Third Time's A Charm

I just had some spice cake. Pretty good. I made it in honor of the rainy week we've just had.

Yesterday evening, for the third time, I cleaned the living room and kids rooms, removed all possible chocking hazards, meticulously vacuumed the carpet, and cleaned the hall bathroom. This time, the lady really did have me babysit her children. Instead of one hour, she asked for two, so she could get some grocery shopping done, un-distracted. The baby was cranky, and the kids were often too helpful trying to make her happy. I tried to get her a bottle, but she refused it. I changed her, and then took off the overalls and let her play in the bodysuit she was wearing. Much better. She must have been too hot. We were playing dress-up when the mommy came back. She might need me again another day this week, too. And now I have a little money. Not much, of course. I'm thinking of making a grocery envelope.

Saturday, we were expecting Brother in the early afternoon. I was a little surprised that I got a call from him in the morning. What happened was that just as they were about to board, an announcement told them that the plane was broken, and they would need to reschedule their flights. He got a different flight to Denver, but missed the connecting one to St. Louis. Actually, he said he could see the plane sitting there, but they wouldn't let him board it. I guess they'd already sold his seat to someone else. So Josh and the kids and I had dinner with my parents as they came through town, but didn't see Brother. I talked to him, though, on the phone. We might see Clash of the Titans later this week. I warned him that I'd heard it was terrible. He said, "Well, you saw the first one, right? And what was it?"

"Terrible."

"Well, then...?" Then we talked about the pros and cons of new "terrible" and old "terrible".

Just for some fast reading, I've been going through the Twilight series again. ARGH! Really, I can't believe her editor let her get away with half of that nonsense. And I don't mean the fictional nonsense. She's not a good writer. Each book has it's own set of 5 or so words that she uses about 50 times more than necessary. All her characters sound basically the same, most of the time, until she remembers that they are supposed to be separate characters. And Edward. If she would just quit trying so hard! Yikes. I've said it before, but she makes him sound much more like a 1990's "Geek: Variety 3" than an intelligent near-adult from 1918. I hate it when I spend half the book fighting with the author. Well, I'm only a few hundred pages from being done with it again. Wonder what I'll read next. Maybe I can manage a trip to the library....

Josh is working at Lowes right now. And then when he is off, he will go to work at Coca-cola all night. And he thinks he can do this for 3 weeks. Forget sane - I really just don't see how that's possible. It's scary, thinking of him on the roads while tired. In fact.....let's talk about something else.

We had to return Ponyo to Netflix. Maybe I will be able to buy it at some point. If not, they can always ask Santa.

I went to taiko on Sunday. I worked hard, and my back is making me nervous today. I will have to be careful. We played Juugo Ya and Kaifuu. Both are songs that Andrew wrote, but I don't think I noticed that until we were done. I started to learn the chuu part of Kaifuu last year, but I don't remember it at all. It's played miyake style, and I haven't done that in a while. I think that is why my back is threatening to become injured. And to top it off, I need to get lower, because I'm raising my shoulder to compensate...and that's not good. But hopefully I will be able to play it soon. That will make me happy. Juugo Ya......is fascinating, but I don't think it's particularly fun for a crowd to listen to. I don't feel the same desire to master it, really.

I think we are going to have frozen pizza for dinner. It really sounds like what I want.

Speaking of food, I was saying how I wish I could afford strawberries this year, and come to find out, some people were able to find them for less than two dollars a few weeks ago. The ones at my store never got that cheap, they've been 2.98 per carton this whole year. I could splurge once, except that they don't look like they are all good ones, either.

Aside from my running critique of Stephanie Meyer while reading her books, I haven't had a whole lot of extra time to think about life in the large these last weeks. I was sorta happy about Arizona and the new immigration law, but I can tell it will very soon be abandoned. It's ridiculous how many of the residents in Yuma were not legal. And why, once they're here, do they not choose to go through the correct process? Why is that more distasteful than breaking the laws? And the tornadoes have been everywhere, haven't they? We spent the other evening in our basement.

