Holidaymas

Ben's folks took us to Sanibel Island for Thanksgiving. His mom is really into shells, so we walked on all the beaches collecting all the shells. We also went to the wildlife refuge to look at/for birds.

It was fun, though being on their food timetable, and not being able to carry enough water to be properly hydrated, was kind of a problem. We had Christmas while at the beach, and I got 4 more books (2 on soccer, 2 on WW1). Ben's brother's girlfriend's mom is a potter, and she made us cat bowls with their names on them. They're pretty, and now the catsitters will have an easier time identifying which bowl goes with which cat.

I woke up with a migraine Tuesday morning, before we were supposed to fly back. It's possible that the portobello mushroom sandwich I had at dinner was marinated in red wine, though it's also possible that my body was simply saying, "Fuck you." It does that sometimes.

So now I have a question I need to ask people when I order things: what's in the marinade? Is there any red wine in it?

Worse, this may mean that I can't drink Glühwein at all anymore :( Controlled experiments are required.

Who could I have been?

Sometimes I wonder what I'd be like if I'd been born to parents who believed in the value of education.

Sometimes I wonder what I'd be like if I'd been born to parents who knew what to do with a gifted child.

Sometimes I wonder what I'd be like if I'd been born into the middle class, not the working class.

If I hadn't had the main notion of "I need to study something that will help me get a job that pays well," maybe I'd have gone into German 20 years ago.

But I also wouldn't have had the experiences that led me to have a passion for identity, belonging, liminality, and all that.

Sometimes I wonder what I'd be like if I'd gotten good advice as a kid, if I hadn't learned at an early age that mom wasn't useful for advice, if I hadn't labored under the idea that I had to figure everything out for myself because I didn't know there were people who *could* help you out.

Sometimes I wonder what I'd be like if I'd been raised by someone who understood geeky kids, who understood that her kid's social needs are different than her own, who didn't think I was lying when I told her that smoking in the car made me cough really badly.

Sometimes I wonder what I'd be like if I'd actually gone into something I had a passion for 20 years ago, rather than doing the working-poor kid's thing and following the money.