AWOL

I went AWOL for a little bit, but it's been in the pursuit of happiness, so all's good.

We've had decent weather here, so Miss Peanut and I went for a walk and got ice cream. I figured if she could walk the mile and a half round trip, the little booger deserved the ice cream. She walked like a champ.

It's so much fun being her Mommy. I mean, there's the normal drudgery of making sure she has clean clothes, healthy food, and good manners - and that's quite a lot of work, these days. There are times, however, when the fun just smacks me in the face. Playing in the yard, throwing the frisbee for the dogs, watching her laugh with her whole body is just wonderful. Taking that long walk in the sunny evening, just being with her as she gasped in delight at finding a wild violet in the grass, was the delight of my day.

*****

Did I mention I love my job? I took my students out to play boules today. You know, French teachers can get away with a lot in the name of cultural awareness. It was beautifully sunny and just warm enough to really enjoy the rays. There were lots of jokes about playing with my balls - what adolescent can resist testicle humor? None of mine, I'll tell you. We had a blast pretending to be old French men. All we were missing were a gauloise and a glass of pastis.

*****

We had a bit of a kerfuffle in my school district recently, involving a teacher and a 13-year old boy who got up to more than just a bit of mischief. I don't want to be too specific here, because of Google and job security - I rarely blog about work for just this reason - but it bears speaking of because, eeeeeeuuuuw! Thirteen-year old boys are hardly hygienic, let alone desirable! What was she thinking? Was she thinking? She's got to be mentally ill. Because, ew?!

I kid around with a few of my young men who like to flirt with me - they know and I know that it's getting them nowhere, but they're testing out their skills (and it's really cute, too). I've had to rethink my actions here, because even though it's completely innocent and I would NEVER EVER touch a child that way (or anyone but the WCM, actually), I'd hate for our kidding around to be misconstrued.

That said, my three young men still flirt. They're sweet boys. It doesn't help their grades any (two Fs and a B), but it's all good.

*****

I've gone gadget-crazy, it seems. Last month, I bought an iPod nano, this month I upgraded my mobile phone. I got the Motorola Razr. Yes, I've heard that it has a problem with dust collecting behind the screen. However, I think that the person that told me this has a tendency to roll around in the cold, cold earth. Dust is his milieu. I think it's dustier in Ireland than here in the Mid-Atlantic United States, anyway.

That's all from me. Have a great week, y'all.