Green gods and goddesses
Day five. Last weekday off.
Since I know NCC is off now, I wondered if Dr. K was available to hang out and asked him last week. He was going out of town last weekend but said we should touch base once he got back. I texted him twice and didn't hear anything, so, okay, guess this isn't going to happen. Then yesterday he said he was free today or this weekend, so I asked if he wanted to do coffee or lunch. He's actually on a dietary restriction currently, so lunch was better, and we made plans to meet at the Panera by my house. (He moved to Kane County over the summer and is up Randall a bit, so it worked out for him too.)
I got a pick-two of a sandwich and salad, and he just got salad, though we both ended up with the Green Goddess one, which was interesting. Mine came first and he went, that's half a salad? It was a decent-sized bowl. His arrived right afterward and yep, his bowl was much bigger. At a different Panera, my half salad had come in a bowl about the size he had, so yeah, you get good portions. To wit, I couldn't finish mine, and thus began the quest to get to-go containers. A worker had passed by and picked up Dr. K's plate (he did finish his food), and I said, hey, can I get a to-go container? He said, sure! And we never saw him again. All he'd had to say is, yeah, they're basically right behind you (we sat near the fast pick-up counter), but it was a while before I'd discover that. Anyway, good news is that I was able to get containers, my food came home with me, and dinner was easy-peasy.
He'd said all he had going on today was research, and he showed up carrying this gigantic bag. When we were finishing up, he said he'd thought about just working there, but it was surprisingly loud and he thought it best to just go home. I had a feeling what he was researching, and he confirmed--it's for his tenure paper. I asked him what it was about, but *whoosh* (hand flies over head). However, I'd thought something since the summer; if he wanted another pair of eyes on it to help with editing or whatever, let me know; I'm willing to help. He immediately said, yeah, sure. It sounds like he wants to have it finished over the summer so he doesn't have to worry about it next year, so it's good to have a timeframe. He has some interviews to do for this as well, with one early next week and others coming at the annual music clinic downtown a little later this month.
I also got to mention the whole baton thing from earlier this fall. We were talking about conducting--and I mentioned how my conducting class got canceled on me back in the day, but it wasn't a requirement of me since I wasn't music ed--and I said, so, I noticed you reacting to the audience when they clapped between movements; why not keep your baton up? (I actually didn't phrase it this nicely, though.) His answer surprised me: Because it's tacky. Hmm, really. I actually thought that was common practice. Then again, I don't have my doctorate in conducting. Also, I found out he'd had T as a student! We were talking about some of the music performed by the other bands and choirs, and how during the Chamber Singers concert the director wasn't afraid to have the students sitting on the floor in the circle, playing water glasses, and with blue lighting to help set the mood. I went, T was one of the water glass soloists! He kind of paused and went, what's her name? I gave her full name and he went, yeah, she was in my elements of conducting (maybe?) class. (I'm not sure if that's the actual class title, but along those lines.) I was surprised since she's vocal music ed, and he said this likely wouldn't happen again; the instrumental and vocal conducting classes would be separate starting next year, I believe. He had positive things to say about her, which was nice to hear. He was all, wait, she's your relative?! I didn't think of it at the time, but I should have said, yeah, you've met her mom, grandma, and one of her sisters, silly. Oh, and I'd told him I would have mentioned the baton thing at Homecoming but I didn't see him then--because some of us have to go to the bathroom after the concert, and we sit up in the balcony, so it takes us a minute to get downstairs. (At the time, I'd waited and waited and waited and never saw him, and when I finally texted him he said he'd looked for me, didn't see me, and had left already.) He was all, sorry about that!
There was also the glitter discussion. I'd had a Christmas card for him last year but, long story short, it never got to him. I remembered that I'd dated it, so I made sure to hand it to him and explain the story behind it. He said he sends cards to all the marching band students, which I thought was sweet, and this year he'd gotten cards with glitter on them, not realizing what all that entails. I think he said he'd had to, like, deep-clean his house and do a special load of laundry. Heh! Yeah, I just went through that at work, and my young coworker was none too thrilled about the glitter being all over. She was vacuuming the chairs at one point, it bothered her so much.
