Not 13
I just finished reading Mary Pipher's Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls which reminded me to be grateful that I am no longer a teenager. Her thesis is that we have created a culture that is posioning teenage girls, causing them extreme self esteem issues. One of the things she does when she lectures is to ask any female in the audience who is happy with her body to step forward. She claims that in years of doing so no one has ever come forward. Depressing, no? Anyway, it dealt mainly with the junior high years, and as both a teacher and a woman, I found it a very interesting read. There is a companion piece called Raising Cain that deals with teenage boys, but I have not read it yet.
All of these classes have me fired up to change the world. I'm just not sure how yet.
I finally got back my final paper from my last class, and I got great comments. It was a real self-esteem booster.
Just found out that the school building will not be ready to go back to school. NO real surprise there. We will be teaching out of carts and going back and forth to inadequately airconditioned rooms for the first 6-8 weeks of school. This will kill me! I am the type who loves to have bulletin boards and classroom policies and the like. Sigh! I guess we need to look at this as an adventure. I'm just looking forward to teaching again that I guess it doesn't matter so much. At least that's my position now.
Bike riding tonight--I need to fly down a few hills.

Fluff From Above
Toby, predictably, is going nuts.
A few weeks ago as the Texas weather has worked itself up from hot to unbearable, we began our traditional fight with the airconditioner. It just does not seem to cool the house very well. This typically is not a huge problem because Eric is gone all the time, but wit me home for the summer, I was getting irrritated. I called the ARS Service Express people to come check out the ac again. As I know that the house is not being cooled, I was shocked when the tech said there was nothing wrong with the air. He then asked to see the attic. We were floored to hear that the builders of the hosue forgot to put insulation in the roof. As in none! Bare boards up there! Luckily the builder has been really good about getting this taken care of--they were pretty horrifically mortified that it got back them and the inspectors ect. Anyway, techs are now up in the roof, blowing in insulation. Hopefully the the house will cool noticably.

The more pressing news, of course, is that our trip was wonderful. I had hoped to get all of the pics uploaded and post them , but I'll get Eric on it tonight. Because of the hurricane we ended up going to the Bahamas and Key West. So beautiful. The best day was in Freeport on Grand Bahama. We took a bike tour of the isalnd, stopping at a private beach. It took my breath away. Key West was also fantastic--I want to go back and have more time to explore it. I did get to pet a shark! Anyway, it was a wonderful honeymoon, even if a little belated. We came home to only 3 snakess and 2 lizards in the living room! I missed the great white huntress!

Flowers in the Attic
The a.c. repair guy came today to tell me why the house has been ungodly hot and never seems to cool down. There is good news and bad news.
The good news is that the ac is actually working quite well. He suggested changing filters and perhaps getting a hard start kit, but basically the a.c. is o.k. Then he went up to the attic. We had a rather nasty surprise when he reported that there was no insulation in the attic. None. To insulate the attic will cost an estimated $1400. I promptly had a fit. I called Centex, the builders, to complain, and they are supposedly sending someone out to the house later this week to see how to resolve the issue. If they do not pay for it, I will be forced to get unpleasant. This explains why our utilities are high and ineffective. GRRRRRRRR.
In happier news, Nancy is staying with us this week, and it's been nice to have a guest. Plus we leave for the cruise in 5 days, so these frustrations will be soaked off while snorkling in coral reefs. Plus I got an A in my class and feel mega celebration is in order. I'm sure most people got A's, but it has not dented my jubliation.
Over the weekend I went to the circus. Happy elephants! It's still the greatest show on Earth. I get such a kick out of spectacle. What does it say about our culture when the national anthem was sung while a woman in red, white and blue sequins holds a flag and sits on top of an elephant decked out in full, sparkling regalia while it travels around the arena. Gotta love it! That rumble was the bodies of all signing members of the Constitutional Congress turning over in their graves.

Hasta
I"m headed up to Dallas for a long weekend of relaxation and time with the fam. The best part of this trip is that I will not have to worry about rodents. I have become a paranoid freak.

I'm glued to the tv watching reports of the attacks in London. It's hard to even formulate a response, but I am extremely sad for all there. I hope we are able to respond by breaking the cycle of violence rather than perpetuating it.

Popscicles
Ah thejoys of marriage and sharing bugs. We have both been sick for the past few days. Miserable, violent sickness. ICK. I have still not worked my way up to solid food, but I am enjoying Dryer's Whole Fruit popscicles which is the only thing I can eat without immediately regretting it. Joy.
Still had a pretty rockin' 4th of July party at the hosue. Made mojitos! The drink of happiness!

I have nothing else to say. It's hard to be interesting when you have spent the last 36 hours lying perfectly still.