The Last Hurdle

Today, November 12, 2009, I jumped the final hurdle into adulthood with the addition of a single card to my wallet: a Sam's Club Advantage Membership card. Not only am I old enough to have one, I'm old enough to care about the price difference when you buy bulk. Sure, there are other things in my wallet that say, "Look at me, I'm not a little girl anymore," credit cards, proof of insurance, money...but there is something distinctly grown up about a Sam's card. Probably the fact that it's not something I will brag about to my friends. Oh, I'll tell them, as I'm telling you, but I won't brag, I'll bemoan its presence in my wallet, adding a fraction of an inch to the thickness and a decade of age to its owner. It's the only card that does that (except for maybe an AARP card, but ignore that, I'm being melodramatic). A credit card says, look at me, I don't even need money! A driver's license says, why yes, I can give you a ride! A learner's permit says, why yes, I can make the car stall in the middle of the road! But a Sam's Card...it says, yes, I can purchase 36 Cup o' Noodles in the same package!

So, if you see me around and I'm leaning on a large mountain of Cup o' Noodles, you know why. Give me a nod, and welcome me to grown-up-hood.

What if...

...Facebook stays around for really long time. And what if I'm still a teacher ten years from now. And what if my students 10 years from now are like, "Miss, you have a Facebook?" And what if I said, "Yes! And I've had a Facebook since before you were born! Stop calling me 'Miss'!"

Straight from the Headlines

I have news headlines from the BBC on my iGoogle page, and on occasion the headline can be taken the wrong way. Usually, this taking of things the wrong way results in some kind of funny image popping into my head. I thought I'd share what I see (sort of, in a poorly executed way). Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

And Now, Some Random (and Silly) Thoughts...

- My cat is really adorable when you catch him using his liter box. He gives you this look as if to say, hey, I don't have a door to close, so maybe you could be nice and butt out. If you don't he just continues with his business as if to say, yeah, I know it stinks, what are you going to do about it? Anthropomorphism much?

- I say a lot of things that don't really make sense. For example, butt o'clock. No logic whatsoever.

- My knee has been hurting lately. Maybe it's because of the temperamental temperatures of central Florida. Or maybe it's because I'm always bouncing around at rehearsal. Nah...it's the temperature.

- I didn't know that temperamental had an 'a' in it until I got red-squiggly-lined by the word checker. How did that escape me?

- The difference between me and a high school student (other than vast amounts of maturity...sometimes, intellect and education) is that I checked the dictionary for the correct spelling rather than doing something ridiculous like leaving it that way and assuming the computer is stupid. Probably why I don't use words like supposably. It's supposedly, people!

- I'm convinced that my knee is conspiring with Bard the Cat and the dust mites under my bed to take over my room. I'm not sure what my knee hopes to get out of it. World domination, perhaps?

- I should play sports again. Yeah, sports. That would be fun. If only I had someone to play with... sigh.

Valentine's Day

It's almost Valentine's Day around here, a day in which I rarely see the sky due to the large volume of whale-sized balloons floating above my head. I didn't mind Valentine's Day so much in high school; there lived a small hope inside me that at some point in time I too would be able to carry one of those ridiculous balloons around all day. College wasn't so bad either, because there were a large number of people just as bitter as I who encouraged the wearing of black t-shirts in observance of Single's Awareness Day. Here on the other end of both, I just want to take a pair of scissors to the balloons and explain ever so kindly to the giggly girls that the oh-so-sweet boys just wants to get in their pants. They shed a tear as the leaking balloons lay in piles around my feet. Alas, cutting devices are frowned upon in public high schools.*

Happy Valentine's Day.

*Hyperbole.

Gah!

My friend mentioned on her 25 Things About Her list (if you don't know what this is, you're obviously not on Facebook) that she's turning 24 this year. (I am 100% sure there is something stuck under my delete key which is really bad, because I use it all the time. Grrrr...I need a can of compressed air) So, if she's turning 24 this year, then that means I'm turning 24 this year! When did that happen? Somehow I became a person in my mid-20s without noticing it. I can only imagine that the getting old thing only gets worse as I actually get old.

I was thinking the other day about how young my students are. One was born in 1994. I was 9 years old at the time. Freshmen this year have never lived in a world without cell phones or with the USSR. Wow. And then I told my dad this and he put things in perspective. My grandparents found out about my birth via telegram. Telegram! The thing where a guy in a uniform drives up to your house, rings your doorbell and starts singing "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling!" hands you a message! He also said something about not having direct dial long distance, but I'm sure they've always had that. I think maybe he was pulling my leg.