While that Lucky Old Sun has nothin' to do but roll around Heaven all day...

This week has been a great one. I have started my two jobs-- the special education aide at the high school as well as the babysitting job for Robin, my former dental hygienist. It has been a busy and different experience and a challenge as well. I have to admit that I enjoy having a job where I am never bored and am not staring at the computer all day, looking up random facts on wikipedia or what-have-you. My jobs have more of a purpose now and that is something to feel accomplished about.

The first two days of the week consisted of staff meetings and becoming acquainted with a lot of new faces. Everyone seems really nice so far, which is actually a better feeling than I got when I started working at the credit union. There was just a strange vibe there all the time. On Wednesday, the kids came for the first day and I was placed temporarily in the life skills classroom, where the kids need the most help. They are all really great kids, though, and it is really satisfying to help them and just makes me feel magnanimous and benevolent inside. In a few weeks, I will move to a different classroom setting and possibly work with kids who need help with specific language arts subjects; the administration is not quite sure yet.

My babysitting job has simply consisted of going over to Robin's house in Westborough, helping her two kids with their homework, taking them places, and cooking dinner if they want it before their parents arrive home. We are going to make a pizza together on my new pizza stone tomorrow night and that is always exciting!

It was wonderful arriving home from work at 2:10 on Friday afternoon. Anyone who has worked at a bank/credit union knows about the long hours on Fridays, as well as Saturday mornings. In addition, we were open until 6 on Thursday, which made it feel like one was always there. Anyway, I had a leisurely Friday doing laundry, reading, watching TV, etc. Saturday was my 26th birthday and I went to the gym in the morning and got a pedicure in the afternoon. Then Brian and I met some people from his school district in Franklin to drive to Providence for Waterfire, a summer event where there are 101 bonfires lit on the river. Another girl, Jess, had a birthday on Friday and we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Almost everyone had cheesecake for dessert and Brian and I tried a different one, chocolate coconut cream cheesecake, which was delicious and tasted like a Mounds candy bar. I will have to go there in the fall for some pumpkin cheesecake (my favorite)! We walked around until midnight looking at the bonfires and listening to beautiful music. It was a very strange, yet romantic ambiance.

Yesterday, we went to Tanglewood in the Berkshires for a Terrence Blanchard concert. Tanglewood is a beautiful outdoor music venue in Western Massachusetts with several concert spaces. We saw the concert in the Ozawa hall, but you can also sit on the lawn, bring a picnic dinner, and gaze at the night sky while listening to this beautiful music. This evening was especially moving because it was Terrence's composition,

A Tale of God's Will: Requiem for Katrina

, written for Spike Lee's documentary, When the Levees Broke. This is the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and another hurricane, Gustav, is approaching New Orleans and the performance was emotional for everyone. Ashe, which means Amen is my favorite piece. It really makes you think about the sadness of losing your home once and possibly losing it again.