Hawaiian Kitty!

Who found the only remaining Hello Hawaii Kitty (Brown!) in the downtown San Francisco area yesterday so she could add it to her kid's V. Day bag today? Quick follow up question: Who's officially THE best parent EVER! Um. Yeah. That would be me.

Conversation had this morning:

Me: Go away
"Ex-Roomie": C'mon...
Me: I'm SICK.
ER: So, that means you're not going to work anyway.
Me: I'm dying!
ER: I'm leaving....
Me: About time.
ER: C'mon...
Me: No!
ER: {leaves room. mumbled phone conversation} Are you gonna drive me or not???
Me: NO! I. am. sick. I am not getting out of this bed!
ER: {standing in doorway looking annoyed -- into phone}... yeah, I should be there about 8:00. O.K. Yeah. O.K. Love you to. Bye. {looking at me}
Me: What?
ER: ...
Me: Jesus, it's not like you couldn't just catch the BART.
ER: ...
Me: Stop it.
ER: ...
Me: aaarrrrgggggg! Fine! FINE! I will drive your lazy ass to the freaking airport. God! What is it with you? Why are you completely incapable of doing anything by yourself or for yourself?? You know, you're a bigger baby than the baby, you know that??? She got up early yesterday, got herself dressed and made herself some breakfast fer chrissakes! When was the last time you did anything for yourself that didn't involve a skateboard, or getting into someone's pants or ---
ER: {smile}
Me: What?!
ER: {hunching down next to the bed, still smiling} Thank you.



Happy Trails, Darlin.' Have a good flight. Give the kids my best -- you can keep what's left over...

Just found out that Jamie Lee Curtis is Jake's God Mother which is just delightful since it pretty much goes without saying that we (Jake and I) will eventually hook up and I've ALWAYS wanted to meet her...!

PLUS, it's got one of the best lines/delivery i think I've ever heard in a "modern movie":

Alma: You know, your friend can come in for coffee if he wants.
Ennis: He's from Texas.
Alma: what. they don't drink coffee in texas?

Brillant! i know, I'm obsessed. i'll stop.

I was all set to go straight too...! Thinking it might be easier to just freaking give in, find some boy and start sharing laundry-duty. Fuckers. Fucking heterosexual-dominated-culture-putting-everyone-into-fucking-boxes-then-fucking-crucifying-them-if-they-try-to-claw-their-way-out, A-holes! eh, hem. sorry. Still a little "affected" by some of the themes in that movie. Back to your regular programming...

the Brokeback bandwagon

O.K. so I finally saw this movie. my god. It was sooooooooo good. I'm almost afraid to write about it because everything I've read so far seems insipid and surfacey sounding. It's like trying to analyze why Lyle is so alluring. I mean you can DO it but it just seems like you either end up taking out all the feeling ("several effective plot devices come into play but the pacing is at times tedious and the ending could use some tightening")or being completely reductionist ("Gay Cowboy movie", "typical love story", "insightful study of what it means to be male in this culture") or sounding sappy ("My own Brokeback mountain happened during Gulf War..."). I don't want to be any of that but at the same time, jeesus, what a great movie. Made me mad but hell, I'd love to see it again!

Vote Magnet in 2016!

So, me and the Little Brother were once again discussing our plans for the Presidency in 2016 [Big Bro in office, me on the sidelines managing "spin", Little Bro = Attorney General and buddy Bo at the UN. We've got a chart and everything!] and we got to talking about walls.

LB:Thing is, you run up against a wall, you need to just stop a minute and figure something else out.
Chick:Yeah, but see, that's just us. Some people don't quite grasp the "wall-ness" of it and they keep running into it thinking it's going to soften up or turn into something else...
LB:Or they ignore it. Act like it doesn't exist...
Chick:Or they decide it's a good thing. Like it's a really great idea to have a wall there and if there wasn't one there for some reason they'd take it upon themselves to build one!
LB:Yeah.
Chick:I'm just sick of it. i just wish people would just walk up to the damn thing and have at it with a freaking jackhammer!
LB:or go around it. No use tearing it down. You could maybe use it for something later. A wall's a wall.
Chick: Hm. I guess....

