The Querulous Day

You know how sometimes you plan something that you think is going to be awesome and it ends up setting an entirely different tone for the day? That happened today. I made up a "Word of the Day" list back in January. Today's word of the day happened to be "querulous", meaning argumentative, whiny, complaining, fretful. (See: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/querulous) I don't know if this being the word of the day today was a crazy coincidence, but the entire day was full of argument, unrest, and whining children of all ages. By 11:00, I was ready to head home. I was exhausted mentally. I can only be called a racist so many times before I'm ready to cry. I can only tolerate so much obscenity before I want to scream back. I can only handle so much anger, hate, and distrust before I want to go back home and start the day over again. Today I wanted to do all three. It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. (I think Judith Viorst is awesome for writing that book.) Some days I really love my job. Today was not one of them. My querulous students came and left, only to leave me facing querulous co-workers. I am ready to head back tomorrow and start fresh. THAT'S what I love about my job. Each day is a fresh, new start. Everyone who works there thinks that way, including the kids. It's a comforting idea.

My unceasingly-thoughtful spouse took Addison to the park after dinner so that I could get some Wii Fit time in. I managed about 30 minutes of exercise and felt much more relaxed. I also made a cinnamon crumb cake that we will be sharing with Patrick when he joins us tomorrow for dinner.

Here's to the end of another Monday. May Tuesday be far more productive and pleasant for us all.

BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to me! I don't feel old. Today I had several people ask me if I was 26, and one person even asked if I was 24. Those failed guesses were music to my ears and calming to my soul. I love life and and cannot believe how far I've come in these 28 years. It's pretty awesome what I've accomplished so far.

Recent Addison-isms:
1. (At dinner) "Hey, Daddy! Wanna see my BUTT?!" (as she gets out of her chair and pulls down her pants to show off her little booty.
2. "Mommy, did you learn you students at school today?" "I taught my students things today, yes." "Ok, but did you LEARN them something today?"
3. "Oh, my, Mommy! That's very clever!"
4. "Mommy, are you ready for your birthday surprise? (whispering) I got you a special Candyland game! We can BOTH go to Queen Frostine today!"
5. "Look at my sticker! Ms. Becky gave it to me because I was SO sweet today!"
6. "Look! I just got 45 on the Wii Penguin game!" Me: "WOW. Didn't know you could read the number 45, Addison!"

Last but not least, Addison drew me a birthday card that I will photograph later when my batteries are re-charged. She drew a spider in it's web (ironic choice for her arachnophobic mother, right?!) that was amazingly realistic for a three year old. Later she drew a cat, complete with whiskers! The card, like my cake, said "Happy Birthday Princess Mommy" and was covered in layers of pink marker and pink princess stickers. (The cake had pink balloons on it, too.)

I had a great birthday. No complaints. Robert cooked me a great dinner, we had yummy red velvet cake, and we even found time to play Wii, which has been a rarity lately. Very good day. Happy girl am I. I'll be even happier when I try out my new rain boots on Friday.