An Update

Lena asked me if I had reviewed the Democratic candidates the way I did the Republicans yesterday. I think I did review the Democratic candidates before ... here .. but an update is always in order. I don't know that my feelings have changed much, and some of this may be repetitive -- and some not -- but here goes.

Mike Gravel: I'll start with him because he's always first in line, as it were, on the extreme left, at the Democratic debates. Senator Gravel, thank you thank you for what you did in the seventies regarding the Pentagon Papers and helping bring an end to the military draft. Now it's time for you to retire. At the very least, please stop speaking in public, because sometimes it's embarrassing.

Joe Biden: I like Joe Biden, and I think he would make a wonderful something else, but not president. I don't agree with everything he says, but I think he's basically a straight shooter.

Chris Dodd: Are you kidding? Why is this guy still on the stage? How did he ever get on the stage? Not that there's anything overwhelmingly wrong with him, but you know, stop taking up our time when you have no chance whatsoever of winning, and you bring nothing unusual or new to the table.

Dennis Kucinich: I love Dennis Kucinich because he says things that no other politician says. He is honest and upfront, or at least more so than any other politican I've ever seen. I want to vote for him in the primary. As for him seeing a UFO, so what? He didn't say he saw an alien spaceship, he said he saw something flying that he couldn't identify. Since when does that make someone a wacko?

Bill Richardson: Oh, I like this guy. I think he has the perfect combination of experience that we need in a president. He has been an ambassador. He has worked with the U.N. He has been in Congress. He has been a cabinet secretary. He is a governor, so he has executive experience. He is a curious mix of old New England blueblood and Hispanic. The only thing wrong with Bill Richardson is that he doesn't have a chance in hell of being elected.

John Edwards: I really really wanted to like John Edwards. But I don't. I don't agree with everything he says, but what's more, he should have become more charismatic by now, in other words, he should have done something by now that grabbed us all and made us want to vote for him. He didn't, and he won't. I don't think he would make the best president.

Hillary Clinton: Oy, don't get me started. I am 100% not a Hillary fan, although I would vote for her over, say, Huckabee or Thompson or Romney or, god help us, Giuliani. I think she's a scandal magnet, and that she's completely consumed with trying to manipulate her own public image into what she thinks will win, and I don't like that in anyone, and especially not in someone who apparently has as much to hide as she does. She's probably okay personally, but is so abrasive that she will never ever ever get any cooperation from a Republican Congress, and probably damn little from a Democratic Congress. The idea of voting for her just because she's a woman is lunacy. I hope she doesn't get the nomination, although I fear that she will.

And that leaves

Barack Obama: I was really knocked out by him when he spoke at the Deomocratic convention whenever that was, and K and I turned to each other then and said "I want to vote for him in 2012!" But it's not 2012, it's 2008. The only thing wrong with him, really, is his lack of experience. But you can surround yourself with good advisors to compensate for that. I like him personally; I think he's pretty upfront and has a normal life, although he had an unusual childhood. (I read most of his autobiography two years ago.) I think it's very much to his credit that he uses his given name in public -- Barack -- even though everybody who knows him, I believe, calls him Barry and always has, because it shows he's not trying to hide who he is. Who is he? He's not African-American in the usual sense of that words because he is not descended from slaves, although he is African-American more literally because his father was an exchange student from Africa. So he shares part of the African-American experience but not all of it, and shares the experience of growing up in a non-African-American family as well, as he was raised in Hawaii by a mother and grandparents who were originally from the midwest, and not of African background In other words, I would be content if Obama won the nomination of the Democratic party and I would be willing to vote for him.

My dream team? That at the convention, they ditch the primary votes and nominate Al Gore by acclamation, and pick Obama as his running mate. Now there's a ticket I could really get behind.


WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1637

Not Again

I watched (more or less) the Republican debate last night. What a, you should pardon the expression, clusterfuck. Herewith, my reaction to this debacle:

Does anyone even know what a debate is anymore? Granted, this was a YouTube debate, and that's cool, but this was clearly an opportunity for the better known candidates (aka, those leading in the polls) to show off, while the lesser known candidates got virtually no airtime. I still don't even know the names of the people at either end of the stage, only the ones in the middle. This is the same for the Democratic debates too, so this is really something wrong with the news media and not with the candidates or parties themselves. And apparently, The League of Women Voters agrees with me.

Let's talk candidates. Rudy Giuliani: what in the hell is wrong with him? He thinks he can make up stuff as he goes along, whether it's rules of the game or the so-called "facts" and that everyone will believe him because HE SAYS SO. Let me remind you all that he did the right thing one day as mayor of New York; before that, half the city was walking around wearing anti-Rudy buttons. He was not a good mayor nor was he a well-liked mayor. He is a bully and resorts to strong-arm tactics. His finger should not be on the button or anywhere near the button.

Fred Thompson: I almost felt sorry for him. He is just in way over his head. I don't think he has a chance at this point, which is fine. Let him retire, or give him another series. I don't think he knows his ass from his elbow. Just because Ronald Reagan was an actor, it doesn't mean we should elect another actor and he'll be another Reagan. Let us recall that Reagan was very involved in politics at many levels before he became president, including starting out as the president of his union.

Ron Paul: Uh ... what? I don't think he's electable, and I don't get him. Is he a Republican or a Libertarian or what? Does he actually think that the answer is to get rid of all the parts of government that he doesn't care for? Huh?

Mike Huckabee: He's cute and all, and he's said some things I like, but in general, it is a very bad idea to elect someone as president of the United States who doesn't believe in science, and who would use the position to put forth his personal religious agenda. Worried about Romney being a Mormon (as many people seem to be)? Huckabee is an ordained minister of the conservative Christian right. People who are not in that group themselves see this as a real threat.

Mitt Romney: He's pretty, isn't he? He looks like he could be the president in a movie. I don't find his religion to be particularly a factor, although I know it is for a lot of people, and I understand why. What I don't like about him is that he will change his position on things to suit which voters he thinks he needs to curry favor with at the moment. He was the liberal governor of a liberal state (Massachusetts) and had all policies appropriate to that at that time. Now he tries to explain away his different stances by saying that "people grow" over time. Yes, they grow into hypocritical vote seekers with no actual personal stand on issues.

I think that in general, the illegal immigration issue is the hot-button distraction issue of this election, as gay marriage was last time. The only thing is, you can't really find anyone who takes the position "Illegal immigration? Super! I'm all for it!" No one is actually in favor of it (despite what it says on the Statue of Liberty, lest we forget that), but each candidate accuses the others of being soft on it, or something similar. Once again, they all sounded like morons. The idea of building a wall to keep out the Mexicans is the funniest one, I think. It ain't gonna work, folks! Those things never do. (See Hadrian's Wall and the Great Wall of China, for example.)

I thought the most poignant question came near the end, when the retired Brigadier General asked (via YouTube) if the candidates didn't think that our soldiers were professional enough to serve alongside gay people without trouble, and the candidates jumped right on this, how we shouldn't ask them to serve with gay people, and how it was up to them, and we had to do what the military wanted. The elderly general was in the audience and asked follow-up questions, including closely questioning Romney on an earlier statement that he looked forward to the day when gay men and women served in our armed forces alongside everyone else. Romney back pedaled, and tried hard to get away from it, but the general, his voice weak, persisted. Once it became clear that all the candidates were going to support no gays in the military (it's a distraction, you know), the general revealed that he had come out after retiring after four decades (I think) in the military, and that it had never been an issue or problem for anyone he knew of in service. So then they all looked like idiots, and hurried to thank him for his service, but no one said "Hey, maybe you're right and it doesn't make a difference."