Did I tell you Josh was re-arranging the basement again? Well, this time he had too. He inherited his grandfather's baseball collection: many decades worth of cards, pictures, news articles, a few puzzles.... It took him three truckloads to move what he has already, and I hear there is more. Josh made a section for the baseball stuff, and also made himself a little sleeping cave. He'll need it for now, and also for when he does shift work, if he becomes a police officer. (We're still hoping.) That's where we were for the tornado sirens. He also, more recently, made me a place, too. The the loveseat that matches the downstairs couch is now by the window, and there is a coffee table and a bookshelf. I started one of my puzzles on the coffee table. It wasn't a great idea: I was scared that the kids would loose the pieces. They were trying to "help".

I think gas prices are finally back in the news. About time! I've been horrified for weeks! Where do these people think a recessed country is going to get 2.80 per gallon from? And that's here in the inexpensive Midwest. Yeesh.

My mother is visiting her mother in Versailles today. I kind of want to go and visit my grandmother, too. Maybe I could arrange that soon. And Brother might come over on Thursday and spend the night and go with me to taiko. That would be fun.

Well, I think I am off to watch the kids and maybe get them some spice cake for a snack. I hope that whatever you are doing today, it is making you smile.

The Unwilling Awake

I'm struggling to keep my eyes open. Return of the insomnia. I think I'm going to start keeping a health journal. Each day, I'm going to write down if how much caffeine I consumed, and what time(s). The same with sugar. And then how I slept. I mean, if at all. Last night was one of those nights where I never got further than a light doze that lasted only a few minutes at a time. I will also write down the phase of the moon, just in case it is somehow significant. Then, if I ever have health insurance again, and can see a doctor, I will have all the information he or she would need. And I don't mean Medicaid. There is no reason the rest of the nation should pay for me to find out why I can't sleep well.

Is it just me, or has this week been agonizingly long? It seems weeks since Sunday. I don't remember it very well. Of course, I am pretty tired....

I hit my thumb early in taiko practice with my own bacci. Then, at the end of practice, I hit the same thumb, only twice as hard. I thought I had hit it in the same spot, but now it's hard to tell. I can see two distinct and separate bruises, but on of them may have been caused by swelling and not impact. It doesn't look swollen anymore, but it is. I can't bend it all the way. Yesterday it made my stomach turn every time I brushed it against something, but today it's fine. I could play tonight. But I'm not going to practice because of my tiredness. I'm a little afraid of falling asleep at the wheel on the way home. Since Josh worked all night, he will be sleeping today, and there's no possible way for me to nap. In fact, I'm out here doing extra kid policing for noisiness.

I am signed up for two performances in June. I kinda want to sign up for a third, but I am torn about which. If I sign up for the local one (I don't me local to me...just to St. Louis), it would be the same weekend as another one I signed up for, and I wouldn't have to add complication to some other unscheduled weekend. The other performance is out of state, on a weekend that would be otherwise free for family or business or whatever comes our way. Sadly, it is the second performance that is in need of players right now. You know how susceptible to guilt I am. All they have to do is say, "We need help!" and I automatically think it's my fault.

We've been watching the Miazaki film, Ponyo. Did I tell you? It's cute-ish and strange-ish and Earth conscience-ish and slow-ish. Very typical of Miazaki and Studio Ghibli. We watch it in Japanese, of course. The acting is very charming. Ponyo and Abbie are a little bit too much alike for my total and complete comfort. Should I really show that to her? Dunno. Well, too late anyway. By the way, in the subtitling, there is a part where the little boy names Ponyo. He tells his mom, "I'm going to name her Ponyo because....." The reason is less important to me than the because. I tried to do research to see if the name means something, or represents something...but was unsuccessful. Ponyo's original name, Brunhilde, is from the Norse legend, of course, about the demi-goddess who angered her father and was kept in a ring of fire. And the character of Ponyo's mother is actually based on Kannon, the protector of sailors and "goddess of mercy". If you listen, you can hear them calling her Kannon, even though the subtitlers didn't put it in. Probably, they were afraid of confusing us un-educated westerners.

