Problem. Solved.

Darren and I were driving home from picking Zach up at the YMCA Saturday night, and we had an interesting conversation. It was 11:00, and we had had a full evening. First, we went to eat (and drink beer) at a new pub, then walked over to the movie theater to see The Pursuit of Happyness (excellent movie, btw), then drove over to Market Street to have dessert at Truffles, which is a chocolate cafe. Needless to say, we were sated and drowsy by the the time we drove back to pick up our child.

I don't remember exactly how the conversation headed in this direction, but we began talking about "the starving children in Africa". Now, if you went to Catholic school, surely you remember them. They were the reason we had to finish our carton of warm milk each day, and try to choke down every last morsel that the cafeteria ladies had lovingly prepared for us that day, even though the peanut butter smelled suspicious, you could bounce the hot dogs across the table, and occasionally there were bits of wire in the lasagna. I always wondered, but was too shy to ask, why didn't we just send the food we didn't want to those poor, starving children, so they wouldn't be hungry anymore? I was a very picky eater, and didn't mind sharing what I had. It just didn't make sense to me why we would let the children in Africa continue to starve, when we had a way to do something about their plight.

Of course, I am also the child who wanted to know what "tar" was when my mother said she was going to beat the tar out of me. I asked her one time if it was like blood. I was honestly curious about that. Then, I probably got the ever-popular response of "Don't be such a smartass." Did she really want me to be a dumbass? My mouth NEVER got me in trouble. Nuh-uh. I am so glad that I found a husband who can appreciate (and outdo me) in sarcasm.

Settling in to the new year

Well, the year is a week old now, and things are settling back down into the less frenetic pace that I tend to live after the holidays. Work is going fairly well, which is always a nice thing. Everyone on my team seems to have some sort of sickness, so we're taking turns taking off. The students have been behaving, and report cards went home without incident, so I guess I can't complain. Zach loves his new teacher, and has come home happy every day. His old teacher was good as well, but I think there are less difficult students in his new class.

I have been feeling alternately lazy and wanting to do something wildly productive. I finished cleaning out the office, and now have a really nice space to scrapbook. I am just waiting for the four months' worth of pictures that I ordered from Snapfish last week to arrive. I am having a crop at my house next Monday, since I am off work, and I am hoping to sell enough product to make my quota for this quarter. I have three confirmed guests so far, and I hope to have two to three more.

I took my test Friday, and I don't know yet how I did. The math part was hard, and I studied for two weeks. I am not sure that making this career move is the right choice right now; I still haven't gotten to experience teaching elementary, which is what I've always wanted to do. I ended up in fifth grade 6 years ago, and it's hard to make that change. I have leads on two different elementary jobs for next school year, and would really like to try that out before I close the door on teaching altogether. I also don't want to take any more time off work until I fully understand the financial aspect of what I'd be getting into. If I decide to do this, there would be four days of training in Chicago in March, and four in May. I only have one and a half days of paid leave left, so it would cost me upward of $200 per day to take off. I have a lot to think about!

I am really enjoying the new friends that Zach is making in our neighborhood. There are three boys who he has played with a couple of times in the past week, and another boy who lives two streets away. We've made friends with his family, and have been to a party at their house, but they are not good about returning phone calls. It's just so nice to have friends Zach's age who live nearby, and their moms are really nice, as well. I was hoping this would happen when Zach started school! There are four other boys fairly close to his age who live nearby, but one is always out of town, one is not too nice to Zach (makes fun of him about his glasses), one takes naps late in the afternoon, and one is being treated for cancer and can't play too much. Zach is so lonely at times, he needs other kids to play with. I guess he could use a younger sibling, but that is another issue altogether...

We lazed around most of the weekend, but did manage to get all of the Christmas decorations put away yesterday. The house seems so bare without the tree, but it is nice that I won't have to worry about the dog eating my 20+ years old Hallmark ornaments anymore. I will miss the lights on the front of the house, because our yard is so dark.

We have a couple of free weekends ahead of us, and Zach decided to quit gymnastics. I will enjoy having less commitments to worry about, and not having to rush around to go places. I am sure we'll find ways to fill the time, though. We have a wedding in Dallas on the 27th to go to, then are planning to go to Lafayette for Mardi Gras weekend. My child asked me what Mardi Gras was the other day, and I thought my heart would break! It's time for him to experience the fun of catching cheap plastic beads!

I Didn't Make the Mess

"Mommy, can you clean up the Play-Doh?"

"I didn't make the mess, so I'm not cleaning it up."

"Daddy, can you come clean up the purple circles?"

"Alana, why aren't you watching him?"

Thus goes the story of my life. During the school year, I'm paid to clean up after fifth-graders. The rest of my life is spent cleaning up after a three-year-old. It's not very satisfying, because inevitably, there will be a worse mess to clean up in the next few minutes. I just want the house to stay clean for one whole day! Is that too much to ask?

So, I come from a long line of anal women. We take pride in cleanliness, and have been known to clean up before the housekeepers come, so "they won't think we're messy people". We are also very blunt women. God skipped over me when He was passing out tact, and the things that are on my mind seem to come flying out of my mouth before I can edit them. It presents a sticky situation sometimes, considering I also am unable to lie. It would be so nice sometimes to be able to at least tell a harmless little white lie, but no, I come out with the plain, unvarnished truth. Perhaps that is why my careers in sales and in waitressing didn't exactly flourish?