And Where Were YOU???

You all suck.

Well, it was a small party, but a great one. The food was spectacularly delicious. I had shrimp cocktail and sauce out. And just in case you didn't feel all fancy, I had loaded baked potato pringles. First done were the hot dogs. Then the teriaki chicken legs. The were subtle. (They taste more teriaki-y if you bake them.) I thought they were great. And I had corn on the cob with butter. Mmm! Then Josh did the zillion.5 pork steaks. I didn't have any, because he drenched them in barbecue sauce, and I'm not a fan. He also had a little pan of beans, but same story there. The kids were cheerful in the background, kicking their inflatable Jupiter (blame my brother for the inflatable solar system). I made a big punch bowl of bullfrog (hats of to telluride in Columbia) which I drank a LOT of, and we had beer and root beer and lemonade.

After we had all eaten our fill of barbecue (okay, maybe some of us re-visited it later), we made s'mores in the microwave. We were going to use kabob skewers and toast the marshmallows, but Josh forgot and put out the fire. Then we played Boggle. It was fun. I think I got second place. Boggle is the only game I can think of that I love, but am not especially good at.

I didn't really take any pictures. Too bad. The s'mores were funny. Our last guest got called in to work and left around 7:30pm. It was kinda weird to be done so early, but probably a good thing for the kids.

Grant and Abbie, speaking of the kids, are very adorably playing with Raggedy Ann and Andy. (They were my mother's.) At first, Ann and Andy were sick, and they were feeding them toast and medicine. Now they are putting them to bed over and over.

Ooo. That's a good point. It is time to my babies to bed, too. I had better do that.

I kinda want to go to the Ren. Faire tomorrow after practice, but Josh is baulking. *sniff*

Hope you have a wonderful evening! I know how to throw a party. Next time you should COME TO IT.

A Wedding [Invitation] Story

If we allow people to use ignorance as an excuse, what will motivate them to learn?

The following story is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Once upon a time, I got a wedding invitation. The names on the inner envelope were those of myself and my husband...uh...Joe. The wedding is for his cousin. Joe seems to think that our children...Gary and Amber..are also invited. However, they are not. This is not a question. Also not a question is the fact that no one we know is available to babysit on the day in question. Joe suggested that his family doesn't know about rules like that, and we should take the kids anyway, or at least call...Ginger..and ask if the kids can come, too. My response was that if we called, it would be the same as asking the kids to be invited, and that we would never get a negative answer, whether it was the true answer or not. And bringing uninvited guests to an event where the hostess is paying by the plate is reprehensible. I was forced to allow an unpleasant compromise: he is going to call another cousin and ask if she will be taking her children to the wedding. I still don't see how this will gain him any information. Perhaps this cousin doesn't mind interpreting the invitation incorrectly when it suits her preference. Or maybe her children were legitimately invited, but ours weren't. Well.

Anyway, this true story got me to thinking about people who really don't know how to read an invitation. Or write one. Josh...er...Joe might be right in saying that the girl's family doesn't know about these things. So...if you don't know the rules of a sport....shouldn't you refrain from playing it (at least until you've figured out what to do)? More importantly, though, if you don't know something, then you can't teach it to your children, can you? And if the parents don't have this knowledge, why is it not allowable to teach it in schools? I mean, they used to have classes in deportment and hygiene. Why do we not have any of that? I swear, if I ever get my hands on some lottery money, I'm going to establish an after school program to teach kids what is acceptable behavior in formal environments. All the ones who dream of becoming international ambassadors will surely sign up.... (Because there are tons of those these days...)

Anyway, I know from first-hand experience that dealing with people who don't know what to do about an invitation is irksome, so say the least. So, perhaps the etiquette of invitations, correspondence by letter (or computer) in business and personal matters, etc. would be an appropriate subject to be taught by schools. I can already hear the complaining parents, but you know I don't approve of that.

By the way, I've been thinking (DUCK!) and it certainly seems to me that this country is horribly classist. In fact, most people accused of racism, and more especially reverse racism, are actually just suffering from classism. I was in a linguistics class once and we were talking about "code switching" one time. A black man was talking about how he could speak like a white person, but when he visited his family this was discouraged. Even when his children would visit, the man was accused of bringing them up to be "too white" and eventually the whole family started to deliberately practice code switching so that they would be accepted in each environment as a native. Sounds like a case of racism, doesn't it. They even think that the problem here is race.

