More apartment update

Apartment entry

Originally uploaded by dkzody

This is the entry of our San Francisco apartment. I added the rug, mirror, and hangers this weekend. I love the 3M hangers that don’t require a hole in the wall, which we cannot make any way. The walls are concrete and steel. No holes allowed. So far, I’ve only hung small pieces. Wonder how 3M will do with the bigger ones.

A quicker pace in better clothes

It’s Monday morning in San Francisco and the rhythm of the place is much different from the weekend days.  Not only is there more car traffic (I can’t run across Howard Ave on the red), but the foot traffic is different.  Our apartment building sits on the fringe of the financial district and among many tall office buildings where the city’s commerce takes place.

On Sundays, there might be a jogger or two, maybe someone walking their dog, but on Monday there are all the well dressed people heading for work.  I felt like a frump in my slacks, tshirt, and tennis shoes.  Although, I did put on my makeup before heading to Starbucks, so maybe I wasn’t too out of place.

I’ve really got to rethink my wardrobe to live here.  I’ve not bought clothes this winter, except for a pair of navy slacks, a black jacket, and a hat, this season.  Well, I guess I have bought a lot, but all of it with San Francisco in mind.  I want to see where I will work and what the dress code will be for the place and what kinds of duties I will have.  My current wardrobe is wash and wear because I have to crawl around on floors checking cables and plugs when I hear, “Mrs. Zody, the computer won’t work.”  It will do fine for weekends, but come Monday morning, I need to look spiffier.

On the road to San Francisco

On the road to San Francisco

Originally uploaded by dkzody

We made it back to San Francisco this weekend, our first time since the new semester. It’s been a month. Too much going on at home and, of course, Pepe being ill. We could not bear to leave him until he finally left us. Our grief has been immense.

Our trip yesterday was in a pouring rain across the Valley floor and over the Pacheco Pass. I know this road, so well travelled over the years, that has changed very little. One stretch, into Gilroy, is a two lane country road with dairies and truck farms scattered along the way. As you get closer to Gilroy, you can smell the garlic being processed at the big dehydrator just south of town.

A few miles before the Gilroy turnoff is this old red barn. I have travelled this road for 50 years and it has always been here. The road has been widened and it sits much closer now. Yesterday I tried to capture it as we drove past. I’m not good at taking pictures from the car. The day was rainy, gray, heavy clouds hanging in the sky. The red paint was a bright touch and I wanted to capture it.

By the time we opened the apartment door, and took in that amazing view, the storm clouds were rolling out and the sun was shining. It has been a lovely weekend and tomorrow we will turn towards home, and again pass that red barn that sits very close to the road. I hope the sun shines on us all the way home.

Deadline is today? Ok, now I’ll work.

Why do students only begin to work when the deadline arrives?  Yearbook had winter sports due today.  Cheer and wrestling got their pages done and I made the submission and burned the CDs.  That’s my part of the job–submission.  Soccer and basketball weren’t able to finish theirs until after I was ready to ship the other pages.  They got mad at me because  I wouldn’t hang around and work on their timetable.

Same thing happened in multimedia.  The students had a brochure PDF due to give me.  Many have been right on top of this assignment, giving me pages to print so they can see how they are doing and what color and font adjustments they need to make.  Others got around to working today and then couldn’t understand why they couldn’t find clip art to fit the pages. Then there are the students who never bring their flash drive to class and want me to give them more time.

Our principal always speaks at the Academy graduation and he will mention that fact that students learn from Mrs. Zody that a deadline is a deadline is a deadline.  Well, some of them learn that.

After 35 years, this is how we celebrate

I came home from school to find my husband still in his tie (while he was ironing shirts).

“You’re still dressed?”

“Yes, I thought we might go out to dinner.”

“No, I don’t think so.  I just want to take off my clothes, put on something soft and warm and comfortable and stay home,” says me.

“Ok, whatever you want,” says the wonderful man I married 35 years ago today.

We’ll have scrambled eggs and tortillas for dinner.

