Back in Muggle World

I've been reading a lot of Harry Potter lately, which tends to suck up my brain, but I finished the last book about an hour ago, so I thought I'd return to the land of real people (so to speak.)

Things are rolling along. I didn't wear a support on my knee today, but I took some Tylenol every four hours and it was much, much better. I have no idea what's up with that. No swelling, no bruise, just pain, and not where the break was two years ago. Huh.

As if you didn't already know this, I am going to Disney World with a pack of crazies. I was thinking of getting us some kind of matching t-shirts, just for a laugh, but now I just keep imagining what I might put on them, something about the crazy part of the family we're all descended from. I don't know. If one more person tells me that all the planning of the trip is in my hands and then tells me exactly how to plan it, I think I may scream.

I swear, I think of you guys all day long and plan out entries in my head, and then sit down at the keyboard and draw a blank. I haven't been commenting much lately either, in part because I read a lot of entries in school. Speaking of which ...

I don't know how many of you work with people who are completely clueless, but if you work in a public school, you do. There are always people who do not get the purpose of the whole institution, like secretaries who won't help kids and the like, but here's what we have going on. We have a technology department -- I generally refer to them as Computer Central -- staffed by Larry, Moe, and Curly. Each one is dopier than the next. (Their fourth member, new this year, is just a repairman, and he's the only one with a brain.) They have no sense whatsoever that there are people out there -- students, especially -- who actually need to use this thing they're working on, this network.

Last Friday was an in-service day, which meant staff in only, so naturally, the three stooges decided that this would be a good day to change the server. Oh yes, because there were no workshops that involved the use of the network or anything. I don't know how many people couldn't do what they were supposed to be doing because websites wouldn't come up.

Come Monday morning, guess what? Almost any website anyone went to turned up instead as a message that said that the site was blocked by our filtering software. Really dangerous sites, too, like CNN and AOL. Before 8:00, a half dozen kids had come to me in a panic because they had emailed homework to their AOL accounts but couldn't open them to print out.

So now it's Wednesday, and I can get CNN, but I cannot get most of your diaries at school. It's very frustrating. I have been very busy, but if I have ten minutes to spare between classes, I see nothing wrong with following up some stuff on Google Reader. But if I click something and it's blocked, then it's marked as Read in Reader, so I'm afraid I'll forget to come back to it. I have lost a few that way.

And did I mention that all the library resources that we use, and pay for via subscription, recognize our accounts by I.P. address? And that the new server, of course, has its own new I.P.? Why, I wonder, did they not wait until summer to do all of this, or do it when we were on vacation a couple of weeks ago? Because they have no sense that the network exists outside of their little world in which it is something to be repaired and tinkered with, never actually used by actual students and teachers.

So, swine flu. Are we all freaked out? Someone asked me that yesterday, and I said "Uh .. what?" Still, more people succumb to the regular flu. I understand why this is considered a pandemic, but I don't necessarily agree with what defines a pandemic. All things considered, very few people have been affected by this. I'm not saying it's nothing, but I don't feel personally threatened. (I hope that doesn't turn out to fall into the "Famous Last Words" category. That would be a bummer.)

I had to go to B&N after school to pick up a few books for the library. Suddenly today, we noticed that both our copies of Mien Kamph -- I don't want to get Googled for that -- were missing. No idea what that means. One of them just went out and came back a few weeks ago. With that title, I always fear censorship more than wannabees, so I'm a little concerned, but I picked up a replacement, as well as a few others. We'll see how long these all last.

Well, I finally got a full entry out, anyway. Looks like a good Lost tonight.



watching FRIENDS :: ENTRY #2034
READING: --- by ---

Hot. Hot.

It's about 92 degrees at the moment, which is most unusual for April, I have to say. What's not particularly surprising is that the central A/C in the house worked for about an hour yesterday and then died. It's producing cold, but it's not blowing through the vents. We have fans running everywhere and let me tell you, it's damn hot. So I know who my first call is to tomorrow morning.

This past week, on Tuesday, all the school districts in New Jersey voted on the school budgets. I understand that this is unique to New Jersey; every spring, our Boards of Education present their4 budgets to the public and the public votes yea or nay. Shockingly, about 75% of the the districts in my county passed; everybody expected budgets to go down this year, as they do from time to time even in good economies. The upshot in my house is that many districts posted openings for social studies teacherws in today's paper, so K has spent the day writing cover letters, assembling packets, emailing or applying online every place she can. Sadly for me, this makes her cranky, and the heat doesn't help.

Disney plans are underway. The Sibs and I have decided on the restaurants we need to make reservations for, and I'll call those tomorrow.

As of today, I'm officially giving up bringing my lunch to school. If I happen to have leftovers one day, or the mood strikes, I will, but I'm not counting on it. I'm not even taking my clothes out tonight; I'll decide what to wear in the morning. It;s like I've got senioritis.

Well then, my tasks for the day are done, except to get the laundry out of the dryer. But I think I'll shut down the computer for a bit and let it cool off.


watching ODD COUPLE Marathon on DVD :: ENTRY #2033
READING: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Two

Here's the beginning of the entry I wrote yesterday but never got to post:

The week is rushing by, for some reason, but today is just dragging. In a sense, it's the last day of the school week, since tomorrow is an In-Service day, but not one I'm dreading. For one, I won't be hear at the high school; I'll be at the middle school which is at the end of the street I live on. For another, I'll just be with the district's librarians, no keynote speaker or anything. I get to sleep an hour and a half later (since we go by the elementary school schedules for a district-wide in-service), and most unusual of all, I'll be learning about something I really want to know about. (Using Wikis in teaching.) And I don't even have to bring my lunch.

