Ch-ch-ch-changes

I know two weeks was a little on the lazy side to go without a Blog and I apologize. But for the first time I can use the “I’m really busy” excuse with a clean conscience. June is definitely a period of transition and Bill and I are right in the middle of it. Here’s a list of changes not in any particular order.

1. We lost our last high school family member. Katie graduated from the best high school in the state June 8th and of course we are very proud. I have to admit seeing her in the midst of her transition made me a little nostalgic for something I couldn’t quite pinpoint. I don’t necessarily miss high school, though it was a completely unique situation from all that I’ve experienced beyond it. I think it boils down to, for the first time, I felt old and I was definitely not a fan of that.

2. On the same trip home Bill and I got to meet our nephew and hence Uncle Bill and Auntie (of course pronounced “onty”) Beth were born. He is absolutely gorgeous, though it is a little strange that Brian and Cassie are parents now. Bill kept saying, “It’s so weird. There’s always going to be this little person around at family dinners now.” And when you think about it, it really is crazy how much changes with a new life.

3. We have had to come to terms with the fact that we no longer work for APRD. A “quick” visit back to the pool for Bill and a recap of orientation from Mary brought the point home. Don’t cry for us Appleton. We might be back someday. Though I would probably have to drag Bill from pool managing if we did return. Maybe we’ll stay here a while…

4. My lead teacher seems to have taken on a softer side beginning yesterday. She gave me the second compliment of the year by saying that I was indispensable to the classroom and even showed her she had some things to learn. Wow.

5. We are moving out of Braintree at the end of this month. So all of you that were avoiding visiting us because we live in a place associated with a cognitive plant can now rest assured that you will actually be seeing Boston. The new apartment has all wood floors and two bedrooms, and therefore is of course more than we can afford.

6. Bill and I finished up our regular programs and are transitioning into summer school. We are looking forward to a shorter workweek and more free time. If it continues to rain all the time we are going to be some very unhappy campers. Literally.

A church-free confessional

I have a confession: I am a volunteer junkie. It started out innocently enough as a way to get all of the necessary hours for Americorp – 1700 hours is a lot of hours when your program ends at 2:00. This year, 40 hours a week is a blessing; one less thing to worry about in this whole Americorp experience (the other worries begin mainly money and sanity related). Volunteering was also a way to fill up the extra hours Bill was away. But now my hours are on track and Bill is finished with night classes and I still can’t stop. Of course there is a natural high associated with volunteering – the whole do something for yourself while helping others. But that’s not really an adequate explanation seeing my life as I know it right now is devoted to Julie’s Family Learning Program. I feel I’ve basically sold my soul to its success. Tax breaks are another logical reason to be a philanthropist, but I don’t think I even need to touch on how ridiculous that would be for a cause. I think I just have something inside of me that says, “You can always do more.” This sounds like a good thing, but really it’s just an invitation for over-extension in the volunteer arena. Read textbooks for blind and dyslexic people? Absolutely. Pick out books for prisoners? Sounds interesting, I’ll do it. Make meals, serve meals, clean up after meals? I’d LOVE to. You know what though, if I have to be addicted to something, I’ll take volunteering. After all, the Americorp motto is “We get things done.” I guess I just interrupt it a little differently, “ I get everything done – all in one day.”

Tooth and Nail

My students’ teeth are beginning to fall out. Not in the scary dream way where they shoot out of mouths at high speed or drop out one by one until there are no teeth left, because that would be horrifying. Just in the normal I’m getting teeth that fit my mouth way. It is sort of creepy to think that each one of those kids have two sets of teeth – one showing and one waiting just beneath the gums for their chance at freedom. Gross. I was never a big fan of even my own teeth falling out. The blood taste and the leftover hole were a little too gruesome. But there is something endearing about a little boy trying to talk about and wiggle his tooth at the same. As long as I’m not ever the one that has to pull it out. Pulling teeth will definitely be a Bill job. That and teaching them to drive, but that’s a different story. The part that I love best is when a kid walks in with a big gaping space and yells, “Look!” and hearing their rendition about the Tooth Fairy situation. We have a major argument going on in my classroom about the size of this mysterious tooth-taker. Some kids think she is a normal-size person that puts the teeth in a bag and leaves anywhere from 50 cents to 5 dollars (another interesting debate; parents should really come to some consensus on the price of teeth) while other children believe she is really small and has to use magic to make the teeth disappear. I guess it is logical that kids view the Tooth Fairy differently. She is definitely not as much as a celebrity as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. You can’t pay too much money to sit on the Tooth Fairy’s lap. Maybe that’s what makes her so cool. Every kid has a different image of her and perhaps it causes arguments, but what really matters is that she came, no matter what she looked like, and left a tangible reminder that they are growing up.