Overdue video rental a bright spot!

My head hurts and my eyes are raw from leaking stress. I knew the last PA days at school would be the hardest of the year, but I had counted on being finished and saying "goodbye" for the summer by today. I woke up this morning thinking this evening I could start mentally unwinding.

How could such a foolish thought have entered my head?

Moving an artroom, doing inventory, writing curriculum and placing enxt year's orders were all I had to do over the past 3 days. Day 1 was half blown by hanging around for meetings and being unclear on who was doing what. Day 2 was punctuated by a farewell barbecue that was essentially grab-a-burger and try not to let it drip in the itty-bitty LCBO boxes that had JUST arrived. Of course the majority of the teachers were out in the sun drinking beer with their burgers. Day 3, today, was supposed to be a simple "move the last bits of junk" and write up September's supply requirements.

The person who's room I'm moving to always gets her own way. She hadn't moved out yet. And she's not coming back over the summer to finish up either. She was upset with me yesterday because I wasn't warm and friendly with her in front of the new teacher. Her new room - my old one - will be "done" first after she insisted it get painted, triple disinfected, and thousands of dollars of renovations done.

Meanwhile, I've got my stuff all packed and in the hall, no storage space to move INTO, no decisions made about a solid area of potential storage, and five people telling me how to set up the new room with non-existent furniture. Oh, and the plumbers have to re-do the drains for paint and goo. But I'm still supposed to do SOMETHING. So I start unpacking at 2:00 this afternoon. Tomorrow's a holiday, and the supply list still isn't done.

When the after-school club coordinator changed one of my clubs to a Friday afternoon, I went off like a rocketship.

Then I started to cry. My boss is stressed, and she tried to solve sy questions by not answering them and coming up with something else.

Everybody was being nice to me. I felt so stupid that I started crying again. People offered help and sympathy. It's 3:30 pm and I only got paid until 2:00. I have to go in Monday and Tuesday and then later in the summer. Move out. Move in. That would have been nice.

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Came home. J-kid a phenomenal help and tower of strength the last few days, all for the price of a PSP game. White wine. Dangled in pool. And when they called about an overdue video, it was just one more errand.....and they said "Forget it. Happy Canada Day.

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Southern Alberta last week (1)

Barnyard Buddies

You Were Actually Born Under:

Popular and crafty, you are a master at the art of seduction. You are intelligent and intuitive - and make a savvy businessperson. You live life to the fullest, even if it means maxing out your credit cards. Many people are secretly (and hopelessly) in love with you. You are most compatible with a Rooster or Ox.

You Should Have Been Born Under:

Your most comfortable inside your head - and often daydream the day away. You have an artistic temperament that makes you seem creative to some, eccentric to others. You avoid conflict at all costs, and you have a difficult time with relationships. Attractive and with good manners, you tend to shine in social situations. You are most compatible with a Pig or Rabbit.

What Year Were You Born Under?

Found on Acting Artist

Look, I can't even get change for the drive through at Tim Hortons, let alone give you some while merging onto a major highway.......

Aesthetic Surgery
Taschen, Dr. Angelika (ED)
Hardcover, 210 x 293 mm, 440 pages

Aesthetic Surgery

Hot, humid, with only the hint of air conditioning, I lay sprawled in bed, sleepless, watching "Diets of the Stars" or something similar on the MTV channel. I almost woke up completely when I discovered that Renée Zellweger had to gain weight for Bridget Jones (and then take it all off again to fit into some dress. Goes to show how little attention I pay to this stuff.

Why didn't they just hire a rounder actress? I'd actually enjoyed seeing the plumpness on the airline "big" screen! Thought - good on Hollywood, they're making steps towards real. I felt better about myself. And now I'm all shattered again.
Even if Bridget Jones was supposed be about self-acceptance.

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I love art books, especially with a bag of chips and a club soda. When I got Taschen's ad-mail a few minutes ago...well, I'll be damned! Guilt vanished! Everyone is trying so very hard to be perfect!

Need I say more?

What goes around.......what exactly are we teaching our kids?

Never thought I'd get my karma back this quickly...

Last week, I had an art exhibition and silent auction at my school for the kids. An irate parent (see poisonous people post earlier) took a strip off me, saying I was despicable, stealing from children....

Pretty much ruined the evening. This week, I'm marking art projects. Being very careful with this guy's son, who's quite a nice young boy. His project?

Internet printout. Word for word. When asked, claimed it was completely in his own words - or maybe two of them.

Plagiarized, all ecept for the kid's name.

Pretty much made my day.

Who am I today?

During our last Second City improv class, we were asked to find a picture in a magazine and make up a character based on the photograph. Meet Torka.

We also had to mimic another classmate and I got to be Tim. Lucky for me, his shoulder hurts, (much easier to act) and he WAS expecting his first kid at the time. Now he's a full-fledged Daddy, Beautiful-Baby Nathaniel having arrived June 1.

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Don't take that "Beautiful-Baby" adjective too lightly. I don't DO babies, generally. I really enjoy them as children and teenagers, long past the cooing and coddling stages - when they're NOT so cute, NOT so helpless, and NOT so fragile, but still fresh, uncluttered human beings.

I'm not part of the crowd that hungers to hold the baby - when (and if) it gets to me, it usually needs a diaper changed and is generally pissed off and starts howling. Besides, there's at least 20 more years to get to know them before they run off to make their own lives.

This was also my first visit to a hospital since Mom died, so when I saw this little fellow sleeping - so still - my heart stopped for a microsecond. Then that gorgeous little face was dreaming, and I could breathe again, and marvel at new life.

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Mom and Dad are both exhausted, and happy. I hear an evil cackle in the back of my mind....you think you're tired NOW?

The voice softens. And all too quickly, this tiredness will be but a memory. Promise.

Torka: Character Study

When you don't read your inbox....

....you get very pleasantly surprised when you arrive at work and the two classes you teach are gone on a field trip.

And one of the classes is your least favourite.

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Small things, errands are, but some days, it's just that much nicer to feel you've accomplished something by taking a couple of things off your to-do list. Like getting the oil changed and your teeth cleaned. Like my friend Tim's wife - "Lessee, what's up today? Oh, yeah....I should be having that baby..."