I feel better today. I�ve repeated yesterday�s mantra several times. And I think I�m starting to believe it.
Let me try it again . . .
No regrets. All will be well.
Yup. I�m starting to believe it.
I guess it�s just a matter of perspective.
To be honest, my perspective was still pretty much in the crapper when I woke up this morning. I basically felt sorry for myself all through my morning coffee, the entire drive to work, and most of the morning.
But then I went to the local elementary school and met with my 7th grade �mentee,� Angela. That�s when perspective slapped me upside my head.
Here�s a young girl who has lost her mom, who�s father has been deported to Mexico, and who is being raised by an aunt on welfare. Her family can barely scrape together two pennies to rub together. Despite all that, she�s a bright, enthusiastic kid, who is doing well in school and who is working hard at this program so that she can get the college education she so desperately wants. She and I worked on setting some goals today. She had to set three goals: an academic goal, a relationship goal, and a community goal. Her goals for this quarter were (1) to score even higher than last year on her standardized tests, (2) to establish and develop a good, long-term relationship with me, her new mentor, and (3) to find a community service project that she can work with to help her neighborhood.
She�s an amazing kid. Despite the circumstances stacked against her and contrary to every statistic out there, she�s a truly amazing kid, who is working really hard to pull herself out of the pit that life dropped her into.
So, yeah. I have nothing to bitch about. My life is good. It�s always been good. I�ve been blessed. Nothing I learned yesterday changed that.
Perspective.
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In other news, I finally got my taxes mailed out. Yes, we�ve already established that I�m a procrastinator. It could have been worse. It�s only the 13th for pete�s sake. I�m usually mailing them out on the 15th.
Anyway, I�m getting a refund. That�s the good news.
The bad news is that The Brother again, for the fourth year in a row, fucked up his withholdings, and ended up owing a lot. So, again, for the fourth year in a row, I�ve bailed him out of the hole he keeps digging for himself. There goes half the refund.
I know I should just let him fix his own mess. But I hate to see them so completely financially strapped. And I had the money. So, yeah. Big Sis to the rescue. Again.
But this is it. I�ve told him this is the last year I�ll bail him out. Next year he�s on his own, so he better get his shit together.
Who am I kidding. Next time he�s in a bind, if I have the money, I�m sure I�ll help him out again. I�m just a sucker that way.
* * *
Ok. Enough about me. Let�s talk about Disco the Kid.
Before we do, go here and vote for Disco the Kid�s band, Public Domain.
If you�re not already a diehard fan of Disco the Kid�s brilliance (and I don�t use the term �brilliance� loosely), correct that deficiency immediately by going here, listening to the clip of �Second Hand Smoke� and then voting for his band, Public Domain.
Believe me, you�ll be a better person for it. Well, maybe not. But you�ll like it. A lot. He�s the coolest. Just ask Carissa, The Two Year Old, who�s still running around the house singing �Dolphin Safe Love�.
Yes. I agree. There are probably more appropriate songs for a two year old to be singing. We should probably teach her the words to �Old McDonald,� or something. But even if we did, she�d still be singing �Dolphin Safe Love.� Because it�s just that cool. Because Disco the Kid is just that cool.
So, go now. Click. Listen. Vote. Then you�ll be cool too.
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A resounding GRACIAS goes out to ilmomof3 and jerryjayray for adding me to their favorites.
Listening To: "Second Hand Smoke," Public Domain
Reading: boring legal crap
Feeling: better