Stormalooza

October is hitting us with a ferocity that bodes ill for this winter. First of all, I absolutely hate windstorms for many reasons, starting with my parents' roof blowing off in the Columbus Day Storm of 1962. We came home from church, and it was lying in the yard. It shook me to the core and made me very insecure about WIND. Secondly, other bad stuff has happened along the way, like fences blown down, power outages that were truly nasty(worse without my handy husband here!) and the feeling of helplessness as I heard crashes and booms from outside, along with the house shuddering and groaning as the wind blasted into it. Of course, it was easier when Patt was alive; it's difficult to face down Stormaggedon without his calming, and capable presence. I have flashlights, battery operated lanterns and candles, beer, coffee(though how to make it hot is beyond me) and a well-stocked earthquake box. This is when, weakly, I just want someone else to take care of me, and I don't have anyone. pity party  I'm hoping it's not as awful as they are predicting, as sometimes happens in this area. As for our inservice day yesterday, it was terrible in many ways, starting with an idiotic colleague at Sbux making some tactless comments about the number of calories in my mocha and how it would affect my aging body(wanted to kill him!), and culminating in a meeting with the district World Language department where I realized that I truly dislike people who are self-important and arrogant. There are so many signs to retire that I don't know where to start. As a counterbalance, I do love and admire many of my colleagues, and will miss working with them! My students are also very important to me, but honestly, the rest of the job has become a real shitshow. Now, I must gear up for The. Big. Storm by drinking some beer and hanging out with Mari. An exciting life, eh?