Back in the Saddle

People.

I am back and am much better, thankyouverymuch.

Many, many things on my plate, but tomorrow morning, I am up at 5:45 so BrownBear can get on the plane for the three day Washington, D.C. field trip with the 7th grade. All I can say is that field trips have gotten way better than when I was in 7th grade when we took the train for an all day to New York City.

She has been asked to participate in the wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. While she is honored by being asked, Prep and I spent an anxious hour trying to find suitable attire for this event. She isn't amused by the fact that she has to spend time in a dress. Trust me.

If you're up tomorrow, send good thoughts toward BrownBear and those two flights full of 12 year olds, winging their way toward the Capitol. And send some my way - and remember how much I love to fly.

Back in the Saddle

It must be time for me to fly again. As a matter of fact, I have to go back to D.C. in September. And sure enough, something explodes. I have to apologize; as soon as the reservations are made, something out of Airport or Snakes on a Plane or Die Hard happens somewhere in the world.

Watch out. I have to go to St. Louis in November.

Back to School

Just a few quick notes:

• I didn't not crash and burn on that big old jet airliner as I previously thought. As a matter of fact, the ride was pretty smooth and I was with another teacher who was coming to the Institute with me. (This flight was brought to you by Xanax.)
• College life is just like you thought it was. Cold water in the showers, hard beds, air conditioning that either works really hard or it doesn't at all. Cafeteria food has improved, but I remember why people put on that freshman 15 (or 40 - Alison!!!)
• Oh, yeah. The fire alarm went off at three o'clock this morning. That was sweet. I couldn't go back to that good sleep, so I feel like I pulled an all nighter. That was after going to bed having been drinking with the other teachers across the street.

I am so tired right now, I don't know how I am going to make it. Lots of coffee - but it is bad, remember? Got three hours of lecture after breakfast and three more after lunch. Then we have to work on Congressional hearing presentations. It is just 7:20 and I need a nap.

It is beautiful here in the Shenanadoah Valley, though, and the weather is cooperating. No humidity - unheard of here in Virginia this time of year and I am most grateful for that. The teachers I am with are a most wonderful group. Friendly, outgoing and not at all the geeky ones I expected. Excellent.

The Next Big Adventure

Thursday, I leave for a week at James Madison University to study the Constitution.

I am officially the empress of the geeks.

I applied for, and won, a scholarship to spend an entire week studying the Constititution and learning how to teach it to elementary students.

I can't wait.

You see, I am a history major.

I am a Virginian.

I am going to be all alone.


This is going to be just like college. :)

Now the downside: I am Sissy McNutcase when it comes to flying. I don't know if it's because I am claustrophobic (yes), or I am a control freak (absolutely) or every time I go to get on a plane, some other nut job tries to blow up an airport or whatever. So, I have to take off my shoes, unpack my laptop, and be prepared to prove that my Bobbie Brown foundation isn't going to explode upon take off.

I wasn't always like this. I used to get on a plane and sleep before takeoff. I could hop a Delta jet to New York for the weekend like other people hop onto their bicycles.

Then, once, I hopped a jet with Lawyerboy and we hit the motherlode of turbulence. "All is well," Lawyerboy, who also holds his pilot's license, "if something bad were to happen, the pilot would hit the seatbelt light." And so help me, that is exactly what happened.

And something in me snapped.

It also didn't help that we were coming in over Key Bridge, which had just been the scene of the crash of that Air Florida jet. During college, I usually worked in Washington, crossing one of those bridges daily. With those big jets going over- you haven't taken off in a jet until yours goes out on the runway at Reagan National and then basically backs up to be sure it has enough room for takeoff. Seriously. It reminds me of a slingshot. Or taking off on an aircraft carrier.

So, I have become a bad flyer. It has something to do with not being in control and also being terrified of dying in a fiery plane crash. That's all. I also believe that flying is akin to magic. I don't understand how it works - I mean, after all, the wings have to be able to move up and down. THAT freaks me out. Don't ask me why. Maybe it looks like they are trying to fall off.

I am always afraid that I am going to freak out like William Shatner did in that episode of The Twilight Zone.

So, there you have it.