It's been a long time comin'

The Sarahs have been introducing me to Glee in marathon sessions. I admit, I am a convert: I usually don't like new series, but I love the music on this one, and it brings back memories because I too taught in a small Ohio town. It was southeast of Cleveland, not western Ohio. As I coached basketball (one year) and track (six years) I have memories of many things the characters are showing involving an extra curricular activity sorely underfunded. My tenure was back in the late 70s just as Title 9 was coming into effect. And being a naive new teacher, I let the administration run circles around me.

It has been an interesting holiday season. Lou, Sarah and I went into Cleveland to celebrate his father's 87th birthday, the day after Christmas. It's a good thing we had the dinner on Friday night; during the day Saturday, Lou was extremely tired and later had trouble breathing. The short story is: a call to 911, a week in ICU, a few nights on the medical floor, a follow-up test on Monday as results were inconclusive the first time, and we finally drove back to MD on Tuesday. It seems once again he is surging ahead in the "My Disease" contest; along with everything else, he has been diagnosed with a rare genetic disease affecting the blood vessels. It seems they leak-as in ooze blood, as in making him severely anemic and low blood volume, as in starting a chain reaction that sent him into shock while he was in the emergency room. Mildly put, it's been a hell of a week and a half.

But, I put on my new rose colored glasses, bought for my Janis Joplin channeling (see Dec 11 post), and am starting this new year with a few goals. I hope to be able to put away the stress over things I cannot change. I have been stressing so much over things I have no control over, and I have to stop. I cannot change it, period, so why let it consume me? I hope to get myself back in shape so that my body vaguely resembles my mindset. As my cousin said to me this morning, "It's a bitch looking in the mirror and seeing that old lady-who is she?" And lastly, I want to actively remind the people who are important to me of their importance. There are many times I could easily have said something that I didn't take the few minutes to say. That will stop, I'm going to tell people what and how I think.

Anyway, the kids are here and we are getting ready to go to REI and play. Enjoy your day and evening!