The Blog: Spellbound by our own imperfect lives...

Ever since I was in school myself, the last week of the school year has been crazy. No matter what your age or role, the week was busy with finals, locker cleaning, grading papers, doing grades, progress reports and the list goes on. I described it this way: You are in the movie Deep Impact and the big wave is right at your heels. That's how this week is. So, in my whole career in education, this is my last last week of the school year. My last. I am moving on. And even though I am not in a classroom, and have not been in a classroom for years, I feel the wave at my heels. I spent the day making jump drives of all my accumulated knowledge for the ten people who will be doing parts of my job on top of the full-time jobs they already do. When you parcel your job out to ten people, each little part looks sort of pitiful and you feel like you have to apologize which I did. I spent a couple hours this afternoon with some friends from school, eating, drinking, and saying good-bye...

Regis and I had an interesting weekend. He says it's like a baseball game. A baseball game of choppy little grounders. We headed out to Faribault intent on visiting the Cheese Cave and the Java Live. We pulled up in front of the Cheese Cave...closed. We went across the street to Java Live. Now the Coffee Shop. Bad coffee. Really bad coffee. We found another place called El Tequilla. Uff da. ( Bad parking lot, bad signage, wierd look.) We decided to head back to Mankato to eat at a known entity...Mazatlan. This is the mural in the women's bathroom. I love it. This is Regis with his whatever. This is our food and drink. This is me with my wine. Not good wine, but wine. We came home to sit on the patio for a while. The weather is turbulent and we're nervous. We were on our way home on 14 and Regis starts laughing. He makes a big U-turn and goes back to this driveway. What a hoot. Apparently it was Connie's 50th birthday and her loved ones hung all her...

Regis and I had dinner at Number 4 in Mankato last night. We meant to go to Olives and stopped by Pappageorge on the way and it was closed so we changed our plan. How adventurous of us. Both of us had looked at the menu so were pretty sure we would like it. We had a lovely booth that was quiet and private and the menu was interesting. Regis had the Sunday night prime rib special and I had ahi tuna on asparagus spears. The food was good but the popover was burned which is an inattention to detail that means a lot. Bread is my standard. I don't eat much of it and I like it to be good. Even if it's mediocre bread, it should not come to your table burned. I'm worried about storms today. It's supposed to get up to 86 degrees and that always feels like tornado weather especially with all the humidity. There's my weather paranoia in all its glory. We've had a tradition of a Memorial Day road trip for a few years. We usually go out to the pioneer cemetery and wal...

Making a ritual of pausing frequently to appreciate and be thankful...Notice that you become a connoisseur of gratitude, the less you are the victim of resentment, depression, and despair. Gratitude will act as an elixir that will gradually dissolve the hard shell of your ego- your need to possess and control- transforming you into a generous being. The sense of gratitude produces true spiritual alchemy, makes us magnanimous- large souled.                                  Sam Keen, "Hymns to an Unknown God"

We met Tiffany at Sam's Club yesterday and took Elliot for the day so she could work. We stopped at the pet store and he was fascinated by the birds, bunnies, gerbils, guinea pigs, and snakes. We came home to have lunch and a nap. We went for a walk in the afternoon. He held my hand and was friendly to everyone we encountered. He would shout out, "Run!" and we would run. He would shout out, "Jump!" and we would jump about ten times. He is good exercise. I made a real pizza and a crustless pizza, both of which involved a lot of cooking and dishes. Regis said the crustless pizza was ok but would not make his top ten list. He said it needed a crust...and it did. We've had a wonderful morning doing just what I like to do...a little breakfast, some coffee, the radio, reading and writing, and some etsy shopping for aprons. I found some great holiday aprons on sale and I have my eye on a Day of the Dead apron. It's expensive so I have found the fabric an...

We decided to change up our weekend and stop for a cup of coffee instead of a glass of wine last night so we were sitting in River Rock at 4 o'clock instead of Patrick's. I'm not sure what strong coffee does for a person's head is all that much better than wine to tell the truth. I felt like sparks were coming off my hair by the time we left. Regis felt that it just wasn't right and we should go back to our routine. Kind of like trying to hold a fork with your left hand, I think. We have a three-day weekend stretching out in front of us. I'm trying to maintain that delicate balance of doing things and doing nothing. Today could be a busy day....Elliot is coming for the day and Tiffany will come for dinner after work. We're making pizza. I need to buy some groceries and since our list is greatly simplified, I might try getting them all at the new coop. I'll have Regis come along to scope out the prices. We like to buy earth-friendly, fair trade, and...

