... have big plans but in the end are astonishingly lazy. (Wow, that really doesn't roll off the tongue quite the way the original does, huh?) The kids spent the weekend with their father, which meant that after Monkey's soccer game on Saturday they piled into a rental car and headed off to... well, I'm not sure where. Maybe they told me, but I was too busy waving and driving off with Otto yelling "FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST!" Okay, maybe it wasn't quite that bad. We set off on a rollicking adventure which would take us out to lunch and over to the local Goodwill. Because we are WILD. We...
I am already struck with a strong urge to crawl back into bed, which I'm taking as a very bad sign indeed, seeing as how that usually doesn't happen until closer to lunch time. Not even a bowl of grits with bacon salt (bacon salt, oh how I love thee) has perked me up. This is not a good omen. The children are having trouble getting up in the morning, and honestly, short of putting them to bed right after they get home from school, I am out of ideas. Their bedtime is plenty early. They SHOULD be getting plenty of sleep. Maybe they are, and it's just their genetic bent towards morning...
The children seemed largely unbothered by Otto's absence this weekend, but they were on him the second he walked in the door, yesterday, to fill him in on everything he'd missed. There was soccer! And Sonic! And some things they'd watched on TV! And look at this thing I built! And how loose my tooth is! And we tried to go swimming but it was COLD! Monkey hung from Otto's middle while he chattered on, while Chickadee hung back, far too cool to climb on him, of course, but adding bits to the conversation with authority. Also, Otto brought home free baseball hats for everyone. And that's pretty...
With yesterday being a holiday, and all, Otto and I decided that it might be nice to have a few folks over for a barbecue. I'm still not feeling quite top-notch, so in our early discussions of this idea I clearly remember saying, "I don't know that I'm up for an actual PARTY. Let's just have a FEW people over, okay?" Otto agreed. We talked about who to invite and figured we'd have about 8 guests or so, if everyone came (and surely some people would already have plans, right?). Very good. We issued our invitations. Everyone accepted. Excellent! And then... well, it was bound to happen. "Oh,...
I guess I considered myself an involved parent when it came to our old school. I volunteered at school; I belonged to the PTA; I brought stuff in when the teachers needed things. Whatever. None of it required all that much effort on my part, is my point. And I am nothing if not lazy by nature. It's become apparently very quickly that the new school---having less money, fewer resources, and plenty of parents who don't help out in any way---needs a lot more in the way of parental participation. I am trying to do my part even though, honestly, sometimes it feels like Just One More Thing piled...
Oh, my. My my my. Thank you to everyone who rushed to stroke my hair and tell me I'm a GOOD AND KIND AND VERY USEFUL ENGINE. You are sweet and silly because of course I wasn't saying that I suck in every possible way, I was just venting on having done something I regretted, and then life goes on. Of course, those of you who took this opportunity to lecture me on what I should say or do remind me that yes, one DOES need to be careful about what they blog, because there is always someone out there who 1) assumes they know you inside and out from just a peek into your life and 2) therefore...
Someone commented on the last post that they've noticed that I've switched to posting in the morning now that I've gotten married. Actually, I was still posting at night until this week, when I realized that 6:00, she arrives EXTREMELY EARLY. That is always true, I supposed, but she arrives PARTICULARLY early if you've been up late working, blogging, or beating the pants off your husband in Scrabble. (I joke. We have never played strip Scrabble. But now that I think of it....) So I'm trying to get to bed earlier, and I'm trying out posting in the morning instead of at night. I haven't...
Good news! Today was not nearly so hot as yesterday. I mean, yes, OKAY, it was 101 today just like yesterday, and the heat index was around 108, but it was PARTLY CLOUDY. So. Ever so much better. Today would've been a good day to stay inside and do work, and I managed to do that, for most of the morning, but eventually I had to give in to my children's demands that we goooooo swiiiiiimiiiiiiing. And because I can only spend so long in the pool with them before I start wondering important things like "would it be child abuse to pick up this dead cricket and place it atop my child's head?" or...
After a solid month of family togetherness, just superwonderful, 24/7 all being together what felt like every minute of every day, it was with great sadness that I packed the kids off to spend a weekend with their dad, today. They were VERY excited to see him and he was VERY excited to see them and it was a beautiful reunion that greatly assuaged my urge to shove them all out the door for at least five minutes. I don't know how I will survive until Sunday night without the children, but I will try to soldier on. "Hey!" I told Otto after they walked out the door, "we can sleep naked all...
