A lovely
weekend it has been and when I complete this
entry, I will cap it off at the ripe old time
of 6pm or so by scurrying up to my bed,
getting under my straight from Korea circa
1996 mink blanket and wear out the remote
control watching TV in a zoned out state of
bliss.
Friday night,
Dylan's class at school (16 3rd, 4th and 5th
graders) prepared a dinner and served it to
their parents. They had the classroom
all set up nice with table cloths and fresh
flowers and such. It was lovely.
They all brought out salads and cornbread,
then a nice pasta dish with chicken in it and
a sauce (tasted like cream of chicken soup)
that was most delish. After that, there
was a kind of spoonable smores dessert.
You all know what a pushover I am for
absolutely any food I did not have to cook, so
it was a real joy for me.
After that, Mrs
Haboush (the teacher) talked to us about the
field trip the kids are going on in May that
is an overnight stay at historic Sutter's Fort
where they dress up as pioneers and live the
part they have chosen for 24 hours. She
needs tons of adult volunteers, so the dinner
was really to grease us for the field trip.
I don't do field trips as a rule. It
just isn't my thing at all. A lot of the
parents are really gung ho about it and I
imagine Eric might step in.
Speaking of
Eric stepping in, he had a person all trained
to do the mail route while he works his other
job this Wednesday and Thursday, as well as
last Thursday when he had to start the
job. She did great on the two days of
training, but when she did it by herself on
Thursday, she up and quit. That left him
in a hell of a bind and me as well because he
is contractually obligated to do this other
work, so if he doesn't have a sub, I end up
having to do all 275 or so boxes over both
post offices, which means I have to work about
10-12 hours a day, plus skip working out,
which I really do not want to do.
He has a person who is beginning training
tomorrow and she has already worked in a main
post office before (just hasn't done route
work), so I am just absolutely praying that
she works out because I really don't want to
do this. I'd do it for him and for the
family and I'd give it without resentment, but
I suspect I'd be whining a good bit and having
a big ol' pity party for myself while I do.
The hysterical
and chronically negative and angry postmaster
is in one of her honeymoon phases. You
know the one where the abusive boyfriend beats
the shit out of his girlfriend, then brings
her flowers and coos a lot to her until she's
lulled into a false state of security so he
can do it again? So we ignored each
other for a couple of days and then she
started talking to me as though nothing had
happened and now I just go in and make nice
with her while I'm there, case the mail as
fast as I can and get the hell out. The
great thing about it is it makes my day go
tremendously faster there without the
socializing. Knowing how she is and
since that time, having a couple of people who
have worked with her and known her forever
tell me that she's definitely not predictable
in her moods and given to hysterics when
anyone other than herself makes a mistake.
So at least I know it's not just me. I'd
love to see her pull that one on Eric and
watch what happens.
I hate the way
most people, including myself, will first go
to the idea that they must have really done
something wrong to elicit such a response
rather than to the (more likely to be correct)
assumption that this person might truly be a
little too far around the bend. What
causes us to have the knee jerk reaction of
believing how another person sees us until we
run the litmus back to ourselves and determine
that it's just not true? Hell, I
remember when it never even got that far with
me. I had so little self-esteem and such
a convoluted self-image that if someone told
me how I was, right or wrong, I just believed
it and started apologizing before they were
even done telling me. At least now I try
to be objective about myself and have a pretty
good baseline of belief as to how I am, so
that if someone tells me something about
myself, I can consider it, then reject it or
accept it with some reasonable degree of
rational thought instead of just endorsing
every opinion that comes across the desk.
I'm not excited
about working with her. If you have a
dog that licks your hand and gives you cuddles
every time you go out to feed it, then bites
you repeatedly every day for a few days, you
don't exactly approach it in the same fashion
ever again. I'm still pretty chewed up
and if I had my preference, someone else would
be feeding this dog, but unfortunately, this
is where it is and I have to follow through on
it for now.
Eric has been
an absolute doll about taking care of me to
compensate. He makes sure I always have
a nice fire going in the wood stove. He
helps me clean house. He offered me
money to go blow on myself (I declined since
we really can't afford it at this point).
He took over the last part of my route for
Friday and Saturday. When I came out of
the shower this morning, our bed was made, the
room was clean and there was incense burning.
He rubs my feet. He grilled a lovely
dinner today. He is definitely working
hard to let me know that he appreciates what
I've been doing that I appreciate that
in return.
Mostly, this
weekend, I've rested. Last night, Delena
and I went to a play her high school drama
department was producing, "Scapin"
by Molière. It was great fun.
She's in drama class this semester (and
evidently, all semesters to come until she
graduates) and gets homework credit for going
to the play and reviewing it. We had a
wonderful time. Other than that, the
weekend has been staying home and resting (and
yesterday's mail).
I found this
clip on youtube. The little girls
singing are the Peasall sisters, who did the
vocals for the kids who sang on the movie "O
Brother, Where Art Thou." The little
girls you saw were actors who were lip
sync'ing. These girls are all grown up
now, 13. 16 and 19 I think.
This clip
always makes me cry, not just because the
girls sing so beautifully (the music on which
I was raised), but mostly because of the
incredible love in the room and the joy on the
faces of the people in the audience.
It's a feel good thang.
So now I'm off
to reign supreme from my bed and take the
remote away from Eric. I hope you have a
wonderful week.
