WNBP: August Is The Cruelest Month

August is here and, from this educator's perspective, it has arrived far too soon.  This is the month that truly marks the end of summer vacation.  While I still have plenty of days left, I can no longer avoid checking my school email and it is highly likely that someone is going to want me at a meeting at some point over the next couple of weeks.  I also have to start reviewing those lessons I tucked away in June for future reference to see if I can remember why on earth I thought they were such a grand idea for the kids.  Then there is that dreaded trip into the classroom to put it all together and finally admit that it is really and truly over.

I miss July.  July is the month where I get to avoid thinking about all that stuff.  However, since there is nothing I can do about it at the moment, I will go ahead with the Wednesday Night Bullet Post.  Bullet points are ever so festive and distracting, after all!

*The weather has taken a truly delightful turn.  So cool and pleasant!  Such a nice change from the heatwave!


*Of course it is also a reminder of the autumn temperatures to come, but I think this is a sacrifice I am willing to make after what this summer put me through.


*Guess who shouldn't have complained about not making much progress on the sock?


*That'd be me.  


*Knit the foot an inch too long and now must rip back lest I have socks that don't feel exactly the same.


*Socks must feel exactly the same.  Must.  


*I go crazy if they don't.


*Guess I was making more progress than I thought...


*Left the stupid, non-conforming sock at home today so I could go do my weekly Visit With The Vegetables.


*I am making salsa tomorrow.


*I have already peeled and chopped the 'maters because that is the job that makes me want to leap out the window.


*Messy.  Pulpy.  Slimy.


*Don't feel like making salsa after that.


*But, if it's already done, then I am simply giddy about the making of the salsa!


*I have enough for three pints which seems like very little product for all that tomato goo on my counters but I enjoyed having homemade salsa last winter so I'm going for it.


*I like it in scrambled eggs.


*I also liked my homemade relish but I don't need to make that again because I already did it.


*No reason for mentioning that.  I just felt like telling someone that I made relish again this year.


*I have mixed feelings about not taking any of the celebratory cupcakes home after my parents' anniversary party.


*We had leftovers.  They were good cupcakes.  


*I miss those cupcakes.  


*But I think I did the right thing in leaving them behind.


*Sometimes I hear them crying out for me, but that might just be a cupcake delusion.


*My parents took the cake top home so no comments about stealing confections from them!!!


*God...the more I say, "cupcakes" the worse the compulsion gets!!!


*Need to think about something else.  Like the awesome fresh onions I picked up today.  


*And the summer squash I got last week but didn't eat.


*Should eat that instead of cupcakes.


*Would be nice to not have to buy an entire new wardrobe for school this year...


*The phone just rang.  Was hoping it was the doctor's office since I am out of meds and she is on vacation this week.


*Need that prescription.  They are working on getting it together for me.


*Has to be on paper.  Can't be called in per order of the government.


*I guess I should have thought about people taking vacations in August.


*Isn't everyone thinking about work right now????


*Not the doc's office.  Just someone who wanted to hang up on me.


*With few days left as a full-time reader, I am doing my best to put away the pages.


*Finished The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart.


*Bad people come to a bad end.


*That is as it should be even if you maybe found yourself cheering for them a little bit over the course of the novel.


*Quiet cheering that no one else could hear because, well...they are VERY BAD PEOPLE!


*And they are not alone, it seems.


*Johannes Cabal the Necromancer is not very nice either.


*Yet, every once in a while you see this little glimmer of hope for him and you get all excited.


*He never seems to be able to stay the course for long.


*Apparently, I was firmly entrenched in some sort of anti-hero thing for a while there.  Besides, the poor guy has issues and maybe even a good reason for why he is how he be.


*Johannes Cabal the Detective was unavoidable.


*In spite all the character flaws, once can't help but love this guy.  I'm a sucker for a witty cad, it would seem...


*Now I'm reading The Magicians: A Novel.


*Here's a book where you can almost literally see the author waving to you gaily from the corner of the page as he shouts, "Hi!  I blatantly ripped off Harry Potter and the Narnia books and have no guilt about that whatsoever!  Enjoy!!!"


*And you know what?


*I DO enjoy!  It was a best seller for a reason and this adult version of YA novels works brilliantly.


*No.  There is no Hogwarts.  And I've yet to see the appearance of a magical wardrobe.  It's not that much of a carbon copy.


*But the influences are clear and the book is all the better for that being put right out there.


*Am hoping to read The Magician King: A Novel before the curtain closes on this summer vacation 'o mine!



Yes, it is time for me to start cranking through a lot of the stuff I wanted to get finished this summer.  It is going to go faster from this point on, if past years are any indication.  I honestly don't know how that happens but it does.

Part of the cruel plan, I think...

SA