Feeling pretty upbeat lately. Things are smoothing out and I guess I can let my self feel a bit of optimism. Not particularly over any one thing- just overall.
Erin is in school and has managed to get through the first week and begin the second week. Just had lunch with her- a first mother/daughter/university lunch. I was playing hooky today to be in town so I met her. She is so timid, it's just hard for me to relate to. I don't recall having the same kinds of issues she faces every day. But I try hard to let her know I care about what she is trying to work out and that I am trying my best to help her sort it out. It takes a lot of energy and time to talk her through a problem, such as if she should try to move to the original dorm she wanted in but didn't get in, if she should continue to rely on an older college friend who has reached out to Erin as a help or less important things like what she should do about eating alone in the cafeteria. That is one thing I don't like about myself. I want to tell her to get over it, deal with it or otherwise, handle it herself. I almost say that when I hit a wall and then I stop myself and make myself continue. The worst thing I can think of is to end up with a daughter who thinks I don't care about her completely. On the other side of the coin, she should be handling these things on her own and not relying on my opinion. I'm trying to wean her off of my opinion and make her own choices.

Weird but I made a list of things I hate while waiting at my appointment.
Ironing. Hate it with a passion. My mom started me on pillow cases and hankies when I was small and okay, they were easy, right? Square pieces of fabric- cotton fabric. A little steam, a little spray starch- BAM! done! Then I graduated to my jeans and shirts, not too bad but not fun. Now I have stuff like khakis and capris that need an iron job to look presentable as well as button up shirts with Lycra and cotton or rayon and cotton. What a waste of time and talk about a mondo hot flash while ironing. Sheesh.
Im going to lump sewing in here too. I. Hate. Sewing. I understand I might have gone naked (not pretty) when I was younger if my mother hadn't sewn but just don't ask me to whip something out. I even resent having to sew on a button when it comes off. Why is it so hard for those sweatshop folks to use more than 2 mm of thread to attach a button? (JK about the sweatshop comment, not the 2mm of thread, BTW. Don't send me hate) My Home Economics teacher in 7th and 8th grade hated me which may be related to my major dislike of the craft. She may have had a good reason. I own up to the fact I told her she was teaching the wrong way to assemble something during our sewing unit- can't remember the garment. I had told my mom about my project and she commented it was going together wrong and I promptly told the teacher. I wasn't brilliant, you know. Everything else I did in the class was looked down on and graded poorly. I got back at her and left a mangled snake on her chair at the end of the year. I often wonder if she knew it was me?. hehe.

One unrelated-to- domesticity job I would like to remove from my daily schedule is lunch duty. I maaayyy have mentioned this before. IT SUCKS! Although I would say so far this year the fifth grade, who is the least-liked group for lunch teachers and who I have to oversee, has been pretty nice. It's early yet and they could turn ugly in the blink of an eye. Usually they come back from vacation changed already. I'll go out on a limb and say this group of fifth graders seem in control. Oh, God! Why did I put that out into the universe!? I had them in lunch duty as third graders and they were all right then, too. I just think the fact we have to watch over kids while they eat their lunch is crazy. How do they think these kids will ever manage to control themselves if they aren't expected to be good? Another thing is, the teachers used to have to eat in the lunch room and if someone was behaving badly, they were called down. Nobody would ever consider throwing pickles around or filling a section of their plate with enough ketchup to drown a horse. Now the teachers are allowed to eat in their classrooms so now no one but us lunchroom jailers are in the cafeteria to watch behavior. That's a waste of my time I could be using for instruction. That's the real issue here to me. I like the kids, honestly. No, really!
Last thing I hate is to replace the empty toilet paper roll. Why the h-e-double hockey sticks is it me that ends up changing it so often? I must be more of a frequent visitor or maybe I just lose track of how many days it's been. The only upside to it is I am aware of the tp supply so we rarely run low before we are stocked up again.
All right, that's a wrap of the list items. Not too bad- only four things. Check back late soon for the list of things I love to do.

Something I should have said publicly many years ago when Shia LeBeouf was still on the show Even Stevens is...he is going to be a popular actor someday. (I think I said it to my niece and nephew) I am not sure about his range really and he may not end up being too great but he certainly hasn't disappeared like many child stars do. That was just a passing thought...

Additional job I'm adding to the list now totaling five: Adding trimmer line to the spool on the weed-eater. Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!
Okay, that's all I got!

Spoutings from My Brain

It's so dry here. I am not watching the weather anymore so I don't have to hear or see anything that says 'drought'. My water bill was huge but still manageable. I've begun to take over the watering at the school gardens since they weren't getting done. Things are in bad shape. The temperatures have backed off to a very pleasant 55 degrees at night and a beautiful 85 degrees during the sunny dry days. It's made for some lovely moon-filled nights. When the moon is full and it's still, I would love to be outside but alas, I like my sleep too much.

My daughter completed her first week of college and lived to tell about it. She arrived home and spent a few hours with us- eating and laundering- and then moved on to the other household she lives at- the boyfriend's house- not to be seen again. I know she is home since her bedroom door is closed. She apparently came in during the night...

My mother is visiting for the first time since E graduated. I think there is shopping in my future.

I completed my first full week back to work. My butt was kicked. I fell asleep in my chair at 8 pm last night and struggled to wake up the rest of the evening. Finally my mom went to bed and I didn't even know when. I made up the couch bed and promptly fell asleep until 7 this morning. (I know you were waiting for me to share my sleeping habits, right?)

One thing that irks me about school this year, although I can understand it- we have a filter that will allow us access with a warning but logs us as we travel around the internet. The word from administration is not to go to anything but the school email site because there is too much personal internet usage during instructional time. They are gunning for us. As far as understanding- I have found co-workers on Facebook and other sites while the kids are doing independent work. So, I don't get online at all during school . That's quite a change from my summer routine.

Later, dudes...

Certainties

This house is going to take some getting used to with one occupant missing.
The boy is going to miss his sister while she is away at college, no matter what he says or how he acts.
I'm going to miss her for the same reason.
The utilities MAY cost me less (once this heat wave/drought is over).
There is an extra bed- maybe I should consider boarders- who have to leave while she comes home to visit- that might put a crimp in how well that boarder idea works.
No more having someone ick out over what the meal is- J will eat anything and not complain....much.
Crap, I don't have a designated driver anymore.

Re-Post

I thought this was good enough to put up again.



To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine.. and those who don't.
As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom,
in water there is bacteria. In a number of carefully controlled trials,
scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day,
at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of
Escherichia coli, (E. coli) - bacteria found in feces. In other words, we
are consuming 1 kilo of poop.
However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila,
rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a
purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.
Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health
Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water
and be full of shit .

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I'm doing it
as a public service

Attention: Santa

Greeny's Christmas Wish List:
leaf blower
electric hedge trimmer
recipe for neighbor's incessantly barking dog