big manny christmas chango jam dec 23!

manuel used a phrase, "chango jam," which means monkey jam, & me, him, & James had shared pix of chimps playing guitar, harmonica, & piano. manuel said we could call our band "monkey see, monkey do."
the performers at this jam, the one on the poster, won't be changos, but manuel's phrase seemed a good one to use in order to keep the tone light and happy. hope if you can that you will come! here is link to the FB public event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1776778882448620/
here is a pic of me from our wonderful catalina trip. the finish of this race was special bc they announced my name, town,  time, & people were cheering even  from the sidelines! since i'm never a front-runner, that finish experience was a happy novelty... happy sunday.

sad & super-excited

...a strange emotional brew...
something i thought someone else would host for the last year never happened, so this year it looks like it will happen if i get it started! i hope it will happen...
the coffee maker blew up
so i'm gonna head to santa clarita to get another
and... shop both big dollar stores
meanwhile need to pay h2o bill before they shut it off
water here is so expensive!
paid the damned bills
made some calls
feet are cold
need to run
my mind is racing and confused
need to run
a friend texted she'd just "smoked a big bowl"... sometimes i think...
...
...
nah, better not.
more later

"frah-GEE-leh... must be italian!"

-darrin mcgavin's classic line from the irreverent fun of a christmas story aside, life is fragile, we are fragile, children especially can be fragile. this past week my performing & fine arts elective at our school put on an ASTOUNDING haunted house! the children were scary, hammy, gory, creepy fun, the sets they dreamed up more ghoulish than i could have, even with a lifetime of horror films within my shoes. we had a wonderful halloween party hosted by parents. the kids returned the next day emotional basket cases. i thought maybe it was sugar overdose. the next day was even more difficult, sad, & worrisome. my students are fragile. i must tend to them as best i can.

51 years in issaquah, wa

typical shopping with james :)

-in my youth, i had an a**hole of a boyfriend who had a tall, gallant, sad, grayed father, an engineer & korean conflict vet, who pronounced solemnly  that teaching was "a noble profession." more and more i feel that... also that, in addition to helping other alcoholics to find sobriety, teaching is similarly a sacred duty. my job becomes more vital each year i get to do it.

seattle with bennetts

seattle

-i'm uploading this entire year's worth of photos right now to facebook. 11 months of photos takes a loooooooong time to upload up here. recently i received a box of coffee from new orleans, LA, & delicious tho it is, it has less caffeine... i hardly can stay awake. then again, this torporous languor might be due to this 1st day of daylight savings time, which seemed to start perfectly on this day when at "old" 6 am, unlike just yesterday, outside was black, but by "new" 6 am, the wide sky sighed with autumnal hues, grays, burnt orange & umber, then pinks, reds & blues: it was time to get up, & the clock change coincided with the heavens. it seemed not just beautiful, but miraculous, tho of course the whole concept of DST was based on much research prior to its implementation...

laurel's wedding

ok, well, we have many chores inside & outside today, so i'd better get to it. here are some pix of mister james & i from the 2000 i'm uploading.
be safe, & care for your fellow beings, human & otherwise.