There are starving children somewhere

But they're sure as heck not going to be part of the group that's going on the Boo overnight school/camping trip tomorrow. I was put in charge of food (a sketchy proposition at best) and instructed to buy enough food for "40 people - 3 meals". I think i instead bought enough crap for "100 people - 3 orgy-level feasts"... Ah well. I have no doubt that I will be able to find homes for whatever is left over. Fifty-thousand tiny bags of vine-grown cherry tomatoes?? Anyone???

Love.

Can I just say.... i LOVE my friends. I woke up today unbelivably cranky and thanks to a series of extraordinary interactions with my nearest/dearest I am now fine. I am calm. i am happy. I feel cherished/cute. And while I find it a little scary what a couple of really good buddies can accomplish in a single day mood-wise, I'm not compainin' :-]

I am so unbelievably tired!

And I'm not even sure why... I did pick the big girl up early today and we caroused a bit before heading home on the train but still.... It seems as though I should be a little more well-rested given my not-even-close-to-finding-a-job state.

Anyhoo, week-end promises to be grand/stressful. It's Pretty Boy's birthday and he's having a little get-together which I'm sure will include his new galpal so... on the one hand I HAVE to go if only to size her up and on the other, given the state of the bridge and my two point five hours of alloted/scheduled kid-watch coverage, by the time I get there, gladhand my way around the room, grab a beer and find a good spot in which to observe... I'll have to be heading home. Ah well.... There are people with worse problems than my petty little jelousies so I'll not continue dwelling on it. Then Sundee we're (Me, the CP, Boo and Spark) going to attend a "kids in the park" extravaganza hosted by the Boo's afterschool program which I'm sure will be swell just.... Well, I could just probably think of about a hundred more amusing ways to spend a morning. Blah. I think my tiredness is making me grumpy. I'm gonna stop writing this nonsense and see if I can find more productive ways to spend the remaining hours before I can legally tuck the children in. :-]

Yes!!

Had my check-in with my diss commitee chair today (I finally sent my draft proposal to the committee on Friday) she thinks it's in good enough shape that we might be able to do the Qualifying exam stuff this summer so we can have my proposal defense at the beginning of the Fall Semester which would give me all year to write which could mean (hold your breath folks) that I'd be graduating in May 2008! {breathe.....} o.K. I'm fine just needed a moment to let it all sink in.....

Whoo Hoo!

Now then. In other kinds of cool news, I just found out that one of the moms I invited to the Spark's birthday is a prof over at Ber-zerkly where she specializes in Cultural Antropology and Enthnography! I know! What a teensy weensy little world it is (and thank god i didn't stash all my school books or else she never would have known I was anything more than just an insanely cool parent with a great sense of style and a hell of a lot of good looking friends! ;-]

Happy Birthday SPARK!!!!

I love you more than it's possible to express using only the 26 letters I know. thanks for being a part of our family and thanks for being born! Yay!

Whew. Just finished cleaning up after Spark's B-day shin-dig (not that there was all that much to do since the Angel-family/the Bees did so much post-gathering tidying -- I swear, i know you all know this but if we lived in Utah I would do everything in my power to somehow become wed to the whole beautiful bunch of you! Exept the babies. them I'd co-adopt!) Thanks to everyone who came. I was feeling all claustrophobic and cut off from the world-ish (just a little bit) so it was nice to be reminded that I can still persuade all the fabulous people in the world to come over and help us eat through the world's largest sheetcake! (At least the Spark can which is good enough for me...!)

Breathe...

K. So turned in ROUGH first draft of my diss proposal. I'm meeting with Professor Cute to discuss it on Monday. Had THE INTERVIEW on Friday. It went well, I think. it's just so hard to tell these days. I mean the PBK peeps LOVED me and...gave the job to someone else. (Of course they did say they'd already promised it and this particular rejection may just turn out to be a blessing because, honestly, I would MUCH rather work at this place but.... we'll see what they say. {please, please, please, please.....}

In other news, House is mostly clean (still cluttered as hell but significantly less so) in preparation for the world's coolest about-to-be-four-year-old's birthday party tomorrow; stuff is bought; cupcakes/goodie-bags are being assembled as. we. speak. and all is right with the world. Did I already mention the theme: "balls, bubbles and balloons!" I know! I'd take credit for it if I could get away with it but honestly, I'm just not that creative. Yay! This party is going to be so much fun I may just explode!

I just got an e-mail from my committee chair asking how my proposal is coming along since we're "getting near the end of the semester." crap.

This week was nice.

Relaxing. I got stood up by just about everybody (and in turn did some standing up of my own -- sorry BBQ! I suck.) but no worries. The life as it currently flows is mellow....

Spent some time planning the soon-to-be-4-year-olds' birthday party. The "theme" is "Lighter Than Air" and was thought up by the Big Girl, thank you very much! It's all about balls and bubbles and hot air balloons. Very fun to plan around actually. Heard from Pretty Boy which was weird and unexpected (especially since me and BBQ were JUST discussing him the day before) but sweet -- he's doing well. Got himself a steady. She sounds promising/nice. Miss Tail also has a little sumptin'-sumptin' going on which she's being all cute and shy about but which I really hopes works out since he sounds really nice and she could really deserves someone really nice in her life. I met the CP for lunch today which went surprising well in that we acted like we were/are friends and just kind of discussed stuff. nice. Also unexpected but again, fits the current mood so s'all good... O.K. I'm feeling like i want to go curl up with a book and a glass of wine right about now so I will leave all you fine beauties to your evening and go see what I have laying about the kitchen that hasn't reverted back to Draino.....

So close...

And yet... So they gave the PBK (That's what all the cool kids call it!) website management gig to someone else. Funny though because they still asked me to come back in today to meet some guy about a different job which, it turns out, I'M COMPLTELY UNQUALIFIED TO DO -- IT management for the individual stores or something like that. I mean sure I went but only after I explained to the sweet HR lady that the job as she'd described it was COMPLETELY outside my skillset. She was just so gosh darn sweet though and she (and J., the lady who I originally interviewed with) really wanted me to come in anyway... Plus I did have the "second interview outfit" lined up... So, I went. Very awkward. Pretty much a study in me apologizing repeatedly for being in no way "a fit for the position" and him agreeing in the nicest possible way but still asking interview-like questions: "So, where do you see yourself in five years?" "What is it you're looking to do?" Weird. At least we both thought it was funny/cute strange instead of weird/annoying strange...

In other news, had a v. brief phone interview with a very cool lady at "the other prospect" which went well enough that I get to come in next Friday to chat "with everybody" so... we'll see. I'm still kind of freaking out about getting my dissertation proposal written so while, admittedly, I'd be really super-pysched to get this position I'm also having a hard time fixating on it like I usually do when I job-hunt. I did do a ton of research though and am firmly convinced that this company has got to be doing one of the coolest things EVER communication-wise.

Week-end BTW was fab. Super-packed with stuff to do/kids to share but really just nicely great. Sunday was especially special cause I got to hang out in the boondocks with the cute girl I like discussing pastry and watching used-to-be-people eat/slice/dream each other up which, really, if it isn't already the definition of fun it should be! Although I did have to bribe a few children/cats into sleeping with me that night and I may or may not have needed to have the light on but really... I'm much better now, thanks for asking!

Two things...

1) I clean up well! Seriously, the suit, the shoes, the leather portfolio with ONE single sheet of paper in it...! Hell, I'd hire me for just about anything (except maybe head teacher in a daycare -- I'd hire me for anything that doesn't involve affecting the future outcomes of impressionable little people!)

2) interview went (IMHO) well. Cute that by the end of it me and my new best friend the VP were commiserating over the fact that (sadly) they'd just made an offer to someone else but since she likes me better/feels I'd be a much better "fit" she's going to bring me back on Monday anyway to talk to *her* boss. {smile} I swear. Straight girls are sooooo easy.

One down...

K. so aced the "phone interview" part of today's job search proceedings. Natch. So tomorrow morning I get to meet the VP of Pottery Barn kids eCommerce division. Cross your fingers folks, I've got the clothes, I just don't know if i'm "thin"/blonde enough for them...! [kidding!] :-]

O.K. now THIS is funny...

So, I have this friend see, and he lives in Texas and, thing is, apparently Texas is not enough of a STATE to keep him occupied mentally, I mean... plus he's already hooked up with the cowboy-boot wearin' love of his life so no drama there, so thing is, he decides, pretty much out of the blue that he's gonna turn ME into some sort of PROJECT or something so he postes an AD on craigslist with a picture of me (which I've since made him take the hell down so no link. sorry.) saying that I'm seeking a boyfriend or a girlfriend but that I'm MARRIED so this has to be a super-discreet/part-time/no strings thing -- then he collects all these e-mails from folks/losers and sifts through them and ultimately ends up forwarding me three really very cool sounding introductions/propositions (one girl, two boys) and... well. I'm kind of at a loss. I mean, I'm pissed off at him right? How the hell dare he and what was he thinking and all of that but on the other hand.... Am I insane to even be considering going through with this charade and maybe contacting these nice folks who really do seem to be looking for the same thing I am??????

See the thing about NYG is I get that he's in no way anything near anybody who might ever actually "work" in my life but, Jesus-Gawd! Why is it that I cannot be within three feet of him without needing to touch him/have him touch me/proposition him/[please, please, please!] have him proposition me?? It helps not even a little bit that the only time I see him these days is when we're both with our kids. Anyway... (Sorry, he just called to see if his kid had left her sweater over here and our conversation -- printed in it's entirety below -- has left me crazed with lust/pathetic)

Him: Hey.
Me: {dying}Hey!
Him:Hey. The Rock Star can't find her sweater. Did we leave it over there?
Me:Um... {snapping into "mom" mode -- looking around} I don't see it but I'll call you if it turns up o.k.?
Him: {possibly unintentional but I SWEAR his voice gets a few notches more growly-honey-caked}K. So... I'll call you about Wednesday o.k.? [referring to the fact that i couldn't keep my hands off his chest when i saw him this week-end and when he laughingly asked if he could have similar access, I suggested he come over some Wednesday night so we could discuss it...]
Me:{gulp} Uh... heh. o.k. that would be cool.
Him: {laughing} Yeah, we could hang out. Maybe go get some food.
Me: {picturing us indulging in most of the major sins} uh...o.k. uh, whatever. Food sounds good. [Seriously!]
Him: {laughing again} k. bye.
Me: bye. {smacking head repeatedly against receiver} Stupid. stupid. stupid. stupid.