However. What's the difference between the vocabulary of the black ghetto kid and the white ghetto kid? Only one word that the white kid would get beat up for using, but not the black one. Otherwise...amazingly similar. And the trailer park kid? Would the black man's family be offended if his kids talked like that? No. It's the educated man, the successful man, that they find offensive. They resent anyone who talks like the man who went to college and thrived in business. Still, they associate that with race. To me, that is a little ridiculous, but that's how they were taught. They can hear the difference, but they learned to attribute it to the wrong cause.

Traditionally, the upper classes were obsessed with the past. Their lineage. The history of their families' impact on..well, everything, really. Preserving the past rituals. They had "old money" but were usually a little oblivious about maintaining it. They had no concept of change, or the future. If they ever lost their money and/or position, it was devastating.

The lower classes were equally obsessed, but with the present. Now! I must enjoy any small break, spend my money while I have it to spend, live for the moment! All right away. Restraining one's self was wasteful, because the opportunity for expression might never again arise! They used a lot of exclamation points!!!!

Then there was the middle class. Where do you think they were prone to live? That's right. In the future. The middle class loves a nest egg. Security. The middle class enjoys anticipation of the fun it will have in the future, while diligently preparing for it, and at the same time, trying to avoid any potential roadblocks.

But then something happened. The Celebrity. Suddenly, low class people were able, through the acquisition of heaps of money, to pretend they were upper class. They took their value system with them, though, and ostentatiously lived for the day. Sumptuously, flamboyantly, excessively. They embarrassed themselves, of course, but all it did was feed the public interest. And so, lines were blurred. Now, it seems, the most popular attitude is that of the lower class. Perhaps it has something to do with how much attention we pay them when they are elevated to financial greatness.

Personally, I think it takes a healthy blend of perspectives to live a balanced life, but what do I know. I am currently without peers of any kind.

Back to that invitation, though. How am I supposed to RSVP if I have to wait for the spy network to update me? Hmph.

It is a sunny day. Beautiful! My plants seem all to be surviving, and the laundry is cheerfully running. I am feeling pretty good. We all worked very hard last night, playing some very physical songs at taiko practice, so I took some cyclobenzaprine when I went to bed. I think it was probably a good choice. I think I avoided a day of pain. It's good for my back to get rest, and it's even better when it can rest while I do.

Barbeque tomorrow! You commin?

Roadblocks

I just navigated away from an advertizement that was saying, "My classmates and I have one thing in common...." because I was pretty sure the rest wasn't going to say, "...we all attend the same school!" and it's just too early to fight with an advertizement.

Anyone else read about the "blob" that researchers have discovered in the southwest? I was curious about how it is dripping, and yet was described as "cold matter". My question was not addressed. And neither was the one about the jobless rates. It would seem that new claims are decreasing in number, but old claims are increasing in number. Now, I'm no math major, but....

At least it was a break from all that yellow journalism. Pretty much all media sources out there right now ought to be ashamed. Did you read the one called, "Pro Baseball Player Makes Embarassing Mistake"? I read it. The runner didn't tag the base because he thought he felt something. He didn't sound embarassed at all. So really, it was the journalist who wanted him to be embarassed - was trying to embarass him! Ech! Don't get me started on journalists.

It's hard to catch people availible at this time of year. So, I considered it a moderate victory that so many of our acquaintence were free this weekend. I have been planning a barbeque for a while now, and Saturday was shaping up nicely. I asked Josh if he had plans, or if he wanted to make any plans, or if he wanted to NOT make plans, and then, when no opposition seemed likely, proposed the barbeque. He was happily making plans with me, when his mother called. While on the phone with her, he found out that he had forgotten his cousin was having a graduation party on Saturday. Suddenly, he was making scathing comments about me, and saying how no one would ever come all the way out to our house for any reason. When he got off the phone, I asked him why he was being so mean and angry, but all I got was an announcement that he wasn't. But he continued to fight with me about my not taking care of the calendar. You see, it is my fault that he forgot. I was angry, but I didn't feel like fighting, like I sometimes do. So I said it was fine. We wouldn't have a barbeque. "You now have no weekend plans. So, choose what you want to do." Okay, so it was a bit cold, but I wasn't doing any sort of volcano impersonation, so I was truly surprised when he asked what I was 'so mad' about.

