Here I Am Again

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WATCHING SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS :: ENTRY #1607

Half Over

August 1 -- okay, August 2 -- makes the summer half over. So far, one of the strangest and least satisfying of my 54 summers, but all in all, okay. Nothing terrible happened, I actually went on a nice vacation, I got pretty jewelry, I don't have a heart condition ... I don't know, maybe this is a kind of unease that will be with me during the summers until I retire. There's a nasty thought. Anyway, it's okay, it's just not spectacular. I'm not sure what it would have to be to be spectacular, but it's okay.

I just finished that Good Omens book, which was likewise okay. I like very much that I'm reading more this summer. At least when I wonder in September where all the time went, I'll know I read several good books. Still debating what to pick up next, but I have several at hand.

When I got up yesterday, I decided to go for a walk in the park, but as soon as I got there I needed the bathroom, of course, and theirs had been demolished to make way for a new one. I got back in the car to come home, but decided to go instead to the town's new Recreation Center, which I had heard has a walking track. (And a bathroom, I assumed.) So I got myself signed up there and walked the track for ten minutes or so. The thing is, the track is 1/16th of a mile, so it's pretty short, and just after I started walking, around 9.00, troops of adolescent boys charged into the gym (which the track overlooks, like a balcony surrounding the gym) for summer basketball camp. I could barely hear my headphones over the noise. Anyway, ten minutes was my limit, so home I went.

I went back this morning, but still could only manage about 10 minutes, even though I got there well before the basketball boys. Even so, and despite two attempted naps during the day that were aborted by ill-timed phone calls, I managed to do a 20 minute workout with one of the Walk Away the Pounds videos this afternoon. Looks like that may be my best way to go, especially since the Rec Center is closed for cleaning or something during the third week in August, and their hours during the school year won't work for me at all.

What about the gym? I'm still thinking about it. For one, I have to get into better shape just to use the gym. It's one thing to peter out after ten minutes when I'm four minutes away from home. It's another to drive ten minutes each way, sign in, put stuff in a locker, and then crawl out of there ten minutes later. And I learned last year that it was hard to work regular trips to the gym into a my work week. But I'm not giving up on it totally yet. I should be ready to investigate that option again in a week or two. For now, I've got to get up tomorrow morning and walk away some pounds before I do anything else, I think. I'll give it a shot, anyway.

In other news, K is finished with her summer class, so she's got the month of August off, too. I'd like to plan a day trip into the city with her to visit my OldFriend, hopefully the week after next.

In other, wonderful news, there was an article in the town paper today that a former student, in fact, a boy who was Junior class president when I was class advisor, is back from his second tour in Afghanistan, having served there for a total of 25 months. A wonderful, wonderful boy, an Eagle Scout, he was an intelligence officer there. When he came home, our Congressman, who, it so happens, moved here to Bizarro Town not long after he was elected, was there to greet him as well. I was very, very happy to see that this young man is home safe and sound. Nice news.

I'm late posting tonight because I was finishing the book, and now I'm tired and sleepy. Time to settle in for the night.

WATCHING LAW & ORDER :: ENTRY #1542

Girly Day

I am not what anyone would call a girly girl, but I had a girly girl day today, sort of. I had gotten an email from the gym/spa that they were having a discount on spa services this weekend, and my hands are all dry and scratchy from the winter and from washing them all the time, between being sick myself and all the various cat effluvia I deal with -- more on that in a minute, so look forward to it -- so I set up an appointment for a hand and foot treatment. Having no idea what one should wear to such a thing, I wore cropped jeans and sandals, and a tank top, but with a shirt over it. I felt so alien, but ... well, girly. Turns out the spa treatments pretty much all involve putting on one of their robes over your underwear and lying on a table in a darkened room with new age-y music playing, and let me tell you .... ahhhhh. It was really, really nice. It was a reflexology massage combined with a parrafin treatment, and other lotions and stuff, and boy, was it relaxing. When it was done, the .. I don't know, person, said to relax all day and hydrate, and of course, I left there and went directly to the supermarket on the other side of the same parking lot, so I can't say I did the relaxing thing. Although I have read a bunch of Harry today, so I guess I did.