And then I watched Project Runway, where at least the contestants behaved like real human beings, and went to sleep. Damn. I wish I had someone decent to vote for for president.

(And when I got home today, I watched an episode of The Golden Girls, of course, and Rose had a dog that she said "could find anything." "Anything?" asked Sophia, and Rose nodded. Sophia turned to the dog and said "Go! A viable Democrat to run for president!" So that must have been 1988, I'm thinking. Was that the Dukakis election? Looks like Sophia didn't get her wish.)

WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1636

In Review

I got up at the alarm this morning, sat up on the side of the bed, and could not remember what to do next. Then the beginning of my routine clicked in: I turned off the alarm, turned on the TV and the light, pulled the comforter straight to make the bed. Next? Uh .... I opened the door and went to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker. And said to myself "Why am I shuffling along here like Quasimodo?" And again, could not remember what do to next.

So that's my sign. My morning routine is so ingrained in me, that I do each step automatically, without a thought. (That's what makes it a good routine, see?) When I can't keep my routine -- or my back -- straight, that's a sign that tells me I am not fit for work today. So I called in sick, emailed the SCM, and went back to bed, this time with a heating pad on my back and a brace on my ankle.

Another couple of hours of sleep were just what I needed. And I think I also need to start sleeping with the brace on. In fact, since I did feel better once I got up, I went to yet another drugstore and searched their rather good supply of braces and things, and now I have a few more to try. And with any luck, when I see the doctor next Wednesday for a physical, she'll give me something more concrete to do. (Or endorse what I'm doing now, I don't know. You got a hurt tendon, the only thing that really helps is support and time, and exercise, which I'm doing.)

The bounty of my holiday shopping is bearing fruit, which is to say, the stuff I ordered online over the weekend and Monday is starting to arrive. Thank god I don't have to hide gifts like I did when the kids were little, since there's just no place to hide anything here. I have a big carton in the living room and the stuff is in it. Easy peasy.

I must have had a very strange day, because I've only just now finished reading the day's diaries, and haven't even made a dent on any of the news feeds I usually read. What on earth did I do? I slept a little more, okay. I picked up lunch for me and K, who went to campus afterwards. I went to the eye doctor, where all was well, but he tweaked my prescription a bit, so I had to order new glasses. Oh, and I unpacked a shitload of Amazon boxes. I don't know where the day went. But it was a good day.

I like those kind.

WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1635

Meet the New Member of My Family

When I was a kid, and I behaved in that erratic way that kids often do, I acquired the nickname "Schizoid Mary", for some reason, which we charmingly went on to apply to any among us -- Shirl, Jack, the Sibs, or me -- when our behavior warranted it. (Although I might point out that we were kind enough not to use it when Shirl was actually having a bipolar episode, because even the black humor family has its limits.)

So Schizoid Mary has made a comeback, and may be with us for a couple of weeks. When I got home from school this afternoon, K greeted me with an impossibly cheery "HI MOMMEEE!" Uh ... hi. Then we went out to do our errands. At the Gap, I held up a scarf I liked to my jacket and asked her what she thought, and she rolled her eyes and snarled "You can't wear a scarf with a red jacket unless there's red in the scarf!" Uh ... okay. She was also extremely put out by the way I swiped my card through the machine.

Back in the car. It's raining now, so I'm a little tense, because I hate driving in the rain in the dark. So I hesitantly ask what she'd like for dinner. I suggest that I would be willing to go to a sit-down restaurant, and she says "Great!" with a real brightness in her voice. Followed seconds later by a despondent "Let's just go home."

Have I mentioned that my darling daughter has stopped smoking? Today? Was that not clear?

We're looking at a pretty strange month or so coming up here. You know, I have always been surrounded by smokers, and have smoked myself on and off all my adult life (although I've been very good for some time now.) My father and grandfather both stopped smoking when I was still little, a miracle, since my father was the heaviest smoker in the American Army's European Theater of Operations during the war. My mother stopped smoking because, basically, she died, because there was probably no other way she was going to. My sister stopped a few years ago, and this is also a miracle of the parting-of-the-red-seas caliber. Older daughter R is a smoker like I used to be; she can take it or leave it, and these days mostly leaves it, and she is on the verge of quitting for good.

But starting now, K and her father are both quitting. The Hubs has cut down over the last couple of weeks to only three or four a day, and since the man has willpower, he will stop completely when he's ready. The kid is taking the not-smoking pills, as is Wonderful Niece. (Oh yeah, she's quitting too.)

This is all a wonderful turn of events, of course, and I am very happy and proud of them all. But we are a damn moody batch of people here.

Pray for me.

WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1634

Conspiracy Theories (and a little football)

My nephew came by for a couple of hours this afternoon, which means we engaged in the family past-time of debating conspiracy theories, while he and the Hubs kept an eye on the various football games going on the background. All I can tell you is that Mannings were involved. (In the football, not the conspiracies.) But not which Manning, because I know not from football.

Otherwise, I once again felt rotten until early afternoon and then I was basically okay. My feet are feeling much better (although still supported), but my lower leg is wrapped up like a mummy. I walked without any support for about 15 minutes after I first got up this morning, and when I went down the one step into the family room, that tendon screamed "WTF??!!" and I hobbled back into the bedroom and wrapped it up. And made it to Target thereafter. So it looks like I can do the rest of my shopping tomorrow online, although I'm sure I'll be running around for other little things until December 24.

The SCM has already emailed me that he'll be out tomorrow with an upset stomach, as Thanksgiving dinner did not agree with him. Why is it that I can never believe him when he says he's sick? I know he's just extending his stay at his Vermont home another day. I wish it didn't have to be Monday after a long weekend -- which he also did two weeks ago -- since that makes it all that much harder for me tomorrow. For one, it means that I have to pick up and carry upstairs all the newspapers since Thursday, which will be sitting outside the school entrance. I may just leave them there tomorrow; I already have two bags worth of my own stuff to carry in. And if there's no sub for him tomorrow, well, I'm supposed to set up for the faculty meeting after school, so they'll have to cover me with someone, I guess. He is such a pain in the ass.

So there ya, go, not much to see here, move on. Maybe I'll have a life to write about tomorrow.

WATCHING THE SIMPSONS :: ENTRY #1633

Saturday Saga

Is it actually Saturday? Today feels like some weird new day of the week that they haven't named yet that someone shoved in somewhere it didn't belong. Not a Saturday, not a Sunday, not a weekday. Weirday.

I did go to the cleaners this morning, which is a Saturday task, and then K and I went to the supermarket, which is a Sunday. Tomorrow afternoon, the eldest nephew is coming to visit for a while, so we shopped today. Except for a few things we couldn't get, so I'll have to look elsewhere for them in the morning.

One of the things I got today was one of those things you put on your back and it heats up but it's not electric so you can walk around with it. Uh, yeah. I've used them before and they always just stick on, but apparently when you get the one labeled "back", it wraps around your body and holds together in the front with velcro. Very nice, except the crick or whatever in my back is at the bottom of my left shoulder blade. Which, wrapped around the front, would ... not work. So the only recourse left to me ... TMI warning here ... was to let the girls go free and strap the thing over them, i.e., where the girls are supposed to be riding if you're a) 18 or b) never gave birth or c) both of the above. So that's how I spent my day. At home (obviously) and not making any sudden movements.

