Boise, Idaho

Happy Anniversary to us!

Rich and I celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary today.

We have kidded one another for years by saying that all that time was, “Day In and Day Out.”

It’s one thing to say we’ve been married for 38 years, bit it’s another thing to say that those 38 years were really 13,870 days.

Wait, counting leap years, it was really 13,880 days–Day In and Day Out!

That’s a really long time!

And that Day In and Day Out saying has taken on a new meaning during this last year of living in Homer’s 200+ square feet. 🙂

How are we celebrating our anniversary?

We’re moving into our new home. And that’s appropriate because HOME is very important to us both.

Here is one of my favorite songs. Favorite because it tells the story of how I feel around Rich: like I’m celebrating coming home.

Love you, Hon’…

Boise, Idaho

I have a hard time telling right from left. Always have, always will.

My family knows, and they are always suspect of anything I tell them that involves directions.

But strangers don’t know that I’m directionally dyslexic.

So the other day while riding my bicycle along the Greenbelt they had no idea that when I told them, “On your RIGHT,” to kindly let them know that I was coming up behind them and was going to pass that I REALLY meant, “On your LEFT.”

I could not figure out why people kept stepping into my path. Nor could I figure out why I was getting dirty looks.

Finally after I about ran over the fourth person, I stopped at held up my hands to figure out which side the “L” was on.

Lo and behold, I had right and left backwards yet again…

Boise, Idaho

I stopped at this Fast Eddy’s (a c-store, gas station, + car wash) to get a Diet Pepsi after pickleball yesterday.

(Nothing tastes as good as an ice cold DP after PB. 🙂 )

I haven’t been to this particular convenience store in a long time, and I was shocked to see tip jars at each of the cashiers’ stations.

I get tipping for services, but after seeing the tip jars at a convenience store I must admit that I’m confused.

I’ve tipped at restaurants, fast food places, hair salons, etc… And I’m a frequent and decent tipper.

But I’ve never tipped someone just for holding up my Diet Pepsi to a bar code scanner, telling me what I owe, and taking my money.

I just don’t think of that as a service.

Maybe I would if the cashier sang a song, did a little tap dancing, or perhaps wielded my Diet Pepsi with the flair of an Ichiban chef…

But, wait, maybe clerking is a service now that there are self-checkout options at many stores.

I’m a fan of self-checkout because it usually saves me time, but, if that’s leading to clerks asking for tips, I’ll quit self-checkout immediately.

Boise, Idaho

The other day I was visiting with our daughter, Melissa. She’s a second grade teacher, a very good second grade teacher in my humble opinion. 🙂

Melissa was talking about how she and her fellow second grade teachers level the children for reading and math into four different groups.

I asked her what the benefits of leveling are. She explained in highly technical teacher terms that the children learn more.

And then she went on to say that the children are also VERY comfortable when they are with others in their own level. I asked her to share an example of that comfortableness.

I was skeptical because I remember in second grade that there being only two levels of reading groups: Robins and Bluebirds.

Everyone KNEW that robins weren’t as pretty or as good as bluebirds, so it was better to be in the bluebird group. Being a robin was frowned upon, especially by the nuns. They virtually sang the bluebird’s name and spat out the robin’s name as they called us to our groups.

But apparently things are different now. There’s no judging based on leveling; it just is what it is…

And the amazing thing is how comfortable Melissa’s students are in their leveled groups.

They toot in front of one another. Yep, toot… And they they all giggle together about it. No judgments.

And it doesn’t matter which group they are in. A student can be in the higher math group and the lower reading group. As long as the students are in their OWN group, tootings are allowed and accepted.

But they don’t freely toot when they are in their own homeroom even though they spend more time with their homeroom classmates.

I just find that fascinating.

They are most comfortable within a certain level with their true peers, but they hold back when with a non-leveled group.

Made me start wondering what levels I’m most comfortable with in various areas of my life. Like in pickleball, I’m most comfortable with lower-level advanced players. But I’m not sure I’m comfortable enough to toot while playing…

Well, at least not intentionally.  🙂