fortunate friday!

my former student, maddie, has a THANKFUL THURSDAY where she once a week list things she is thankful for. i missed thursday somehow, and now it is friday, so today were are having FORTUNATE FRIDAY!

no headaches this week i did have one a couple of days ago, and decided to break down and try drinking caffeine to get rid of it. so i drank about an inch and a half of suzanne hall's "jet fuel" that is disguised as coffee, and, lo and behold, the headache went away! i am still a bit skeptical, but it worked and that is good. another trick in the pretty empty bag of headache cures...

verizon finally sent me a check for the money they have owed me since january... well, what a pleasant shock. and i had just quit thinking that i couldn't move that mountain. apparently someone took pity on me. they wacked my checking account BY MISTAKE for over $600 in january and then set a new record for ineptness and ignorance. one idiot forgot to flip a switch on austin's new cell phone when we transferred from one physical phone to another. that meant they charged for the text messages...WRONG. long story short...they decided to "credit" my account. well, that certainly pays for groceries, doesn't it? they have an intricate and torturous system that is designed to wear you down to a totally nub, the idea being that if you are worn out and befuddled, you will stop demanding your money.
apparently, there is a telephone god somewhere. the check is for $327.

i don't teach seniors...oh how fortunate i am! talk about wondering who will be pushing your wheel chair at the nursing home...these kids...geez. i have visions of flying down a hill and crashing because one of these self-centered, brain dead and unengaged wing-wangs didn't put the brake on the chair...because no one told her she had to do it. common sense...gone with the wind.

austin's batting average: .750 going into tonight's game, which was another on the field disaster. he did get a hit, and went 1-3 and did get to play a little at 3rd base. unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as we lost, again, to hanover. he is sitting downstairs, disgusted and grumpy, but he has done well and i have a lot of hope for the team in the future. not this year...it has been not a good year with coaches, parents, and disgruntled everyone. i stay out of it and drink my tea and keep my mouth shut.

seeing former students and getting hugs: both of the newcombs (bryan back from sweden and his sister, jessie), both vanleeuwen girls (triest and maddie) and the rainock girls (lorel and lenore)

hamburgers and hot dogs cooked outside: i had concession duty tonight and spent my 2 hours cooking on the grill. i now smell like what i sold. nothing like smokey hair to make you happy! i bet if there had been dogs around, i would have been the most popular person at the field!

good neighbors: bruce and amy are lots of fun and are a great help. i hung out with them eating their leftovers from john's party on saturday and we had fun conversation. i don't have much adult conversation about anything, so this was a treat. amy has ferried me back and forth this week to the various car dealerships so i could get both of my vehicles fixed.