I need to buy groceries. And we are lacking funds. I think it is to the point where I will buy food with cash from my secret horde, so as to save the bank money for the next house payment. I don't know how long I can do that, but I'll try.

I'm watching the two girls tomorrow, as far as I know, and Grant has his dentist appointment in the afternoon. Then, Saturday, Brother will come to MO, but Mom says we will probably meet for dinner in Warrenton and they won't actually come to the house. She says Brother will be tired.

Tired.

Also Saturday, Josh has his orientation for Lowes in Wentzville. I have no idea what kind of schedule he will have. Maybe I should hold off on signing up for more performances.

I'm trying to remember all the things I wanted to get done today, but today is slipping away from me.

I will go and find lunch for the kids. It's a good start.

I hope you are well, happy, and enjoying the day.

The cold mornings and the coming days.

I'm so cold! I would never let the house get down to this temperature during the actual winter, but I stubbornly refuse to turn on the heat after I have declared it "off for the warm season".

So much to say. I'm not sure where to start.

Grant and Abbie are fine. Grant has reverted back to whiny "baby fits" to see if it will get him his way. So far, it hasn't. We had a few of those over the weekend, and several yesterday. Abbie has gained a lot of weight, which makes me think her body is preparing for a massive growth spurt. Those are easier to deal with in the summer, though, when the length of pants is immaterial. Get it? Immaterial? HA! (Sorry.)

She has also decided to be a singer. It's sort of a long story. But you like long stories, right? I have a copy of the first Celtic Woman DVD. It opens with Chloe Agnew singing "Walking in the Air". The moment I heard it, I knew it was familiar. I couldn't remember where I'd heard it on my own, so I looked it up. It is included in an animated film short about a boy and a snowman. Did you happen to see it? After I found out what it was, I looked it up on Youtube and showed Grant and Abbie the part of the film that included the song. They liked it. Then I explained that the singer was not Chloe, but a little German boy. We even found a clip of the same boy singing a different song. That began our finding lots of children singing songs on Youtube. Abbie was particularly interested. Her favorite song is "Tomorrow" from Annie. I don't think she wants to be a singer when she grows up, just when she's a little girl. It's very cute.

Except...

Since I used to sing, I am worried that people will secretly think that the idea was mine, and that I'm living my dreams through my children. I'm sure you've heard of people doing that. Mostly I just want to sing with my kids. At home. While we're dusting or something. But if she turned out to be any good, it might be a fun thing, for a while, to sing for people. Well, maybe. I'm not sure I've decided. But that's okay. I'm not sure how dedicated she is. Josh has already called for a vocal coach, as King Cole would for his pipe and bowl and fiddlers.

Speaking of Josh, he has been working nights for the Coca-cola people. 12 hour night shifts. But with no guarantee of future work. So, yesterday he agreed to accept a job at Lowes in Wentzville. It is hardly any money at all, of course. But considering that St. Louis has been named the second worst city to find work in, and considering that it is regular work, we'll take it.

As for me, the lady with the two children rescheduled for Friday, so I haven't watched them yet. 10 bucks is not going to do a whole lot for contribution to the household funds. I'm hoping to hear from other parents in need, but I'm not sure if it will happen.

My mom dropped in on me yesterday with a half hour's notice. It was fun to see her, but now I'm exhausted, and I'm wondering if that's why. Oh. Never mind. Last night was the reason. The kids didn't sleep well, and so I spent an hour in Abbie's room, a few minutes with Grant, and then later he came to sleep in my bed and kick me for the remainder of the night. Josh was so tired when he came home that he didn't move Grant, he just went and slept in the empty bed.

Tonight it taiko. How is it that they always know when I need to be rested, and then prevent me from being so? It's like a plot. I am expecting lots of very strength intensive drills, too.

