just getting by

this weekend ben and ashley came out to visit us. they came on friday night and left this morning (sunday) for winterset, iowa, the setting for one of ashley's favorite books, The Bridges of Madison County--an enjoyable read, i thought. on sabbath we went to church in glenwood and had a tasty potluck, then tim took us for an airplane ride over the missouri river valley to see the fall colors. he did a few maneuvers that were a little too much for ashley--no, she didn't upchuck, but she did hold on to my arm pretty tightly. when we got home we cracked a few walnuts with a bat, picked some hedge balls, then had a bonfire. and then we made homemade pizza, which was goo-ood.

see how much fun you'd have if you came to our house?

today i am getting my piano tuned. it's about the worst piano you can imagine hearing. i try to play hymns and they're unrecognizable. i can play the maple leaf rag, but only because my hands have played it so many times they know they're on the right notes even if it doesn't sound like it. it was two and a half steps lower than it should have been, but they can only tune it up a step at a time for fear of breaking strings. i'd like to be a piano tuner myself, actually. i'm going to look into it.

i have an interview tuesday for a teacher's aide job in a kindergarten classroom in omaha. i thought i had missed my opportunity when i passed up the job originally (october 4) to be a kirby salesperson (i'll blog about that one sometime. it was quite the experience for two days), but it turns out the job is still available and it's mine if i want it. i'll be glad to be working again.

i've decided that i would like to be a person with a variety of useful skills and training. next year i am going to take h&r block's tax preparation course so i can do my own taxes (and other people's) during tax season. (i was too late for this year's class, which really disappointed me.) i would also seriously like to become a piano tuner so i could do that on the side. if i worked long-term at a job like this teacher's aide position, i could still pull in some extra cash on the side and during breaks doing taxes or pianos, and in the summer i could work on the farm or for a lawn company. i do enjoy that sort of thing. who needs a career?

does anyone reading this think that i would be settling if i opted for a life like that? the original plan was for me to go back to school for physical therapy. then i could make good money and have my doctorate, and everyone who ever thought i had too much brains and potential that i wasn't making good use of would look at me and not be disappointed. but that takes a lot of time and money and effort. i go back and forth myself, thinking about what i want. oh well. in the meantime i just do what i can, and we get by.