Truth be told, I suck lately at bringing my lunch. I've been buying at the cafeteria all week, and I may continue to do so until the end of the year. (That would be 44 more days.) I've slept very well the past two nights, but when the alarm goes off, I am just pissed. It's all I can do to shower and get dressed and get out of the house. I don't have breakfast, I don't want to carry a lunch bag. I stop for coffee and drink it at school. That seems to be my limit these days.

Seriously, I think of wonderful things to write to you all about all day long, and then I come home and I'm like "Wha ...?" and all my brain cells have stopped functioning. And tonight I have to stay out late since I'm going to the retirees' dinner, which I know I will love going to. The Sibs is home from her California trip, so we will be going to book DisneyWorld tomorrow or Saturday. My Cousin -- the smart one -- called both of us yesterday to make sure we were on track with this all. Why, yes, yes we are. Settle down.

And here's today's big finish:

The retirees' dinner was wonderful, as anticipated; apparently there are different people there each month (other than the core group), so I got to see some really long-missing faces. Lovely.

The in-service was okay today. I did learn some things I wanted to know about, and learned that unfortunately the damn state education standards are being revised yet again, which means next year's curriculum has to reflect that, so there's some new lessons and plans I've got to work on. Which is fine because I do really love doing that kind of thing, but I'm afraid stuff that is not really in my area is going to get dumped on me. We shall see.

And we did indeed go and book the trip after school today, so that is all taken care of. August 17 through the 22. The Sibs and I are flying from Newark and the cousins will be flying in from Denver; we'll meet in the airport or at the hotel. In Chai-time, that means it's time to start packing!

Looks like a quiet weekend coming up. K and I were going to go visit R on Sunday, but she has plans, but she may drop by briefly tomorrow. The Sibs brought back her eldest's newest CD, a collection of children's songs, which is a little scary coming from him, but I'll try to listen tomorrow while I'm out and about doing errands in the morning. We're expecting temps close to 90 tomorrow and Sunday -- !!!!!!!!! Astonishing for April.


I'm going to Disney World!

It's Friday.

watching FAMILY GUY :: ENTRY #2032
READING: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Excuuuuuse Me

I really thought I had posted on Saturday, and was surprised just now to see that I didn't. The memory is going, going.

As is the hearing, since I had to take my hearing aids in for repair. A little piece chipped off the left one, and since that was going in, and my warranty expires next month, I asked them to take apart the right one and get rid of the battery that got stuck in there some months back and that rattles around a little when I bend my head down. They'll also let me know about extending the warranty, because anything that costs that much ought to last more than two years, and I know they'll die the day after the warranty expires, and new hearing aids aren't in my budget at the moment.

So my world is a little quieter for the next week or so. Too bad there's a retirees' dinner on Thursday; I guess I'll just listen to whomever is sitting next to me.

We had some nasty cold rain yesterday, but today is surprisingly pleasant. (It was supposed to rain all week.) You just don't want to leave the house in that kind of weather.

The Sibs is coming home from California late tonight, yay! We should be able to go book the Disney trip Friday afternoon, or Saturday. The dates are all worked out, since it turns out that the Sibs' commitment and the Cousin's are both at the same time, so that leaves a a good week to work with. Even so, I won't believe it until I see it. I won't even start to pack until I know that we're really going, and that's taking will power.

I did remember to jot down three smiley things today, which follow, along with a picture. That little signature area down there is getting to be longer than my actual entries.



Seeing Mary and Sue (two teachers), who are buddies, greet each other in the morning, which made me think of E and the Chum, and I smiled, remembering, instead of being bummed because my besties aren't here anymore.
I came into the library from the hallway and saw the line-up of kid-friendly books on top of the first bookstack.

Leaning over to put something away at the side of my desk, my face came right up close to the picture of my parents I have framed there.

watching THE GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #2031
READING: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

It was just a perfect day today. Temp in the low seventies, bright sunshine. My car was ready to picked up at the service station early, by 10:30, so I walked over to get it. A lovely walk, although I should have put on the knee brace before I went, since my knee is in that not-behaving mode it goes into sometimes, but this was a flat walk, no hills, so I was okay.

I did some errands here and there, some cleaning here and there, finished a book. Listened to some music.

A few years back, when Oprah started her whole gratitude journal thing, I tried to do that, to list three things I was grateful for at the end of every day, but I couldn't get it. For one, being grateful, unless it's to someone specific, doesn't ring true for me. For another, I would just end up being grateful for the same things day after day: my children, things like that.

But this smiling thing that the therapist put me onto works out very well for me. For awhile now, I've been putting the smiley faces at the end of my entry as a kind of marker for me of how smiley a day I had. I'm going to try to add a reason for the smiles, if I can. Not that I have to, certainly, maybe more as a diary-like reminder that I can look back on and remember what made me smile on any given day. Today was a good smiley day but I can only remember one particular thing that I smiled about, so I guess it's one of those things that I have to train myself to do.

