Category Archives: the coffeepot’s on

>Mort update

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It’s good news, I think. The podiatrist confirmed that my left foot is home to a neuroma. She wants to start with non-invasive treatments to shrink it as much as possible. We ordered new orthotics (that will surely finish off my deductible for the year). She prescribed a strong anti-inflammatory. I need to wear flat shoes. Totally flat shoes. All the time. Sniff, sniff; my new boots with the one and a half inch heel are too tall because they will put pressure on the ball of my foot, which has the nasty little bundle of nerves in it. My cute Skechers and my new Keds (from the clearance rack) are good, though. They’re cute and they’re flat. Both have comfy soles, too. And last, but not least, she gave me a (gulp) cortisone injection. Oh, my, if she hadn’t had my foot in hand I might have jumped sky high. Ow, ow, and ow! Fortunately, the shot had a little numbing agent mixed in with it, so blessed numbness has set into that area. As the guy on Night Court used to say, “I’m feeling much better now!”
I’m relieved that I didn’t have to dig into my calendar for the best possible week for surgery. The doctor even said that she hesitates to remove these things surgically unless it’s absolutely necessary. I can live with that. In fact, it relieves a great deal of stress to know that we’ll be trying other treatments for six to eight months before even considering surgery.
That’s good news for any semi-regular readers, too. You won’t have to slog through posts written under the influence of painkillers and the aftereffects of anesthesia. On the other hand, posts under those circumstances could be quite entertaining! I’ll pass, at least for now, and I’ll settle for a cup of Cafe Vienna (sugar free) in my Pillsbury Doughboy mug.

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>Stress? What stress?

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It’s like the juggling act. I’ve described it here. But this time, I’m feeling rather indifferent about the whole picture, kind of a teenage “whatever” mood.

Amigo isn’t doing well in school, and yes, I’m worried. I’m not sure which route to take right now. And since I don’t know which way to turn, I’ll just pull over to the side and have coffee at the little diner on the corner until I figure out what to do.
I’ll know more about “Mort”, as my friends now call it, after tomorrow’s appointment with the specialist. I predict surgery. I’ll ask all of the questions about healing time and how-soon-do-I-need-it, and then we’ll schedule. After that’s in place, I’ll deal with my long-term substitute and my class. I’ve done this before, about eight years ago, and I know the basics. My co-workers are a lot stronger now than they were eight years ago. My class will be in good hands. I haven’t figured out my remaining accrued sick leave; I guess I’d better calculate that before I see the doc.
La Petite is doing well. Her new bug-eyed fish is enjoying the small aquarium on her dorm room desk. She named him Lenny Briscoe.
And last, but not least, I am fighting off a cold. This, I can handle. I will take some Airborne in a few minutes, after I finish a little orange-spice tea in my Ducks in a Row mug. I don’t really have all my ducks in a row, but I like to pretend. At least that way I can sleep at night.

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>Welcome to space camp — aka the first day back at school after a long break

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>The spaciest thing I did today:
I put on my jacket this morning and reached for my green pair of gloves.
At the end of the day, I put on my jacket and discovered that there was a black and white pair of gloves in the left sleeve (yes, mom, the ones that look like cows). They had been there all the time and I never even noticed. I pulled them out, put both pair in my schoolbag, and went home, contemplating having my morning cuppa before leaving for school instead of at my desk.
Another spacy thing I did today:
I wore a new pair of boots. I’ve been lazy (I admit it), a veritable couch potato, for the last week and a half. Getting back on my feet for the day and wearing a new pair of leather boots with a moderate (read: low) heel was painful. Tomorrow? My new Keds.

But one of my students did something even, um, less logical (read: thoughtless). I caught her in the act of writing a note to a friend. I confiscated the note. She re-wrote it. Sure, now she decides that re-writes are valuable in the writing process! I confiscated the second copy. When I read the note (privately, of course), I realized that it needed to be addressed in the context of inappropriate behavior because it involved her bragging about breaking a rule at recess time. Duh!

The morals of the story:
Wear comfortable shoes on the first day after a lazy break.
Look in coat sleeves before reaching for gloves.

And advice for the Little Scribbler?
If you want to stay out of the principal’s office, don’t put your transgressions in writing. Twice.

And I thought I was only going to teach math, reading, and science today.

