, Harry Katz turned out to be a huge Harry Potter geek, and we discussed previous books, the upcoming book, and all that, at great length. He used to be a huge Star Trek geek, too (as am I); I was talking to him in his office once (as opposed to an examining room) and he had a micro-machine Enterprise and a micro-machine Borg cube on his desk. (Yeah, well, I had them on my desk at school too. Takes a geek to know a geek.) Anyway, he gave me a rx for prednisone to have on hand if my ears go weird again, and said to keep taking the zyrtec for allergies, instead of allegra. So, I'm there.

This also meant that I took the afternoon as a half sick day, and you know what? I could totally get used to working half days. (It's not an option.) I could work another ten years if I only had to work in the mornings. It was very pleasant. Of course, it was a beautiful day today, so, no hardship being out and about in the afternoon.

I'm going to spend a little more quality time with Harry now.

watching Reba :: entry #1466

Too Excited to Shut Up

It is incredibly premature for me to say anything -- not that it matters, really -- but I'm excited and the Hubs isn't home yet and the Sibs is out with her brood for a birthday dinner (hers), and this is so cool.

K called before, between classes, to say that she's been offered a graduate assistantship for the coming year. Do you know what that is?

IT'S A JOB.

Okay, it's not a high-paying job, but it would provide her spending money and even better, it would pay her tuition for the year. !!!!!!!! The only drawback, she said, and it was a quick conversation, is that it would delay her student teaching, and thus, her entry into the world of Real Job. And she has to decide tonight, and give her answer tomorrow. She won't be home from class until about 9.30. I have a feeling that I'll be watching the end of Heroes off the recording tonight.

Anyway, I guess I'll have the results tomorrow, but she sounded very excited, and I think it's an honor to be asked. Stay tuned.

I was pretty busy at work today, which was fine by me. I'm only going in for the morning tomorrow, as I have an appointment with Harry Katz the Sinus Man at 1.45, and may or may not be seeing the audiologist before that (for a change.)

Change of subject: I picked up Q's ashes at the vet's before. I have no idea what to do with them. For now, it's a little box on the back seat of my car. I only opted for what they called "private cremation" because I wanted to make sure ... well ... that the right thing was done, if you know what I mean. You hear stories about animal crematoria that just ... don't do what they're supposed to; I really don't want to put any nasty images in anybody's head, but I just didn't want that for little Q, so I figured if I did it this way, I'd know that everything was done properly. (I don't know why I think I know that now, but I guess I do.) *sigh* So now I've got a box. I don't think any of us are looking for ceremony here, but I don't want to just spread it on the ground where the Hubs is planting his tomatoes, either. I knew this would happen. Ah, maybe around the base of the Japanese maples out front. Yeah, that's it. Now I just have to decide whether I should just do it, or tell everyone or what. Eh, I'll see what the Hubs says. Outside the house is his domain anyway.

Speaking of the Hubs, he's going to Minneapolis for a few days on Sunday. He does hate to travel, but I think it's better for him now that there's someone else in his office, his protege of sorts, who goes along, too. He'll be gone for two nights, I think, leaving Sunday and coming home Tuesday. And now for these three weeks, K is in class four days a week from 1.00 to 9.00, so it looks like I'll be on my own a lot. As long as I don't eat; I eat when I'm bored. But I seem to be losing again a bit after gaining when I was sick, so that's self-motivating. I was thinking of walking to and from school today, but I had too much stuff to bring in; maybe Wednesday. I'll have to check the weather.

Back to Harry. I have about 150 pages to go in The Order of the Phoenix, and then The Half-Blood Prince.

watching Reba :: entry #1465

Happy Mother's Day

So, I hope you all had the Mother's Day you wanted. I did, pretty much. Just quiet. After I woke up, I watched a couple of the shows I had missed due to being out every night this week, and then I went out and got me a latte as a present. The Hubs gave me a book, and K wrote me a poem:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
You didn't tell me what you wanted
So this is my gift to you

Your hair is dark brown
Your eyes are a very pretty green
You are the bestest Mommy
There has ever been

Lilacs are lilac
Peaches are peach
I like how you hurry in the mornings
When they call me to teach

Some crayons are teal
Some cheap ones might be magento
Your favorite string cheese
Is from a brand called Sargento

Your toes are usually mauve
Your favorite color is purple
It is commonly known
That nothing rhymes with purple

The sun is bright yellow
The moon is kind of white
This poem isn't too sucky
Even though I'm not the one who writes

Fake suntans are orange
Bad sunburns are pink
I love you more
Than you could ever think!

She's cute for 23, eh?

---

Anyway, so R came over and basically we went over to see her new apartment and then did some food shopping and now we're chilling out.

