all that you smother is all that you are + what I'm going to be up to
My mom was very sweet the other night…a very happy drunk. It was the night of the last day of school for the students, and she was sad that she was never going to see this group of students again. They really weaseled their way into her heart. She said “all my chickens are leaving me. They’re flying the coop.” Then she called Tommy and me chickens…she said “I want to move to Arizona” and I said “why Arizona?” and she said “because it’s far away” and I said “why do you want to move far away?” and she said “because my chickens don’t love me anymore…Tommy never calls me and you don’t talk to me, and I tried to raise both of you right but neither of you are giving me any little chickens to love on…” Then back to "all my chickens are going on to the big bad world of 7th grade and leaving me ...that's not very nice is it? No I don't think it's very nice..." She must’ve said the word chicken 300 times.
It’s much better than being in fights all the time but I am starting to feel smothered. I will be 27 in December I am getting up there and I need to move out.
I am going to be spending a week in July with the ‘rents in Montreal, though. They know how much I loved that city and have wanted to go back, and I know we are going to have a good time. The plane tix are bought and now it’s just planning the rest of it.
I am also going to see my Grandfather in Pensacola fathers day weekend and at the very least I will 1)get caught up on sleep 2)hopefully hear cool old stories from Papoo and spend some QT with him 3) work on a jigsaw puzzle, that’s the new Pensacola tradition 4)go freshen up YiaYia’s grave (there’s a website for the cemetery…
http://www.stjohnshistoriccemetery.com and 5)come back with J’s Bakery stuff (my favorite bakery ever in Pens and Cola land or Penis Cola whatever you want to call it J ) It won’t involve going to the beach or seeing any friends over there, but when you don’t drive, what do you do? I won’t be there for very long anyways and time with Papoo is most important…
When I get back it’s Harry Potter time at the bookstore…I am dressing up as Dobby the House elf again like I did when book 6 came out. The elf who loves his freedom...:) My mom even commented when I told her about Dobby and how the house elves don’t all want to be free in Harry Potter because they’re used to the slavery and Dobby is a rare and spunky little house elf..she said “so you chose Dobby for a reason huh? You’re supposed to learn from him!” (I can’t get mom to read Harry Potter but she’s thinking about it…she’s sick of hearing about it from her students and me but she might give it a chance someday…)
Really it’s because a coworker suggested it and I said OK because I wanted to be a good sport. At first I thought “suuuuure, make the short chick dress up as the elf, up yours!” but now I really love and appreciate Dobby. I like that Joanne Rowling can put a deeper social commentary in the book - even if the House Elves aren’t main characters they are still flushed out and well rounded enough to truly get her point across. If you look closer you see all the details to show Dobby is quite a courageous guy who risked a lot for others and is one of the heroes of the Harry Potter universe. As a result he was given his freedom and when given that freedom he took it and ran with it and still continued to care for others. And I think the bitterness and crankiness of some of the house elves compared to Dobby’s spirit is quite an important point, considering that the family Dobby was freed from was about as nasty as they come. Quite a lot for the minor little elf character!
I am looking forward to book 7 coming out - not just to read it but to see the smiles on everyone’s happy faces as they anticipate the book, and then eventually, the day the book comes out enjoying the decorations and activities and the excitement as midnight approaches. And then finally, putting the book in everyone’s hands. I thought book 6 coming out was going to be a nightmare but we were well prepared and everyone had a wonderful time - the customers and the employees. So HOORAY.
You know I need to leave the bookstore, it’s just not where I need to be but for right now I have a lot to focus on and look forward to…Grandfather, Montreal, and Harry Potter …so I’ll just keep on looking ahead.