lydamorehouse: (aizen's return)
[personal profile] lydamorehouse
 Saturday's class went astonishingly well. I was expecting eight students, but ended up with an even dozen.  They were all lively and ready to play.  It could not have been a better crew.  

I mean, maybe I will get a evaluation or two that says: "Teacher was very random" and/or "too accommodating," but that's just my teaching style. But, from what I could tell, everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Did they learn anything?  I hope so. I did have a couple of bits of wisdom to impart, but... you actually never know what sticks with a student.  I've had people say to me at conventions, "Do you remember saying [this one thing]? It stuck with me for years. Can you expand in it?"  And, 9 times out of 10, I have zero recollection of having said the thing. Unless it sounds completely unlike me, I tend not to let on and just go ahead and expound on whatever idea it was.  Because that's the thing. You really don't know what, out of the zillion things you say, what's gong to seem the most meaningful.

Mason came home from his last debate kind of late, somewhere closer to 5 pm. That worked out really well. I ended up having to wait with a student who had forgotten her phone until her dad arrived to pick her up.  From there, I stopped at Subway and picked up dinner for Mason and I.  We ate separately because Shawn was off to a work party on Saturday night.  

I could have gone to the party, but, once this extrovert wound down from the high of teaching, I was pretty pooped out.  Plus, Shawn is starting to be invited to the kinds of parties where the directors and board members are in attendance and... those upper echelon people baffle me. I can't compare Louis Vuitton bags. In fact, I don't even own a pair of dress pants any more. If I had been planning on going, Shawn and I would have had to go to the store to buy something appropriate for me to wear.  And that seemed stupid (not to mention expensive) for just one party. Admittedly, another big part of not wanting to go is the feeling that I'm cool enough any more. I'm not writing and I haven't published since 2013.  If people asked me what I did for a living, I'm not sure what I'd even say. 

So, there's that.

Yesterday, we got our Solstice tree up and decorated. I'd love to post a picture of it, but Facebook is being very weird.  So, maybe tomorrow.  We did our annual dash across University Avenue lugging a giant tree. It's become quite the tradition.  It starts with a walk over to the "Y's Men's" lot.  They used to set up directly across University from us in front of the YMCA.  However, now that Dickerman Park/the City of  Saint Paul has reclaimed that area, they've moved to a parking lot just up Wheeler on that side of University.  After finding the tree, paying for it, getting the bottom trimmed, we inevitably have this conversation:  

Them: "Where are you parked?"  
Us: "Oh, we're walking."
Them: "With the tree?"  
Us: "Yep! We live just across University."
Them: [looking vaguely confused and alarmed] "Good luck."

I'm sure we're quite the sight to the motorists on University Avenue.  I'm only glad we were able to talk the light rail people into giving us a pedestrian crossing. Otherwise, we'd have to walk down to Fairview, cross there, and then walk all the way back. That'd add several blocks.  In some ways, having the pedestrian crossing has made it a little easier. There were years when Shawn and i would be standing on the little concrete island between lanes for minutes waiting for a break in the cars.  Now, because the light rail has signs saying to keep an eye out for pedestrians, we will occasionally actually get people who will stop.

Then there's the semi-traditional arguing while we try to make sure the tree is properly in its stand.  We actually didn't do as much of that, probably because Mason is now old enough to stand at the door and direct us.  Before it would be: adjust, adjust, crawl out from under the tree, see that it's crooked, swear a lot, and rinse and repeat.  

I work today for three hours, starting at 11 am.  I get to try to brave this new dusting of snow all the way out to North Saint Paul. I'm sure it will be fine.  I can return eight of the volumes of Nana that I read over these last few days.  North Saint Paul is usually fairly quiet, too. I'm probably just covering some folks' lunch hours. 

Mason has a robotics field trip today, so I'm picking him up a little later than usual. Last night he went to Rosemary's. They switched to Sundays because of debate, but this meant he was home late last night and ended up staying up at least an hour over bedtime. He has a real problem with bedtime.  We harass him a lot, but there also comes a time when you have to say, "Okay. It's on you." No surprise, he woke up really rough this morning.  Anyway, I hope we can get him to bed earlier tonight.  Sigh. Teens.

Right. Well, I tried one more time to post to FB, but it's not working at all. And, now it's time for me to get ready for work.  

See you all again soon!
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