Brother should be here on Saturday afternoon! I'm excited. I wonder what fun things we can do. Zoo? Botanical Gardens? Movie with just grown-ups? Whee!

Well, my children have been asking for food since they finished breakfast. That is usual for them. They are always hungry.


Have a wonderful, beautiful day!

Sunshine on the deck, and other warm things.

I am feeling good! I am not sick anymore. I had taiko practice and I am very sore, but I can't say that I'm unhappy about it. It was a pretty good practice. It took a bit for everything to come back to me, and I've only been missing from practice for a week. Imagine how it must be for those members who miss weeks of practice all the time! Speaking of members who have been absent, Debbie was back again last night!

I have been thinking in "Drive" all day. It's stuck in my head.

My kids have spent the last few days at my mom's house. They should be back in about an hour. I'm anxious to see them. I'm also a little bummed that I didn't get done anything that I wanted to while they were away. Well, that's not entirely true. I successfully got a copy of Abbie's birth certificate after one unsuccessful attempt in her babyhood, and lots of inaccurate advice. But that's pretty much it. Why? Well, Josh was home. So, I went with him on a couple of computer appointments. And on Monday - I took Josh to dinner! I was looking for my sunglasses last week and found an old gift card to a restaurant we don't usually go to (hence its still being unused).

Did I tell you about the weekend? Saturday was the Tartan days in old town St. Charles. Lots of great, a little of nightmare horror show. First off: I think I must be an "old town" kind of girl. I like cobblestones. I like brick sidewalks. I'm not so much a fan of overpriced trinkets that no one really should want, but you have to take the useless with the picturesque. The Shermans met us there. I really had fun at the parade, too. Lots of bagpipes. And they all played Scotland the Brave. Hee. And, pleasure of life, we had a picnic in perfect weather under a beautiful, huge tree. I love picnics.

And then. Then. Then. Abbie walked away. It was my turn to hold Grant's hand, and we were looking at fancy tartan cookie cutters. And out of the corner of my eye, I was watching a little girl in red. It was...the wrong girl. I'm sure someone alone in the middle of the ocean feels a similar desperate helplessness to what I felt standing mid-sidewalk, spinning my head over hundreds of people and dozens of acres, a river, a busy street. Too miserable to even burst into tears, I started asking anyone who would listen, "Have you seen a little girl? She's 4. Red dress, white shirt. Dark hair." I didn't even know which direction she had gone.

Josh found her with an older lady. I just stood in front of her, and said, "Where...did you go?"

"I was finding you."

I made her come with me and apologize to all the people I had bothered with the description, but it wasn't because I was angry. I wasn't angry. I don't know what I was. I didn't say anything to anyone at the time, but all my love for the day, the event, the picnic, the brick sidewalks - gone. I was numb and unhappy. And still scared. And still relieved.

Sunday wasn't what I thought, either. The plan: Josh goes to his late grandfather's place, picks up some things he was supposed to take with the help of his uncle, and then unloads them here, with the help of our friend, Johnny. In exchange, we told Johnny we'd cook dinner for him and his family. Later, we invited the Shermans, and some other friends, because...why not? And dearest Caroline was going through town, and I was happy to be able to ask her over as well.

It didn't go quite as expected. Josh ended up having to make two trips, not one. The Shermans arrived as I was getting a few last things from Wal-Mart. And the only one who didn't have dinner....was Johnny. He went home. But those of us who remained had a wonderful time. Well, at least I hope.

And I got those aprons to Caroline, which, I think, made us both happy.

Then, there was this time I had without the kids. Monday we went and picked up a computer to repair (and had dinner, and watched Serenity at home). Tuesday, we returned two of them, and killed time at the mall. We talked with Katie, which was fun, and had jasmine bubble tea. Also fun. And Katie gave me a mochi ice cream treat, and I just might have to try another kind next time I'm at the mall. It turned out that Michelle wasn't going to taiko, and therefore didn't need a ride, so I went by myself. It was nice.

