The Good and the Bad

Good news: tax refund was large! I already mapped it out so that I can survive the dry summer months once again AND have enough to take to Vegas, baby! Yay!

Bad news: Alex has some mysterious illness. He's exhausted all the time. He finally went into the doctor today, and the doctor had a hard time getting blood for some tests. Alex has to come back in after a week to discuss some other test results, but so far the doc is perplexed. Apparently Alex's lymph glands are swollen, and his spleen (?!) feels swollen too, so the doctor told Alex no work for the next two days. He doesn't want Alex riding his bike anywhere, either, and Alex implied that the doctor felt that it was best to minimize the risk of a spleen rupture. So then I worried myself into an ulcer. And then I realized there's not a damn thing I can do, so instead I resigned myself to Exploding Spleen Jokes to Alex which left us both laughing. I mean really, is there ANYTHING funnier than the idea of a Monty Python "One thin mint wafer" type of explosion while you're hugging your loved one?

Poor Alex left his cell phone inside the doctor's office too. It's his company's cell phone, so he's a bit stressed about getting it back tomorrow. I think he had the unluckiest day of the last year today. It was raining; he bikes to the doctor's in the rain, and a branch hits the chain and the chain falls off. He has to fix the bike and go on. Then when he gets to the doctor's, there's a hang up with his (French) insurance working over here. By the time he gets all that straightened out, there's ten people ahead of him. He stays way late. They are unable to find the cause of his misery, and so arrangements are made for another visit. He leaves, THEN after he can't return into the office as it is after hours and locked and all, he realizes he left his cell phone there so he can't call anybody to help him get home...in a rainstorm...with a broken bike...uphill. There I was, all set to bitch about how my ex had dropped the kids off at 8p tonight without a) them doing their homework b) them having dinner and c) Ari having her nightly nebulizer preventative treatment for her asthma, and he tells me all about his day. Ok, so now my day seems great! At least my day involved a nice tax refund!

Wait, another good part though...my day also involved distributing the chocolate cream cheese muffins to one class that I made last night. They were in heaven. I get a lot of joy out of feeding folks, so I grinned as they babbled about how delicious they were. Each of my classes gets fed once per term. I bring in brownies or cupcakes or cookies or something. Apparently the whole school knows this habit of mine because when the term starts, I always have a student ask, "So when do you bring the food?"

Last thought of the day...I was pondering Grant's comment to me in the last post for a long time. He's right. People seek me out for advice all the time, and sometimes they take it and sometimes they don't. People probably try to do so just like he gets sought out for money, beer, and rides because...people sense I actually care. And damnit, I do. I LIKE feeling helpful, and if somebody feels better bouncing ideas off of me, asking my advice, or just talking and me listening, I am quite content. Sure, sometimes I want to throttle a student who insists on telling me I'm wise for giving out great advice and then never takes it (see: student Z). But on the whole, I love helping...even if I'm not helping. And with Grant, well, he's like that deep inside too, I believe. Maybe I'm wrong. I've never met him in person, after all. But my spidey senses tell me that folks seek out Grant not because he's a sucker but that they realize on some level he gives a shit (Grant, I think this is the part wherein you tell me to Feck Off?).