Photo of Words

When Calliope suggested this theme for Photo Friday today, I basically fell out of my chair. In addition to being an amazing woman, she is also a mind-reader. Did you all know that?

I already had a picture in mind.

These words have been sort of a bizarre beacon throughout my life.  I probably read my first Mark Twain book in a middle or high school AP class.  I never really liked Mark Twain.  Sue me.  I should say I have grown to appreciate some of the great writers of our time, but at the ages of 12-17, who really wants to read "Death of a Salesman" or "Lord of the Flies" when you have more pressing issues...  like, what jeans and sweater to wear to a party?

So, Huck Finn is one of those books I loved to hate.  I missed the idea back then that a story is more than words on a page.  My mission was to read it and get whatever assignment I had done.   Wasn't until later in life that I re-read many of these classic books with a new appreciation.

However...  there is an interesting story to THESE words.  Why?  Because I kept running into them for the next 20 years of my life.  It seemed someone, anyone loved to use Mark Twain quotes.  Who knew?  (insert sarcasm here) ...but this quote?  Pretty obscure.  Except I ran into it everywhere but the actual book itself.

A message?  A sign? 

Anyway, what draws me in most to these words is each time I read it, I feel like Mark Twain has inhabited my body and read my mind.  In many ways, in so many years of my life, each time I read this it resonated so much with me.  It pulled me in.  For a few moments I had that melancholy feeling that I WAS the ghost he was talking about.

It's about not being settled, and maybe even very sad because others don't (won't? can't?) understand.

Last week, while I was on vacation, Mark Twain found me again.  In of all places, Savannah, GA in a little bookstore.  This photo is from a book I bought that day which details the stories of the ghosts of the city.  And of course as I opened it to browse the pages before I bought it, I opened exactly to page 39. 

This page. 

And the words sent a quiver up my spine.  Again.

Reality bites

Vacation was heavenly. The weather was fabulous. I had that kind of loosey goosey feeling like after a good massage.

And then we returned to reality. S. got some upsetting news from work regarding his future employment, and I was stuck in e-mail hell at work.  Welcome back.

I was hoping that the vacation feeling would have lasted longer than 12 hours after we arrived back in town... really, is that too much to ask???

Anyway, we did have a great time and I will tell you that the healing benefits of 24-hour pool time is better than anything short of a butler standing next to me handing me an icy-cold drink every 30 minutes.

It was ungodly hot and humid, but I was too relaxed to care. The only decisions I had were where to eat and what bathing suit to put on.

David had the time of his life... he was racing down the water slide and catching crabs in the creek with his Daddy. He built sandcastles, and had fun swimming with his grandparents.

**Dude in blue shirt is not Daddy. A nice bystander helped us pick up the crab for fear it would snap off our fingers. (No we are not expert crabbers by any stretch of the imagination. We basically caught the crab and yelled "HELP!!")

The only downside was I couldn't use my nifty new SLR camera because it couldn't hack the quick transition from cold AC to humid and thick air.

But the point and shoot camera served us just fine. Many memories to hold dear...

Is this the look of happiness or what???

Toes in the Sand

One more day of work. At 5pm today my vacation really arrives, and it can't come soon enough. I just cannot wait to pack up the car and get on the road.

If you follow me on Twitter or FB, I'll be posting pics and tweeting my way across 7 states for the forseeable future.

See y'all on the flip side...

Almost Paradise

How many of you saw the blog post title and thought of the song?

Whoa-oa
ALMOST PARADISE!
We're knocking on heaven's door
ALMOST PARADISE!
How could we ask for more?
I swear that I can see forever in your eyes
Paradise...

Ann Wilson and Mile Reno. That is such a high school flashback. I remember slow dancing with my then boyfriend to that song and my heart nearly beating out of my chest. Plus, it reminded me that my alter teenage ego wanted to be a dance partner to Kevin Bacon in Footloose. What the hell ever happened to Mike Reno anyway? Did he lose the headband? Is he still "working for the weekend"? bwahaha.

I'm off track now, aren't I?

Yes, it's been pretty quiet around here, and I am sorry for that. The summer is still in full swing here in the Northeast. Many of the kids are back in school already in other areas of the U.S., but we just finished up tutoring classes and finally can start having fun.

David is quite happy, but I am realizing more and more that the power to curb boredom and burnout is keeping him busy, and thus far it's not been a problem. Now that he's home with me (while I am working), it is VERY hard to keep him in a schedule.

