Windhover -- Gerard Hopkins

12. The Windhover

To Christ our Lord

I CAUGHT this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,	5
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion	10
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion. Happy Easter

A Season With the Elizabethians

Have any of you watched the new Showtime series, The Tutors? Morgan and I have seen the first two episodes and are completely hooked. It seems like we've been inundated by the Elizabethans in the past several months. Morgan took an honors class covering the literature, art and music of the period. Since then we've been reading the excellent biographies by Allison Wier.

Even our fan-girl devotion to Sing has joined in our studies because of his album, Songs From the Labyrinth, a collection of the works of the Elizabethan composer John Dowland.

I've even managed to work my knitting into our interest thanks to Knit Picks. They had a great set of lace scarf patterns derived from Elizabethan fashions. I'm knitting the "Dainty Bess," which was adapted from an actual design in a pair of stockings belonging to the queen. I have to say, so far, the "Dainty Bess" has been kicking my not so dainty rear-end, but it is so exciting to see something of that time period come to life with just my two hands, yarn, and needles.

I think most parents try to imagine what kinds of people their children will grow to be. Having a child whose old enough and interested enough to share all of these things with is truly the most fun of all.

Dog and Cat

We had an interspecies incident last night. The cat decided to wage an all out attack on the dog. Triton was on my bed sleeping while I read. Pandora jumped up asking to be petted. Then, out of the blue, she decided she'd had enough of the poodle. She sank her teeth down on poor Triton's leg, wrapped all four of her little kitty legs around it, and bit and clawed her hardest. I could just tell she was getting out all her pent up frustration over months of dog stupidity. All of the butt smelling, the interruptions of cat naps, the monopolizing of the pet toys were going to be avenged.

What did the pup do? She lay there, watched, and wagged her tail in a friendly way. She thought it was some kind of idiot cat game and tried her best to play along. Their size difference is so great that the cat never even reached skin on the big dog. Pandora came away with a mouth full of poodle fur and nothing more. When she moved to leave, Triton scooped her back up with the same giant paw inviting her to play more. Oh, the cat was mad. She launched into another vicious attack, this time on the wagging tail. Triton didn't enjoy this nearly as much and moved out of the way. Pandora did a victory lap across the bed and left with her innate sense of superiority intact.

Now if I could only get the kids to work out their differences......

Saint Patrick's Day and Spring Weather

We knew we were definitely into spring last week when the big thunderstorms started. Last Tuesday, the wind was up to 55 miles per hour and hail slammed down on the house like thousands of bullets. I made the kids sit in the closet during the worst of it. We chose a house with lots of windows to let in the sunlight. But, but on bad days it makes almost every room in the house dangerous. The dog and cat went in with them and drove each other crazy. When it was over, I found most of the lawn furniture in the pool. Otherwise, there wasn't much debris., but seeing chairs sunk to the bottom was sort of creepy. The kids can't wait till it's a bit warmer and they're back in the pool. I'm going to have Triton clipped really close this week. It's so much easier to get her dried off after swimming, and she seems to enjoy the summer without so much fur. She's definitely shaggy right now.

Other than the storm, spring is very welcome. We had a quiet St. Patrick's Day, no green beer! Bill took the kids out to get a webcam. M. has to video some lessons for Texas Tech, and she seems to be looking forward to it. Today the sun is out and the weather is perfect. Our high is supposed to be 78 degrees. I'm really wanting to get some new flowers planted but can't seem to make time for it. Maybe I'll see if the kids will help this weekend. We have load of landscaping we want to do in the back, but I'm thinking our budget won't go much farther than having trees planted. It's amazing how much a small tree costs, and we need several for the back yard.

My part-time teaching job is going alright. I like the kids I'm working with, and it's good to know I can still teach. Now I have to work on getting my husband and kids to quit going out for junk food while I'm gone. If DH beats me home, they will all have eaten some sort of garbage for super. He calls from the car and takes orders for McDonalds, etc. I've made M. and B. promise to stop asking, but something tells me they aren't going to turn it down if he calls.

Sting Fact #5: The song, "Fortress Around Your Heart," from the Dream of the Blue Turtles, was the first Sting song I really noticed. I don't think it was ever released as a single, but I was struck by something in it. Sing made a documentary about the launch of his solo career called, Bring On the Night, and I found it particularly interesting to watch how this song was put together. He released one of his few live albums under the same title.

Daylight Savings Time

I hate moving the time around and often wonder what would happen if were all able to vote on this practice. In teaching, I've observed that young children really suffer by the time change. It may take two weeks for them all to be back to normal, and we do this to them twice in the school year. Why, at least, couldn't the time shifts happen when the children are out of school for the summer? This morning DH and I forced ourselves out of bed at are regularly scheduled time. But, I'm keeping the house quiet for the kids. Even the pets went back to bed. Pandora scolded me at length and then disappeared, while Triton is snoring loudly on the couch. If even the poodle and the cat find this mess offensive, why do we keep doing it?

M. is sick and on antibiotics for a sinus infection. She's been out of sorts for several days, and the doctor said it could be two or three weeks before the infection is gone entirely. I took B. to see the doctor during the same visit. He's been limping for a few days, and it doesn't seem to be getting better. She examined him and took X-rays. He's grown an inch in the last month, and his legs are uneven. I completely freaked out about the leg thing. We are going to see a pediatrician's orthopedic surgeon down at Texas Children's Hospital. Have any of you ever heard of something like this? I'm not sure what they can do about it or if there's a chance he will outgrow it. B. is mad at me right now because I won't let him go run around with his friends. The doctor is afraid that he could cause some kind of permanent injury. Who knows how long it will take to get an appointment with the surgeon. It could be well into summer before he has an opening. The boy is going to stage a revolt if I don't let him out of the house soon. Thankfully, it will be warm enough to swim soon.

Sting Fact #4: M. and I got tickets for the Houston concert too! We debated about this, since it is such an extravagance. If we'd known they were going to perform here, we wouldn't have bought the Dallas tickets. But now, we are going to see Sting/Police twice in the same week! We're pretty pleased with ourselves, and the poor husband suffers in silence.

Teaching Stories and More Sting

I am starting to get to know some of my students, and I really like them. My family laughs because it's nothing new. I'm continually amazed by watching a human beings learn. They come in not knowing how something works, what it means, or how to accomplish a task. We have class, and they learn. It's a miracle every time I see it happen. I come home with stories about all my genius students, all their accomplishments, the funny things they've said, the difficulties they've overcome. My family has heard it all before and mostly thinks I imagine it as all so amazing because I am a teacher. Is it really quite ordinary to everyone else?

I recall learning to do some things as being quite difficult. Long division, converting fractions to decimals, finding percentages, and diagramming sentences were all a nightmare to me. Then, I show the same skills to a student, a light goes off and they just know it. How is that not totally amazing? I found out last night that one of my 18 year old high school students is paying for her own tutoring. She isn't failing anything, but she knows she can excel. She thinks it's worth paying for out of her own small earnings from her part-time job. I wanted to cry. I would gladly have tutored her for free.

Sting Fact #3: Sting was part of the first series of READ posters published by the American Library Association. In his, Sting was posed leaning against a stone wall in period costume (18th century?) He held a book, I believe it was Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, and an English castle loomed in the background. There were a number of very fine posters in that first series, and I bought them all for our library. But, Sting's was my favorite and I hung it at the end of a row of stacks where it would face my desk. I later bought my own copy and kept it in my office throughout most of my library career.

Under Construction

We've been back home for well over a year now, but I still have moments when I'm struck again by how good it is to be here. I was out running errands before work yesterday and saw so much going on in our part of the city. First, spring is making itself known with beautiful weather, flowers and trees blooming everywhere, and gardeners coming out to plant on almost every street. We have some kind of flowering bush in our front bed. It was unremarkable last summer when it only had its leaves, but this spring it has these amazing red flowers. What a nice surprise. If I get the chance, I'm going to plant some begonias this weekend.

The amount of construction going on is absolutely crazy. I must have seen thirty different projects between here and the grocery store. This kind of thing used to bother me. It's loud, ugly, and gets in the way. But now I've seen what a town looks like when no improvements are made in decades. Today I took some pleasure in all of the widening roads, renovated businesses, and new buildings.