Ivory white soap: 99 and 44/100% pure. I was referred to as Ivory White Soap this weekend. I don't think the reference was to my hygiene, or skin color. Possibly this could mean that I am no fun. I hope that is not the case. Do I strike you as close minded? Sadly, there are others among my collection of "friends" who disapprove of me. Ah, the irony.

Well, I suppose that I will be the same, still, only now I will probably worry about it. Because I am me. And you knew that would happen, didn't you? I guess there is something about me. Something that makes you think my homework would be worth copying, but that I'd say no if you asked. My homework was never worth copying, guys. Especially not in math.

Today, I am happy. And a wreck. I'm worried about a lot of things. I'm going to try to let the sunshine push them all from my mind.

Josh is unemployed still. He has a few days of random work. And he had a job interview yesterday and another tomorrow. Why can't the police just ask him on now? I really wish they would. Maybe they never will. That would be more like our luck. To desperately cling to a hope that never materializes - it is practically my specialty. However! I made 7 dollars taking a survey at the mall yesterday! GO, me! And I got called today about a babysitting job. It's been so long....I don't know how much money to ask for. How embarrassing. I will meet the mother and children on Friday, and babysit them on Monday.

But now I must go, to wait anxiously for my children to return home and safe. I wish all of you a very pleasant Wednesday.

Head Cold

Yep. I feel terrible. It's not stopping me from enjoying all the spring-ness. But it is stopping me from jumping for joy about it.

I kinda breezed through that last post, as we were really about to leave. Let me say again that my mommy came over, and brought beautiful flowers for me! I planted them yesterday.

I put the iris from Mom's yard down by the fence. They're not the "good" iris, they're the chunky purple and brown ones. That's why I assigned them to that location. The bottom of my yard is a strip of wet clay. Anything that doesn't die and makes flowers for me to see from the deck is welcome. Abbie and Grant each had tulips, and the kids decided they wanted them in my already established "flower bed" next to the deck stairs. I had never seen daffodils with a "pink" center before (looks more salmon than pink), and mom gave me two of them. One I split under the mailbox, and one I put with the tulips in the "flower bed". I also dug up those tulips that seemed to still be in the front yard and put them up by the house with the rest of the transplantees. Hope I got them all this time. Oh, and I figured out why I missed them last fall: they were planted too deep. I've never had coral bells before. I dug a big rectangle next to the garage for the one my mom gave me. It's on the corner. And back to the "flower bed" - that's where I planted the beautiful bulbs my dad gave me for Valentine's Day.

That may not sound like much, but you have to understand a few things. Thing number one: I'm sick. Bleh. Thing number two: clay is really [insert vulgar adjective of choice]ing hard to dig! Thing number three: The kids lost my good spade, so I only had a dandelion weeder and a cheap little spade that bent every time I used it. Plus the full sized shovel, which I confess I started using toward the end. I was pretty worn out after planting all of that. I'm not done, either. I have a peony that I'm going to put on the front corner by Abbie's window, and a weird little ground cover that I still don't know what the heck to do with. Plus, for the deck, I have to re-pot a pink geranium, a red geranium, parsley and rosemary.

By the way, I also did a little weeding. There is this weed - tell me if you know the name of it - and it has long, rounded, darkish leaves all from the center (think dandelion) and a huge taproot. I got one out of the ground yesterday and said, "Good grief! It's as big as a carrot!" A very bendy, long carrot. I've nicknamed them "vegetable weeds". I have removed several from my yard and I feel pretty darn good about it...except that huge holes remain in their stead.

