My Favorite Things

When I was small my family took most of our vacations in my grandmother's RV. Some of my absolute best memories are of those trips, the smell of the omnipresent shag carpeting, the cozy lighting, the way rain made rivers down the window as I lay in my bed, which had earlier that evening been the table where we ate supper. "The coach", as we called it, was equipped with an 8-track tape deck and I think we only had about 5 tapes: Debussy piano music, Vivaldi's 4 Seasons, Simon and Garfunkel, Judy Collins and The Sound of Music. I knew The Sound of Music by heart long before I ever saw the movie or performed it in Lise's backyard.
Tonight I was strongly considering staying home in front of the space heater instead of going to choir. At the last minute I rallied and was rewarded thusly: having given up all hope of doing something grandiose with the group, the director seemed to have scoured whatever old sheet music belonged to the college already and found an SSA arrangement of "My Favorite Things". This is a far cry from Bernstein you might say, as did I. But I put aside my snobbery and began to sing with all my heart. Its really esoteric wisdom, that Rodgers and Hammerstein! GIve your energy to what you love and you begin to love the whole world! Just to keep me from totally floating away on a cloud, the woman next to me kept singing "fay-vo-right". The director demonstrated several times how to sing the word (very much like it is usually pronounced, actually). "Fay-vo-right" she kept saying. "Favorite!" I said to her, the way I would if I were talking about peppermint stick ice cream. Crickets.

Much Has Happened, Yet Nothing Is New

Wow, I have some serious catching up to do! All week I have been composing in my head and not managing to get anything captured.
On Monday I drove 7 1/2 hours up to Santa Cruz to look into a Natural Chef Training that is happening there. I was euphoric on whole drive up! I had good chats with Mom and Jame, good tunes on the ipod, plenty of snacks and perfect weather. But somehow, as I checked into my motel room the air went rushing out of my baloon and I had great difficulty procuring a meager dinner for myself at the New Leaf (local whole food grocery store). My motel neighbors were noisy, the bed sagged significantly to one corner and the whole place creaked and cracked as though it would fall down around me at any moment. It had a fabulous mirror though that made me look like a string bean!
In the morning I got up to go visit the school, Bauman College, which I drove past several times without seeing. It consists of a few rooms in a shopping center between mattresses and seafood. No students were on the premises at the time, just two quiet ladies in the office. One gave me a tour and a cup of tea, and the other did not say a word. My biggest question about the program is how close do Dr. Bauman's theories of eating for health come to dogma, and would there be room in such a training for a meat and dairy-loving individual like myself? The answer seemed to be not so much.
It was a gray day, and after a little driving tour of Santa Cruz, I started the arduous journey back south. I talked to Jame again just as she was setting the Shrove Tuesday pancakes on the table for dinner. I had forgotten that was what day it was and she suggested I stop for my pancakes at an all-night diner. Knowing that no pancake is worth eating to me without real maple syrup, I stopped for some at a grocery store. I imagined going to one of those old-timey coffee shops that everyone is always going to in LA in the movies, so I got off in Burbank and after a couple of curious turns I found myself at Frank's. I ordered a short stack, which I could only eat half of. The restaurant was sparsely populated by mostly elderly patrons. There was however a handsome young man eating alone at the counter. As I drove away I imagined all the ways I might have introduced myself and they were all brilliant and led to our sharing a long and happy life together. The rest of the drive was painfully long and dull. When I got home I emailed Shay; "I left my husband in a diner in Burbank".
Now that I am questioning the natural chef training as a next move, I find myself in the familliar position of desperately wondering what to do with all aspects of my life: where should I be, how will I earn a living, how do I meet people who like to do the things I like to do, will I die alone?
To take a break from all this wondering, I went on an errand marathon yesterday that included a haircut and, at long last, getting my California driver's license. As I sat in the chair at Supercuts, I became increasingly nervous as the woman muttered to herself, seeming to question her own every move. My fears were somewhat allayed when she explained that she had been cutting hair forever, but was going through re-certification and was trying to do things by the book. I could relate having temporarily lost my ability to operate a car after reading the California Driver's Handbook. My friend and fellow thick-haired person Vanessa told me that getting my hair thinned would add bounce to my curls and change my life, so I asked the woman to try it out. It is so funny how many ways we have of changing what we were born with, especially things that other people wish they had, like thick hair. Anyway, I'm enjoying the results.
Then I was off to the DMV which is half an hour away. The first time I went, to register my car, Shay was with me to lend her moral support. At that visit I was instructed to come back after having the car smog checked and at that time I could apply for my license. When I brought back the smog certificate, I had forgotten the passport necessary for the license. This time as I stood in line with my passport, I realized I had forgotten my glasses for the eye test. The receptionist told me I could take the written test today and come back for the eye test without waiting in line. So off I went through the DMV labarynth. I like to call Shay whenever I am in the DMV so she can be there in voice and spirit, and she pointed out the humor in my having driven there without the corrective lenses that I needed to pass the test to be licensed to drive.
The man who processed my application was also the eye-tester and the picture-taker. I think he was sweet on me, or maybe just relieved to see someone who wasn't 16. Although I told him I wore glasses on occasion, he kindly passed me on the vision test, trusting me to wear the glasses when I needed to. I passed the written test too and my license will arrive in the mail. My roomate Lauren needs to get her CA license too, so I showed her my corrected test to give her an idea of what it would be like. As I sat across from her at the table while she looked at it, I noticed there was a whole second side that I hadn't seen or filled out - curious! Sadly, one cannot have driver's licenses from 2 states at the same time, so they punched a hole in my brand new PA license with the great picture!

Bliss - Part II

Yesterday lived up to its full potential and then some. It was one of Jame's famous best days ever.
It took me a little while to play with all my choices and decide what I was really longing to do. That is half the battle in accomplishing a best day ever. Just before eleven, I decided that just leaving the house and getting started was the trick. While shopping for finger puppet hair in Michaels, I had a vision of myself reading in the sun at the beach with a burrito and an iced latte.
Off I went to procure these supplies, then home to get the beach chair. My favorite beach is Cardiff State Beach, but apparently everyone else in North County had the same idea and parking was scarce. I decided to come back for a walk in the evening and went home to use my own patio with superior deck chairs as a substitute beach. My burrito was divine, the latte lasted for hours, I read and dozed and listened to music until I started to feel crispy.
I had given up the idea of doing any handwork, but I thought I might stop by Lori's to see what was shakin'. When I called she said nobody was doing handwork, they were just having margaritas and she'd save one for me.
I stayed and chatted for about an hour, then went off to yoga, where the only spot was a window-lit one in the front. At first I felt very self conscious there, being as usual both a newbie and the only person with any percentage of body fat (this IS southern California) but I had a better view of the mirrors from there and it helped me straighten myself out in the poses. And chubby or not, I've always loved mirrors! It was a great class, my teacher helped stretch me out several times.
Since I was near the video store, I thought I'd grab one on the way home, but while I was perusing the shelves, I felt I was wasting daylight (in a very real way; it was 5:30) so I went home to grab a sweatshirt and drove back to the beach, now with plenty of parking, lit only by the sun's after glow and the sky's reflection on the water.
A heavy mist made everything seem magic! I walked a bit and sampled the fingertips of the in-rushing waves with my feet. The air was cooler, but the cool that is so welcome at the end of a hot day, still spiced with its warmth. I climbed through the rocks in the almost-dark back to the car and went to get ice cream for dinner - it was that kind of day. I ate my ice cream in the car overlooking the ocean and watching the stars appear over it.
Then I went to Trader Joe's to get some essential groceries and some snacks for my upcoming road trip and back to the video store where I picked up a delightful gem that I don't think ever made it to the theater. When I went to bed I left the window open a crack and the birds were singing all night long.

Bliss

This morning is the way I imagined my whole life would be here in San Diego.
The sun is flooding my room, the window is open and the birds are singing. It is forecasted to reach 75 degrees today. I have many possibilities today; the beach, thrift shopping with Vanessa, handwork circle, yoga, finally making something out of the huge bag of meyer lemons that one of my students brought me. I could do it all, but I don't have to do any of it. Plus there is none of the looming desperation that usually clouds my weekends (the knowledge that in 2 short days I will have to return to being exhausted, exasperated and dressing like a bag lady) because we have next week off!
I can't spend another minute on the computer! I've got to get started on this beautiful day!

Jipped

Jason Mraz wrote a song for the TV show "Ugly Betty" that was to be "featured" on tonight's episode. I watched the whole freakin' thing (that show is wierd!) and I think I faintly detected the song playing in a bar scene UNDERNEATH the soundtrack! How is that featured! The song was mentioned as being for sale at the end of the show, but how would you know if you wanted to buy it if you couldn't hear it!
This is maybe not interesting to any of you, but I needed an outlet for my incredulity.
Another thing that pisses me off is that we are not doing the Chichester Psalms in choir any more. Seems it was too "out there" for some of the fogies and most of the basses quit. The one remaining bass was sitting right behind me and saying how glad he was that we weren't doing it. He called it trash. I turned and told him he was spouting sacrilege, but when he continued I had to supress the urge to tell him to shut the fuck up and/or punch him in the nose, despite the fact that his is probably 70 years old. I love that peace! It is my dream to sing it! Now I'm stuck singing Handel because a bunch of small minded men (interestingly enough, most of the women liked it, regardless of age) couldn't drag their sorry asses into the modern world.

Picking up speed

Posting has been spotty of late as I am sad to report that even in Southern California, I've been under the influence of the midwinter blahs. There was a hint of spring smell on the breeze though this morning and I feel I once again have anecdotes to share.
On Thursday night I was blow-drying my hair during the commercial breaks of Grey's Anatomy. On one sprint from couch to bathroom mirror, one of my toes caught in the opposite pajama leg, sending me hurtling forward onto the carpet. This happens to children all the time, and it happens to me more often than you'd think. I came away with a skinned knee and a foot that is still a little out of whack from the hearty tug of pajama on toe.
Friday was the end to what felt like the longest week in history. Even my 5 and 6 year-old students were glad it was Friday, and they usually don't know what day it is at all!
I decided to return my hair to the strawberry blond it was in childhood, but shopping for haircolor in a box is very confusing. I was nervous that I would make myself look like the business end of a corn husk broom, but the color I bought is only a touch lighter than my natural shade, enough that I notice it but no one else does. So I guess that was a good practice run. In another 4 to 6 weeks I'll try going even lighter!
All week I have been looking forward to making scones to bring to our handwork circle on Saturday! After my coma-like nap after school on Friday, I went out to procure ingredients. I decided on Cherry Chocolate Chip. I even had to get a cookie sheet, as this house is woefully unprepared for baking. While procuring said pan at Target I thought I'd breeze by the small appliances, knowing what a breeze my life would be if I owned a food processor. The one I had been considering was on clearance for $15, which made the decision for me and my scones were whipped together in no time this morning. I brought them to the gathering in basket covered with an April Cornell napkin, still steaming from the oven - a fairytale illustration come to life. I ate five of them.

Superbowl ???

I don't know what number superbowl it was, I didn't know who was playing until I got to the party, I don't remember who won, but I did learn how to play poker (which I will forget by the next time I am invited to play) and was not the first one to lose all my chips (ok, I was the second). And I laughed pretty much the whole evening! And on the west coast, the game is over by 9!

Tag, I'm it!

After two trips to the DMV I have been granted my California plates. And after two trips to home depot for hardware to afix said plates, they are now displayed on my car, front and back.
I have developed a very pleasant ritual on Fridays. I get home from school around 1 o'clock, take off the work garb that I grudgingly refer to as my clown costume, and take a delicious afternoon nap. Post nap festivities vary, but the past two weeks have found me at the movies. It's the perfect way to put the week behind me.
Last night I had dinner with Chrissy and Vanessa (plus husband Ryan) who are, in essence, the administration of the school, and who are both young, childless and lots of fun. We went to El Papagallo which has a very tasty and very cheap happy hour menu and divine sangria. This lead to my being invited to Vanessa's on Sunday for a superbowl party.
Tomorrow afternoon I'm going to Lori's (1st grade teacher) for the first weekly faculty/staff handwork circle. Lori is really sweet and a master handworker and just loves to get together with people and be crafty. I think it could become the local answer to Sarah and TR's Scones! I can't decide what project to take to work on!
So as we head toward Spring, social life is budding. More to follow, I hope!