Oh, btw, someone asked, my hearing aids are Unitron Conversa NT. The left one is; the right one is just a microphone/transmitter in a matching shell.

And let's close out for the evening with this. I got it from Cosmic, who got it from boxx.

1. YOUR REAL NAME: I don't post my name, so this is as far as I go on this one.

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first three letter of real name plus izzie): Rosizzie

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color and favorite animal): Purple Dog

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name and current street): NMI Nicholson (I have no middle name, so the official designation is NMI, for No Middle Initial). Isn't this fun?

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first three letters of your last name, first two letters of your first name, first three letters of mom's maiden name): CanRoRo

6. YOUR SUPERHERO'S NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Blue Coffee

7. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (Men: father's middle name and mother's middle name; Women: mother's middle name and father's middle name): Edith Herbert

8. YOUR GOTH NAME: (Black, and the name of one of your pets): Black BooBoo

9. YOUR PORN STAR NAME: (the name of your childhood pet and the street you grew up on): Willy 33.

watching Arrested Development :: entry #1464

It's. All. Over.

(You have to read the title in Howard Cosell's voice. You know.)

So. The play's final performance has taken place. It was their best, or close to it. The audience loved it, and responded well, and the kids were just terrific. As with each performance, everybody complimented R and talked about it and her, and it was really quite an experience. Several of her college friends were there tonight, and an old high school drama buddy, and of course, her grandparents.

Oh .... yes. They were there. My in-laws. Which is the essence of tonight's entry. And I don't even know where to begin.

Let me say, then, that I believe that I am a compassionate person. I am, I know I am. And let me say that things have begun to take a downward turn with them, and my husband (and maybe his sister too, for all I know) have no fucking clue. It's possible that I can see what's coming because I went through it with my parents. And here's the thing: I am not doing that again.

Okay. My father-in-law is now, I guess, officially handicapped. Whether he's medically designated as that -- he has the tag in his car -- I don't know, but let me tell you, he is handicapped, and his presence handicaps others, particularly his wife. She is his slave, just as my father became my mother's slave. I'm not seeing anything good here.

The FIL is a very big man, and his health problems are all orthopedic, although she hinted tonight at his becoming difficult and argumentative, which is the official Big Bad Sign; he's always been an extremely laid back guy. Used to being in charge, but laid back and relaxed. He can hardly walk, although he can walk, at least a little. Tonight we saw him use his scooter for the first time, and I believe the best word for the situation, and one of my favorites, is clusterfuck. It was such a HUUUUGE project for him to get out of the car, work his way back to the trunk, and then operate the little crane that lifts the thing out. Quite a complicated procedure; I would have thought it was more automated. And of course, it was pouring when we left after the play, and he couldn't see what buttons to push, and it took forever and the winch didn't work, and he finally got it back in the car after we were all drenched.

Anyway, we had no time to shmooze with people in the lobby before the show because we had to get him in through a back door to the stage and into place. Okay. During intermission, the MIL and I went out to the car to get his seat cushion. After the play, we waited for everyone to leave so the stage was clear, and then went out through the back door. I didn't get to see any of the kids after the show and tell them how wonderful it was, and I must say, I was a bit disappointed there. But because of the FIL's issues -- and I'm not talking about the scooter or the difficulty walking -- when he's there, everything surrounds him, and is about him. It's just the way he is. He's very soft spoken and never gives direct orders to anyone, but he is the boss and it's all about him. His biggest issue?

He's old. He was 79 a couple of weeks ago, but it's not the number. It's that he's slowing down and he's losing it. He's been slowing down for a while, but that happens. Personality changes are a really bad sign. And I have no idea how he has managed not to fall. He looks like he's about to fall with every step he takes. And when that happens, it's really gonna suck.

And the MIL. You'll remember that this is where my husband gets his martyr genes from. Whatever it is, she'll take it, she'll do it. She's a stoic and she's strong. Up to a point, eh?

They do not show emotion, these martyrs. Oh, she'll show happy emotions, which is more than her son is willing to do most of the time, but that's another issue. She cannot show weakness. And if she does ... she indicated tonight that the FIL has become cranky, corrects her, yells at her ... it was a 20 second conversation, and it made her cry. She cannot discuss sadness. She either changes the subject or cries, which changes the subject.

Oy.

So. They are officially old. The worst is yet to come. This is going to be a problem in a family that cannot deal with sadness.

I have known that sadness, and I not only dealt with it, my sister and I were immersed in it for years. We breathed it, ate it, slept with it. It took over our lives while we were trying to raise our children and live our lives. It was depleting, and devastating.

