[Bishop's Fantasy?]
This is MY story and I'm sticking to it!Breathing Room
2007-06-23
I'm where I still think of as home tonight. I've been here since yesterday morning and it's been exhausting, but fun. I got a bunch of errands run yesterday - returned my son's overdue library books, paid fines, and finally picked up his report card. I'm almost sorry I did that. It was a dismal mess. He clearly decided he didn't need to care sometime midway through the second semester because all of his grades plummeted. What a sad thing for him because it will mean placement in less challenging classes for the fall. That's going to be a very bad thing for both him and his teachers, but what can I do? He was told his grades were important and that the same rules that apply to everyone else apply to him. He has to do the busy work and get it turned in. I understand how boring and repetitious most of the classes are. I know his grades don't reflect his intelligence. I also know he'd do better in a less traditional classroom setting, but I'm not sure how to go about finding something like that. The administrators look at grades as say he doesn't deserve to be in specialized classes because he wouldn't perform the way they wanted him to. I can understand their viewpoint. I believe a person should have to earn their spot. Then again, those classes should be reserved for kids who are obviously intelligent, but aren't properly stimulated by traditional classrooms. I don't know what the answer is. It's too late to worry about it tonight.
Besides, I'm still reeling from the day I've had. I ended up staying up later than I wanted last night because of the kids and my own insomnia, so I was pretty tired when I dragged my butt out of bed this morning. Regardless, I had to get up because I'd made plans to have breakfast with a friend. I'm so glad I did. I dropped my son off with the person who's been mentoring him and then took my daughter with me to meet our friend. She's actually more Emily's friend, but that's OK. We ate at a local farmer's market/restaurant. It's a really neat place because it's a converted fire station. They still have the brass poles in place and the big garage doors, but the inside has been decorated really nice. They serve organic foods and all of the produce that gets sold around the place is also organically grown. I went to a lunch seminar there once that was very interesting. I've tended to be disdainful about the whole tree-hugger environmentalist stuff and realized, after attending that seminar, that I was being reactive and narrow-minded.
Anyway, our little party of three grew the longer we sat there. People would come in and recognize one or more of us in the group and the table quickly filled up. It was really good for me to be out and around people and, of course, my daughter was in her element with a captive audience. She must've spent half an hour going with one of the ladies taking turns at making up a story. It was fun to watch and she was truly delightful this morning instead of precocious, like she can be. After breakfast, we headed outside to browse the booths that were set up. I stopped at a jewelry table and bought a couple of pairs of earrings. The artist seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place her. We stopped at the table next to hers where I picked up a couple of necklaces and talked to that artist for awhile. On the way back through, I stopped at the first table again to see if she could make me a zipper pull for my purse (which has needed one for a couple of months). She noticed my tattoos and we had the best conversation. When I got back to Roxanne's house (where I'm staying), I told her about breakfast and she asked I'd run into the lady we saw a movie with a few months back.
This is kind of bizarre, but it's the way we operate when we do things. We went to see "One Night With The King" a few months ago when it was in the theater. It was a cold, rainy day and there weren't many people in the theater. I stopped in the bathroom after we got situated and when I came back, Roxanne was sitting a row ahead of where we'd been because there was a lady sitting all by herself. She'd struck up a conversation with her and we decided no one should have to go to a movie like that and sit alone. Because it was such a yucky day, Roxanne drove the woman to the bus stop or home - I can't remember which. Well, she's the same person I ended up talking to for so long this morning. I knew I'd seen her somewhere before. Our conversation was a blessing today.
Being back in Sioux City is comforting in its familiarity and in spending time with friends. It's a bit of a personal challenge as well. I ran into someone who works with the Bishop's wife today at Starbuck's. Since she's blissfully ignorant of what has transpired the past few months, she has no idea how painful it is when she brings up certain things. All she knows is that, for awhile, my husband and I spent a lot of time going out with the Bishop and his wife, so she brings them up in conversation. Today, that started me on a destructive line of thinking that was really hard to get past. I'm hurting so much right now and I don't want to know what's gone on for them - either good or bad. I want the best for them both. I really do. I just don't want to think it's easy for him to forget me and go back to life as he knew it. Especially when it's been hell on earth for me the past couple of months. I know that's childish, but it's the truth. I'm still hurting so very badly that there are days when I only get through by singing Christian songs all day long. If I stop to catch my breath, my breath catches instead and I end up sobbing. Today could've been one of those days if I'd let it, but we were going to see Mark Schultz tonight in concert and I couldn't be like that for the concert.
I'm glad I didn't stay in a funk! Roxanne seemed a bit stressed when we left for the concert, but something happened on the way up that could've ruined everything if she were any other kind of person. One of the small towns we drove through has a ridiculously low speed limit for a main thoroughfare and the town cop loves to sit behind a grain elevator just outside of town and catch people right before the speed limit goes back up. Well, he got Roxanne in his trap tonight. She was speeding, but it still seemed like a dirty trick. She took a deep breath and said a little apology prayer before he got to the window. She had her license and registration ready and he was kind enough to reduce the fine for her. When he came back to the window with her ticket, she mentioned that she'd never gotten a ticket before in her life, so she had him explain everything to her. He told her about the court date and that missing the court date would result in a bench warrant being issued. The conversation got a little silly after that. She asked if that meant she'd go to jail and he said yes. So, of course I had to ask if they strip search you when you're arrested. Everyone in the car was laughing by then and the officer turned several shades of red, but was a good sport in answering our crazy questions. He had to go back to his car to get an envelope and actually asked us if we had any more questions for him before he let us go. Maybe you had to be there, but it was just funny.
It set the tone for the rest of the trip. We were late getting on the road and a little stressed about getting there on time, but the concert was running late, too, so we had nothing to worry about. The concert was phenomenal. I love Mark Schultz's voice and the way he strings words together. So much so that I know just about all of his songs. Roxanne is the same way, so we knew when he skipped a verse in a couple of the songs he played tonight. I was there to worship and hear from God and I believe I did. Mostly what I was reminded of was the fact that God knows my name, knew me before I was born, and cares about me enough to listen. It was a worthwhile experience, despite the speeding ticket. I'll bet the officer has a good story to tell his buddies, too!
piper (2007-06-26)
sorry Spike blew his grades - remind him to remember the advice of my Jewish friends..." an education is the only thing nobody can take away from you"
Mary Mary Quite Contrary (2007-06-24)
glad you were able to get a little break and a little breathing room :)
Doe (2007-06-24)
It's so nice to have friends like that.
I remember when my "right arm" friend moved to Maryland. I was crushed! It was almost like going through a divorce or someone dying. When she's here or I'm there, it's like we were never apart. You can't find friendship like that everyday. I'm happy for you that you have Roxanne.
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