But then the road was blocked on the way to work, and I started to get very irritated. It is almost impossible to know which roads will be open and which will be closed on any given day. It makes every simple drive complicated and I never know how long it will take to get anywhere. When I finally made it past this particular bottle neck in traffic, I saw that the city utility folks were trimming trees near power lines, something so simple but so important. We were without power for 3 days in freezing temperatures back in West Virginia because this kind of maintenance isn't done. It snowed in mid October, the tree limbs grew heavy and fell on the lines. Here at home, I'd seen crews doing this kind of work and never even realized how lucky we are. I felt all enlightened yesterday, like in one of those movies where the wise Zen Master finally gets through to the student.

I work all week, and I'm starting to remember why it is so hard to work, have kids, and a home. My students are fun though. I also remember why I rarely knit unless I was on vacation. Teaching is exhausting.

Sting Fact #2: From the Dream of the Blue Turtles album there is a song called "Moon Over Bourbon Street." It is the last track on the record, and I went back to it several times. Something seemed very familiar about the song, but I couldn't place it. Finally I read the liner notes and found he based the lyrics on the novel, Interview With the Vampire. I was so excited, one of my favorite books set to music. I've never had a chance to see him perform this song live.

Don't Mess With My Bedtime!

I'm really awful about changes in my schedule. The same weakness irritates me in others, but I can't stand having my routine changed unless it was my idea. I worked late tonight and now I can't go to sleep. I should be home, have dinner, bath, quite time to read, quite time in bed with lights out to watch the evening news, and then sleep. this job has me doing things in the wrong order and now I can't sleep. Argh.......

I've decided to try and write one personal Sting fact per day between now and our big Police reunion concert in Dallas on June 26. This may be way more than you want to know. So, I'll either put it at the bottom of posts with other content, or warn you in the title that it is a Sing only post.

Here we go. Fact #1: The first album I ever bought was Dream of the Blue Turtles. It was still in the vinyl days. I never purchased any Police material until after the first Sting solo album. The song that made me want to buy the album was, "Fortress Around Your Heart."

More on this album tomorrow.

No Knitting, No Blogging

I have been busy and very distracted this week. School is going well enough for the kids, and I'm getting a little better at working through the part-time job thing. But, everything seems rushed to me. I think I got very used to working according to my own time table or DH's work demands. He has had several very hectic weeks in a row at work. His boss is seriously ill with a rare form of cancer, and his group is trying to make sure she isn't working to much. They were getting ready for the next shuttle flight to the space station, which has now been delayed. I'm not sure it will make any difference in their workload though.

The weather damage to the vehicle is a huge disappointment for everyone. I heard a reporter ask, "Couldn't they have put the shuttle somewhere safe. Even I would put my car in the garage if there was a hail storm...." I wanted to cry. I suppose it isn't easy to get an idea of how huge the shuttle is or how dangerous and complicated it is to move it. The hail storm wasn't sending out announcements 3-4 days ahead of time saying it was on its way. Moving the shuttle,once it's ready for launch, takes time. We should know something more this week about the extent of the damage and what it means for the station assembly. If you want to know more about the work they are doing, go here.

Knitting and blogging have fallen off my schedule in the last few weeks. I miss talking with e-friends and having a place to note the interesting things going on. The kids like to read about the things we've done or are planning. I thought that working part-time wouldn't make much of a difference in all of these things, and maybe it won't once we get used to a new schedule. I'm working a couple of hours today. It should make much difference to my family as they have their own Saturday morning and afternoon plans. But, this is usually a time when a have an hour or more alone in the house. I'm going to miss that. I need to get my blog-rings all fixed, but I'm not sure what to do about that. Any of you that have switched sites have suggestions?

We did get our Police tickets on the first day of the presale. We'll be in section 111 row J on July 26! M. and I have been playing all Police cd's in preparation for the big event. There are quite a few songs I didn't know. My guess is it will be strictly "Best of..." stuff. In their press conference announcing the tour, Sing said they would not be performing any new material. (Yes, I watched the press conference. I've warned you all of my geek factor.) I know there are tons of people that are really excited about the reunion thing. I would have rather seen Sting with his own band. Dominic Miller and Jason Rabello are wonderful musicians and some of the other artists like Chris Botti and Branford Marsalis are amazing. Of course, it was always a privilege to attend a live performance with the great Kenny Kirkland. So, I guess we just have to give his exs a chance. ...

