"I'm reading a really good book."

As a linguist whose favorite class was Semantics, I can't help but be intrigued by the language used by blind students. It is surprising to outsiders (myself included) how often Perkins students use phrases like, "I'll see you later," or, "Come here, look at this!" Some of them make a joke of it, like the student who came into my office yesterday, laying on the charm. He said he wanted to travel the world "and, you'll get a kick out of this Bobbie - I want to see everything I can see. Pretty funny coming from a blind guy, huh?" But I think most of them don't even think of it. They're not associating the words they use with their original meaning, but rather with the corresponding actions in a blind world. The best example so far is the student who just came into my office to be rescheduled. I sent him to the library, and asked him to think about what he might like to do for the later period in which he will also have to be rescheduled. He said, "Oh, I don't mind going back to the library. I'm reading a really good book," despite the fact that no actual reading or books will be involved in that scenario - he'll be listening to a recording.

Baptism by fire.

One of the teachers came in this morning and asked me when Diane will be back. Diane is the other Admin Assistant in the secondary program, and she's on vacation for three weeks. I'm doing her job as well as training for mine, and it ain't easy. It requires a much better knowledge of the individual students and staff than I have yet. I told him she was out all week and possibly next week, and he said, "Wow, it's really baptism by fire, isn't it?" I couldn't have put it better myself. And eight teachers (EIGHT!!) are out today, which means for every student they have I have to reschedule them on a case by case basis, period by period, which is part of Diane's job and is going to keep me from getting a lot of my work done today. Of course, my work is building new student files which is less than thrilling, but it's what I am here to do, and I am not doing it.

All whining aside, I had an EXCELLENT weekend! A friend of mine had a small, private wedding and afterwards hosted a dock party on a houseboat to which I was invited. Jimmy and I went and had a grand old time. Saturday morning we watched Always Sunny before getting in the car, picking up Monique and driving to Vermont to hang with the wedding folks and friends for the weekend. We went to Lake Caspian on Saturday evening and lit sparklers and had a fire going and drank beer and were merry. There weren't enough beds, so Jimmy and I slept in a tent, which was quite lovely. Sunday we went back to the lake, swimming and tubing and being tickled by minnows. I did not much enjoy the tubing, as it seemed the whole goal was to knock me off the tube into the water. This goal was met with much success, as well as some bleeding. Jimmy was the champion of the tube by far, staying on until the other Jim and I were almost ready to give up because we were so tired from driving the boat around.

Sunday night we set off some excellent fireworks, although I was beat and went to bed early. Monday we went to the Cabot Creamery, which was awesoooome. Jimmy and I eventually peaced out and came home, exhausted. We watched some Always Sunny and then went to Sweet Chili for Thai food. They had Kikkoman plum wine, which I haven't had in a long time and was super delicious. As was the Pad Thai, which I will continue to consume for at least the next three meals. The apparent endlessness of Pad Thai led Jim and I to speculate that the Feeding of the Multitude might actually be misrepresented, and there was in fact one order of Pad Thai rather than five loaves and two fish. Thai noodles and shrimp... close enough, right?

You know what? I like you.

So I started slacking again. Big surprise. Well, I got my Masters degree in Linguistics from Tulane and moved back to Boston to my parents' house (for the moment). I finally got a job, and it's all I could ever want! At least for now. I am the Administrative Assistant in the Secondary Program at the Perkins School for the Blind. I'd love to blog in detail about it but there's a lot of stuff that's confidential and I'd rather err on the side of caution than betray someone's trust and lose my job.

But there are some things I can say. I love the job, I love my office, I love the kids. Today is my first day alone, meaning that the woman training me is out today, but ALSO the woman in the downstairs office is out for three weeks, so on my first week I am doing the jobs of two different people, neither of which I have fully grasped yet.

The best thing is the kids. They're hilarious, for one thing. They're just always joking around. Yesterday I heard three of them on their way to class just singing, "Bieber, Bieber, Bieber, ooooh, Bieber, Bieber, Bieber..." Today a girl named Hailey came into the office. I had met her once before, but I don't think she remembered. She asked who it was, and I said it was Bobbie and I am replacing Debby. She asked why Debby was leaving, and I told her. And then she said, "You know what? I like you." Every day something like that happens, something to just melt your heart and make you want to do every single thing to make sure that these sweet, beautiful, funny children get to grow up to be whatever they want, despite the crappy hand they've been dealt. I've never met a more positive group of people, or anyone whose personalities shine through the way these kids' do. It's only my 5th day, maybe the way I feel will change, but right now I am so happy to be here. I can't imagine any place I'd rather be.