See. That's why he gets to be AG.

It makes no scents...!

Yes, that's right, 38 years old and reduced to making bad puns. Why, you ask? You Chick -- you of all people, shockingly literate, verbally inclined, redundant without a cause...you??! O.K. sorry. Maybe you're not asking but I'll tell you anyway. Yours truly received in the mail today an adorably wrapped gift from a certain "Store Stylin'" someone in Texas who has decided that if I "am going to be 40 soon" and if I "choose to continue in this life mascarading as a woman" then I need a scent. A scent which this Angel-Boy was good enough to enclose. A scent with which I know not what to do. Now don't get me wrong, I am WELL aware of the effect certain scents can have on the masses -- in fact I have been known to ply certain masses with specially selected scents if only so they can participate (however unwittingly) in my self-delusional-world-filled-with-amazingly-smelling-people-who-actually-talk-to-me behavior... and it's not like the scent in question isn't brillant. It is. I spritzed the teeniest tiniest bit imaginable onto my sleeve and instantly got this insatiable urge to snuggle into my own wrist so I could live there forever. No, it's more a sense of timing. I've never really used scent and unlike makeup/clothes/men I have no idea when is the appropriate time to drag em out of the ole mothballs and go to town. Part of me thinks, save it for a "special occassion" but really, I have two kids, the occasional "20-something/slacker" on my couch and a f-buddy who I only call upon when I'm "spinning"/will DIE without some bodily attention Stat. [ed note. that last bit only makes sense to anyone who's ever tried to conceive using anything other than fresh sweaty man semen but I guarantee you, they are soooo "there with me" right now... eh, hem] so, honestly, what constitutes "special"? Birthday? Passed. Master's? Done. PhD? Not in this lifetime. ANY sort of recognition for all the hard work I'm putting in at the office? Ditto. Ha! (kidding. only not really...) I never go "out" anymore, I'm allergic to dating, it would be highly suspicious if I started showing up to my "independent study" time with my brillant professor awash in an alluring new fragrance... so... what...? Thoughts? suggestions? Is this like brushing my teeth every other morning, should I just go ahead and do it...just because?????

so here's what I just realized. I write. That's what I do. i write e-mail all day at work, I write papers for school, I make shopping lists, compose chatty letters, document what appears to be the better part of my life on this thing yet and still, any time I need a slip of paper (mind you, I am surrounded by already-used paper. Piles of it...!) to jot down a confirmation number or upon which to write a list of movies I wouldn't mind someday owning, I couldn't find a blank piece of scratch paper to save my life. Why is that?????

CONGRATULATIONS, Mistah L-L and the Beautiful K.!!!!!!

Here's wishing the very best to two of the most wonderful people ever to grace the planet -- kudos for finally getting through the nuptial part of your relationship without once again incurring the wrath of the hurricane gods! You guys rock and I am so happy for you. The fact that you not only managed to find each other, like each other and commit to each other astounds me but I'm glad someone managed it. That being said, from this point forward, my faith in the entire institution rests squarely on your honorable shoulders. Try not to let me down.... :-]

Seriously...!

Does anyone have a sexier singing guy voice than Toby Keith???? Um, that's gonna be no -- but what about Lyle? What about George?? While I'll give you that both of these gentlemen have voices to-die-for as well as pretty much corner the market on sheer-brilliance when it comes to composition/delivery (plus Lyle is about as attractive as the law allows in this country) but still... There's something about the way Toby sings "You'd still have my heart in the palm of your hands -- I`d still look like a fool in front of your friends"
that makes me just really have to stop whatever it is I'm doing and have a little sit down ...