Really. there is something seriously wrong with me.

Ah....

Man, for someone who is supposed to be out-of-work, I sure as hell did alot of running around today. First, I dropped off the kids at their respective schools, then I went to the first of two doctor's appointments, stopped by a "nice" clothing store to see if I could find an interview outfit that isn't completely embarrassing (I mean in a "not good embarrassing" kind of way...), had a coffee at some blindingly cool coffee shop ("Sacred Grounds" or something like that) where everyone was facing the same direction and taping away on their little MacBooks (and where I was completely floored by the fact that there was a jacket-shirt-thing draped over the chair next to me that smelled EXACTLY like my EX!!! I know! I stretched out that single cup of coffee for more than an hour waiting for it to be claimed but noone came. Damn. I kinda wanted to steal it and bring it home to snuggle with but I realized that that sort of behavior may be simply considered "wrong" if you're gainfully employed but if you're basically out on the streets it segues into "weirdly creepy/a misdemeanor" so I left it be.) on to the the SECOND of my doctor's appointments then lunch, then home to fold/put away the laundry, then off to pick up the kid, then supper making and now typing. God. I'm exhausted! Tell me, does this whole unemployed thing get easier...?

Alright already!

I have finally accepted the fact that my cats will drink out of the toilet and that's just the way it has to be! (This on the heels of busting yet another glass kitty-water dish because it's on the floor in the kitchen and stuff in my kitchen tends to fall, ineveitably shattering the glass -- because the kittys prefer glass. Don't think I haven't tried plastic! -- allowing the water to cascade freely across the linoleum as I try to go about getting dinner ready.) {sigh} C'est la vie. They like the toilet water better anyway....

Plus I got a "make-out" date out of it all which is just PURE BONUS!

Best day EVER!

Gosh. I just got back from spending the best day EVER with my wonderful children, my wonderful friends and THIER wonderful children all running around doing easter egg hunt type of activities at the best playpark/area imaginable! Ah..... Now this is what the life should be like. :-]

Done!

Yes!! {sigh} Let the living officially commence.

this from Kitty Power

"Despite my evil boss and being overworked and grossly underpaid, I liked my job and most of the people there. It makes me sad to have that suddenly taken away from me, but I'm not really worried about landing on my feet. It's weird being home during the day. I've working more or less straight for the past 10 years, so I almost don't know what do with myself without a job, even if part of me just wants to fucking relax and write like I never have time fo rand collect unemployment for a minute. Instead, I've been applying and doing interviews and thinking about where to apply. I don't think I know how to relax sometimes."

Christ. Is it possible I love her so much because she's actually my separated-at-birth-twin????

Happy B-Day (a tiny bit late) Travelin' Man!

You are a joy to behold and I LOVE being soooooo part of the "inner circle" that I get to attend your uber-swanki-pants pizza parties if only because if gives me YET another reason to feast on the adorableness that is you! (and your girl! And your new crank-to-recharge-FLASHLIGHT -- what was the make of that, btw...???)

Crossing over

I am officially a lush. Well, not really since this is the first time I think in my LIFE that I've had a craving for a nice glass of zinfandel INSTEAD of supper but considering that my supper was going to consist of that old favorite N&G.... well, let's just say I hope Zin&nothing doesn't become my new "stand-by!" ;-]

{sigh} Today was hard. transitioning sucks. It especially sucks when the two (that's right folks -- it apparently takes TWO people to do my job!) would-be surrogate 'rents to my lovely Web Dev team are both going all deer-in-the-headlights-tell-me-what-to-do! on me when... well, frankly, wasn't that the reason I was being asked to exit stage left? Because my philosophy/ideas/management style SUCKED?????! Well. On one level it is nice to have it made clear that not everyone (aka NOONE except psycho-boss-lady) thought I was completely incompetent. On the other though, there's only so much vindication a gal needs before it all just sort of becomes gratuitous.

Ah well. C'est la vie.

In other (sort of related news) I love Mistah L-L (in a "purely-platonic-albeit-maybe-not-if-he-was-a girl-but-still-honestly-even-then-I'd-probably-rather-smooch-his-super-hot-wife" kind of way). He is waaaay looking out for me/got my back right now and I think that is just so awesome I may cry! thanks, Man...!{sniff} For this, I may actually allow you to see the GodChild (but only for a minute -- there are other people in line you know!)

Lastly, I just have to say this week-end was GREAT!

Hang with good friend/good friend's kids -- check!

Host sleep-over for super cool big girl friend of my big girl -- check!

Meet grown-up, super cute girl for brunch/dee-licious Blood Orange Mimosa action -- check!

Wind it all up with restful afternoon walk-about with children to nowhere in particular winding up in a nice sunny patch of grass watching 3.5 year old "play" a scrap of tree bark like nobodies biddness (seriously, I dont' know where that kid comes by her drumming talent but my GOD -- where is Prince when you actually need him to discover somebody??

None of which drove me to drink, I might add. One day back in that hellhole and I'm craving the scotch. Oy vey...

comments!

Whoa! and now they're back! Again, I say - weird. Anyway. One week of hell down. Only one more (modified) week to go before I am FREE! {insert manaical laughter here}...

Eeeek!

"Comments" are gone!! Or, I should say "comments are erased!" Wierd. Ah well... probably for the best. :-]

Monday

I had a psuedo root canal in preparation for a crown on one of my molars monday. I also gave 2 weeks notice at my work. Guess which one I enjoyed more? ;-]

No, no... I'm good...

God I'm tired though. For those of you who care, Spring came (and thankfully is leaving) early this year. I just have to say, i'm ALL about "communication." i think it's a great thing -- highly underused, etc., etc. but sheesh... at what point does a "discussion" turn into a "re-hashing/beating of a whole pack of dead horses" and why (dear God) am i seemingly so irresistable to crazy folks???? Just kidding. For the record, I do not think May is crazy. I think May is nice. I think she is smart, and cute and that she has REAL potential say in Day Trading or any other occupation requiring extreme focus on the "trees" instead of the "forest".... Still. I'm tired. I wish she'd go home. i wish DB was the sort of boyfriend who would step the hell up and stop his girlfriend from harrassing me (again KIDDING! Only, not really....) Blah. Whatever. I'm sooooo ready for the week-end....

UNCLE!

O.K. I just have to say. My ENTIRE life does not suck. In fact HUGE swaths of it are A-O-K! For instance, there is a 3.5 year old sitting at a very tall table waiting patiently for her din-din in my livingroom and I just heard her murmur (very sotto voice, as if genuinely concerned -- presumably to her teddy perched beside her on the couch) "Hmmm. I wonder where my supper is?" I KNOW! Cute! Then I brought her her supper and she threw her hands in the air and yelled "Whoo Hoo!" No. There are key parts of my life that do not suck. i, however have a headache so forgive me if I dwell on the crappy bits for just a second.

Work sucks. It just does. I don't believe a single word that comes out of my boss's mouth plus every time I see her disappear to lunch with someone, an inadvertant tic develops just above my right eye due to the sheer random-ness of the decisons that inevitably arise from those "off-site" conversations. Plus my sweety-sweet Web Designer is leaving to pursue "other options" (presumably those that PAY) and I'll miss her. I've gone ahead and explained to her that in order to continue surviving the life she's left us to, i'm going to need to slug her in the arm every time she walks by but she still looked a bit taken aback the first few times my fist actually made contact. Ah well. Live and learn.

The private life isn't doing much better. It WAS doing better. It WAS doing GREAT! I had a very fun pseudo-date-like outing -- I'd throw some more euphemisms in there but I can't think of any others right this second -- with a super-sweet, cute, smart girl who I might actually get to hang out with again relatively soon (which is nice if a little odd considering that she actually knows me quite well and has still agreed to commit an entire other evening to my ramblings!) and was JUST starting to think my social life might actually be evolving into something that resembles something "real" people do but then... circa 3am... this conversation brought to us by the fun folks in that great state of Texas!

