Ups and downs

Can't remember whether I've written about this or not, but D's maternal grandmother died last weekend, so he's in the States at the moment, having flown back for the funeral, which was yesterday. He was a pallbearer.

He was torn as to whether he should go or not--climate change, fuel prices, overall expense, etc.--but in the end capitulated to his father and went. His mother (this grandmother's daughter) died when D was in college, and at the funeral reception was a guy who'd gone to school with her and had just recently learned that she'd died. As a result, D got to hear some really wonderful stories about his mom as a young woman from "outsiders" (not in the family). It was a really good experience for him, I think. Since she died when he was just becoming a young man himself, he was really robbed of the opportunity to know his mother as an adult, as a human being and not just "mom." I think it's left a big gap in his life, and he very much enjoyed hearing the stories.

Had a random meeting this morning with an editor from OUP, who's asked me if I'd like to do a little (very little--not to give you the wrong idea) work on the next edition of the Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Pretty exciting! They're going to include an academic writing section, and she's asked for my feedback on it as a teacher and as an American. Interesting. We'll see how it pans out.

On a slightly less pleasant note, I didn't get an interview for the intranet editor job at Oxfam. I think that might be the last job I apply for there. Sigh.

OK, it's late. Got to get to bed!