I still felt lousy all morning but perked up, no pun intended, around two, at which point I was able to put the rest of the holiday things (roasting pan, huge mixing bowl, etc.) back in the basement. So the kitchen looks relatively tidy. I've also managed to get 99% of what I need to buy into my Amazon cart, and I ordered gift cards from there for the niece and nephew I only see on holidays. Monday after school, I'll make a quick trip to the Gap and to the outdoors-y store, and then, I hope, the rest is a click away. Oh, except for one gift card I need at the damn mall. But I'm going to see if I can get that online, too.

So there I am. I need to post and call OldFriend, who called earlier in the week but I was too out of it to talk much, so I owe her. See you tomorrow.

WATCHING WILL & GRACE :: ENTRY #1632

And a Lovely Time Was Had By All

We had a perfectly perfect Thanksgiving, which means the traditional aggravation was there as well, although in minimum amount, so I guess that was okay. We had no pre-holiday angst from my sister this year, although she did tell me when we arrived that she had had a meltdown earlier in the afternoon due to being overwhelmed by it all. She neglected to mention, though -- she told me today -- that when she melted, she went to lie down and her kids took over everything, so it was all fine. Yeah. Coulda mentioned that to me last night. But hey, no harm, no foul.

Anyway, while we are the table, I became aware of what it is that I so love about this holiday. It was when I realized that everyone at the table was laughing. Which is what we do, pretty much, from start to finish. So it was an excellent Thanksgiving. Yes, I missed my parents, and I suppose I always will, because it always kind of centered around them, rather than a my family/your family thing. But that's okay, too. I only hope that someday one of the kids lives in a house with a really big dining room, because I'm pretty sure that they all want to keep doing this together forever, too.

And today I did nothing at all, except make a quick trip to the CVS this morning. I am still feeling pretty crappy, between the stomach and the various feet and back troubles. I have all kinds of doctors' appointments coming up in the next couple of weeks, so I suppose I'll be able to get these things addressed at some point.

And ... it seems like Christmas shopping can't be put off much longer than this. I'm still hoping to do lots of it online, but they're saying something about Monday being the best day for that, so I guess I'll get my shopping cart filled up over the weekend and make the buy on Monday, for whatever reason. That and a short trip to the Gap should do most of it, I hope.

There's nothing on TV today except a Spongebob marathon, which would not be my first choice, but since there's nothing else, K can have it on. I do enjoy watching her watch it, because it makes her laugh, and I love her laugh. It hasn't changed in going on 24 years, and it always makes me laugh too. However, I now have sponge for brains.

WATCHING SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS :: ENTRY #1631

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

So, my pies are out of the oven and the stuffing for the mushrooms is all made and in the fridge. The Hubs will make the regular stuffing tonight, but that's as far as it goes until tomorrow. I can't start anything else until the turkey is in the oven and I have room to put more stuff in the refrigerator.

We are 13 this year: the Hubs and I and our two, and 9 on my sister's side: her husband, four of their six combined children, one child's spouse, one child's fiancee, and said fiancee's divorced father. Eldest Nephew is in from California. It feels like all of our chicks are home to roost.

I read and enjoyed Lena's tale today of her first Thanksgiving as a married person, so I searched my archives over at d-land and found that I had written mine there in 2003. But I'm presenting it to you here, edited a bit. It was a two-day entry then; the first day about our first married Thanksgiving and the second day about all our goofy traditions. So here you go.

Back in the pleistocene age, circa 1977, the Hubs and I were just married, living in an apartment, and I claimed Thanksgiving for my own.

My in-laws would have Christmas. My parents would have Passover, although they rarely, and then never, claimed it. Thanksgiving was the all-American holiday, the one I could reasonably claim to sponsor in my mixed-marriage household, when such terms still applied to such trivial things as Jewish-Catholic. I wanted to have a Norman Rockwell beautiful holiday. In those days, I still cooked, I read all the home magazines, I had all the accoutrements of the newly married: pots, pans, basting bulbs, nice dishes, stemware. I was psyched, man.

There would be eleven of us: the Hubs and myself, my parents, his parents, his sister and fiance, my sister, her first husband and their adorable three year old. My sister was Enormo the Whale, pregnant with unsuspected twins who were born two and half weeks later. She looked like she was about five years pregnant and could barely move.

My mother was just about to head into a bipolar downer and so was unavailable for help with recipes, serving tips, and all that. In fact, we had had Thanksgiving out in a restaurant with close family friends for about ten years by then. I don't really remember a Thanksgiving held in our own house in my childhood.

So I got cooking tips from all the old pros at work, and I got ready. I got cheesecloth to cover the turkey with, which I still do. I was, as they say, loaded for bear.

I discovered that morning, I think, that the oven in our apartment had two settings: off, and, like the oven in Mickey's house in DisneyWorld, VOLCANO HEAT! So once the oven was on, baby, did it get hot in there. By the time our guests arrived, we had every window open and we were wearing shorts and tank tops. And it was your typical New Jersey Thanksgiving weather. If we stepped out onto the front porch, the sweat froze on our skin.

Anyway, so there we were, ten sweltering adults packed into an apartment that, as it turns out, should really have held about six, and one hyperactive and charming child, who carromed around the room from adult to adult like a pinball on speed. The turkey, as you might guess, was a little dry. Otherwise, there was only one other disaster to speak of: the pecan pie that my sister-in-law made never quite gelled. It was her first try at a pecan pie, and she was embarased. I might point out that she is now one kick-ass pie maker, and actually had a business making and selling pecan pies a few years ago. Funny.

So that was it. Except that a couple of weeks later, my sister had her unexpected twins and then went into a coma and then woke up a week later with amnesia. Just like in a soap opera. I've told this tale elsewhere.

It was a few years before all her memory came back, although most of it did, gradually. It came back from the beginning: first she remembered her childhood, and so on.

Here's how we knew when it all came back. From time to time, my father would ask her if she remembered the Thanksgiving before the twins were born, since it was the last notable thing that had happened, only weeks before. She didn't. He would ask every few months, I guess, and then he forgot to keep asking. But once, it might even have been five years later, I was watching something on TV with the Sibs and there was something on about pecan pie.

Not thinking at all, except about pecan pie and how good it is, I asked somewhat absently "Didja ever have pecan pie?"

And she answered, just as absently, "Oh, only once, but it never gelled, remember? And it was so hot that day."

We looked at each other and looked and that's when we knew that it had all come back.

And that, and the fact that Thanksgiving is the Immigrants' Holiday, and I am the offspring of immigrants, as are we all as Americans, is the reason that I love Thanksgiving so much.

What do we do for Thanksgiving now?

After the first one, we have the same Thanksgiving every year. Starting with that second year, my in-laws went off to my newly married sister-in-law, and have remained there. So it was something we hosted for my side of the family. Gradually, my mother and sister began to make and bring some of the food. Then my mother slacked off. Then when my mother first became ill, and was diagnosed in September, the doctor said she might not be with us for Thanksgiving, which was a really big deal to us. When she was, we shifted, and had it in her apartment, since it was easier for her. And then she stuck around for seven more. By then, we would have it at my sister's house: more room to move around, easier for my folks. In 2002, we were without Shirl, but had Thanksgiving at the apartment because it was easier for Jack. The Sibs and I still brought every bit of food. 2003 was our first year without Shirl and Jack, not to mention that Eldest Nephew was still in California and R was in Wales.

