Have You Any Idea What the Street Value of This Mountain Is?

It snowed in Seattle. I'm grumpy. The two are directly related.

Except...I currently have so many reasons to be grumpy.

1. I've had a headache since August 2. None of the numerous medical tests so far performed have been at all enlightening. Though they have yielded quite a variety of medications.

2. I'm job hunting again. Enrollment is down for winter quarter, and I was among the most recent hires. It's the economy, stupid. It's the stupid economy!

3. It snowed in Seattle, and it's too cold for it to melt. I am, therefore, scared to drive anywhere because of the ice and the idiots. Maybe not in that order.

OK, so I have 3 reasons to be grumpy. But I think #1 should count at least 4 times (one for each month of pain), and #2 counts twice - not only did I lose my job, I now have to find a new one! So that makes a total of 7 reasons to be grumpy.

Of course, I did make about 20 dozen snowball cookies yesterday, which just might subtract a point or 2 from my grumpiness score. I'm not sure exactly what the grumpy-to-snowball exchange rate is. I'm sure there's some fairly advanced math involved.

Drive carefully!

Scarecrow, I'll Miss You Most of All!

I survived the insane, intensive course! And I sort of miss it. It was a little weird to get up this morning & know I didn't have anywhere to be or any homework to turn in. But not bad weird.

I've got a couple of weeks until school starts again, and very little to do, which I plan to enjoy to the fullest. I do have a couple of projects planned, including a return to scrubbing the walls of the kitchen. If anyone has some free time and is looking for something to do...

I'm starting to look forward to fall quarter, mainly to get myself back on a regular schedule. I find myself at a bit of a loss when I don't have anything to do, even though I'm sure I'll be nostalgic for it around mid-October. And I'm planning to take a class myself this year too, in addition to teaching. I'm registering for it tonight, if all goes as planned. I'll keep you informed.

So this is mainly just to let everyone know that I'm back in the world again. Did you miss me? :)

A Brain Cloud?

I'm currently on day 9 of a headache. It's not nearly as bad as day 1 was, but still somewhat unpleasant. This is the first time in about 3 years that I've had a headache last longer than 2 days. I really hoped the long, drawn-out ones were behind me. Sadly, I was wrong.

I've been wrong before. But this is something I didn't want to be wrong about. So back we go to examining the ingredients in everything I eat, avoiding foods I really like (farewell bacon, I'll miss you!), and receiving acupuncture treatments. Actually, I'm kind of looking forward to the acupuncture - it was a very positive experience the last time, and it really seemed to help. Whether it was a placebo effect or not, the headaches went away, which is all I care about.

The timing really couldn't be worse. I'm starting an intensive certification course tomorrow - after 7 years of teaching ESL, I decided it was time to get some formal training. I'll be in class from 9-3 daily, and doing homework for pretty much the rest of each day. A prolonged headache might make that a bit more difficult. Luckily, I'm becoming an expert in ignoring my head. What head? There's nothing whatsoever above my neck, what are you talking about?

So that's what's going on in my world, and what will be going on until September. Don't worry or feel bad if I don't contact you or return your calls for a while. It simply means I'm insanely busy with homework. Or that my head has exploded.

B4...and After!

You may recall, back in January, I mentioned the chair I was re-upholstering. Well, I actually finished it! A while ago. Then, slightly less of a while ago, I received a digital camera for my birthday. Yes, I've finally upgraded from the cheesy plastic camera I've had since I joined the Peace Corps in 1995. And so, I present you with one of my greatest personal accomplishments to date.

First, the before picture. Notice the sagging seat, which I had to completely rebuild twice, because the instructor had me do it wrong the first time. I'm over it now.

And here it is, the after photo. I know, floral? But somehow, it works for me. I wanted to keep it feeling like a grandmother's chair. And I got to use purple trim!

So there you have it. Quite possibly the last major craft-like project I will ever attempt. But I have to admit, it was fun.

We'll Never Succeed

My sister & I went to Portland for the weekend, with the intention of seeing 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood.' It's a really fun musical that I've never actually seen, but I played in the pit for it during college.

What we were unaware of, until we got to the hotel and examined the tickets, is that the performance was in Lake Oswego. Not, in fact, in Portland at all. OK, no big deal, we had a car. So I called the theater to get directions & was told to take Highway 43, but NOT to take Terwilliger Boulevard, because it would be confusing. (On a side note, if there isn't a Dr. Seuss character called Mr. Terwilliger, there should be!)

The concierge gave us Mapquest directions which instructed us to take Terwilliger. The valet gave us alternate directions, also instructing us to take Terwilliger. We set off, finger crossed, with plenty of time to get lost and still make it to the theater by 8:00 PM.

Not so much.

We finally found the theater at 8:20 PM. It looks lovely from the outside.

We chose not to go in late, having already missed the beginning, and drove back to Portland. On Highway 43. WITHOUT taking Terwilliger. It was much easier.

Then we ordered drinks and dessert. We had earned it.

You're Right, You're Right, I Know You're Right

Yes, I know, I'm not so good at keeping up with posts. I'm not sure if I just don't have much to say, if I don't have the time, or if I just don't think about it. Maybe a combination of all three.

The only interesting event going on lately is that I'm learning how to upholster a chair. Really. It belonged to my great grandmother, and I remember spilling grape juice on it when I was about four years old. At the moment, it's completely torn apart and I have no idea how long it's going to take me to finish it, but I'm really hoping it'll turn out well. I'll be posting before & after pix when it's done (provided it looks decent).

My classes are going well, although one of my groups won't speak. I've stood at the front of the room for minutes at a time, waiting for someone to answer my question. Three minutes can feel like a very long time when no one is speaking. I'm trying something new, involving bonus points, and I'm cautiously optimistic. We'll see.

I'm not going to make any promises about posting more often, because I hate to end up looking like a liar. Let's just say I'll try.