How the Grinch ...

I decided I had to start writing (at school) because I've been very busy all day and now it's only a half hour until I leave, so it's too late to start anything else, and I'm yawning too much to just read. I think if I could have the actual use of a secretary for a solid chunk of time tomorrow, I could get the rest of my purchase orders out, but even when she's here, she's not quite here. Which is not to say that she's not sharp, because she is. She's so sharp, in fact, that she can appear to be working while she's actually doing something else, and look quite busy at it. And it's not even that her something else isn't even school related, because her job is really two part-time jobs that equal full-time for her, and we're her second job, but she spends a bunch of time here doing her first job (which she's supposed to be doing some of at home, but I suspect is not, which is why she does it in the library.) Like anybody cares. Sorry.

So it's Halloween. I went into the faculty room for lunch and one of the guidance counselors who was there asked me in a snotty way "So, who are you supposed to be?" I was not snotty back, you'll be happy to know. I said in a kind of quiet way "I'm me," and let it go. Okay, I didn't let it go; I said "You know, I did that for a lot of years." And I did. I dressed up every year for Halloween, I was a judge at the senior costume party and I took copious photographs there every year, and so on. But I'm past that point. It's a funny thing here, that you can be up to your ears in school activities, and for a long time, and the second you stop, nobody remembers that you ever did it and they just think you're an old stick-in-the-mud. It's because of the turnover in staff from year to year, I guess. But it's strange. I'll have to see if I can find the picture somewhere of my doing a lesson one year for a physics class when I was dressed as Minnie Mouse. It was pretty funny.

I am something of a Scrooge -- or whatever you call a Halloween party-pooper -- when it comes to the trick or treaters. I have candy all ready to give out. But what happens is that these little bitty kids ring my bell, and by the time I get to the door, they've given up and left. I could sit in the living room with no TV or computer so that I could jump up and answer the door when it rings, but sometimes I don't get anyone for a half hour at a time, and it bothers me to be trying to do something in another room and have to stop it every few minutes. (Yes, it's Murphy's Law: If I wait at the front door, no one will ever ring the bell. If I leave the room, there will be a steady stream of tykes at my door.) K loves to answer the door for the kids -- or so she claims; she gets fed up with it, too -- but she has class tonight. Bummer. For me. Once it gets dark, though, I keep the porch light off and then no one comes. (Except I'll have to put the light back on at 8 tonight so K doesn't kill herself between the driveway and the front door.)

My newest little passion here is Burt's Bees stuff. I keep looking for lotions that don't feel icky and that I like the scent of, and I think this may be the place to find them. I even stopped at the Rite Aid this morning on my way to school and picked up a little sample set so that I have tiny sizes of things to take on the plane with me.

I stuck a little widget over there >>>> with various RSS feeds from Google Reader for some of the weird stuff I find when I obsess browse there every day. I didn't put everything I save because then you'll all have me put away, but I may in the future. Then you'll see what a real nutcase I am. Or maybe not. I save a lot of feeds that relate to various Bush articles and other conspiracy theories. And some other stuff, too. Check out the Creation of the World in Geek Terms, if you haven't already. It's cute.


Okay, so now I'm home and the Halloween crap has begun. Yes, first time the doorbell rang, the greedy little suckers were onto the next house before I got the door open. So that's one.

Second time, I start handing things out from the bowl. One kid reaches into the bowl for a second helping, so I said "No, I gave you one." Another kid gets a Starburst and says "Can I have a Hershey's, too?" No, I already gave you something. Jeez. Another kid, I give her a Hershey bar, because her little pumpkin looked pretty damn empty, and she looks up at me with puppy dog eyes and stands there, waiting for me to give her more. "Have a nice day," I said, and stepped back into the house and closed the door. I assume she's not still standing on the porch because the gaggle of parents on the sidewalk would have gotten her by now. (Oh, and these kids were gone too by the time I got to the door, but their parents were slower, and were still on the sidewalk when I opened the door and stood there with the bowl of candy, and they called the kids back. I hate Halloween.)

Just as an aside -- I'm not answering the doorbell anymore-- and by the way, the SCM said something about high blood pressure, and one of the semi-younger teachers who loves to hang out in the library (bless her) said "Oh, how can librarians have high blood pressure? It's so peaceful here." (Okay, she's a library lover, I get it.) I said, "Yeah, but my father wasn't a librarian." right? Because I got it from him? Okay.

Okay, I can't find my Minnie Mouse picture, which means I've never scanned it and it's somewhere deep in the picture trunk, but I came across these two, which I'm posting to show you that I have not always been the Halloween grinch. First, this is K, but I made this bunny costume for R's first Halloween -- it was very big -- and each of my kids got two years out of it, and it was borrowed by numerous others. (See? I do have some domestic skills.)



This one, though, was my ultimate. This was R's costume for her senior year in high school. It was her idea, and I think she'd been planning it for years. (Planning for me to make it, too.) And no, there was no Batman. That wasn't the point.



Okay, I'm off for more doorbell ignoring.

WATCHING NEWS :: ENTRY #1618

Uhhhhhhhhh

I am feeling just a wee bit frazzled at the moment, not sure why. After all, I did do everything on today's list, and although I haven't packed my bras yet -- forgot yesterday when I was repacking -- I have at least put them with my luggage, so I'll get them at some point. I did laundry this afternoon and put it away -- laundry on a weekday! What will I think of next?

I sent off my package to the hotel in DW, and it should arrive on Friday, so I can check and see if it's there. I just talked to the Chum on the phone (which we almost never ever do) and discussed our arrival details, as well as a variety of other inane things.

I did errands after school too, and somehow went to the mall twice. (I saw a winter jacket in Old Navy on my first trip that might meet the criteria of K's current search, so we went back to look at it.) I guess I feel like I've been kind of non-stop since I left school, except, of course, the mandatory statue pose when I'm on the phone so as not to lose reception.

School was ... what can I tell you. Yet another fire drill/false alarm/electrical problem; we've been having them for the last week or two. And they planned an actual evacuation drill for next Tuesday, until somebody pointed out that this was election day, and that an evacuation of the school, including the obligatory alarms, might freak out all the kindly old people who come to the school to vote, eh? Yes, our schools are open on election day, even though they are polling places. It's like the holiday from all the new security measures; it's the day anyone can just wander into the building. Well, okay, they're limited to one area, but that's really hard to enforce.

My plan for tonight includes actual sleep, if I can pull it off. Last night was, you know, one of those nights. Oy.

WATCHING BEAUTY & THE GEEK :: ENTRY #1617

Outed

Somehow, the upcoming Disney trip became the topic of conversation at the lunch table today, so now everybody knows. We told our little friend who's also going when we have lunch reservations at the appropriate restaurant, so maybe she'll meet us there. Nice kid.

I'm sending off my box 'o stuff tomorrow, to be waiting for when I arrive, so I repacked before to see that everything I needed in the luggage fit. Ah, not so much. If security opens that bag, they'll probably destroy it just trying to get it re-zipped. Oy.

Chilly again today. Well, it feels normal, at least.

Just another day at the insane asylum today. Busy tomorrow, too.

WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1616

Creeping Closer

*insane giggle*

It's getting closer and closer. Yum. All of this preparation and anticipation is a big part of any Disney trip for me. If I didn't have to worry about the damn airport security, this would be stress-free and pure pleasure for me. As my girls would say, this is my Christmas.

The Chum is actually leaving NJ one week from today and will spend a few days with her mother in south Florida before driving up to join us on the 7th. So I've got to talk to her this week and make the final meeting up plans. These shouldn't be hard, as we're just meeting at the hotel, but she has to drop off a rental car first, and has never been to DW, so I'm guessing it may be a little overwhelming for her.

I had a lovely facial yesterday, but that meant no make up all day, and my hair was a mess since I hadn't bothered, due to the rain. Then last night I put an oil treatment on my hair, so that looked just lovely. It feels so good now to be out of the shower with clean, dry, neat hair and my make up on! Is this really me? Ah, indeed. Anyway, I feel like I'm fit for human company, finally, so K and I are going to saddle up and head west, picking up R and then going to Target (of course) and for some lunch. She also wants us to come in and see how she's re-arranged a bit. And then K and I have to go food shopping.

Why do I wake up on Sunday morning and my first thought is: Oh, I have to go to work tomorrow? That's a real glass-half-empty kind of thing, isn't it? And I'm not generally a half-empty sort of person.