Speaking of which, I must also get myself into a good eye-care routine every night, which I almost never remember to do. Maybe I can make it a post an entry-why I smiled-eye care routine thing. Uh, yeah. I'll let you know how that works out for me.

As for now, I'm going to finish the entry and seriously do my eye wash and eye drops and stuff and then see if I can get into a new book (which I think I may have already read once.)

My car was ready way earlier than I expected to be.


watching TWO AND A HALF MEN :: ENTRY #2030
READING: Once Upon a Town by Bob Greene

Back To My Regularly Scheduled Life

Thanks to all of you for your comments on my last few entries. It was not my intent to make fun of my cousin; you know that's just how I speak, and write. It's mostly just hard to know what to make of her. But I know we'll enjoy the time in DW, assuming nothing comes up that makes us unable to go. I like knowing that we're going to be expanding her little world a bit.

It was a beautiful day today, and tomorrow is supposed to be outstanding, over 70 degrees. And then rain, and then back to work on Monday.

I got a haircut today, and asked to have it styled curly to see what it looks like. I'm not posting a picture, because it looks pretty much like the cat lady on The Simpsons. And with lots and lots of product in it, so a shampoo is my first order of business tomorrow. Also, I have no car tomorrow since mine is in for service, so I guess it's chores around the house for me.

I really have gotten a lot done this week. Most of all, I got software and a little scanner that scans and saves receipts, and reads them and puts them into categories and such, and I have shredded all the originals, so I am not drowning in paper for, like, the first time ever. I got a better desk organizer, so my desk is very neat. I haven't read much, only this YA (Young Adult) novel I'm working on, which is cute. And looking more and more into the Disney trip.

I remembered today that I have concerns about flying regarding the Crohn's. I actually remembered yesterday, when I read a news article about a man who was arrested on a Delta flight because he was insistent that he had an emergency and had to get to the bathroom. (Of course, there was a bit more to it than that.) But this is my big flying fear, that I'm going to need to get to a bathroom and they won't let me go. So I ordered a kind of medical alert bracelet, which I only intend to wear when I fly, and not all the time.

I may have finally slept like a normal person last night. Even so, I slept until nine this morning, when the phone rang, a wrong number that thought we were a fax machine. I got the same wrong number twice again during the day. There's a trend I hope doesn't continue.

My sister is in California, and called me the other night at about 11:45 pm because she got the time difference mixed up. I was awake, so all I did was laugh, because I would probably do the same thing.

And now I'm getting sleepy, not that it means anything.





waiting for PARKS AND RECREATION :: ENTRY #2029
READING: Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Last Chaapter

Another delicious vacation day. I did some closet organizing, more desk tidying, and got my nails done.

Okay, so the story continues. A little bit of warning here: part of tonight's story is serious, and sad. Life is like that sometimes.

Okay, so my cousin moved to Oregon to prove her independence. She did reasonably well there, having a good friend who had already moved there, and that woman's circle of friends. As they were all new-agey types, cousin began to get involved in that as well.

She also met her friend's brother, either for the first time, or it was the first time they noticed each other. He was also into all the new-agey stuff, and loved animals, as cousin was now coming to realize she did as well. He worked from time to time as a substitute teacher, because he really couldn't understand how a person could have a full-time job and still get things like laundry and food shopping done. No shit.

They did indeed fall in love, and decided to live together. At some point, somehow, they bought a house, and began to acquire a quantity of cats and dogs. This was all happening somewhere in the early 90's, I would guess, although I don't remember a specific timeline.

My aunt and uncle would visit them, and cousin and her guy would visit her parents in L.A. My aunt and uncle liked him very much, and were certainly ecstatic that she had found someone. She had waited for love, and was very happy.

They lived together for three years, I think, before they got married. Three weeks after they were married, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He died a few weeks after that.

No jokes then, because this was serious and tragic. She continued to live in the house, work occasionally, acquire more pets, and become more and more new-agey, and more weird.

My uncle died in 1994. My mother and sister and I flew out to L.A. for his funeral, bringing a ten year old K along with us because R was off on a Girl Scout trip and I didn't want a ten year old home alone all day until the Hubs came home from work. Anyway, this was the most time I spent with this cousin since the airport visit. (Although I had certainly spoken to her after her husband passed away.) She was still sweet, and compassionate and cute, and weird. At one point, I recall, she was standing behind her mother, who was sitting in a chair, and she was cleansing her mother's aura, which I cannot describe to you because, of course, she wasn't actually doing anything.

Not long after that, as my aunt became more and more ill, she moved up north to live near her daughter, the nurse. So that's at least ten years now, and of course my aunt passed away a few weeks ago, which is what prompted this whole trip we're taking. During this time, let's see, my cousin became one of the Y2K people, who stockpiled supplies and spent that New Year's Eve in hiding because the world was somehow going to come to an end. She has one cat that doesn't get along with any of the other animals, so that cat has the master bedroom in the house. Cousin sleeps on a couch in the living room. And as you know, a vacation to her is a hotel where you can sit in your room and look out at the ocean.

I think Disney World will be wonderful for her, because she grew up in L.A., and must have gone to Disneyland hundreds of times, so I'm hoping it will be a nice recalling of childhood good times. Yes, she moves slowly, so I'll probably have been to two parks and six rides before she's ready to get up and go for the day. Even so, the whole thing falls under the category of doing a mitzvah, a good deed for someone who needs one.