I am becoming my mother

As a small child, growing up with parents who survived the depression and came to California in the dustbowl era, I ate a lot of what would probably be called, depression-era food.  My mother was a very good cook but she didn’t believe in waste and she didn’t believe in fancy meals.  My dad, hailing from Oklahoma, liked potatoes, beans, bread, fried chicken.  We ate a lot of beans and cornbread to which I often turned up my nose.

My mother had a saying, “If you’re hungry enough, you’ll eat it; otherwise, you can do without.”

Although Terry and I are not in any financial straits, I have become very economy-minded since leasing the San Francisco apartment.  We are eating a lot of beans and cornbread.  If you’re hungry enough…

Address feng shui

Every wonder what your house numbers say about your life?  I found this piece to be something to ponder, especially since we have just added a new address to our life.

It’s been 10 years

In 1996 my daughter graduated from high school and went to another state to attend college.  I knew this was coming and that I would having a problem filling the void in my life.  So I volunteered to sponsor the class of 2000.

As a class sponsor, you get these kids when they are freshmen and usher them through their high school years, doing all the social things that are required, like homecoming, dances, and finally, graduation.  There is no extra pay, no budget, and just lots and lots of responsibility.  As you can guess, there is no line of people chomping at the bit to do this job.

For four years I rounded up kids to run for office, held meetings, built homecoming floats, planned dances, ordered t-shirts, and finally, in 2000, walked with them on the stage at graduation.  Whew, I was done.  I had lots of memories and a file cabinet full of minutes, receipts, and photo albums.

As I ‘m cleaning out file cabinets in planning my leave, I find all these Class of 2000 memorabilia and wonder what to do with it.  This is their 10 year reunion year, should they decide to have one.  One of my very best workers now works at Target and she often fills me in on what other class members are doing.  She wants to plan a reunion, and if anyone can pull it off, it’s this girl.  She worked every dance and planned baccalaureate.  She is an organizer at heart.

This morning I met her at work and handed over one of the big photo albums, the one of the 1999 prom that my kids put on.  Over 600 students attended, and it was a very big success.  My current students often looked at that album and wondered why the dances aren’t as good as back then.  Back then?  Seems like it was just last year.  I know that Desiree will take good care of the album and share it with others.  I told her that there are more pictures and whatnot at school and she is welcome to any of it.

I hope they have a reunion.  I would like to attend and see what they can do now that they are all grown up and don’t need Mrs. Zody to ramrod the whole thing.

Made my day

Just when you wonder what the heck you’re doing and what’s the point, something good comes along.  Today I was invited to our principal’s monthly luncheon that honors students who have been nominated by teachers for their good citizenship.  Each student then gets to name a teacher who has made a difference in their life.  Sometimes it’s the same teacher who made the nomination, but often it’s a totally different person.  And it can be any adult on campus.  I’ve seen cafeteria ladies and campus assistants at these luncheons.

I have nominated students who then nominated me and others who turned around and nominated another teacher.  It’s always a pleasure to go to these lunches and hear all the stories about students and adults, and even when I am not the invitee I enjoy seeing the delight in a student’s eyes when they come to thank me for nominating them.  Our principal enjoys this, too, because he has to deal with so many bad kids.  This gives him a different view of his school.

The student who nominated me is in my wonderful fifth period, made up of  the nicest kids.  They work so hard and are so pleasant.  The best class I have ever had in 21 years.  This is the letter Maria wrote:

I have nominated Mrs. Zody because she is kind and always seems so happy.  She does her job well and also makes sure we are keeping up with our other classes.  If we have a report to type, she will let us type it in her class.  She cares that her students are doing well and are always on task.  Mrs. Zody is special and I believe she makes a difference in our school.  If I knew who she was before, I would have liked to have more classes with her.

When the days are gloomy

I can always dream of this view from our apartment window when the days in the Valley get gloomy.  It will be another week before we get back there.

As I mentioned on another blog, you never tire of the view.