The first full week of school, that is. And while I’m feeling pretty worn out, it’s good. My voice usually takes the brunt of the fatigue, what with singing with shy fifth graders and making demo recordings of various songs for cast members to rehearse at home (most of which are way out of my comfortable vocal range, oy). But thumbs up; we made it through, and I’m excited for the choirs and shows this year.

I think.

One of the highlights of my week was going to the Browns/Bears game on Thursday night. What fun! We met up with friends from the Cleveland area who are season ticket holders, and we had a fantastic evening. The weather was perfect: mid-60s, no clouds, and a soft breeze off Lake Erie. Perfect night for football, and of course, stadium hot dogs. (Candid mouth-stuffed photo here.) First Energy Stadium in Cleveland has undergone quite the facelift recently, after being built in 1999 to encourage a heartbroken fan base that had just endured one of the cruelest sucker punches ever pulled. Whether or not Art Modell had legitimate reasons for doing what he did mattered little then, and is inconsequential now. The fact remains: the Browns haven’t been the same since.

Our view from the upper deck of the Dawg Pound

But back to the stadium renovations. They are spectacular! If you click the “facelift” link in the previous paragraph, you’ll find a graphic that allows you to use your mouse to compare the views before and after the project. I must say, the design is impressive. Our seat location allowed us a great view of all these improvements, as well as the fixes to come. It’s exciting to watch; I just hope the team rises to the occasion.

As darkness fell, the crowd had relaxed considerably, and it was easy to carry on a conversation.

Preseason games are, of course, not well attended. But that was fine with us, as regular season games are pandemonium. During the 10-minute dashes to and from the parking lot, our friends shared their wonder at not feeling like a moving tin of sardines on the sidewalks. Emily kept holding her arms out to her sides as she walked, marveling at the amount of “personal space” she had on the concrete.

Winning didn’t hurt anything, either. (Props to the Thriller, who was likely one of 14.5 Bears fans in the entire stadium.)

And here we are, finally arriving at Saturday morning. We all survived, and I was fine yesterday, despite the three hours of sleep the night before. I’m taking my time, sipping coffee and enjoying 15 open browser tabs of Gothamist articles. Later this afternoon, it’s grocery shopping, cleaning bathrooms and folding laundry. I need this kind of day, because as you know, after Labor Day, yeah…

Happy weekend, fiends!

Have a good time, ’cause it’s all right. (Whooooa yes, my pathetic life is song lyrics.)

It’s all good today. It’s fine that I pulled an all-nighter on Friday night (we had an upset 5-year-old, having a terrible time with growing pains — aching arms and legs), and that Saturday was a mix of getting work done, resting up, and general craziness.

A definite “lowlight” was Pax getting attacked by two pit bull mixes at the dog park yesterday, completely unprovoked. He got a nice little chunk removed from above his eye, and his rear legs are extremely stiff. He now drags himself up off the floor like a seal or walrus in order to walk. We called the vet at 8:00 last night, and she suggested straight Benedryl to relax him until she can work him in this afternoon for a checkup and x-ray. And the hits just keep on comin’…

Before the attack (the offenders are on leashes in the background)

The park owner, who is wonderful and attentive to all visiting dogs, was mortified and apologetic, as the two attackers are his personal pets. He offered to pay the vet bill, and told us that these two particular dogs would be taken inside whenever we’re at the park — exactly the right things to say, and what we were hoping to hear (of course, we wouldn’t stick him with the bill). We felt bad for him. He usually keeps the two pits on leashes when dogs come into the park, until he’s certain that everything is peaceful. We all thought that was the case yesterday, until *bam* — out of nowhere, they went for Pax, who was minding his own business with the other four dogs. The owner and the Thriller immediately jumped into the fray to free him, but not until Pax had been jumped on several times, and bitten who knows how many. He was covered in dirt and saliva, so we bathed him as soon as we got home, looking for any hidden wounds.

Skinny McScrawny

He was already in bad shape when we got him into the car, as he couldn’t make the jump into the back seat, and had to be lifted. And while all this sounds terribly serious, which it surely is, we think he just got janked around, and he’s a middle-aged, underweight dog with joint problems. He’s going to be sore for a while, and he’s back to being quiet and clingy. But that’s OK — we will overcome, and he will heal, and all will be well. But sheesh — in your new home for a week, and you get mugged by thugs. Poor guy!

OK, enough drama for one weekend. I’m off to the school house for my first full five days. Goodbye, voice!

FO

In the hours before I take off for the official first day of school, I am inundated with news that smacks suspiciously of an earlier time. Chaos in the streets, racial unrest, senseless violence, looting, hatred.

After reading the umpteenth article about the violence in Missouri, and the jagged separation between the two factions, I thought to myself, This country has got to get it together. Ah, a segue…

As cliché as it sounds, if we want to fix this thing for the future, we really do need to start right where we are. I resolve this day to be an example of tolerance and peace to my students, and everyone else, for that matter. To bend a little with my opinions. To not be so rigid in my thoughts. To never bathe in schadenfreude. To listen without simply thinking about what I’m going to say next.

Fiends, the revolution’s here. I think we need to strive to make it a positive alternative.

Happy day to you all — I’m off to the schoolhouse to meet 230 of my closest friends.

Evvvverybody back to school, yay! Well, not everyone, but definitely me and all the rest of the teachers and staff for the next two days. Funny how some schools have been in session for two weeks already, and others don’t start until after Labor Day. I like individual districts being in control like that. (Now if only we could do it with regard to curriculum and assessments…but that’s a rant for another day.)

It’s been a weird summer. Longer because of more time at home, due to a super-short Odyssey this time around, but shorter because there was a lot to accomplish, and as usual, I didn’t get 75% of it done. We had a serious discussion about the fence/no fence issue, which was brought into sharper focus last night after our neighbor’s 90-lb. Golden Retriever mix broke loose and attacked Remy and Pax in our back yard. (Our wonderful neighbor, Nancy, was horrified and confused; in the nine years we’ve lived here, that’s never happened.) No one was hurt, but it got us thinking about keeping two dogs safe and contained in a busy neighborhood, where the yards are pretty close together.

It’s the three-four grand that people want to charge us to install sixty feet of fence and two gates that’s the problem, you see. The Thriller wants to do it himself, but I am going to put down my little feet and veto that, for many reasons.

But hey, enough about me — have a good Monday out there, fiends.