Did I mention that someone else from school will actually be at DW while we're there? Long story, but basically this girl is dating someone who's a restaurant manager at one of the parks (which is where she met him); she's even leaving from the same little airport we are, but several hours later in the day. We listened at lunch one day to the story of how she met this guy and was going to see him, etc., and were quiet, because we thought it would be fun to run into her there and surprise her, but she scoped us out and knows we're going, too. It's becoming a less well-kept secret by the day, but it's not like we're lying or anything or calling in sick, because we took the day off as a personal day. Even so, we didn't want anyone -- or one specific person -- to try and horn in, and it's too late for that now anyway, so I guess we're safe.

... and ... we're back.

All done, Target, lunch, supermarket, and even my floors this morning. Now I'm ready to settle in for the rest of the Law and Order marathon. If I'm smart, I'll give a moment's thought to what I'm wearing tomorrow, but as the seasons seem actually to have finally changed, it may take more than a moment (which is why I should do it tonight and not tomorrow.) My sweaters are not inaccessible, but they're not right out there, either, except for a few. Today was just a beautiful fall day, cool and windy, but clear and bright. We appear to have skipped over the 70s and 60s this year; two weeks ago tomorrow it was nearly 90, and now we're pretty solid in the 50s, which is where we should be, however.

Time to relax.

WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1615

Writer's Block

I didn't write yesterday, and came close to not writing today. My head is just full of rants, and I don't so much feel like posting a rant, so that's leaving me with little to say. Writing out rants -- and I'm full of them in here -- will only make me feel more angry and unsettled, and won't solve anything. So I'm trying to put them aside. I'll see if I can write about something happy.

.

.

.

.

Well, you knew that was coming.

It's been a very rainy couple of days, with a definite chill yesterday, but warmer today. Today felt like a summer rainy day except, of course, that it was still dark at 7 am, and is pretty dark now, at 6.20. So that's pretty strange. I did go out this morning to do a variety of things, and I felt that crocs were not the wisest choice in this weather, so I wore sneakers, which were not so comfortable.

When I got home, I put on these Birkenstocks that I had ordered from QVC that came yesterday; I wanted to wear them around the house to see if I could adjust to them. And the answer is no, so they're packed up and ready to go back, which I'll do on Tuesday after school when I take my box to be shipped to the hotel at DisneyWorld. Yes, folks, it's getting closer. According to my desktop widget, 10 days, 6 hours, 37 minutes, and the seconds are ticking down. I keep tweaking my already packed bags in the living room. What will I forget? My money's on bras, because I keep alternating between two bra styles that I have and both of them are really hurting my shoulders these days, but I'm going to have to remember to pick one and pack a few at some point, lest I end up with the one I happen to be wearing on the plane to last me the whole five days. Did you know that our government, in its wisdom, recommends that you not wear underwire bras when flying, so they don't set off the metal detectors? Yeah, not a pretty sight, I'm thinking. Pass.

I still have to vacuum in the morning and wash the kitchen floor, but other than that, my meager cleaning is done. So I guess I did have a busy-ish day. Looks like a quiet tomorrow, although R will probably come by, since she's got to do her laundry sometime. (And somewhere.)

WATCHING AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL :: ENTRY #1614

I may have fallen asleep on hall duty this morning.

I certainly closed my eyes several times, and I enjoyed it. There was nothing going on there, only the occasional off-duty teacher going in or out of a classroom. I was watching Meet the Robinsons on the iPod, but I was so sleepy that I couldn't even concentrate on it, and I turned it off in favor of another Odd Couple episode. I was never so glad to see the SCM as when he came to relieve me.

Making my way back to the library -- there is no direct route from where I was posted to where I actually work -- I came across the vice principal, aka, She Who Made the Hall Duty Assignments. This is her second year in our school.

Now, we work in a very oddly laid out school building, because there was the original building, then they put on an addition in the early 50s that was twice as big as the original, and then a little bitty addition in the early 60s, and then the new weird addition last year, so it's kind of like trying to get your bearings from the inside of an Escher drawing. Like this.

Anyway, each part of the school is designated by a letter of the alphabet; the oldest is A, and so on. So I'm walking with the vice principal, She Who ..., and she says something to me like "So ... this is the B area?" Uh ... yeah, lady. You know, I can understand why the SCM doesn't know one part of the building from another, because he cloisters himself in the library and doesn't need to go anywhere else, but this babe walks the halls of the whole building every day, and makes decisions and pronouncements based thereupon. Geez.

And ... home.

The guy who serviced the furnace just left; he was here for an hour and a half, so I'm guessing everything is working pretty well, except for the new filters he had to order, so we don't have those yet. I'll tell you, though, walking around looking at various parts of your house with a stranger will really get you to want to clean. At least, it will get you to want your house to be clean (although not to do it yourself), and since there is no one else I know of who will do this for me, that pretty much leaves me. So those are my weekend plans.

I've already considered that I should leave the house relatively clean when I go to DW, so that if I die in a plane crash and strangers (or worse, my mother-in-law) come into my house when I'm dead, they don't say "God! What a terrible housekeeper!" Which would certainly not be untrue, but you know, it's like wearing clean underwear in case you're in an accident, your mother shouldn't be embarrassed when they take off your clothes in the emergency room. Or something like that.

Anyway, I got my bills paid while I was waiting for the furnace guy to get here, so that's one less weekend task I have. And next week, on Thursday, I think I will just go to the boro hall and pay those little taxes in person, because sending that check through the mail makes me a wee bit nervous.

Okay, now I'm cold, because the furnace guy couldn't believe I really wanted to set the thermostat at 72, but that really just makes it 70 here, which is mostly comfortable. So I have to go turn that up, and scrounge up something for dinner.

WATCHING REAPER :: ENTRY #1613

Okay, Sit Down

It's not often that you'll hear me commend the ... um ... ahem ... Other Side, as it were, but here it comes. There are many differences, of course, between the Katrina situation in New Orleans and the fires currently raging in southern California, but whatever those differences are, the truth remains that the California situation is being handled much, much better than Katrina was for the simple reason that the government of California, lead by its Republican governor, prepared for such a thing to happen, and is handling it wonderfully. There, I said it. I won't take it back, either.

(Okay, just kidding about the partisan thing, but really, Schwarzenneger, who is not generally a fave of mine, is probably doing a better job than 95% of the country's governors would do. Gotta give credit where credit is due.)

Speaking of which, I was just about to send a donation over to the Red Cross, but I'm wondering if there's anyone better to give it to at just this moment? I don't know, the Red Cross seems to be doing a helluva job there, too. But I'll wait until the Hubs gets home anyway; during Katrina and the tsunami, any contribution we made through his business, they matched, so maybe they'll do that again.

Here in Ordinary World, it's hot, it's cold, it's raining, it's not. I can't even figure out where to set my thermostat anymore, but since the heating/a.c. people are coming to service the whole thing tomorrow after school, I'll let them figure it out.

In the ongoing saga of me feet, they were excellent today. Maybe I have this thing figured out. Crocs and ace bandages are apparently the way to go.

I was on hall duty again this morning during the testing, and I finished all the journals I hadn't read since school started, so now I have to think of something to do for the next two mornings. There is nobody whatsoever anywhere in the corridor I'm sitting in, so I don't even need to use headphones if I want to listen to something, but that means I have to bring in the little iPod speaker thingy. I had it on this morning while I finished my reading. (Which is actually book ordering, btw; my journals consist of nothing but book reviews, which is how we decide which books to buy for the library.)

I keep seeing commercials for this movie coming out on DVD called Meet the Robinsons, and there is one scene they keep showing -- it was in the commercial when the movie first came out, too -- that breaks me up each time I see it, so I guess I'll have to rent it and see if the whole thing is that good. Briefly, a little boy -- a cartoon -- is being chased into a kind of narrow alley by the bad guys, and the main bad guy calls out to his henchman something like Why aren't you getting him? And then you see that the henchman is a Tyrannosaurus Rex, who explains in a very garbled voice (because he doesn't have the mechanism to articulate clearly) "I have a big head. And little arms." So he can't reach the kid in the narrow alley, see? Okay, it cracks me up, and it cracked up my sister when I told her over the phone. You gotta see the commercial; then tell me if you think it's funny.

No other news today. K is in class and the Hubs is at a meeting in south Jersey, and will be home very late. So ... should I go run an errand, perhaps, hmmm? It's dark, and I don't go out much after dark. Maybe I'll be bold. And brave.

But put the wash in the dryer first.

WATCHING FRIENDS :: ENTRY #1612

Oh, Hello

So it was a day like any other. There was testing in the school this morning, and my duty was to sit near a fire alarm box in the math corridor, which is where my bad school dreams are usually located, but whatever. It wasn't unpleasant. The irony only came later, after the testing and once first period had begun, when there was a power failure in two-thirds of the school and it set off the fire alarms and we were all outside for 45 minutes. Just another ordinary day.

