Call Me Pollyanna If You'd Like...

So... it's been ten days! I'm sorry for the posting hiatus, but it was for a very good cause, or, several good causes.

Last week started with me having a colonoscopy (everything is fine, I guess now I can firmly say that I have IBS) on Monday (thankfully I didn't have class that day), then, I pulled two all-nighters (or almost), going to bed at 5 am on Tuesday morning and 3:50 on Wednesday, to mail an application for a fellowship on the last day it could be postmarked. I'll write about that soon, perhaps even today... Then... we went to Massachusetts this weekend for a wedding (and also a visit to my in-laws, who baby-sat for the very first time EVER -- discounting the two days my MIL looked after Kelvin when he was 9 months old and I skied for the first and last time in my life, back in 2002 -- I know, I have to go skiing again!!). The wedding was lovely! At this amazing location... and although it was tough to drive there and back, we did it very smoothly in a bit over 5 hours each way (Friday night, Sunday night).

OK... and what about that silly title there? [DIGRESSION AHEAD] Well, first of all, if you're a longtime reader you may remember that I can't stand references to Pollyanna, and being "Pollyannish" because nobody (OK, maybe one person in over 100) who says this has actually read the two original Eleanor Porter books... as a fan since childhood, I hate it how these lovely and extremely popular early 20th century novels have become synonymous with stupid, misjudged optimism.

Anyway... what I really want to write about is the fact that now that I'm getting used to the routine, and getting better and more confident at what I'm doing as a K-2 teacher, I feel pretty happy about it. I don't ever stop and think negative thoughts like: "Oh, what am I doing here? I have a Ph.D., how come I'm stuck in this time and energy consuming job?" I don't even think about it idealistically in terms of "making a difference in these young people's lives" as one of my lovely readers put it (sorry, can't remember who), I just feel happy to be busy and productive. Working feels good. I might change my mind a bit if they don't get to pay me what they said they would (I was very depressed for a couple of days last week about this -- I still don't know exactly how that's going to play out, I'll keep you posted), but otherwise I'm delighted to be back at work!

This situation I'm in right now reminds me of how I felt about doing house cleaning in our first two years here in the U.S. I never felt bad that I had a college degree from a prestigious university in Brazil and could speak English fluently and without an accent and was doing that kind of work (I could not work otherwise with the Visa I had). I saw it instead as a unique and unmatched cultural opportunity to have an inside view of the "inner workings" of several "typically American" households. Of course I do have some bad memories of those times, particularly putting fliers on people's doors (over a thousand -- we lived in a "bad area" for this), answering the phone and setting up interviews and I felt humiliated a few times, but, overall, it was an extremely enriching cultural experience! Some of my memories of those times:

... Judy, my first client, the divorced woman with the messy house (many birds, two cats, a big dog) and the two red-headed daughters who sometimes came to visit. I loved to pet the orange cats and I was very sad when one of them was struck by a car and died. The other was broken-hearted. I loved to look at her photos in the basement (she'd even been to Brazil in the late 80s!). [30]

... Mrs. Rodman, the prim and proper retired Jewish lady whose house was spotless and who insisted that I clean her kitchen vinyl floor on all fours with only water and ammonia. She and her husband had their own rooms. And it was the first time that I learned about the existence of "dens." [30]

... The other retired and widowed teacher (I forget her name!) whose recently divorced daughter and two grandchildren lived in her large house. I'll never forget cleaning the living room while the morning shows like Jerry Springer, Geraldo, and others were on in the background -- talk about a cultural experience! And also, the dining room table, chock-full of mail and junk mail. [50]

... The messy studio of Jim, an episcopal priest, a friend of Judy's, an older British guy who used to have oatmeal in the morning (I'd see it in the sink). I had to watch for coins everywhere when I vacuumed. [20]

And later in Western MA, the two nice sisters I worked for:

... Deborah, whose husband had had a stroke and had to sleep in the ground floor and use special equipment in the bathroom. She also had three dogs, one of whom was really old and almost blind and crippled. The house was very large (good think she had an Oreck vacuum) and I dog sat for three weeks once (right when I started being a T.A. -- it was crazy!) and made almost 1K (she was very happy -- the lame dog was much better than when she'd stayed at a kennel earlier). [60 or 70, can't remember]

... Regina and her husband Dan. They paid me 12 an hour (4h/week), the same they paid the "college girls" who came to help them in their lovely home business of making marbled paper. I did the most diverse things: cleaned a whole bedroom, closet and all, after their youngest son went to college. Used packaging tape (cheaper than those rolls used for these purposes) to clean their huge fluffy sofa that got covered with hair from an ailing cat (who later died). Organized the linen closet -- I sneezed a lot, but that was great fun! [old readers will know that I dig linen closets ;-)], and also, several times, cleaning their fridge (lots of double or triple things, such as mayonnaise, were found... lots of spoiled food).

I don't even think it's ironic or sad that the hourly wage is the same in this old job (1997) and my new one (with some rounding up every day)... I just hope it's not less than that... since I do need to help pay the mortgage, and I also want to be paid a fairly reasonable amount.

so, there you go... several of my readers have remarked in the past that I'm a happy blogger and I am. I do have an optimistic take on life and I hope I can remain that way for years to come. You can even call my Pollyanna.* ;-)

* Although that may sound funny because that happens to be my SIL's name.