But we've done it virtually the same way for so long, that when the Nephew first moved out there nearly 10 years earlier and he asked me to send him some recipes, I sent along a letter that included all of our customs as well. I've since shared it with others in the family; I even sent a copy to R in Wales, although so much of it no longer applies. Here's the abbreviated, pseudonymed, version:

Dear JJ,

As you know, we have many customs and traditions that we follow each year at Thanksgiving. I know that you're most interested in the food, so I'll start with that.

• turkey - get a butterball, and follow the directions.
• stuffing - your uncle makes his trademark vegetarian/Italian stuffing, and the recipe will go to the grave with him. Actually, he makes it up each year, so you're as likely as he is to come up with a good one.
• 1 or 2 cans of jellied cranberry sauce: In keeping with tradition, every other year or so you will forget to put this out on the table.
• Heinz turkey gravy in a jar: If you get one jar, everyone will want gravy and you won't have enough. If you have two jars, no one will want gravy this year, and it will remain in your refrigerator until it has taken on a life of its own.
• pumpkin pie: I make a vegan pie so that your uncle can eat it. If I were you, I'd go to the supermarket and buy a frozen Mrs. Smith's pie.
• String Bean Casserole with little crunchy onions
• Grandma's Sweet Potato Casserole with the little marshmallows on top: I'm making it this year, and the recipe is anyone's guess.

That's what we eat. Other things you should remember for a traditional Thanksgiving are:

• Thanksgiving actually begins a week earlier when Grandpa suggests that we use paper plates, have turkey parts only, and gives us a hundred bucks to pay for all the food that he says no one ever eats.
• Grandpa always sits at the little table with the kids so they won't feel stigmatized.
• Your brother always sits facing the t.v.
• K always sits next to you.
• No one ever wants to sit across from Grandma.
• Grandpa always arrives first. He brings a jar of macadamia nuts.
• You always arrive last. You probably never even knew that Grandpa always brings a jar of macadamia nuts.
• You always arrives last. So, whenever you get there, you can start eating.
• There is never enough room at the table, which is always in danger of imminent collapse.
• The ultimate Thanksgiving experience is when the Cowboys are playing the Redskins.
• At some point in the meal, Grandpa gives all the kids money. He used to give everybody a roll of quarters, but now he gives a $20.
• Someone -- anyone -- must bring up the subject of body piercing. No one knows how this recently became one of our traditions, but it seems to be important, although no one knows why.

And as for this last item, it seems somehow fitting that Jack's last year with us, the Eldest Nephew outed his sister and cousins for their various naval and tongue piercings, and tattoos. Just a nice little bit of closure.

WATCHING THE GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #1630

Okay, let's see ...

So far, I have run, printed, and distributed overdue notices. I have marked lost those books and things that certain teachers have out that I know are never ever ever coming back. I have gone through all my journals, so I'm up to date on those. I have made the I.D. card for the new worker in the cafeteria. I have fixed every broken link on the library website, and updated information there. The shelf behind my desk is all in order, and all paper no longer needed is in the recycling bin. I have answered all my email. I have called the cable company to get our new TV hooked up but I'm not authorized to set up the service call, and I have scanned the list of assignments for tomorrow's pep rally and I'm not on it WOO HOO.

It's 9.43. Oy.

My stomach is slightly better today, but my back ache is much worse. I'm letting the SCM teach the three classes we have today because I just don't think I can stand up there in the front of the room for more than a minute. As it is, I'm sitting at my desk chair with my left hand balled into a fist and pressed against the worst spot in my back. I sat like that throughout my entire first pregnancy, so I guess I have a weakened muscle or tendon or something there that always goes first when I don't feel well.

God, I am so tired of talking about my health, but I'm so bored and there's nothing else to do! Wait a minute ...

Okay, it's 1.22. I decided it was time to catalog the DVD collection, so that took an hour. Or less. (We don't have many yet, but we do have over 1000 videotapes. Hmm.) And I had lunch. So there.

When I got to school this morning, my computer seemed normal, except that Firefox was somehow gone. The program was there, but came up like it had just been installed, all my bookmarks, homepages, passwords gone. So that's annoying, and now the library software won't run in Firefox at all, only in IE, so I have like twelve windows opened up where before I could get by with two. (The school email never worked in Foxfire.) I wonder what makes that happen. I wonder who messed around with my computer last night.

Which is why I lock my desk drawers now when I go home at the end of the day. I never had to do that in all my years here, and I always had all kinds of personal things, pictures and trinkets on my desk, so it felt homey to me. All that is gone now. The only non-business items I have on my desk at the moment are the turkey made of feathers that the little ones from the child-care class gave me this morning, and one quotation: "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." said by the amazing South American writer (and librarian) Jorge Luis Borges.

Speaking of which, has anybody taken a look at that new ebook reader Amazon is selling? It's called the K1ndle, and lets you walk around with 100 books in your pocket at any time (which you buy from Amazon, of course.) Is it just me, or does anybody else think this is way cool? People are always saying to me "But you're a librarian! You must love books!" Well, I do, of course, but it's the content more than the physical book that I love. I do love some physical books, but mostly I find it not so easy any more to curl up with a physical book. It's easier on the hands and the back for me to read a book on my Palm (which is smaller than this K1ndle thing, but about the same weight, I think.) I like being able to read a book in a dark room because the screen is backlit; likewise, you can read in any position you're comfortable in and not worry about having enough light. I like not having to hold it in both hands, which are getting more and more achy as the years go by. Now, if I could only figure out how to read without wearing glasses, I'd be all set. But the notion of carrying the complete works of Shakespeare around with me wherever I go? Very very cool. Will there be a K1ndle under the Christmas tree for me this year? Could be. I think it's still too expensive, but it would be one-stop online shopping for the Hubs, and he knows I'd love it.

My brains are getting all mushy now, and I have about an hour left here. I have three more DVDs to catalog, but I have to do these from scratch, so I'd best wait until I can think a little more clearly.

6.20

I'm home, I've had a little pizza, and I think I'm over the worst of whatever I had. I actually dozed a bit in the manicurist's chair, and I felt better once I woke up. Ah, this is the life.

Anyway, tomorrow is that stupid half day/pep rally at school, followed by my last supermarket run, for the veggies, and then I get started. Pumpkin pies tomorrow night.

WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1629

Not So Much

Feeling better? I don't know how many people asked me that this morning, not because I went home early on Thursday (how would they know) but because I was out on Friday. Well, it's nice to be noticed. Anyway, the only answer I could really give was Not so much, because I still feel pretty much like crap. The school nurse -- who asked me if I was feeling better when we both got there at 7 this morning -- said it's probably a virus. I guess. I don't know what the hell it is. The stomach pain, which comes and goes, is never terribly intense, but the nausea and body aches are pretty annoying. This better not be a kidney stone, I can tell you. There isn't much worse than that.

And that's enough of the sad-me-the-hypchondriac for today.

We had snow today, wet icky stuff that didn't stick, but it was pretty steady until early afternoon.

Oh, I forgot. The Disney picture came today.


I am on the right, of course. This is as photogenic as I get. I was much cuter before the brain surgery, not to mention the double-chin. In pictures, I mean. (That's the Other Chai on the left, who has that nickname, you may recall, because her real first name is the same as mine, and the Chum in the center. And let's remember that I am about five foot two, so there's nobody towering over anybody here, except the castle itself.)