---

In other news: Took the littlest one to the ENT Specialist yesterday to see about this whole sleep apnea/possibly enlarged adenoids thing she may or may not have going on and while she was brilliant (a complete and total angel throughout the entire 2.25 hours wait!)the doctor we ended up seeing was kind of annoying. He kept saying she needs to clean the "candy" out of her mouth before he could see her tonsils despite the fact that I kept saying "candy? She's not eating candy. Do you mean 'chips'??" which may seem like not that huge an issue but I think it nicely reflects the man's overall inability to HEAR me when I asked about anything else. Waste of time, if you ask me. Next step is a "sleep clinic" where they hook my Baby up to a bunch of electrodes then expect her to sleep (!!) and, in case you're wondering, should the final diagnosis come back as "yes, enlarged adenoids/apenea disorder" then we start talking about "tonscillectomy" which is just soooooo not gonna happen in my world. (I mean if it HAS to it has to but I'm sure as heck am not gonna allow folks to start ripping random bits out of my kid based on "it might help...") Anyway....

mmmmmmmmmm..... sugar...!

I am in a state of hypoglycemic shock brought on by THE WORLD'S BEST M&M cookies which were made pour moi by the very extremely best friend (who, albeit runs a bit tight-lipped with the proffering of info about major life decisions -- at least to me, her best friend, that is. Eh, hem... but super-cool nonetheless!) BBQ and her adorable child. I am so happy and fat right now, I may explode.

So, home at last. For some reason today seemed long.

Consider this conversation had mid-morning with "child" who thinks of mon pad as extra storage:

Person-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless: Hey, are you gonna be home tonight? I gotta pick something up.
Chick: [thinking - Home? Where the hell else am I gonna be on a Monday night. Dope.] Um. I'm not sure, when were you thinking of stopping by?
PWSRN: Dunno. after 11:00 I guess... [That's PM folks! Idiot...!]
Chick:Yeah, I'll be home. I'll be asleep. [idiot.]
PWSRN: in bed...?
Chick: {sigh...} Yes, you degenerate, in bed! Alone. Warm. Comfortable and not about to be awakened by the by some child who suddenly realized he can't live without his guitar pick!
PWSRN:{Sad, drawn out silence...}
Chick: GOD! Alright, you can come get your crap. I'll leave the door unlocked. Do NOT go into any room but the livingroom, do NOT wake up the baby and do NOT take anything out of the refrigerator which you shouldn't even be near as it is not in the livingroom!
PWSRN:{grin} Are you gonna be up?
Chick:Aaaawk!

Now then, considering how completely much I bend over backwards (no double entendres, please) for this inconsiderate prick, imagine, if you will, how I respond to a nice person. A gentleman who has (somewhat inexplicably, granted but to each his/her own) decided that we (he and me) should "date." Who has met me once (at a gathering of adoptive parents and their sprouts. He has three little girls two of which match my Beans ages. They -- the girls, that is -- actually seemed very cool. Too bad their dad does NOTHING for me..) and upon receiving my business card (which, honestly, I thought would send him running for the hills!) has called me numerous times to suggest coffee, outings, playdates, etc.

Nice Guy: Chick?
Chick:Oh. Hi.
Nice Guy: Wow. I'm surprised I caught you. Usually I have to leave a message and wait for you to call back. Ha Ha.
Chick: Uh. Heh. Yeah.
Nice Guy: [after longish pause] So... I was... I mean, I am going to be in the city for a conference thing and I thought we might get together for lunch or coffee or something...
Chick: [fully realizing that no actual dates have been proffered] Hmmmm. I'm going to be pretty busy over the next few weeks. You know, gearing up for Valentine's Day!
Nice Guy: Oh! This is after Valentine's Day.
Chick: Oh. Well, I'm not sure what the "ramp-down" [total made-up word. I am sooooo gonna burn in hell.] time is going to look like... If I get some time, I'll call you. K.?
Nice Guy: Oh. well. o.k. Do you have my number? I didn't know because you haven't actually returned any of my calls...
Chick: Yeah, I have it somewhere. Oop! I think I'm getting paged. Gotta go!
Nice Guy: K. Well, maybe I'll see y-
Chick: Bye! [click]

Karmically, I'm in for it, right?