It's pretty easy to tell why I'm mad. Especially if you happen to be married to me. Typically, Josh will come in and I will tell him exactly what I don't like, in an exasperated voice. If he then still asks me what I'm mad about, I go the, "I JUST TOLD YOU!" route. But really it's code for, "I don't see that I have done anything reprehensible, and refuse to acknowledge that I have caused pain, disappointment or inconvenience." Since I hadn't started this argument off with what I was having a problem with, I explained. Have you ever been arguing something with someone and you suddenly got the feeling that you weren't reading from the same script? Well, the argument that followed was one of those.

All else had failed, but as a female who was being attacked without provocation or desire to battle, I still had one option. I promptly broke into tears. He appologized later, of course, and admitted that he'd been mean, but by then I wasn't interested in talking about it. He decided that part of his apology was to have the barbeque.

I had to deal all evening with, "Are you mad at me? I'm sorry!" I ended up putting both children to bed. But I woke up about midnight with a terrible headache. At two, after writing emails to our friend Rob who is deployed in Afganistan, I went back to bed. I had nightmares that my poor tree was infested with these bugs as big as fingers that looked like crosses between sow bugs and centipedes, and that all my efforts to keep it from dying had been futile.

As expected, the kids have spent the day testing to see if the same rules apply as did before their vacation. I even walked by and caught the dog on Abbie's bed. The whole house knows that the only two articles of furniture that Jake is allowed on are the short couch and Grant's bed. But despite the fact that he was on board with the kids for their Holiday of Disobedience, Jake is insanely happy to have his little herd home. He is always very worried when we aren't where he left us.

The rain that was only forecasted for yesterday evening seems to like the area, and so has stayed.

And. My anniversary lottery ticket didn't win. I am heartbroken. There really is no justice in the world.

I finally saw the end of Trigun. That was fun. I've seen the end of Escaflowne, of course, but I had scheduled the last DVD to come at the same time as Trigun. Sadly, it has "Very Long Wait" next to its availibility status. At the same time, a series I recently discovered and was very excited about is suddenly no longer availible at all. Drat. I was going to get it next week, too. I requested something called Phoebe in Wonderland. If you've heard of it, tell me, but don't spoil it for me!

All those movie commercials! By the time you've seen the first commercial, you've already heard all the funniest lines, seen the best stunts....where's the fun in that? That is certainly one thing I don't miss about tv. Okay, well I hardly miss anything at all about tv.

I think I'm going to copy Into the Woods and Music Man for my brother. And maybe Sneakers. I brought The Rocketeer and Galaxy Quest for him when we visited. I don't think he would like V for Vendetta. He isn't a fan of melancholy or bittersweet endings.

Josh called a while ago and has asked his work buddies over on Saturday. Guess you can't get any more official than that. Wanna come over? We're grilling teriaki chicken legs and pork steaks. I think I might make a cake. And we're doing it either way, so you might as well drop by and have some. 1:00. See you there! ...I mean..here.

Seven

I just got home from Colorado yesterday evening. Mom didn't let me drive. The kids were nothing short of saintly, under the circumstances, which would be 2 whole days in the car, and two whole days back. Right about the time we got to Brother's new house, it started to rain. Brother has a great house! It has window seats in both guest rooms. I am pea green with envy. He also has a fantastic kitchen, which I am also hugely jealous of, and to make it worse, he has it organized completely wrong and won't let me fix it. But he did let me help him decide where to hang his pictures. We saw the Garden of the Gods during a brief break from the rain, and Brother took us to Einstein Brothers' bagels, and took me to the Star Trek movie. And we went up a drizzly Pike's Peak on the cog train. Then, we came home in torrential showers. But we had a great time!!! We sang lots. Maybe that's why my voice is completely gone.

Monday was my anniversary. I've been married for seven years. When I came home, Josh was melting chocolate and dipping strawberries in it, just for me. And he put nuts in the brownies, even though he doesn't like nuts in his brownies. (We'll ignore the fact that brownies are his favorite, but not mine. This is a true compromise.) He's a sweet boy, and I love him. Even though he admitted that the snacks were to distract me from the fact that he hadn't cleaned the house.

I wasn't able to go to taiko, but I'm excited about the fact that I can go on Thursdays now. I could use a little activity after all that riding in cars. They all did fun and cool stuff without me, and now I am anxious to catch up.

I'm having a rough time re-adjusting to our normal schedule. YAWN! I'm sure I had lots to say. Um....but what was it?

Wow. I think I'll get Abbie some goldfish crackers now. Hope you are having a good Wednesday!

I'm Poithonouth!

I never actually watched Johnny Bravo, but that was my brother's favorite episode.

I just sprayed a dangerous poison on my half dead tree, and since I was there, I also sprayed my little spruce, the four red bud twigs in the back yard (did I mention they have leaves?), and the two burning bushes that I finally planted in the front yard yesterday. After practice, I dug up all the tulips that I had lined across the front. For each one I planted, I dug up at least three. They seemed to be thriving. I wonder why they didn't bloom the last two springs? Well, they weren't doing much good to me as flower-less plants, so even if they don't survive the transplant, I'm not really much worse off. They now live on the much sunnier back of the house. And I put some in the little garden under the deck that did so well this spring. And, of course, the two burning bushes now live under Grant and Abbie's windows. Josh says that when they become teenagers, we will be planting bushes with thorns under the kids' windows. We didn't really think it would be the same house, but, now....

Did I mention that this weekend I'm going to visit my brother in Colorado? I've already started packing. Mom will drive here that morning and pick us up, we will spend one night in a hotel on the way. We can take the kids swimming. Then...Brother's new house.

Saturday was my taiko performance. The audience was tiny, but we did well. Slow, but well. I actually had a tiny bit of excitement in the first song. I was playing the woodblock, and it's very important on that song in particular. The performance area was more square than we're used to, and we didn't know quite where to put me so that I wouldn't get hit. The result was that the woodblock got moved several times. I ended up against the wall. It was fine with me, until about 10 seconds into the song, when I realized that at some point, I must have picked the woodblock up by the bolt that holds it on. How did I realize this? Well, I had a pretty good hint when it fell forward! I caught it before it fell completely off, and played most of the rest of the song with one hand holding the woodblock onto its stand, and the other playing it. Fortunately for me, there is a place in the song with a long enough pause for me to quickly give the bolt a good crank. No one could tell by listening that I had all this woodblock drama, so I consider it a save. We had an encore, which was fun. It's flattering, even when you know the only reason is that the group who was supposed to perform after you cancelled.

Saturday afternoon, we took a walk and played with out neighbors in their yard.

Isn't this weather beautiful? It's wonderful. I could easily take another month of it. But tomorrow it will be in the 80's. Summer. Well, I guess that's alright. If we had our favorites all the time, we wouldn't appreciate them as much. Le Petit Ecolier cookies, for example. It's quite possible that they would lose some of their appeal if I had them all the time. Maybe I should try it, just to make sure.

I'm very sore from the digging. There is a place between my neck and shoulder that bothers me, and one hip from when I used the big shovel. And my grass allergies were rough last night. I had rashes on my arms (I was clever and wore pants this time) and my sinuses are a little gummy today. It's a small price to pay, though, for getting a project done. Did I mention that Josh and the kids washed the new car and waxed it while I was digging my bulbs up?

Today, it's laundry, laundry, laundry. Tonight we're having some sort of frozen something and watermelon, and then off to Grant's last soccer practice of the season! I think tomorrow we're grilling teriaki chicken legs, and I might make that pudding pie for dessert. Sounds summery!

Time for you to write me a list of your favorite movies! I'm having the nostalgic desire to have a picnic at the park and then come to my house and watch movies. So...what are your favorites?

Well, me and Abbie have a date with a Highlights magazine! Have a happy day!

Things You Should Know (or are going to, like it or not):

My kids call june bugs junior bugs.

Laundry may be taking over my house (I ran out of detergent last week, and it was downhill from there), but the floor is vacuumed!

My hair needs something, but probably won't get it.

There is a mosquito living in the explorer. Very not fair. I have three new bites, and I'm on the look out for stray spiders. Heh, heh, heh.

In Abbie's world, guinea pigs say, "Oink".

Josh got an A in Java II. No idea about the other one, yet, but we got him 75/80 on his paper.

I am secretly furious that Josh allowed his mother to send Abbie home with Bratz dolls. The whole world knows I don't approve of them, and have been calling them "prosti-tots" for 6 years at least. But he's a Guy. Guys don't notice their kids' toys much.

Today, I will be giving all my money to the dentist, as Grant has an appointment after lunch today.

Grant is sailing away to have an adventure on an island today. There is a forest there, in case you want to hunt. Not sure he has grasped what occurs during hunting, but why burst his little 4-year-old bubble?

There is a cookie called Le Petit Ecolier (and here I am referring to the milk chocolate or the hazel nut) that might be the best store bought cookie in the history of the universe. Right now I have three of them in my kitchen, and I'm pretending that it's not taking my enitre will power to not go in there and scarf them up.

Abbie has finally accepted the loss of her favorite accessory - a Spiderman band-aid. She took the news hard, at first, but seems to have recovered.

When you're late, everything conspires against you. Carseats get tangled, there's magically NO GAS, gas cap won't come off, there are crazy, slow drivers going 10 mph below the speed limit in both lanes, you hit every light, your son falls down the second you get him where he's going and you have to search through the grass to find his lost toys...and there are random mosquitos in your mode of transportation.

I need to clean the bathrooms and shower. Or maybe I'll shower first and then clean them.

Rocky road ice cream is yummy. Otherwise, I'm very lukewarm about ice cream, even in the summertime.

It's Friday! Weee-hoooo!

The Glass

I was pretty little when my mother presented me with the concept of The Glass. I was definitely still in elementary school, but I don't know more than that. She described a glass on the table, I believe it had milk in it, that was filled half way, and asked if it were half full or half empty. Perhaps a visual aid would have been useful, because instead of betraying my optimist vs. pessimist personality, I sat and pondered the semantics of the question. Does "half a glass" convey the implication that it is half full (or half empty)? Plus, there is always the question of what the glass was before. Was it an empty glass, that has now become half full, or was it a full glass that has been emptied of half of its contents? Okay, so I didn't actually know words like "semantics" or "implication" when I was younger than 10, but you get the idea.

This may be very telling about my inner workings. Or not. Who knows?

I think I'm going to read Howl's moving castle again. I feel like reading, and I haven't read that one since I got it back from the neighbors. It's a good thing we don't have any nice bookstores around here, because I am secretly in the mood to buy books. Best not to be tempted. Or maybe I just need to make a trip to the library. Much less fun, but perhaps a livable compromise.

The weather today has promise. It's not a beautiful day. It's going to storm. The wind has picked up, and the clouds are coming, but they are white clouds, not black ones. If it weren't for the lightning I can see, I would never have suspected anything. I tried my best to put the chairs so that they won't blow away. I hope it was alright. If the burning bushes don't blow away, I'm going to plant them this weekend, and move the tulip bulbs to the other side of the house. You might notice that I had actually planned to do that yesterday, but my children decided that they had been outside enough for one week, and so I was outvoted.

Last night was taiko practice, too. I'm a little sore. Maybe I worked extra hard. I've been told that when I play, I look like I'm very unhappy to be there. Maybe I look like I'm pondering whether the glass is half full or half empty. When you are thinking about so many different limbs at once, it seems a little nit-picky to throw a smile onto the pile. On the other hand, who would want to watch someone scowl, even if they were doing something extremely cool. So, despite that I am not quite cool yet, I shall make an effort to not look annoyed while playing. Gee. I wonder what face I used to make when I was studying. 'Cause that really DID annoy me.

I have all the things to make delicious and summery pudding pies, but I can't. I have so many goodies from my mother and grandmother, that making another seems superfluous. So, when we are done eating the cake, and the pecan swirls, and the dozen St. Louis Bread Company bagels, and the little bags of cookies.....well, then I'll make the pie.

We are watching Nightmare Before Christmas right now, and waiting for the rain storm. It's a classic.

I am hoping that you all have a wonderful and happy Wednesday! Maybe we'll get hail!

Update from the couch on Tuesday

Abbie has her arms stuffed up my sleeve. I think Jake is having some kind of dream. Boy, did he snore last night, too! Grant is on the other side of Abbie, sharing the blanket. Today feels like a Monday, because we came back from Rolla yesterday afternoon.