Her: Hey.
Me: Mmph? Who is this?
Her: It's [name changed to protect the deranged] May.
Me: Um. O.k. Why are you calling me at 3am?
Her: It's 5 here.
Me: Excuse me??!
Her: It's 5 here.
Me: {silence. fuming. hate. Let's remember, folks. It's not like I get alot of sleep...!}
Me: {with great self-control} Why are you calling me at 5am YOUR time?
Her: I was thinking about what you said.
Me: When?
Her: About me. About us.
Me: Which part?
Her: When you said it didn't make sense.
Me: It doesn't.
Her: Why not?
Me: You're 10. I could be your grandmother. You live in the middle of the country. I cheated on you with your boyfriend. Your DAD has the hots for me! I don't have the time or the energy or the therapist required to do this and i especially don't have them right now -- at 3 O'CLOCK IN THE GODDAMN MORNING!
Her: Your time.
Me: Aaarrrrrrggggg! {hang up phone. sit staring at it waiting for...}
{ring}
Her: Anyway, I'm gonna be out there on Tuesday. We should hook up.
Me: ...??!
Her: You know, figure stuff out.
Me: No!
Her: How come?
Me: I don't want to "figure stuff out". i don't want to see you. I'm sorry this is so hard for you but seriously, I'm done. [Note: for those of you who think I'm being harsh, please note if i really thought any of this had a chance in hell of being heard/understood/applied to anyone's self-assessment I would have phrased things a bit differently. Honest.]
Her: O.K. well my plane gets in at 9 [that's pm, folks] I'll come by after....{click}
Me: {sigh}

Then there's girl number two on the previous list of potential hang-outs

Her: Hey.
Me: hi!
Her: So, I was thinking about what you said [why, dear God, do my conversations with girls always start this way????]
Me: Yeah?
Her: I don't know if us hanging out is such a good idea.
Me: Oh. [a bit taken aback because 1) I was kind of just being nice when I suggested hang-age, 2) she's STRAIGHT and 3) Did I mention she's STRAIGHT??] uh... o.k.
Her: I mean, nothing personal, I'm just thinking I'm really busy right now and I don't want to get into this whole big thing, if....
Me: {?????} Uh....
Her: I mean, it'd be nice to get together I just don't know when we could given my schedule and yours...
Me: Uh, I'm pretty open...
Her: Oh. Well. Maybe we could. I dunno.
Me: Uh. O.K.
Her: Well. What about during the week. Maybe tomorrow [Tuesday]
Me: Uh.... I think I might be busy tomorrow night, but....
Her: ...
Her: O.K. Whatever. I'll call you {click}

Seriously.

Because I'm lame...

I was originally doing a google search on an ex-boyfriend of mine but then switched to searching for myself and viola -- An article about me I don't even remember doing!

that's it...!

O.K. so they take 32% of my paycheck -- I can live with that. They cut/eliminate funding for my remaining year(s) in grad school -- not happy-making but I'm a big girl, I'll deal... but THIS???! Moving Daylight Savings time AHEAD THREE WEEKS???? What the hell were they thinking? "It's already gotta be the most reviled day EVER; Let's just push it up a bit! That's make folks stop focusing on the war..."

Idiots.

Luckily, my annual DST-inspired-6-month-long-bad-mood is being mitigated by the fact that I have made plans to hang out with not one but two extremely attractive lady-people and while neither of them is likely to "invite me into intimacies" anytime soon (read: not in this lifetime, although you never know. I do have a new "Get Lucky" shirt! ;-]) it still feels super neat to know that I can go out with a grown-up person who can carry a conversation, is nice to look at and who understands my desire to get back to the kids before they figure out just how much better than me the babysitter actually is...!

Just a little tender

I just got back from the dentist where I had the left side of my mouth "root-planed and deep-cleaned." Needless to say, the teeth on that side are feeling a little... overstimulated right now!

I like the way my kid thinks...

Conversation in the car this morning:
{snip}
Boo: [staring moodily out the window] I don't like it when a movie ends and the bad guy gets a reward.
Me: You mean, the bad guy gets away? they're not punished?
Boo: Yeah.
Me: [thinking a minute] Hm. I can't remember the last time a I saw a movie like that. Where the bad guy wins.
Boo: Well, they become nice. Then something good happens to them.
Me: Oh! So you want them to stay bad?
Boo: [slight smile] Yeah.
Me: You want them to stay bad and then get punished?
Boo: [big smile] Yeah. They should stay bad and get punished. otherwise it's not fair.
Me: [nodding] Yeah. That makes sense.
{/snip}

Seriously, who's raising this person???

I got an e-mail in my school account that basically said "Study Abroad this summer!" and provided all this contact info. i am remarking of this because I did not instantly delete it. It's still sitting there in my in-box. AS IF I might choose to "go abroad this summer!" and might need it for reference. As IF "going abroad" were ANY sort of option AT ALL in my current life...! God, I'm wierd.

Weasles...?

O.K., I love my dad. Don't get me wrong. Sure he skipped out on us when I was three but he eventually showed back up (12 years later) and he did give me some pretty choice chromosomes (what, You think this fabulous facade was painted on???) plus he's got a nice boat so... I am ready to admit under oath that he IS my babies only grand-Daddy. So, then, having established lineage, what does this pillar of thoughtful energy DO all day whilst hanging out in the fabulous retirement community of Surprise, Arizona, on the golf course, sipping a martini with a recent lottery winner and a couple of retired doctors? He decides he'd like to surprise his Oak-town g-babies with a little sumptin'-sumptin'. He takes himself off to the nearest town (probably Phoenix but I can't swear to that), finds just the right presents for a just-turned-nine year old and her three-point-five year old sister and pop them in the mail so that a mere two days later his youngest G-child can open a manilla envelope containing.... a mink. That's right folks, a mink. A small, dried, flattened animal with the head, legs and tail still attached. I don't have the Boo right now so I can't say for sure that she got the same thing but, let's just say, i have a hunch. The question now remains -- Why??????

sigh

So, here's the thing. I've actually lost my desire to write. Weird right. Especially since that's what I'm supposed to be doing all day at work and what I used to do for fun and what I need to do for my proposal review committee but... I jsut can't make myself sit down and jot anything down. I start but then I get all distracted looking at extremely expensive Korean dolls that I MUST own (hint to all my really very loved and highly considered Korean friends who might know people in the homeland who would be willing to get/send me the some of the girls in this line of dolls cause they're mostly not available in the States...!)

anyway. I need to start writing again. i intend to start writing again. I'm going to force myself to log onto this blog (as well as the other one that I'm writing my disertation on) and to jsut freaking WRITE for 20 minutes a day until I break through whatever this stupid writing-block thing is.

K. So. there you have it. I was going to do the nutshell update of the life but... things are fine and I'll be writing more tomorrow, right..??? :-]

Who needs me NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT??

My super-artist kid, that's who. i mean, sure, i get that i'm really not all that much use to her in her private life (now that she's old enough to reach the stuff in the higher-up cabinets) but SHEESH I at least thought I fill in as her agent or something. Nope. Mine child has taken it upon herself to have her work entered/selected for a juried show at Zeumwhich I will be going to see practically DAILY and which I invite all of you to go partake in as well. Show runs through April 8th so there's tons of time to make it the piece de resistance of it into you're daily lunch routine!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me. Happy birthday dear... me-ee. happy birthday to me. And many more! Wow. Who knew being 39 was so much work?

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

One week ago today, my little girl had a massive asthma attack so we went to the hospital. That was at 4:00am. My baby brother's baby passed away at 7:00pm that same day.

Spark was released on Thursday so we all (me, Spark and Scoot) flew out to NM for the funeral. Everyone was amazing. My brother and his partner are being so strong and centered about the whole thing. Realistic and accepting but still expressing their sadness. They're super supported by their family and friends out there and they are really leaning on each other so I think they're going to pull through just fine. I love them so much and I'm really glad I got to go out there to see them for a little bit, just to make sure they're o.k. Anyways...

Miss Alyssa Kianna, thank you for joining our family. You are a miracle and you accomplished more in your eleven weeks here than some people do in eighty years worth of living. You touched more hearts than you'll ever know and you showed your parents how much strength and love they are capable of summoning which is a huge amount and a tremendous gift. We'll miss your fighting spirit, your wrinkley "displeased" face and your beautiful grey eyes. Maybe someday you can come back in another body that's not quite so broken and we can enjoy you for a little bit longer but regardless of when and if that happens, we're grateful you were here even if it was for so short a time.

My brother's baby almost died last night. Poor little bub. I wish there was something I could do for them... this sucks.

Happy New Year!

Hope the coming year is rewarding, interesting and extremely low in stress for everyone! Thank all of you angel-peeps for being a significant part of what makes my life so grand! Hopefully 2007 will NOT prove to be the year in which, I will drive all of you away with my craziness...!

Ahhhhhhhh.....

Quick check in. Just to say... you know... hello. Um. hi. How's it going? Really? good. Great to hear. I'm doing fine as well. What? Oh, not all that much really. Holidays were rushed but strangely relaxing. Nothing broke which was cool. At work I mean. I don't think anything broke outside of work either but I haven't been paying all that close attention to the rest if you get my drift.... No really. I'm good. work is good. life is good. We had a great X-mas with the CP here for the morning present opening finishing with dinner at the L-Ls. Quality all round. then just kind of bumming around on tuesday. Got some serious planning done on the "houses-within-a-house" project so that was cool. heard from my favorite female texan about her plans to be out here within the week so that's something to look forward to. I've had a fairly significant change of heart/attitude vis a vis her since the break-up (hers not mine -- and truth be told, since this birthday marks the passing of her 26th year on this earth which just doesn't seem as icky for some reason ...) but luckily while my mind may be all about justification my body is still following the god-fearing, upright little path it was intended to walk along and has trashed any plans I may or may not have had by breaking out in all manner of cold-sore gross-ness so.... guess we're gonna stay "just friends." At least this time around. ;-]

Hmmmm. What else. I'm tired but strangely upbeat which is FAB. Wrote THE CHECK to my school today which pretty much ensures that 1) I have no life savings left so it is particularly lucky that I also have no life and 2) I actually think I'm going to buckle down and work this semester so I can start writing THE DISSERTATION this summer. eek. Anyway. I'm gonna go put some babies to bed. Hope everyone's holidays were amazing and that I'll actually get to see you all in the coming year.

Well hello!

You know what sucks? What sucks is that I JUST glanced at the clock to figure out if I was getting anywhere near close to the time I get to go get my Big girl sprout from her winter session camp but then I realized "NO! Actually it's not getting near that time because I DON'T HAVE HER TODAY." Man. You'd think after nine years the sharing thing would get a little easier. Wait, have I written that before? Am I getting redundant?? Say it int so!

Anyway, long time, no chat! So much really wonderful stuff has been happening that I have been wanting to blog about and... practically simultaneously... so much silly/stupid stuff has occurred that it's made me instead want to crawl into my bed and wish for death (not MY death, mind you, just, you know, DEATH!!)