I am not doing that again. I am not.

watching The History Channel :: entry #1463

And Then I Lost It

(second entry of the day, the links are over there >>>)

So after I posted my last entry and ate a salad like someone was chasing me for the shredded cheese bits, I said yes to this weeks updates from the fine people at the Fruit Computer Company, la la la la la la, and then K left early for the play because she had to stop someplace and then IT HAPPENED.

There.Was.No.Internet.

and you know .... gotta have the damn Internet.

I checked my settings, and according to Maxx the Mac, there was no network to be had. Now folks, I had just downloaded all the updates, so I knew there was a network. I looked over at the modem and all the lights were on.

So I tried one thing and then another and probably changed a million settings and no dice, and then it was time to go to the play.

Well. And well. R was totally flabbergasted when her California cousin walked up to her and gave her a big hug. The Sibs and her whole family did indeed make it, and they really liked it and couldn't get over that R had written this. Not to mention that two of her dearest friends, a couple, just came in from South Carolina today, so they were there, and her oldest childhood friend, who lives in Colorado, was, sadly, able to come to see the play because her grandmother passed away over the weekend so she was unexpectedly in town, and another of their best kid buddies was there, and his mother, so it was majorly old home week. And those little actors on the stage, they acted their hearts out tonight and were excellent.

So when I saw K at school, she said she'd been having network problems before she left. And I asked the Hubs when I got home, and he said that he'd had to reset the router and then everything was fine. But he was amused. I have a Mac. Aren'f they supposed to heueristically heal themselves, he wanted to know, like Data? But before I could try and see, I discovered this evening's festival of cat poo, so I have only just now sat down after running up and down with the laundry (towels on everything, man, it's the only way to go when you're living with an elderly feline, or maybe an elderly person, I probably shouldn't complain), but, ahhhh. And since I'm talking to you, you can see that yes, Maxx had heueristically healed himself, like Data.

I need to cool off and go to sleep. And probably eat stuff first, because I do that.

Okay.

Watching the news :: entry #1462

Someone Stop This Crazy Thing!

Seriously, I need a vacation. Or a day off. With any luck, it'll be Sunday. I can hold on until then.

I fell asleep at work again today. This time, it was around 1.15, and I sat in a chair in the office and didn't even put my head down on the desk. I sat slumped a little and let my head lean forward. I'm getting to be good at this, sleeping upright in a chair. Sheesh.

I think my dland is back, in a manner of speaking, but I'm not posting any real entries there until this is all worked out, if then. I will post a little update thing so that my link turns red on the buddies page, but it may take a day to show up, like my last entry did. But I think it's all there.

And yes, I have two buddies lists on this page. I'm working things out.

Okay, so, enjoyed the play again last night, going tonight. My nephew from California is in, and as always, some kind of turmoil always seems to surround him, although he's always the calm at the center. His new thing is that he got his mother an iPod for Mother's Day/her birthday -- notice I didn't say bought, I'm sure he hooked up a free iPod from somewhere -- and he wants to put my music on it. Since one of the things he's famous for is using other people's stuff and breaking it, at the very least, not leaving it in the condition he found it, this was unsettling, and I told him it wouldn't work, either. If he syncs the new iPod to my computer to get the music, then when he tries to sync it to his mother's computer so she can manage it, it'll ask for my password and want to authorize that computer on my iTunes account. Which is a very bad plan. But no, he only wants to put music on hers and leave it like that and not even put iTunes on her computer. Or something. Whatever. He says "It'll take 20 minutes!" but I think it'll take hours just to decide what music of mine to copy over, since he got her a 4 gig iPod and I have 12 gigs of stuff. See? It's always something with him. But you gotta love him. Or we do, I guess, because he's ours. But it's always something.

K got a new tattoo today, which is very nice, but I don't have a good picture because my camera flashed funny, so I'll have to get her to send me the one I took for her with her camera, which came out great. You remember my whole camera drama with her last month. That worked out, anyway.

The newest hearing aid wrinkle -- I may have mentioned something somewhere yesterday -- is that the big fix did not work and the audiologist asked me to keep a log and he'll get back on it Monday. So I was keeping a log last night and all morning. At some point today, I'm thinking just before or after my little nap at school, the volume got turned up on the hearing aids, to a slightly uncomfortable degree, actually, but the thing is: I think they're working. I think they haven't muted themselves since I turned the volume up. Now, tonight at the play, I'm going to be hearing the actors' heartbeats, but if I don't go all muted, I'll also hear every word of dialogue. So, an interesting development. We shall see what the weekend brings.