My feet were waaaay better today, not lim-o-zeen status, but not bad. So once I learn to wrap these suckers up myself every day, I'll be okay. Apparently what I'm needing here is some kind of super-duper arch support. I guess when that first podiatrist told me I had the highest arches he'd ever seen, he wasn't just whistling Dixie.

So that's pretty much that, except this book meme that I got from fi. I may or many not have done this before, but let me say once again that for someone who really doesn't like Charles Dickens, I have read a ridiculous amount of his work, more than are listed here. I also have an antique set of his books that were my mother's when she was a kid, but I didn't count them as being on my shelves (although they are.) Here ya go.

The instructions are: Bold what you have read, italicize those you didn't finish, strikethrough the ones you hated, put asterisks next to those you’ve read more than once, and put a cross in front of the books that are on your bookshelf. Underline books that are on your "to read" list.

Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
+*Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
+*Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller’s Wife
+The Iliad
+Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Atlas shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
*The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
+*The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
+*Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A people’s history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
+*Slaughterhouse-five
*The Scarlet Letter
+Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
+The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
*The Hobbit
In Cold Blood
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1612

So I Guess You Heard

Dumbledore is gay. How do you like that. Like it makes any difference in the character at all, which it doesn't, which is why I was so impressed with the way J.K. Rowling just kind of tossed it out there, like it was no big deal.

The thing is, homosexuality, or any number of other things that are often viewed as hot button issues, only are if you make them so. Otherwise, it's as significant as hair color, which is to say, not. Not that it isn't significant to the people it affects directly, but there's no reason it needs to be for anyone else.

I've mentioned this before, I think, and I'm not throwing this out there as an example of Hey, I was a terrific parent and here's the proof. It's just the way we handled something in our family and that it happened to work well for us. I didn't shield my children from any awareness of the gay, nor did I make a deal of it. If they heard the word and asked me what it meant, I gave them an age appropriate answer. (For example: it means a man who loves another man instead of a woman, or a woman who loves another woman.) I wouldn't give a small child a more detailed explanation any more than I would give them a detailed explanation of heterosexual sexuality. When a six year old asks why family friends Susie and Bob are getting married, you don't say Because they want to have sex with each other. You say it's because they love each other. That's what they need to know at that age.

Anyway, I knew I would have to explain it to them somehow at some point because my OldFriend is gay, and they saw her a lot when they were little. So, when R was seven or eight, she asked me once why OldFriend didn't have a husband, and I said, Oh, she's gay, so she likes women instead of men. And that was all she needed to know, and she was happy with it.

It's only a big deal if people turn it into one. You only have to explain it if they've never heard of it before.

So, Dumbledore. To tell the truth, I always thought JKR was using Lupin's outcast/werewolf status as a metaphor for the gay, which maybe she was to some extent, but the whole fanfic world who fervently hoped that Lupin and Sirius Black were an item was crushed when Lupin and Tonks got together. (Oh, spoiler alert. Sorry. Hey, that book came out years ago.) But I like that there is some character in there who is randomly gay, like people in the real world.

And ... on to other things.

We had that in-service today, and my sessions went very well, but I was exhausted by the time I was done, giving the same lesson six times at top speed since we only had a half hour for each one. And yes, my feet are killing me because the supports I tried today were extremely suckful and I had to take them off mid-day. (I have something else to try for tomorrow.) But here's the cute thing I have to show you:



One of the other teachers who was presenting, a former graphic artist, made up the evaluation sheet for the end of the day, and put a little caricature of each of us presenters at the bottom, and this, of course, is moi. Don't be surprised if it replaces my Disney 1960 photo after my trip; I think this is the cutest little cartoon of me ever. (And yes, I've seen other cartoon/characters/whatevers of me, so I have what to compare it to.)

And now I think I'll give my oldest nephew a call to make sure he isn't anywhere near the fires in San Diego. The Hubs has a cousin who lives there, too, but his job is such that he's probably helping with the evacuations, so we're sure he's okay. And my nephew -- let's go with JJ for him -- lives practically right on the beach, and I haven't heard of any fires there. But it would be nice to hear his voice anyway.

WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1611

Oh, What a ...

It was indeed a beautiful morning. I got up just about seven-ish, rolled myself out of bed and took a peek out the window, and got myself together for my practice run to the airport.

This is not as goofy as it sounds. When R went to college up in that area, I enjoyed nothing more than having to drive up there for some reason, just by myself in the car with some good music or an audiobook playing. It's an easy drive, and a lovely one, depending on the time of the year. (Winter is not so much fun.) Because most of the ride is through some sort of mountains, I was expecting it to be especially lovely today.

It was, but not in the way I expected. I anticipated glorious fall colors, but because it's been so oddly warm this fall, I only saw splashes of color here and there. Most of the mountainsides are still a pretty dense green, and almost nothing has fallen yet. What made the ride amazing was the mist, or fog. In some places, it was so thick that I could only see a few cars in front of me. In some places, all I saw was a wall of fog, and then I would round a bend and a magnificent mountainside appeared before me, clear as day. So I really did enjoy the ride.

And the airport? Duh. I had gotten Google directions, not at all considering that something as big as an airport -- even a cute little one like this -- would have all kinds of signs pointing to it. Which it did, of course, so it was stupid easy to find. I'd make it a 50 minute drive from the Other Chai's house, which is where we'll be leaving from, and I'll have to leave time to park, because even though this is kind of like a Wee Tykes Toy Airport, the parking lots and signs are the requisite confusing. I can't even say, Well, I'll see the fall colors when we go in two and a half weeks, because it will still be dark in the morning when we take the trip, but it'll be nice when we come home the following Sunday afternoon, assuming we're not too exhausted to look at the scenery.

Speaking of which, I have achieved totally packed status, excepting only those things that have to be packed that last day (phone charger, make-up, like that.) So that gives your average OCD wacko a nice feeling of satisfaction.

Both of my feet are still strapped, and it still felt wonderful walking around all day with no real pain. But now it's driving me crazy again, itching and sticking. Mostly only on my right foot, but it's all coming off tomorrow night anyway. I did manage to find ankle braces at the store, and I'm hoping that they'll be a decent substitute.

And now I would like to sleep. I can see that it's only 8.30, but I can't say I'm adapting all that well to the shortening of the day/lengthening of the dark. Each year, it's more and more disorienting, which is funny because you'd think I'd be really really used to it by now. We're changing the clocks in two weeks, I guess, instead of this week, or whenever we used to do it. I only know that it was done before Halloween and now it's being done in November. And I'll still need the Hubs to tell me what time to change the clocks to, because a couple of years ago I re-set them all the wrong way. Yes, yes, I know: spring ahead and fall back. But I have a little trouble with just what we mean by "back." Okay, yes. I have a few, as we say, profound learning differences. (This is education speak for she's never been tested so we can't call them actual learning disabilities.)

And that's the day today.

WATCHING AMERICAN IDOL REWIND :: ENTRY #1610

Like Lim-o-zeens For the Feet

That must have been an old commercial for some kind of shoes, but it's what my sister always says when she puts on a pair of comfortable shoes: "Just like lim-o-zeens for the feet." I went to the podiatrist again today, and this time he strapped up both of my feet, and I'm still wearing crocs, so it's like I'm walking on pillows with no pain at all. This is a good thing, my friends. And I saw his diagnosis on my file: heel spurs, plantar fasciitis, pain on ambulation. Sounds great, hmmm? Wouldn't you like some of that for yourself?

Anyway, I had asked him what he thought of crocs the first time I was there and he said "Not much." But today, I told him it was the only shoe I could wear and he looked at mine, and said "Hey, these have straps around the ankle!" and I explained that they all do, but most people wear them with the straps up. He said he'd only seen them worn that way, and his only objection to them was that they had no support in the back, so now we have it from an eminent podiatrist, everybody: crocs are just fine for for your feet, as long as you wear them with the ankle strap down in the back.

The strapping, while it feels great, is really such a pain. I'm going to look in CVS later and see if a foot brace will do just as well, you know, one you can take off when you shower instead of having to wrap both your feet in plastic bags. Since I have my extra bucks coupon in my hot little hand, they won't even cost anything.

I did neglect to mention that Wednesday was also a big day for me: my five year diary anniversary. Part of me would like to tell you all -- again -- how much this means to me and how it has become such an important part of my life, but then I remember: you know. You are an important part of my life. Thanks.

...and ...

later.

Did a few things after school, but never did get to CVS. The strapping is now driving me crazy, but yet still my feet don't hurt, so the feelings are definitely mixed here. I'm predicting a short life for this stuff. He even put the stuff over my tattoo! Gotta get to the CVS tomorrow.

