Jet-Setter

That is I. I am sitting at Gate F30 at the Philadelphia International Airport, wearing a Sport Jacket, and tapping away at the keys of a Computer. Everyone walking by is jealous of my obvious status and importance. They gaze at me longingly as they pass and sigh once they've gone by, knowing that now, having had this glimpse of my glory, they'll have to return to their own lives, which will pale in comparison.

Possibly. Although my coolness is probably somewhat reduced by the fact that right now I really, really have to use the bathroom.

Getting to the airport was really very stressful. I had to do a bunch of stuff at school before I could go (I'm not going to be there for the last three days of classes (by the way: I'm done teaching for the year!) or to administer the final exams, so I had to have everything laid out in excruciating detail), which bled over past the end of the school day, and I was almost out of gas, so I had to stop on the way home, and after I grabbed my bags and hit the road, I took the wrong highway in Albany for the airport, and lost probably 20 minutes there, and when I got back on the right track, I remembered that there was construction, and I managed to sniff my way to within very little distance of the airport (I was actually proud of how close I got, quickly, without the benefit of signs indicating the airport, and of the fact that I just plain KNEW I was near it, despite not really knowing the city). It was 5:14 PM, and my flight was at 6:05. All seemed lost!...

But then I safely, though illegally, crossed over to a clothing store, stopped a woman on her way out and asked her how to get to the airport, and she showed me a shortcut. The whole stop took 100 seconds, tops. And the shortcut was made shorter still by my (safely) disobeying two traffic signals. And I still parked in the economy lot, and made it to the gate in time to check my bags and write Janneke an email. I am a Jet Setter indeed. Flouting the traffic law! Urging the shuttle driver on to greater and greater speeds! Sport jacket tails flaring out behind me like the contrails behind an F-16...!

And just wait 'til I arrive in Cincinnati, and there's a guy holding a sign for me. How cool will I be THEN!

'Course, it won't say my name. It will say "AP READER", which I am. I'm going to Cinci to spend a week grading the AP exam. It's a paid gig, which my school has allowed me to do to raise my prestige and skill level as an AP teacher. Never mind that I get great results for my AP students by basically ignoring the test until about a month before they take it. Or that I don't believe in the whole AP racket. I know the test, and I'll be a great grader. And we'll be that much closer to financing our Puerto Rico adventure.

The shape of which is kind of changing on us. The more we think about it, the more we feel like 6th grade is a particularly pivotal year for Q to be missing. There's the 6th-grade musical, there's the year of being the Big Kid in Town before transferring up to the high school building, there's the "Travel" soccer team that he and his pals are probably going to join...So we're thinking that we'll do two serious summers in Puerto Rico, with camps for the kids and lots of interactions with people, for two, three months at a time. And possible return journeys during the year. We want to get them immersed, but a full year away is starting to seem like a lot. Besides, it will be easy-peasy to rent out the house for the summer. Not so much for the year, probably.

T lost her front tooth in school the other day! Oh, yeah - I told you that already. Between that and her bike riding (which, weather permitting, she does every night now), this kid is positively transformed of late. She's independent as heck - something happened the other day at her after-school day care as I was picking her up that I just loved. She's not real big, as you know. And there's another girl there who's probably seven inches taller, though they're in the same grade, and who is a little bratty and pushy. T was showing her a little toy tea pot, which she had just figured out - it has a cup that also serves as a lid. She offered me tea, and when I said yes, she lifted the fup out of its hole and wa-lah!, she was ready to serve. She was excited, and walked over to show this discover to the aforementioned girl. Who started grabbing at the tea pot halfway through T's demonstration. But she didn't get angry, didn't panic, didn't give in, didn't get offended - She just calmly moved the teapot out of her grasp before she could get hold of it, continued with her description and demonstration, and when she was done, the girl said "Cool!" And T calmly, smilingly handed her the teapot and came back over to me. No need to be a victim, or the boss - she just defused the situation and moved on. She is one together little lass.

Man, OK, I reeeeally have to use the bathroom. The Chinese food and two macaroons I had for supper just went right through me, I guess. It's been great, but we jet-setters have a lot on our plates. I'll catch you on the flip side.

(That's jet-set slang for "good bye". Dig?)