What else can I tell you today? My thought processes are a little muddled; when I look back at my day at work I'm amazed that I accomplished anything at all, although I did some cataloging and some revision of the library website. I was very out of it, and glad that the afternoon's meeting was cancelled. So I've got tomorrow, and Wednesday is not only a half day, half of the half day is a pep rally, and I've requested an assignment to watch over the kids who choose study hall. Given the seniority angle here, I should get it; I'll know tomorrow morning. The last thing I need is to spend a couple hours outside at the football field the day before Thanksgiving.

Okay, I'm going to have some toast and tea and lie down again.

WATCHING LAW & ORDER :: ENTRY #1628

So.

So, I didn't sleep well last night, and I slept later than I wanted to, and didn't get to the supermarket until 9.00. It wasn't horribly crowded, as I thought it would be, but I had hoped that it would be empty at 8.00, which it probably was.

Why did I not sleep well last night? Not for the usual reasons. I fell asleep on the couch at 9.30. At 9.40, the phone rang. It was the Hubs, who had gone out for a drink after work, which I knew. He was calling to tell me that he was leaving soon, the friend he was with was having one more drink, although he himself was done. Okay, whatever. He's a big boy and can hold his drink, but I have very strong feelings about drinking and driving, which he knows. Okay. I fell back to sleep.

And woke up in a moment. Not home yet. Back to sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat. He got home at 11.15, by which time, let me tell, I was wide awake, and way past that falling-asleep-moment that is so elusive to me. I glared. He told me proudly (and not drunkenly) that he only had four cigarettes all day yesterday. Yes, how fucking nice for you. He went to bed. I tried to fall asleep on the couch again. With very little luck. Doze, wake, etc. Finally, around one, I decided I was not getting to sleep on the couch tonight and it was time to go to bed.

Where he was sleeping deeply, curled up on top of the blankets in the dead center of the bed. Upside down, with his head at the foot of the bed. Really, why do I bother?

I couldn't wake him (although I tried) and managed to shove him over, but now I'm trying to fall asleep with the thought that any minute he is going to roll over and kick me in the head. Lucy and Ricky's twin beds are starting to look better and better to me.

I put on some Brahms (the playlist starts with Brahm's lullaby) in my ear, ran the playlist twice, and finally fell asleep. Hence the late awakening this morning. And what is more or less a foul mood.

Although I actually don't feel well today, the same stomach whatever that brought me home from school early on Thursday. Nauseous when I stand up, not wanting to eat much. After the supermarket and the cleaners, I pretty much crashed all day, but I'd already gotten done most of whatever else I needed to do today, so that was okay. I couldn't even read, really. I put on some educational channel and let it play while I dozed.

So there you have the highlights of my fascinating day. Tomorrow, perhaps the obligatory target run, and maybe a visit from my eldest nephew, who arrived from California in the wee hours this morning. I heart him.

WATCHING SCRUBS :: ENTRY #1627

My Visit to Foot World

I'm home from the podiatrist -- it's about 11.30 as I begin this -- and I'm ... what can I say? stable. (Well, sort of.) He wrapped my feet again, which is the way to go until new orthotics can be made. He says the orthotics will not only let me walk without pain, they will treat the condition, so it improves. But I had orthotics made last winter (which are no good), so I'm going to wait until January to get new ones to see if insurance will cover them. I also asked about the cyst that is growing on my right foot, just below where a bunion would be, and told him I want it removed. I do wear Crocs all the time, but I don't know if any other shoe is even possible now. (Although I have sneakers on now to try it out.) Anyway, yada yada, the podiatrist has a partner who is the surgeon and who is joining the group as soon as his details are worked out, so, fingers crossed that I can have it removed during February break. At first, he thought I was asking about removing a bunion (which I don't have) and said something about being out of work for five or six weeks (!!!!!), but then he remembered it's a cyst, so it's out of work for five days. So I'd just as soon do it during a break, either February or April, so I don't have to take so many sick days.

1.00

Just ran around and did a variety of errands, and made various appointments, too. K doesn't have class today, so she just went to campus briefly for a few things and then came home. She thinks she's coming down with something, which time will tell. She did just go out and run around with me, but mostly she stayed in the car. (They were a lot of drive-by errands, like dropping off mail and getting gas.)

I'm off in a half hour or so to get a haircut. I don't feel so hot myself, but I don't know what it is. If it's what I'm starting to think it might be, let's just say, I am too old for that kind of thing. (And no, not pregnant, god forbid, which would require a religious miracle, not to mention all kinds of microsurgery.) I think there's some phenomenon, like the one where you don't quite remember what labor feels like (or you'd never have a second child) that says once menopause has started, you kind of don't remember what cramps feel like. Once again, time will tell. It just better tell the story I want to hear.

4.30

Home, and home again. Got my haircut and had it styled curly, which on me just looks kind of uncombed, but why not, for a change. Once I got home, K and I trekked over to R's to feed the kitty, since R is coming home late from the city tonight.

My chore for tonight is to give the fridge a really good cleaning out, since we'll need all kinds of space in it for the coming week's cooking, and to make up my shopping list for the supermarket tomorrow morning. One of my favorite things is shopping for Thanksgiving. Everything I'm buying is exactly what everyone else is buying, and it's all stacked at the ends of the aisles where it's easy to find.

So, here's one of the things I wanted to mini-rant about that I put off until today. Have you heard how the governor of New York wanted to start a program in which illegal immigrants got drivers' licenses? This was all kinds of ripped into in the press, and by politicians on every side, and even the governor himself finally gave it up. Now, I ask you: why was this a bad idea? As for me, I would like to know that every driver on the road has been tested and is licensed, in this country. So that's one. Here's another. When there are illegal immigrants in a community -- and like it or not, there are -- they are still entitled to public services like education, emergency medical care, use of the roads, water and other utilities, and so on. But because they can't be counted properly, services are often inadequate to meet the needs of the number of people who are actually in the community. Giving them driver's licenses would help count them. But here's the really big question: if we give them driver's licenses, we will know who and where they are. What on earth is wrong with that?

So. I'm not saying this resolves the illegal immigrant problem in any way, although something needs to. I just think the driver's licenses was a great idea on many levels. It didn't make them legal. It just made them visible. I think it would be a smart idea if we knew who they are. I'll bet police departments everywhere wish they had licenses and showed up in a database. I don't know why every state isn't doing it.

I'll save my other thought for tomorrow. Time to attack the refrigerator.

WATCHING VH1 :: ENTRY #1626

End of the Week For Me

I've been sleeping really well since I got home -- since my 3rd night away, actually -- but I feel no less tired during the day than I usually do. I was totally dragging this morning, but made it to work and did what I needed to do, but I left after lunch and came home and slept a bit. My stomach was bothering me too. I met my sister for pedicures, and I've been trying to catch up on last week's TV since I got home, although I can barely keep my eyes open.

I was going to write a totally different entry for today, but alas, my brains are mush. Tomorrow, perhaps.

I've already taken tomorrow as a sick day since the podiatrist only has hours Friday mornings, so I can sleep a little later and maybe get some other stuff done during the rest of the day. And maybe some clear brains in with the deal.