My plan for tomorrow, if it doesn't rain, is to see if I can follow the Google directions to the airport I'm flying out of in a couple of weeks. I'll put something nice on the iPod and the colors should be beautiful just an hour or so north of here. But I'll see how things are in the morning. If I sleep at all late, I won't go, I'll go another time.

And now my foot itches. It's not a good sign.

WATCHING LAW & ORDER :: ENTRY #1609

Still Here

Well, it's been a relatively good day for starting out with a nauseous headache at 5.40 am.

After I woke up and did the bathroom thing, I found myself standing in the kitchen for several minutes trying to remember what I was supposed to be doing. That was my clue that I was not going to make it to school today. I called in sick and went back to bed, not even thinking first to take something for the headache that was eating my face, which I did when I woke up an hour later. And then I went back to sleep for another hour. Such was my morning. I did get up and have a cup of coffee in there somewhere, and put on clothes at some point.

By this time I was feeling human, if not well, and I went to the ATM and came home. Around 11, I decided to venture to the supermarket, which I managed despite playing the I'm hot! I'm cold! game the whole time. It was a beautiful day today, if it happened to be early June. Which it is not. So you never know what to wear these days.

But I did have some good fun today. First, I got most of my Disney packing done. I have a short list of what's left, but I've got most of it, as well as the stuff I need to mail down there a week before. And I love doing that, so that was good.

And there's a Project Runway marathon today, which I have on as background, since I'm not so much watching. It was a nice backdrop for a nap in the early afternoon.

I had a pedicure scheduled for this afternoon with my sister, which I went to even though I never put make-up on today and my hair is a wreck, but nobody cares there (except me, apparently.) The nice surprise was that Wonderful Niece was there as well, so we sat in the pedicure chairs side by side, all three of us, and that was delightful.

But here's the big news of the day, once in a lifetime news. A letter came in the mail from the bank, which always makes me nervous, but inside it was the statement that our mortgage is paid off! Wow! Now, it's not like I don't still owe tons of money other places, but a paid-off mortgage is a landmark, I think. All I have to do now is remember to pay the property taxes, which we always paid through the mortgage before. Yes, must make a big note.

And that was my sick day at home today. I have to go in tomorrow if I am bleeding from the eyes, and Monday more so, because it's a dreaded in-service day and I am one of the presenters. Ick.

WATCHING PROJECT RUNWAY :: ENTRY #1608

Here I Am Again

I'm back, writing at school. My days are very busy lately, for the most part, which is good, but sometimes I just need to dump a thought out of my head when I get it, so I have to start with the typing. Also, I tend to take a sort of semi-break during first lunch (when the SCM is off lunching), which is to say I am at my desk and available to kids and monitoring what they're doing, but I take a bit of time to read the news, answer email, and so forth. Every teacher is entitled to one full-period break a day (the "planning" period), but I have rarely taken that (although I did last year.) So that's what I'm doing.

Busy day. The computer network went down -- again, two days in a row -- and our first class came in before it was fixed, so we did things the old fashioned way. I was actually going to send them to the books first anyway, since we have a lot of book material on their topic (inventions and the Industrial Revolution), but this way, they couldn't even be tempted to go online. The only thing was that I had to be the living library catalog, since they couldn't look books up; they had to ask me for a topic and I took them to the shelves. They're coming back tomorrow for the electronic stuff, but really, I think they've already got all they need.

The computers came back, but I could not persuade the new health teacher to abandon his planned webquest with his class and go for the books. We have a tremendous amount of book stuff on drugs because so much of that information online is blocked by the filtering software. And then we got in a nice, big book shipment today (so this is Christmas for me), and even more nice new drug books. I'll have to get a list out to the health teachers in the next couple of days.

The saga of the Nintendo thingy appears to be over. The secretary at the elementary school called me this morning and said that the owner has been identified. I hope they really checked this out, because I would feel bad if the true owner isn't the one who's getting it. Anyway, I'll drop it off after school, which is before that school lets out, so s/he should get it back today.

In the meantime, I'm contemplating going to a yoga class tonight. I'm at the point where I need to renew my gym membership, change it to a different level, or cancel it. I haven't gone in months; I never went once all summer. But I checked their class schedule online, and it turns out they're finally offering the yoga class I always wanted at night. So maybe I'll go. And I made an appointment for a massage tomorrow, because everything I've got hurts. And then I guess I'll see. My membership should be up right around now, but it was extended because I put it on hold last year when I broke my leg, which I think is just about a year ago this weekend. (At the gym. Now I'm going back?) My membership officially expires December 1.

So now it's lunchtime, and Media Girl has scrounged up this adorable small bullhorn for me, which is parked under my desk and which I plan to use judiciously to control the insane mob of noisy freshmen who come in here every day. Except ... there's no one here. Huh? There's one quiet girl at a computer. Is it too early? I don't know, it always seems to me that there's a throng here ten minutes into the lunch period. Either way, this bullhorn is now mine, all mine; I'm going to lock it up in my desk and not even let it go back into the media store room. I may take a picture of it to share with you all. I may name it.

I have one more class this afternoon, which is the second day of a class I had in here yesterday of extremely low-functioning freshmen, six of them, with a teacher and an aide. Today we're looking for articles in magazines. They are sweet, but I'm willing to bet that at least one of them does not know what a magazine is.

And now the thundering horde begins to appear. Better get ready.

WATCHING SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS :: ENTRY #1607

Nothing to Speak Of

Nothing going on here, life is quiet, but I didn't write yesterday so here I am. I simply could not fall asleep last night, and then I remembered -- ! -- that I've been collecting these various sleep-enhancing tunes and things, so I got up, made a mix of them that would last about two hours, put on one earphone (since I don't sleep in the hearing aids) and laid myself down. I heard the first selection, about a half hour long, and fell asleep at last during the second one, I think. They were all over when I woke up again, pulled off the equipment, and stumbled into my real bed.

So I'm a little tired today. Looking forward to tonight's TV, however.

What else can I tell you about today? The SCM was still out; that's three days in a row with the weekend in between. I know he took them as personal days, so he's not sick, but I have no idea where he is, really. We have a strange relationship sometimes. If I give him an inch, he grabs the whole mile with both hands, which is why I never say to him "How are you?" or "How was your weekend?" But a five day vacation in October in an odd thing for a teacher to take, even if you have the days coming to you. (We get three "personal" days a year to use as we see fit, and yes, I'm using one of mine for a day-early Disney flight.) But I had a nice substitute for him today, so that was good.

I called the local elementary school, and they're going to put the word out about the lost/found Nintendo thingy. We'll see what tomorrow brings on that front.

And that's my life, folks. Perhaps something of greater interest on the morrow.

WATCHING SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS :: ENTRY #1606

Digging Poetry

It was a perfectly beautiful fall day today, at last. I did turn on the heat this morning after I got up, just to take the chill out of the house, but it became too warm almost immediately and I turned it off.

I ran hither, thither and yon this morning on my various Saturday morning missions, including the purchase of a new pair of crocs -- bright red! -- for the Disney trip. I was in the car a lot. And I was listening to a mix of very classic Simon and Garfunkel songs.

Oh, they were wonderful, weren't they? The newest of the songs in the mix was Bridge Over Troubled Water, so I'm going back quite solidly into the sixties here. Although many of the songs evoke memories of where I was when I heard them and such, I was particularly enjoying the poetry of the songs this morning. And I decided to share three of them with you.

The first one that grabbed me today was A Poem on the Underground Wall. Not only is the song about a "poem", it is quite a remarkable poem itself, and is so well married to the music that, listening to it, you feel yourself on a subway platform, the throbbing approach of the train in your ears.

The last train is nearly due,
The underground is closing soon,
And in the dark deserted station,
Restless in anticipation,
A man waits in the shadows.

His restless eyes leap and scratch,
At all that they can touch or catch,
And hidden deep within his pocket,
Safe within its silent socket,
He holds a colored crayon.

Now from the tunnel's stony womb,
The carriage rides to meet the groom,
And opens wide and welcome doors,
But he hesitates, then withdraws
Deeper in the shadows.

And the train is gone suddenly
On wheels clicking silently
Like a gently tapping litany,
And he holds his crayon rosary
Tighter in his hand.

Now from his pocket quick he flashes,
The crayon on the wall he slashes,
Deep upon the advertising,
A single worded poem comprised
Of four letters.

And his heart is laughing, screaming, pounding
The poem across the tracks rebounding
Shadowed by the exit light
His legs take their ascending flight
To seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night.