Most of the days now are like this...

me working in my office for 30 minutes, then tending to him to get him set up with an activity, me working for 30 more minutes, getting him a snack, working, activity, working, outside for 30 minutes, working, cleaning up Play Doh, working, finding him a movie on Disney Channel, working, sorting crayons, working, channel surfing (YES!  I am trying to find Phineas and Ferb! be patient), working,...

you get the idea.

Paradise? ...oh right, where was I?

Soon we leave for an extended vacation in Hilton Head, SC.  I may not come back.  Every year S. and I stop and look at houses while we are down there, and one of these days.....

So, no matter how busy or frantic I am right now, or how many times I have to say "Shhhhuuusssh!" when David interrupts a conference call for work (DAMN, I can NEVER hit that mute button fast enough), I know that there is an end in sight.

Almost there...

29 Again

David has been attending a summer reading program at a local university, 4X a week in the AM. The class is geared for kids that need a little extra help with reading, and the goal is to bring them up to grade level (or exceed, which most of them do by the end of the clinic). The program is one of the best in the region where I live, and it's not that easy to get into it.

To get David in, I basically had the program's secretary on speed-dial from February onwards, and literally hand-delivered forms to ensure our paperwork was first in. Once accepted, the children are tested, and then separated into small groups (not more than 2 kids per tutor). The tutors are graduate students, mostly, and they work under several professors.

You may be wondering, "hey Shelli, how are you working if you are taking David to this class?"  Let me tell you, it puts a serious dent in my working schedule. I am basically M.I.A. from 8:30am to 11:15am. I'm sure my co-workers think I am working on a tan in the mornings.   Bonus! Major university.. no public wifi. That's right, no Internet connection. The closest wifi is at McDonald's about 4 miles away. Thank goodness I have a boss who understands and likes me.  Maybe she won't after this summer.

So I download my e-mail before we leave in the AM, and just spend the time doing what I can do offline while I wait.

The reality... I'll do whatever it takes to ensure David is successful in school. He had a rough year academically, and we are just catching up to grade level with the help of this course.  I am grateful every day I walk onto campus that David has this opportunity.

So, it's been three weeks into this course, and I am getting to know and talk to the other parents that are there.  Mostly moms, a sprinkling of dads.

Some observations:
1. Most of the moms that wait with me in the waiting area are teachers themselves, that is perplexing to me, somewhat, but I do get that they are hooked into the latest and greatest, and this is it. I guess even Moms who teach have their limits. lol.

2. The other moms are SAHM's and bored to tears. They are there because they just want their child in an activity that is learning focused. They make me jealous talking about their large swimming pools.

3. The tiger moms. I say "tiger" because, if I said "cougar" you might think they were there to troll for hot male grad students. But no, these are not older women (like me?) they are simply barracudas when it comes to their kids. By "barracuda" I mean, their kids already have reading skills above average... but they want their child to be THE BEST. IN. THE. UNIVERSE!!

That last observation sets me off. I mean, there are people who COULDN'T get in the program because these jack-o-lanterns (that's Mom speak for jackasses) push their kids way beyond center.  Argh, they are on the soccer field AND here too!!  groan.............

I am just so perturbed by that.

Annoyed.

So, here's a funny story about today in the waiting room. A dad sat down next to me... I thought he was a student, but he's like 30, with 4 kids.... hmmmmm.... did I mention he was extremely good looking? Anyway... we got to talking about what we do for a living, he saw my laptop, and eye-rolling commenced. I thought he was aiming at me (what did I do NOW?!), but he was actually eye-rolling the barracuda mom on the other side of the room PAINTING HER NAILS IN THE PUBLIC WAITING ROOM. To which he whispered, "are you the only normal mom here?" LOL.

It gets better.

He asked me about David, and then the loaded question... "do you have any more kids?"

Oh, no he didn't!  I was just starting to like this guy.

I evaded... no I didn't really... I think I just said... "no, but we wanted more." Then he started talking about someone he knew that just had twins and added "get this, can you believe she is 44 years old????"

I smiled (ok, I laughed in my head and almost peed myself). The I said, "well, I wished that had happened to me!"

To which he replied, "well, gosh your so young, you have time!"

bwahahahaha!

OMG. What did he just say???

This guy has NO FLIPPIN' IDEA that I am 42 years old.

Dude, you made my day....

BLESS YOU.