We all left together, even Jake, on Sunday morning. I went to taiko practice, and my little family went to a few places by the river, and to Jack-in-the-Box to get French fries. After practice, I hopped in the car and we took 44 to Rolla. My grandmother and aunt were still there, and my cousin Mackenzie, too! It was great. And of course my Uncle Pete, who was to spend the night. He played with Grant's "Army guys" with Grant and Abbie, and Aunt Nancy watched Cinderella with Abbie, too. She and Gran had to leave pretty soon, but I was still excited that I got to see them at all. I thought they would probably be gone before I could make it. Mackenzie also left before dinner. Personally, I don't see how anyone could leave knowing that our family jambalaya was cooking, but that's just me. Dinner was great (obviously), and mom had made a fantastic cake. Mmm. After dinner, Dad got his guitar out. That reminds me, he wants me to learn a song that's on a CD in my basement. Must go get that....

Monday, Dad had to go to work. Mom made breakfast (though she is not particularly fond of mornings, and was DEFINITELY not fond of that one), and Abbie even ate all her egg. Josh got ready and ran off to Springfield to the place we bought the car. He had to apply for a new title. Me and Mom and Uncle Pete played all sorts of games with the kids: songs on the piano, book reading, cars, baseball....it was fun.

When Josh came back, we headed to lunch with our buddy, Chris Westerhold. Then, we all parted ways. Mom took Uncle Pete to the Amtrak in St. Louis, by way of whatever fun stuff they felt like doing. We came home and rested a few short hours before soccer. I wasn't sure I was going to stay awake. Our neighbors popped in, and that helped a little, but I suspect my sentences were starting to make very little sense by the time we piled into the car.

Next week is Grant's last soccer day. I must say, it has been very fun for everyone. Josh says all the kids are getting very good. Grant is also going to take swimming lessons this summer (with any luck) and next summer, he has already requested baseball.

You know...I stopped swimming lessons when I flunked diving. If I remember rightly, I didn't want to NOT look at where I was heading. Not so good when diving, they say.

Today I am tired and sore, but reasonably cheerful. I hear that tomorrow will be rainy, so I might, despite the tired and sore thing, be replanting my tulip bulbs today and plant my burning bushes. Yikes! That's a lot of digging in my awful clay. We will see how it turns out.

Josh still claims that when we win the lottery we are going to live on Lake St. Louis. He appeals to my love of row boats, and sees it as the weakness that will allow for his victory. I know all his tricks, however. He also wants to do a "float trip" this summer, with no kids. That doesn't sound fun to me, though. I don't dig sitting on a floating raft surrounded by crude drunks who urinate in the water and then go swimming. I used to like canoeing as a child, when those people were rare, but now...I can't think of many places I would be so keen to avoid as a river in summer.

Grant has a dentist appointment Friday, and I have a performance on Saturday. I think it's open to the public, if you are free and looking for something to do!

My Mama Gran

Yesterday was my Grandmother's 60th wedding anniversary. My grandfather missed celebrating it with her by 5 months. I only just realized that she is now my one remaining grandparent. It sounds lonely. My mother sent her some flowers, and I sent her a rose. My uncle is still visiting, and was careful to keep her very busy yesterday. The result was that she didn't actually receive any of the flowers until today. I just got a call from her.

The conversation turned to pictures. She has requested not to be in any. She says it's harder to think of herself looking like she did in the 40's when she is staring at a picture of a wrinkled old lady. I reminded her that if she comes across the picture of her rowing the boat during her Senior trip (high school) that I want a copy. That reminded her that she had, in an old book of my grandfather's, come across a picture of him that he had given her when they were dating. She had received two at the same time, one of him in his bomber jacket, and one of him in civilian clothes, but his Air Force cap and a pipe. On the back he had written, "Women trust a man who smokes a pipe." Isn't he funny? But now she is on a quest to find the other picture, the one in the jacket, so she can give it to my brother, who is now the owner of said jacket. We laughed for a while about her suitcases full of photos (apple doesn't fall far from the tree...or would I be a grand-apple?) and then she told me some good news! Once, when he was younger, my grandfather was at a dinner for Charles Lindberg, and he kept the menu. We (my grandmother and my mother and I) spend lots of time in her attic looking for it, with no success. But recently, while looking for this other picture, she found the menu in the bottom of a box of letters that my grandfather had sent to his own mother during the war. Now she can have it framed as she had always planned to. And she says she plans to spend this winter sorting pictures.