We were there for about an hour fifteen minutes, and of course after I left I realized I never complained about work or asked him how his term had gone, since I knew it was really stressful for him. I guess in my case, out of sight, out of mind. :P Which is funny, because my very next stop was to pick up a birthday card for my young coworker, heh. And then I spotted the perfect card for our retired coworker, the one who became a room renter; both their birthdays are next week, a day apart. (By the nature of things, his card will be belated.) I then stopped off at Michael's to see what their lava beads looked like, and they did have a few different colors, plus this rose quartz bracelet I'd seen online which already has three lava beads on it. I opted not to buy it, though. From there, I did a task I've been meaning to do for ages--recycle fabric. There's a church by Cougars Stadium that has a dropbox, but rarely do I ever go that way; I made it a point today. The bag has been sitting behind my bedroom door for months. The time is now! I can actually open my door all the way now, ooh. I'd thought about running more errands but as the one involved going to the post office, and I'd have to drive by my house to get there, and I really had to go to the bathroom by that point (even though I'd used the restroom at Party City, where I got the cards), I just went home.
I walked to the post office about an hour later to get stamps for mom and me. So, note to the guy in front of me: I get that you're comfortable leaning up against the display, but the line has moved and I'm sure the people behind us would like to get out of the entryway and into the buying area. Could you kindly move up? Please and thank you. I mean, there had been 10 people (including me) in line and at the counter when I got there; when the line got down to two or three, he was still leaning against the display. Dude. Seriously. Do you have personal space issues? Does the lady in front of you smell? I mean, you smell of cigarette smoke but you don't see me 10 feet behind you; I'm leaving an appropriate amount of space between us that you would find in a standard line. Go join the others for the sake of the people behind you. Note that I did actually say something to him, when I realized there wasn't anyone in front of him (the display was such that I couldn't really see on the other side of him without purposely looking), and he did move. He sort of seemed like he was looking at the gift cards on the display across from him, so I wasn't sure if he was paying attention or zoned out or what. Yeah, it's that time of year. It's only going to get worse. That's why I sucked it up and just went--I nearly put it off. But the longer I wait, the fewer stamps there are to choose. And I got a few books for mom, so that made her happy.
Since I know NCC is off now, I wondered if Dr. K was available to hang out and asked him last week. He was going out of town last weekend but said we should touch base once he got back. I texted him twice and didn't hear anything, so, okay, guess this isn't going to happen. Then yesterday he said he was free today or this weekend, so I asked if he wanted to do coffee or lunch. He's actually on a dietary restriction currently, so lunch was better, and we made plans to meet at the Panera by my house. (He moved to Kane County over the summer and is up Randall a bit, so it worked out for him too.)
I got a pick-two of a sandwich and salad, and he just got salad, though we both ended up with the Green Goddess one, which was interesting. Mine came first and he went, that's half a salad? It was a decent-sized bowl. His arrived right afterward and yep, his bowl was much bigger. At a different Panera, my half salad had come in a bowl about the size he had, so yeah, you get good portions. To wit, I couldn't finish mine, and thus began the quest to get to-go containers. A worker had passed by and picked up Dr. K's plate (he did finish his food), and I said, hey, can I get a to-go container? He said, sure! And we never saw him again. All he'd had to say is, yeah, they're basically right behind you (we sat near the fast pick-up counter), but it was a while before I'd discover that. Anyway, good news is that I was able to get containers, my food came home with me, and dinner was easy-peasy.
He'd said all he had going on today was research, and he showed up carrying this gigantic bag. When we were finishing up, he said he'd thought about just working there, but it was surprisingly loud and he thought it best to just go home. I had a feeling what he was researching, and he confirmed--it's for his tenure paper. I asked him what it was about, but *whoosh* (hand flies over head). However, I'd thought something since the summer; if he wanted another pair of eyes on it to help with editing or whatever, let me know; I'm willing to help. He immediately said, yeah, sure. It sounds like he wants to have it finished over the summer so he doesn't have to worry about it next year, so it's good to have a timeframe. He has some interviews to do for this as well, with one early next week and others coming at the annual music clinic downtown a little later this month.
