Sunday, June 19, 2011

Week 24 of 52


This weeks photo is from the end of an evening at the celebration of the ending of another school year. Last Friday was our staff's End-of-the-Year Social at Tony P's in the Marina. This school year has tried the patience and the will of everyone from student to staff to parents. And as we close the year, one week left, we are still waiting for the July 1st reduction-in-force notices (pink slips) to go out. We will not know who we will be working with when we return in August and September. So we celebrate what we do have, one teacher's reduction-in-force notice was resended, two programs reinstated, we work with pleasant and kind people and the best behaved students in the city. We often think about what we have lost or will loose. We rarely look at what we have and how good it is.

The End-of-the-Year Social is a time to do just that. We laugh at each other, at our students, their parents. We fill in the other side of tales half told. We check in our colleagues family, boyfriends and spouses. We talk about parenting, the budget deficit and summer plans. It is a time to blow off some steam. As someone once said, "It is a time to drink mash and talk trash." So that's what we did. After this, the final week of work, with all of its stress, tension, irritations and last minutes requests from everyone, really doesn't seem that big of a deal.

This week's photo is from the end of that celebration. This is the remains of what the School Administrative Assistant's mother, (did you follow that?) would drink at the end of dinner. This was a surprise to her daughter too. This is coffee and Patrón (tequila). Yes, coffee and tequila. I was ordering straight Patron, and the waiter, Paul, asked if I wanted the Patrón Coffee? "What's that?", I said, and then said, "never mind, bring it." Well this is Patrón XO Coffee Liquer. You can either do Patron with a coffee back or mix. If you take the shot, it kinda like a tequila toostie roll. By that time of night, doing two things is way to much, so I mixed it and it was wonderful. It's when I realized I needed to shot something for Week 24. The MCP 52 Project's theme was Make it Tasty. Well, it was. It was a tasty drink and a tasty night. Structure, my 2011 photography theme, is this end-of-the-year ritual of sharing a job well done with colleagues. Enjoy the drink, the photos, an time with friends.

No comments: