Pink Castles to Frat Houses

I barely made it on the plane back home. The gnome's itinerary said 9pm, but the flight was scheduled for 8. "You're here so late," all the beautiful brunettes said to me, looking concerned and sort of cross, although too young to do cross with any credibility. "I don't know, it says 9," I offered in brilliant repartee. "Do you have luggage?" Only the limited crap carry-on I had been cursing the whole trip. "Fine, you can try," they allowed, and I bolted towards the runway. "Nice, carry-on, beautiful, carry-on," I thought.

I was the last one to board. There was no room in the overheads, and it was the same crew that I had flown down with, in front of me was the same attendant who had to deal with the the crabby old man who didn't want to check his oversized carry-on. I pulled out my wallet, for wine, and stole her line "I'll have to gate check this, I'm sorry."

"I think we can find some space in first class," she smiled.

Mona recently told me that I'm a pushover. That I'm too nice. I don't see any need to change. I get just enough positive reinforcement from not being a dickhead to others, to believe that it is the way to negotiate life.

I banged through the front door at mid-morning, and headed into the office. I spent a day and a half on mails and magazine deadlines, but this was also Senior Week at school. I had gotten the official notice from the Dean of Seniors, something that read like, if you allow the students to have the senior party at your house, imprisonment will surely follow. "Did you see that notice?" I asked Lexi. "Oh, that. They say that every year. They don't really mean it." At 2 am, and following whatever party that someone was not officially having, I heard the front door open and kids shuffle in. A group had decided to sleep it off under my roof. After all had gotten quiet, I went back downstairs to check on everyone. As I turned to descend the last four stairs, I could see a boy's body on my bathroom floor, with an opened, overturned bucket of practice tennis balls for a pillow. I got him up and walked him towards a spare bed.