I kind of wish I could, too. At least join her for a few days. I can see us building a fire in the fireplace and making a pot of tea...or maybe just the kettle, as she drinks coffee. We would sit on the floor in our sweaters and go through stacks of pictures, and I could bring her some gallon zip lock bags to label with dates and names and we would cook... But what would my children be doing, all the meanwhile? Daydream over.

Maybe I will start a book today. Do I seem like I need to read a book to you?

I don't know when I missed a call from Josh today, but when I called him back I didn't get an answer, and still haven't heard from him. Hope that isn't a bad sign.

I don't know what this weekend will be like. Josh says we have plans. ??? This either means that his mother invited me or all of us somewhere and he has yet to tell me the details, or he has an invitation from someone like Chris or Johnny and he's going to act like it is a family event, but I will likely end up staying home to watch the kids. But I won't know until I get a hold of Josh.

Abbie is beating two linking logs on the ground saying, "I wanna taiko drum."

Today, if I won the lottery,

Well, maybe I'd better just go and take care of my kids.

The NOT Tuesday

Well, Josh and I are finished with his paper. With any luck, he's turned it in already. The first thing I said to him was, "I'm NOT writing this paper for you." But he knows I can't resist trying to rescue an ugly sentence. So, it starts out with, "It's not professional to state an opinion as if it is a fact. Add 'in my opinion' or something," and ends with him calling today (yes, the day the paper is DUE) and my dictating entire paragraphs to him. I am such a sucker.

Here is the latest scene from my living room:

(Curtain opens on Grant and Abbie next to a pile of blankets.)

Abbie: (Fake crying) I'm sad.
Grant: Are you alright, Abbie? You want a hug?
Abbie: Yeah, I'm sad. My snowman broke.
Grant: (Hugging Abbie) Oh, that's alright, Abbie! It wasn't really a snowman. It was just a mountain, and now we can play in it.

(They jump into blankets.)

Grant and Abbie: Jump! Jump!!

(Curtain closes on pile of blankets with 4 feet poking out.)

Yesterday......was awful, beginning to end. We will gloss over me going home in disgrace by just saying that though I've behaved worse once or twice in my adult life, the apologies I wrote last evening were well earned. Those of you who knew me in my fiery youth will be relieved that I didn't have a lapse of temper or anything. No violence or scenes or sharpening my tongue on whomsoever was in range. Just poor judgement stubbornly executed.

Funny thing. I was so busy being ashamed of myself, I forgot to hate and despise Josh.

My favorite thing about today is that it is no longer yesterday. It was gloomy most of the day. Both kids took naps, which is not usual. I watched Trigun. Then when they woke up we watched WALL-E. At dinner, the sun was starting to come out, and, being solar powered, I was improving. (That, and I took a bunch of motrin for the huge headache I had.) Grant said he wanted a chicken pot pie for lunch and Abbie wanted pizza. Fortunately, I had both.

This morning we had the crayons out. Grant did a great job of drawing a very recognizable picture of a toy he has, but he didn't write any letters today, unless you count that I talked him through writing his name across the top of the picture. Right now I'm giggling because he and Abbie are both singing songs from Into The Woods.

I suspect it will be a long evening, what with the naps, and all. Why did it not occur to me to take one, myself? Well, I probably would have watched Trigun even if I had thought of it. But here it is, rapidly approaching bedtime, and not a droopy eye to be seen, except for mine, possibly.

So, I hear that swine flu will likely re-emerge next year and that the government is salivating at the thought of making money off pot smokers. Fantastic. And how are you?

Angry Vent - Look Out!

I don't like entertaining uninvited guests at 8am while I'm in sweats with holey knees. Especially when they get all comfy and stay for an hour. And when they bring their child, who proceeds to trash both my childrens' rooms AND my living room AND my kitchen. That's 85% of the house! I want to play outside later, but now I'm not looking forward to their being out as well. It's bringing out my grumpy side, and though I've been master of it so far, there is no telling what may occur if I'm pushed any further. I feel lava rising. Oh, and as for the reason this child is home and not at day care in the first place? Swelling and rashes unexplained by the doctors, and potentially contagious. Great time to go visiting a house with small children, don't you think? Too sick for the kids at school to be around you, but you're happy to bring pestilence to Grant and Abbie.