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>The Day after Christmas

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>Gradually, in baby steps, we are reclaiming the house from the chaos that is Christmas. Oodles of wrapping paper filled a big garbage bag. Tags have been recycled, bows stored for re-use. New clothes have been tried on and placed in the hampers so that they are soft for their first day of wear. Wrapping materials are making their way downstairs for storage (until Amigo’s birthday), and the extra table “wrapping station” has been taken down and stashed in its attic home. This could almost make a Clement C. Moore style verse, if I felt the urge to write it.
Husband is back at work. La Petite is sleeping, and Amigo is using his new HUGE remote control to watch TV while he waits for his new clock to “chime”. I am relaxing over a cup of Candy Cane flavored coffee, and feeling like life is good. I can catch up on reading Time Magazine’s Person of the Year issue and feel important.
Gifts? Internet folks, a list of family gifts would bore you to tears, despite the uniqueness of our family’s shopping habits, so I’ll skip the gift list in favor of highlights.
Husband did some of his shopping at the Packer Pro Shop again. That’s what happens when he’s working at Lambeau a lot just before Christmas. He has to shop where and when it’s convenient. La Petite’s GBPacker blanket throw is so soft and warm that she spent most of yesterday wrapped up in it.
Amigo gained several new fidget tools/toys. He holds and manipulates these to keep himself focused. It started with the cool little Detroit RedWing bendable player. We set the hockey stick aside so it wouldn’t get lost. This was upstaged by a CocaCola ladle with a coke bottle shape on the handle, which was replaced later by a soft vinyl reindeer bank. Fidget tools provide pleasure for all of us, whether we’re the givers or the receiver.
The most unique student gift I received was a chalkboard mug. Yes, it is what it sounds like. It came with two pieces of chalk. The mug has a unique black finish that I can draw on and then erase again. This has potential!
The bunnies? They celebrated with a bunch of organic carrots complete with greens.

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>’Twas the day before Christmas

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>…and all through the house, the coffee was brewing, and gone was the mouse.
Okay, I’ll stop there to avoid the unpleasant memories. My kitchen now smells like coffee with chocolate amaretto. End of story.
We’re about done with the wrapping, and all done with the shopping. Tonight we’ll go over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s for a delicious Christmas Eve dinner, and then come home and hang the stockings. In the meantime, we’ll watch some unimportant (not Packers) football, nibble on some cookies, and take some time to search our favorite holiday web sites.

Has Santa left the North Pole yet? Find out exactly where he is by checking NORAD’s Santa Tracker. This site updates once an hour, so keep checking back.
Want to check weather radio anywhere in the USA, or even the world? Click here, then try the transmitter for the North Pole location. (Falalalala!)

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>The tastes of the holiday

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>Since my winter break started yesterday, the Holiday Nibbles have begun. The entire family dips into my edible gifts from students and the other yummies around the house. La Petite isn’t worrying about wisdom teeth this year, so she can partake in all the goodies, too.

After school snack: caramel corn from Husband’s Aunt Margaret in Alaska
After supper: We got busy and decorated cookies of our own, and of course sampled a few to be sure they were okay.
Bedtime snacks: a handful of said cookies, accompanied by hot cocoa (double chocolate flavor) from a student
Midnight snacks: Who knows? I was already asleep. But the plate of cookies a student gave me looked a little bare in places when I got up to make coffee this morning.
Breakfast: candy cane flavored coffee, toast with (student gift) marmalade, and a Florida White grapefruit from Husband’s cousin Mike in Tampa.
Midmorning snack while doing Christmas cards (late, I know): more candy cane coffee and a small cookie from the student platter
With lunch: cheese from the Usinger’s package Husband’s parents sent
Later in the afternoon: decaf coffee with a little Chocolate Amaretto in a snowman mug
Hmmm, dinner plans: Christmas cookies for dessert, maybe yet another flavor of coffee
Evening snacks? If we’re tired of sweets (not likely), we can break out the pretzels from the Usinger’s package and dip them in the gourmet mustard one of my students provided. Mmmm.

Who knows what goodies tomorrow will present (Pun intended, of course)? I must remind Santa to drop those special spices in my stocking for yet another way to continue the taste of Christmas.

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>Mug shots and Secret Santas

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>The Secret Santa Saga has ended. It was fun, as always. No Deer Droppings this year (that one is legend now), and no inflatable cows singing “Blooooo Christmas”, either, but we did have a good time. I had the name of a first grade teacher, and she came over to my room Friday to tell me how much she enjoyed the gifts and the “chase” to find them at times. Thanks to my Santa, my mug collection has grown, including the “Smart Mug” that was my final gift. I’ll probably use it when I’m driving the long roads early Saturday mornings on my way to judge music festivals. Each mug came with at least one flavored coffee, with a final inventory of: Candy Cane, Chocolate Amaretto, Gingerbread, Chestnuts by the Fire, Hot Butter Rum, and After Dinner Mint. (The pig/reindeer behind them is one of my favorite decorations, trying to edge its nose into the picture.) Upon delivery of the last gift, the identity of my Santa was revealed.