I just heard that the big signboard out in front of the high school is now advertising the week's play upcoming, and basically says "Title of Play" performed by the drama club written by ALUMNA R. CHAI. So it's her name up in lights, in an incredibly small-pond kind of way. Neato. I'll have to go take a picture tomorrow.

Cat effluvia, as promised. Now, one would think that having one cat instead of two in the house would diminish said cat effluvia by half. This has not been the case. Boo only pukes up the occasional actual hairball, as any cat would, but it's generally solid and nature and easily disposed of. But since last week, he has only puddled poo once, and that is his thing, man. He still doesn't poo in the litterbox, but the little tokens of affection he leaves for us are likewise solid, and easily disposed of. He only pees once a day, and in the litterbox. I'd like to say it's a mystery, but I don't think it is. He always ate some of Q's canned food, and when she was sick, and turned up her nose at it, he ate as much of it as he could get to. Now he's restricted to his own dry food, so there you go. The Hubs said for years that it was the canned food causing it, but really, there was no way to keep him away from it. Okay, it's not bad enough that I'm writing about poop, now I'm writing about cat poop. This is the excitement that is me.

Oh, and I smell really good, too. (I know, non sequitur.) It's the aromatherapy stuff she used on me this morning. It's irritating my allergies a little bit, but it's really nice. Either that or the smell of the brownies K made last night is still lingering in the house. I'm still a little stuffy, so it's hard to tell.

Speaking of K, she should be home shortly from her last day working at The Gap. I think she'll be a little sad, especially since the manager she doesn't get along with wasn't there today, so she's only leaving people that she likes. (Which is why she made them brownies.) But it's time. She still hasn't decided if she's going to take classes in July or look for a camp job, but she shouldn't have trouble getting a camp job if she wants one. Either way. When either of my kids says that she's "broke", I have come to understand that this means they are not saving as much each week as they want to. So I know she has enough to carry herself through the summer until she can start subbing again in September.

Chinese food is here. Time to eat.


watching Lifetime :: entry #1453

Peeve Alert

[copied from dland]

Today's entry is brought to you by the pet peeve "poor editing." I can only assume that poor editing is responsible, because writers will make mistakes but editors are supposed to catch them and correct them before they're published. And just because your newspaper -- or news whatever -- is online, mistakes should not be excused, nor standards relaxed.

The one that got me today is an error that couldn't even have been made, let's say 30 years ago. Here goes.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may have thought that she could escape the controversy over her exchange with Senator Barbara Boxer (D., Cal.) by coming to the Middle East, but she has another thing coming.

What's wrong with this sentence?

For one, to have "another thing coming" is a colloquialism, and has no place in journalism, where a more formal style is appropriate. But I do understand that such standards have relaxed in recent years, so I'm going to let that one go. However:

ANOTHER THING COMING??????

Editors, please read the sentence, and really, don't use colloquialisms unless you can get it right. The essential part of the sentence is

Condoleezza Rice may have thought .... but she has another thing coming.

Folks, what she has got coming is another think. She had a thought ... the implication is that she was wrong ...therefore, what she needs is another think, not another thing. This turn of phrase is what makes it informal, a bit of a tongue-in-cheek use of language.

Sheesh.

I return you know to your regularly scheduled entry.

---

I gymmed this morning, and plan to tomorrow, since I'm not going into work. Even though I had cut back on my original gym plan when I went back, I think it was still too ambitious for me to achieve. I need to start even smaller, and make that a regular habit, and then pick up more. I've decided not to do any classes at all for now, unless the new schedule coming out in two weeks has that Gentle Yoga at a time I can go. Otherwise, I'm just doing the weights, and instead of planning Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday, I'll just go whenever and as often as I can, and hopefully, it will be at least three times a week. Part of the after-work problem is that I'm more comfortable changing at home and going in with just my keys and headphones and not schlepping a bag and changing there, but once I'm home, it's hard to get out again. Gotta get that all worked out.

From the *SMACK!* I coulda hadda V8! department:

So I was back from the gym and fiddling with this entry, among other things, and K stomps through the kitchen carrying an armful of sheets. The midnight pooper has struck again. Poor Boo is an old cat and loves K's bed and is not intentionally pooping everywhere, he just can't help it. So she puts her sheets in the washer, making that every day this week, and plops onto the couch in the family room. When this happened yesterday, she announced with justified annoyance: "We've got to put a door on my room."