Meantime, I feel like I'm pedaling as fast as I can. Still in hyperactive mode (except for when I fall asleep at work, I guess.) Once the play is over tomorrow night, I think I can finally stop, but until then ... pedal, pedal, pedal. So my nephew is coming over tomorrow morning, my in-laws will be stopping by before the play so we can go over there together, which means that I have to clean in the afternoon, or at least, get the giant economy packs of toilet paper and paper towels out of the living room. And find the Boo poo wherever it is. Did I mention that I actually found some in the litter box the other day? But he was just teasing me, because he hasn't done that since.

I feel like I have a year's worth of laundry to do. I have no dishtowels in the kitchen. K washed a load of towels yesterday, but there's a load in the dryer and a load in the laundry basket that may be clean, or maybe not. She's upstairs getting dressed for tonight. It's a challenge, folks, since she's got a freshly inked tattoo on her back. Has to be covered, so the people sitting behind us don't get grossed out, but it's damn hot in that auditorium. Plus she's going to get a million hugs from her cousins and all sorts of people. Maybe she could have waited until next week. But hey, I probably wouldn't have, so who am I to say?

I did break down yesterday and turn the air conditioning on. It was 81 degrees when I got home from the play the night before at 10.30. That means it was over 90 up in K's room. It's comfortable in the house now, anyway. Jeez, I hope it doesn't snow over the weekend.

Okay, okay. The sound of the computer fan is starting to get to me; it's really loud, as is everything else. It rained before, and let me tell you, a scary sound, amplified.

watching Ellen :: entry #1461

Tumbling Along

I posted an entry at dland last night, here, but you probably didn't see it because I posted and then went to sleep, more or less, and only checked to see if it was really there when I got home from school just before, and it wasn't. It is now, and I think, my last one there for a while, until things improve a bit. Let me know.

I am reeeaaally tired. I fell asleep twice at work today. Both times, I went into the library office and put my head down for ten minutes because I just couldn't keep my eyes open. At the moment, I have about two hours before K and I are meeting the Chum for dinner, and I'm going to post this and lay down on the couch.

The play was actually better last night than the first night; I guess the actors pretty much found their rythm. Everybody laughed a lot. Very cool.

Okay, I just wanted to post before I collapse and then get up and go out. I'll try to get some actual information into a post in the near future.

watching Dr. Phil :: entry #1460

Still Trying

(moved over from dland)

Tuesday, a little after 11. Not even remotely sleepy, I'm replaying tonight's Idol results show, but not paying much attention. The play was excellent tonight; the kids -- the actors -- really hit their stride and were a scream.

Had some tense moments, although nothing bad actually happened. My daughter's high school ex showed up, something we've been anxious about, but magically, there were enough people there to surround her and keep him away from her. One in particular, another friend of thiers from high school whom we hadn't seen in years, just showed up to watch the play and immediately made it his job to keep the ex in conversation and away from my kid. Like an angel, we needed him and he was just there. And other fine folk stepped up, too, to keep an eye on things. And now she's safe at home, she's called me from her locked-in apartment, so I could, in theory, go to sleep.

But I'm wiiiiiide awake. And my alarm is going off in ... let's see, six hours. And I'm not even horizontal yet.

O.Kay.

watching Idol :: entry #1459

Today's Burning Question

So, how was the play?

It was good. It was very good. It was funny, and beautifully directed and well-acted, and it was an amazing experience to hear, essentially, your child's voice coming out as the words of actors. She threw in a few inside family jokes here and there, which K and I enjoyed immensely. It was great.

Leaving for performance #2 in ... about an hour and a half.

I am totally wiped out. I got home around 10.30, but didn't get to sleep until nearly 12.30. I was just wide awake. I hope I can do better tonight (and tomorrow night), but at least now I know what I want for Mother's Day: I want to crash. I want to lie here like a lump and do nothing at all. If I feel like, I'll put in a wash. But that's it.

In other news, I finally pre-ordered our Harry Potters today. I have no idea what took me so long, but at least the store hasn't got its act together 100% yet, so they haven't been giving out numbers or anything, so I guess we haven't missed anything or won't be too far back on a line because we didn't order them the first day.

I had an interesting day in Hearing Aids World. You know, they replaced my new ones, rebuilt them from scratch, actually, but they're still not good. They're well programmed for my hearing, all that is good, but for some reason, the one of them (the one that's actually a hearing aid and not just a microphone/transmitter) randomly changes, just mutes itself a little bit from time to time with no warning or reason that anyone can see. It's very frustrating. If I turn it off (which I usually do by opening and closing the battery door), it resets itself and works fine until next time, which could be in an hour or could be in a minute. Anyway, not a good thing, and I was going to the audiologist today and I was afraid that this would be it, the moment he turned and became not the nicest person in the world, but would be all "Well, that's the best we can do."

