Overheard at the coffee shop

Ranae and I have developed a little tradition of playing Scrabble at the coffee shop. Today we were having a hard time focusing on the game because two older women were sitting in the worn maroon wingback chairs behind us, having a very unusual conversation.

I don't make a habit of eavesdropping, and I'm fairly good at tuning out noise around me when I want to but would you be able to resist the urge to listen in if you heard comments like these:

• "It's a whole lot easier to make your own alcohol than to grow your own marijuana."
• "Nebraska ditch weed is crap."
• "On my death bed I just want to smoke a joint--I love the taste and the smell."

Seriously, it was one of the strangest coversations I've ever happend to overhear. Stranger yet, it seemed that the women making the comments is a teacher who is somehow being forced to quit teaching at her school. Hmmm....

And if you're wondering, I won the game: 218 to 216. Whew!

Kitty Cat

Big news: the Mac's are now cat owners. And this cat just walked across my laptop keyboard as I was typing. Ha!

Dancing

Slightly embarrassing teaching moment of the week:
My freshmen are required to take a "Career Interest Inventory," and the wise people in charge at Millard West have decided that English class is where this required survey should be done. I have one class with more than the usual percentage of immature, "squirrely" freshmen boys. In this particular class today, we were in the computer lab, taking this survey. Of course, everyone is at a different spot, asking me what button to click, where to write the results, if this is homework tomorrow, etc, etc. So when T. asked me if he could go to the bathroom, I replied, "Yes, very quickly," as I tried to get the student next to him back on task.

When T. erupted in laughter, I thought, "Oh no, what did I just respond to?" Obviously not a request to use the facilities.

Turns out, T. and a couple of guys near him were laughing about the fact that "dancer" appeared on one of their lists of potential careers. Of course, as any good freshman boy would, their minds instantly thought of exotic dancers, stippers, etc. (yes, welcome to my world :) Apparently T. has just asked me, "Could I do a male dance?" (or something like that...in reference to what career he would pick for the career research project we'll start tomorrow), but I, somehow, thought he has asked, "Could I go to the restroom?" So, when I replied, "Yes, quickly," that was, I must admit, very funny.

I once heard a quote that said something to the effect that if you laugh in a day, the day is not a waste. Very rarely, then, do I have a wasted day :)