Why it's hard to figure out what to do next
Oh, we have plans to make plans. We continuously plan to make plans. We say that we are going to sit down together and make a plan. Write down a plan. Consider all of the choices, all of the wonderful possibilities open to us. We said that yesterday. We say it today.
But yesterday we first ate breakfast. I emptied and refilled the dishwasher for our hosts. It was a pretty day. We let the cats out. This still requires vigilance, as noted by yesterday's post. There was dog drama. This all takes time.
Shaw sat in on a physics class at the nearby high school. He is checking out a particular instructional technique that he would like to use with his students eventually. Yes, we still have hope that we will return to our school, and have students.
I went to the grocery store. I stopped at a used clothing store next door. Wow -- nice stuff -- and lots of great items on sale! Maybe I can continue to purchase 75% of my wardrobe used. Got three pairs of high end, hardly worn shoes that I could wear in some sort of work setting, plus some other clothes. Got a hurricane discount too!
Side note about feelings associated with using our victimhood to get breaks -- it's very weird. We know that people feel for us, that they want to do something nice. We know that we could play it up everywhere, but we don't want to do that, and we don't need to, either. We were happy to get a bit of a break on our cell phones. I was happy to get half off on the used shoes. But overall, I'm uncomfortable about it. I don't announce it everywhere. I don't need to go get free items from the Red Cross shelter. I don't want people to feel sorry for us. We are staying in a house with a hot tub, for goodness sake! We are so so very lucky. We think we still have our home. We hope that we still have our stuff.
That's another reason why it's hard to figure out what to do next. I cannot get my mind around paying rent, even temporarily, that would probably be more than our mortgage payment, to live in a miserable two bedroom apartment in suburbia somewhere. I cannot get my mind around thinking about having to furnish that apartment, having to buy all kinds of things that we already have! This is one of the mental blocks I will have to get over if our school does end up setting up some sort of satellite location in Houston, and we decide to become involved with that. It just goes against every part of my simple living/frugality philosophy.
So, after the grocery store, made cookies to split between our hosts and friends that we'd be visiting that night. Shaw split wood from the fallen tree. The boys came home; I helped with homework. Then we left for Tuscaloosa to see colleagues from school who are sheltering at a retreat center there. Stories from that meeting deserve an entirely separate post!
We had planned to discuss our plans on the ride to Tuscaloosa. Shaw was exhausted, however. He hadn't slept well the night before, but not due to the cats, for once! So he napped. I drove. Poor Shaw woke up three times in a panic because he thought he was driving and had fallen asleep at the wheel! That's never happened before. I think we have some mental strain that we aren't even conscious of. We feel so guilty to feel bad. We don't have stories or horrific experiences. We're just two displaced teachers living with good friends. So what if we have no idea what we are doing next? We could do anything, right?
On the way home, we start discussing what to do. We still hope to hear more from our school. We do feel a committment to them, and we are definite about wanting to go back to nola, at least for the short term, as soon as they will let us back in. We want to help rebuild our city. We can live without amenities, and we don't have kids who need a school, a stable environment, etc.
But when will we be allowed back? What do we do in the meantime? Substitute teach? Work at a nature center? Leave the cats here, and travel around the country to visit our generous coterie of family and friends? If so, what about gas shortages, gas prices? $25 limits at the pumps?
Do we volunteer? If so, where? Helping at the Red Cross shelters so far hasn't felt much like helping -- they seem so overrun by volunteers. Do I organize a service-learning program for kids in shelters so that they can help others? Do we finally finalize the science curriculum that we have been working on?
Right now, Shaw is back at the school sitting in on another physics class. We plan to discuss our plan when he gets home. But our host is outside right now chain sawing the tree. So Shaw will want to go help, to split more wood. I have a bunch of emails in my inbox to reply to. Then the kids will be home from school, we will visit with our friends, help around the house, and then we'll plan to plan tomorrow. Or maybe we'll plan today. We'll see.
But yesterday we first ate breakfast. I emptied and refilled the dishwasher for our hosts. It was a pretty day. We let the cats out. This still requires vigilance, as noted by yesterday's post. There was dog drama. This all takes time.
Shaw sat in on a physics class at the nearby high school. He is checking out a particular instructional technique that he would like to use with his students eventually. Yes, we still have hope that we will return to our school, and have students.
I went to the grocery store. I stopped at a used clothing store next door. Wow -- nice stuff -- and lots of great items on sale! Maybe I can continue to purchase 75% of my wardrobe used. Got three pairs of high end, hardly worn shoes that I could wear in some sort of work setting, plus some other clothes. Got a hurricane discount too!
Side note about feelings associated with using our victimhood to get breaks -- it's very weird. We know that people feel for us, that they want to do something nice. We know that we could play it up everywhere, but we don't want to do that, and we don't need to, either. We were happy to get a bit of a break on our cell phones. I was happy to get half off on the used shoes. But overall, I'm uncomfortable about it. I don't announce it everywhere. I don't need to go get free items from the Red Cross shelter. I don't want people to feel sorry for us. We are staying in a house with a hot tub, for goodness sake! We are so so very lucky. We think we still have our home. We hope that we still have our stuff.
That's another reason why it's hard to figure out what to do next. I cannot get my mind around paying rent, even temporarily, that would probably be more than our mortgage payment, to live in a miserable two bedroom apartment in suburbia somewhere. I cannot get my mind around thinking about having to furnish that apartment, having to buy all kinds of things that we already have! This is one of the mental blocks I will have to get over if our school does end up setting up some sort of satellite location in Houston, and we decide to become involved with that. It just goes against every part of my simple living/frugality philosophy.
So, after the grocery store, made cookies to split between our hosts and friends that we'd be visiting that night. Shaw split wood from the fallen tree. The boys came home; I helped with homework. Then we left for Tuscaloosa to see colleagues from school who are sheltering at a retreat center there. Stories from that meeting deserve an entirely separate post!
We had planned to discuss our plans on the ride to Tuscaloosa. Shaw was exhausted, however. He hadn't slept well the night before, but not due to the cats, for once! So he napped. I drove. Poor Shaw woke up three times in a panic because he thought he was driving and had fallen asleep at the wheel! That's never happened before. I think we have some mental strain that we aren't even conscious of. We feel so guilty to feel bad. We don't have stories or horrific experiences. We're just two displaced teachers living with good friends. So what if we have no idea what we are doing next? We could do anything, right?
On the way home, we start discussing what to do. We still hope to hear more from our school. We do feel a committment to them, and we are definite about wanting to go back to nola, at least for the short term, as soon as they will let us back in. We want to help rebuild our city. We can live without amenities, and we don't have kids who need a school, a stable environment, etc.
But when will we be allowed back? What do we do in the meantime? Substitute teach? Work at a nature center? Leave the cats here, and travel around the country to visit our generous coterie of family and friends? If so, what about gas shortages, gas prices? $25 limits at the pumps?
Do we volunteer? If so, where? Helping at the Red Cross shelters so far hasn't felt much like helping -- they seem so overrun by volunteers. Do I organize a service-learning program for kids in shelters so that they can help others? Do we finally finalize the science curriculum that we have been working on?
Right now, Shaw is back at the school sitting in on another physics class. We plan to discuss our plan when he gets home. But our host is outside right now chain sawing the tree. So Shaw will want to go help, to split more wood. I have a bunch of emails in my inbox to reply to. Then the kids will be home from school, we will visit with our friends, help around the house, and then we'll plan to plan tomorrow. Or maybe we'll plan today. We'll see.
posted by carla at 11:30 AM
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