The next song that captivated me today is one of my all-time favorites, America. I have seen Paul Simon (but sadly, not with Art Garfunkel) sing this song twice in person. It never fails to move the crowd; a cheer goes up at each place name mentioned. I once read a review that said never has a moon risen so peacefully.

Let us be lovers; we'll marry our fortunes together.
I've got some real estate here in my bag.
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner's pies
And we walked off to look for America.
Cathy, I said, as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh:
Michigan seems like a dream to me now.
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw;
I've gone to look for America.
Laughing on the bus, playing games with the faces.
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy.
I said be careful, his bowtie is really a camera.
Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in the raincoat.
We smoked the last one an hour ago.
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine.
And the moon rose over an open field.
Cathy, I'm lost, I said, though I knew she was sleeping,
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why.
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike,
They've all come to look for America,
All come to look for America

(I added the punctuation to that one.)

And finally, Old Friends, one of the most evocative poems I think Paul Simon ever wrote, and remarkable considering his youth when he wrote it. This should be to Paul Simon what When I'm 64 is to Paul McCartney. I wonder how he feels if he hears this song now? Does it make him want to go hang out with Artie for a while? I loved this song when I was a kid; I was on the committee that had it placed on the last page in our high school yearbook. And it means much more to me now.

Old friends, old friends,
Sat on their parkbench like bookends.
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
of the high shoes of the old friends

Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset.
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settle like dust on the shoulders of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today,
Sharing a parkbench quietly?
How terribly strange to be seventy.

Old friends, memory brushes the same years,
Silently sharing the same fears.

(I added/corrected some of the punctuation on that one.)

Still with me? Find the music somewhere, if you can, and listen. The early stuff. Wonderful, still.

WATCHING THE HISTORY CHANNEL :: ENTRY #1605

Friday, Finally

I was reclining on the couch last night and I let out a deep sigh and K asked why. I said "I don't want to go to work tomorrow," and she answered "Gee, it's not like you work in a dead baby factory." True, that. Everything in life is outlook. Let's see if I get to have a lunch period today.

So here's an interesting thing that happened yesterday. I first got home around 2.40, since I could get out yesterday at the early time, which is before the elementary school down the street from my house gets out. I parked at the curb, went in and got K, we picked up her car at the mechanic's, and she drove off to class and I on an errand or two. When I got home at 3.30, it was already raining. But I saw something lying on the strip of grass between our sidewalk and the street, next to where my car was parked, and I picked it up. It's a Nintendo DS Lite game system thingy, with a game in it. It must have fallen out of some kid's bag while he was getting into the car; people will often park in front of my house when they're picking they're kids up at the school.

So now what? Post a sign at the school that says "NINTENDO FOUND! Call ..." and have every kid in the school call? That's assuming the school would even post such an announcement.

I called a Nintendo 800 number to see if the thing was registered, and then they would call the owners and have them call me. Got a nice guy on the phone, but this one was never registered.

I ended up typing up a sign: FOUND Nintendo DS-Lite Have an adult call ..... between 4 pm and 7 pm. Asking for an adult to call should cut down on the crazies, and when someone calls, I'll ask them to tell me what color it is and what game is in it. I keep picturing some poor kid crying his eyes out because he lost his birthday or Christmas present and being afraid to tell his parents. I put the sign in a ziploc bag -- it's still raining -- and nailed it to the tree in front of my house. Hopefully, they will see it when they drop the kid off today, or at least when they pick him up this afternoon. I guess if I get no response over the weekend, I'll call the school Monday. Or maybe I should call the police? Would a parent bother to report something lost like that to the police?

Hey, it's 7.37 and my sub just arrived for the day. Things are looking up!

...picture the hands of a clock spinning, spinning ...

and ... it's about a quarter to eight, or roughly twelve hours since I typed up that first bit up there. The sub in the library worked out nicely, and this afternoon, I had my most enjoyable freshman orientation group of the year, the small class of non-English speaking kids. Well, okay, some of them speak English some; this is the intermediate class. But they were very sweet, and found me most amusing, which I love, of course, and they were lots of fun.

It stopped raining pretty early this morning, and then the sun actually came out, but it turned very, very windy. My sister tells me it may go down into the 30s tonight. May I remind you that it was in the high 80s on Monday. I am not turning on the heat in the house tonight; I refuse. Air conditioning and heat on in the same week do not compute.

No callers on the Nintendo. I did call the police, who have no missing game reports. They suggested I call the school on Monday, which I guess I will. I'll take down the sign tomorrow, too, since whoever it was that lost it isn't likely to be coming by here on a weekend.

Looks like a quiet weekend. We'll see what develops.

WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1604

Meming on a Crappy Day

This came from Yvonne, among other places.


1. Spell your name as it sounds
No, thank you.

2. Are you available?
For what?

3. What ís your favorite number?
42

4. Favorite color?
purple

5. Least favorite color?
pink

6. When is the last time you cried?
When I listened to the end of the last Harry Potter audiobook.

7. What should you be doing right now?
Working.

THE CANS:

1. Can you blow a bubble?
Not anymore, not since the brain surgery.

2. Can you touch your toes?
With a stick.

3. Can you whistle?
Not since my two front teeth grew together (age 12.)

4. Can you wiggle your ears?
No, I thought only men could do that. My father was great at it.

5. Can you roll your tongue?
Yes, but since the brain surgery, only half of it rolls; the other half just lays there.

6. Can you tie a cherry stem with your tongue?
It has never occurred to me to try such a foolish thing. I bet it would hurt.

THE DIDS:

1. Did you ever want to be a doctor?
No, ick.

2. Did you ever receive an engagement ring?
Yes, August 25, 1976.

3. Did you ever want to be a fire fighter?
No, not at all. I seriously considered cowgirl at one time, however.

THE DO'S:

1. Do you believe in God?
Not in the conventional sense.

2. Do you know how to swim?
Not so much.

3. Do you like roller coasters?
I like they way the look. Oh, scratch that, I don't even like looking at them.

4. Do you own a bike?
I did for a long time, but I gave it away a couple years back.

THE DOES:

1. Does your car get good gas mileage?
I don't think it gets what it should get, but it gets about 19-20 mpg.

2. Does your family have family picnics?
No, not anymore.

3. Does your home have a bookcase?
My home is lousy with bookcases.

THE HAVES:

1. Have you ever been to Canada?
I went to Expo '67, which was in Montreal, I think.

2. Have you ever gone fishing?
Yes, the Hubs was a big fisherman in his pre-vegan does, and I fished with him once in a while.

3. Have you ever seen a celebrity?
Certainly. I saw Alan Alda buying ties in Bloomingdales once, and have seen a variety of politicians on my various visits to Congress.

4. Have you ever been on a motorcycle?
Only out in front of the supermarket where you put in your quarter for a ride.

THE HOWS:

1. How much money do you have on you right now?
I think about $25 at the moment.

2. How many cars have you owned?
Wow. The first car we owned (as opposed to driving our folks' cars) was a 1977 adorable tiny green Honda Civic. Then I had an 81 Chevy Cavalier little red wagon, a Chevy Astro van (gray) for three years and then a teal Chevy Astro van with all the bells and whistles and which I never liked. I got my first Tracker, the late lamented Buddy, on Labor Day 1997, and my new(ish) black Tracker, a 2003, last month.

3. How many jobs have you had?
I had a few fill-in type jobs as a kid: in a fabric store, in an office for three summers, in the office of a friend's store for one summer, and I worked as a camp counselor for four years in the late 80s. Other than that, I've had the same real job since 1977, high school librarian.

THE LASTS:

1. Last person you hung out with?
Do my kids count? On Tuesday night, K and I brought dinner over to R's and ate there and hung out.

2. Last thing you said out loud?
"Guys! GUYS!" to a table of freshmen to whom I'd already spoken several times about their excessive noise level.

3. Last time you ate at McDonald's?
Last week some time. I get a salad or a chicken wrap. I can't eat broiled hamburgers any more.

4. Last grade completed?
I have a Masters in Library Science (M.L.S.) from 1977 and a Master's in Education in Curriculum (M.Ed.) dated 2001.

5. Last thing you bought?
I bought a new watch battery yesterday. Then I bought some other stuff online when I got home (vitamins, a book for the library, a relaxation CD.)

THE WHATS:

1. What is the temperature outside?
The weather bug thing on my browser says 64.

2. What time did you wake up?
My alarm goes off at 5.40 am, but I was awake and drifting for an hour or so before that.

Number Two Survey:

1. What ís the last mistake you made?
Who, me? I make plenty of them, but I work hard at letting them go. I'm sure I've made at least one today, but I don't know what it was.

