mister unappreciative

A day at home during spring break was thought to be an opportunity to tidy upon a rather difficult manuscript. It is somewhat pressing because soon-to-be-graduating students are the co-authors and contributors. I was off to a slow start this morning but was finally making progress when other forces interfered. These should have been happy distractions but because of my petty self-centeredness, I almost became irritable. What I fool I am:

1. My home office was very poorly painted a couple of years ago by yours truly. Not only does the light color underneath peak through but the ragged edges where I pulled away the masking tape is godawful. So as I'm making edits, this wonderful handyman is in my office taping everything so he can in order to do the job tomorrow -- while I'm on errands for the day. He's already done other work for us and he's skilled and inexpensive. But I was feeling frustrated because I was editing and the sound of tape being peeled off a roll was distracting. So I went to the kitchen where ...
2. Sue was beginning preparations for an evening meal (this is before noon) for a couple that she knows via the Soup Kitchen. I thought, at first, that I could read or edit hard copy down there. But in addition to the noise of the mixer (for chocolate mousse) and the scream of the blender (creating a Red Iguana like Mexican sauce) she was playing her Les Miserables CD. Now I like Master of the House because of lines like "Hypocrite and toady and inebriate!" (and would love to write lyrics for a farcical-spoof) and yet I wanted to get this writing project done.
3. Then I realized that if I wasn't editing that I would probably be online checking for live music in New Orleans or trying to figure out the elusive streetcar routes. Not having that wrapped up with NSTA just around the corner just added to my sense ...

... that I am acting like an idiot. By this weekend my office (at least the walls) will look spectacular. And tonight I will dine on the nectar of the Aztecs. And New Orleans will present innumerable surprise and delights -- in large part just because of the company. So lunch included a Miller High Life (18 packs of long-necks on sale!) and I stopped being so damnably unappreciative of my circumstances. I'm still not a toady but I have begun to show my affinity for the other traits of the Master of his house.