So we had this Big Important Meeting at school this week. The nice thing about completely obsessing and worrying over such an event is that it rarely turns out to be as bad as you've imagined. Really, the worst thing about these meetings (so far) is that no matter how much notice we give about the kids' dad wanting to be teleconferenced in, the school seems to be chock-full of conference rooms without phones. And as much as I like Monkey's classroom, spending a Big Important Meeting sitting in a child-sized chair isn't really my idea of a good time. Ahem. Anyway, part of what we did was go...
How was your weekend? Our was pretty good (aside from the recital bloodbath on Saturday, of course). Almost relaxing, even, considering all of the running around we did and errands we ran and such. Plus we FINALLY figured out Halloween costumes, after months of vacillation, so that was a relief. (I lovingly helped things along: "Anyone who hasn't made a costume decision by the end of the day will be on their own completely. Who wants more pancakes?") Otto and I enjoyed a game of Scrabble last night and went to bed at a decent hour, rather than what has become our Sunday night routine of...
[Before I tell you this, can I just tell you that the comments on the previous entry have had me in stitches for hours? Next year I'm going to suggest that the students analyze the rockingness of my readers.] Yesterday, for some reason, the family was congregated here in my office and the subject of a ring of mine came up (do not ask me to explain; I can't), and Chickadee immediately piped up, "Can I have it when you're dead? It doesn't matter how many bushes you have, people. Chickie is not going to beat around even a single one of them. FYI. Because I am mean and horrible and also because...
Because my husband is a professor at this here big local university, and because I have befriended lots of other professors at said university, and because I am a giver, I oftentimes do things FOR THE CHILDREN (meaning the children who are old enough to smoke, drink, have orgies, and lie to my husband about why they couldn't finish that assignment, dude, because they were, like, so close, but then this THING happened and he understands, right?) in the name of academia. Like, sometimes I go into a class and give a guest lecture. I enjoy having young people stare at me like I have six heads,...
I was really hoping that August was going to be The Month Of Suck and then September would be an improvement; then I was hoping that September was just Suckage: The Continuing Saga, and October would be The Month That Everything Magically Got Better. As I write this, Otto is in bed with the not-flu; the doctor doesn't know what it is, though he has MRSA (again, or still, depending on what you believe) and a high fever and actually STAYED HOME FROM WORK, which means that I'm pretty sure he's going to die. I'm going to miss him terribly, especially because I hate taking out the trash. This,...
A fairly standard thing for Otto and me to say to one another is: "You love me. But you have no idea why." He says it to me when he's just come up with a scheme for another clunker of a car he simply must have, or I say it to him when I've just finished completely taking out on him any number of things that aren't in any way his fault. It's a little lovebird ritual of ours. Afterward, we stare deeply into each other's eyes and argue about whose turn it is to go upstairs and yell at the kids. (Ahhhh, romance. Don't be jealous.) But I actually know why Otto loves me. Otto loves a CHALLENGE....
Both of my children were very excited to bring home the paperwork pertaining to some gifted enrichment program available in connection with the university. Happy little geeklets that they are, the idea of spending even MORE time doing math sounded pretty awesometastic to them, and they were absolutely crushed when I told them we wouldn't be enrolling. The cost is $350 for three months. APIECE. So, $700 if I wanted to enroll both kids. I'm sure it's a wonderful program, but I explained that I just don't love them that much. And besides, they're already in the (free) gifted program at school!...
It's been approximately two years and two months since we moved into this house, and there has been a methodical progression of organization and renovation ever since then. Before we moved in our stuff, we repainted in the living room, hallways, and the kids' rooms. The children's rooms were the first parts completely finished and habitable, followed by the kitchen and then the living room. We redid walls and flooring, and then the dining room was perfect. We found the perfect kitchen table, and then I vowed to stop complaining so much about the kitchen. (Ahem.) My point is that it's not...
Otto and I decided that it would be certain catastrophe to take the kids to one of those "adoption day" events to look at dogs. Surely one of them would fall in love with the first dog they laid eyes on, and tragedy would ensue when we were unwilling to embrace that pup on the spot. One of the dogs I've had my eye on on Petfinder was listed as being at a local rescue, and we figured we'd go check him out today BEFORE potentially dealing with a child enamored of him, etc. So we got the kids off to school and headed over, and the woman there asked which dog we were interested in and we told...