2. Is the sun shining?
No, it's overcast today.

3. Can you successfully blow up and tie a balloon?
I can't blow up a balloon or anything inflatable anymore, and I doubt I still have the dexterity in my fingers to tie a balloon. If I can actually do it, it'll hurt.

4. Do you like text messaging?
Oh, I am terrible at this. And I don't get cell phone reception in my house, so there's kind of no point in practicing.

5. What do you eat the most at your best friends house?
I rarely eat at anyone else's house (except the aforementioned food I brought to R's.) Sometimes I will have coffee or tea at my sister's.

6. Boyfriend/Girlfriend?
Married

7. Are you wearing any make-up right now?
Yes.

8. What are your plans for later?
K's car is in the shop, so I have to go right home from school so she can take mine to class tonight.

9. What is your favorite DDG song?
Huh?

10. Is there any drama within your life?
There is always drama of some kind, but I am definitely NOT someone who thrives on drama or needs it in my life, so I do my best to eliminate when I can.

11. What is a song they need to stop playing on the radio?
I'm in a kind of radio limbo, so I don't have a radio issue at the moment.

12. Are you happy with life right now?
More happy than not.

13. Does anyone like you?
So they tell me.

14. What is your current obsession?
DISNEYWORLD!

15. Do you have a dog?
Sadly, no.

16. Ever been kissed under mistletoe?
I have no recollection of such an event.

17. Would you ever smile at a stranger?
Doesn't everybody smile at strangers all the time?

18. Ever pulled your pants down in the street?
Oh, there's that nightmare again ....

19. Do your toenails have nail polish on them?
Indeed they do.

20. When ís the last time you wore eyeliner?
Not today. Last week sometime, or maybe Monday this week.

21. Last curse word you said was?
Ah, pick one. I am free with my mouth outside of school.

22. Are your lips chapped?
Often.

23. Are you currently jealous?
I don't think so, unless it's of people who are already in DisneyWorld. Or lottery winners.

24. Do you own an ipod?
I do.

25. Did you have a dream last night?
I always dream, but I don't remember them much any more.

26. Are you mad at anyone?
Not today. (Edited response after lunch: Yes, I am. I am mad at whichever person is responsible for no one coming up to cover the library so I could go to lunch.)

27. Who is the loudest person you know?
Every member of this year's freshman class.

28. What ís going on this weekend?
No plans yet, other than the normal cleaners-supermarket-Target thing.

29. Done any spring cleaning lately?
Cleaning is not one of my hobbies.

30. Anything bothering you?
I always have a variety of physical complaints bothering me, and little things that irk me all the time, but other than wanting to have a million more dollars than I have, nothing is actually bothering me at the moment.

31. Do you do cheerleading?
Hardly. I can barely walk across a gym floor.

32. Did you wish for anything last night on 11:11?
I was asleep.

33. Do you drink coffee on a regular basis?
I heart coffee, but I only drink decaf because caf interferes with my blood pressure med. I have two cups every day, with an occasional third.

34. Do you wish you were someone else?
No, but I'd change a few things about me if I could.

35. What jewelry are you wearing?
Diamond stud earrings, not terribly big. The lovely diamond necklace the Hubs gave me for our anniversary, my wedding ring which was my mother's, and a Mickey Mouse watch.

36. Funniest thing that happened last night?
I was amused by Pushing Daisies. Also, I saw an obituary for someone we used to know and I called my sister to tell her that so and so had died and she paused and then said "The son?" because he was only a few years older than she is, and I got to say that no, it was so-and-so senior, who we thought was dead for years, and who was 93. I was amused that he played the saxophone in a band that performed at the opening ceremonies for the George Washington Bridge.

38. Are you easily amused?
Yes, I think I am. Anyway, I love to be amused and to amuse other people.

39. Can you lick your elbow?
Oh, come on, what do you take me for?

40. Do you know this song, we stay fly no lie you know this?
Not even at all.

41. What piercings do you have?
Both ears, and one ear twice, although I don't use the second hole anymore. My original ear holes were badly placed, and I could never get a second hole to look right on either ear.

42. Do you have a crush right now?
Other than my semi-permanent crush on Patrick Stewart? No.

43. What are your plans over the summer?
During the summer I practice for retirement.

44. How's life going for you?
All in all, okay.

45. What is on your mind just this second?
Nothing. My mind is a blank.

46. Favorite vacation spot?
DISNEYWORLD!

47. Do you have on chap stick?
No, but I probably should.

48. What hurts right now?
My hands and my feet.

49. Do you like school?
Oy. I'm not crazy about it today. I like education and learning and stuff, but I did not always enjoy being in school.

50. Is this survey good?
I like several of the questions.

51. Sneak out lately?
From what?

52. Last thing you had to drink?
Coffee.

53. Do you want a tattoo?
I have two and I want a third. I've been working on it for some time, and I may finally have it. I have to live with the idea for a few months and see if I change my mind.

54. Want any more piercings?
Nah.

55. Single or taken?
Most certainly taken.

56. How long have you been single/taken?
All my life. Oh, okay, the Hubs and I started dating on August 25, 1975.

WATCHING THE GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #1603

I AM SO BORED

It's about 2.00. Our fabulous new library software is completely down today, so I can't catalog a book, prepare a lesson, anything. I only had two orientation groups scheduled for today and one of them was a no-show, so other than re-scheduling that for next week, I don't have a lot to do here at school today.

I AM SO BORED.

And cranky. My neck hurts. I'm tired. And more, but what's the point?

Although my feet have been feeling a little better for the last few days. Why? Because I went back to wearing crocs. And that's that. And I'm going to wear crocs in DisneyWorld because otherwise they're going to have to push me in a wheelchair, and we've got to reserve that for the Other Chai if she needs it, because she has very bad knees. And there's no way the Chum could push both of us, y'know?

What else can I tell you? R is at work today and feels somewhat better. K has class tonight, but only one, so she'll be gone for awhile but not home too late. And her late class is cancelled for tomorrow, which is good, because I hate the thought of her walking out into a dark parking lot alone after class at 10 at night. All of her classes meet once a week, and are long. When the Sibs and I took our graduate classes there -- maybe ten years ago; our degrees are dated 2000 -- they met twice a week, but were shorter. So if we took two classes in a semester, we went four nights a week (excuse me while I have my head examined in hindsight) but each night was 7 to 9. Is that right? I don't know; one semester we took four classes. We took our normal two at the college we were enrolled in, so that was four nights a week, and we took two electives that were offered as weekend classes, so each of those took up two weekends. Can you tell we were in a hurry to get out of there? And we were both working full time and dealing with kids and our mother dying. And towards the end there, the Sibs re-encountered the love of her life and all that changed, so when we did our last semester, she was already married to him and they had to wrench apart from each other every evening when I picked her up.

Ah, good times.

And I've still got the knife-in-the-eye sinus headache from yesterday. For anyone who's keeping track.

My big fun today was re-arranging my desk a little, so now my computer is at an angle where the two parts of my desk meet and form a big L. Ah yes, all of this was designed so well. Whoever designed the lovely library and the furniture put my desk in such a way that to use the computer, I'd have to be turned away from the door, so I couldn't both work and keep an eye on who comes in. Good planning, as in everyplace else in the building. Have I mentioned that our computer lab has been pouring heat out of the vents for the last week? It's about a hundred degrees in there. The furnaces in the building haven't even been turned on yet, so where's that coming from?

Four weeks from this very minute, I WILL BE AT EPCOT! I always go to EPCOT first. Here's why:

The classic Disney trip was the one I went on with just my sister a few months after my brain surgery. Now, she had been through all kinds of horrible medical experiences before as well, and had even had a kind of near-death experience at one point. So anyway, I survived the brain surgery intact, more or less, and Jack was paying for the trip, and we were happier than two people could be to be going. And we got there, and checked into our hotel, and went out to the bus stop and really just got on the first bus that came, which was to EPCOT. And we were chattering away, thinking nothing of it, and got off the bus and headed for the entry gates, and all of a sudden, we both turned to look at each other at the same moment and said nothing at all but we both knew we were thinking the same thing: We're alive. We made it. We are okay.

This was a major moment in my life, and in hers, too, and we've discussed it many times and the impact it had on us. And damn if I don't feel that all rushing back into me each time I arrive in DW and make my first stop EPCOT; when I get off the bus and walk towards the gates, it hits me every time. It's an amazing thing, that confirmation that I'm alive and I'm okay. It's one of the things about going there that breathes life into me.

WATCHING LAW & ORDER :: ENTRY #1602

The Saga of Papa John's

I was so hungry after I posted last night that I could hardly wait for K to get home, which she did around 5, and I immediately suggested Papa John's pizza. We usually get some good, thin neighborhood pizza, but I was so hungry that I wanted the thick bready kind. The place is on the other side of town. I called, and they said I could pick it up in 20 minutes or they would deliver it in 30. I went for the delivery. There was my mistake.

