one small corner of the universe

I can’t even remember if I’ve mentioned that I’m taking two graduate courses this semester. It was all part of The Plan That Wasn’t To Be: I was going to be working in a school media center, which was going to limit my constant contact with kids, which was going to limit my exhaustion; I was going to be filled with second trimester energy; I was going to get these two time-consuming classes out of the way while I was pregnant, rather than try to take one in the spring once Chickie is here. The reality of the situation is this: I’m still in the classroom, teenagers are life-sucking organisms, and by the time I get home I want to eat and go to bed by 7; on Sundays when I should be working on class stuff, I am lying around in a big t-shirt and my underwear watching Magnum repeats and taped Ellen episodes; and now I’ve discovered that one of the required courses for my degree is being offered in the spring and won’t be offered again for two years, so I’ll be taking a class once the Chickie arrives after all. I should really be on campus at the library, but they require pants there. So I’m pretending to be productive; after all, if you saw someone sitting around with a laptop typing madly you’d assume she was doing something important…right?

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Tomorrow is September 11, as if any of you needed reminding. That’s why this post over at Life is Sweet, Baby struck such a chord. I’m not sure I’ll even watch TV tomorrow, and God, I shudder at the papers, the images that will once again be plastered all over the internet, the comments from drama-seeking colleagues and kids who are parroting their parents. Don’t get me wrong–my head isn’t in the sand–but is there someone out there who doesn’t remember? Is there someone who actually needs to see a real-time re-broadcast of news footage from 9/11 in order to be reminded of the horror? Is it just Lorem and me, or is someone trying to perpetuate a nation’s fears by “honoring” 9/11?

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I’d like to publicly harass my sister over at Torching Time, Talking Rhymes. She hasn’t posted since May 5. When I gave her a hard time a few months ago I was brutally reminded of my own lapsed blogging, but I’ve gotten better. Megan, just so we know, Summertiiime is almost over; Autumn begins in about two weeks. And we’ve all fully celebrated El Cinco de Mayo. Also, you are no longer at home with the slow computer, and certainly you have stories to tell from your first two weeks back on campus.

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Speaking of sisters, my middle sister is on her way to California where she will live and attend art school for the next two years. It’s still a little surreal for me, but every time she calls from another westward location it grows a little more concrete. I’m really proud of her–it takes a lot of cajones to pick up and move 2000 miles from home in pursuit of a dream. I think she should start her own blog. Hint hint. Hint.

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I know there hasn’t been much talk of pregnancy on this blog, but I thought I should at least let you know that things are moving along on the right track, with lots of emphasis on the “moving.” My abdomen seems to have a life of its own now; objects placed on or close to its surface will be challenged from within. I’ve reached the conclusion that I’m either carrying the Incredible Hulk or a descendent of Michael Flatley, Lord of the Dance.