Ducks, Frogs and Blasts from the Past

Ducks: We had to go to a silly teachers conference on Tuesday, all the way down in Anan. That meant me, Giuseppe and Jordan had to leave my place (where the boys had stayed the previous night, after a violent game of Crazy 8s) at 6.30am. Bleugh. It was not a nice drive. Until we got to south of Tokushima. Sat in heavy traffic, we noticed a truck, a removal truck, edge up alongside us. It had a duck painted on the side. And a big "DUCK!" printed under it. We raced that truck all the way to Anan. It was fun. Jordan had a fight with a hedge, and Joe looked like Neo from the Matrix while helping to push a stalled car off the road. Later that day, at Christine's, we had a small rubber duck as our poker button. Christine had a book, I'm told, called 'Magic Things You Can Do With Ducks'. Or maybe 'Things You Can Do With Magic Ducks'. I forget. Either way, it was magically ducky. We listened to a band called Duck Missile. And our duck button was thrown to shouts of "DUCK!"; in warning that a duck was coming your way, and you should duck avoid being struck by this duck missile. We're clever kids, us. Funny too.

Frogs: Had about 9 years shaved off my life just this morning. Our school janitor, Usuki-san, is quite possibly the coolest cat in school, and something of a practical joker. No, he IS the coolest cat in school. He saunters up to me, and offers me Something in his hand. Like a fool, I make to take it, but then the Something jumps out of his hand and onto the floor, eliciting a "MWAH! JESUS!" from me, and much clutching of the chest. The Something was a small frog, and the poor little thing was covered in dust, having been living in the staffroom for a while. Usuki-san cackled while I regained my composure, sent him filthy looks, and rescued the amphibian from the floor. I like frogs.

Blasts from the Past: I had an email from Stu. Well, I emailed him first, I won't go into details, but I sort of had to. Anyway, Stu emailed me, and it was actually really nice to hear from him. I had hoped he wouldn't email me back, but he did. And when I read his mail, I remembered him, and it was a nice feeling. I'm over him, and I've stopped missing him, but hearing from him was sweetness. I'm not sure if we will keep in touch. I don't know if I would want to. Then again, maybe I would. I don't know. I'm not trying to analyse it, I do that too much. I simply wanted to state that he had written to me, and that I liked it. And it didn't hurt. So for now, emails from him are welcome sights in my box. I also had an email from Alice, who I miss fiercely. Alice has the best listening ear of anyone in the world. I like nothing better than going to the Bailie with Alice, having a pint, and getting it all off my chest. And she does the same. Alice is the least judgemental person I've ever met. Nothing I say has ever fazed her. She's gold.

I am grammar checking my near-sister-in-law's PhD thesis. Title? 'Later Prehistoric Settlement Pattern in South Scotland'. Yikes.

I have a huge weekend ahead. Poker (hope Mum's not reading this) on Friday, Frisbee, Halloween costume shopping, swing dance lesson with Dave, and then Halloween party on Saturday. Possibly dying on Sunday. Or maybe just sleeping for a long time. Dreaming of ducks, frogs and my precious blasts from the past.