Complete Geek

Do any of you remember the episode of Friends where Monica got the great boots, but they hurt her feet so bad Chandler had to carry her? At the same time, Phoebe finds out that Sting will be performing shortly in NY, but the concert is sold out. She then learns that Ross has a connection to the family as his son, Ben, is attending a preschool with Sting's son. She begs Ross to try and get tickets and sings "Ross Can" to the tune of "Roxanne" When that doesn't work out, Phoebe starts stalking Ben's school and pretends to be one of Ben's moms to get into Sting's house. There she meets Trudy Styler who, upon discovering Phoebe's a stalker, tells her "the police are on there way..." Phoebe jumps for joy at the news of a Police reunion. Sadly, such was not to be... Until NOW that is. The Police will perform in Dallas this summer, and M. and I are so there.

I never saw the group and frankly had little interest until Sting went solo. At the time there seemed to be so many crazy, bleach blond, British rock/punk/whatever running around that I didn't bother to differentiate. I was in school, never had any money, and was too busy working, studying, and going to class for much to penetrate the fog of battle.

But Dream of the Blue Turtles was a fine work. From that point on I became the fan girl I am today and passed my devotion on to my only daughter. God bless her, she's learned or tried every cool riff and knows more about the Police compositions than I do. She's slowly built up my CD collections of actual Police albums over the course of Christmases and birthdays. The only two things I'd bought from those days were "Synchronisity" and a "Best Of..."

I'm not sure how I feel about the Police as a group. We're going because it's Sting. It was weird to see him interacting with two musicians who are evidently his peers. Normally, he either performs with someone not part of his band and behaves like they're his guests or simply as the band leader for his employees. Hearing Stewart Copland smarting off at him and Andy Summer sort of laughing, I thought wow. This is going to be something totally new.

Now, I'm going to prove to you what a complete and total nerd I really am.

1. The first Sting song which interested me was due to his use of alliteration and irony. "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" juxtaposed to "Poets, priests, and polititions...." Very funny. Also, I loved the use of literary allusion in Wrapped around your Finger " Mephistopheles is not your name....."
   
2. I'm a member of "The Official Sting Fan Club"
3. Membership in the above cost actual money which I pay annually.
4. I pay the money each year because I get an exclusive CD of Sting stuff and presale on concert tickets.
5. I remember all the details of the above Friends episode.
6. I'm willing to go to Dallas.
7. I actually knew the name of Mrs. Sting
8. I'm planning to make a playlist this afternoon representing my ideal Police concert set list. Then I'm sharing it with everyone I know. I know at least one person who will actually be interested.
   

If you think you're a bigger nerd, top that!

R O X A N N E................................S T I N G .........................

Tired

I'd forgotten a number of things about working. First of all, getting dressed for work is work. I know one e-friend that gets to wear scrubs most days. Another lady from my knitting group is a pathologist and does the same. I wish teachers got to wear scrubs. I wouldn't need hose, several pairs of shoes to match outfits, several purses to match shoes........ Some people could say that I don't need to bother with those things at this job either. On the other hand, my students are coming to me after a full day at school. They're tired, their teachers are tired, their parents are tired. I decided that I should be fresh and ready to go. I need it and so do they. So now I have to do the work clothes thing again. Yuck.

I'd also forgotten about work place drama. Teachers have this going continually. Colleagues with differences, students with rivalries, parents with teachers, parents with children, parents with parents, everyone with the principal. I'd just forgotten. I remembered the teaching part really clearly, because I love that part. I even remembered the teacher/student issues that arise as part of learning. However, the adult drama I had pretty well wiped from my mind.

Today I'm tired and have a flare. I'd also forgotten what it's like to go to work during a flare. I may not have to go in today. Since it wasn't a teaching day anyway, I'm hoping I can stay home. I'm waiting for a call from another new Rheumatologist. This time, my own doctor has spoken with these folks at length about what I need and expect from them. So far, it's taken three days of waiting just to speak to someone about making an appointment. I'll call my own doctor back in a day or two if I don't hear from them.

Do you guys have prescription plans with lots of rules? We always opt. for the highest level choice was, but this year they've dropped Celebrex from our formulary making it unbelievably expensive. I'll have to find out today how we we are to proceed. Evidently there is some way to get preauthorization and it will then be charged at the highest rate i.e. $45 for a 30 day supply. I don't know if that took it out because of the newly discovered risks or because they weren't making enough money off of it.

I knit for a little while last night. Most with fat needles and easy patterns. Now I'm remembering why I knit so little for several years. It's a peaceful activity though, and I'm going to try to make time even when I'm tired and hurting. I'm way behind or blog reading and miss my pals. Something else to make time for.

Good Dog, Good Man (Spoilers for Gray's)

I worked tonight. I'm leaving work after dark, and I don't see well enough to drive easily. So, I try to call Bill and let him know when I leave. That way, he doesn't waste as much time worrying I'll drive myself into a ditch. The kids worry too, because we aren't much for going out at night. Like a bunch of hibernating animals, dark means sleep and light means wake. Winter really kicks us in the butt with so few hours of light. We, good Puritans all, actually celebrate the winter solstice. From that day forward, we will have more daylight and shake off our slowing minds and spirits. The doctor would call our problem Seasonal Affective Disorder. My favorite description is from Christy at Rainbow Chills who calls it may "SAD story." A daughter of the sunbelt, I well and truly hate the dark. We use one of those photo-therapy lights on really dark days. Thank God, we don't see dark now till after 6:00.

The man and children always worry when I drive in the dark, but aren't alone in waiting faithfully. Triton worries the entire time I'm gone. Do any of you know a standard poodle? (These are the really big ones.) Poodles are smart to the point it's hard to remember they're just dogs and not people. I know everyone says that about their pet, but poodles are scary smart, and even among a race of intelligent animals, Triton is uber-smart. When I called, she knew it was me and that I was on my way home. The man calls like this when he's on his way home too. She's used to hearing us talk about getting dinner ready and doing other small chores while "Daddy" is on his way. She's always waited and watched once he called. Now, she sits for me too. Triton was the first to greet me tonight and hasn't left my side since. The dog considers bedtime as the highlight of her day. The man calls her a "rack hound" which is evidently some archaic man-speak for a person who sleeps more than others. Triton's choice spot is in bed is sleeping between the man and myself. But on these late nights for me, she sleeps patiently in the family room, either at my feet or up on the couch with her head resting on a pillow. She would rather be in the bed, but she's my late night companion staying with me no matter how long it takes me to get sleepy.

RW taped Gray's Anatomy and bought Jack-in-the-Box tacos for me tonight. When I got home, the tacos and Gray's were ready to go. The new digital service lets us do that record it, watch it, pause it at will thing. The man loves using his new TV superpowers. With both the tacos and the Gray's waiting, I have to tell you all that my husband is a total stud. Thank you sweetie!!!!

One of the fantastic things about being married for so long, is we can, at times, truly communicate love to each other. I've definitely observed that Romance means different things for different couples. One of my blog pals made amazing cookies for her wife. I thought it was an awesome gift but not likely to come my way, since the man doesn't do baking. If he did bake, it wouldn't be yummy cookies with a lovely filling and heart shaped cut-out on the top. Even so, 30 plus years have given the man insight. He knows what does it for me. So, it was a fine evening. He sent his usual dozen yellow roses to my work place. I'll have to explain the reason why these are incredibly romantic on another day. He picked a card to go with it showing two children, dressed in adult clothes circa 1935. The girl holds a bouquet of roses and the slightly older boy leans down to give her a chaste kiss on the cheek. The card spoke as much about us as did the roses. The man has celebrated every important event in our lives together with one dozen yellow roses (Think "The Yellow Rose of Texas.") The card meant, to me, he also understands of our link growing from childhood to adulthood, to middle age together. To grow-up with one's mate is a fine thing. I was greatly touched that he, in his own way, showed he got that too.

Our female child (age 17) is sometimes at a loss when it comes to our own version of the romance. This Valentines' Day, I bought our first HDTV. The girl was disgusted by the lameness of our shared gift. "How could this be romantic?????? You just bought a TV for Christ's sake!" The boy (age 12) was more open minded about the purchase. If it plugs into the wall and delivers television, it's all good. Plus, he's at the age where the idea of love between his parents is best ignored. He's enjoying the high-def but prefers we keep the gushy stuff ourselves. The man set up the TV, upgraded the cable, and played with the new functions for hours. While he and I cooed words of endearment to one another watching The Chronicles of Riddick in high def, we managed to disgusted both children. We had this incredible moment as perfect mates, a perfect understanding, a sympathy only we knew.