Angry.

I also don't like being informed that I am going to take my children to Josh's parents' house because Josh has something else to do. If he wants to make plans, shouldn't HE be making arrangements for his other responsibilities to be covered in his absence? And I have no clue why he keeps using his mom as a last minute babysitter. She never offers. His dad hates children and spends the whole time turning the volume on the tv up to drown them out. Plus, they NEVER honor my wishes for not showing the kids shows I don't approve of. Plus, plus, they just pawn them off on Mariah and don't actually watch them at all.

And why is this my problem, again? When I need to go to practice on a Thursday I take them over. So why, when it's his turn, am I STILL doing it? It wasn't my idea. He never even asked me. He just told me YESTERDAY that he won't be here for dinner, and I am left to assume from past experience that it is now part of my job to drop the kids off on my way to practice. I am damned regardless.

And then there is the part where this meeting is something we talked about, I said I wasn't willing to go out of my way for, he agreed not to do, and changed his mind.

ANGRY, ANGRY, ANGRY!

In other news, Grant woke up an a terrible mood, and has been horrible to everyone all day long. Tylar wrote that he plans to have a good day. Sadly, I cannot join him in that sentiment. I'm just trying to make it through without explosion.

Clunk

I think I have multiple insect bites.

Right now I am on the couch watching Alton Brown. In our house, Alton Brown is one step shy of deity. In fact, all peace is gone from my kitchen because of him. I frequently hear, "Are you making that the way Alton Brown does? I have that episode. Do you want me to put it on?" Recently, we found some episodes of his on sale, and since he's usually so very overpriced, I decided to submit to more of the afore-mentioned criticism by allowing Josh to buy the DVD. Currently, we are exploring the possibilities of cooking with honey.

We just finished having some cheesecake. I had actually bought the cheesecake to offer my guests today, but I sort of forgot about it when I was setting out doughnuts for them. My mother, her brother, Pete, and my wonderful grandmother all came to see me this morning. When I woke up this morning, I was pretty cranky. (I tried to sleep on the couch, but it didn't work out the way I'd hoped.) But after I got busy cleaning I felt better, and was fine after a nice, hot shower. I made some tea and set out the doughnuts and some other snacks (forgetting the cheesecake). They really didn't end up taking much. In fact, they came loaded down with offerings: chocolate, Teddy Grahms, chips, strawberries, toys for the children, a dress for Abbie... The visit seemed short, but we all enjoyed it. Abbie spent most of the time on Uncle Pete's lap.

Now that the visit has come and gone, the rest of my week is an enormous anti-climax. My brain really isn't prepared for it to exist at all. I think I am making a "dinner in a bag" tomorrow before taiko, and that is the extent of my week planning.

Friday, we had a great time being completely lost on Kingshighway in St. Louis. Josh took the day off work and went to a job fair in the morning. It was a big disappointment. So then we hopped in the car, with the intention of spending the gloomy day at the Science Center. After being lost for a half hour, we gave up and went to the arch, which turned out to be great. We hadn't been since before Abbie was born, so we all had a great time. We walked by the river, had dinner out....it was great.

Saturday was Austin's first communion. Only Josh was invited to the actual mass, but the rest of us went to the party at Sarah's house. Josh's mom was decorating so much that Sarah's husband was starting to loose his temper. Mariah is the clique-ish type. She ran off with Sydney the whole time, and didn't play with my kids. They didn't mind, and neither did I. I hope it doesn't keep up, though. Eventually my kids are bound to notice, and I feel disloyal telling them that their aunt prefers others to them, even if I can add that it's her personality defect, not ours.

Grant actually had soccer tonight. We were getting our shoes on, and Abbie came running down the hall, tripped and fell into the doorway. She got a huge welt right away, She wouldn't let us put ice on it, but I hopped up and got her some chewable Tylenol and a WALL-E band-aid. On the way to soccer, she fell asleep. I don't know anything about concussions, but I knew I was stuck in the front seat and wouldn't be able to check her pupils until we got there and woke her up. I know something about myself now. In an emergency, I need a task.

She played lots at the park and even when we got home. She is just fine.

Well, now Grant is pitching tired fits, so I guess we need to to the bedtime thing. I wish you all good sleep. Be well.