***************

saturday

it's been another looong day. but i slept amazingly well last night (as did all three of us, for some reason), so that was delightful. our mornings have been very easy, and easy going.

there was a tag on our door this morning, telling us that we'll be on the 10.35 bus to the airport tomorrow, which means our 9.00 brunch at another hotel is not do-able. just as well. we'll have an easy morning, quick breakfast, check our bags and get our boarding passes (which the airlines do at the hotels here) and check out. should be home at the mouse house by five p.m.

back from dinner at the beach club "clambake" - excellent, lots of food, and the other two paid for my dinner to thank me for planning the trip... aww.

so now the o.c. and i are packed. the chum says she can pack in the a.m.

• animal kingdom to see the tree
• to epcot, where:
• it was very crazy crowded and we couldn't do a lot of what we wanted, which was okay.
• had lunch in canada
• walked the world showcase
• went on the nemo ride
• went to dinner

sunday morning

slept very well again last night, and woke up before six, as did the o.c. so we're ready bright and early, bags checked, boarding passes in hand, before 9.00. our bus leaves around 10.30. so we've got time to kill.

i hear it's really cold at home, and maybe even dark by the time we get to the car. ick.

so, another bathroom break for me.

WATCHING L & O SVU :: ENTRY #1625

Going to the Show

So I'm going back to school tonight for the drama club's fall production, which is Twelfth Night, a play that I've never seen or read. So I'm very much looking forward to it. Also, I'm going with my dear Colleague, the former library secretary who's been spirited away to another office since last year, and whom I miss every day; we never seem to get much opportunity to catch up. But we're both going to get there early and have time for a chat.

I still feel like I'm dragging through my days. I did get everything else unpacked and put away last night, and I went to a couple of places after school until I found arch support braces -- like elastic bandages -- so I don't have to keep wrapping my feet in the long bandages every morning. I shoulda thought of this weeks ago. As it is, I'm going back to the foot doctor on Friday and we'll see what he says.

I'm going to crash on the couch for a bit before I have to go; I have about two hours. Here's the next day of my trip:

*******************

Friday

6.00 pm

Well, I am just exhausted. Didn't sleep much again last night. I just realized shortly ago that when I sorted out all my meds to take, I left out what helps me sleep. And how maniacal was I over this whole thing? But I brought back-up, which was not confiscated at airport security, and I did that one right, so I should be okay tonight.

I do have the headache of death, but I just took something for that. We'll be going down to the cafeteria for a simple dinner tonight (pizza and a beer) and then the O.C. and I will finish our shopping in the hotel gift shop.

So, today, M.G.M. studios. Oh, I love it there.

• Great Movie Ride
• Star Tours - loved it
• Indiana Jones Stunt Show
• good shopping day
• 50s Prime Time for lunch
• Muppet 3D Movie
• Backlot Tour
• couldn't find the bus back to our hotel
  

We three are getting along pretty welI. The O.C. and I are very much in sync, but the Chum -- best friend, of sorts -- and I are not. We're okay, but not seamless, which is what a Disney trip should be.

WATCHING THE GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #1624

Returning to Life ... Slowly

So it's Tuesday -- I guess -- and I haven't dropped dead yet, so I guess I'm okay. I'm still very, very tired, although I'm sleeping at night. We were supposed to have some kind of emergency drill at school today which would have involved lots and lots of walking (yes, I know I did lots and lots of walking last week, but it's not the same thing), but it was canceled due to iffy weather. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I did manage to get all the clean clothes put away this afternoon, and I emptied out what was left in my carry-on, so all that remains is the bag full of miscellaneous stuff: the travel-size shampoo, bandaids and first aid kit, other random crap. I'll leave that for another day.

I also just had to call the hotel in DW to get the UPS tracking numbers for the two packages we sent home, one to my house and one to the Chum's. They were supposed to email them to me, but they didn't. So they're coming on Thursday, and then I'll have the rest of all the little goodies I got there. Perhaps I will post a photo; a couple of things are amusing, at least to me.

Speaking of photos, we had our picture taken in the parks a couple of times, and I just ordered one of those online, too. I really have become incredibly un-photogenic in recent years. But once I get the picture, I'll scan it in and post that too, so you can see the three maniacs that we were down there.

Here was the Chum's best line of the trip. She realized that she had packed more than she needed, and said that her only frame of reference was the Senior Class Trip, so she brought the wrong things. Then she paused a beat and said that she should have packed for the Senior Citizens Class Trip instead. Heh heh.

******************

Thursday. Nov. 8

Long day.

Short recap:

• went to the Magic Kingdom from our hotel by little boat
  
• went on excellent rides, including the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean
  
• went on MY FAVORITE Big Thunder Mountain and the Chum got a good case of motion sickness and turned grouchy and went back to the hotel after lunch. But I LOVED IT.
• greasy lunch at the Pinocchio Haus
  
• Chum back to the hotel by boat.
  
• more excellent rides, this time It's a Small World and Peter's Pan's Flight. I am a Peter Pan junkie since young childhood.
  
• The O.C. and I staked out seats and sat for nearly two hours and then watched the afternoon parade, which was great.
  
• There was a big snafu in which we got on a boat to go back to the hotel and then the Chum called and said she was on her way back to the park by boat which ultimately involved the O.C. and I jumping off a boat that was about to pull away from the dock, thereby amusing everyone who saw us.
  
• We had dinner at the hotel. Loved the hotel, by the way.
  
• Went back to the Magic Kingdom for the lit-up night parade, which was excellent. While waiting for it to begin, I heard two happy voices call out "Mrs. Chai! Mrs. Chai!" and it was two kids from school, a brother and sister, also there. I always see someone I know from home when I'm at DisneyWorld.
• Back to the hotel. We watch the fireworks at the MK from our balcony.
  

We are freaking old.

Talked to R on the phone. Could not reach the Sibs.

Slept two hours plus odd minutes last night. Must sleep tonight. No beer for me at dinner.

10.00, going to try sleep.

WATCHING THE GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #1623

Back in the Real World

So it was back to school today, a long, busy day. I had five classes in, plus all the stuff I had to catch up on by being out Wednesday, plus the SCM was out. I told them I only needed a sub when I went to lunch, but they sent me someone for the rest of the afternoon, too, and he just loomed around here and there in the stacks, never really speaking, and I was too busy elsewhere to think of something for him to do. Easy money for him. I even forgot he was there.

I did manage to get two loads of wash done (well, not quite done yet) this afternoon, and K and I went to the A&P. I am on beyond tired. My house is just a mess. I think if I went away for a month, it would collapse under the weight of garbage not taken out and expired food in the fridge. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that they would replace the toilet paper roll, as needed. I guess they have their priorities.

I am still so not organized here. I got the laundry done, but not the clean clothes that I brought back with me put away, or the toiletries and other stuff. Still bags of my own stuff in the living room.

I'm thinking that this weekend is going to be unbelievably busy, what with getting the house in order and doing all the Thanksgiving shopping. My god, is Thanksgiving next week? That certainly snuck up on me. But I am taking Friday off, for a podiatrist appointment in the morning and a haircut in the afternoon (as long as I had the doctor's appointment; I'm not taking a day off work just to get my haircut), so I guess I can do a lot of the cleaning in between those things.

So here's the first part of the journal I kept while I was away, which would be for last Wednesday.

*********************

Wed 11/5

We're at the airport. We left the house at 5.15 and got here just about 6; it was maybe 10 minutes later til we parked and got into the terminal.

