1 How does the week go so slowly and the weekend move so swiftly?
2 Oh, that's right.
3 They all move at the same speed. An hour is an hour. A minute is a minute.
4 It's all relative, says Uncle Albert.
5 That's cool.
6 The funny thing is that I'm upset I didn't get enough work done over the weekend.
7 How screwy is that?
8 Yesterday I decided to take a ride up to see my Dad. As always, he was a gentleman and a laugh or three. My sister Linda was there too, so we got a chance to talk a little shop, so in a way, I was still working.
9 She teaches at a grammar school, and they did a send-up on the Wizard of Oz. She had Shutterbug make make a small children's book out of it, and it looked phenomenal.
10 Show biz, man.
11 My sister Gayle is a jazz singer and former actress extraordinaire as well. My Dad used to play piano when we were young, and we'd sing or listen to him sing, which was really fun.
12 My Mom absolutely LOVED going to plays. She made sure we had albums of all the great musicals hanging around the house, so music was a constant.
13 So it was great visiting Dad. I have been a tad busy with school, trying to step up my game. I mentioned to Linda that every single day on the way home from work I analyze what I did and how I could improve.
14 When I got home, both my daughters were there, and Nicoley and I went for a brief cruise to the bank. There's an entire story as to why, but I'll get to that in a second. But we did get to chit-chat. The topic? Teaching. Improving. She is in the process of changing her classroom up, and we decided that during the weeks of winter we might get together every couple of days to talk shop.
15 Pretty good army.
16 I'm thinking of making my vocabulary lists on Sundays during football, and asking everybody what their favorite word are. We all have them. Each week I try really hard to come up with two word lists, one for my sophs and one for my seniors.
17 It's getting even more fun, believe it or not. I'm still probably one of the most insecure teachers ever, but I just roll with it. To this minute I get nervous every Sunday night, even if I spend half my weekend working on school stuff.
18 That's why I'm so shaky this morning. I spent a good portion of Friday working late, and a whole bunch of Saturday, but my crazy work ethic is upset that I took time out on Sunday to go up and visit with my Dad and with my sister.
19 Nicole felt the same way because she went shopping with Helene and Caitlin, AND didn't buy anything for her students.
20 And so it goes.
21 Hard to explain. Both she and Caitlin dance, and dancers tend to be perfectionists, and totally understand a hard work ethic. They're like athletes in that regard.
22 I have always regarded dancers as athletes.
23 I'm not a perfectionist. The one thing I like about myself is that I'm teeming with imperfection, which makes it all human.
24 But it does get a bit ridiculous when I'm upset that I didn't put in at least twelve hours on the weekend trying to make my classes better.
25 So I'm attacking this week without as much preparation. I worry about today. I don't usually worry about Mondays because I usually beat them down by being overly prepared.
26 And so I am a bit scared this morning. I didn't get enough done, but it has a little to do with that aforementioned ride to the bank. More on that in a moment.
27 Moving on, Part One: Congrats to everybody who ran the Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon yesterday. I really thought about doing that, not that I would have run the thing in fifteen minutes or anything, but it would have been a nice stroll, and from what I can see, it was a perfect day for it.
28 My family made a pact this weekend that we are all going to do a minimum of a half-hour of daily exercise. I'm not sure beginning when, but if I know anything about myself, this is the time of year that I actually get in and do some serious exercise. The weather starts to cool and it becomes easier. I got up early this morning and forgot. But it IS an agenda item.
29 I used to follow my natural bear-like instincts when the weather would cool, which is to eat more, since it's sort of fun to cook when it rains, or when the sun goes down earlier.
30 Well, I like when there's something like a half-marathon to inspire me. I'm not sure, but it looks like the entire town ran yesterday. Looks like I missed quite a party.
31 So again, congrats. You not only helped a good cause, you also inspired a lot of us finally to commit to a healthier year.
32 Moving on, Part the Thoid: I told you all a while back that the T000000NDRA got T-Boned in the school parking lot, putting a good thousand-dollar crease in the passenger's side.
33 I knew at the time it was probably going to stay like that for a stint, because I didn't have the deductible what with everything else I had going on. But I also knew that leaving creases in your car tends to leave creases in your car. It gets harder and harder to have it fixed, and that can become pretty depressing.
34 Yesterday I stopped at the store to pick up a few things, and on my return to the T000000NDRA I got instantly approached in the parking lot by these two nice but aggressive guys named Nick and Tony. I instantly liked them on their names alone.
