10/20

Brother Mart is in Xi'an. Envy! Envy!! He called again (I don't think my mother exhaled since his last call.) The phone tree has been activated and mom is happily receiving and relaying the latest with the other mommy branches.

Last night I stood in the legendary Auntie Pasto's line for the first time ever. Connie & Benny and E's B and I had dinner (with sweet extras courtesy of Mosq_K, bartender extraordinaire) and then went to see "The Tuxedo" @ Kahala Mall. (It was between that and that Katie Holmes movie, which seemed to have Benny's vote.) E's B still hasn't forgiven me for "Sweet Home Alabama" so good thing he was outnumbered here or I never would have gotten to see the Tuxedo, at least till Brother Mart and his mild Jennifer Love Hewitt (the "original J.Lo" -- Rolling Stone) obsession return from the motherland. (Envy! Envy!!)

My project, due at the end of the month, is not happening. However, I'm having a swell time revisiting Lois Lowry and Judy Blume and Ann M. Martin and Paula Danziger. They all disprove Gatto's theory that modern juvenile literature is de-emphasizing or even eliminating the family unit. I like contradicting Gatto (and, for that matter, Fred Savage.) I'm having a hard time putting together a coherent report, but I'm having a fun time anyway, maybe a little too much fun ... I love Anastasia Krupnik (esp "Anastasia Again!") and it's taking all of my self-control to stay off Amazon.com as I work through this thing.

Bingle-bongle-by!

Business is good. So good I've started considering going to work "going out." I'm so tired. Here's what's turning out to be a typical week for me:

M-F work @ 8-11:30 a.m. T/R: Class at UHM, 1:30-2:45. W: Class, held at Holy Family Academy, 5:30-9:40 p.m. Sat: Class, HFA, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. On Mondays, and sometimes Tuesdays and Thursdays, I babysit from 5:30 to 9 or so. The Saturday class is the killer -- I have to get up at 6 like for weekdays but leave the house even earlier because HFA is way out by the airport. I come home, do some work, sleep till almost dinnertime. Sometimes I go out, not a lot ... just today E's B and I decided (OK, I decided) we should just have lunch together Friday afternoons after work instead of MWF like we we were starting to, which was really nice but I just need those hours to study or sleep. My idea of a fun and relaxing lunch now is a peanut butter sandwich and the Island Life section of the advertiser now that we get that instead of SB. Just the other day I finished my first new York Times crossword ever. I cut it out and stuck it to the refrigerator door.