This really is a child's view of what an airport is. In other words, it works. Two minute line to check luggage. We went through security in ten minutes; they were efficient, professional, pleasant, and good humored. Found seats right by the gate with a ladies room and coffee shop nearby, but of course, everything here is nearby everything else.


9.15 am On the plane

I have to say that this was maybe my most pleasant airport experience ever. Every airport should be like this: uncomplicated, efficient, good humored. The plane itself is nothing to write home about -- although I am -- but it's fine, and the staff is very friendly and nice.

Very glad we got the first class coming home, because I am squished here in the window seat -- the O.C. prefers the aisle, which is fine, I don't care -- but she has a bit of bulk to her, so room is tight. Flying home seats looked very nice, though, as we passed them on the way in.

I slept great at her house last night, although I think it's often awkward to spend a night in a home not your own. She has been renovating for about a year and a half and stuff is everywhere. Boxes and boxes and paint cans and furniture covered with dropcloths, and you name it. I don't think I could live that way for that long. I tell you, my Mouse House is going to look a lot better to me when I get home. Her whole house is like my infamous basement, the cleaning out of which is apparently my life's work.

Due to land in about an hour and a half.

I am surprised that typing in text on the Palm using the stylus and the on-screen keyboard is neither slow nor annoying. I originally wrote the pre-boarding part of this by hand on a pad of paper, and that was uncomfortable.

Speaking of which, I was talking to nephew Good Guy last night, and telling him about my trip. He knows both of my traveling companions, the Chum and the O.C., pretty well, so he was amused. I told him it was the Old Bat Tour. Now I wish i'd gotten t-shirts made, like rock band tour shirts.

Waaaaay later. Same day.

WE ARE IN DISNEYWORLD.

Sparing every last detail, we met up with the Chum, who drove here from her mother's in south Florida, we're laughing a lot, we had a good meal - Mexican - , we are exhausted. I had a beer. My feet hurt.

Today's hit parade:

• airport/plane/airport/bus
• Wilderness Lodge (our hotel) is cool
• took the bus to Epcot
• Journey into Imagination - where Figment lives!
• ride in Mexico
• ride in Norway (Maelstrom) is excellent but too short
• dinner in Mexico - I had a beer
• looong trip back to the hotel. Two monorails and a boat
• we saw the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our sixth floor room, which was very cool.

So I'm ensconced here up on the top bunk, which is fine. The getting up and down is not so great, but up here is fine.

Laughing a lot. Very tired. Feet hurt.

WATCHING SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS :: ENTRY #1622

Hi!

Just a quick "I'm home!", and more tomorrow. I pretty much kept a journal on the palm while I was away (but I had no Internet access whatsoever), so I'll be posting that in parts over the next few days. For tonight, I've caught up with my email and had a couple of poptarts, and I'm tackling my long list of your stuff to read now, until I collapse from exhaustion.

WATCHING THE SIMPSONS :: ENTRY #1622

Hakuna Matata!

(It means no worries. For the rest of your days.)

Ohhhhh .... kay. I woke up pretty early this morning, which is easy to do this week, and now I'm pretty much, as my sister says, jumping out of my skin. IT'S TIME TO GO! NOW! Okay, maybe not now. But I'm good and ready.

Before I got to school, I ... let's see ... I went to the ATM, I voted, I dropped off a comforter at the cleaner's. Before I left the house, I put absolutely everything that was left into my bags, except only for my cell phone and my Palm and my wallet, which I still have on me.

I have a list in the car of things I need to do after school -- get nails done, get gas in the car, check the tires for air, pick up a prescription -- and a list on my desk at home of what I have to do when I get there. (Post this entry, call my sister, take a shower.)

I feel like somebody should be putting me on Ritalin right about now.

I had one very lovely class this morning of very bright kids who haven't passed the English proficiency test yet, but who were very curious and asked good questions and were a pleasure to teach. Unfortunately, the work before me now all involves revisions of the library website, which is slow and boring and repetitive work, and today is probably not the best day for that.

From what I've been able to glean, there is little or no Internet service where I am going in DisneyWorld. This seems pretty crazy to me, but that's it. If I were bringing an actual computer, I could connect in my room via ethernet cable, but I'm not, I'm bringing my Palm, which gets wi-fi, which my hotel doesn't have. So it's extremely unlikely that I will updating from the Land of the Mouse, although I'll read what diaries I can, if I get the chance; I think I may be able to read them on my cellphone, which sounds pretty crazy. But I'll see. I guess I'll have a lot to catch up on when I come home.

...okay, home now. I ran into my sister at the nail place, so that was two errands done at once! Go me. And now dinner, a shower, and I'm off. See you on Sunday!

WATCHING GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #1622

Much Ado About Nothing

Stoopid! Stoopid! Stoopid!

How foolish of me to forget: ding, dong, the witch is dead. My former principal, The Psycho, is gone and is never coming back. Therefore, I must remember in the future that a summons to the principal's office for a meeting does not mean imminent disaster. Let me backtrack:

In the past, the subject of changing the library's hours has come up a few times. Each time, The Psycho would use this to torture us. Our hours would change, they might not change. We might stay much later, or maybe not at all. She toyed with us like a cat with a mouse. Never once did she indicate that our hours were only negotiable by our association (that is, our union), and that she had no power to change this unilaterally. She had power over us and used it, and that was all we needed to know.

On Friday, the SCM and I got email from the current principal to attend a meeting with him Monday morning to discuss changing the library hours. Needless to say, we both went into panic mode. I arranged for a representative from the association to be there with us, even while thinking that this alone might cause repercussions. The meeting was postponed this morning, making us more tense, and then took place an hour later.

By this time, we felt that there was only one solution to the problem, but that it would take a lot of convincing to get the principal to buy it. So you can imagine our surprise when we sat down and he suggested the same solution, right off the bat, and asked for our input as to how he could make it happen.

Wow. He really is a nice guy, and a mensch. It was a great meeting. It never occurred to him to extend our hours, only the library's hours, and with someone else covering that time. Wow. So it turned out to be much ado about nothing.

Even so, I was already less panicky this morning by the time I got to school, because my four minute commute was so excellent. Okay, I stopped by the post office this morning, so it was maybe an eight minute commute. What I did was I put a CD in the player, one I had made for Wednesday morning's trip to the airport, of Disney songs. I cranked it up loud and sang along at the top of my voice, first to A Whole New World, and then to The Circle of Life. About halfway through the ride, I started to grin, and I said to myself "What do I care about whatever they decide this morning? I'M GOING TO DISNEYWORLD IN TWO DAYS!!!!" So when I strolled into the library a few minutes later, the SCM asked hesitantly "How are you?" and I answered with great confidence and no sarcasm at all "I FEEL GREAT!!"

And so I pretty much have all day, except for the hour or so before the postponed meeting was re-scheduled; that was a little tense, but in general, I'm in a great mood. I had also decided this morning to take my car on Wednesday instead of K's car, as planned, so I'm happy about that. I had figured, why leave the best car in a long-term parking lot? but I'll be happier driving my car, and her car is going to turn over the odometer this week to 100,000 miles and she wants to see it, and not have it happen while I'm driving home on the thruway. It's not like my car won't be safe there, and it's not like it isn't a four year old car anyway. It's just new to me, but it's not exactly a 2008 BMW. And this way, I don't even have to use the Disney CD, because I can plug in the iPod and get the whole Disney playlist, not just some of it.