Like a fine wine...

I go well with fish! No wait. I mean, I get better with age!

Can I just say, I'm a HUGE fan of songs with the word "Baby" in them (and if it's got the word baby and it's by a certain Lyle Lovett I pretty much become a puddle of mush that must be immediately mopped into some sort of container lest some of the more important bits go missing! eh, hem.. sorry, where was I?) and since yesterday (which was my actual Birthday Proper) SUCKED (entirely due to work concerns. My friends and family and babies were unbelievably sweet actually) I found it necessary to spend a significant amount of time compiling an mp3 list of Baby-songs so I could better drown out the cacophony of "Can you explain these numbers...???!" Crap I was getting from other corners. In doing so, I realized that one of the best lines i've heard so far is: "It's alright, Baby, if I hurry I can still make Cheyenne..." crooned by the one, the only Mr. George Straight which is just cool sounding in general but in context -- well suffice to say, it pretty much rips your heart out... The second best usage comes from a song about the Revolutionary War (lyrics by Sarah Vowell. Music written and performed by Marah) and which goes thusly: "George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, grinned a 'Baby, it's cold outside' duet. Your hands are like ice said the Marquis to George and that was Christmas at Valley Forge!" Eh hem. Sorry. moving on.

Went this last week-end to check out a Capoeria class for the Big Girl. Super cool place. Seems like fun. She's gonna have her first class this Sat. so we'll see how she likes it.

Little big kid told me something was "cute" last night. Are we all aware how very adorable it is to have a cute litle person telling you in a v. serious voice that something else is cute???? I pretty much just died.

Recently past birthdays which I would now like to give shout-outs to include the wonderful, fabulous, fantastic Lily-Bee Cheers, Chicka, to the best 5 year old on the planet! and to the ever supportive and splendiferous (not to mention highly amusing!) Abby-Tail who I LOVE and who I wish all the best things in the entire world upon.

Lastly, private shout-out to the CP's GalPal for just being a general all-round decent person and for taking such careful care of my Boo. Thank you. You may not realize it but your continued existence in all our lives makes my row so much easier to hoe. ;-]

My Life. abridged.

School starts. tomorrow.
the Boo got rats (2. v. cute.)
Mom. impromptu visit yesterday. On way home from thailand.
Work = Sucky and annoying (and based on inaccurate data, besides!)
Dreams of ex being sweet. (She was pretty sweet in real life too, jsut super mondo-sah-weet in the dreams... Disturbing but nice.)
Dirty Boy back in town. on my couch.
Sleep. A distant fantasy of mine. may happen some day. Not holding breath.
38th Birthday in 5 days! Whoo Hoo! {sigh}

that's it really. more later when I'm less tired.

TMI...

I have a grey/white hair growing out of my "private area"!! I'm not going to bore you with the details regarding how I came to know this. Nor will I dwell on the conversation that ensued once this pronouncement was delivered -- let's just say a certain amount of "mood" was broken. Eh hem. Anyway. Other than that one tiny reminder of my eminent date with DEATH, Vegas trip was grand. Pretty Boy was/is cute (as always) and brought one of the most beautiful Silver-grey Armani suits I think I've ever seen which he was good enough to put on and model for me before we left for the show so I could get all delighted about how freaking GORGEOUS he is sometimes... (speaking of which, were we aware that there's such a thing as "Armani Babi" -- Can you imagine dropping $543.00 on some adorable little Tibetan wool cap that is going to actually grace the Baby in question's head for 15-20 minutes before it is tossed to the ground and trampled by the Union Square crowds? I don't care what anyone says; there is such a thing as too much money. Anyway.) Show was O.K. I hate to say that about a Cirque show because I. LOVE. Cirque du Soleil shows. But I have to say... I think this one was trying to do a bunch of stuff it had no business doing mostly because of its easily shocked, middle America audience -- it couldn't really do the subject matter extremely well or better than any other Vegas sex show so instead they tried to wrap some sex (very little) into some Cirque (again not so much) with a dash of story thrown in at the start and an actually funny set of clowns in the middle... not horrible but given that I KNOW they can be brillant, a little disappointing...

