"If You Could Take All The Love Without Giving Any Back, Would You Do It?"

What a hell of a week it's been. First and foremost, I got a pay raise at work. I now earn $30,000 a year, which is like adult money. That right there is really reason enough to celebrate, I think.

We had an Oklahoma-like storm Monday night. There was lightning, thunder, torrential rain, high winds, tornado warnings, and it was all over in half an hour. Exactly like Oklahoma. Michelle and I were going to go out for dinner that evening, but we decided to have a pizza delivered instead (I felt sorta bad for making the delivery guy go out in such shitty weather, so I tipped him pretty decent).

I had to drive the bus for the school basketball team on Wednesday. We went up to Gaithersburg in Maryland, which meant I got to drive through DC traffic in that damned bus again. I was still tense the next day. Thankfully, though, the students were very well-behaved for the whole thing, keeping very quiet so I could focus on driving and not killing us all. We didn't win the game, but it was a near thing, and the kids played pretty well. The only class that really happened Wednesday was first period, and even that was mostly just playing games and not doing much of anything.

Today wasn't much different, really. The students were ready to be done with school, and so were most of the teachers if the truth be told. We had a big breakfast in first period (a treat the students had been working towards for the better part of the quarter) and a guest speaker (the father of one of our substitute teachers, who happens to be a town manager. Since we're getting ready to discuss local government in that class, it was a great opportunity). The kids did exceptionally well during the speaker's presentation, asking relevant and insightful questions, raising their hands, listening attentively, and essentially behaving in such a way that you couldn't tell most of them usually have trouble sitting still and quiet for more than ten seconds at a shot.

I've basically got tomorrow off. I have to go in at some point and take care of a couple of things (narratives, a couple of grades, things like that) and get a haircut, but everything else on my agenda is related to the impending nuptuals (heck, even the haircut is really connected to that. If it weren't for the wedding, I'd probably just keep letting it grow). Things're gonna be crazy starting late tomorrow afternoon, but I think it'll all be worth it in the end.

I've got the apartment to myself tonight. Tim's staying at his folks' place for the next couple of nights in preparation for the wedding, and Wendy's off with Michelle and Meg having her bachelorette party (there was talk of "male" and "strip club" in their discussion of the evening, at which point I tuned out and started thinking about what I was going to have for dinner. For those of you who're curious, the answer was "pizza"). I did get a belated birthday gift from Michelle: the movie Orgazmo (which I love) and a hard-boiled detective novel called simply Pulp. Which are really just further evidence that Michelle rocks out hardcore.

I think it's probably safe to openly discuss it at this point, since she's told all the family now, but my mom's officially remarried to her beau, Kevin Simmons. They got married a couple of weeks back in Eureka Springs, AR. I'm very happy for the both of them, and hope that they are happy together. It was sorta strange thinking about my mom being married to someone other than my dad, but that's how it is.

Okay, Wen just called. I've been commanded to go get alcohol, for the girls are returning and are hankerin' for some booze. Off I go!

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Flaming Lips, "Mr. Ambulance Driver"