Easier said than done, Grasshopper, our house is not so conducive to doors. The only rooms that have them are the Hubs' and my bedroom, and the bathroom. Her room is up the steps to the attic and then poof, it's a room. Putting a door up there would involve building a wall, which should have been done before we put down the carpet, but we didn't.

But this morning, she was so miserable and it occurred to me for the first time -- we've lived in this house for 20 years -- that we can put a door at the bottom of the stairs. The bottom, where there's already a door frame ... what a concept! This is so easy that 10 years ago, I could have done it myself, but now I'll call someone or other. All it involves is buying a bi-fold door, painting it, and putting it up. I'll make a call or two tomorrow. It probably won't even be an expensive job, I wouldn't think. Another problem solved.

Next problem is that I've got to replace the rug in the living room -- again, hello cats -- and I'm going to be smarter this time and get even cheaper rugs that I can throw into the washing machine. I almost don't care what they look like. If I could get one of these and it was machine-washable, I would get it. (Maybe I could make little road signs for the cats that say "Poop Here" or something.) I'm considering the biggest bathroom rugs I can find, if they don't look too plush, i.e., like bathroom rugs. Someday, I'll get really really nice rugs, probably just in time for grandchildren to throw up on them, but I'll cross that bridge when I need to.

I have been very, very good with the eye drops today. The hearing aids have been irritating -- just cut out before for no reason and then came back -- but the eye drops are working out. Yes, I'm 15 years later than I should have been in doing this, but hey, whatever. What's a little corneal damage among friends at the old age home.

It's 2:00 in the afternoon and I'm crashing. I need to put my head down somewhere and sleep, even if it's for 15 minutes. Later.


WATCHING GILMORE GIRLS on DVD :: ENTRY #1348

The Next Day

[copied from dland]

Again, thanks for the neat birthday wishes and ecards and stuff.

We just got back from dinner out at a vegan Chinese restaurant in the small city where R lives. Very nice, and I've got plenty of Crispy Tofu for tomorrow. The sauce was delish.

So I continue to sleep a lot -- unusual for me -- and yet I am dragging myself around, exhausted. I got out of bed this morning at 8, an unheard of hour; I'd rather be in Target at 7 -- and by 11, I was leaving the supermarket and wondering if I had the energy to get to my car. I thought I'd close my eyes for a while when I got home, but the phone kept ringing. I did improve somewhat through the day, but I'm getting ready to crash again.

My knee is hurting me today, not where it was actually broken, but in the spot I felt the "pop" when it first happened. (The bone was fractured in the center, but the pain is on the side.) Since I know the bone is healed (which I know because it doesn't hurt every day, just sometimes) I am going to have to assume that this is something I just have to live with. Going to the gym is probably good for it, and I need to make myself go more often. I so love it there and feel good about being there and what I'm doing, I just can't get up the energy to go do it often enough. I'm shooting for tomorrow morning.

I also need to get better about using eye drops. In one of my recent searches for more hearing aid information, I came across the message boards for the Acoustic Neuroma Association, which I've seen before but haven't participated in for years. Once again, I do see how lucky I am, as many of these people were left with impairments far worse than mine. But others, it seems, had doctors who knew what they were doing beyond the surgery; mine did not. My surgery went very well, but it never occurred to him that physical therapy might help my facial paralysis, and that there were other treatments for my paralyzed eyelid. Even so, there was a board talking about dry-eye and they're right, eye drops often are the answer and I must do it. I was also curious to see that there are AN people exploring the use of Botox to help with some of the facial paralysis, which is interesting; apparently it has been helpful to some Bell's Palsy patients. Maybe I'll see what the new doctor has to say. It might do something for that spot over my right eyebrow that's kind of frozen in a down position, so unless I can relax my face 100% -- try that sometime -- I have a bit of a permanent scowl look. Wouldn't mind getting rid of that. The hope is that freezing the damaged muscle in a relaxed position, which the Botox does, will give the nearby muscles a chance to try to work normally so that when the Botox wears off in time the problem doesn't come back. I'm sure I'll have to ask a plastic surgeon at some point, but it's an interesting thought.

