last day

Yesterday morning. Stormy skies.

Today was the last day of school at McCoy, where I am a crossing guard. I must admit that such an occasion fills me with nostalgia. When my girls were in school, last days were special. Traditionally, we spent them going to the library to sign up for summer reading club, and staying up till all hours of the night enjoying our freedom together.

     For me, those days are gone, but if you still have kids at home, let me just say to you: enjoy it. Do not ever wish to speed up the clock. The clock will toll soon enough. For now, open your arms and hug those miracles still abiding with you. I am not trying to be maudlin. In fact, I am trying not to be, as I recognize that all good things must come to an end. And my girls were good things. The best things, in fact. But alas, time moves on. We grow. We breathe. We shuffle along.

     To celebrate the last day, I went to a special place. Goodwill, of course. I snagged a schweet bag for Agnes, my camera for $1.99, and a Kate Spade bag (authentic, I think)

 for $1.99, a vintage tie, a block print for six bucks, and three bumpety avocado green drinking glasses, which I am drawn to for some unknown reason, for 99 cents each. Not bad.

     Also, I bought a bingo scratch-off, in honor of Kelly, as that is our tradition. I have not scratched it off yet, but if I send tomorrow's post from some distillery in Scotland, then you will know that I hit it big, and caught the red eye for the peat bogs where I long to roam one day.

     Next, I stopped at a nearby library, which has a much better DVD collection than my own town's library has, as well as several Great Courses offerings. I got  a BBC DVD, and the Great Courses CD: Natural Law and Human Nature Part One, which I plan to start tomorrow. Wish me luck.

     Ooh. Ooh, ooh. One more thing. I have been driving around for about nine months with a Best Buy ten buck GC in my purse. Today I stopped in. Here's what my GC got me:

                                   I'm lovin' it. Lovin' it, people.

     On a last, random note, I wanted to recommend two movies. One is Bernie, with Jack Black, currently showing in selected theaters. It is stellar. Jack and Shirley MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey are perfect in it, but the true stars of the show are the local citizens of Carthage, Texas who give candid interviews, woven throughout the film, on the events featured in the movie. A priceless and wildly entertaining film. Secondly, Mao's Last Dancer: a masterpiece. Stunning dancing. Intriguing story. Based on true events. See it, Buddy.