Let's see.... two really superb kid performances happened. The little girl at her daycare and the big girl in a Hip Hop version of the Nutcracker (the latter of which WAS in fact captured for posterity and will be making a limited run showing at some point during the coming month on the small screen -- that is unless I can find someone with a larger screen to let me have a big ole viewing party in their house...[hint, hint, Mistah L-L])

We did in fact go to the Grease sing-along and (barring unfortunate work related episode) had THE world's best time. I love my kids. i love that the 3.5 year old knows all the words to "Sandy"!! After which went to hang at the Bees which was GREAT. I like those guys. they're good people. Then home to bed where I spent some time reflecting on my, now two, totally inappropriate crushes -- one of which, i guess isn't so bad as it wll only get me fired. the other might actually cost me a friend (not really. i treat my friends pretty poorly and luckily rather than just writing me off, they've come to expect it! KIDDING! I love you guys! Really. :-])

Speaking of totally inappropriate, who's little pink-haired, newly single gal-pal to the stars is going to be in town this week and is planning on dropping by for a quick night out?? (Bless you Sue-bean for providing kidwatching coverage. And thank you soooooo much also Mistah L-L for risking death by asphyxiation to watch the Sprouts while me and Travelin' Man got our party on at the GV Holiday shin-dig-diggity the other night! I swear. I don't know why or how I got folks like you to be interested in my life but I sure am glad you all are the kind of cool you are! Now hurry up and have a baby so i can return the favor...oops! did I say that out loud?)

Let's see... not much else to say i spose. I'm THIS close to being done with my X-mas shopping which is swell. Noone is here at work so it's a little quieter than it's been (which is nice.) I'm seeing the BBQ tomorrow which is also grand as I haven't seen the braces yet and I kind of need to.... K. I'm outtie. I need to reply to all these pissy-manager types who want stuff from me. Hope everyone is having a spectacular holiday season so far. kisses to all of you!

I realize I've written this before (many times) but THIS GUY RULES! [Although, technically, i spose i haven't ever written that before because I JUST found out the author of this blog is a guy. I've been reading his blog for literally years so I don't know why I'm just figuring that out but.. blame it on my need to see "Dykey-ness" in everything]

http://www.girlsarepretty.com/blog/fishing_buddies_day.html

the good things in life

This week-end, I went with my kids to get a Christmas tree. We met up with the Bees at the tree lot and went to their house to do some crafty stuff after which we returned home and decorated said tree.

I heard from a friend of mine that he will be able to cover an emergency kid-sitting event and in doing so allow me to go smooze at the holiday party that's coming up.

I heard from another friend that there's going to be a "Grease" showing/sing-along at this kick-ass theatre and that she wants us to go (of COURSE!)

I found out the dates when my Big Girl is going to be performing in a Hip Hop version of the Nutcracker and that I will have access to a video recorder so I can tape the entire event and play it back years from now each and every time she attempts to introduce me to anyone she's "interested in."

I had my little one "read" me five of her books (in a row) because she was so excited to get the newest in the "Bing the Bunny series"

Three people have told me they appreciated hearing my "straightforward" answers in a meeting I participated in today.

I just got the new Dixie Chicks CD which I'm listening to right now.

I'm happy. I'm healthy. I have great, supportive (scarily attractive) friends. My kids are safe and growing and (for the most part) content. I have chocolate chip cookies at home and ice cold beer in the fridge. It would seem that despite what I've been writing, saying and sometimes actually thinking, life is pretty good. :-]

Aaaaahhhhhh....

I feel refreshed! See that's the thing about giving up on boys. You get to go back to your super-sexy short-haired self!

I swear my Baby-girl has got photo-taking talents that are not to be believed!
or how about this one where I look like my baby brother during his "R.Suave" period...

Speaking of whom -- how kick-ass are he and the woman and the baby doing?? Very, that's how! My little Angel-niece has already gained an entire pound and is learning how to stay awake the whole entire night! Yay. You grow, girl!

{Sigh} So, as we all know and as I am getting a little tired of saying, work = kicking my ass. I stayed home today though and co-incidentally enough got a whole TON of stuff done! I got my kitchen window repaired, got my hairs cut, worked on this thing I promised BBQ I'd do, went food shopping, even did some work-related stuff! I KNOW! It was pretty awesome if I do say so mee-self. And, of course, since there is noone else here except the librarian, I feel I must. So. Hope the various Thanksgivingess were good for folks. Thanks for the shout out Mr. L-L. We'd all taken a vow of not-answering-the-phone and so couldn't immediately respond but upon later discussion it was unanimously decided that you and your lady friend are indeed Good People! Our holiday was spent lying around the house eating chocolate chip cookies that we made from scritchety-scratch so that was sort of lovely (and fattening) as well. I feel very well prepared for the coming cold season. Insulated and whatnot. Hm. I spose that's it really. I've got another crush on someone completely inappropriate (I think though that's it not so much that it's just my "thing" to fall for the "What the hell??!" types but more that I just don't meet a lot of "appropriate" folks. At least not ones that aren't deadly dull and/or full of themselves. Besides which, at least I know enough not to act on these things! Well. most times I do..... O.k. well practically never but in this case.... oh. nevermind.)

Straight chicks ROCK!

You know, I tend to forget how very much straight girls rock! I mean yeah some of them are all cool and strong and empowered and impressive, and cute blah blah blah but they also a hella fun-loving bunch when they let thier hair down and get a little crazy (e.g. at least the ones who were at the Dixie Chicks concert me and the BBQ went to this past week-end! Yee Ha!)

eh, hem.... sorry. where was I? Oh yes. Hating my life. Major hardware issues at work which are ONLY not causing me to slit my wrists because THE reason we're not totally dying right now is because we actually implemented my stupid project which I've been fighting to get finished for the last 3 months... so, totally unrelated but nevertheless catastrophic silliness going on at the old ranch and I for one am glad 1) I have kids who need picking up thus giving me a perfect excuse to sneak out and "test from home" and 2) that this is a short week. honestly. I'm not sure i could take another one like the last one. Except for the seeing "The Chicks" with the best friend part. I'd do that again! :-]

School buses have seatbelts now!

Who knew?? ahhhhh. I feel much better. Lovely day today hanging with the child and her class. Stellar bunch of small people. Really, first class!

where i thought i'd be when I was 40...?

I just sent off my last work related e-mail for the day. I also sent off this cartoon

which I stole/modified from an illustration on a card a friend of mine sent me, so I could send it to some programmer/QA chick I'm working with who lives in Florida and who has a killer South African accent.

For the record, I am officially over this shit. I am tired of getting yelled at for things that are not only outside my direct sphere of influence but that I am nontheless working late every f*cking night to try to correct. I am tired of wondering if really wanting a Sierra Nevada (or two) every night means I "have a problem". I am sick of not hanging out with my kid because I "need to finish one last thing". I am tired of "holding it together" and remembering that it's all gonna fix itself in "like, a week"... I want it fixed now. I want to do things I enjoy doing without feeling like I'm letting someone down. F*ck it. I'm taking tomorrow off (gonna go see a ship with my kid and her class) Work can kiss my ass.

So did we all go out and vote...?

Good. And now onto the real question for tonight -- Why am I still up? i don't have a good reason other than I can't sleep. i mean the kid is in bed. the favorite TV show ended over an hour ago. i've already finished sending the "sorry I screwed up" note to the Boo's teacher for mistakenly taking my newly assigned duties as "classroom book order monitor" to frenzied heights of independence by taking it upon myself to tally and mail the class orders (on the special sheet provided) to the Scholastic Book Club never realizing that yes, she wanted the tally part done but um, maybe I could have waited to send off the order until THE REST OF THE SCHOOL was ready! She didn't actually come out and call me a big ole loser but really, this is just not the best way to support my bub in being embraced by her new school culture. Christ. I really need something to go right right about now. Anything. anything at all...

I just wrote a very long post for my "other" blog (no worries if you're not checking there regularly. Most of what's up there is stolen from here anyway...) which got me all mentally worn out so instead of re-capping it here, I'm just gonna link to it... :-]

Please forgive...

The sudden disappearance of your dear friend Chick. I am living the life from hell right this second (mostly due to gnarly project roll-out at work) and am not finding myself able to write or call or just generally check in with anybody who is not currently living at a hospital while thier baby undergoes her latest surgical procedure. Do not take this to mean that I love you any less. Just that I am either working, sleeping or drinking and therefore cannot come to the phone. :-]

Halloween was fun though. Did some T&T on this side of the bridge and had an grand time! O.K. going back down...

Blah

Broke up with the boy yesterday for what I think are ultimately extremely well-thoughtout and carefully considered reasons but which, notwithstanding, leave me feeling crappy and sad.

that's it actually. I'll write more when i'm in the mood to think about it....

If the mountain won't come to Mohammed...

So. Just found out that the new Magnet Baby-Girl is gonna need some specialized medical-type attention that is not readily available in New Mexico (in whom's NICU she's currently residing) but which is available in SAN FRANCISCO -- Now, Riddle me this, Bat-peeps: whose Baby Brother, new daughter and current partner-in-birthin'-babies are going to fly out here in approximately two weeks to stay for a little bit (where I can pretty much photograph every single expression to cross that tiny little face 24/7) while a certain someone has some surgery?????? Whoo Hoo! I swear, just when I'm THIIIISSSSSSS close to thinking I'm maybe not exactly THE luckiest human being on the planet, I am reminded that, YEAH I kinda am!!!

Happy Birthday!

And welcome AK, the newest addition to the Magnet clan! Just so we're absolutely clear, I am the "good auntie" who you can absolutely come stay with at any point for as long as you like because unlike your Dad, i am "hip to the ways" of you "young-uns"! Congrats, Baby Bro and Missy R. on getting your little one here in one peice and relatively healthy. i love you all and am crossing the ole fingers that everything continues to go well-ish and that all the attendant surgeries go as planned....

is it just me...

or is spam getting more interesting?