The children think we are old and sad at times like this. For our 20th anniversary, my husband gave me my first laptop. It was, in 1996, an incredible extravagance. I brought it to work with pride to show my girlfriends. They all recoiled in horror at the complete lack of allure they perceived in such a gift. I, on the other hand, felt it was one of the most loving gifts I've ever received. He went to a jeweler and had a gold inscription affixed saying RW and DK forever. I was moved to tears while my girlfriends looked on in horror thinking of large and fine pieces of jewelry or perhaps an expensive automobile as fitting tributes for 20 years of marriage and the gift of both a son and daughter. I don't even remember what I gave the husband. It was nothing compared to the laptop. Of course, there were also yellow roses.

I must confess that there are days when we are not perfectly attuned. I wake some days wondering how I married this creature who seems sometimes a fool of a husband. Being a fine southern gentleman, the man would never expressed such sentiments toward me. However, all long lived couples must have days of doubt. In fact, there are days when I'm ready to move him out to live in the garage.

Sometimes, on the other hand, there comes a day of perfect understanding, and I know that our 31 year old decision to be together was exactly right. The man does not ponder relationships. If I understand his opinion corectly, he considers that to be my job. At times I envy my blog pal and her wife. Surly, both of them do the girl/relationship thing together? The man does manly things like take out the trash, mow the yard, and serve as our 24/7 tech support guy. He also kills all critters which disturb his wife,.and offers to deal with any person who causes me the least distress. I have to say, this is a fine thing after 31 years. He is, even at 52, more than ready to fight for my honor with all challengers. It is a mighty thing to find one's spouse so devout and faithful after such a time.

Dog sighs, tacos, and Gray's made me feel like I'm someone who matters. My family loves me and wants me. We are together and even the pets care about us. I finally have a job again and students!!!! It's a fine thing to live with one person long enough to create a unified family. Our My dear daughter commented this week that my work was inconvenient but well worth the pleasure I seemed to gain from rejoining our capitalist economy (i.e. having my very own money.) That she also knows me so well seems a blessing beyond my comprehension. The boy, on the other hand, misses the conveniences of a 24/7 maid, cook, teacher, chaperon, and driver. Such is life.

Saturday Morning

My house is quiet. I woke up at 6:30 (damn) because my husband wasn't in the bed. By the time I got up and found him, I couldn't go back to sleep. He had gotten up in the night because youngest child had a bad dream. He slept on the couch the rest of the night so the boy would feel safer. What a sweet guy! Now he's tucked in bet sleeping soundly.

That means, I'm the only one awake in the house. Oh, the possibilities of having time for myself! What do women do that actually have that in their lives? I could read, knit, look at knitting magazines. My mind is reeling with possibilities. OTOH, I'm might just go lay back down now that my sleeping partner has returned. Robert Heinlein's character, Lazarus Long, once said, "Never miss a chance to eat, sleep, or go to the toilet. You just don't know when you'll get the opportunity again."

Work Adventures Con't

I finally had my first student last night. All the hassle of starting back to work, trying to reorganize our lives to allow for a few hours away from the house, having to get dressed in work clothes....

I was kind of regretting going back to being a productive member of society, but I had a student last night and was actually teaching. I had so much fun, I would have done it for free. So I'm tired, I'm flaring like crazy, and our house is a wreck, but I have a job and my student learned. I'm not down about it anymore.

Tomorrow is our charity knitting group: From The Heart of Texas.

This will only be my second meeting, but I'm really going to try and make it since I'll most likely work on some of the Saturday meetings/times. On the other hand, I'm feeling guilty about leaving the kids and husband after I already was out of the house two nights this week. It will be good when we develop a new routine and know what's going to work. In the mean time, I really had fun yesterday!

Sting, the Police and Gray's Anatomy (Spoilers)

First, and most importantly, Sing will be in concert here in Texas on June 26. My daughter and I will, once again, have the pleasure of yelling ourselves hoarse in shear fun. It's a Police tour. I'm not sure why they're doing the whole old guy reunion thing, but it means we get to hear/see Sting so we fan-girls are happy. I don't know why I was never all that interested in the Police at the time they were so popular. I've only learned to like many of the songs because of hearing them live at Sting concerts. But, still..... so happy.

