I have always battled between the dichotomy of straight and narrow and rebelliousness.

On the one hand, I have followed the set path, and done what is expected of me.

On the other, I have done whatever has struck my fancy at the time.

As I am packing my belongings, I am thinking of this. It is interesting, to say the least, to pack, while totally s$%#faced.

Cindy is home.

I am not in any way, blaming my drunkenness on anyone but myself.

But with that said, Cindy and I got together tonight and recollected, while watching movies with her husband and parents. There were many, “But just one more.”

Uncle Lester gave me a ride home, and I reminded him what it is like to live without adult companionship…

And so, I take a break from boxing my belongings, and there are many backspaces as I mistype, and rethink what I have already typed.

Seems fitting.

I’ll have that with a side of crow....

Well, it seems that I was a bit premature with my contemptuous report last evening.

Said friend was quite pleased with the gift. Thanked me quite eloquently. Showed friends.

Perhaps there is hope for my faith in humanity after all. Perhaps.

To serve its purpose

As I have previously mentioned (several times), this is a therapeutic practice for me. And there is something I need to shed.

I grabbed a quote from Dad's blog, and placed it on my MSN tagline today. "People behave as they are. Embrace what you actually get." Epictetus. That pretty much sums it up.

I recently poured my heart and soul into a very thoughtful gift for a friend, despite the fact that the friendship has been somewhat strained of late. I still wanted the friend to have the gift, because I felt that they deserved it. A way to mend fences, so to speak.

So when I presented this gift to said friend, I got a muttered, "Thanks", as it was tossed in a bag.

That was it.

I expected some sort of contact later, once they had a chance to see what it actually was, and realized that I've spent three months (no exaggeration) producing it.

But nothing.

I didn't expect much. I just wanted some affirmation that I haven't wasted the past three months.

But apparently I have.

I am striving, with great difficulty, to avoid cynicism. But, to poorly quote Austen, the more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall always be disappointed by people.

Nearing the finish line

There really is a guilty pleasure in goofing off at work. I will attempt a justification by saying that literally all of my work is complete. That is the nature of a contract job. My exams are corrected and passed in. My final marks are compiled and put into the system (plus a hard copy passed in to the secretary). My ISSP reports are finished and duly filed. My office is straightened up, and the books and reports are neatly left on the desk for whoever fills my place in September.

There is nothing left to do but wait to hear the dulcet notes of that corpulent woman….

I even offered to help teachers finish up what they are doing, and no one needed any help.

I think this is the first time in my life that I am AHEAD of schedule (I’m at work until Friday). At least tomorrow there is the awards assembly.

I should have taken a book.

Who would have thought that I would come to work and have absolutely nothing to do? (Before I start getting too many emails begging for my laid back job, send me a note asking what exactly I’ve had to endure for the past several months). Really, a couple of slack days do not counterbalance that ordeal.

So with all of this said, I am sitting at the computer honing my craft, while the rest of the teachers are scrambling to finish year end work. Tee hee.

a meandering night

At this point there in not much to report, but I started this blog with the intention of continuing with my writing as a therapeutic action, and therefore am forcing myself to write SOMETHING, just to go through the process. Admittedly it is not much better than mushy tripe, but it will still serve its intended purpose.

It hit me today that I only have ten days left until I move to St. John's. And for someone who is looking forward to this move very much, I have not prepared for it with much zeal... I will forego the list of what is left to be done. Suffice to say, I've got a great deal of packing to do, and all the technical stuff to take care of yet.

So with that in mind, I began packing this evening. I managed three whole boxes before putting it down to come zone out in front of the screen.

It'll get done after school closes.

Speaking of which, I'm going to prom! Wow! It's my fourth prom. (And first as a teacher). I hadn't really intended to go, but had so many students ask, that I was compelled to relent. It will most likely be an awkward event (given my current situation), and I figure I'll get a couple of pictures then cut out early.

So, look forward to the weekend when I can give an update, and possibly a picture or two (I will be dressing up for the event, that will be noteworthy in and of itself).

Goof night (I realize the typo. Thought it fitting to leave it there).

Butterfly Adventures

I have a daughter, who quite some time ago, informed me that she wants to be an entomologist when she gets bigger. I don't doubt it. Since she was able to grasp small objects, she was picking up insects and chasing her brother with them. Perhaps this is why my son is so afraid of insects?