My stomach is a little upset, though, this afternoon, so I must remember to take the meds for that when I get home. If I catch it on the first day, I should be okay, and maybe this isn't an IBS attack but a bit of less than fresh food I ate, although the sandwich I had for lunch, which I got at the supermarket deli yesterday, was really delicious. But the stomachache started less than an hour after eating it, so I'm suspicious.

It's now passing time between 7th and 8th period, and I understand there's a fire drill coming moments after the bell rings, so I'd best end it here. More when I get home, perhaps.



Home. It was a beautiful day for a fire drill, I can tell you that. Crisp and clear, not too cold. Crazy weather. Lots of the trees are still green. It's nearly 5.00 now, and about to get dark, and it's still 57 degrees out there.

K and I made a short trip to Loehmann's after school, which is not the store for me. When we moved here in 1961, my mother only felt that she wasn't living on the frontier because there was a Loehmann's less than a mile away. As for me, it's overwhelming. For those not in the know -- or not originally from the Bronx, as my mother was -- Loehmann's was one of the first stores that sold large quantities of good-name clothes at big discounts. One of its trademarks is that they only have communal dressing rooms, so every little girl of my generation was scarred by the experience of going shopping with mommy and sitting on the bench in the Loehmann's dressing room while ladies of every conceivable size, shape, age, and undergarments tried on clothes they had no business trying to wear.

I'll try to fit in a quick entry before I go tomorrow night --

WATCHING GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #1621

Sleepytime Gal

You know, they say that when you set your clocks back in the fall, you "get an extra hour of sleep." That is just bullshit. First of all, you would only get an actual extra hour of sleep if you went to bed Saturday night at the same time you do every other night -- which a lot of people don't do -- and you woke up Sunday morning at the same time on the clock as you do every other day, like by setting an alarm -- which many people don't do on Sundays, either. As for me, I couldn't fall asleep last night until 3.00 am, so I not only didn't get an "extra hour", I barely got anything close to my normal hours of sleep.

The thing is, I actually did fall asleep before 3.00, many many times. Between 11 and 2, I would fall asleep, wake up in a minute or two, and then fall asleep again twenty minutes later for another minute or two. I did sleep from 2 to 3, but I was convinced that whole time that I was awake, and talking to the Hubs about how neither one of us could sleep. It wasn't until after 3 that I actually fell asleep for the balance of the night.

So I'm a little out of it today. Fortunately, I didn't have much to do except go food shopping. The most amazing thing of the day was that the cable guy came while I was at the supermarket and the Hubs was here with him and took care of it. Knock me ovah with a feathah! The last time the Hubs stayed home for a service person was in 1992, when I left him alone in the house for ten minutes on a Saturday morning and Sears came and delivered the wrong stove, and the Hubs signed for it and they went happily on their way. It took me forever to straighten out that one. But so far, the cable is working, so I have no complaints today.

Not looking forward to school tomorrow, but looking forward to getting the meeting with the principal over with. The SCM and I just need to get our ducks in a row before we go in there. I really hope this doesn't come out badly for us.

I'm going to go collapse now, and watch this year's Treehouse of Horror.

WATCHING THE SIMPSONS :: ENTRY #1620

Fear of Almost Flying

I am not, generally speaking, afraid of flying. I don't like it, certainly, and I don't know why anybody would, but I'm not afraid of it. I take it on faith that a machine that heavy somehow stays up in the air and propels itself forward, because I see that it happens all the time, although it defies all logic, as far as I'm concerned. Flying is noisy and cramped and uncomfortable. But I'm not afraid of it.

What I'm afraid of is almost flying. I've reached the point in my preparations where I know there are vital things I've forgotten, but I don't know what they are, and that annoys me, because for some reason I feel that when I'm away from home I have to be prepared for any and every contingency. And then there's security.

Okay, I admit it: I fear airport security. Now, I've only flown once since 9/11, and that was before the big liquids ban, but I've certainly seen my daughters off on a variety of flights, and I was supposed to go to a Bar Mitzvah in Florida a little over a year ago, so I packed and prepared, although we canceled at the last minute because there was a hurricane. But here I am, ready to go, pretty much, and I feel certain that there will be a problem at security (even though I know there won't be.)

What am I afraid of? Oh, I don't know. That they'll throw out all my stuff, my medicines and makeup and electronics. That they'll pull me aside for special screening. That they won't accept my I.D. That my name will be on some list, and I'll end of sitting in a cell someplace instead of being on the plane to DisneyWorld. You know, the same kind of ordinary stuff that everyone thinks about when they fly.

Ahem.

Okay, so in the real world, today did not get off to an auspicious start. I accidentally set my alarm, and it went off on a Saturday morning. Bummer. Then K overslept; I woke her at 7.30 (she ordinarily leaves for her 8.00 class at 7.00.) So I know she was late, but she got up and out of the house in 15 minutes, so she probably got into class by 8.30 at the latest. I only hope she didn't freak out and do something stupid, like have a car accident or fall on her way into the building. But I haven't heard from her, so I guess she's okay.

Had a very terrible day at school yesterday, which perhaps I will share with you on Monday after the meeting with the principal. Yeah, that kind of day.

But I got tons of stuff done this morning, either for the trip or just in general. I have a good little list of what I need to pack last minute and what I need to get done on Tuesday before I leave the house.

I think that's all I'm capable of at the moment. I'll try to write tomorrow.

WATCHING ---- :: ENTRY #1619

TV Is My LIfe

Although today, it's more like TV is taking up my life.

First, there was the DVD that didn't record. Somehow, when I woke up this morning, the recorder wasn't even on, even though I'd set it to record something when I went to bed. Hmm.

Then the afternoon was looking quiet when I got home from school, so I put on Reaper, which was recorded Tuesday night. Two hours later, I finally finished watching it. The phone just kept ringing; R had come home from work a little early so we were able to have a nice, long chat. Very nice, but I don't know if I could tell you what happened on Reaper. There was the devil, of course, and I think Leon Czolgosz, but I can't be sure.

Then, right after the Hubs came home, the cable went out. Again. For about the zillionth time in the last three days. Sometimes it goes out for a half a minute maybe fifteen times an hour. So I'm not so sure what happened on Pushing Daisies last night, either.

So I called the cable company, and even though I spoke to a very nice young man, it was a frustrating conversation. I had them here a couple of months ago and they replaced all the cable in the house. So now what? It must be outside, but they won't send someone just to check the outside, you have to be home. I asked if someone could come Sunday morning, but they were booked. I said to the guy, Oh, no problem, I'll cancel my vacation next week and stay home just to wait for the cable guy. And then I apologized to him, but I was not happy. He talked to a supervisor, and came back and said "Can you be home Sunday between 10 and 6?" And I said "You know? I can't." But I made the appointment anyway. They always call before they come, and if no one's here, no harm done. We're supposed to go have dinner with R on Sunday, so if no one comes by 4, well then, I'll be off to MouseLand on Wednesday, and if the cable goes out while I'm gone, and neither one of them is willing to be here for a repair guy -- and trust me, they won't be -- then it's no cable for K and the Hubs.

But I'm not bitter.

Oh, wait, I am. Too many years of being the only one who makes the appointments, waits for the service people, and ... well, you know, the service people have the code red out on me and they rarely actually show, or else they come ridiculously late.

Ah. Well, Ugly Betty is on now, and I'm going to watch it until the cable goes out a the juiciest moment.

WATCHING LAW AND ORDER :: ENTRY #1618