My Saturday writing

This was an email I sent out to people who don't read me on a regular basis.

Dear all:

I spare most of you my writing these days, but the upcoming event on Monday is making me a bit reflective...big "55" birthday. I sort of had a "picture" when I turned 40 and 50, but I have no "picture" of what I thought about what 55 would look like, and I am sure I would not have had any of what my life is about in that picture if I had had one. But on some strange level, it all feels very right on my very different/unique "spectrum" of right to wrong.

Another marker event will be November 6 - I will be celebrating my first anniversary at my school in CT and close to my first month as Assistant to the Dean of Enrollment Management. (What happened to the Admissions Director?) My first 11 months at Ethel were in the Office of Institutional Advancement. (What happened to the Development Office?) That was a challenge based on my inability to "not share" when I have something on my mind. I keep thinking people want to hear my "tips for success"... My IA boss did not, but the Interim Dean of Enrollment Management heard enough about me to call me and ask if I would move across the street to work with her. It is a great match. She is up against it being both the Director of College Counseling (finally a good title) and Interim Dean of EM. Now I am on fire again - people who love my tips AND the prospect of being on the front line during the hiring process for the new D of EM! I worked like a dog from Sept 17 - Oct 13, but I got through finishing up work on one side of the street and working through the backlog my predecessor left my new side of the street.

Now I am back to enjoying what is finally a beautiful fall AND I am still in my flipflops for walking! The weather just does not make sense, but the fact that every season has been milder since I have moved back to New England makes global warming work for me - but it is also very high on my worry list. And you know I always like to keep a very full and active list of items on that list!

One thing that has fallen off that worry list of late is my son. He surprised me a couple of weeks ago but calling me from the next town over to tell me he was working in the area for a few days - a Production Assistant on a Court TV show or pilot (I never got the full story) - not exactly a Martin Scorsese production, but it is work. He seems to be happy and working through his life in a parallel universe from where I am, but it is his universe and he is making it work for him. Still has his very unique look (why is so much about his life and his mother's life = unique...? Rhetorical question only!). And, following another family disease, he is planning some extensive travel once his lease runs out on his current apt in Bushwick section of Brooklyn.

Over the last year, I have had great trips to NE beaches, Boston, and NYC. On one trip to the city, I walked from my arrival point of Grand Central to Brooklyn - going over the Brooklyn Bridge took my breath away! It really helped me put a visual label on all the neighborhoods from 50th and 5th/Rockefeller Center to City Hall/Ground Zero to where my sister lives in Brooklyn. In Boston, I took myself to lunch at No Name Restaurant (my last trip there was Fall, 1975) and ended up spending two hours over lunch with a man from Michigan who had just finished a 3 month hike of the West Virginia to Maine Appalachian Trail. His wife joined him for some, his son for some, but most was on his own. Great conversation over some incredible seafood right on the water in Boston!!! I was in heaven. I was very involved in politics for the Fall, 2006 local elections and plan on the same for 2008. I have a great book club at my local library (that is located in the same building that was the Elementary School when I was growing up...our book club room is exactly where my 2nd grade classroom was!!!). I have discovered the music department at The Hartt School of Music in Hartford for great free student recitals, the Hartford Public Library adult programs, and am involved in the CT Returned Peace Corps Volunteer group. I have also spent more time with family than I have over the last 35 years. My 87 and 85 yr old parents are still going strong, my brother and his family live just minutes away, sister #3 in Brooklyn, #4 in Westerly RI, and #5 in Pomfret CT. Sister #1 living in St Lucia. I had planned for a trip there for next week, but for various reasons never pushed the "submit" button on the ticket buying but I am very glad I did not make the trip because I would have hated to leave my new job at this point in time, but I have until 2009 to get it in while she is there.

I do need to start planning my vacation trips for this school year - I get 6 weeks vacation each year at school and it does not need to be taken during the summer, so I have lots of planning to do to use it all up. My only tangible goal is to go see Coach Rick Majerus coach in person - my current thinking is going to UMASS for their game with his St Louis Billikens. Majerus has been the fantasy love of my life since his UTAH team was playing in March Madness in San Antonio in 1994-95 or 95-96. Other than that I want to go see a North Carolina basketball player play with the Chicago Bulls somewhere - JamesOn Curry. I had gone to Texas A&M to watch him play the last two years when he was playing for Oklahoma State. As you can tell sports is the driving force behind lots of my travel plans. I am thinking I want to go to places I have not been before for my vacations this year, but it is hard not to plan a trip to NC and TX to see people I like - and miraculously still like me.

It is still a puzzlement to me why I do what I do - but I feel that I am a lucky girl on so many levels.

Well, I think that is enough for now. I hope you are all well.