Just No

Our little Lucy really is improving on the leash-- she's a good girl and she wants to do well, but at 6 months it's really hard sometimes. Fortunately, her fellow dogs are on our side. Oh, they know she's a puppy, but when she stands on her back legs and tries to tangle all the leashes, their patience is limited. Most of them turn and trot away to the far end of their own tethers, leaving their owners to shrug apologetically as Lucy turns her head in adorable confusion.

"I don't blame 'em!" we usually say as we continue on our krazy puppy walk.

Surplus

"I need to run to the garden," I told Heidi yesterday. "I think there may be some tomatoes and a few other things ready to pick."

Oh
my
golly!

Two half-bushel baskets later I staggered home. This morning? We canned 12 quarts of tomatoes! AND there are so many more in the garden that will be ready this week.

"How many tomato plants do you have anyway?" my brother asked when he saw

all
the
TOMATOES.

"A lot!" I answered.

Leader of the Pack

"They seem to be walking pretty well together," I said to Heidi, sweeping my arm at the three dogs ambling amiably by our sides. "Well, except that Sonic's a little ahead of me," I noted.

She nodded.

"Don't worry!" I assured her. "He's nearly 13-- I think I can outwalk him." And with that I picked up the pace a bit. But, so did he. Soon we trotting down the parking lot.

Heidi laughed. "Wow! I don't think I've seen him move that fast in years!"

Thank Goodness

How does it feel to be back to school? is a question many teachers hear at this time of the year.

For me it's never been an easy transition, no matter how much I love, or do not love, my job and workplace. Even so, there's nothing quite so sweet as Friday Night when you're just a workaday gal.

I'm With Her

Because of construction going on at and around our campus, parking is going to be at a premium for the next couple of years. Fortunately, the district secured spaces in some temporary lots; unfortunately, over half of them are about half a mile away. Oh, there is a shuttle, but, well, it's not very convenient.

In the interest of fairness and transparency, the administration did a double blind lottery right after our meeting the other day. I waited to see where my spot and those of my friends and teammates would be, silently considering the logistics of all the possibilities. When at last my name was called, I was assigned to the far garage. Rather than despair, though, I crossed my fingers for Heidi's luck, since her name had not yet been called.

When it was? She got a spot much closer to school. "Another plus for marriage!" texted our friend Mary.

Lavender Lining

As a last day of summer hurrah, my cousin treated the three teachers in her life, Heidi, Emily, and me, to lunch on the town. The meal started nicely with calamari and fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese and tomato jam for the table. They were yummy, and I was gratified that everyone (but me!) agreed that my tomato jam was better than theirs.

When the mains were served, it took me a few bites to recognize that my grilled fish tacos were actually burned beyond tasting good, and so I flagged the waiter and asked him to take them back to the kitchen and let them know, which he did, graciously. I chose not to reorder or order another dish, which worked out for me, as dessert was next, and the restaurant is known for its milkshakes.

I don't usually order a sweet after a meal, but after sending my lunch back, I figured I had something coming. Oh, there was blueberry pie with lemon curd and cheesecake on the table, but my lavender milkshake? Was better than them AND a million fish tacos!

I'm going to remember that.

Breaking Ice

The first meeting of the new school year started with... an ice breaker.

"Uncommon Commonalities" required random groups of 5 to trace one of our figures on a big piece of mural paper and identify at least 10 things we all had in common excluding school and the area we live in. As I lay down in a classic crime scene pose, I eyed the one guy in our group of otherwise 50-something white women and said, "You are going to make this tough!"

And he did! Where everyone else liked coffee, gardening, and probably pedicures, he wanted to know who watched what sports. Cooking? "I guess you have to eat, so, yeah," he shrugged.

Oh, he wasn't the only outlier, by any means. "What's your favorite color?" I asked him.

"Blue," he answered.

"Blue," said the next person.

"Blue or green," said the third.

"Blue!" said the fourth.

"What about you?" asked the guy.

I laughed. "Yellow," I answered.

And so it went until we agreed that we all liked to read, go to the beach, have pets, travel, and eat ice cream, chicken wings, and pizza. In addition, we all saw part of the eclipse, celebrate Christmas, and appreciate flexibility.

We listened as people from the other groups reported their commonalities. "We all go to church!" one of them told us, "And we love Jesus!" she finished.

The guy and I looked at each other. His eyes were wide. "That would have been a hard one to say no to!" he whispered. "Thank goodness I wasn't in that group."