R was telling us all about her job at dinner, and she seems very happy about it. It looks like a pleasant and good job, and is probably one she can have for life, if she wants it. I already knew that this was a company that keeps employees very long term, but she confirmed it; the others told her that "nobody ever leaves."

K, in the meantime, went to campus today and got her student ID and textbooks, and starts classes on Wednesday. She's on a path, but sometimes it's hard for her to hear about her sister's cool job and all, although she's not actually jealous, as such. But by the time she's her sister's current age, she'll have a good job, too, teaching. It's what she wants, and always has. If she had taken a different route, she'd be teaching today, but you know, you make decisions and you have to deal with the results. She won't regret it in the long run, but she's losing patience with it a bit now, I think. Ah, well. It'll be better once the semester gets underway and she's busy.

Okay, it's the couch for me.


WATCHING SVU :: ENTRY #1347

Whoop De Freakin' Do

[copied from dland]

I have never quite gotten the whole New Year's Eve thing. As a kid, I was dying to be able to stay up late enough "to see the ball drop," and when I was a teenager and babysitting on NYE, I would watch it on TV, sitting alone in a quite house (the kids were asleep) and see all the hoopla and wonder what the big deal was. Okay, it's a minute later than it was a minute ago. I'm over it.

So I ended up taking all the ornaments off the tree last night, and then when I got up this morning, the Hubs had taken down the lights and the tree was already put away in the basement. All gone, Christmas!

I went to the gym this morning, where I ran into my original trainer, so I had to fill her in on my story, and then I started my routine, which went very well. It only takes about a half hour, since at this point I'm only doing 15 reps on each machine. (Hey, get me! I know what a rep is!) I think if I can do this two or three times a week, in a week or two I won't feel any soreness or achiness afterwards, and it's not that bad now, I'm just aware of it. I think in general that I'll feel better if I keep to it, and that's the whole point. I'm not even thinking about weight loss at this point. If I can walk up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing, I'll be happy as a clam.

(heh. Happy as a clam.)

The girls have gone out to a movie -- the Museum movie, I think -- and are coming back home for a gala New Year's Eve filled with sushi and Godfather movies. Neither of them has ever seen even one of the movies, which is kind of amazing since they are both movie fanatics, as we are, and the first two Godfathers are probably the Hubs' top two movies of all time, or are at least in his top five. It is kind of amazing that the first two movies are so incredibly good and the third one is so abominable. I only hope that they choose to have this marathon up in K's bedroom, since I'm not so keen on sitting in my desk chair for hours watching the antics of the various Corleones while they watch in the family room, which is where I basically live, not to mention where I fall asleep every night. We'll see how it plays out. I'm watching the Law & Order: SVU marathon today and I've got a Mac magazine to read. My big plans.

So, I got me one more day off. Although I've enjoyed this week very much, I find I don't have the same dread about going back that I've had in the last couple of years. All the time that the library was closed, I really never thought that having a new library would make a difference to me; I would still hate every minute there and be counting down to retirement. I don't feel that way so much. The worst thing at this point is not having the Colleague there in the library with us, but that's a done deal and not likely to change. As much as I miss her every day, that's ...

Took a break there for 45 minutes because while I was writing about the Colleague SHE CALLED FINALLY and her granddaughter's surgery was very, very successful and all is well. Tremendous relief for all concerned. Amazing what miracles they can perform with surgery these days.

Okay, I'm going to post now so I can call the Sibs and fill her in on the phone call. Happy New Year, all!


WATCHING SVU :: ENTRY #1336

The Continuing Saga of Me

[copied from dland]

I toddled off to the gym this morning for a 9:15 appointment with the trainer. Early, as usual, so I stopped into the CVS next door to pick up a couple of things, and ran into a colleague who retired last year and who, of course, looked fabulous. I don't know if I've mentioned this guy before, but when he retired he decided to pursue his lifelong dream and he started pounding the pavement, as they say, auditioning in New York for whatever he could find, and now, he told me, he does a lot of Law and Order episodes. He has no lines, you understand, has never had one and doesn't expect ever to get one, but they use him as a background extra regularly. Cool, eh?