And there you have it. She is not a sad person; she's actually kind of bubbly. She's just quirkier than most, even in a family of very quirky people.

I'll post a picture of us all from the Magic Kingdom when we go.





waiting for FRIENDS :: ENTRY #2028
READING: Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

And So On

My doctor's visit today resulted in a new medication, the one they advertise on TV with people made out of plumbing pipes. We'll see how that goes. I also got my bedroom straightened up and clothes put away, and my desk all tidy and even dusted, for heaven's sake.

But I know what you want to hear.

It was the oddest hurricane ever. For one, it struck on a summer afternoon with no warning. (I'm thinking now it was July, so it wasn't actually a hurricane, since they come later in the year. It was some kind of hellacious storm.) There were gale force winds and a whole lot of rain, but it never got dark like a hurricane does. Locally, we were still out driving around in it. Late afternoon, I brought older cousin and my two kids back to my house. Come dinnertime, we were going to IHOP. The phone rang.

It was crazy cousin, calling her sister to ask, essentially "WHAT DO I DO NOW?"

The four of us were in my family room, I recall, as the rain poured outside under a brightening sky. My girls and I heard only one side of the conversation, of course, which went like this:

"You need to go to Traveler's Aid."

"It's a desk. There's a sign above it that says 'Traveler's Aid'."

"Get a luggage cart."

"Okay, okay. Get a Skycap."

"A man with a luggage cart."

"It says "Skycap" on his hat."

"Which terminal are you in?"

"Okay. Turn left."

"About a hundred feet."

And so on. By this time, we were certain that 8 year old R could have figured this all out of her own; at least she would have read signs and figured out where the ladies room was. K could have done it at that point. But older cousin had to guide her sister through every step of the way. Finally, she was in the right place, and we went out to eat.

She called again as soon as we got back. The airlines had settled all the people from the canceled flight in an airport hotel, and re-booked them for the next day. She had had a choice of a morning flight and a late afternoon, and knowing how little she liked getting up and getting ready in a hurry, she picked the afternoon. In the meantime, she had the absolute time of her life. She hung out with the other passengers, she had a nice room, she got room service. She was in heaven, and assured us that no, we didn't have to pick her up in the morning and then bring her back in the afternoon, she'd enjoy the hotel and take the shuttle back.

You know what happened, right? Or not.

The storm blew back in the next afternoon, and her flight was canceled. Again. She went happily back to the hotel. My father was having an apoplexy. The rest of us could not stop laughing.

On the third day, she flew home to L.A. and her concerned parents. All was well, until a couple of months later, when she proclaimed that the incident at the airport had changed her life, and now she knew she could handle independence, so she was truly going to strike out on her own. She had a friend who lived in, of all places, Oregon, and she was moving there.

Uh ... yeah, right.

But she did. I guess she lived in an apartment at first, and worked to her level of what she could work.

Did she grow up? Did she find true love? Tune in tomorrow.



waiting for WIFE SWAP :: ENTRY #2027
READING: --- by ---

Sprung

It was a beautiful spring day today, a little blustery, but lovely. A great day to have no work to go to, only driving around doing errands and tasks all by myself. When no one else is in the car with me, I can turn up the radio and therefore hear it. (Otherwise I have to keep it turned down enough to hear conversation, which means other people can hear the radio, but I can't. :<)

Moving on from yesterday. My cousin lived at home with her parents until she was at least 30, maybe later. I know that at some point, her parents moved to a senior citizen community and she didn't live with them after that, but she probably moved out before, I guess once she finally finished college. (She was a very good student always, very book smart.) When she did move out, she rented a room in someone else's apartment. They were not roommates, as such; she was a tenant in someone else's apartment. She had her room, and of course, use of the bathroom and kitchen, although I doubt she used the kitchen much. I think that for a while she probably still joined her parents for dinner every evening. In her apartment, she had a bed and a small portable TV and no other furniture. (She also owned a car.) Everything she owned was still in boxes from when she moved; she used the boxes as her dresser. Oh, did I mention she has a bit of a compulsive shopping problem? I think it started around this time. She doesn't shop for expensive things, she just keeps acquiring more and more stuff. Still does.

She had friends, she socialized, she worked, or so we assumed here in New Jersey. (About the work, I mean; she did have friends and socialize.) The big turning point came in the summer of 1989.

Her older sister, as I've mentioned, is very accomplished. By this time, she had gotten two more master's degrees on top of her first one, had published one book, had traveled all over the world, and had a teenage son. She would visit us here once or twice a year, and was due to come in July. Her sister thought this would be a great opportunity to come and visit us as well, while her sister was here. It's also possible that her parents thought it would be good for her, and set it up. Either way, their schedules overlapped but were not the same, since one was coming from Colorado with her husband and child and the other from L.A. They all stayed in my parents' house.

One rainy afternoon, we sat around my sister's living room -- she lived in a big house then -- and chatted, while chaos reigned around us. Our children were then, let's see ...

Cousin's son, the oldest, turned 16 that week. (His father had gone to visit family out of state.)
JJ, my sister's eldest, was just 15.
Wonderful Niece and Good Guy nephew were 11.
R was 8.
K was 5.

The six of them were actually playing together, chasing each other all over the house, hiding behind the couch we were sitting on, up the stairs, down the stairs, scaring the little ones, big ones carrying the little ones, girls throwing things at boys, you know, the whole house full of children thing. Crazy Cousin was, in a word, overwhelmed.