The AVN show was interesting as well. Lots of large bosoms and fake tans. Porn stars are freaking TINY. I keep forgetting that.

Happy New Year, BTW. I hope each and every one of you has a year that is amazing and fruitful and fun! I love you all and wish you the best life has to offer... {Big smooch from me to you -- right on the kisser!}

Lalala!

Pretty Boy:When do I get to see you?
Me:Dunno. I'm in Vegas this week-end at a tradeshow...
Pretty Boy:I could come to Vegas.
Me: K.
Me: We should go see a show.
Pretty Boy: K.
Pretty Boy: We should go shopping first.
Me: K.

Gawd. I must have been a freaking saint in another life!

Crossing the line

Before I begin this post, I would first like to take a moment to state for the record that I blame my parents for all of this. Half-hearted, liberal upbringing/absentee parenting!!!

Having said that, I must now admit that... I am infatuated with a teen-ager. Not a "figurative teen-ager" but an actual one. A cute, fresh-faced boy-child who teaches at my kid's camp and who literally is closer by 10 years to her age than he is to mine. Today when I went to pick her up, he was doing a crossword puzzle with her and I . got. jealous.

I should be taken out and shot.

Ah, yeah...

Who got "A"s in both of her classes this semester? Um. that's gonna be ME! Whoo Hoo! Did I mention that I'm embarking on my LAST semester of coursework this spring? Still terrified of that as a concept but at the same time, feeling alot better given the new "all-As!" status. :-]

Happy Holidays!

That's right. I said "Happy Holidays!" Because I do actually care that people with different belief systems are shorted this time of year and no, I do not think being sensitive to that fact is the same as being "all PC about everything!" so there....

Now then. Christmas was fabulous at the Chick house! Lots of time spent on the couch because one of us (me) is sick and dying but otherwise, all goodness and light. the X-mas eve was spent with the co-parent and didn't exactly turn out the way I'd hoped but, whatever. I've escaped relatively unscathed and it could have been (MUCH) worse so....

Conversations with the kids:

Boo: You know what I realized? I realized it is better to give than to receive because you always get something back when you give something!
Chick: [lips all pinched, poised to lecture] Well... that's not exactly the point... What sorts of things do you get...?
Boo: Well, you at least get a "Thank you!"
chick: [lips unpinching, getting all misty] You're a great kid.
Boo: I know.

Chick: [To 2.5 year old who is requesting that we watch the Incredibles for the ninth time in two days] We're not having videos right now. We're playing with our new presents.
Spark: No! [stamps foot] No, Mommy! Stop!
Chick: [Taken aback since i'm in the kitchen and nowhere near child in question] What am I doing??
Boo: [reasonably] You're making her mad.
Chick: [to Spark] You want me to stop making you mad?
Spark: Yes.
Chick: If I stop making you mad will you stop making me mad?
Boo: [discusted with me] Mom. Do you really think she understands that?
Chick: [to Boo] She might. Besides, how come I'm the one who has to stop? How come she doesn't stop?
Boo: [Rolling eyes -- I have no idea why she puts up with me] Um. Because she's TWO.

And lastly, went to go see this movie yesterday with my 8 y.o., the Rock Star and her fabulous mom. Brillant! Beautiful. Not too scary for a coupla of sappy adults and their far more mature childruns. i'd say "a must-see!"

Finger knitting!

Have we heard of this? My kid came home last night and in the span of about an hour turned a skein of yarn into a narrow knitted chain using her fingers. She learned how to do it at school from a friend and turned around and showed all the kids at her winter camp how to finger-knit. I'm amazed. not that she knows how to do it or that there's this little skill that kids go around teaching each other and that they cn almost instantly do remarkably well, but that it seems so primal. I mean, you look at those intricately woven Hopi baskets that were braided 1,000 years ago and for the first time it occurs to me that maybe some little kids had a hand in making them. Anyway. It's fascinating to watch and to think about. Random bits of craft knowledge that perpetuate themselves throughout history. I think that's neat.