It was my boss, the school principal.

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>Random thoughts on Secret Santas

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>It’s Secret Santa time at my workplace, and we really, really get into it. We enlist the building maintenance engineer’s help in off-hours deliveries. We leave things in odd places. We get kids to deliver for us. We slip quietly past the door of the recipient, hanging the gift from the doorknob while he or she is teaching. Yesterday, I left a gift on top of the printer that I know my “giftee” uses. I found out when she had art class on and left her gift with the art teacher to be delivered when her class returned to their room.
The wildest and craziest gift delivery had to be the time my friend the music teacher had my name. She convinced the engineer to help her out. In fact, when all was done, I found a polaroid picture of him in his elf hat on my desk. I got in that morning to find a warning sign on my door: “Caution. Deer Droppings Ahead.” I opened the door cautiously to find — “droppings” in the form of chocolate covered raisins, carefully placed in little mounds on small sheets of paper all around the room. It took me half the morning, with students help, to get them picked up. Of course, I shared. It’s become part of building legend, much like the banana in the boa.
Our students enjoy this, too. Mine keep asking, “What did you get today? Do you know who has your name? Do you think you know? Do you have any clues?” I have too many suspects; that’s the problem! It could be anyone from the music teacher (she loves the same kinds of coffees I’ve been getting) to the police liaison officer (I caught the secretary delivering, and she’s not playing this year). So far my “Santa” has delivered (or had delivered) a different flavor of coffee each day with a pretty seasonal mug. Oh, except for the day the coffee was packaged with a cute cartoon titled “Java Junkie”. It looked suspiciously like me. Hmmm: maybe the art teacher? She doesn’t drink coffee, but the music teacher is her best friend and could certainly advise.
So far I’ve unwrapped Chestnuts by the Fire, Hot Butter Rum, and After Dinner Mint. Mmm!
And yes, I’ll take pictures of the new mugs to post when the week is over and my Santa is revealed.

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>Is there coffee in the house?

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>My favorite coffeehouse in our downtown is a family owned place. The décor is simple: original wood floors and tin ceiling, plain walls, and basic chairs and tables. There are two “window” seats, small tables-for-two that are actually up a step and in the full length windows at the front of the shop. These little alcoves also do double duty as stages for live performers. There is a cozy couch in one corner. They used to have an old church pew from a historical building nearby, and I kind of miss that. But every time I’m there I think about owning it.
If I owned the place, I would:
Keep the hardwood floors and tin ceiling. They’re beautiful, and completely in character with the neighborhood.
Paint the walls a different color. They have a few nice photographs and a few random art pieces hanging here and there, but I rarely take the time to look at them. The walls would need work. Maybe a neutral but warm color, with the art work on the walls grouped strategically to encourage viewing, would be the improvement the walls are crying for.
Clean it up more often. Maybe I’ve just been there on busy, busy nights, but I’ve noticed that the garbage bins on the way out the door are often overflowing. There are always at least two or three light bulbs burned out as well. Could this be a job for a teenager after school? A college student in exchange for free caffeine?
They have free wireless internet service, too. There is a tip jar at the counter asking for tips “to keep the wi-fi free”. I haven’t used their wi-fi yet, but my change always goes in the tip jar anyway. If I owned the place, I’d keep this service if at all possible. It would bring in at least a few regulars, creating word-of-mouth buzz for more customers.
They have a limited menu of sandwiches and breakfast goodies. I would keep this, too, while potentially sharing advertising with a local bakery. It could be a win-win for both of us.
It’s not in a location that encourages a drive-through, so that’s not a concern. Delivery maybe? There are enough workplaces in the general area to make deliveries worthwhile. Offices could fax or call in their orders ahead of time, and we could deliver for a small fee. This could expand our reach, create more exposure, and encourage those folks to stop in on their own time.
Smoking isn’t an issue, either, since our town passed a smoking ban in public places a while back. If we didn’t have the ban, I’d run a nonsmoking place anyway.
Reading over this, I realize that I really like the place. Most of what they’re doing is great. Did I mention their coffee is delicious, too? And since retirement is a long way off, I don’t plan on opening up my own spot for decades, if ever. It’s just a dream.

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