Instead, he said "That's not acceptable. And your warranty won't even start until we make these work. And we will make these work." He really is an amazingly good guy. He says he's going to be on the phone tomorrow morning, not with customer service, as usual, but with their tech support department, and he'll call me at school and hopefully tell me I can come over right after school and he'll know what to do to fix them. The really cool thing is that he doesn't even work in this office on Thursdays, but he was going to to finish up some things, and now he's devoting a big chunk of his day to me and my problem. Oh, the other really sweet thing he did was that when he first walked into the room and saw me sitting there, he said, "So, how was the play?"

What else can I tell you? I am already so behind on this week's TV! I think if I can't fall asleep tonight when I get home, I'll put on last night's Idol, or maybe just skip a step and put on tonight's Idol, since I'll read all over the place tomorrow who got voted off; it won't exactly be a surprise. And they always show performance clips on the results show anyway. Yeah, that's a good idea. And hope that I fall asleep before it's over.

Blogarithm does kind of work, it turns out. I sent them an email that said I never get the emails they're supposed to send me, and now I get them. It would be nice if I could get the updates a few times a day, since mostly I already knew about the updates they're sending me via other channels, but it's a work in progress. I also read about something today called pageflakes.com, so I'm looking into that too, and blogrolling. So that's my Mother's Day present, tinkering with bloggy stuff.

Maybe I can catch an hour's nap here ..

watching Still Standing :: entry #006/1458

Okay. Just .... AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

Ahem. I am in a controlled state of frenzy, moving backwards at warp speed.

I shall explain.

In two and a half hours, give or take, the world stage debut of R's play will begin. I am so excited, I could just plotz. The frenzy is all play-related happy frenzy, and although part of me really really really really wants a Parliament menthol light, purely for deep breathing purposes, I'm not going there. Emergency smoking is for bad times like when the basement is flooded. No need for smokes now.

But the deep breathing would probably be a good idea.

Okay, here's the recap.

EVERY SINGLE PERSON I talked to in school today asked me "So, are you excited?"

Why, yes. Yes, I am. Thank you for asking.

K subbed today, and looked, let me say, about a million times more professional than her denim covered mother, and joined me and my lunch crew for a while, and that was fun. But work felt, on the one hand, like so much time-killing until tonight's main event, although I was actually fairly busy, and did a lot of walking around the building for one reason or another. There was another small clusterfuck over a few drama queens getting it into their heads that someone was changing the words to the Alma Mater (i.e., the school song, established in 1943), but that passed over and was just a blip in the day.

Oh, here's a good one. A science teacher comes in to book library research time, it seemed, but to be sure, I asked her if she was just using our computer lab for some kind of web-based project or if it was actual research. Research. So I suggested a library lesson, showing them sources and research method, and she said, Oh, they're in tenth grade; don't they know that by now? And I did not rise up and smite her, but I did say, Oh, don't they know all the science they need to know by now? Point taken; she made a joke about kids thinking they know everything anyway, but she's going with the lesson. It's what I teach, bitch. It's like, you know, my job, my raison d'etre. Thankyouverymuch.

Okay, back to my life. I got my nails done after school, and man, it was like the clock was moving backwards. I could barely sit still; I couldn't wait to get out of there. Only one of the kids from the cast -- of the play, you remember the play -- came in and sat next to me, so we chatted a bit, and her mother was totally impressed that I was the mother of the playwright.

There are six performances of the play scheduled, btw, and they're sold out. Heh heh.

I dashed across the street from the nails place to the local garden center, since I needed to get flowers for the kid for tonight. [gnashing teeth] This place used to be a country vegetable stand, years ago, but in my adult memory. Now, it's .... I don't know. I don't think any of the stuff is locally grown, food or plants. All I wanted was a half dozen flowers, but all they had were bunches of two dozen roses and bunches of two dozen tulips. Yeah, I never saw anyone get a bunch of tulips, but whatever. So then I had to race to the supermarket, where I got ... a dozen roses, I guess, but mixed colors, and had to put them in a vase at home since I'm only giving her one for each show. Only the white ones have thorns; I wonder why?

Oy. I feel like one of those drawings of the Flash, where you can still see him but he's moving so fast that you also see his blur. I'm a blur. But I'm not moving fast, really, just ... antsy. I am hugely antsy. We call this having the shpilkes. You can't sit still.

I ate a McDonald's salad for dinner, and wolfed it down because I couldn't eat any other way. I could use a shoulder massage. Anyway.

