Perspective

Sometimes, usually after a glass of wine, but not always, I start to feel philosophical about life. My favorite paragraph ever written is the opening of Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. The last couple of lines go like this: Its [Cannery Row's] inhabitants are, as the man once said, "whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches, by which he meant Everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said, "Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men," and he would have meant the same thing.

I'm not a great student of literature. I'm more self taught, but those lines to me mean that life is all about perspective. I think about that often when I find that I've been looking through the same peephole for too long. Lately my peephole has been that the glass is half empty. Mostly because I don't have a job and am not sure of my prospects for next year. Every morning I search the district website for openings that aren't there.

To add to this half empty cup is the fact that Hubby had to go for a sonogram on his neck today. I am hopeful that the doctor is just being overly cautious, but I keep running all the worst case scenarios through my mind. I'm trying to look through another peephole, but sometimes I think they are all plugged up.

Bad Hair Day

I got the most hideous 'do today. I actually thought if I got a perm I would be able to just let my hair dry and go. Which would be great for the summer when I don't feel like spending the 20-30 minutes it takes just to make my hair look like I've done nothing with it.

Well, now my hair looks like a Shirley Temple/afro. I came home and washed it TWICE and then put it in my own big curlers, thinking it would make nice big curls compared to the crimpy little things I got at the beauty shop. UGG!

I am not posting a picture of the hair. Hubby said it's not too bad. Like being married to another woman, I think is what he said. Hopefully he doesn't think this new wife can cook any better than the old one.

I'm posting an older pic of Mr. C in place of my hair. I'm hoping to post one of his claymation videos on here soon. He's got a couple and is planning on starting another.

Neverending Worries

When the kids were first born, I worried they wouldn't wake up in the morning. I would tip-toe into their rooms at night just to make sure they were breathing. After they made it to the magical one year, I let up on the late night checks, unless they were sick. For the next few years I worried about falls--down stairs, out of trees, off bikes and skateboards. Then there is a relative calm period when they find their coordination and seem to develop a sense of awareness that they can't fly from the roof of the back porch.

The calm period lasts about five minutes and then comes the DRIVER'S LEARNER PERMIT! Who in their right mind thought it would be a good idea to give 15 year olds the right to drive? I was a wreck when S got her permit almost two years ago, but I, and more importantly she, survived. Now it is time for M to get her permit. Actually it was time last Monday. Naturally I was very apprehensive about this. After all, M is my fearless wild child. Can you believe that she did not wake up at 8am on the appointed day and demand to be taken to the DMV? Here we are a week later and she is still reluctant to go. Do you think Hubby and I are elated by this lack of interest in driving? His remark was, "If she thinks she is getting out of her fair share of the driving on vacation, she better think again." We'll see.

On the topic of driving. S started a weeklong ACT prep class in the Big City. She has to leave by 7am to get there by 8:30 and she gets home by 2:00. This is in preparation for the ACT on Saturday. Today was her first day. I kept the TV turned on the news just to keep an ear out for the traffic report. Of course there was a wreck on her way there. She keeps her phone on silent when driving so I couldn't call and ask her about it. Instead I called Hubby at work--as if he could do anything about it. Well, she wasn't IN the wreck but she did get stopped for awhile because of it. She handled it very well and it makes me a little less apprehensive for her to go back tomorrow. Of course, I'll have the news on the whole time.

Weekend Cocktail

We had a good time last night at First Friday. First Friday is something our town does the first Friday of every month. Usually it involves a car show, food, live entertainment, and all the downtown shops staying open late (6-9pm). The main street through downtown is blocked off and you can just walk up and down-- looking, buying, eating, running into friends.

Today we are just doing the regular--laundry, cleaning, lazing around. Lately Hubby has been obsessed with the BP oil spill. It is too depressing for me to think about for too long. I'm sure he's in the other room right now watching this. It is such an overwhelming problem and it's one of those things that just seems like there is never going to be a solution. That's a pretty negative outlook, but I don't see any other way of looking at it.

Just one more teensy gripe and then I'm done. The oil might reach North Carolina by early July. Guess where we're going for the Fourth. Oh, well at least we'll have a pool.

I watched USA beat Australia in soccer this morning. We're getting ready for World Cup to start next week. M has her official World Cup South Africa 2010 T-shirt and has printed some brackets that are hanging on the fridge. We have the full schedule in the Official Licensed Sticker Album which we got here. M's going for Germany. Mr. C and I are for Brazil. I also always like Argentina. We've all agreed to cheer for Ghana. S and Hubby aren't that interested.

Senior Pictures

Let me just start by saying that this blog is not meant to be one big complaint, but there are some things...

Today we went to get S's senior pictures. She had three outfit changes, plus the "drape" for the yearbook picture. For those of you who are as behind the times as I am, the drape is just a black cloth they wrap around the girls to look like they are wearing an off-the-shoulder formal dress. Who knew?

Well, things went smoothly if slowly for all but the last outfit. This was the white dress we drove to the Big City to buy just for this photo session. We were planning on having the photographer take a picture outside in the same pose as she had for her 4 year old picture. There was only one outdoor photographer and we waited an hour to get our turn. After sitting in the car with the air on for 30 minutes--this is summer in the South, remember?-- I decided to leave without the white dress picture. I didn't throw a tantrum, I simply left. It's up to the kids how many pictures and poses they have, so I'm sure the photographer isn't upset we left. But I am very pissed off. I can't believe the inefficiency at that place. Plus, it isn't like an actual photo studio. The indoor pictures were taken in a garage, with tools and crap lying around everywhere. Maybe by the time the pictures come in I'll have calmed down enough to actually buy some.

In the meantime, I snapped a shot of S next to the daisy patch out back when we got home. Gorgeous girl!

Grandpa

For my birthday last year my grandpa sent me a card and some money. I used the money to buy some impatiens and planted them under a big tree out back. Three days after my birthday, Grandpa died. All last summer the impatiens grew huge and everytime I looked out the window I thought about Grandpa. It was nice.

Last fall when the flowers died off it was sad. Fall is already my least favorite time of year--I hate the bare trees and the colder weather--but last fall I hated to see the daily reminder of Grandpa fade.

Tonight I was out working in the yard and saw two bright pink flowers under the tree. The impatiens are back. They are supposed to be annuals, but for some reason they are back. It is probably not some grand miracle, but rather a side effect of global warming or climate change. Whatever it is, it's nice to see the cheerful spot of color in the backyard and think about Grandpa.

Unemployment

Today is my first day of being unemployed as a first grade teacher. I won't truly feel unemployed until August when the kids go back to school and I'm stuck at home. I have been told that the school system will be hiring back teachers over the summer, so my fingers are crossed. At least my end-of -year evaluation was satisfactory, so it's just a matter of budgets and funding. I took a letter of reference and updated resume to the Central Office this morning.

In the meantime I will spend the summer getting into better shape. My goal is to be able to climb Kilimanjaro by next year. I also need to do a lot more research into actually traveling to Africa. I haven't done any serious climbing, but if I keep putting it off it'll never happen. Our family does hike and Hubby and I have climbed a couple of pretty big mountains in Yosemite. Now I've put it in writing I have to take myself seriously.