Teacher? Why not!

I've been spending some quality time with family in El Paso since Sunday evening. It was an impromptu kind of event, spurred by the introduction of a gorgeous silver Corvette into the Peralta clan, woohoo! One of my brothers flew to Dallas to pick up his new toy, and asked if I wanted to drive back with him to see my nieces and break in the car at the same time. Hell, yeah.

So that in itself was a fun start. Now, this particular brother has 3 daughters, of the ages 4, 5, and 10 - the eldest is my goddaughter. They are a hoot to be with, and more than a match for my energy levels. Add to the equation their surly 14+ year cat Zoe (a boy) and a random 94 lb stray golden retriever that was picked up over the weekend that is approximately 3 years old and has been christened Harley (also a boy) and you've got a recipe for a great break from the ordinary.

In the last few days, I have done the following:

• Walked a dog with my nieces in tow through a nice neighborhood.
• Talked about the business of medicine with my brother.
• Been offered a job if things don't pan out back in Dallas.
• Played with Barbies.
• Kissed booboos better.
• Talked with my sister-in-law and her brother.
• Talked about life in general with my brother.
• Played violin with my niece and her instructor.
• Attended a 5th grade lunch and P.E. session, where my skills were commended by the classmates of my niece and I was deemed "freaking cool".
• Attended preschool (splitting time between 2 different classes) where I did story time, assisted with snacks, gift wrapping and was deemed "really nice".
• Driven my brother's cars (not the Corvette, I can't drive stick).
• Read a book with a cat sleeping on my chest.

Is that all? No. There's more where that came from. On the preschool story, that leads back to the title of this entry. The teachers assumed for the whole day that I was a teacher back in Dallas because of my skill at wrangling children. When I told them what I did for a living, they were shocked. Why? They told me that most women doctors that came to the school were pretty stuffy, and none wore sneakers. Weird.

Well, tomorrow I return home. However, this has been a good reminder of why I need to come out here more often. With luck, the next visit will happen sooner rather than later.