December 2009
24 posts
Forget the Resolutions
I’ve never been a big fan of New Year related festivities. I get anxious around holidays that mark the inexorable passage of time, both generally (New Year’s Eve) or personally (my birthday). I also have negative associations from childhood, when my parents would invite their friends to our house to drink and act crazy and loud for absolutely no reason (I didn’t yet understand the cause...
Stuck
It’s no secret that I hate winter, though I’m sure everyone around me wishes it were, because from late October to mid April, I gripe incessantly about it. Winter is cold and stupid. Today, after running in single digit temperatures and having a steam pipe in the basement burst, I decided I’ve had it with living in this frigid arctic wasteland. I want out.
My new resolve...
Normal, Relatively Speaking
For much of the year, our family is down five out of six kids. This means that while our house might not be neat, it is undisturbed. The holiday vacation means the kids have returned, along with their stuff. Suddenly, a house that passed for almost under control was cast into clutter freefall. Trust me, my standards are not high, but they exist. I find it difficult to operate in unchecked chaos....
Laundry
This morning I went to throw clothes into the washing machine, and was vexed to discover laundry already in there, waiting to be transferred to the dryer. Laundry happens to be the bane of my existence, and I was griping to myself about my sorry lot as I crammed the clothes into the dryer and pushed the on button. The dryer made a feeble whirring sound, then died.
The irony of...
Poem
I bought a book of poetry as a gift for a family Yankee Swap, which Sarah’s boyfriend Jeff ended up with (not by choice, I might add). I read it before wrapping it, which is probably bad form, but for me, irresistible. I found several poems I liked a lot, and one that really struck me as amazing. Jake, who lives with Jeff, happened to pick up the book. The other day, he announced that he...
The List
Every December, my mother got us kids into the habit of making a Christmas list. This was a task we took quite seriously, numbering the items in order from the thing we most desired to that which we only kind of wanted, and my parents would do their best to get what they could. For me, a real horse always topped the list, and I was consistently disappointed, but I did get other items I...
Retail Tale
Yesterday, I was at our local Barnes and Noble, looking for a book. I knew the title, but I couldn’t remember the author, so I walked up to the information desk.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I’m looking for a book.” The girl behind the desk looked up at me, her expression oddly hostile. I gave her the title and she logged onto her computer.
“Author?” she asked.
...
Come As You Are
I belong to two groups, Book Group A, which I joined in 1993, and Book Group B, which started five years ago. Last night, I got together with Group A.
I love them both, but Book Group B requires attention to detail. I dress up for Book Group B. If we’re meeting at my house, I clean the bathroom and think about what to serve on which set of matching plates. Book Group A...
The Cost of Knowing
When you get to be a middle-aged adult, holiday parties can be a drag. Basically, they consist of a bunch of people you know either all too well or would rather avoid standing in a noisy, crowded room wearing something uncomfortable and bragging about their kids.
Last night I endured the smug and boastful before gratefully sinking into a chair next to a good friend. We got...
Regret, Revisited
Last year, I went to the school holiday party with near-catastrophic results. I drank too much and said inappropriate stuff, and while I don’t recall specifically what, I suffered from a pervasive general unease that whatever I leaked could potentially get me fired. I spent the next several days nervously waiting for the proverbial shit to hit the fan, but thankfully, nothing happened.
...
Analogize This
I have a tendency to think of everything in terms of analogies. For example, this frenzied week before the Christmas break has been so exhausting and stressful at school that the clichéd analogy the other teachers use- “a sprint to the finish line”-struck me as woefully inaccurate. I’m not sprinting anywhere, and a two-week break hardly seems like a finish line. I feel like a boat (and...
Birthday Girl
Today was my birthday, and it was the very first birthday in my entire life that the fact that it was my birthday was not the first thought in my head when I woke up. It occurred to me that perhaps this is because I am evolving, and hence, less focused on myself. Either that, or maybe my memory is shot. I was lying in bed, ruminating on this, when Sam mumbled something.
...
The Last Time
Today was a snow day. My initial glee at being able to dawdle over my coffee and catch up on personal e-mail faded (but only slightly) after I cracked my sideview mirror with the snow shovel while cleaning off my car. It faded a bit more when I checked my work email and realized I had to change up my lesson plans since today was lost and there’s a term paper deadline looming. The morning...
Gravity Sucks
Last night in yoga class, I was attempting a posture known as thread the needle when for some reason, I fell over. This came as a surprise, because I was on my hands and knees, which is a pretty secure base, but I guess I shifted suddenly and the next thing I knew I was on the floor. I went down without fanfare; I didn’t scream, and there was no huge thud, but I felt like an total idiot....
Possible Side Effects Include Dave Matthews
Yesterday, I took my last malaria pill, a well-known side effect of which are vivid dreams, and mine over the past two weeks have lived up to this reputation.
My best dream happened around a week ago. I was at a party and met Dave Matthews! In the dream, he had his normal voice and face, but he was chubby and a dwarf.
As much as this might seem like it would be a...
HUMANitiarian
I wondered how long I could hold onto the halo of humanitarianism I’d picked up during our week in Ghana. The answer was disappointing; fifteen minutes. That’s right, fifteen minutes of sitting in my seat on the plane, directly behind a toddler screaming at the top of his lungs and directly in front of another toddler who entertained herself by kicking the back of my seat every five to...
Thanksgiving
Ghana Journal
November 28
Thanksgiving
It’s easy to feel grateful here.
I am grateful that back where I’m from I open the windows (rather than closing them, as I do here) to breathe clean air. I am grateful to be able to drink water from the tap that won’t make me sick. I am grateful that three-quarters of my beautiful daughters and Jeff are by my side, but I’m also...
On the Road
Ghana Journal
November 24
In Accra, there are plenty of private taxis, but they are fairly expensive by Ghanian standards, so many opt to take tro-tros. A tro-tro is a small van packed beyond reasonable capacity with people traveling in roughly the same direction.
To say that tro-tros have seen better days is a massive understatement. Most look as if they have been totaled...
