I agree, it does seems as if the Seasons are rolling on. The Camellias are setting a good many buds, getting all set to start blooming in December.

This has been one of those days when it's a good thing that I don't have to be around a bunch of customers/clients/patients or whatnot. You know what I mean....the ones that you MUST be polite to whether you want to or not. Maybe it's the phase of the moon.

Anyway, I went over to That Other Forum. Someone mentioned that the DOE had not funded any grants for evolutionary biology. That's what started me grumbling and mumbling. Why does anyone need to find out exactly how this human race started? Would it change a single thing about how I live out my days? What would it mean to me? What good would it do to anyone?

Sure, to add to our store of knowledge is a good thing, but I wonder if this is the best use of a limited source of money?

It was announced on TV last night that our school system has received another one million dollar grant (this is the fourth year we have gotten one) ....are you ready for this?.....to find new and innovative ways to teach History in the public schools. If the teachers can't come up with ways to do it on their own, how is money going to stimulate their creativity????

And then.....why is it important that Pluto be classified as either a big rock or a planet? Am I the only one that doesn't really give a flip one way or the other? Even if I won a round trip ticket there, I wouldn't care what it was.

And while I am complaining about life in general, I wonder what I can do to keep my husband from waiting so long between haircuts. He was beginning to look fuzzy because he needed one so badly. He came home looking like someone else other than the man that left me after breakfast. I can't stand shocks like that. If he is going to get it cut that short, he had just as well shave it off. He could pretend his bald spot got bigger in a hurry.

There!! I've finished and I feel better.
Thanks for listening.
PB

This has been a week that I know someday will storm my memory bank, take me by surprise, and leave me with a deep, heavy sigh.

After a week off from work for a well deserved vacation, Tuesday found me back in the office and DS at his first day of 7th grade. I had so many phone calls while on vacation that DS finally took my phone away and turned it off with a stern reminder that "we're on vacation", but I had already received word that my office would be moving to the Headquarters on Tuesday. I knew I would be overwhelmed with packing, moving and trying to conduct operations and for the first time in 8 years, I didn't take DS to school on his first day. He said he understood but I could hear the disappointment at the base of his words and felt a stab of regret at breaking our tradition. He survived the first day, and I survived the 12 hours of packing up the office and moving to my new office on the 3rd floor...an office with a view! And AC! Phones haven't been transfered yet and I can't help but enjoy the solitude. It will be short lived, I'm sure. I managed to unpack the necessities but there are still 25 boxes of files to deal with, pictures and plaques to hang, and boxes of old mementos to haul home and retire to the attic. The new office is smaller so I'm forced to downsize...it was hard trying to weed through all the stuff, trying to decide what held the most value to me, what I really wanted to display, what statement they made. I've decided that the office should be professional but still have a touch of whimsy that defines who I am. All my awards will be packed up, I am not defined by those words. Instead, I've decided to frame the unit t-shirts I've been given, many which are works of art, and display them. My Iron Mike statue which is an award of sorts will share the spotlight with the GI Joe given to me by a unit, and the Knight in Shining Armor, given to me by my DS. Professional, yet whimsical. That's me.

This week also found me in the company of my dear friend who returned from Italy last August. While we've stayed in contact over the past 3 years, I needed the distance between us to dissect every minute detail of my emotions in regards to him. It hurt when he left, there was a void that I never thought would be filled. As I dissected, I decided what I felt was an infatuation with him, and that left me with 2 options. I could let myself be infatuated and possibly scar a long term friendship, or I could grow up and understand that true friendship is priceless. Where I thought a void existed, I suddenly saw that it was just my imagination, if I had looked hard enough I would have seen that his friendship never waivered and he never really left me. It was ok, I was ok. This week was wonderful, we spent a lot of time talking until the wee hours of the morning, we laughed, I cried, we went to dinner, he brought breakfast to my office, we shared secrets, we had intelligent adult conversations, we dreamed and planned our futures...it was like old times, except I didn't feel that tug on my heart strings like I did before. He left around noon today to head home but at 5 pm my phone rang, he called to remind me it was Friday and I shouldn't work late. As we talked, retreat sounded and I watched the flag retire for the night and was suddenly filled with such a warm, happy feeling...everything just felt right, life was good. Reality hit me on the drive home...this is what love feels like! Not being in love, we're definitely not in love with each other, but we do love each other. It's an easy love, a comfortable love, perhaps even an unconditional love. Most of all, it's the kind of love I need in my life right now. Although I'm exhausted from all the late nights, for the first time in a long time I can honestly say that I'm truly happy.

I know that some day, when I least expect it, this memory will storm my memory bank and I'll heave a big sigh of happiness.

Maryanne