Eh hem. Anyways... Week-end = lovely. Had dinner with the Lovah-Lovahs at their new digs which are eerily close to my old (very old) digs and which I'm just not o.k. with because that either means the neighborhood has improved considerably or they've come down in the world. i'll just go ahead and believe the former since the latter is just so sad. Nice apartment though. Fabulously laid out and with really beautiful diningroom chairs to boot! The boyfriend was kind enough to join us which was also delightful. Then got to see the Bees yesterday which is just so ALWAYS a pleasure it borders on ridiculous. Our combined, fabulously talented children spent some time constructing not only a cast of super-cool hand puppets but also a puppet theatre, instruments for the orchestra and "newsheets" as well! Genius, i tell you, genius!

Tonight, I'm hanging with the boy, which should be fine. (Just between you and me and the big blue sea, I'm getting a little over this whole "being in a relationship" thing -- not because the boy in question isn't very nice but more because of the constant need for on-going/additional upkeep. For instance, I am currently exhausted. I could call my boy and cancel our date and crawl into bed early but because I care about him and his feelings, I am instead going to go home, clean my house, take a shower, put the baby to bed and try to "relax" enough to feel "in the mood" to be kissed whilst not allowing myself to "unwind" to the point where I instead fall asleep. {sigh} Honestly, sometimes I feel bad for anyone who has decided to subject themselves to me-as-girlfriend. I'm sooooo "Wow! this is great! You are great! Let's hang out and get stupid about each other and have mind-blowing sex" one second and "I'm sorry... you are? Oh never mind, just hand me that blanket and the remote, wouldya..." the next. Damn good thing I'm so adorable/smart/sexy/rich else I'd have nobody to nibble on ever! ;-]

It's all about the support...

So, can I just take a moment to say how essential to an on-going sunny demeanor, a good bra is? I've been sick all week and I keep having to drag myself out of bed to go meet people (important to our company for some reason people) and "present" stuff and I've just really not been in the mood and today (this morning) I was REALLY not in the mood and I tried on everything i own and nothing looked right/cool/professional-while-still-retaining-some-individuality and I was just about to give up when i happened across the world's cutest bra hidden by a pile of socks and which, upon being put on with one of the formerly rejected outfits, lent just the right amount of uplift + color + snappiness to make the entire clothing proposition suddenly work! K. I gotta go talk to people. Just wanted to put that out there in case anyone else is looking for a way to improve their day...

Going to hell...

You know the cool thing about being 38? You know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the thing you are considering doing is wrong, and bad and will get you in trouble. Oh sure, you're probably still going to to it but there's none of that "hmmmmm. Maybe I can do this thing and have it actually work out in a way that is not awful and dramatic and sad-making!" Although, now that I think about it, that's also kind of the sucky thing about being 38.

Well, I guess it was about time...

I got a "Challenging" P/T conference. So, apparently my littlest angel-girl is terrorizing 2 teachers and one of her groupmates (although, to be honest, said groupmate apparently terrorizes her right back!) We're talking screaming "No!", throwing things, scratching intentionally (which for some reason really freaks me out) -- she doesn't do any of that at home (i mean she definitely gets screamy but we usually end up yelling at each other for a minute then I get tired of it and either count to three or I take whatever it is we're yelling about away and she stops because she wants it back. I have NEVER seen her intentionally scratch (or kick or hit for that matter) anyone but... her teacher says she only does it with these other two teachers and two or three of her groupmates (one in particular who she apparently fights with all day -- shoving, scratching, pushing. Freaking out if this other kid gets the orange paper while she gets the red paper...) They seem to be relatively unconcerned about it; they're thinking maybe she's just tired of her age group and wants to hang with the bigger kids so they're gonna move her over to the other (big kid) house and see how it goes. Sheesh. Needless to say she got lectured to all the way home and is now explaining to the cat that he is, under NO circumstance, to scratch Massimo (kid at school), period! Ever! I don't know if he's quite getting it but I sure as hell hope she is. :-[

OH! I almost forgot -- my big kid thought hamburgers come from deer. She was a little grossed out when i told her they come from cows... :-]

October 30th!

That's the date when my newest little niece will be released into the world! The plan is as follows: cut her out, make sure she's breathing, check her heart (make sure all the ventricles are ventriculating), operate on her back (cover currently exposed spinal cord and nerves), pop her in the incubator to cook for approximately four more weeks, remove, cuddle and commence with the dressing up in tiny socks! Cross your fingers folks that it's really going to be that "easy".... :-]

---

O.k. now you know I'm not one to use this space to get all braggey (well... actually, yes I do but still -- what're YOU all gonna do about it?????!)

but i just have to say My little big girl is soooooooooo smart! First off, she's doing such an amazing job with the becoming completely potty-trained that I'm just amazed and second off, we had a HUGE fight yesterday morning about her sudden desire to wear a dress (I say "sudden" which is not meant to discount the fact that that's ALL she's wanted to wear for the last several months -- but then two days ago she switched to pants so I, being the perceptive mom that I am, brought out some pants for her to wear -- very cute pants, I might add! -- and she loses her mind. We're talking screaming, throwing her clothes around, kicking etc. so I'm yelling back and getting more and more frustrated and instituting timeouts and shoving tiny flailing arms into tiny sleeves... basically, an awful start to an otherwise not particularly horrible day) and so TODAY, she gets herself up out of bed (clutching her new, larger blankey, i might add. Who's a Big Girl now?) marches into the kitchen where I am preparing a lunch for the other child and says: "Dress today, please?" Super nice. With a small tilt of the head and the super huge chocolatey brown eyes.... So, of COURSE she gets to wear a dress. A really fancy cute dress. Yay! Let's see..... not much else going on. had the BEST lunch with Mistah Lovah-Lovah yesterday. i don't care what you all say, he's quality, plain and simple. this week-end's packed with stuff needing to be done but I think it'll be aight. {sigh} K. guess that's it. Hope the day goes well for everybody.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

All happy wishes go to my primary reason for existence on this fine 2nd day of the fabulous month of October! I love you, Boo! Thank you soooooo much for blessing me with your existence!

---

Best wishes also to the beautiful and vivacious Mrs. Bee without whom many of my finest memories would never have been constructed! You are a rockstar and I only hope to someday be half as useful to the world of education as you currently are!

---

Things I learned this week-end:

1) I'm a REALLY good parent when I only have one kid. Seems like it doesn't matter which one (interesting because they're complete opposites) but in terms of togetherness and patience and figuring out fun, active, wonderful ways to be together when it's mano y mano, I excel! Sadly, it is almost never MyM so not sure what that says about the majority of the parental experience my babies are being subjected to...

2) I love my kids. Really. I do. they're cute and perfect (and potty trained!) and really really sweet. And smart. Yay

3) I love my friends. (see above)

4) My boyfriend is nice and helpful and really very sweet as well. (and did I mention helpful? Especially at the keeping the suddenly uber-clingy three-year-old entertained whilst her mommy navigated a (admittedly light version of) "need to just freaking STOP and be in one place for like a second already" moment.

5) I LOVE the pseudo cold weather that is the fall in California

6) I really need to get on my reading because at the rate I'm going I will be ready to re-write my proposal in approximately 14 years.

7) I'm really, really tired. Really. And I'm going to be that way for the rest of my life. (I guess that's o.k. though. I mean, someone's gotta be, right?)

He came...

He saw, he annoyed me, he left. That is I think he left. He SAID he was leaving and not coming back but I've heard THAT before so... fingers crossed though. Although this particular visit was admittedly unlike most of our other interactions, i'm still just not feeling like I want to try parenting three kids. :-]

Good-bye DB. Thanks for stopping by. Let's do it again in a few years! I'm exhausted. I think i'm going to go to sleep now.

Blah...

I am UNBELIEVABLY tired. I had a VERY nice (hot, sexy, sweet) visit from my boyfriend last night which lasted until the wee hours (I do this awfully adorable thing where I stay awake as long as I can then fall asleep on him and he has to show himself out. Cute that he hasn't robbed me blind/given up on my pathetic ass yet! ;-]) This was tiring in and of itself but THEN, right around 4am i hear an eerily familiar "tap, tap, tap..." I wake up disconcerted. I stare around. i swear under my breath. put on my robe -- go open the front door and ... lo and behold ... guess who's back from Texas? Hopefully, it's just for a (short) visit. Hopefully, someone is not planning on staying at my place beyond last night/today. Hopefully, I will remember the (albeit still being "discussed") vows i've made to the very nice boy I'm dating vis a vis not having extra-relationship sex in general/screwing 20+ year olds in particular -- even if those 20-somethings seem to have vastly improved their attitudes and/or are still scarily attractive. Man. See, this is where I could really use a "sponsor", preferably someone who has been able (for at least 10 years) to resist having sex with random beautiful boys who show up in the middle of the night promising to "finish" what some other boy "started"...!

Never kiss your baby...

So, I was telling my kid about this study i heard about on This American Life which was focusing on love as it affects babies' development. So, there's this guy Harry Harlow who did this series of tests with baby Rhesus monkeys where he gave the baby monkeys two "mommies": a wire one and a "cloth"/soft one. the upshot of the experiment was that even though the wire mother was the one with the food, the baby monkey preferred to spend time cuddled up to the "cloth" Mommy. The upshot of recounting this upshot was that at one point last night I had both of my babies on my lap and the eldest one announces: "Mmmmmm... Cloth Mommy!" Killed me. seriously. what did i do to deserve such a sweetie????? k. This is what else we managed to accomplish this week-end.