She was amazed at the three of us, astonished that we could "do it." We looked at each other, blank. "Do what?"

Oh, you know. We had full time jobs and still somehow we found the time each week to do laundry! And go grocery shopping! And most amazing of all, raise children!!!

Uh .... none of the three of us knew how to reply. We were not superwomen. This is what you do, you know. Well, it turned out that she herself only worked part-time, maybe ten hours a week, because how could you possibly work full-time and get that other stuff done? Uh ...

My mother told us later that this made perfect sense to her, because it took the cousin hours and hours every morning just to get ready to leave the house. It might take her an hour to finish a half a piece of toast and a cup of tea. Whatever she did, she did it so slowly that it made everyone around her want to scream.

What was her job, you might wonder? Hold on. When she worked, she worked as a nurse in an AIDS ward. Now, this was the late 80's, so an AIDS ward was essentially a hospice, because there were no real treatments for AIDS then. On the job, she was sharp and quick (although she did once prick herself with a used needle), but she was so compassionate, that she was perfect for this job. It was, of course, incredibly draining emotionally, which she said was another reason she could only work for ten hours a week.

How did she live? No idea, although we've always assumed that her parents subsidized her. They would have had to, I think.

Her trip came to an end. She had a late afternoon flight out of Newark, but was more than happy to be dropped off at the airport hours earlier, even in those pre-security days, because then she wouldn't have to rush to get to the gate. (!) My father dropped her off around noon and then came home. Within an hour, there were sudden hurricane warnings all over the New York-New Jersey area, and all flights out of Newark were canceled.

What to do? My father had to be restrained from driving back in the hurricane to get her. "But her parents entrusted her care to us!" he said. "SHE'S FORTY YEARS OLD!" we told him. "She'll figure it out!"

Did she or didn't she? More tomorrow.




waiting for FRIENDS :: ENTRY #2026
READING: --- by ---

And Then

So, Easter at the ILS, all went well, we beat the traffic coming home. All fine.

I had a request for tales of my crazy cousin. I shall comply. I may have told some of the stories before; I won't get to them all in this post. Let me begin by saying that her parents had the best of intentions. When she was born, they already had a four year old superchild, one who taught herself to read at three, was reciting "The Highwayman" at four, and who had already won baby beauty contests. Then their second daughter was born, and they were told that she was "sickly." What does that mean? Anybody's guess. What it came to mean was that the parents, already having one brilliant and very independent child, had the time and energy to devote themselves to making life pleasant and easy for the little one, since she was apparently going to be having a tough life.

I don't know that she ever did, although she was always small for her age, and never developed anything remotely like independence. She was plenty smart, always a good student, was cute, and had friends. At home, her parents trained her to make them her slaves. I first knew her, really, when my mother, my sister and I visited them for a month in California when I was seven. My sister was twelve, my older cousin was 15, and her little sister, whom I've been calling the crazy cousin, was eleven, but she was my size, and we were more or less playmates, even though she was only a year younger than my sister, who saw herself much more in the teenager mold of the older cousin.

In the evening, we two younger kids would watch TV. I got to stay up past my bedtime because her bedtime was later than mine. If she wanted a snack, here is what she did: she raised her skinny little arm up into the air, snapped her fingers -- loud -- and called out "Mom! Choc-bik!" My aunt would come from wherever she was in the house (it wasn't big, a cute little California ranch), acknowledge her daughter's request, and then disappear into the kitchen, to return a moment later with a big glass of chocolate milk, the only thing the kid would drink. How did the mother let this go? The mother had taught the kid to do it this way, that this was the way you asked your mother for chocolate milk when you were eleven. Not looking forward to a trip to the emergency room with a broken arm, I never once tried this on my mother, even at seven, although I did develop a ten-year addiction to chocolate milk as a result of this vacation. (I mixed the Hershey's syrup into my own milk.)

The older cousin graduated from high school at 16, and from UCLA at about 19, including taking a semester off to go abroad. She was 20 when she started graduate school here in New Jersey, at which point she became like an extra sister in my household. The younger cousin finished high school and started college at the normal ages, also with a scholarship to UCLA. The only thing is, she couldn't settle on a major. Ultimately, she did finish college -- I don't know what happened to the scholarship -- after about ten years, with about ten years worth of undergraduate credits. It took her so long because she kept changing her major; she has her bachelor's degree and is a nurse.

She could also go to school for so long because she continued to live at home. Her mother continued to make all her meals, do her laundry, clean her room, etc. She may have had the occasional part-time job, although I don't know how.

When she was in her early twenties, maybe 23, her parents went out one evening, leaving her on her own for dinner for the first time ever in her life. But they prepared her for it; they bought a TV dinner for her to make for herself. They came home to find fire engines on the street in front of the house. Hey, did you know that it doesn't say anywhere on the TV dinner box take the food tray out of the box? Well, it might now; this was nearly 40 years ago.

She continued to have many friends, and date, and got several marriage proposals, all, presumably, from men who wanted to take care of her. She really was very cute and pretty. But she never felt that any of these men was the right one for her (to her credit, I guess; she wanted to marry for love and not for security.)

And that's the first part of her story. More to follow.





waiting for MARY POPPINS :: ENTRY #2025
READING: --- by ---

Big Finish at the Superbowl

Chai, you've spent weeks on the phone with your cousin and sister, trying to work out the details of this trip. What are you going to do now?