So there I was at the gym, and the trainer set up a whole routine for me on the weight machines, and one thing with lifting dumbbells, and a couple of floor exercises. She also showed me two of the aerobic machines that I can do at my own pace to warm up and cool down. My plan is to go do this twice a week, plus yoga on Saturday mornings; she also pointed out a Pilates class -- I really have no idea what Pilates is -- that she thinks I can do, and that's on Monday evenings, at 6:00, I believe. Which turns out to be a good time for me, as K will be in an evening class on Mondays, so I won't have to provide any kind of dinner for her that night. (I assume she'll eat on campus, since she'll be there on Mondays from 10 am until 8 pm.)

And then I had a nice massage. Not the best ever, but far from the worst ever, so that was okay. I did feel very good afterwards, so I guess it was okay, and the masseuse was very nice.

The Sibs and I went out for lunch and an intense make-up discussion, since she's converted me to this make-up she's been using, and really, we were like teenagers comparing what we use, and how to put it on, and so forth. We did everything but giggle; it was fun. Turns out she's gotten most of her stuff on QVC, so I went to their website when I got home and ordered another item. Okay, two, but they were good deals, really. What can I say. I have mental problems.

My plan for tomorrow is to hit the mall when it opens and return a couple of things to Macy's. (The MIL gives gift receipts with everything now, fortunately.) I was also going to return something to Penny's, a sweatshirt she got for the Hubs, but I just looked at it and I like it, so I'm keeping it for me. He'd already told me to return and keep the money, or donate the shirt, or whatever, he doesn't care, so I might as well get some use out of it, a nice, cuddly, gray Nike sweatshirt. One less errand for me tomorrow.

I turns out I have a cold after all, which is pretty close on the tail of the last one, less than a month ago, but so far it's not that bad. I'm not coughing or headachy or feverish, I'm just stuffed up and sneezing a lot. It wakes me up a lot at night, too, but what else is new; something would be waking me up if not a cold.

Okay, off to post and juggle the cars in the driveway before the Hubs gets home.


WATCHING STILL STANDING :: ENTRY #1334

Nothing Broken

[copied from dland]

I went to the gym this morning and took a class called Gentle Yoga and it was wonderful and I did not break a single bone, or my glasses, or anything else. I did have amusing conversations with a couple of people about just being back at the gym after having broken a bone in my knee, and when they asked where I broke it, I pointed at the second treadmill and said "Right over there," which was of course not what they meant, but who could pass up such an opportunity?

I also had to clean the oven today, which does not happen often here since the oven is rarely used for anything except K baking the occasional cake, but the Hubs made garlic bread on Christmas Eve and didn't put a cookie sheet under the foil holding the bread, and, well, you know the rest. I actually still should really run the self-cleaning cycle, but I had to clean it first or the house would have smelled like burning olive oil for the rest of time.

My last big adventure of the day was taking the hairy little beasts for their annual check-up, which somehow turned into an hour-long ordeal. The vet wanted to check the condition of BooBoo's kidneys before giving him a rabies shot, so that's bloodwork, and if it's okay -- I suspect it will be -- I've got to bring him back for the shot. He was suspicious because he's lost a half-pound, which is significant for a cat who only weighed 6 pounds last time, but by the end of the visit, let's just say the vet saw some tangible proof of the cat's odd eating habits, which may be the cause of his stomach distress/loss of appetite. (He eats plastic bags; I have no idea how he's lived to be nearly 16 years old. The cat, not the vet.)

I'm off for a bit more pampering tomorrow, and possibly starting to take the stuff off the Christmas tree. I guess if I'm home for a long enough stretch, I'll run that oven-cycle, too. Nothing on TV again tonight; I slept terribly last night and there was nothing on that I could find to amuse me all night long. I sure hope I sleep better than that tonight. Okay, enough.


WATCHING STILL STANDING :: ENTRY #1332

Unexpected

[copied from dland]

R GOT THE JOB!

The reason it's so unexpected is that she originally interviewed for the damn thing before Halloween, and they said they'd get back to her after Thanksgiving, and then they said they were still in the searching process, so who expected them to call her today and offer it to her? But they did. We are jubilant. This is a REAL. JOB. With commuting into the city by train, and getting benefits and sick days and everything. This is creative and educational and for a good cause and all kinds of things that I can't even go into. It's working in a big building that houses many fine organizations and, god willing, a lovely young man who will recognize her many gifts in the elevator that first day, and also have a friend for her sister.

