Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Leap Day

When Shanna first told me about the possibility of Baby Girl last summer while I was trolling the Target aisles, I thought maybe s/he will be a Leap Baby but unless something happens in the next 14 hours (which I suppose it can), this will not be. Just as well as we would have to plow through a major snow storm that is between here and there. The Big Ice Storm missed us thankfully.  Two degrees too warm.

Maya is too ill to attend her class and therapy session today. Steve and his 4 person  crew had a 14.5 hour shift yesterday for all of three voters. These student wards need to be consolidated...

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Sex Education with Mr. M

Although a young man, my 9th grade biology teacher Mr M had the demeanor of a much older, experienced teacher. The only human emotion he would display to his students was annoyance. He had shared only two personal facts with us: he was an identical twin whose twin had a similar job in a neighboring district and that he had recently fathered a child. Both of these facts were mind boggling: that there were two crabby automatons out there and that somehow he had done the dirty deed unless he had discovered a way to father a child without actually doing it. Possibly.

Only high performing students were allowed to take biology while in junior high. Mr M had the reputation of being an especially demanding teacher. His rule Neatness Counts kept my brother from taking his class. Though I was probably his best student, I remember him sighing when he had noticed that I had clumsily punctured my worm's alimentary canal during a dissection. My fellow students name for me: The Butcher. (On the other hand, I was one of the only students to remove the skull from my fetal pig without the brain's contents oozing out; the secret-use fingernails instead of the crude tools supplied).

I had missed out on the 7th grade sex class as somehow my permission slip was lost. In 5th grade we were treated to learning in a segregated by sex classroom the wonders of our changing body which turned out to be a long Kotex commercial. The whole period thing was news to me. I felt blind sided as everyone else knew. My mother meanly told me that I wouldn't have to worry about it for a long time as I was so unfeminine even though I started my growth spurt early.

Mr M spent a long time discussing venereal diseases. In those days, there were only two. By law, he was not allowed to discuss contraception but he made it clear that if one had sex outside of marriage, VD would probably result. Eventually he had to go into the mechanics of the sex act which he did in his robotic voice. According to him, one of the differences between men and women is what initiates desire: anything initiates desire in men. All they have to do is look or think of a woman and they are ready to go. To activate a woman, however,  takes work. They must be touched!! I wondered to myself how he came across this gem of information. Personal experience? Read it in an official textbook? He did father a child after all (how?) I had to laugh. Unfortunately I did it out loud and was kicked out of the classroom until I learned some manners.

He let me return the next day without me having to display that I had learned said manners and I refrained from telling him how wrong he was. I ended up missing his clinical description of the sex act, amusing according to my sources, but they dared not show it.

Reliable sex information in those days was hard to come by.  My friends and I purchased the breakthrough Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex but was afraid to ask a few years later. We bought it nervously as we were not sure if it was legal to sell us the book. As I looked the oldest, I bought it. Not that this book was all that reliable. For instance: how to tell if a woman really had an orgasm? Answer: she is covered with a bright red rash afterwards. I had never even heard the word orgasm to describe  anything the woman experienced. Maybe Mr M had mentioned it during my banishment.

Today I am an election day widow again. Steve is assigned to a nearby student ward that mainly foreign grad students live in. Sometimes only one or two voters show up the entire day at that particular polling place. He left before 6 am and I might not see him until 10 tonight. I am looking forward to no more robocalls for a while. Do they ever work? They just annoy me especially on my cell phone.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Sunsets


 Not sure why 'the composition editor' won't let me start my text further up. These are just a few of the sunsets we took on the cruise,most of these were taken by my friend.
It was almost springlike here today. I heard the trill of the male red wing blackbird, a harbinger of spring, as I ran this morning..46 degrees! But winter is not over yet. Snow would be in my way if I had to go to Boston in the next few days..stay in there Baby Girl! Finish cooking!

Ms. Maya was taken to the doctor today due to grumpiness and a temp of 102.3. A bad cold. They are not to worry unless she becomes lethargic. She wants to eat and run around.
 In the past 2 weeks, I've made 5 photo books and one photo calendar with all these Groupon and its ilk deals expiring.. I am becoming a pro on which company's programs are easier to use. I am taking a break from all that for a while while I await Ms. Baby Girl.

Loved watching the Oscars and seeing the pretty dresses. Loved Viola Davis' and Jessica Chastain's. The absolute best by far was that of Milla Jovovich..so, so graceful.



Sunday, February 26, 2012

Dark places I've been

In the middle of the night...


Why does my rib hurt so much?
In truth, the pain is usually 0.2 out of ten (if that) but then it ramps up to a 5 or so for a half hour and then dies down. It does not seem to be getting worse so a vote there for something benign.
Did I run into something a month ago and forgot about it?
Is this residual nerve damage due to radiation, surgery, Taxol..what have you?
The pain isn't always in the exact same place so this points to a nerve misfiring making me perceive pain when there is no pain.
There is a slight bruise but maybe I've pressed the area so much I bruised myself.

Cruise animals








Saturday, February 25, 2012

Mas Puerto Rico

Light fixture in coffee house we stopped at

 All of these photos were taken by my friend with the 3 cameras she had with her. She could do those great close-ups of those caterpillars seen below and concentrate on fine detail.























Friday, February 24, 2012

Pretty places I have been to

Gegenbach
Sacre Coeur, Paris



Staufen castle


Cimitere, Paris

Colmar

Kaufhaus, Freiburg

Freiburg

Gegenbach

Metz

Riquewihr

Street of the Jews somewhere in Alsace

Steve and Bacchus, Staufen


Verdun

Zell

Strausburg

Strausburg

Strausburg
Steve and I took a trip in April 2003 to France and Germany. We flew into Paris, rented a car and headed east traveling through Champagne, Lorraine, and Alsace crossing into the Black Forest Region of Germany.
We spent most of the time in Alsace driving La Route de Vin. Unfortunately all of Steve's digital photos were lost since he lent the card to Naomi before saving the contents(!!!!). But we have the non-digital pix I took and scanned today.

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