Loving Words...

Hey Barb,

Boy, that sure was good timing on your part, using a science word like "entropy". Of course I had to look it up and of course I didn't understand the definition, but only because I don't even really understand molecules and atoms and therefore their connection to energy, but I got the picture: as P would say, a tornado had hit your house. The reason it was such good timing is that I had just finished Love Walked In (minutes prior) and had my dictionary handy because the whole freakin' novel was a vocabulary test. Not in the way that a James Michener novel requires an extended vocabulary and is sort of painful because of it, but in a way that I loved, so much, because it reminded me of how much I love words. And since de los Santos couldn't write a cliche if she tried, I'll just drop mine all over the place in resignation. With every page I read, I fell in love. My favorite character of all? Cornelia's mother. I loved her. Teo? Hello! I couldn't get enough of them. But I have to say, after finishing the book, mostly I just wanted to hang out with the author. Mostly I just want to be de los Santos' best friend. What a remarkable book. How does she do that? Write the world's longest cliche without ever using one? I'm in awe.

Our weekend away was nice. It started out a little rocky (duh) but we kind of got through that and ended up having a really good time. Saturday in particular was very fun. We went into town with all the kids and shopped all the cute little beach shops (about which M groaned, endlessly, but secretly I think he didn't mind). We bought and ate way too much saltwater taffy and carmel corn and ice cream but isn't that what it's all about? We headed back to the house late in the afternoon to grab some beach time. The weather wasn't very good though, the whole weekend, so only JJ went in the water and the rest of us sat huddled in double-layered sweatshirts and jeans. It wasn't raining, but it was windy and overcast most of the time. We ended up going back into town that evening for dinner and had to wait almost 2 hours for a table at the restaurant we had chosen. Turns out the whole world had gone to the beach this weekend because of the outrageous temperatures inland (upwards of 100 in most places) so Canon Beach was jam packed. Inthe end, the wait wasn't that bad - we had a drink and sat out on the patio chatting (even M) until we were called. When we were finally seated, the service and the food were so good and so worth the wait, no one minded a bit. It was one of those evenings where all of us were in a good mood and laughing (even M) and joking with each other...we laughed all through dinner and dessert until we had to roll out of there for eating so much. Those evenings are rare but they can sure tide me over a long time.

We got home last night and J took JJ out golfing today so I've pretty much had the day to myself. I spent two hours finishing my book, went to the gym and folded some laundry...lazy day. We only have two weeks left before school starts and I still haven't got the kids' school supplies. It'll be just like last year, I suppose, the wrong colored pee-chees and the wrong kinds of pens and a binder that is just hella ugly - because I waited until all the good stuff was gone. Thank God I know for a fact that these sorts of disappointments in a child's life do not lead to permanent scarring.

You've piqued my curiosity about the "perfect job". Do tell more. And here's a question for you, since I don't know what I want to be when I grow up and can't make a decision to save my life. A friend of mine referred the president of the PTA to me (I'll kill him later). She called and asked if I was interested in taking over the PTA newsletter this year (because she was told I'm an out-of-work English teacher). First of all, I hate the PTA. I might as well join a quilting/scrapbooking/needlepointing/stamping/Tupperware/Partylite religious cult. Second of all, I don't even read the PTA newsletter, other than to glance through it one time, after which I commented, "Jesus, this is long. Who reads this?" Which made me think twice about the request, because I remember thinking, "I could write this thing so much better". So should I do it? Of course it's a volunteer thing and it will take up hours of my time, but do you think it would be a good thing to do? If I don't read it, does anyone? Will I get sucked into the Cult of PTA and start wearing applique sweatshirts with elastic waistband jeans and Crocs? Or will I maybe gain some experience with layout and Publisher and writing and editing (and is that valid experience, like, for a real job?) Tell me what you think, I'd love to hear your opinion. (Can I mention that it struck me as a little bit of karma that I got that call today, right after I finished the book with all the words I loved, thinking I wish I could find a job that had something to do with words...)

Ok - more laundry to fold and - oh look! Oprah's on! Hope you have a great time with A and L and the kids tonight - looking forward to hearing from you tomorrow.
Love, A