We're listening to the radio and they're playing some old blues record that must have been on the Titanic...and under water all these years since it sunk. Holy crap. Doesn't that scratchy business get on anybody else's nerves? We have these beautiful blue ray videos of a salt water/coral reef fish tank on the television. It even bubbles like a real fish tank. And no nasty cleaning! This is my kind of pet. I'm finding it hard to keep up with holidays and celebrations. I was ill-prepared for Syttende Mai last week and now it's Bob's birthday tomorrow and I got nothin'. I am a disappointment to myself. I have a limited number of days left in my teaching career. I called the TRA folks today to make sure they had everything they needed and they do. I should get my first check in July as opposed to October as it described as a possibility on the website. Seriously. I apply in March and it could take 6 months to get a check? Do they send it by turtle? Hav...

 Tuesday is Bob Dylan's birthday. He'll be 70 years old. I think I'll make it Bob Dylan Week and listen to his music all the time. I got up at 5, and wrote on my other blog, then went back to bed at 6 for another hour. Regis got up and made coffee. We bought this at Trader Joe's and we like it...strong and rich. Bev and Linda gave me this beautiful verbena for a retirement gift. It's gorgeous and not too hard to keep alive, I hope. These are all my herbs and flowers on the patio. They're all clumped together because I didn't decide yet where to put them. The ones in the back right corner are a beautiful orange color and Fred says they will bloom until October. This is the fern-leaf peony Mom gave me about ten years ago. I know why they're so expensive...it takes forever for them to grow to any size. This one was the same for years. It came up and sat there all summer but never bloomed. The year Ella was two (3 years ago) it had one flower,...

I just looked at my weekly spam digest. Here’s what I have: An offer for Louis Vuitton replica purses and watches Several offers for Viagra and other prescription medications Some offer for a product to help me grow two inches in two weeks… I’m not sure I want to be 5’9”. Really, folks. Where do these things come from anyway? The only thing  weirder than the email is the idea that someone, a real person  presumably, is sitting in front of a computer writing it. Writing it  with their human hands just as I am writing this. The world is an  interesting place which leads to my philosophy that when you buy a ticket to the circus you should not be surprised by the clowns. I started the day at the Pulse. All the heavy hitters are on their way  to Fargo for the marathon so it was very quiet. I can only say that I  am very glad I am not on my way to Fargo to run 13 miles. I’m not a  fan of long car rides, I don’t like to run in the rain, and I don’t...

I have a coffee cup wardrobe. Regis says it's a coffee cup collection but since I choose the cup I want to drink from depending on mood, time of day, and beverage...I think wardrobe fits. This is one of Grandma Elsie's fancy teacups. I have it at work for the times I want something delicate for my coffee. I am not a tea drinker. I like the idea of tea but I am not, or maybe I have not, been fond of tea. This aubergine cup is big and heavy and just right for a meeting-size cup of coffee. I use this one sometimes when I have protein mixed into my coffee. Or is I need to warm my hands. This is a little Dansk coffee cup that I got on sale at Swedish Kontur. I love the dishes there but they are a little expensive for me so I watch for them on the sale table. This set cost five dollars. I love the size of it and it's my most-often used cup at work. This is a little coffee cupboard I found at Pier One years ago. I love it and it's where my coffee cups rest at work. Th...

Regis took this picture of a rose-breasted grosbeak in our apple tree yesterday. Isn't he beautiful? This is Fred. He spent the winter in the garage and is glad to be out in the sunshine again.  The goldfinches have been crazy lately. Sometimes there are as many as 15 on the feeders and the ground. Are the males the ones to feed the babies? We see way more males than females. The woodpeckers love the peanut balls! Another goldfinch on the redbud tree. The flowers come out before the leaves. I bought three flats of flowers and herbs today. I am very random about flower planting as I never have a plan and even if I think of what I might buy, I'm too vulnerable to the splash of color or the scent of lavender to remain firm. I came home with lots of herbs and lots of coleus. I love the dark, rich colors. Fred says that's more fun and he's probably right. Regis and I cleaned up the patio and yard today. I picked up sticks for a long time and looked the gard...

The pictures are in the wrong order...but you get the idea. Some of you are probably sick of getting the idea because this is the third time you've seen these! I have an album on Picassa, I posted them here on the blog, and they're on Facebook. Ha! It was a great event and so nice that all the kids made the effort to attend and recognize Regis.