I'm going to Disney World.

Not that I'm not looking forward to going, but seriously, the craziness could all have been avoided. Ever since this first came up a couple of years ago, my sister has said that when the trip came to pass, we'd go to Disney World, which was, of course, all right with me. Then when my aunt actually died, and the trip became more than hypothetical, she said that the others didn't want to go there, which again, was okay with me. All along the way here, I'd assumed that she and normal cousin had agreed on this long ago. Which maybe they did. It doesn't matter anymore, because, you know,

I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!

We're going in late August, and having been there at that time of year, I can tell you that it is plenty damn hot, but you're in and out of air conditioning and sitting by pools and such, so it's okay. More details to follow, I'm sure, as it approaches.

In the meantime, crazy cousin vetoed Toronto because "it creeped her out." Hmm. I cannot imagine why this would creep her out, although her passport issue really made that impossible. What about the "sitting and looking at water" issue? I have no idea. Once Disney World was on the table, the two cousins were ecstatic, or so normal cousin told me.

I have mentioned the insanity in my family before, right?

So, I got many tasks done this morning after sleeping late, a good start to the vacation. We're leaving mid-morning tomorrow to head down to the ILS fo Easter brunch; I have no idea when we'll be home, but I wouldn't be surprised if they kept us there all day long.

So there ya go.





waiting for TWO AND A HALF MEN :: ENTRY #2024
READING: --- by ---

The Continuing Saga

You know, the more people you deal with when you're trying to plan something, the crazier it gets. And if one of the people is crazy to start with, well ...

You remember the cousins and the trip we're trying to plan. The number one crazy has several priorities, we've been told, for any trip she takes. One, she must be able to look at water. (Yes, ???) Her sister has clarified this for me: she will not actually sit on a beach, but she likes to sit in the hotel, preferably her own room, and look out at the ocean. So, seriously, WTF? She has also said that she wants to go someplace warm. But wait, aren't we traveling in the summer? Isn't every place, you know, warm? (We have no plans whatsoever to visit the southern hemisphere.)

So, in conversation with the normal cousin about an hour ago, we hashed out more of this, and then I said, well, hey, my sister says there are all kinds of packages out there; she's seen them in the newspaper. Such as? Well, I says, says I, I know this isn't what anyone wants, but there's this fabulous package to Disney World: five nights, airfare, park passes, and two meals and a snack a day, all for less than $650 a person.

Pause. More pause. Still, pausing. And she says, Wow. That sounds great.

Why yes, yes it does. It is certainly nowhere near the ocean, although there's a helluva lot of pools there, and warm? Yes, I think Disney World in August (when the package availability starts) should be warm enough for anyone who wants it to be warm.

What other packages are there? she wonders. The only other one I remember, I tell her, is three nights in Toronto for about $350, airfare and four star hotel. Well. That sounds great, too. (And no ocean in Toronto either, I might point out.)

So, normal cousin has okayed either of those (!!!!!!!) and is calling her sister to get her ... I don't know, input? hallucination? anybody's guess, here ... and then will call me back tonight or tomorrow to let me know which they prefer.

I'm perfectly happy with either one of them, although, Disney World, well, you know. I think part of the excitement for normal cousin is to go there with me, since I have the reputation of being kind of the ultimate Mouseketeer. I'd like to see Toronto, too, although I can't imagine that crazy cousin has a passport, or can get one in any normal stretch of time.

In real life, my baby turned 25 today, yay! We had a nice shopping excursion, and she's going out in a bit with her sister plus the Gentleman Friend, as well as several friends. When she woke up this morning, her daddy (The Hubs) had left an orchid plant for her on the kitchen table. Aww.

And I did get to sleep in this morning, and it was heaven. Tomorrow, too.




waiting for WIFE SWAP :: ENTRY #2023
READING: --- by ---

I'm Free, I'm Free!

Oh heavens, it will be so good not to have to wake up at six for the next ... counting on fingers ... TEN DAYS!!!! YAY!!!!!

Yes, btw, Passover is a very happy holiday, and Happy Passover! is the appropriate greeting. You know, I am free with the Yiddish, but Yiddish is not universal among Jewish people. It's the language of the Jews of Eastern Europe, certainly the largest group of Jews there were (and probably still are), but not the only. It's my heritage, but a friend whose parents were refugees from Nazi Germany, and who is of German Jewish stock going back centuries, does not have Yiddish in her background, and their foods and traditions are a little different. Most different for me, though, is another teacher at school who was a refugee from Iran (along with her family) after the revolution there. The history of the Persian Jews goes back to Biblical times, and their customs, foods, etc. are very distinctive.

Okay, finished with that holiday. I look forward to a week of sleeping, reading, getting tasks done, one medical test, more sleeping, and so on. Especially the sleeping.




waiting for FAMILY GUY :: ENTRY #2022
READING: --- by ---

Bad Girl

I have not been so good with the updates lately, partly because I am SOOOOOOOOO TIRED when I get home, and partly because my life is boringly not-unpleasant these days. I did promise to let you hear the library at lunchtime, though; it's here. Turn up the volume.

I'm re-working the library website at school, which is interesting and keeping me occupied, so that was good today.