1) Made THE world's coolest mix tape for the Spark (we made one for Boo about a month ago but I was waiting for some specific CDs to show up before I put together the littlest one's. Serious, Jason mraz singing "Rainbow Connection"? A ska version of Animal's "Manamana"? How you gonna top that???? Yeah, I couldn't think how to do it either so we waited...)

2) introduced the big girl to the world's second coolest musical, Jesus Christ Superstar (Grease being the first) and while explaining why all those dancing people want to kill the nice guy with the sweet smile to a kid who hasn't exactly been raised "within the christian church" was a bit of all stretch, it all worked out in the end. (I mean, really it's all about belting out the soundtrack at the top of your lungs in the car/restaurant/laundrymat etc. so watching the movie itself is more just to provide context.)

3) Had breakfast with the CP. Boo got a drink named after her (half and half lemonade and orange juice. Next time you're at the Park Restaurant on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, ask for a "Dakota" and see what they give you!

4) Did more laundry than should be allowed in a free state

5) Went on the world's nicest walk in the world's nicest weather to the store where we ended up getting A-Freakin-Dorable halloween hat things; one of which has cool purple braids attached.

All of this and still managed to get my work done for work so.... have to say it's been a good coupla days! :-]

---

Note to Travelin' Man -- I need your phone number! Yes, i am just that lame but i would also like to add that it is customary, even among friends who have known each toher forever, to occassionally leave a number at which they'd like to be called back when leaving a message just in case the person they're trying to hook up with is away from their datebook, or out wnadering the streets armed only with a cellphone or really just that lame...! Please??? I want to talk to you! :-]

Just got back from Boo's new school

So, basically Boo walks into her new class and it's like Cheers, circa 1990 -- "Boo!"

I'm telling you, man, I don't know where she gets it but that kid's a freaking celebrity. At least she's low-key about it. One smallish queenly wave then straight to her seat where she instantly becomes VERY interested it her new text (which I'm gonna assume is the same as her old text but whaddaya want. She's being modest fer chrissakes!) Oh! And yay me, the *new* school's back-to-school-night is TOMORROW! {grumble} At least they have a really amazing garden. :-]

YES!

My kid got into her new school!! Whoo Hoo! O.K. for those of you who haven't had to listen to me obsess about sending my sweet little baby into the middle school hell of suddenly being one-of-2000 instead of one-of-450 students, here's the sitch...

Kid is currently in the 4th grade at a medium-sized K-5 elementary school; meaning next year we were faced with three scenarios:

1) Try to get her transfered into a K-8 school along with every other parent who is also terrified that their children will be swallowed whole at the bigger middle schools.

2) Send kid to uber-middle school and pray she doesn't get squashed.

3) Spend what was supposed to be her college tuition sending her to a private middle school which (on all sorts of levels) just seems really wrong.

OR

we could try to get her switched to a K-8 now since she's guaranteed to have a place for the next year or so in a school we know we like so if she doesn't get in for whatever reason we've still got some wiggle room... And now we've just heard she's IN. Yay! new school starts tomorrow.

Super cool things about new school include: Boo already having friends there, the fact that she still gets to go to the same aftercare program at ther "old" school so she'll still see all her same friends and that there's now a slightly greater chance (not like I'm crossing my fingers or anything but you never know) that her little sister can go to her same school since SF has that sibling policy thing and i could maybe get a working-in-SF waiver so my officially oakland-based little one could come here as well..... (!!) It's all just so exciting!

Funny strange, not funny "ha-ha"...

Witness the following conversation [setting: a standard san francisco birthday party]

Relative of the birthday girl: [to another relative whilst watching some cliff climbing happening] So, who's the boy she's climbing with?
2nd Relative: that's J. they've known each other forever. He's kind of got a thing for her.
ROBG: Really?
2R: Yeah, he tried to invite her over for dinner last year for Valentine's Day but it was her brother's birthday so she had to go to his party instead. {smug} But I think she likes him too.
Me: No. [both turn to look at me, eyebrows raised] {knowledgeable tone} I mean, she likes him alot as a friend but D. told me she actually likes K. in her class. [shrug as all three of us turn to look sadly at poor unrequited J.]

K. So. typically SF drama, right? Except these are 9-YEAR-OLDS we're discussing!! I know. At some point I'm going to get all blase about his but seriously. right this second it's FREAKING ME OUT.

{sigh} Anyways. Thanks to the Bee fam for short-notice little girl watching so I could go be a party to this cliff climbing, non-gift giving (we brought a gift and were soundly reprimanded by the kid's mom) hen party party. You guys are the best. And I'm NOT just saying that because I secretly harbor a fantasy of all of us riding off into the sunset of our middle years safely esconsed mere doors from each other in lovely Las Vegas, NM. Also, Happy B-day to the precocious-est five year old I know! Good job getting older. Your moms and I couldn't be more proud!

Not a huge fan...

of Back-to-school night. Oh sure, I mean, I get the concept all about going to the school and meeting the kid's teacher and finding out what the child will be learning and all of that but honestly, isn't that what open house is for? Actually, this whole thing is like an open house but not as much fun. The kids are supposed to be in "childcare" so they don't detract "from the message" which is just plain wierd since the whole point of the message is the KIDS -- and also slightly ill-planned if you have little-little kids and you're single-parenting them since the kid-care has a nice open door and only two adults and lots of OTHER kids so your littlest one gets to experience the thrill of hunting you down (three flights of stairs and around a corner!) but again... not the worst experience just a little, well, a little tiring/stressful for the grown-ups is all. Actually, I'm sure all the other parents were fine. Probably just me who was thinking about all the other ways I could be hanging out (or not) with my kids. {sigh} Anyhoo....

Dammit!

I was thiiiiissss close to having this whole work situation wrapped up! Shoot. o.K. sorry. breathe..... back to the drawing board. :-]

A so goes another week-end...

In the overpacked life of a single-parent(ish) 30-something working, schoolgirl mother...
So, this journalism student over at SFSU just called me to do a phone interview (she's doing a piece on "women in technology" -- no idea how she ended up with me (more like "women who front in technology!") and we went through the standard questions, what do you do, what do you like, what is difficult, blah, blah, blah and she wraps up with "O.k. enough about work, kids, school -- what do you do for fun? Like do you go out or watch TV or what?" I have to say, I was a little stumped. I mean, I describe the LIFE to someone my age and they nod sagely and offer me more wine, but to a kid...? Seriously. What do I do for fun? I think hanging out and looking at my kids is fun. I think getting a sitter and going to my BBQ's house for the world's most amazing chicken/squash/red things dinner party with my new boyfriend and my favoritest set of "happily-marrieds" is fun. I think (in a kind of sick way) staying home from work so I can crank out yet another 30 page paper on my way to my doctorate is fun.... Which (I think) either means I am unable to ascertain any longer what "real" fun looks like or it places me pretty soundly in a whole other category of life-being from this aspiring journalist that may not be easily understood but it seems pretty authentically come by and so is jest fine by me. (Tee Hee. I just used the word "authentic" in a non-ironic way. I'm such a grown-up!)

Alyssa Kiearra!

My baby brother and his lovely gal-pal have chosen to name my newest niece Alyssa Kierra I was gonna call her "Ally" but now that I've seen the most recent sonogram pics, I'm thinking she looks more like a "Ki-Ki!" Yay!

Yesterday I was in a bad mood (I think i'm getting sick again. Grrr!) and I was being all snappy and short-tempered and so of course the childrens were all miserable too (although, remarkably the baby isn't being as tantrumy of late. This time when i snapped at her to finish her supper she just got all sad warbley voice and sat up and ate. Sniffed alot and did the lip pooch out thing but no screaming. Interesting.) So, at one point i go looking for the big kid and she's in her loft and I notice that she's written "Nobody loves me" on her white board with a sad emoticon face! Seriously. If the Feds weren't so busy fighting terrorists, I swear CPS would be knocking at my door tomorrow! Sheesh...

WHO just gave their kid the cutest haircut ever?? Yup. That would be moi. Of course, said haircut was helped along greatly by the fact that I have the cutest kid ever pretty much regardless of current hairstyle but still. Not nearrly as short as we'd originally discussed but she kept pointing to seriously short layered cuts as examples but then talking about having ponytails so... I went with the "O.K. we'll do this in stages" cut and let her check it out every so often so we ended with layered bob thing with chin-length bangs. A-dor-rable! Yay!

Forth freaking grade!!!

The big girl started school today. Weird in that all her school chums are taller than I am. Also that we (parents) are such a blubbery bunch of silly-heads (You'd think we'd get used to them just marching off to class with nary a backwards glance!) This year ALL the girls in Boo's cohort are in the same class. You'll have no doubt gleaned from reading these things over these last several years that the overall number of gals in Miss Boo's school that were to be distributed year after year mongst the two Boo-age-English-language classes has shrunk (there were only about ten to start and we've lost three to other schools...) so they just said "f*** it!" and put em all together this year. The other English-language class is a "Blended" class of fourth and fifth graders so there are fifth grade girls in that one. Funny. Way to widen the gender gap. Fourth grade boys with fifth grade girls! Ha! Sorry. Nice for my kid because she tends to get snatched up by one or two "alpha" girls and is then a little monopolized for the rest of the year. By adding in the alpha chicks from the other class I figure she has more of a fighting chance to pick who she wants to be pals with (assuming the alphas want to hang together. i'm probably wrong on that one but again, we shall see...) The coolest mom in the world (besides me an CP, natch) has her kid in the other class so i don't get to hang out with her at class get togethers which is sad but whattayagonnado? :-]

K. So, this week is starting off GREAT! Saw the boy yesterday and that was fab. he's a little sad/obsessed/bothered by the not geting to see me as much as he'd like but we all, i think, expected that so really it's just a matter of seeing where he goes from there. Work is good. A recent development has enabled me to start looking for a new Web Developer which I am DELIGHTED about so if anyone knows anyone who's kick-ass in a webdev way let me know. Alrighty then, I'm off to get some something done. Hope everyone has a great week!

