Dilettante

I just noticed that I hadn’t made a post here since April. I’ve become a dilettante, a dabbler, no longer a devotee of my blog. I’ve had some events take place and Miss Peanut has said some hilarious things, but I haven’t had the urgent “I’ve got to blog this” feeling that I used to. Is the blog jumping the shark?

Teaching has taken up much of the time I’d have used to blog. The end of the year is such hard work, as all the students are burned out. It’s like pulling teeth to get work out of them. Truthfully, many of my colleagues and I are crispy around the edges, too, as we struggle to educate the masses every day. May and June are usually an uphill battle for teachers. This May, because I’ve been so creative recently, I’ve made a lot of new materials for my classes. I’m very happy to say that the majority of my students have been favorably engaged and learning. It hasn’t been easy, though.

The WCM had a birthday – his 42nd, the old fart – in early May. I actually did well on the present front. I didn’t have to return a single gift.

I had to give a eulogy for a goldfish earlier this month, as Miss Peanut’s pet Swimmy went to the great fishbowl in the sky. We gave him a “burial at sea” with Miss Peanut as chief flusher mourner. Poor fish, he never really had a chance.

My elder dog, Slider, had to have a growth removed from the inside of his ear. It was nasty! Surgery was a breeze, although he was delightfully groggy for the next couple of days. We pampered him with lots of petting and coat brushing.

We got a new washer and dryer. Now the WCM races me to them with baskets of laundry. Oh shit, he got there first. Now he gets to do the laundry. It’s a psychological game I’m playing. I’m winning, too.

Mother’s Day was fine. The WCM took me out to dinner and Miss Peanut made me a card. I got so weepy over it – I’m sentimental enough to begin with, but to see “I love you Mommy” in her crooked baby handwriting just did me in. Gawd, I’m a sap.

I’ve changed supermarkets this month. The old one has been pissing me off bothering me with piddly things for a year now: discontinuing my favorite items, constantly rearranging stock so it’s never in the same place two weeks in a row, and horrible customer service. I figured it was worth an extra few pennies to go back to a market that I liked, so I switched back. You know, I’ve spent less on groceries the last two weeks since I switched back.

I’ve cut way back on the caffeine consumption – I’ve gone down a size on my morning brew and cut out Starbucks almost entirely (I allow myself one every Friday, and that’s it). It’s been hell.

For me, the year has been winding up. This time next month, I’ll be on my deck sunning myself with a glass of iced tea and a good book, trying not to think of school. I’m holding on to that thought with the concentration of a tightrope walker.

I’ll try to be less of a dilettante (which was my word of the day today) in the future.