I also got to mention the whole baton thing from earlier this fall. We were talking about conducting--and I mentioned how my conducting class got canceled on me back in the day, but it wasn't a requirement of me since I wasn't music ed--and I said, so, I noticed you reacting to the audience when they clapped between movements; why not keep your baton up? (I actually didn't phrase it this nicely, though.) His answer surprised me: Because it's tacky. Hmm, really. I actually thought that was common practice. Then again, I don't have my doctorate in conducting. Also, I found out he'd had T as a student! We were talking about some of the music performed by the other bands and choirs, and how during the Chamber Singers concert the director wasn't afraid to have the students sitting on the floor in the circle, playing water glasses, and with blue lighting to help set the mood. I went, T was one of the water glass soloists! He kind of paused and went, what's her name? I gave her full name and he went, yeah, she was in my elements of conducting (maybe?) class. (I'm not sure if that's the actual class title, but along those lines.) I was surprised since she's vocal music ed, and he said this likely wouldn't happen again; the instrumental and vocal conducting classes would be separate starting next year, I believe. He had positive things to say about her, which was nice to hear. He was all, wait, she's your relative?! I didn't think of it at the time, but I should have said, yeah, you've met her mom, grandma, and one of her sisters, silly. Oh, and I'd told him I would have mentioned the baton thing at Homecoming but I didn't see him then--because some of us have to go to the bathroom after the concert, and we sit up in the balcony, so it takes us a minute to get downstairs. (At the time, I'd waited and waited and waited and never saw him, and when I finally texted him he said he'd looked for me, didn't see me, and had left already.) He was all, sorry about that!
There was also the glitter discussion. I'd had a Christmas card for him last year but, long story short, it never got to him. I remembered that I'd dated it, so I made sure to hand it to him and explain the story behind it. He said he sends cards to all the marching band students, which I thought was sweet, and this year he'd gotten cards with glitter on them, not realizing what all that entails. I think he said he'd had to, like, deep-clean his house and do a special load of laundry. Heh! Yeah, I just went through that at work, and my young coworker was none too thrilled about the glitter being all over. She was vacuuming the chairs at one point, it bothered her so much.
We were there for about an hour fifteen minutes, and of course after I left I realized I never complained about work or asked him how his term had gone, since I knew it was really stressful for him. I guess in my case, out of sight, out of mind. :P Which is funny, because my very next stop was to pick up a birthday card for my young coworker, heh. And then I spotted the perfect card for our retired coworker, the one who became a room renter; both their birthdays are next week, a day apart. (By the nature of things, his card will be belated.) I then stopped off at Michael's to see what their lava beads looked like, and they did have a few different colors, plus this rose quartz bracelet I'd seen online which already has three lava beads on it. I opted not to buy it, though. From there, I did a task I've been meaning to do for ages--recycle fabric. There's a church by Cougars Stadium that has a dropbox, but rarely do I ever go that way; I made it a point today. The bag has been sitting behind my bedroom door for months. The time is now! I can actually open my door all the way now, ooh. I'd thought about running more errands but as the one involved going to the post office, and I'd have to drive by my house to get there, and I really had to go to the bathroom by that point (even though I'd used the restroom at Party City, where I got the cards), I just went home.
I walked to the post office about an hour later to get stamps for mom and me. So, note to the guy in front of me: I get that you're comfortable leaning up against the display, but the line has moved and I'm sure the people behind us would like to get out of the entryway and into the buying area. Could you kindly move up? Please and thank you. I mean, there had been 10 people (including me) in line and at the counter when I got there; when the line got down to two or three, he was still leaning against the display. Dude. Seriously. Do you have personal space issues? Does the lady in front of you smell? I mean, you smell of cigarette smoke but you don't see me 10 feet behind you; I'm leaving an appropriate amount of space between us that you would find in a standard line. Go join the others for the sake of the people behind you. Note that I did actually say something to him, when I realized there wasn't anyone in front of him (the display was such that I couldn't really see on the other side of him without purposely looking), and he did move. He sort of seemed like he was looking at the gift cards on the display across from him, so I wasn't sure if he was paying attention or zoned out or what. Yeah, it's that time of year. It's only going to get worse. That's why I sucked it up and just went--I nearly put it off. But the longer I wait, the fewer stamps there are to choose. And I got a few books for mom, so that made her happy.