Well, I was too sick to do taiko. Actually, I was pretty sure that I would not be doing much actual drumming, but this cold is very contagious. Abbie got it, and then the rest of us had it the next day. Not a good sign. Usually I get whatever head cold is going around, but not the boys. We all got this one. And right away. I could only imagine the creative names I would get called if I showed up unnecessarily to practice, infected them all, and then stayed home while they were stuck driving to Wisconsin with colds. BUT! Michelle couldn't get another ride. Her parents, for some reason, couldn't take her, and Eddie was staying home. So, I loaded up the kids, drove to Denny's, and took Michelle to practice. I let them walk around for a minute before putting them back in, and got a nice surprise: Jenn was meeting Bill, who was going to take Carter home, so Carter and my kids got to talk a little (from a safe distance) before we left. That was great. We all love Carter. But then we had to go back home. I was starting to feel bad again. I needed a few things from Wal-mart, but didn't stop. Too sick. Too tired. But the kids slept all the way to UMSL, so they didn't go to bed early.

Oh, I forgot to tell you: we went to Lisa's house and stayed all afternoon and evening and then some. The kids watched sponge bob. Not my favorite at all, but what can you do? And we grilled, and played washers. Her dad made her a mini set. It's cute. She had a friend named Andrew who came by, but he wasn't the easiest guy to talk to. And he spent a large part of the day looking up sports scores on his phone. I'm sure he's nice, though. Chris came by later. Much more fun. Secretly, I was too sick to go out, but didn't know it until it was too late. Like...around 4:30 or so.

Today, it is rainy. I checked on my plants. Most of the tulips that went into the ground yesterday look unhappy. The daffs look fantastic, though.

I need to get a few things at Wal-mart still. Kleenex, for example. After that, though, I'm in for the night. I'm exhausted. Yesterday has officially caught up with me. I feel terrible. Really, I shouldn't even be going out. But when you're out of kleenex, what can you do?

Wanna hear something amusing? Josh was all depressed a week ago because he was applying to all these places and couldn't even get a call back from Pizza Hut. Then, this Coca-cola job came up, and he felt better. I had said to him at the time, "You have to be patient. These positions haven't even closed yet!" But he didn't listen. He was determined to feel unwanted. Well..he got two job offers just yesterday. That's right. TWO. So...who was right? Oh, yeah. Me. If anything better than the come job comes up, he's going to take it, of course. So, unless you hear otherwise, these offers aren't enough to coax him out of his 40 hours plus overtime.

Josh is doing fine. He's trying to fit everything into his new "schedule", which is rough, but otherwise, things are going well. And the kids are fine, too. They've actually been playing nicely together lately, which is a huge relief to me. I hate refereeing and mediating and bossing all day and all night. Grant's kindergarten screening is on Friday. And the kids are going to spend the beginning of next week at my mom's house.

Well. I had better get moving. The sooner I go, the sooner I can be done for the day. Hope you are all healthy and happy. It's going to cool off today. Won't that be nice? Happy Wednesday!

Girl with a Pink Face. Okay, maybe a red one.

Ha!

I'm very sunburned. And I have a cold. We all have sunburns. And we all caught Abbie's cold.

Easter was a sunshiny day that was forecasted as a rainy one. I packed kites anyway, though. We went to Josh's family's house. After politely waiting for everyone else to arrive, we got out the kites, thinking we only had a short time until everyone would have to come in due to rain. The kids found eggs, and then I started with the kites. Abbie's ladybug kite really is pretty good. The problem with that is even though my feet were sore and my back tired and my nose sunburned, all the kids kept wanting more kite-ness, so I was out there longer than even I wanted. Sydney's kite got stuck in mine, and that started some serious crankiness, including screaming and tears from her, and calm untangling by me. Saved by lunch, we went in after that, but after lunch, Abbie handed me the kite. Josh slunk away to have 2 desserts, and back out I went with the kite!

So, I'm fried. We had a few kite disasters. Sydney let go of hers and it ended stuck in the neighbor's barbed wire fence. Later, I asked Josh to hold the kite while I fixed another one up and he let go and had to chase it into the same neighbor's yard. Then, at the same time, Mariah let hers go, too! It was kind of a "race for the kites" moment. It ended happily, though. All kites were recovered unharmed.

Josh spent a long time stubbornly trying to get the airplane kite to fly, but it never stayed up for long.