Back to the grind...

Yay, "school" started for me today. I think I'm going to like this new "roll up to the campus at or around 5:30, drop off the sprouts with the world's best kidsitter, check in/chat with the world's best advisor, head on over to the library, read a little. Head on over to the tea shop read some more. Pick up the girls at or around 7:30 and head on home..." thursday evening lifestyle. It's like all the perks of school without the papers/deadlines/running-just-a-little-late bits....

Completely tangential but funny: the world's best kidsitter is a student as well and she's staying in the sophmore/upper classperson's dorm and ALL the bathroom doors in this sprawling residential hall are labled "Men." All of them. Now let's take a moment to rememeber that Mills was established as an alll-girl school and has remained an all-girl school up until last year when they finally buckled and let in some male grad students. Now, I ask you... WTH???

"Don't get attached..."

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY IN ALBUQUERQUE????! "Don't get attached"????? How the HELL is that functional advice to give to a couple who you've just scared the hell out of, who you've done fifty-thousand blood/genetics test on and still not been able to come up with anything "conclusive", who have decided despite all the evidence before them, to deliver to term, who can feel the baby growing and moving and hiccuping -- Seriously, what the HELL is wrong with people??! "Don't get attached." Idiots.

All I can say is "wow!"

Yesterday was AMAZING. It started off a bit sketchy since i had to take the day off from work to get two things accomplished 1)figuring out the financial aid sitch since money i thought the government was going to give me so i could go to school seems to have suspiciously "not been credited to my account" and 2) to take one really big girl and one little big girl to the dentist for check-ups.

So, I get to the school and find out all about this new law passed by Mr. Bush to the tune of "no federal funding for more than 8 semesters of grad school TOTAL!" translated to mean I am facing 16,000.00 in fees that I need to pay by Monday. Being a sensible girl I sat right down and cried. But then I picked myself up and took myself over to the Office of Grad studies where I officially took a semester's leave of absence hoping to buy some time to sort all this nonesense out. But wait, you're asking, when does the amazing part come in??? Well, I headed over to let my beautiful, smart, perfect-in-every-way advisor know about the situation and the following conversation ensued:

Her:So, what does that mean? Does that mean you're going to stop working?
Me:Um. Doesn't it sort of equal that? I mean, I guess I could do some more reading or something... then in the spring--
Her:[turning to her computer, pulling something up, printing it and handing it to me] Here. This is a reading list. I've been thinking about this and I don't think you should use the proposal you turned in last Spring. It's good but it's not you. You should do fictive narrative.
Me: Uh. O.K.
Her: Read these authors and let me know when you have a sense for where you fit in thier conversation. We'll re-write your proposal then start outlining your basis for considering this form legitimate theory...
Me: Uh...
Her: Hmmmmm. Who are we going to get to sit on your committee...? [looking through her rolodex] O.k. while you're doing all of that I'm going to call Susan Krieger, she's written some stuff around this. And let's see... I can probably get Pavitra [Sundar. aka "Marking Time: Gender, Sexuality, Nation, and Temporality in Hindi Film Music"] or Christina [Mendoza. "Crossing Borders: Narrative Identities of Gender, Class and Citizenships among Domestic Workers on the U.S.-Mexican Border"] to sit in. Let me see what I can do. [quick wink and smile in my direction] Don't worry, we'll have you out of here by May!
Me:... I love you. (not really but I did sit there staring in mute adoration until she shooed me out.)

{note: to any official Mills types who may inadvertantly have stumbled upon this blog, all names and situations have been changed. I am IN NO WAY SUGGESTING that my beautiful professor would ever violate a school/pupil contract by assisting a person scholastically who was not legitimately registered for the appropriate semester!}

Heart.

THEN pick up the girls and take them to the dentist where... they behaved BEAUTIFULLY! And this was Spark's first time! I mean sure there was the clingy and the "no. I no wan to!" but once she saw what a trooper her big sis wa and once she got to sit on my lap (and once we all understood that she was simply not down with being an "alligator" but had NO problem opening up like a "dinosaur" well... let's just say it was alllll good. Plus, no cavities! And "good spacing (whatever that means.) Although Boo's midline is apparently .5 milimeters off on the top -- there's a shift to the left. I am soooooo not worried. :-]

sigh. so basically a great day all round. Today was swell too. Boo was with me at work so that was fun. The week-end promises to be lovely. School shopping, Santa Cruz, my new boyfriend... just full of yummy goodness!

all day meetings should be illegal. Alright...{takes deep breath} going back down....

And she's only eight...

Me: [noticing my kid is sitting on the couch looking sad] What's up?

Boo: Do you ever have the feeling like you just want to take a day off and not go do what you're supposed to do [for her: daycamp] you know, just go to the beach or something?

Me: {sigh}Yeah. [long pained silence as we both reflect on how impossible that would be to do today...] K. Let's get going...

Mommy's little helper!

My three-year-old is so helpful. she helps me carry in the groceries. She brings her plate into the kitchen when she's through eating. She helped me load the laundry into the washer on Sunday.... So very useful!

Speaking of Sunday, how nice was it to get together with the world's cutest families for a little pizza-fest night before last. Very that's what! the hangout with grown-up friends without feeling guilty for ignoring little ones time was long overdue and much appreciated. Plus I got to see my boy an extra time this week (in a non-me-demanding-that-he-strip-immediately setting which he has been wanting so it's good that we got THAT out of the way!) I'm not mad at him anymore BTW. He was appropriately open to discussing and i was uncharacteristically open to not just writing him off so we talked and kissed and made up. (We made up more last night which was also REALLY nice but again, more in a put-your-hands-here-and-kiss-me-hard kind of way which I like alot but which doesn't exactly mesh with his ideas about what girlfriends and boyfriends DO. Apparently we're supposed to go out or something. Hmmmm. I'll have to look into that....

Today got off to a poopy start and although most of it has resolved itself, i'm still in a bad mood.

1) My boy came over last night and while the visit was mostly sweet, there's this thing he does about me being pretty (e.g. Me -- "Man, today was hard. I'm trying to get my boss to approve this thing we're doing and she's just not taking me seriously." Him -- "Ah, don't worry about it. Just flash her that pretty smile of yours and I'm sure she'll give you whatever you want!") which is becomming extremely annoying mostly because it feels dismissive (even though I know he doesn't intend it to be) the consequence of that being that I spent way too much time writing him a note letting him know why I think that sort of response is annoying/sexist and he has not yet replied so it's making me a little crazy.
2) I locked my keys in the car
3) I spilled coffee on my shirt
4) I'm freshly back from vacation so every single human being in my entire work-world wants to "check-in" and honestly i'm a little sick of talking to some of them.

{sigh} but, whatever. it's all good. I just got to talk to my BBQ and am now in a MUCH better frame of mind. :-] A little lunchie lunch with someone I do actually feel like talking to, then maybe (just maybe) I'll be able to face my afternoon chats with some sense of equamnity. (Plus, I JUST found out my co-worker sent me a coconut from Florida where she's on vacation so that's got me pretty delighted as well...)

eek! Almost forgot! Whose big girl is starting potty training this week???? Yay! Spark! Care Bear chonies, here we come!

I'm tired. I just watched Transamerica which is a f'in great movie and now i'm all up and wired....mmmmm. I'm seeing my boy tomorrow night which is nice -- although the last time he came over for a little one on one, I fell asleep on him. (Although, i think I had just cause and he wasn't complaining.... I just don't want him to start thinking i'm a bad host...!) Work today turned out to be interesting. My boss got the fear of god put into her somehow regarding IT and now she's being all receptive to our plans. it doesn't exactly feel like a set-up but it is a little odd. Ah well. we shall see what happens there. in other news i am all freaked out about school starting again this month. on the one hand I have no idea what happened to the summer and on the other I have no idea what the hell i'm going to do to either raise my credits to full time or cut them down to the point where I'm not having to pay full tuition. I think i need to check in with my beautiful advisor at some point soon and get some stuff figured out - I should probably check in with financial aid too... In a perfect world i'd get a loan from the gov. take a day class at Berkeley to supplement my course load and go to school one day a week. That would be assuming I knew what the hell i was doing with my disertation proposal which is a stretch at this point so maybe I need to start crafting a feasible plan "B"..... God. i'm tired. I'm gonna go try to sleep. Kisses to my peeps. i know i'm ignoring you all; I just need to get out from under all the stuff that piled up while I was gone and I'm afraid if i start talking to people I actually like, I'll be less inclined to focus on the dumb stuff! ;-]

Little brother's baby is a girl BTW. Whoo Hoo! More Magnet girls in the world! The news is getting less grim so they might be able to deliver her. Still waiting to hear from some "specialist" but the genetic tests are back and there's no "chromosomal damage" like they first thought so that's good.

In other news, I think the trip is catching up with me since I am officially so tired I may die. K. that's it for now. i'll have stories for people later. Right this second I need sleep.

2,414 miles in four days...

Quick note to my so called "friends": when I say to you, "Oh, yeah, we're going to fly to New Mexico and pick up my brother's family then drive out to North Dakota to see my Grandma and my Minnesota cousins, then maybe head back in time to hang out with my dad (Arizona) and my mom for a coupla seconds before we head home -- I'm figuring it'll take 5 days, tops!" sit me down, look me straight in the eye and explain to me that that is INSANE. Then take away whatever it was I was drinking/smoking and tuck me in for a nice little nappy-nap before I hurt someone....