So yes, I'm being unrealistic on that last one, but otherwise, it's one down, one to go, and maybe someday I can retire after all. That part is not unrealistic. This is an organization known for, among other things, keeping their employees long term. So if the job's a good fit for her, it's a career, with advancement opportunities and everything.

When I got home from school and K got home from work, we were so excited that we hugged each other because R doesn't live here anymore and wasn't around.

Ahem. Back to my actual life.

I finally got a phone at work today, and was amused and delighted to see that my new number is actually only one digit off from the number I'd had in the library for the last 30 years. (They put in a completely new phone system, so there's no direct dial like we had before, but my extension number is one digit off from the last four digits of the old number.) I called R first thing to tell her my new number, as she'd asked me to do, and I left it on a message, and then got the wonderful call back from her with her news. (So I'm back to that again. Give me a minute here.)

I actually went to the gym, and not directly home, after school, where I met with the manager/head trainer, whom I really like very, very much. We worked out a plan for next week so I can get back to work there, easing into it. I'm taking a Gentle Yoga class, and she told me what to tell the instructor when I go back to regular yoga, which I'll have to do the next week due to the schedule. And more gym stuff, which I think I talked about yesterday, all on track. The only thing was, I made my massage appointment for the same time I'd made my Apple Store appointment, so I had to change that when I got home.

I also went to the orthopedist just before, last time (on this injury, anyway), and I'm all good to go. I asked him a whole list of questions -- oh god, is my mother here? Who said that? -- and I can do whatever I want, and not wear a brace, and I'm all done with him. So, good.

There must be something to this going out and doing stuff after school, cause this is the first day this week I'm still clear in the head this late in the day. I finally sat down and paid some bills (and threw out the post-it that's been there all week), which I didn't feel smart enough to do yesterday. (Bitter experience has taught me not to touch a checkbook unless I'm feeling particularly bright.)

What else can I tell you? I'm still listening to the giant show tunes mix on the iPod, which I'm shuffling by album and not song so I don't completely addle my brain. I'm up to Camelot, having just listened to The Sound of Music -- slightly more serious than I'd remembered -- and a few songs from Gigi, which I also adore. Did I tell you that the music director at school said a few weeks ago that he'd do a Rogers and Hammerstein for me before I retire? He never will, of course, because a) there are no Nazis in any of their plays except The Sound of Music, and he would die first, and, b) there are no opportunities to dress high school girls in scanty costumes. Last year, Cabaret, which is typical for him. He likes his shows dark, edgy, and depressing. And sexy. This, while extremely weird and inappropriate for a high school, is not indicative of him having a thing for kids, which he totally doesn't, but more with he himself being a whore for ticket sales, and he figures that the sexy outfits bring in the public. He puts on unbelievably successful and professional musicals each year, but I haven't gone in a long time because I hate the shows he does. I'm negotiating for Oklahoma, but he doesn't think he can come up with kids to do that choreography. I offered Carousel, pretty dark, but he doesn't have a boy who can bulk up enough to play Billy. I don't think he likes South Pacific, despite the sex, and anyway, there's no kid who can pull off that operatic voice. I'm starting to think Camelot, although it's Lerner and Lowe, but it's funny and clever, and it's a classic story that all the kids have to read sooner or later, and even Richard Burton didn't sing, really. Of course, he was Richard Burton, but I guess he'd have to work around that.

I was just about to post when Eldest Nephew called from California. Had a very pleasant conversation, and I don't believe he even asked me for anything, which is generally his M.O. (He's quite the eccentric, and only recently self-supporting, but the only time I actually sent him money was when his dog needed surgery and I knew he couldn't pull it off himself. Also, he's a goof but not a liar, so I had no reason not to believe him. And remember, his dog talks, so who'd want to risk losing something like that in the world?) Anyway, had a nice little talk with him about his new attempt to finish his master's thesis -- finally -- with a new topic that sounds intriguing. And he sounds excited about it, so maybe he'll really get it this time. Oy, I sound so cynical. Lest I forget how much I love him and always have, here we are once again, circa 1977:

Good night, Gracie.


WATCHING no idea :: ENTRY #1327