In any case, my father and I decided to take a trip to Deer Lake today, so we could visit the Insectarium, which is complete with a Butterfly Pavilion. Eden was in her glory. The unfortunate part is that her other interest is ballet. Earlier this spring I bought her an "Angelina Ballerina" video. She was grateful, especially when it turned out that one of the episodes was all about Angelina having a pet butterfly, which landed on her finger.... so my child went to the Pavilion ready for her dream to come true. A butterfly was going to land on her, and she would name it Henry, and he would love her forever.

Do you realize how unlikely it is that a very fragile butterfly will land on a patiently waiting three year old, when there is another three year old running up, screaming "Aaarrgh!"? Every time one would come close, something would happen to frighten it away. Most often, that something was Connor. Of course, they were swarming me. I thought about it later. Perhaps it was the bright, floral print blouse I was wearing.




That is not to say that a butterfly didn't land ANYWHERE. As this picture will attest, there is no accounting for some taste, even that of of a creature from the lepidoptera family. Needless to say, Eden was not impressed that she couldn't get one to land on her finger, and yet it would choose this particular perch. The funny thing was, we tried everything to get the poor creature (who obviously has no nasal faculties) to fly away, but it was determined. Just as we admitted defeat, and Dad was going to get the curator's help, the pitiful thing (yes, it is to be pitied, mainly for it's complete lack of judgement) flew away.

All in all, it was a pretty fabulous day. The twins had a wonderful time, we had a few laughs, and I eventually managed to placate Eden (for a few minutes) by finding a couple of butterflies by the entrance and letting her put her finger next to them.

But don't worry, those of you familiar with her personality will fully realize this ploy would not be enough. For twenty minutes after we got back in the truck, she moaned over the fact that we had driven ALL the way to the Insectarium, only to leave without a butterfly landing on her finger.

Below are a couple of more shots from the day. Once she gets over the disappointment, I am sure Eden will have fantastic memories.

You may wish to click on the link to Dad's blog, to get his version of the events. I still disagree with his opinion that this is hard proof his butt smells like roses....but to each their own.


We got them to sit for a few seconds under the premise that if they sat quietly, there would be a better chance of a butterfly landing on them.


















Watching a video on crickets. Connor was more interested in checking out the runner lights along the floor.








This is by the entrance to the main building. The colors of the beetles are so varied and bright!











The butterflies were really worth seeing. There was a special room with a display window where they could come out of the chrysalises. The curator would then bring them to the Pavilion. They were all over the place. We got to see a couple that were just born minutes before. It was absolutely beautiful.

Last Sunday

Well, Dad may not be impressed that I've beat him to the punch, but I have decided to upload some pictures from our stay in Barachois Brook last weekend. He specifically asked me for the pictures, which I suspect were to be placed on his blog, and I already have emailed them to him, but here we are. In my defense, I will say that I will put up some different pictures, and leave the man to put up those I have passed along.

In this shot are my two chilren, Connor and Eden, who were having a grand time exploring the field and garden. I couldn't help but think back to when I was their age and exploring those very same fields...

We couldn't believe how hot it was on Sunday. On the 10th of June, we were swimming in the ocean (and of course I forgot to take my camera, so those of you who were not in the area may not believe that it was actually warm enough to do so). But here's an idea, the above shot was taken 8:30 in the morning and it was already 20 degrees.

We were on our way to the hammock when I came across this spider web in the grass. Thought it would make an interesting shot.

So all in all, it was a pretty fabulous day. We spent the greater part of it on the beach, we had a fire (during which time, just as much marshmallow ended up in Eden's hair as in her mouth), and we all made it back home fairly exhausted, as can be seen in the following shot...

Upon my arrival...

For those of you who are already familiar, I have been under a great amount of stress of late. And since I have always found writing to be very therapeutic for me, I have decided to enter the world of blogging.

This site will mainly be dedicated to whatever musings happen to be on my mind in the late evening. Typically, it could well be a run down of my day, since that is likely what I am trying to shed off in the late hours of the night. Through this exercise, I hope to gain some peace of mind, and perhaps learn how to sleep again.