In other news, my 2 year old has started pointing out things she likes: planes that go fast, cars which are going fast, motorcycles going fast, going downhill fast, rollercoasters... you get the point. Basically, it is occuring to me that I'm either going to be out at the slopes or over at the racetrack cheering this litle one on since there's no way in H*** she's going to be happy with a life where she's not actively trying to kill herself on a daily basis. So long as it's not skydiving I think I'll be o.k....

LaLaLa...!

Home with a feverish child -- fun, fun, fun! Although, I have to say as far as sick kids go, this one is really being quite good. Sure she's had her occassional cranky-as-hell, "my eyes are hot!" moments but all in all, I think she's being quite the trooper. She's currently having her nap so I'm switching my parenting abilities to dealing with vendors (seriously, I think the one thing in my life that's made it so that I am able to survive in the corporate world is the fact that having children has given me some insight into two-year-old behavior. the only difference would be that my kids will eventually grow out of whatever phase they're in that's driving me crazy. Our HP support... not so much!)

Anyways. Was not able to attend the nutcracker yesterday due to aforementioned little kid unhappiness but was assured by my lovely and talented 8 year old who DID go that the performance was "GREAT!" Thanks to the Bee family for not only coming up with the idea but for also making it so the big girl didn't have to sit all by herself!

Man, that was fun!

I have finally realized that the trick to having fun at these things is to 1) have NO expectations whatsoever 2) wear lots of fake hair 3) leave when the used-to-be-crush-but-now-just-bitterness-inducing person shows up. Seriously, last night had to have been one of the nicest party-going experiences I've had in recent years. Huge plus, would also be inviting the BBQ because, let's face it, when all is said and done there aren't alot of people who clean up as nicely as that little lady! ;-]

DONE!

I'm finished with my finals!!!!!! I am so stoked about that, I. may. die.

Whew.

Now then.

Sorry I disappeared. Work is a little tricky right this second but it's getting better. All the major stupid issues are being resolved with the website -- now all that remains are the tiny annoying ones... Anyway. Final papers are done (possibly not done well but i am past caring at this point.) GV party is coming up and it will be a freaking hoot! e-mail me if anyone needs tickets. The theme is Back to High School and i'm channeling Beyonce for my character inspiration this year. Quickie special shout out to Travelin' man whose phone number I have written on a post-it at work and whom I will call at some point soon (promise) because it's been simply eons and lunch with an old friend who might be able to tell me the password to my freaking wireless DSL account is always something to look foreward to!

Speaking of forward... as if the party is not excitement enough, on Sundee me and the Scoot and the Bee and her eldest are going to see the Nutcracker! i know! I'd be jealous if it wasn't me who was going!! (This particular outing, BTW, was made possible by the always dapper and amazingly cute IHOEL who will be sheparding the tiny ones whilst we big kids go lap up some culture...so a big THANKS to that esteemed personage as well!) Anyway, just wanted to check in sos everyone knows i'm still alive. I'm gonna go put a baby to bed and just possibly crawl into the sack myself so.... kisses to all and to all a good night!

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...!

Happy floaty Chick.

K. off to Bah-stan. Wish me luck!

excited!

I have a "date" tonight! I have a date with an old friend who I haven't seen in awhile and who has just (again) joined the pool of disillusioned-single-persons-who-don't-really-see-the-point and we've been discussing this whole "dating" thing and trying to figure out why it's so wierd and so we're going to go on a "date." We're going to act like we met through Craigslist -- I'm going to pretend I hate my job and that I'm straight and want to get married someday. He's going to try to be a little more "college guy" who ended up in tech... :-] Plus, there's a very real chance that I'm going to "get some" which is always nice! Yay! I like my friends.

