Summer 2010 - can kiss it!

Where have I been and what happened to summer?

My summer started out with a bang with the previously blogged performances with long lost friends and locals I don’t see nearly often enough. Then August came and there were no blogs of summer adventure, no tales of travel, no pictures of me in exotic places. Oh there were plans for summer 2010, yes, there were plans. So, what happened? Well the universe intervened. First up, the a/c in the car went out. Not a big deal unless you live in South Georgia and your summer plan includes travel in a said car. So, I put my beloved Mrs. Ticklefeather in the shop and $804.00 later, I can store meat in my car. The $804.00 put quite a kink in my travels. Now I couldn’t afford my plane ticket to Colorado or even hotels and gas to drive to New York even though once I got there lodging would be gratis. I accepted my fate and decided to stay close to home. I had just endured the expense of a move and a summer to unpack closets and organize a house wouldn’t be too bad right? Ah, the universe is not done with me yet. I jumped in my car to meet Julian – the newest addition to the family of very close friends. He was adorable – worth the trip and it meant too, that I could stop at IKEA and Trader Joes on the way home. The topper of the trip was to see the Braves in action against Milwaukee. Car packed and headed toward the stadium, the clouds open up and drop much needed rain on the city of Atlanta. Hmmm, no baseball. Spirit dampened, but not broken, I head the car towards home and decide to shop along the way or pull over and hike at a state park. Safely out of the Atlanta traffic, I stop for gas. Ready to hit the road I turn the key and hear the sickening sound of a car that is not going to start. I grab my jumper cables and immediately – in true Southern hospitality – several people offer a jump. I accept one offer and the car starts right away. I drive away trying to keep my spirit of adventure, but with the thought of stopping is the nagging feeling that if I do – the car won’t start. So…I head toward home and don’t stop the whole way. I get home, tired and annoyed, but hoping to salvage the summer in some way. The next morning I drive to the battery store and get the battery tested. Yup – it’s a dud. I buy a new battery - $100. Okay – new a/c, new battery, car is ready for the rest of summer even if all I do is drive to the park to run. I have a nice dinner, bemoan my summer for a few minutes and don’t give it another thought. I arise the next morning to face whatever adventures I may find and I see that my car has a flat tire. I finish my coffee and gird my loins and set out to put on the spare. An hour later I have the tire off – thanks to some final internet advice to just kick the tire – uhm – ok. I am skeptical but it works and the getting the spare on takes no time at all. It is still early and not a hot day by Savannah standards so I load the flat tire in the car and head to the tire store with the plan to run home and await the call that the car is fixed. I get to tire store and am apparently the billionth person in line waiting to leave my car. An hour later my paper work is complete and I am set to run. Of course NOW it is 11:30 and officially hot. I decide to ignore this and run home anyway. 50 minutes later I am home, hotter than I thought possible and then the call comes from the tire store. There is hole in the sidewall of my tire – I need a new one. Another $100 down the drain. Definitely the universe is telling me to stick close to home. FINE. I accept my fate begrudgingly. Now $1000 out of pocket I am too poor to even enjoy the city. I decide that I will just run every day and make the best of it. The summer whiles away and I get emails and pictures from friends who are traveling the globe and having untold adventures. Hmmpff. Now I am feeling sorry for myself. I stress eat and undo the good the running was doing. Now I am back where I started at the beginning of summer – showing no signs of all the physical work I did the past few months. I decide to get back to the running –more rigorous this time. I am doing well. I clock further and faster times every day. I am getting ready to start the new school year. The only thing left to do is go to the dentist. I have my cleaning and am told I am an excellent flosser – I beam with pride. My gums are in excellent condition, very little receding for my age, hmm, I guess that is a compliment. I am thinking I am going to get off scot free at the dentist. Then the dentist asks if I grind my teeth. I say, no. You look athletic (nice) do you lift weights – some small weights - not serious lifting. (now I wondering what the questions are for). The dentist then says “hmmm, interesting.” I think “interesting?” really, this is about the most boring conversation ever. Then he says well – it could be the age of these fillings, but you have severe cracks in your molars. I think okay, what does that mean? Before I can ask – he informs me that he recommends capping them. This is the best option. If I wait for them to break it would mean root canals or worse, pulling the teeth and then needing false teeth? ACKK! I have good teeth! I am a good flosser! These fillings all came when I got my braces off and had 8 cavities. I haven’t had one since and that was way back in high school. I take a deep breath. I pay for my cleaning. I get the print out of the estimate for the 8 crowns he wants to do – 10 if you count in the two that aren’t necessary, but cosmetic – to replace crowns from a fall I took as a pre-teen and busted my front teeth. So now I sit working on syllabi, preparing for school to start again. I have a summer vacation of car repairs and now I face a school year, with no dental insurance, wondering how I am going come up with $10,000.00 for dental work. Let this be a lesson to all of you who are jealous of teachers for having summers off. Am I better off for having had 6 weeks off? I can’t wait to get off this crazy roller coaster summer of 2010!!!! Bring on the exhaustion and overwork of the school year…at least I know how to handle that. And universe – GO PICK ON SOMEONE ELSE!