Big weekend coming up. K turns 25 on Friday, plus Sunday is Easter at the IlS. Going for brunch this year, which means noon; I have no faith whatsoever that the SIL and her family will be there on time. But at least we won't be driving north on the Parkway in all the traffic after dinner.

So, my baby is 25. That's very weird.

And tonight is the first night of Passover. We don't do anything to observe it, but it was so my favorite holiday as a child, a family dinner with Grandpa Sam center stage. It was never about the religion, or even the food, which was ordinary; it was about him. Ah, he was the best.

And so we wish each other a zissen Pesasch, a sweet Passover. Even now, it feels somehow good to know that once we were slaves and became free. There is always hope, and a sweetness to a holiday that commemorates that as spring brings the earth back to life. And for me, memories of Grandpa Sam singing the prayers; Grandma Ida bustling around the table; awful, super-sweet Kosher wine; collecting my little reward of a dollar for bringing the afikomen, the ceremonial matzo, back to the table (kids have to steal it and adults have to ransom it back to continue the service); and tipsy Grandpa laughing all evening after the seder was over and we were singing Had Gad Ya and Dayenu, both of which, now that I look back, were clearly drinking songs, since the tipsier you were, the funnier they got. Next year in Jerusalem! we say at the end of a seder, but my hope for next year is to be here with my family, and with you all.

Ooh, seems to be maudlin day here at the Chai's. Speaking of which, l'chaim! (To life!) And good night.



waiting for FRIENDS :: ENTRY #2021
READING: --- by ---

I Made This in School Today

It was arts and crafts day for me in the library. I had no classes in for instruction until the afternoon, so instead of looking through a catalog and ordering bookmarks (since we're nearly out of them), I downloaded a template from the Office website and made my own. I put quotations on some of them, as suggested in the template, and after I used up the two good library quotations I had, I started going for books, movies, and so on. Now I think I'm going to ask the staff to suggest things for the bookmarks, but I'll wait until after vacation (which is next week), since this week they'll be busy doing grades and stuff.

In other news, no sleep for the weary last night. I slept in five to twenty minute bursts most of the night, although possibly for an hour straight somewhere between three and four. I do not like this at all.

It's a four day week this week, Good Friday, then followed by a whole week off. I just have to keep dragging myself, Quasimodo-like, through the days.


waiting for TWO AND A HALF MEN :: ENTRY #2020
READING: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Cubin' (and a Meme)

There is a group of boys who come into the library every day during first lunch and pull out Rubik's Cubes -- four or five in all -- and compete to see who can solve them the fastest. It took me months, until yesterday, to realize that the sporadic "crack!" I hear is them slamming the cubes onto the table when they finish. I asked them to quit that.

Otherwise, lunchtime in the library is generally a cacophony. Cacophany is an excellent word, and I'll tell you the first time I heard it. In 8th grade, we were in French class, where we had a delightful, if clueless, teacher who was herself, I believe, Egyptian-born. Madame Tomich, as I recall. Anyway, one day one of the boys in class let out a long, loud fart. It did nothing for the air quality in the room, but it was the sound that really drew everyone's attention, a sound that no teacher could just let pass by, so we knew that sweet, genteel Madame would have to say something. She did. In her quavery, French-accented voice, she said "Ooo la, quel cacophony!" We knew what she meant, of course, given the context, but we all begged her to translate that funny French word into English. She was so puzzled, and said several times that it meant "cacophony" and we would say, no, in English! How do you say that in English?" until she finally got across to us that it was the same word, English and French. And then, embarrassed, given the context, she had to tell us what it meant, and she couldn't believe that we didn't already know.

I was going to give you a little sample of the library cacophony at lunchtime, but I have to convert the file from the iPhone to, I don't know, something. For the future.

No news on the trip yet. I handed the ball off to the Sibs, who can be very good at putting the ball away in an unused closet and forgetting it's there, or that there's a game in play. I asked her to call the Cousin so the two of them could sort things out, but she hasn't, to my knowledge, and the Cousin is going to call me tonight or over the weekend. Uh, thanks. As for me, I'm could pack tonight for a moment's-notice trip to Disney World, if anyone's interested. Not that we're going tonight, anywhere, I'm just saying I'm ready. I have a list.

I saw a little meme over at k-lo's, and there's also this award thingy going around that the empress was kind enough to add my name to.

Its a Hubs/Wifey meme.

♥ What are your middle names?
I don't have one. His is Anthony.

♥ How long have you been together?
Married 33 years come July, together for two years before that.

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met on the first day of high school, when we were in a class together. We Did Not Get Along. He was the only boy in high school I had the chutzpah to talk to, and all we did was argue with each other.

♥ Who asked who out?
We ran into each other one August evening, the summer after college graduation, at the town library. He asked me if I wanted to go out for a drink later.

♥ How old are each of you?
I'm 56. He'll be 56 in the fall.

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
I see my sister as often as I can. We see his sister at Christmas and Easter, and occasionally in between.

♥ Do you have any children together?
We have two fine daughters in their twenties.

♥ What about pets?
Our two little feline friends passed on two summers ago.

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
We're not social people, so we are both unhappy at parties, and similar social situations. With each other, I think we don't communicate all that well all the time, but I don't know if he thinks so too (because of the communication problem.)

♥ Did you go to the same school?
High school, yes.

♥ Are you from the same home town?
We both grew up here in Bizarro Town. I moved here when I was 8, he's lived here since he was born.