Grant played baseball with Grandpa and later with Josh. We also did an egg toss. I had to stop early because Grant and Abbie were partners and Abbie caught a boiled egg with her face. She was very startled and was waiting to see if it was worth it to cry. I just said, "Oh, look! Your egg is ready to eat now. Let's go peel it and rinse it, and then you can eat it up."

This morning my mommy came to visit! She brought me lovely flowers to plant! YAY! And we all went out for Chinese. Josh has been wanting Chinese for a week, so that was very jolly.

And now, if I hurry up and get shoes, we are off to play at Ms. Lisa's house! Have a happy Monday!

The Calm After the Storm.

Josh and I are done fighting, with any luck. We've both been stressed lately. Last night was bad, but ended in reconciliation.

The day was nice. We had thought Josh would be home to get lots of stuff done with us, but he worked, so I moved the plans to today. We tried to fly a kite in the back yard. It was a little bit successful...but mostly not. It was just so gusty. The wind would change directions lots, and the kite would fall. Not the, "Oh, no! The wind stopped," fall where it floats wearily to the ground. This was the violent swooping that makes one run for one's life. But at least we got outside for a while. And the kids were very excited about the parts when the kite went up.

Josh called in the late afternoon to say he would be working today, too. It annoyed me. I had lots of things that needed to be done before Easter, so it wasn't the news I was hoping for. But I give up. Easter will just have to be a mess. I'm sure that as long as they get to be dressed up and eat chocolate bunnies, the kids won't care about the details.

Yesterday was pretty pleasant until the end. We'll skip the details, but the highlights are that we were tired, it rained and stormed, Abbie is catching a head cold (and I think I might be, too), some mean fighting and Abbie hitting a guest, then getting spanked by Josh for it. Then the grown-up fighting, but that's not important. The point is that everyone is sorry and we're going to be good.

We actually have it pretty good. We are not currently in danger of losing the house, none of us are in need of hospitalization, none of us are criminals on the run from the law....

Today, I pay bills, bathe children extra well for Easterness, maybe get some laundry done, and hopefully buy some groceries. And a nap for me might be a good choice.

Today is a different color.

Interesting trivia: The only tulips that produced flowers in my yard this year are the color purple. I have no idea why.

I made up something for dinner yesterday to get rid of more chicken. It was....okay. Not very interesting, though. Not nearly as good as the sloppy joe stuff I made that one time. I should write that one down before I forget it....

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend. I think the weather is going to be beautiful.

On a Day Like This

Good morning. It's a beautiful day out. I've told the kids that today will be shorts weather, but it looks like back to pants and short sleeves weather again starting tomorrow. I won't complain, though. As much as I enjoy the symbolic transition into the warmer seasons, my favorite temperature range is actually the elusive pants and short sleeves weather.

I haven't written since Monday, so you're a little behind on current events. Josh did find a few things at the unemployment office he hadn't tried, although not too many. He spent the evening applying. Tuesday was not typical for us. Josh was going to take the kids to an appointment, since the guy who made it was hosting Josh's cousin, Zach (who was in town for the funeral). There were kids there for Grant and Abbie to visit with. I, on the other hand, was scheduled to go to the meeting for Grant's kindergarten registration. They left in the afternoon, and at first I didn't know what I was going to do. Then I decided I was probably vitamin deficient and sat in the sun on the deck for a while. After I showered, I cooked dinner so it would be ready when they got back, and I was getting ready to go, when I got a phone call.

It was Michelle. She was waiting at Denny's. I know I told her, told the entire group, sent emails.....but I still felt bad that she was stuck there. Penny calls it "Mothers' Guilt". She says that after being a mother, one starts to think everything is her responsibility and her fault. One problem with that theory: I was always like that.

I passed Josh and the kids on the way to the meeting. I found the school easily enough, and stood in several lines obtaining paperwork. Lots of it. Then I sat through a presentation by the school principal. He looks like a coach. He talks like a coach. I bet he's just a big teddy bear. However, he can't deliver a speech to save his life. And I hate presentations that consist of someone putting up slides, and then reading them verbatim. (I can read, too, you know.) Especially when he gets some of the words wrong. At this point we were assigned to different tables, where the kindergarten teachers explained what the students would be learning. Grant already knows a good half.