K is also having a crazy runaround day, first subbing, then lunch out with one friend who's in town then dinner with another and then going to the play with both of them. I'm going with the Colleague tonight, so I'm looking forward to that, too. I didn't even expect to see K until I got to school, but she just bopped in, stuck between meals, I guess, and similarly, moving slowly at the speed of light.

It would be nice if this blog thing would settle down, too. I'm only posting here tonight; I don't have time to wait for the whole dland rigamarole. Blogarithm is sort of working for me, but I'm really still checking for diaries the old-fashioned way, with a combination of the dland page and RSS feeds. I looked at blogrolling.com today too, so I may end up doing something with that. But not until the weekend, when I can finally land somewhere.

Oh, I live in north Jersey, Bergen County. Just randomly throwing that in.

I need to touch up my makeup -- did I really say that? and put on a nicer shirt (over the purple tee and jeans I'm already wearing) and make sure that I DON'T FORGET MY TICKET. Not that they won't let me in, anyway. But it's nice you bring your ticket with you.

I am so rambling. If I stop writing, I have to do MORE STUFF. I have to try the Sibs again, and ... and .... and ..... not forget to bring a rose with me, and .... CALM THE FUCK DOWN. It's not like the kid is winning the Pulitzer Prize tonight.

But it is very exciting. Tee hee.

watching Friends :: entry #005/1457

Just Another Monday

So, I went to work, I'm home. The plumber is coming, so they say, between 3 and 5. Now, these plumbers are amazingly punctual, except for the day a couple of weeks ago when they didn't come at all. Ahem. So, as usual, it's anybody's guess. You know that the workmen of the world have a code red out on me, and they will forget to show up or lose my address or whatever.

Still not sure if the blogarithm thing works. Oh, don't forget to tell me if you need anything changed in my buddy list and blah blah blah and I'm going to attempt to double-post again. You know, my only dland problem is how painfully slow it is, and how lately, when I post an entry it takes a half hour and then it's been posted three times, so I have to go back amidst the slowness to delete the extras. Other than that, I got no problem. I don't host my pictures there, although I used to, and I stopped using their comments because of the spam, so I don't even need the Gold or any kind of paid membership, although I still have it. I'm mostly switching, I think, because I kind of like it better here, I like the way it looks and works. Although I'm not committing myself 100% yet, because if I did that, I wouldn't be me, would I?

Seriously. Have you ever noticed how often I use words like "apparently", "so it seems", "allegedly" and so on? I have. It's as if I can't take a stand on anything, or take the risk, or whatever it is. I'm not changing or anything, I'm just commenting.

I started to get back on the water-drinking thing today after two weeks off it, so I drank two bottles of water and I think I'm going to explode. Not that I haven't been getting rid of it as well, but boy, this is annoying. I also walked this morning at school, although not as long as I wanted to because that was hard, too, after two weeks, and I tried walking outside but it was still just a bit cold. The Other Chai asked me if I want to walk in the park with her after school next week, and I said yes. So that'll be nice, if it comes off.

Oy, my belly hurts. Too much water. I knew that stuff was bad for me.

watching QVC :: entry #004/1456

A-Twitter

I'm a work in progress; please take a look at the right over there to make sure I've put you on my Buddies list the way you want to be. Let me know if you don't want to be there at all. I'm still working on it. I'm going to leave this up for awhile, and see if I can double-post for the immediate now.

---

Okay, so, an entry. Two things on my mind. One, kids, do they ever grow up? Every day, I feel sorrier for what I put my mother through, almost until the end. I was sometimes just a snotty brat. And I love my kids and I love being with them, but sometimes, I wish I could just smack one. Had a moment with K before when she was suddenly affronted, if that's the right word, and said a hurtful thing, and I was .. well, hurt. Anyway, we're better now, all good, but it shook me up a little, that along with the fact that I've got to admit that these hearing aids are not up to snuff. I guess I'll deal with that when I see the audiologist on Wednesday. I hope this isn't the moment that he stops being on my side, because he has been wonderful so far.

And then, of all things, it looks like the sewer pipe is backing up into the basement. Know what that means? Water on the basement floor, of course! Does it never end? So I put in a call to the plumber and hopefully he can come after school tomorrow; I cannot take off more school time for this, and I can't take any school time any day this week, starting Tuesday, because I'll be going to the play every night, and I can't do that if I haven't been in school that day. Argh.

I could just scream. Instead, I had a piece of cake. I've gained about four pounds in the last two weeks. Swell.

So I'm just a little tense. This would be a good time to go to sleep. I might as well, since I just used up my dinner points on cake. (Just kidding.)

34 days of school to go, not counting the workshop day when I won't be there. Seven weeks. Boy.

watching Some tattoo show :: entry #003/1455

And Here's the Next Step

Hey, it's a good thing that tinkering around with webpages and blog sites is how I spend an enjoyable day. Some people have hobbies. Or do yard work, god forbid. But this is fun for me.

