yes I have a frickin attitude.

Just minutes before I went to work today, Celeste decided that she needed to give me a little send-off. So she squatted in front of me and peed on the living room floor, while looking me in the eye. Just little puddle, just enough puddle to let me know she thought she could. Watching me watching her must have been like watching the alien claw and chew its way out of the astronaut's chest in "Alien", because both Omar and Celeste were running and screaming before I made a move. I should have expected it, because I stepped in a puddle of cold something just outside my bedroom door, just 15 minutes earlier. (Oh jeez, there's that Omar again, peeing on the floor - it couldn't have been Celeste.) Who ARE those people who say that punishing a dog for peeing in the house, after the fact, is useless? That a dog can't connect the puddle of her own urine on the floor with the reason for the spanking? Wanna know what happens if Celeste doesn't get spanked for peeing on the floor, after the fact? She thinks she is free to pee on your shoes and smile at you while she does it. Although she ran for her room, screaming like she was being disemboweled with a dull knife, it didn't save her. She was quickly re-acquainted with her personal puddle on the floor, nose first, then spanked and sent directly to her room with a boot to the butt, to stay there until I came home from class. Yes, I know that puppies make mistakes, but this mistake was just a little too deliberate to let it slide. Good thing Omar had already put a padlock on the drawer of dull disemboweling knives.

I have two classes to teach this month. One is a daily class, starting at 4:15 pm and running to 5:45. The other one is a Monday-Wednesday-Friday class that starts at 7:30 pm and runs till 10:15. My daily class is a mix of teenagers and adults. The other class is mostly military, older people.

I thought I would enjoy the teenagers more, because they always have a fresh attitude and active minds, and usually it's easier to get them talking. But my daily class has a couple of girls that have trouble doing their homework - not because they don't have time and not because they don't understand the material, but because they "just don't DO homework". Such a shame. Such a shame that I put them on the spot today by going over the homework and asking them to read some exercises with the rest of the class and give me their answers. I hope they were uncomfortable enough that tonight they will do their homework and be able to participate in the class with the rest of us. It's one thing to not understand and need to ask for additional help or clarification. It's completely another to be utterly too far above the lowly task of homework and have the nerve to tell the teacher that you're just too good to be bothered with it.

So now I have an attitude that I have to work on before I can go to class tomorrow with a positive outlook. I'm afraid my girls are about to find out that I can cop an attitude with the best of them. Ha. I already have. My attitude sucks right now, thank you very much.

I was outside for a couple of hours today, and the exhaust from the cars was so thick that when I came home from work, I could smell it in my hair. As I'm sitting here typing, I rubbed my neck and the street dirt mixed with sun block ROLLED OFF ME in little black balls. And my face. UUUggghhh. That hasn't happened to me since I slathered on the SPF 45 and went out and chased cows all afternoon.


My Daily Tarot Reading
June 5, 2007

Love: The Hanged Man

Touchstone: The Star

Career: The Moon

Inside, you’re not feeling at your most joyful today (no kidding). However, your friends, relatives, children and partner are there to support and guide you. Can’t you feel the love shining all around you, dear Kathleen? (oh, yeah, and I feel that cold puddle of dog pee I just stepped in, too) Open your eyes and appreciate the unconditional kindness of your nearest and dearest. No, you’re not alone, and there’s no doubt that you’ll find that loving feeling once more! If your job is related to creativity, the arts, beauty or decoration, you'll discover you have some amazing talents today. The celestial alliance between the Moon and the Star is awakening an extraordinary esthetic sensitivity within you (my alien is exploding from my chest as we speak). Your inspiration is propelling you into unexplored areas of the imagination, which is giving that touch of genius in your work today. Some may even be tempted to call you Picasso! (Picasso had a bad attitude, too, at times.)