Oddments

A Blogger "scheduled outage" begins sometime soon, instilling a mildly panicky feeling. Must! Update! Quickly!

I was given very enthusiastic congratulations this morning for serving 42 breakfasts to students yesterday a.m. (I do this for 1.5 hours two mornings per week). I was a bit taken aback by the compliment, because I am not making fluffy perfect omelettes or pancakes for the kids; I, along with 2 other adults and two students, am merely pouring cereal and milk, chopping and serving fruit, making and buttering toast. (OK, so we also take turns doing hard-boiled eggs in our own homes once a week.) Still, you can't say we're "responsible" for attracting an ever-growing number of students for breakfast...

Or can you?

Our supervisor - the guy who asked me if I wanted to volunteer some time - said that our little team is so "nice" that word's getting around.

My first thought was, "Hell, what was last year's team like? Scowling, grunting monsters?" *

I thought being friendly was just part of the deal.

But feeling rewarded is really the bigger part.

*Possibly. We were told that one mother screamed a lot at not only her kid(s), but the others, as well.

This afternoon I was swatting flies and suddenly felt something moving down my shirt-front and peeked down in the cleavage (such as it is) area. I thought I saw a large beige spider and, of course, started screaming and beating at my top, until the thought of mashing the insect into my bra and blouse and/or skin grossed me out and I finally ripped off the shirt and flung it to the floor.

The object that was tickling me was a crucifix.

It was an unpleasant yet oddly amusing moment. But really, more unpleasant than it was funny.

I've thought and prayed and meditated the entire past 10 days. Wondering if it will make any difference. Hoping it might. Filled now with not dread or regret, but an unusual calmness. A little voice keeps telling me everything will turn out fine. Still, I am making plans to head to Ontario in October, spend maybe a week there.

I have so much so write... but I can't. Not here, not now anyway.

I did buy some watercolour paints, and brushes, and paper today, because something wants to come out and be expressed. Lord knows I haven't painted in years. Let's see what happens, eh? I might opt (out) for the Impressionist style.



Or I might just try my hand at my cousin's photo, above. He is such an amazing photographer!

Photo copyright John Gillett, all rights reserved.
Claude Monet image, courtesy HowStuffWorks.com