Employment Opportunities

Good Morning! Tink just left the house for school on time...not Tink-time but really on time. Hmmmmm. I wonder what's up here. I happen to know that she did not go to bed until 2 am. So, not only is she on time but she got out of bed on her own. What's going on? Am I dying and do not know it? Does she want to make my last days happy knowing that she can leave the house responsibly for school and work?

With that said, I have way too much to do before my last breath....Papers to grade...classes to teach...prepare for Christmas.....stand in line at the mall...wrap the few pitiful gifts that I already bought.....make cookies for Cookie-fest III.....

What is Cookie-fest III? Well, Cookie-fest I and II were great hits so I decided to keep up the tradition and every year, we have a cookie exchange at the house. The purpose is to decrease the amount of time family members have to spend in the kitchen. A person bakes several batches of cookies and brings them to the house. We place the cookies in a pile on the kitchen table, arrange them in individual tins, eat, drink, and be merry....What I did not mention was to add one more adjective to cookie fest....eat, drink, be merry and add a few pounds to the waistline. It's OK...it's Christmas and I expect a miracle of not gaining cookie weight this year. It's all I want under the tree on the 25th.

Last year Santa gave me a Zumba DVD and a basket full of wine. What does that tell my family and friends? Perhaps it says that I am a 'fat lush'.....Not sure, but does Santa know me or what?

On to my favorite leftie who is preparing for his final exams. Last night he called asking the usual question: "Where is dad?" Dude! I exclaimed....do you ever listen to anyone else besides yourself? Your dad left yesterday to take care of his parents in the south as Pop has thoracic surgery. "Oh yeah.....I remember...ooops...."

Yeah, ooops is right....."Sorry...I will call him to find out how Pop is." That's more like it. Keep in mind, that you are not an island. Life goes on while you and Angel attend school and crack each other up as you look under piles of clothes and trash for your text books and find the one piece of paper with your semester's notes on it. It also continues as you relax playing play video games and place Christmas lights on Irene. And so, on occasion it would be nice to hear: "How is it going? how is Pop? Did you decorate the tree? Is there anything that I can bring home from school besides my laundry?"

I guess that I was venting a bit. Perhaps I expect too much from a 19 year old kid who is away at college. He is not around to be reminded of the family's daily activities, so why would I expect him to remember with all of the pressures that he has at school? His shoulder continues to nag him and that worries me a bit. When he comes home, I will send him for another opinion and a massage from my favorite masseuse. I have not gone to her for over a year, but she did wonders with my elbow tendonitis. Hopefully, she can work her magic on Buddy's sore shoulder. As long as there is not a tear, he probably needs to rest it until full time training begins in January.

With that said, I have to grade these papers. Students get a bit salty if they do not have feedback in record, speed of light time. Actually, I could use an elf with a doctorate to help me out. I will look on Craig's List for out of work elves...perhaps the economy has affected North Pole employment opportunities.

Have a great day!