So I set up an account at something called blogarithm, which will, so it claims, email me whenever one of you updates. If that works, it will replace the red links at dland, but of course, I will miss that page. But there's also no law that says I have to stop going there, so. I've also put a little widget or whatever it is at the bottom of my page, and I think you can put in your email address when I update here and it will notify you. This is a big improvement over the old notify list I tried to do once before, because this doesn't require any input on my part. I would also forget to push the button there, or send the email, or whatever I had to do. This does it by itself. or so it claims.

Here's one of the things I really like about blogger so far: it has an HTML editor built into it. You can write your entry in HTML or in a more WYSIWYG mode, and you can switch back and forth between them. So that saves me a step in posting, since I always write in an HTML editing program (CuteHTML) first.

I like the way the page looks. I may add a picture to the template, but I haven't decided yet what to use. Although I wish I could use lower case in the titles. But I'm over it.

Okay, I'm posting (not double-posting, since this would make no sense over at dland) and then we'll see if I get notified, since I put myself on my own blogarithm list so I'd know if it works.

watching The History Channel :: entry #002

I Think I've Got It

This is more or less my first actual post on this site, for what that's worth. I think I've gotten everything moved over that I want, although I'm still working on getting the number of the entry up in a way that shows and doesn't look stupid. But I'll see how that looks in a minute.

Oh, I wanted to see how I could put a picture in here:

la de la de la de dah




So is that it? Are you seeing me with Grandma Ida?

In other news, I got up bright and early again this morning -- why do I keep waking up at 5 on the weekends? And I read my newspaper circulars and headed out to ... shh ... Target to get those things over which I obsess: Bounty towels, Charmin toilet paper, and liquid Tide. I get antsy if I think I don't have enough of any of those in the house. Especially the toilet paper. Ahem.

Okay, I've still got bugs to work out, and possibly another trip to Target later, if the girls want to go, since I went secretly without them this morning so I could stock up before the crowds cleaned them out. There are lots of people in the market for good toilet paper, you know.

watching I Love Lucy :: entry #001

Cast of Characters

updated May 6, 2007

The Brain Tumor: The brain tumor was an acoustic neuroma about 3/4 of an inch across that was removed from my life on December 17, 1991. It is the chief subject of the black humor that keeps me going, it is probably the worst thing that ever happened to me, and although not the best, it is also a good thing in many many ways. It seemed to be the defining experience of my life. Until my parents died.

Shirl, my mother: Sibs and I always called her Mommy, and referred to her by her name, Shirl. She died in May, 2002 after an 8 year illness that took its toll on all of us. We also referred to her as "your mother". I do not miss the Shirl of her last eight years; however, I do miss the Shirl of years ago, before cancer took over everything.

Jack, my father: Jack, my wonderful father, passed away on February 19, 2003, several months after I began keeping this diary. Hard to sum up your father in a line or two. He was 83 years old, overweight and could hardly walk, had had a heart condition for about 20 years, and was hands-down my living hero. He won World War II, and then he won the war for Shirl. He was simply the best.

Sibs: My older sister is my first and oldest and bestest friend for more than 50 years now, but since she is finally happy (3rd husband’'s the charm) I don’t see her as often as I did when she lived about 100 feet away from me and didn’'t have a husband (1st or 2nd) who would be a part of her life. The ultimate support system, the sine qua non of keeping me from losing my mind and/or killing myself during Shirl’s 8 final years.

Hubs, the Husband: Let’s just come back to this one. Not negative, just too difficult to be concise. We knew each other in high school, dated for our first six months of college, broke up, started dating again right after college and were married two years later. Married now for 30 years as of July, 2007.

R: My baby! Now 26 and as wonderfully independent as a parent could want a child to be. I am proud to be her mother. Her baby years were glorious, fascinating, rewarding, enriching, and it looks like her adult years will be not too far off that mark. She spent a year in graduate school in Wales, pursuing the career in writing that I dreamed of myself. Anything better for a parent than that? And her first play was perfomed in May, 2007. (In my earliest entries I referred to her as OlderDaughter)

K: My baby! 23 now, a college graduate, having recovered from a nasty bout of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which sucked the life right out of her last two years of high school and interfered with the time in her life she should have been separating from me, not the other way around. But she’s doing really great now, thank you. I love every minute of her company (when she’s not doing the sullen teen thing) and she makes me laugh. The sound of her own laugh is my favorite sound in all the world. And now in graduate school, by the by, to be a teacher, just like me. Anything better for a parent than that? (In my earliest entries I referred to her as YoungerDaughter)

Grandpa Sam: Okay, the hero of my childhood and life and the individual with whom I hope to spend all eternity. Look for more about Grandpa Sam. He was a saint on this earth, if Orthodox Jews can be considered for sainthood. Also hard to sum up in a small space.