35 Nick was the negotiator. He runs a mobile car-dent repair business and didn't have a card. The shadiness instantly intrigued me.
36 Knowing full well that I was in yet another Disney cartoon, I soon found myself pointing out all the spots on the T000000NDRA that needed "undenting". I told Nick I couldn't really afford to have it done right now, that we were still recovering from my daughter's wedding, but he persisted in looking it over like a university professor.
37 Mind you, I had NO idea WHO these two guys were, but they absolutely looked like something right out of Disney. Nick came up with an estimate of $375 to fix everything.
38 The price was a steal, to be honest. But I turned him down, and the price came down just as quickly. "Three twenty-five!" he said. "Aw, c'mon, I wouldn't be bothering you so much but it's my daughter's birthday."
39 Looking back, I'm pretty sure now that he might not even HAVE a daughter. It's not rocket science. See item #36.
40 Or he might have around thirty daughters. The guy's itinerant.
41 Long story short, or at least hopefully, I had the guy follow me home, left the T000000NDRA, saw Nicoley getting ready to go home. She had parked in the driveway, so I had to park the T000000NDRA across the street so Nick and Tony would have a little work space. I asked her if I could hitch a ride to the bank to get some cash out of the ATM. She instantly said yes, because it was a perfect opportunity to talk some teaching shop, and we were off.
42 Full circle. When I got home, these guys I call the Three Bobs were all over the T000000NDRA. The Three Bobs are my across-the-street neighbors (there are actually only two Bobs left; one Bob moved) who always come out if I'm doing anything in front of the house. They always make a little polite conversation, and they both love working on stuff, all the time. They also love chit-chatting. They're nice fellows, but I don't usually have time for charming chit-chat.
43 I like them, but they do tend to do that. I even wrote a song about them one time, years ago. I called it "Three Bobs".
Here is a taste of the lyrics, which makes it abundantly clear as to why I'm going nowhere fast:
♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪
I got <beat> three Bobs in my neighborhood.
One Bob sneezed, another understood.
I got <beat> three Bobs in my neighborhood.
One spends his days
Under a Chevy hood...
Three Bobs <beat beat> Three Bobs <beat beat>
44 And on and on. Needless to say, it never went platinum.
45 AnywayZ
46 While Nicoley and I shot off to the bank, they had engaged in social palaver with Nick and Tony, and soon, everyone in the neighborhood was outside sweeping porches and watering plants.
47 It suddenly looked like a bustling Emerald City outside.
48 The T000000NDRA was the grand Poobah.
49 Four in the afternoon and the neighborhood suddenly came alive, all because of Nick and Tony.
50 And honestly? I didn't really want to go out and chit-chat. I saw Nicoley off, went back inside, and then I wanted to stay there and work on my vocabulary lessons. I figured I'd wait a few minutes for all the excitement to die down before going back out there. I felt sort of like the guy who hits a homerun slowing down his hat-tip for just the right moment.
51 I finally sucked it up and wandered across the street. One Bob had Tony over at his own truck, which is a '69 Chevy. The other Bob pretended he didn't see me. I approached Nick, who was busily smearing some white cream substance all over the side of the T000000NDRA.
52 He smiled. For the first time, I noticed his third tooth in on the left side was a gold tooth. He looked a smidgen like a short Keith Richards. He was clearly proud of his work. I heard, "Bye Daddy!" turned quickly to see that Caitlin was standing waiting for a hug and kiss. I said, "Goodbye Sweetie" and as she walked off, I looked at Nick and said, "That's the bride!" He smiled, and his tooth twinkled.
53 I looked more carefully at the T000000NDRA. He had completely removed the crease. There was a little part that remained dented, but it required a four-dollar dealer item. He's coming back on Thursday to finish it all up.
54 Turns out they both got business from the other two Bobs. I'm not sure how, since they didn't even have business cards.
55 I'll say one thing: the guy did a beautiful job in less than forty-five minutes, and the next thing I knew, they were off. I looked around and everyone had gone back into their houses. The neighborhood zipped itself up as it does every night, and I was off to the house to finish up whatever it was I had started to do.
56 So ended a remarkably short weekend. As we speak, I have one vocabulary list done, and the other in the oven. I got to see both my daughters, my sister and my Dad; I met the now inimitable duo of Nick and Tony, and the T000000NDRA looks brand new. I just have to wipe off the shaving cream when I'm done here, and douse it with a little cologne.
57 And meanwhile, I really think for once, school can take a back seat. Just this once.
58 Have a GREAT Monday everyone.
59 Fly low.
60 Peace.
~H~
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