I was standing at one table in particular, where the teacher was showing us a list of the "sight words" that the kids would be expected to know by report card time. The lady next to me said, "I've never heard of a "sight word". They sure didn't have them when I was in school. Can you tell me what a "sight word" is?" Not a difficult question. I had also never heard the word, but immediately understood that it was yet another educational buzz word (got my fill of those during my brief stint as an education major) referring to words that the children would have to memorize spelling of in order to recognize them by "sight". But could the teacher explain this? No. She talked and talked and started to look frustrated, but never said anything enlightening. If she can't explain it to an adult with a ripe, mature vocabulary, how is she going to explain it to a child?

After visiting the tables, we scheduled our future kindergartners for their screening. Yes, they will be placed according to the results. Penny wants me to "work" with Grant about what's going to be on the test. But I will not. Surely, they are interested in the real Grant and not the coached version. After this test is over, he's only going to revert to type anyway, right? Why not show them Grant as Grant? If he is prone to saying, "I don't know," instead of, "I'll try," then they need to know that.

It reminds me of job interviews. I resent that everyone tries to look perfect and never really tells the potential employers any useful information. If I have kids and might sometime need to go pick them up from school due to illness, I think the boss SHOULD know this. It's the truth, isn't it? They'll find out if I'm hired, won't they? So, why hide it?

Anyway, when I came home, Josh had some news. A job offer. Temp to perm. Monday -Thursday, 7am-5pm. It's at Coca-Cola, but not the one here in town, the one off 270. So, yesterday he started that.

Yesterday was beautiful! We were waiting for Miss Penny, but really we wanted to play outside. So, it was great when she showed up with sidewalk chalk. We traced our shadows, and drew pictures and then painted on them with wet brushes to make the colors run together. We blew bubbles. It was nice. I asked Penny a little about the school and found another something that I don't especially like. They are politically correct to the degree that they don't tell the children that they are misbehaving. According to Penny, they say, "My friends are making me sad." WHAT?! What Kindergartner is the peer of his teacher? That makes me super mad. I did notice during the meeting that they don't use the word "rules", they say "expectations".

After Penny left, we changed into shorts and played on the deck for a long time. That was fun, too. I took pictures. Then we came in for the hottest part of the day and watched a movie. I was waiting for Josh to call. He was going to go to a Vector meeting, but he always calls when he leaves work. Hours went by. at 7:30 he called to say he had worked some overtime. I started to tell him about the day and make some plans for the weekend after Easter, if he's interested. But mostly he just wanted to argue about the details. Eventually I said something. By then, though, we were both getting angry.

Today was supposed to be me going to taiko. Josh's mom scheduled Easter egg dying at her house. I asked Josh specifically if he would stay with the kids, since this was a family thing, and I couldn't be there because of taiko. He said yes, until last night when he said well maybe he would work overtime again since the kids would be at his mom's anyway. Doesn't he care that his own mother wants to make this a big deal? But it gets better. I drop the kids off twice a week just before 5 so I can meet Michelle at Denny's at 5:30 and take her to practice. True, we're there in plenty of time, but that's necessary. Someone has to get everything ready, and most people show up late, even the ones not coming from work. Tonight, I can't drop them off until at least 5:30, but they're not exactly sure of the times. So....I'm going to be late to the one practice I'll probably be at this week. And I really hate being late. Today is not being good to me.

Josh and I are speaking, but not very friendly. I still don't much know about his job.

Today is my mother's birthday. I tried to call her, but her phone was busy. I can't email her because while she was off in Colorado visiting my brother, my dad changed the Internet provider and the email address, and last I checked, she hadn't been told the new one yet.

I have my windows open. We are going to put on shorts.

Hope your Thursday is a nice one.