Life

A few random updates just because I can:

-- I'm looking for a good book (or two, or hell, three) to read.  I know SOMEONE on here is a bibliophile and can recommend something to me.

-- The parade today made me cry for 2 reasons.  First, because when I see this old men in their uniforms, I'm forced to think of how much they risked so that other people could have what was deemed a better life.  I am not a fan of war, but I'm more against the bureaucratic decisions to GO to war than I am the men and women who follow orders and fight for millions of people they've never met.  I absolutely support TROOPS.  I also cried because of the low turn-out, related to reason one.  These brave people put so much on the line, actually risked their lives for us or are doing so currently, and I'd say less than 100 people managed to give up 20 minutes of their day to come out and say "hey, thanks for doing that". 

-- The odds of me being given a pink slip on June 1st are about 99.99 to .01.  Sucks.  You know the situation is dire if even TEACHERS aren't guaranteed a job next  year :(.

-- It's finally warmish up here; not what I want (I would be happy if it was 90 every day, and then December it dipped down to...67 (with some snow every few years), but it's warm, and I'm so much happier with it.

-- I took my mom to go see Star Trek today.  I do not go see movies in the theater, but I felt compelled to go out and spend money and pretend to be normal, and I never really liked Star Trek, but enjoyed the movie a lot.  More than I thought I would.  Go see it.

-- I went for a 5-mile walk yesterday, and it was absolutely awesome.  I walked to the high school for 2.22 miles, around the track twice, and then back home.  It was the first time since getting the warning on Friday morning that I haven't thought about the fact that I'm probably going to be let go.  I just put my iPod on low and worked up a good sweat (definitely never realized how steep North Street is because I've never walked up it before) and cleared my head.  Realized that if I work at camp this summer, I could EASILY leave at 7:45 and walking, get there  by 8:30 if not earlier.  I'd leave earlier than that because I'm insane, and then I'd already be sweaty to start a full day working at camp, but it's totally doable.

-- Speaking of camp ... is it really 10 months today, Sammy?  Did we really lose you 10 months ago today?  That can't be possible; that doesn't feel real.  I think about you every day; absolutely every day, if not more than once each day.  When the clock says 8:13, it reminds me of you.  When I hear Incubus or Kenny Chesney or Dierks Bentley on the radio, I close my eyes and float back to our trips on the bus.  People quote Napoleon Dynamite all around me, but none of them bring a smile to my face the way you did when you'd ask me if the chickens had large talons. 
Sometimes, I think about how unfair it is that we had so little time together.  We were friends right away, and you were so welcoming of me even though I was brand new and you were working with people you grew up with.  I always admired your heart and your spirit and your smile, and I wish we'd gotten to know each other even better.  I wish I had reached out and overcome some shyness and approached you after our summer together was done.  I hate the fact that I'll never get to (at least, not on Earth).  I love that I can't shake you, though.  That I'm constantly reminded of you, that you're all  around me, and that THAT knowledge pushes me to stay connected to others.  You inspired all of these letters I've been writing, Sam.  Maybe one day I'll get brave and write you one.  But in the spirit of not letting people slip away, I'm going to go call Lisa.