J3 aka Wonderful Niece: Of my sister'’s three offspring, J3, now approaching 30, is married, a brand new lawyer and is the warmest of all living folk. She is an adult and a child, and seems finally to have met a guy who is worthy of her. She lives to nurture and care for others, most especially her late grandparents, and even tried to change her twin brother’s diaper when they were about two years old. (In my earliest entries I referred to her as Niece.)

J1: At 33, he still hopes to become a rock star (although he’s getting a Master’s degree in history) and there’'s just not another one like him anywhere. He’s a completely unique experience. High maintenance over a long stretch of time, he otherwise does not fail to delight with his observations of others and clever antics. He is the most judgmental person I have ever known, which in him is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just part of his charm. He spent a lot of time with us growing up, as he did not get along with his less-than-pleasant and scummy step-father. (In my earliest entries I referred to him as Nephew #1. I sometimes also use his actual stage name, Jefferson Jay.)

J2: Nobody sweeter than this good good guy, and to use his own expression, having diabetes just makes it suck to be him. At nearly 30, the older of the twins by a couple of minutes, he lives nearby, just got a great job, and is engaged to a girl he's known since he was 12, so we've known and loved her for years. His brother -- #1 -- lives in California. (In my earliest entries I referred to him as Nephew #2)

Old Friend: We met when we were 8. She is exactly one week older than I am, which means that when I have birthday each year, she goes first. She lives 10 miles away in lower Manhattan, and we see each other about once a year, when I take the train into the city in the summer. She’s got issues, which only makes light of the fact that she was so screwed up in her life, mostly by her mother, as I recall, that she is tremendously overweight, unhealthy, but finally has a great job. And yet remains the most goodhearted of people. No wonder those few who have gotten to know her well love her dearly and will do anything for her. I love her and I fear for her, all the time.

MIL/FIL: My mother-in-law and father-in-law, who I always thought were the best in-laws anyone could ever have (except that my husband was also thus blessed with wonderful in-laws) and that they were good and wonderful and that I loved them, until my father died and they never said a word to me and I freaked right out. It changed my relationship with them, although I've gotten better in the years sinced then, once I realized that they mean well and do love me, they just couldn't handle it. And if she gives me another pink sweater for Christmas this year, you’ll hear the screams. I’'m just not a pink sweater sort of gal.


At Work

Colleague: I am grateful to my place of employment for this one. She was the library secretary for 22 years, I am the head librarian. We are like sisters without the baggage of having grown up together. She is as compulsive and nuts as I am, and we share a lot of the same shtick. It’s why we’ve been friends for the last 22 years. She lost both of her elderly parents within six months of each other in the last year before my own parents died. In September 2006, she was re-assigned outside the library and we both hate it every day.

Chum: My chum was another teacher in my school, who has become my best friend over the last fifteen years or so, and who retired in June 2006. We didn'’t know each other at all (although we had both been students in this same high school, 1969-1970); we became friends when we were paired together to be advisors to the Junior Class, which we did for fourteen years. When I retire someday after working for 35 years in this school, the best thing that ever happened to me there will be that I got to know her as a friend.


SCM: The Self-Centered Man shares my workspace. I generally regard him as my reward for working with the HMM (Horrible Mean Man) for the previous 12 years or so. SCM is good and bright and mostly pleasant to work with except when he is being either a) incredibly self-centered, or b) annoyingly compulsive. The two are not mutually exclusive. (He's the other librarian.)

Media Girl: An absolutely delightful girl, she is about 33 (I'm older than her mother), who works in my library and handles all the A.V. equipment. She's married, with a 12 year old son; her husband is the school's assistant head custodian. She and her husband are both Polish immigrants who are now American citizens; their son was born here. I heart her.

The Other Chai: We go way, way back. She's one of the few people on the high school staff there longer than I am. I call her The Other Chai because she has the same uncommon first name that I have. We were pregnant together (my first, her only) and delivered three weeks apart. She can be a challenging friend to have, but she's pretty much what I've got left there at school, and I'm having a good time with her.

The Psycho and The Stooge: The Psycho was the high school principal for many years, and so appears in entries before her retirement in 2005, and who is a horrible, mean, vindictive -- did I leave anything out? -- woman. The Stooge is a secretary in the office who has no skills, secretarial or otherwise, that anyone can see, but she is The Psycho's best friend, so she got the job.

watching nothing yet