Reinstating Blog

After an extended and unintended hiatus, I'm back!

I've wanted to blog while I've been "gone," but for various reasons haven't.

It reminds me a lot of when I was a small child and I took on the task of journalling. And I found it EXTREMELY ARDUOUS. This is because every time I started an entry, I felt like I had to catch the journal up on everything that had happened since last time I wrote. Seriously, I wrote entries that began "In July was my birthday. I got a bike. I also got a pink basket to go on the front." Then by the time I got up to the present I was SO TIRED I couldn't write another entry for three weeks, at which point I had too much to write AGAIN.

So briefly.

CV got better and got out of the hospital while his parents were visiting. I had spent the eleven days visiting with my brother, my parents, and, later, CV's parents. My friends were wonderful: inviting me over, feeding me curry, bringing homemade cherry-and-chocolate-and-walnut cookies and just dropping them off.

CV came home while his parents were here, and we had Christmas, opening all our presents. Cat and dog both shredded wrapping paper, to everyone's satisfaction.

That very day, not two hours after he left the hospital, the billing office called. The insurance covered everything* but $300. Would we like to pay that $300?

The hospital cost $1550/day, and the insurance only paid for $550/day, but apparently that was in this case enough.


Then we still didn't have jobs. But then Friday before school started, CV got a phone call, would you like another course to teach? He certainly would.

For my part, I answered a sort of generic ad for teachers for an SAT course offered by the "irreverent" test prep company. After believing I had written myself out of it because of an online practice test which I accidentally submitted WITHOUT FILLING IN ANY MATH PROBLEMS... I got an e-mail inviting me to do a teaching audition. The information suggested that I should expect another 8 prospective teachers, and I should work to get them involved.

This was Monday.

Wednesday I got the confirmation e-mail, oh yes, by the way, the presentation should NOT cover an academic subject. Uhm? Okay, fine, I'll think of a new one.

I showed up that evening prepared to get the crowd going with my presentation on How to Plan a Wedding in Three Days.*** I found.... one other person. A grad student colleague, even, someone who I've had a class with.


Turns out she was interviewing me. And that she was the only person who'd be in the room. I was to pretend she was several people.

I was totally thrown and did relatively poorly. And in spite of believing it didn't matter too much, I fretted the whole night.

The next day, Thursday, I got the e-mail inviting me to the next stage, training.

Which began yesterday, Friday.

In another state.

So I'm writing this from my hotel suite in this other state. I drove here yesterday, then did four hours of MATH. Then I got up this morning, skipped the absolutely abominable coffee, went in for another nine hours of math.

Tomorrow nine more.

And in fact I have some prep to do for tomorrow. However, unlike some of the other trainees, I have LOTS of practice in front of a class and I know how to work a room. Also, I have the teaching personality they call for, which is funny and feeling free to share eccentric personal tidbits.

If I can just master the whole writing on the board (legibly), especially while doing MATH, I think I'll be just fine.

Okay, before I sign off, a jewelry update. (Okay first a tangent: Tony Danza? Has a TALK SHOW?) I got my ears pierced Wednesday. In the teeny bopper place in the mall. I am totally the oldest person to ever get my ears pierced there. And yes, I just mean the lobes: mine weren't pierced. But what with the temporary rings we picked out for our skinny fat-knuckled fingers last week, I'm going through a real jewelry phase.

Incidentally, thanks everybody for reading and commenting. Comments make my day.



*Of course, this doesn't include the daily consultations with the psychiatrist, or the subsequent just-in-case cat scan, and various sundries. However, we are still extremely relieved, as the full hospital bill was more than my car cost new.

***Seriously. I know how.