Hot Like Wasabi

It is so freaking hot. Inside, outside, in my car...hot hot hot. Sara came home yesterday with an oscillating fan. She said her parents have a fan I could use, but I'm not sure where I would put it. And I don't think our air conditioner works very well. It's on, but you can't feel it. Maybe it's faith-based...

Today I've had the day off. I love my days off. I still got up early because Deb and I had plans to go to the pool, but she was passed out and didn't hear her phone, so I caught up on e-mails, listened to music (Beach Boys anyone?) and finished watching Mulan.

Maybe I should explain the last one. Sara has had a rough week, so last night I said we should watch a movie. She said nothing about love...which drastically limited our selection because I can be a sucker for the sappy stuff and she's a hopeless romantic...and has a lot of Disney movies, which, of course, all end with princes and princesses smooching in front of a sunset.

So we settled for Mulan, although it still ends with the military guy falling for her, but anyway...We didn't get very far until Sara took a phone call, then I took a phone call and before I knew it, it was 1:30, so I finished it today. I've found that it's difficult for me to start a movie and not finish it. I always hated when we didn't finish movies in history class.

Then I went to visit Sara at work and to see Amanda. We had plans to go to the park with her dog, but like I said, it's too hot, so we stayed in and had a chat. We talked about how Oscar (the dog) likes to eat flip-flops, her boss who doesn't do anything, how Monroe just got a Starbucks, summer vacations, fitting in with married couples, spelling bees, the hampster named Jim and stealing things.

The last thing has come up several times recently and everyone seems shocked that I stole things in first grade. My teacher, Mrs. Glandon, had a bonus word every week and if we spelled it right, she would let us choose a Blow-Pop from a huge drawer in her desk. (For a brief time when I was little, I wanted to be a meteorologist because I could spell it...Plus, I liked putting the velcro sun and raindrops on the weather board). Well, I figured out that if I crouched down behind the counter at the front of the classroom when she got everyone in line to go to the bus or car lot at the end of the day, then I could sneak another Blow-Pop. Always the watermelon ones. I would pretend I was tying my shoe and wait for everyone to leave, then make my way to the big drawer.

A couple times it was locked and I remember being disappointed. Or sometimes all the watermelon ones were taken and I had to settle for grape or cherry, and cherry is just not the best flavor out there.

After awhile, Mom asked me where I was getting all the Blow-Pops. "I got the bonus word right," I would say. Which was at least partially true. I mean, maybe we didn't have a bonus word THAT day, but we most certainly did at some point in the week and I always got them right. I remember my first-grade self had to start being careful how many I brought home so Mom wouldn't be too suspicious.

Oh, I forgot she reads my blog. Well, I'm sure she caught on anyway.

It wasn't until fourth grade that I got more confident and took a purple rabbit's foot keychain from a girl named Lindsey. She had long blonde hair and I was jealous. I'm not sure if that's why I took it, but I remember wishing I had her hair. I don't know if she ever noticed I took it, either. This is when we had cubbies and it was pretty easy to walk over, undo the keychain from her backpack and slip it into mine. I still have it, too.

Ok, that's enough. For anything else I've ever taken, I plead the fifth...

I forgot to write last time that I went to a high school a couple weeks ago to talk about being a journalist. There's a career-oriented class at Monroe High School, and one of the girls wants to be a reporter. I was all excited and even made some note cards, but when I got there, I found out the class is mandatory. That right there says a lot.

Besides the one girl, no one cared what I had to say. I tried my best, but to no avail. I don't think I'd like teaching high school.

Speaking of class, I start my Contemporary Cults class next week. I'm looking forward to it, but it's going to be an extremely busy week. Work for 8 hours, then class for another 4 1/2 every day and then on Saturday. But it's just one week.

I'm also trying to plan a beach trip with "the posse." I'd like to go to Wilmington the weekend after July 4, so we'll see. It would be nice to have all the girls in one place again.