The Hubs came home at 5.45 and said "Why are the two of you staring at the door?"

I called at 6.00 and the guy said "Oh, you haven't gotten that yet? It's out for delivery. Tell the guy you only have to pay half."

I called t 6.15 and he said the same thing.

And at 6.30.

I called at 6.45 and said I would be there in five minutes and I expected to have my food ready. When I got there, the guy was incredibly apologetic and was finishing up the food, so I knew it was hot and fresh. He took no money from me at all, thanked me for coming to pick it up, and said that if the delivery guy ever got there, I could keep that stuff, too. As I got out of my car in my driveway with the food, I saw the delivery guy looking around for my address, which was harder to see because it was now dark. I yelled "Don't bother; I've already got it!" and he looked pissed off and drove away. The Hubs said he hopes this guy doesn't depend on tips to pay for his chemo.

And so it's a new day. We're waiting for our first class of the day, which is late, because there's a substitute and the regular teacher didn't bother to leave in her plans that her classes are coming to the library today. That's what they told the SCM on the phone, but now they're here, and the teacher is with them and said she never got the memo that today was her orientation day. I don't know, I sent it, and then sent the corrected version, so I don't know what's up with that. The SCM has four classes today and I have two. I only have two each day because he won't be here Thursday or Friday, so it actually works out better for me that way.

Later, after lunch.

I've about had it with these orientation classes already, and I've got two more each day for the rest of the week. Yuck.

The Other Chai was not at lunch again today. I'm beginning to find this a very strange situation, and it's making me feel like all junior high school-ish. But the result is that I am not enjoying my lunch time, and let's face it, if you can't enjoy your lunch period than there's not much left. She keeps getting invited to eat with these two men, one of whom is a very old friend of both of us, and the other is someone fairly new to the staff, but a childhood friend of the first man. And this new guy may or may not be interested in the Other Chai, who is long divorced. Now, if this is what's going on, I don't want to mess it up, because he is an absolutely lovely guy and I would like nothing more for her. But hey, you know, if they're going to eat together someplace else, they couldn't ask me, too? Apparently not, because today the first guy came into the faculty room and asked me if I would give the other two the message about where they're eating today, and if anybody, he would be the one who would have to include me. So, hmmm. And it's the Other Chai who's entertaining at lunch, and if she's not there I'm just bored, and end up surrounded by people I'd rather not be with, and I just come back to the library early. I'm guessing that when we're away -- four weeks from tomorrow! -- I can ask her what's going on, but I don't know if she even knows. I mean, she'd know if they were actually dating, but I don't think it's come to that, and we're talking about two 60 year old people trying to figure out how to still flirt with each other at this point. Or maybe it's not that at all, but I don't know. I'll find out on the plane. ("So, that was a smooth take-off. What the hell's going on with you and Vincent, eh?")

And I have a sinus headache, how lovely. R is actually sick, and home from work, with a fever and everything. She had thought it was the stress of the last few weeks, finally over now that the wedding she was in is over and she came home yesterday, but she sounds awful and says she was up all night and has a fever. I have volunteered to bring her chicken soup later, and no, I'm not making it myself. I live in the land of Kosher delis, though, so I know where to get it. The only question is whether or not K wants deli food for dinner too, but I know she will, so I may just pick it up after I get my nails done later, since it's basically right next door.

My face hurts. Why do I have to stay here for another ... let's see, hour and fifteen minutes? Oh right, it's because that's what they pay me for. I remember now.

Much later. Home, home even after dinner at R's, and let me tell you, that kitten is just the cutest thing ever. Still got the sinus headache. It's late, for me. 'Night.
WATCHING BEAUTY AND THE GEEK :: ENTRY #1601

Having a Crazy Day

So I got in early because I had to set up the laptop I brought from home for today's freshman library orientation because the tech department never brought over the laptop they promised me weeks ago, despite a reminder from me last week along with an offer to come and pick it up myself. Couldn't get the image to show on the projector, sent a desperate message for help, and then figured it out.

Take a breath.

I got in my mailbox a note from the secretary who started the whole whoo-hah on Friday afternoon about The Rolling Stone; it was a copy of the letter she sent the principal. After she explained in the note what happened, and apologized for just throwing the magazine out and not going through channels, she wrote:

"I would like to know if there is some censorship being practiced in this school. Perhaps the librarians are already doing this. I would appreciate your letting me know the policy in this regard."

I had to laugh at the idiocy of this, and the fact that she doesn't know what the word "censorship" even means, and then I armed myself. The SCM and I talked it over in preparation for my meeting with the principal. I gathered up other magazines -- Newsweek, Discover, and of course, National Geographic, which we joked would have to be her next target -- as well as a book of Michaelangelo's paintings. I taught my first orientation class and went to his office when I was done.

We had a bit of a crisis Friday afternoon, I told him. He smirked, said he had read her note, and said "She's not the censor of the school. What's next, National Geographic?" So I knew he was on our side, and in fact, he made several of my own arguments to me before I could make them to him. He was also amused by her use of the word censorship, and even agreed that there was nothing wrong with the RS cover anyway. So that was a huge relief. My old principal, the Psycho, might have ultimately supported me -- although she didn't once when another secretary, her Stooge, did the same thing -- but she would have tortured me first for as long as she could get away with it.

It's about 10.20 now as I type and I think I'm finally not shvitzing for the first time all day. I've been doing so much running around that I feel like I'm living at the center of a permanent hot flash. It's going up to 84 degrees today, and the humidity is high. WTF?

Later.

I'm home, and finally sitting still for about a minute. I had arranged for a mason to come and look at the front steps today at 3.45 -- it's 3.40 as I type -- and I was going to leave the faculty meeting early, but they canceled the faculty meeting because the v.p.'s mother died and they were giving us the time to go to the wake. I thought I'd go tonight, but I was able to rush home, change, and dash over there and back already. It's a very rush-rush kind of day. As soon as my bell rings and the guy gives me what I hope is a reasonable estimate, I'm off to a mall or two on a couple of ... ring!

Okay, change of plans. Not only did this guy give me a lower estimate than the original guy, he described a better process for doing it, is very professional, and is going to do it RIGHT NOW! No appointments, no nothing. I'm totally psyched, even thought this means I can't go now to get my watch battery or jeans (sadly, I am back in the bigger size) or anything else. Hey, maybe later. It's not like I have to make time to get to a wake tonight, having already done that.

Okay, breathe.

WATCHING DR PHIL :: ENTRY #1600

Where Did the Weekend Go?

Well, I got stuff done, I guess.

K stayed over at R's Friday night to look after the cat and get to her Saturday morning class without waking up so early (R is away for the weekend), and took my car, since the A/C in hers is dead and it's been a million degrees here everyday. Okay, high 80s, which is extremely unusual for this part of the world at this time of year. No real end in sight, either, although we expect rain later this week and possibly, just possibly, the high 70s, which is still too damn hot for October. Very few of our trees have started to turn color. It's weird.

So I ran an errand or two in her car yesterday morning -- it was hot -- including a brief Ikea run, only to find out that the DVD storage tower I need a third one of is discontinued. Bummer. I got a different one later in the day at Best Buy, a cheaper one, which I guess is okay. I have a serious shortage of space here in the Mouse House.

My laundry is done, but not put away. After dinner last night, I went back with K to feed the kitty, as we did this morning. She's sleeping over there again tonight, and R will be back mid-day tomorrow. She's an exceptionally adorable kitty, very hyper, and not too sure about anyone except R, although she'll cuddle with K if she's there long enough by herself. Me, not so much.

After kitty-feeding, we made the Sunday trip to Target, of course, and then came home and watched more of The War. I think I've finally seen it all. Anyway, I put all the episodes on DVDs and cleared them out of the DVR. I'm about warred out for now.

I also organized the beginnings of my Disney packing. I bought a carton and am putting some stuff in there, as well as gathering other stuff to pack. I don't need to pack clothes until a day or two before I go, but I like to have all the other stuff in one place, and I'll need to ship the box about a week before. My luggage is not large, which makes it easier to carry, but it means it will pretty much just hold clothes, so I'll ship all the other stuff, and ship a box home, too. Why not ship everything ahead of time? I don't know; it sounds like a brilliant idea to me, but I guess it just isn't done. I've never heard of anyone doing it, anyway.

Oh, and when I was looking for the airplane adapter for my headphones, I found what seems to be a working Mickey Mouse wristwatch, which I didn't know I had. It needs a battery and a link removed from the band, but I can get that done tomorrow, maybe, after the mason leaves.