I'm going to miss some, if not all, of Gray's tonight. I have to work. Meredith is there drowning in the icy cold water. No doubt McDreamy, McSteamy, or someone else interesting is going to have to bring her back from the dead, and I'm going to be missing the whole thing. Damn. Y'all, I'm ashamed to admit that the whole "house wife" thing had its perks. (cringe) Both husband and daughter have sworn that 1) the eppy will be taped in its entirety and ready for my viewing pleasure and 2) I have a back-up as it will repeat on ABC online this week.

Thank you to PJ, Woolwinder, and others for finding your way back to me after the big move from typepad. I'm still getting the hang of this whole incognito thing. It seems weird not using our names, but you know us anyway, so just insert at the proper places. And, if you have any suggestions, for making it less lame, please let me know.

Work

I've always said, "You know you're at work when they pay you, you don't pay them." The last couple of work days have definitely been of the I wouldn't do it for free variety. After three years of staying home, just the having to get dressed part was too much like work. My morning beauty routine has mostly been basic hygiene and very comfy clothes.

Today, I have real students and teaching, but I've had to ditch my Valentines for the evening. We did our cards and gifts last night, so it should be fine. My hubby rightly pointed out that I like teaching kids lots more than the other bits of being a teacher, so hopefully tonight will be great.

My kids have been a bit cranky since all this working business started. I think they miss me! Yeah to that, but it's also occurred to me that they also be finding it a tad inconvenient to have me unavailable for my full-time services as chief cook and bottle washer. ...

No knitting, no reading, and not much else going on. Even for working part time, it's sucking up a lot of my "me" time. I'm off Friday-Monday, so we should have some time for fun then. My daughter and I are going over to the wonderful Ramona's house for a total Saturday girls night. Her house is a boy-free zone and it's so beautiful. Everything is clean and pretty and so girly. We love it there.

Going to Work!

I'm going in to tutor some today and it will be my first day of earning money type working in almost three years. It feel kind of good to have a job. That Protestant work ethic thing dies hard among us. I know everything I do at home for my husband and the kids is work too, but somehow I just feel more me with a job.

I may regret this if a few weeks, especially if I have a bad flare, but for now I'm happy. I got new shoes, a pretty purse, and a few new work cloths. Get this..... my old clothes were too big! Ha! That may actually be my favorite part of yesterday. M. got new shoes too. I'll take pictures when I can. Not of mine, but hers for mine look like the granny shoes you would expect a teacher with bad knees and hips to wear while standing all day.

The picture above, is one my kids took in the midst of unpacking chaos last year. They are concerned that I not forget they are my students too. When B. was little, he thought I had another family somewhere. One day, he asked me something about my "other sons" and I realized he didn't know the kids I talked about so often were my students. So, I'll be on the watch for our own teacher version of sibling rivalry.

Teaching

I've been super busy for a few days working out a plan to take on some students for tutoring. I still don't know how many and the exact schedule, but I'm pretty well past the biggest hurdles. It will be nice to have some new kids to teach and also to work with a few other teachers.

My latest bout of joint problems cleared up nicely on prednisone, but the doctor flatly refuses to prescribe it long term. So, once again, I'm off to a new rheumatologist to see if there is a new magic rabbits to pull out of the hat. I do have some hope that a more experienced person might be willing to experiment with low doses of the prednisone. Also, my own doctor has talked with the new woman and made it clear that I'm to receive no lectures on weight loss. They gave me the number and name for the nurse so that I can talk out my expectations ahead of the visit.

I've been thinking about what I want to do most, knit socks, walk the dog and kids, shop till I drop, go to Bandera and ride horses. The possibilities of a normal life...... I'm trying to keep my expectations low, but darn.

Still Here

Thank you so much to my wonderful e-pals for checking on me. The move to Blogger was a sudden decision and a long story. I'll be working to get at least some content up right away. Everyone is fine, but we're going to a more privacy aware format. Those of you that know us, don't worry. I think I was rather naive about the big wide world of the web and just needed a wake-up call.

I'm still working out this whole pseudonym thing. So stick with me as we experiment on that front.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Yes, I'm a Joss Wheaton geek. Deal with it. This won't be the last BTVS, ATS, or Firefly speak. I'm resolving some blog world issues and will need to come to some decisions soon. I'm trying to figure out a change in the blog title as a start and will need to find a nom de plume that doesn't make me want to barf. Don't give up on me just yet. I love a challenge.

And, just to prove it's still me, here's the poodle who must not be named modeling the Branching Out Scarf.

The currently nameless knitter.