Life's too short

Well, that statement is obvious...but really, life's too short not to laugh.

I was born a bit serious and the older I get, the less serious I am. I love the quote from Kurt Vonnegut:

And somebody now might want to ask me, "Can't you ever be serious?" The
answer is, "No."

Two things happened today that made me stop and think.

The first one: I talked to my dad this afternoon and found out that my grandmother (the one I like) had a stroke. I spent most of the afternoon pacing around, waiting for details that didn't come. Don't let Grammy's nickname fool you; she is soft as a marshmallow on the outside, but made of steel. She is sharp as a tack and has cheated death several times (people in my family tend to live forever), and I hate the thought that she might end up with dementia. I'm sitting here waiting for a phone call from my dad.

The second thing: tonight was the first night of the new volunteer ESL term, and I dragged myself out of shock and went to class. One of my students, who was a student when I taught the beginner class last time (this time I'm teaching the next level up), asked me, "Are you always smiling?"

"Ask my husband - he'll tell you no!"

Really, though, I thought it was so sweet. Yes, I can be a little stick of dynamite, and it drives me crazy having to deal with Oregon drivers, lazy coworkers, and bicyclists that run red lights and have "share the road" stickers on their helmets. Lots of things, in fact, do piss me off.

But I suppose I should credit myself for being more positive, because while I do vent, I think smiling and laughing are the most important things of all.

I try to make my ESL class laugh to help them past their nervousness. I think I just like making people laugh in general - though not always on purpose :)