♥ Who is smarter?
We used to argue about this in our early, lovey-dovey years. I said he was, he said I was. Aw.

♥ Who is more sensitive?
He is like a wall, mostly, but who knows what he could be hiding behind that? Could be him, but most likely me.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
A vegetarian Chinese restaurant near here.

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Disney World, I think. He didn't like it.

♥ Who has the craziest exes?
Our exes are so far in the past that it's a subject that never comes up. But I did.

♥ Who has the worse temper?
He has a scary temper, when he lets it go. He breaks things. But mostly he takes his anger out on himself.

♥ Who does the cooking?
He cooks for himself. I mostly get take-out.

♥ Who is more social?
Neither one of is social, or wants to be.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
He is very, very tidy.

♥ Who is more stubborn?
Both of us.

♥ Who hogs the bed?
If anyone, he does.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
It was him for the first 30 years, but now it varies with the day.

♥ Where was your first date?
Our first attempt at a date was in our senior year of high school; we played tennis. Our first date after high school was to a movie, The Andromeda Strain. Our first real date was to a really nice restaurant/bar not far from here called The Iron Horse.

♥ Who has the bigger family?
We each have one sister. His sister has two children, mine has six (combined with her husband.) There is no one left in my parents' generation on my side, but they're all there on his.

♥ Do you get flowers often?
Nevah! He knows that I'm allergic, and thoughtfully never brings me any.

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
Christmas and Easter with his side, Thanksgiving with mine.

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
After he took me home from that first date out for a drink, I watched his car pull away from the curb and said to myself -- out loud -- "Oh my god! I'm going to marry him!" We both knew within two weeks that this was it.

♥ Who eats more?
He can pack it away, but no meat. I eat a lot of cheese and ice cream and stuff, which he also doesn't eat.

♥ Who does/ did the laundry?
I do mine, he does his.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
I am probably, but only because I know about things that he doesn't care about and would never bother to learn.

♥ Who drives when you are together?
He does, usually, but if it's a short drive and we're going in my car, sometimes I will.


waiting for TWO AND A HALF MEN :: ENTRY #2019
READING: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

It's WHAT Time?

Today is the Slowest.Day.Ever. I cannot believe that it's only 10:15, third period, for gosh sake. I feel like I have already been here for weeks today.

It's because today isn't busy. I only have two classes scheduled, and neither one of them needs instruction; I taught them what to do on Tuesday and they're here in the library today looking for their resources. The counseling department is using our library classroom all day to teach juniors how to use college-searching software, so we didn't schedule any classes for instruction. And our computer network is slow, so there's no email, no access to the circulation system. In other words, I'm bored, and when I'm bored, I get sleepy.

But I do have a cup of coffee, which is meh cafeteria coffee, but still. Sometimes I take a sip of coffee and I feel like I'm consuming something intended for the gods on Mount Olympus. You know? It's just so good, life affirming, coffee is. I heart coffee, even decaf.

The last word I had on the Trip That Dare Not Speak Its Name is that my sister said "Why don't we just go to Disney World?" Now, I'm never opposed to that, of course, but she'd better make sure it's okay with the cousins, and she'd better make sure it's a cheap trip. She said she sees good deals in the paper every day; I said, well, I don't read the paper, so maybe you could check it out? I'm working all day and she's retired. I'll be glad to jump in when it's time to book stuff, but for now, yeah, maybe someone else who's not working -- that would be all three of them -- can do the legwork?

In the meantime, because I am who I am, I allowed myself the simple pleasure of looking over my Disney trip packing list, tweaking it here and there. If we go there -- wherever we go, actually -- I want this to be a simplified thing for me, so I'm working on packing simply. No computer, no extra cell phone, just the iPhone. If we do go to Florida or any other place that's humid, I'll let my hair go curly when I get there, so I won't need whatever else I do to straighten my hair here. The Sibs and I are committed to not checking luggage. This is a challenge for her someone who used to travel, even by plane, with the Costco size bottles of everything she needed. Our first trip to Disney together, she unpacked a foot-high container of baby powder and I laughed for ten minutes.

DW at the end of June -- when the cousins, it seems, really really really want to go -- is good and hot, but I've done it before, and it is Disney World, after all. (And did I mention that we also have to go to Florida in September, during freaking hurricane season again, for a Bar Mitzvah? That my cousin down there has three sons? The Sibs and I missed the first one last year because a storm blew in that then turned and blew out, so we could have gone, but we were chickenshits. This time, we've practically sworn in blood that we're going, and I am very fond of this particular Bar Mitzvah boy. But again, Florida in early September. Good plan.)

It's 10:30. Fourth period. I feel like I'm in Lost, and this has all happened already in the future, so we know how it's going to come out. Or something. Somehow, it's earlier now than it was yesterday. Hey, it doesn't make any sense on TV either.

Hours and hours later ...

Home, been home for ages, almost ready for bed. It's Friday, right? No? Shit.

Anyway, I went to my wonderful therapist today and she thinks I don't need to go anymore. Hey, I'm normal! (But you couldn't tell, right?) I can call her whenever I need to, etc. etc., but basically, I'm dealing well with things, she says. Oh, okay, I am, pretty much, until the next diagnosis comes along.

I'm going to settle in somewhere now. Good night, y'all.


waiting for TWO AND A HALF MEN :: ENTRY #2018
READING: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett