Monthly Archives: June 2016

Happy newses

Where to begin? In a world where really good things are treasured because they happen in sometimes less-than-equal measure with the bad, it’s nice to crow about positive stuff.

So behold, in random order, my list of happy things for today:

  1. The teachers ratified our contract (of the 59 faculty, 56 voted yes, and three didn’t vote). It makes all the hard work and long hours worth it, and I must say I am humbled by my colleagues’ support of what the negotiations team was able to put together. It makes me want to fight for them more and better. Now we wait for the school board to vote on it tonight. I hope all goes well and no one raises a fuss, because going back to the bargaining table after all this would definitely be a bad thing. I’m hopeful, though.
  2. Odyssey 2016 is just around the corner! We leave on 6 July, and we are excited. We’re also tremendously grateful to my sis Mavis and her husband for uprooting their lives to house- and dog-sit so Remy and Pax can maintain a sense of routine and normalcy (and Mavis will spoil them rotten) while we’re gone. The Thriller has already begun packing. Me? I’ll wait till Tuesday night. :-) A special highlight will be stopping in Virginia to have lunch with RtB fiend RD and his wife Bonnie — can’t wait to see them! It’s been too long.
  3. As many of you know, I struggle with osteoarthritis in one joint. After some problems over the last year (I hadn’t been to the doctor about it for the last five), I broke down and went back last Friday. Test results showed good news, although I confess I’m looking forward to getting that socket shot up with cortisone today.

Can you handle any more happy newses? Good, because I’m clean out. But as always, you could share some of your own, and I’ll crow with you.

Stuff I should be doing

  1. Going through closets for clothing donations
  2. Cleaning bathrooms
  3. Emptying the oak desk in the parlor of various and sundry junk that should have been thrown out long ago
  4. Dusting
  5. Brushing the dogs
  6. Lesson plans and shopping for fall music
  7. Watching Game of Thrones and Penny Dreadful on DVR over coffee

But here it is, 8:30 a.m. and I’m still entertaining myself by reading about the Cavs, looking at videos and Vines and tweets, and basically trying to relive that moment on the couch last night, when I covered my eyes as Kyrie Irving took his own version of “The Shot,” basically sealing the deal in the final 10 seconds of the game. I stared in numb disbelief at the TV screen as the clock stopped and LeBron made that foul shot, and as time started again and two Warriors in a matter of two seconds missed 3-point attempts. Only this time, my numb disbelief wasn’t rooted in the tradition doomed to repeat itself year after year, when Cleveland teams either lose early on and never make the playoffs, or make the postseason only to either get swept or endure heartcrushing defeats like The Drive, The Fumble, The Catchand Red Right 88. This time, I watched in dazed amusement as an actual Cleveland sports team rushed the court, and as grown men fell to the floor, crying for joy.

The Comeback.

Surreal.

Only three times since the NBA Finals began back in 1947 has a team won Game 7 while not playing on their home court. The Celtics won Game 7 in LA in 1969, and again in Milwaukee in 1974; in 1978, Washington won the seventh game at Seattle. Three times — until now.

I’ll get to the list of tasks at some point today…or maybe not. I might just make more coffee and enjoy a bit more of the shock. I imagine there are a lot of Cleveland fans running on extra java this morning. That’s OK; they’ve — we’ve — earned it.