It’s been quite a week. I wasn’t going to write about some of it but it seems I’m stuck. My life is an open book and you can’t skip chapters. On Wednesday, my district held its annual Staff Recognition event. I usually go because as I’ve gotten older, I appreciate the importance of marking milestones, my own and everyone else’s milestones. I get weepy quite often so I was concerned that I would collapse in a pile of tears when it was my turn to give the retirement speech. I started working on it in January because that’s how I roll. I write, I revise, I ponder, I revise. It had to feel right. The speech went through many transformations over the months. Even Wednesday as I practiced it in my office, I made changes. I wanted the tone to be just right. Here it is. I have to tell you I’m not very good at ad libbing so even the parts of this that seem spontaneous, are not. Like this one. Thank you, Joanne for saying all those nice things about me. See, I have it written down right ...

It seems to be a constant battle to keep the piles of junk cleared away in my life. It's the same in my office as it is at home so I really can't blame anyone else. I am too inclined to bring stuff in and set it down. Right now, where I am sitting, there are three piles within arm's reach: a pile of River Rock stuff, a pile of Mother's Day cards and TRA stuff, a pile of coupons and graduation stuff. None of it can be thrown away and I guess most of it could be stowed somewhere else but I'm not sure where. I know, or hope, that this is a universal problem. I see in the weather forecast that it's to be in the high 70s today and the high, get this, 80s tomorrow. So, we shut the furnace off today and turn the AC on tomorrow. What the hell. Of course, with this rapidly rising temps comes the threat of severe weather which I loathe. It's not so bad if I'm at home and the basement is easily accessible but I hate being out and about with black clouds looming. ...

So, I'm driving down Jefferson Avenue after school and some dude in a ratty-ass car pulls out in front of me without even slowing down at the stop sign. When he gets to the next intersection, he sees somebody he apparently knows because he hangs out the window waving and then makes a big old U-turn right in the middle of the street. I am driving down Washington Avenue veeerrry carefully because it is clearly Moron Day on the Highway when here comes this old guy driving in the parking lane like it's four-lane highway. He goes for about 8 blocks like this...through the Washington Grace intersection and right on down to Broadway.This is a city street, dude! I felt lucky to get home without incident. I spent a brief period of time in productivity after I got home of which I am quite proud since my first inclination was a nap. I swept the kitchen floor, picked up all the coffee cups, hung up my clothes, and put away the random stuff that gets strewn about by the folks who come int...

I was at the Pulse this morning when the downpour started, then the hail started. All of this with spectacular lightning. It was a glorious morning. I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I heard from, or saw, all the children and grandchildren. I received some beautiful cards with very sweet messages. Regis took me out for dinner and I had prawns and salmon and a caprese salad. We came home to sit on the patio in the sun. It was a good bird weekend, too. These are the birds I saw: Baltimore oriole, cardinal, rose-breasted grosbeak, gold finches and house fiches by the score, downy woodpeckers, and of course, robins. I listened to The Moth podcasts while I walked this weekend. Some of them are so powerful , I weep. I heard one the other day, It was the Best of Times , from an episode called When Worlds Collide. It's an amazing story. There are a lot of superlatives in this post. I must have had a good weekend. As they say on The Moth, make it a story-worthy week.

Regis and I went on a small adventure yesterday. We went to the Cedar's Grille about 5 and had a cheese plate and a glass of wine on our way to the Bothy. On a whim, we stopped at Pappageorge to see the Kentucky Derby crowd. Oh, my, it was raucous in there. There were a couple of ladies at the bar in great hats. Dean McGraw performed at the Bothy last night and he is one of our favorites. He talked a lot about his recent cancer and the treatment and how his friends from all over the country cared for him. He's a sweet man. His music is amazing and moving. He had us singing in the end, I'm a Believer and Like a Rolling Stone, which always leaves me feeling like my soul has been washed and hung out to dry in the warm sun. It was a wonderful evening. I'm not sure I have told this story here before (if I did, it was years ago and I've forgotten) but do you see that tan suitcase under the speaker? My Grandma Elsie gave that to me for a high school graduation present....

I'm not abandoning this blog, I have decided to start a new blog to document and archive all my learning for the coffee and bistro business. The name of it is Seed of the Coffee Tree and you can find it here . I have two posts there already so check it out. I'm planning to have lots of links and lists so it will be a way to access that information from anywhere. I had a lovely day. I spent the afternoon on the patio under a big sun hat in my coffee apron. Here I am. And here is my pile of books. I have been on the patio a lot this weekend. Here I am last night. Too bad I'm not working instead of sitting. The neighbors are working like little ants and here I sit. Regis made me a steak and cheese omelet for breakfast. It was beautiful and delicious. I love the little square plates with the turned up corners. Alex came over for a short visit today. He is usually reluctant to be here alone but today, we promised a juice box and fruit snacks. He was happy to sit a...