I've got a mason -- not like from the secret society, but a man who knows how to use mortar and tools -- coming to look at our front porch, which is breaking. It's only about six years old; I had the man who installed it come and look in June, which I may have mentioned. He said it was cracking because the guy who put in the railings did it wrong, but that he could repair it and it would only be a couple hundred bucks. Which was hunky dory with me, except he never came back to do it. I haven't called back, because frankly, he looked like he was at death's door when he was here and I don't want to call and have his wife tell me he's dead. I called a more local guy to come look at it, and hopefully, that will be fine. It needs to be fixed before winter, or the whole porch/rail/post/overhang combination could just crumble and collapse. The guy is coming after school tomorrow to give me an estimate.

Oh, here's big news for me. It was hot today when we went out, so I pulled my hair back in a ponytail. You can't imagine how long it is since I've been able to do that, maybe 15 - 20 years? It's a little scrawny ponytail that I pulled out through the hole in the back of my baseball cap, but still. It kept the hair off my neck, and it was nice having the option.

Okay, folks. Time to make some iced tea and start getting myself together for tomorrow.

WATCHING E! :: ENTRY #1599

At Least Memes Are Fun

Work before fun. After a mostly average day, both the SCM and I had complete blow-out fits near the end of the day. He went to pick up the mail in the office and found a secretary sorting it, and saw her throwing out the library's copy of Rolling Stone because she was offended by the cover. (Which is here, and not really a big deal by Rolling Stone standards.) He freaked the fuck right out, as well he should have, and took it out of the garbage, and ranted at her for a moment, and then came up and told me, and I ran down there and took up the rant. Although she ultimately apologized for just throwing it out, she is determined that such filth does not belong in the library.

How do you make a librarian crazy? Censorship. I won't go into all the details and arguments, because you all know that this kind of shit is just wrong, not to mention all kinds of un-Constitutional, and I've finally got my blood pressure under control and so I'm not going there again today. She and I will each take up our case with the principal, who was out of the building today when this happened.

(BTW, this is the same damn secretary with whom I had the confrontation four or five years ago that was so intense, I went right from her office to the nurse, who took my blood pressure and sent me right to the doctor, and I have been on b.p. meds since that day. Yeah, she's a real winner.)

I am stressed about other things as well, but I thought I'd be happy and do a meme. Not that it's an altogether happy meme, but I like anshttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifwering questions and filling stuff out. I lifted this from BettyAlready.


1. Does someone love you? I believe so.

2. What color is your couch? The couch in the family room is white but has a brown slipcover on it. The couch in the living room is gray.

3. Has anyone ever mistaken you for someone famous? I seriously doubt it.

4. Are you named after a grandparent? I am named after a great-grandparent. My father's grandmother's Yiddish name was Raizel, so my first name starts with R.

5. Say you were given a drug test right now. Would you pass or fail? If they're testing for Tums and estrogen and blood pressure medication, I'd fail.

6. Are you taller than 5'6"? Not even close.

7. When was the last time you were disappointed? See above. It's not that uncommon for me.

8. Ever seen a dead body? I was with my mother when she died, and I saw my father, too, from the doorway not long after he collapsed on the floor, and at the funeral home, up close. I've certainly seen dead bodies at wakes.

9. Who was the last person to send you a text message? One of my kids, I guess. I'm not a big texter.

10. What did you do yesterday? Went to work, like most days.

11. What’s the first thing you would do with five million dollars? Pay off all my bills.

12. What nationalit(ies) are you? I am 100% Ashkenazi: East European Jewish.

13. Any upcoming concerts you want to attend? No.

14. Who’s the last person that you felt was stalking you? Can't really recall anyone.

15. What’s your zodiac sign? Capricorn

16. Where do you spend most of your money? I swear to god, I wish I knew.

17. On what do you spend most of your energy? Just getting through the day.

18. Is there a secret you've never told any of your friends? Yes.

19. What are you doing in 2008? Nothing different than 2007. Hopefully without the hurting feet and butt.

20. What’s your favorite Disney movie? I guess it would be Beauty and Beast. But I'm a big fan of Disney movies in general. Also love Finding Nemo. My favorite classic Disney movie is Cinderella.

23. What is your ringtone? When my cellphone rings, which is seldom, it sounds just like a regular telephone, or really, more like an older telephone, a classic phone ring.

24. What is the wallpaper on your mobile phone? It is an adorable picture of Trillian, the grandcat. She replaced a screen shot of Puss from Shrek II making the big sad kitty eyes.

25. Name twenty five bloggers you read that you’d like to learn twenty five things about: Huh?

WATCHING GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #1598

Details, Details

So I have like my first free 15 minutes of the school year here, and I thought I'd try to write my entry while I was still lucid, as opposed to when I get home and have no brain cells left. I'm typing it as text, which usually looks peculiar when I paste it into blogger, for some reason. Go figure. It's my day for computers to fuck me up anyway.

There's not much more to tell about my big city adventure. I drove to R's and got there by 4 for a 4.30 train, because I am me. Since I always used to take pictures of the station while waiting for K to come in from DC, I took this one for you all of the little platform down the street from R's apartment while I was waiting:



I like trains, so the ride was not unpleasant, about 40 minutes. I think it's usually closer to 30, but we slowed down here and there. It was rush hour, but at that hour everyone is usually rushing the other way.

I told you yesterday what happened when I got into the city. Then I walked one long block alongside the main New York City post office, which let me tell you is one freaking huge building. And then only part of the next block to her office. I checked in at security, where one of her colleagues was waiting for the people coming in for the event, and she said "Oh, hi Mrs. R's mom!" Which was cute. And then I went upstairs, where I began to get similar reactions from all her other colleagues, including none of them needing to see my photo I.D. because they knew who I was by looking at me.

Found R, who took me into the studio where the event was being held. On my way, I passed a very cool control room as well as a display case full of Emmy and Peabody awards. Never been that close to such a thing before.

The event itself was interesting and, if I may say so, beautifully put together and coordinated (by my kid.) I sat at the table with pleasant and chatty people, so I was fine. There were many women there who are themselves survivors of heart disease, which, did you know, is the number 1 killer of women in the U.S.? Everybody thinks it's breast cancer because that gets so much attention, but it's heart disease. One if four American women die of heart disease.

Anyway, we got out about 9.30, which meant we just missed the 9.30 train, but we sat at the station and chilled until the 10.30. I got home to my house about 11.30. So, a real late night out for me!

---

My great I.D. card ordeal is just about over. As I sit here in school at about 11.30 am, I have 5 more to do out of the whole school, and as these 5 are either chronically absent or haven't responded to every other appeal for them to come here, I'm not keeping my hopes up. Maybe I'll get 'em, and maybe I won't. I'd like to go back to doing my real job, please.

Speaking of which, the new library software is still not operating at 100%, and the two tech people I spoke to this morning were really more of the not-my-problem sort of folk. I wasn't too happy with that. I have a few more local options to pursue, and then I have to call in the big guns.

And I am feeling chubby today, too, which is not my favorite feeling. Like my bulges are showing more. Maybe just to me. You never know.

WATCHING DR. PHIL :: ENTRY #1597

Lived to Tell the Tale

Well, I am completely exhausted, but other than the late hour getting home -- 11.30 -- it was a lovely evening. The clip from the show and the speakers were interesting, and even the people at my table, too. The audience was seeded with member of an organization of women who are all heart-disease survivors and who have been trained at the Mayo Clinic to lead discussions, answer questions, etc.

And it was very cool to see my kid at work and to see how much everybody there likes her and appreciates her work. Mmmmmm, big-time kvelling.

I also enjoyed the adventure of the train. I had a kind of a Jed Clampett moment, where I came out of the doors of the train station onto the street and boy, was I in the big city! I looked up at the skyscrapers and everything. I felt very silly, as if I'd never been there before, but of course, I have and many times, just not recently. I even thought to myself as I waited on the corner to cross "Now just how close am Ii to Madison Square Garden?" and then I turned around. Giant DUH. Madison Square Garden sits atop Penn Station, which I have known ... well, not since birth, but since they remodeled it that way when I was a child.

So I am good and tired, and picked up sushi for dinner at the supermarket before, as well as some sushi-like something for lunch tomorrow. (I never get fish sushi, only vegetable, so it'll keep just fine until tomorrow.)

I could write more, but it would be increasingly incoherent, so I'm just going to eat my sushi now -- I think it said Colorado Roll, which could be anything; I never heard of that before) and I'll watch last night's L & O while I'm eating. Tuesday's a good TV night, so I have lots to catch up on.

WATCHING RAYMOND :: ENTRY #1596