Trip was (is -- technically it's not done yet although we did make it back to my brother's house late last night) really very nice. I LOVE my family and I am constantly amazed by the brillance that is my 16 y.o. niece especially when she is around the Boo. My Grandma is little and frail (92 y.o.) and is still up and about and fiesty as hell. My baby brother is coping which is what I guess we all expected him to do but which is still amazing to me. We're going out tonight for a little one-on-one so I can get an accurate gauge on his mental state before deciding if I need to extend my trip. I also discovered the place where we're all (friends and family included, so start figuring out your finances) going to need to move in approximately 10 years ... I've got pictures and stuff so I'll post more details about that later this week. All in all, I would say i'm a little worn out but I'm glad we came and everyone seems to be doing remarkably well. I'm so in love with my family I can't even stand it but i'm also very much missing all the sweet, thoughtful, caring buddies I left at home so it'll be nice to get back so I can start not-ever-seeing-them again!

I {heart} my friends. Thank you for letting me lean on you whenever i need to. i'm super lucky to have such a great group of pals and I love you all.

Vacation starts tomorrow at noon. I am sooooo ready.

O.K., a little less sad...

But still realy depressed. We had a long night last night talking to my mom and my brother and just generally feeling bad. Then i checked my messages and found out I had a message from earlier in the day from him that was all excited because they were going in to find out the sex of the baby and he was going to call me to let me know, blah, blah, blah... man. anyway. I'm going to get to see him soon and they' have a follow up with some specialist on Monday so. I wish i knew how to fix this...

my brother's baby is in trouble ("significant congenital deformities") and his doctor just told them the pregnancy should probably be "terminated" -- they just passed five months. Why does life have to be so unbelivably sucky sometimes....?

Coupla things that are different this time around...

-- I'm getting better at asking for stuff (aka delivering suggestions of a "So, you wanna make my toes curl...?" kind of nature.)
-- I'm getting better about not pushing everything and everyone around so I can spend time with the new person thereby ignoring key factors in my life like SLEEP
-- I'm getting better at starting the "So, what are your thoughts about non-monogamy" conversation.
Can't say for sure if any of it is going to pan out in an ultimately positive way but it feels good right now... :-]

I love Lyle Lovett. (the boy's not so bad either. ;-])

Brillance!

So far, I've gotten to see TWO shows starring (well, featuring along with an ensemble cast) my own baby-babies! Yesterday was Boo's end of camp show at AcroSports which was GRAND (and which I get to look forward to every single Friday for the next seven weeks!) then Spark's kid-care had their annual family get-together/graduation/picnic Show wherein all the kids get dressed up in the world's cutest costumes and dance around! I know! Pretty scarily adorable. PLUS, I got to see Ms. Bee even before tomorrow when we're over there hanging with their sprouts onna counta she and the big girl are pals with one of the little ladies who goes to Spark's school and who is graduating this year... Yeah. Super mondo cool. Awwww. My babies are right now in the livingroom falling over each other and giggling. I think I may die of the nice happiness of it all. (of course, that will involve me overlooking the fact that they are playing instead of EATING thier supper but whatever. You only bond with your sister once, right...?) :-]

I confused my feelings with the truth...

because i like the view...! here at the Chick house we've been watching High School Musical non-stop for the better part of three weeks straight -- which means there are key songs BURNED into my brain that will no doubt remain thee for the rest of my waking life. Ah well. could be worse. Could be Grease.

Yay. who had the BEST little get together yesterday with her BBQ, her new boy and BBQ's gal? Me! Although, I did start to feel a little bad for the BBQ-G and NB right around 11:30 when it suddenly became the "Schlink and Waddle Show" -- man, I just really realized how very much I heart my BBQ is all. (And I'm beginning to understand why it is we took all those roadtrips by ourselves... not alot of room for anyone else to chime when you're living in the middle of the ultimate mutual appreciation society! :-])

Especially nice was the boy sticking around to further explicate some "issues" that had been brought up earlier via e-mail involving the theory of relativity (the relative proximity of his mouth to my neck that is! Badum bump!) {Sigh} I'm quite the little happy camper these days! except for work which sucks. I'm going on the roadtrip in T minus seven days though so i'm sure it will be just what the doctor ordered in terms of gaining some "critical distance" meaning making it so I don't have to quit in a huff... :-]

My goodness!

Whose cup runneth over?? Mine, that's who! So, first let me say a huge THANK YOU to the Bee family for graciously watching the sprouts on incredibly short notice so that me and the boy could go to the grown-up dinner party hosted be the always delightful BBQ. (Huge fun, BTW. great food, fabulous friends, lovely setting... all round fan-ta-bu-lous time had by all or at least by the both that I'm initimately acquainted with.) I'm getting so excited about this whole "life-with-grown-up-interaction" thing I hardly know what to do with it but at least for now it appears to be working out. Seeing boy tonight which will be fab and which will no doubt feature kissing then again on Friday in a mini-group setting (which I'll go ahead and assume will mean less kissing although I hate to have that carved in stone ;-])and AGAIN on Monday eve when we go see Lyle! {sigh. happy me.} Work = still stupid but my goodness, the rest of the life jsut really seems to be making up for it in spades!

Happy Birthday, BTW

to my beautiful 16 year old niece! I'd love to say she's a chip off the ole block but I'm not nearly as cool as she is so.... Good going getting all grown up and stuff! I love you!

Go Ravens!

Eek. My mom just called to let me know that the very week-end I'm going to be back in Alby-Turkey my high school graduating class (1986 in da house! whattup -- Woo Woo!) will be having it's 20 year reunion. I honestly do not know whether or not the occassion would be edifying or scary beyond belief. Possibly both.

20 freaking years. Christ....

I hate my job. Actually that's not entirely correct. i hate my company's screwed up priorities.

Bunch of stuff

First, today sucked. BUT the last few days have actually been grand! (So long as you overlook the "sucky best-friend" part where I forgot BBQ's birthday. Doh! Happy Birthday, Baby! I {heart} you like nobuddies bid-ness! Hope the coming year is filled with everything that is awesome! Eh, hem. Now then...)

Had lunch yesterday with the almost illegally handsome IHOEL and his newly healing self. Also, accompanying us to aforementioned lunch was dear, sweet Traveling Man so suffice to say I had the lion's share of attractive young gentlemen quotient assembled at single lunch meaning i was not only the envy of all my peers, I was also probably the envy of my parent's generation as well!

Work, i'm not going to discuss right now because it's stupid BUT it does serve to highlight the genius that is my life outside of that particular institution so it can stay. (Plus, it pays all the bills that the sexwork doesn't cover!)

the boy is great. He is nice and cute and REALLY VERY TALENTED if you know what I mean {wink, wink} and a whole lot of fun to kiss. Plus he still seems to like me AND he's not gotten boring so... all-in-all a good thing!

{sigh} alrighty, i need to go see a few little girls about some sup-sup so I'll be wrapping up. Hope everyone had a fabulous fourth! Kisses! {mwah, mwah}

You know the big kid's playground in Golden Gate Park

Now imagine it's GONE! That's right folks. The whole damn thing. And I am not losing my mind. Mr. L-L and the Lovely K were there as well and they can corroborate the lack thereof. Weird. but nicely cuing a whole bunch of other wierdness that was the day. Not horrible wierdness just off-center, stuff not working out the way it probably was supposed to on top of the near-thriller movie psychotic-ness that was trying to shop for groceries today, post-non-playground experience. man. {shakes head} just a weird day.

seriously...!

Me and the kid sitting in my room. Her on my bed watching me type. Me typing.

Kid: O.K we're going to play a game where I tap on two things and you tell me which is which.
Kid: [tap]
Kid: [tap]
Me: That sounded painful!
Kid: O.K. the painful is Mrs. Pepper and the other one is Mr. Salt.
Kid: Theme music?
Me: Of course!
Kid: Da don data da dan dan don da dunt [tap]
Me: Was that a tap??
Kid: I can't tell you my friend!
Me: Uh, Mr. Salt?
Kid: O.K.!

and so on and so forth until we reach ten taps and she tells me how many I got right out out ten...

The next game we're going to play is called "If you are a potoato chip" -- there's a whole set of songs that go along with that one as well.

How much do I love my kid?????

Pretty close to perfect...

I am just having the best coupla days. Went to visit IHOEL and found him to be in fine (medicated) spirits so that made me happy. Then last night I went with my new boyfriend to meet his best friend and her people for a dinner-type deal-ie and found the whole freaking lot of them to be just charming! It was really nice to get to see the NB interacting with someone besides me onna counta he's still kinda shy around me -- he's very sweet and comfortable and apparently highly-regarded with his peeps though so that was cool. Plus, the beautiful and accomodating Abby-Tail agree to kid-sit for me so I could go to this little shindig so she was on hand to meet/size up the boy in question and she just called to give me the ole thumbs up! Yay! (Again, nice that the things that she seemed to feel were cool about him were kinda the same things I'm fixated on so... and no she didn't come to these conclusions based on a three second intro. He actually gave her a ride to BART after dropping me off at the house -- although given the amount of "sahring" those two seem to have accomplished, I think he may have driven her all the way home!) K. then today, nice relaxed day. Kid had class. She is doing brillantly although she's getting burned out on Cap. I told her she could take a breather for the month of July then she had to re-start in August and we would discuss at the end of the summer whether or not she "has" to continue. Obviously I think she'd be great and that she could get a lot out of it but at the same time I'm just not gonna be the mom to tell her she has to do something she hates for the rest of her life just to make me happy. She's given it three months (which was the original agreement) and she promised to give it another shot in August so... i think she'll pick it back up. We'll see.

After we got home I put extentions in her hair so now she's got a ponytail down to her butt. Very cute. OH! And I got The Electric Company on DVD!!!!! So we've been watching that for hours on end.... Tomorrow going to hang with Mr. Lovah-Lovah in the park then Monday some "working from home" then out for a drive. Tuesday, lose the big girl to the CP and visit from NB. Sum total = a heck of a lot better than it was looking Friday afternoon so I'm not complainin'. :-]