Speaking of which, I miss my buddies. I was fortunate enough to hang with the fantastiolistic IHOEL for a cup o joe on Friday and while it was about the most fun I had that day it also made me really miss my peeps. So then. New Year's rsolution in November. Find/call/write my friends. the ones I like. Not the ones I could care less for yet spend all day on the phone with becuase I need something from them or they need something from me. The other ones. The ones I enjoy talking with because they're actually interesting and cute and make me feel like the world is populated with thinking, rational, good-hearted people. Those friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cliche, yes but heartfelt nontheless! I would like to take a moment to thank whomever is responsible for all of this for giving me such a great life. Thank you for my amazing friends, for my perfect children, for my wonderful family, for my really great job and for allowing me to live a life in which I have access to pretty much every single thing I need to be happy and content 99.998% of the time. ( Now then. First there's this. Not that it's in any way done (the search, for instance, routinely returns "0" items even if you type in exact names and/or item numbers...) but it's live, goddamit which means I can start sleeping nights instead of testing, bug-fixing, planning, composing freaked out e-mails, worrying, scarfing kit kats like they're going out of style etc. etc. etc. Whew. I don't think I've ever been so glad to see something "done". Speaking of done. It just occured to me yesterday as I was signing up for my next semester's classes that THIS IS MY LAST SEMESTER OF CLASSES!!!!!!!! At the end of this semester I am through with coursework. I am supposed to know, write down and defend my dissertation topic. I am supposed to have a plan in place for conducting experiments on unsuspecting human subjects. I am supposed to be well into my lit review. i am supposed to be buckling down and writing on a daily basis in a thought-out, informed way on what will eventually be my freaking disertation! WTF????? Who got me into this mess and where the hell are they now?

In other news, I'm being sent to Boston on Monday for a few days by the GM. Not sure why I'm going. I suspect it may be because everyone else actually does work/is indispensible but who knows. I hear it's 13 degrees out there. Nice.

Like family... almost.

So, things are still insane but some cool things just happened and I felt the need to document so...

1) the agency who was handling Spark's foster care/our adoption just sent me a book. Not a "how-to rulebook" or "an update on your child's benefits" kind of book but a book about adoption told from the child's point of view with an accompanying letter thanking me for being a part of the process. How sweet is that???

2) We're trying a new social experiment here at the house wherein I say to Spark right before she goes to sleep "Do you want milk?" which is her cue to yell "No!" because milk means sleep and she doesn't want sleep. Once she's in bed -- sleep having happened regardless of milk-age, she then demands that milk which, in the past I have sort of sighed and given. Then, I thought, nope. She says no, that means no. So the last few days I've asked and she's said "no" and I've not given her milk despite repeated in-bed requests and tears and sobbing and whatnot. Tonight I said "Do you want your milk?" and she said "No!" Then I said, "remember how yesterday you said no and then got sad because you couldn't have any? Now think about this. Do you want your milk or not?" to which she replied "No milk...! After books. Milk." (!!) I know, my "victories" may seem small but still. At this point I'll take what I can get!

3) my favorite professor just found out she gets to stay at Mills and be an actual tenure track full-time staff member! Funny because she's been there for two years doing wonderfully yet still they felt the need to put her through this insanely grueling interview process (even flying in two other candidates to go up against her.) anyway... Congrats Prof. K. You rule!!

{sigh} Kill me now...

On the bright side, I hear that if I survive next week I'll have officially obtained the exalted level of "red samurai"!

laLaLa!

My big brother is coming into town this week-end! yay! o.k. back to testing...

Va-ca-tion all I ever wanted...!

I'm back my pretties! And yes, I had a GREAT time. Miss my littlest one like nobodies bid-ness but rumour has it I will be retrieving her from her G-ma's tonight so s-all good... Pets survived in my absence thanks to the ministrations of GEG who i SWEAR I am going to stop pining over any day now. House is clean (er) thanks to having just the one child at home on Sundee (the big girl super helpful "now let's clean the fishtank!" one)... As far as work goes... well, I'm actually trying to get back on top of the various ish-hoos that occurred in mon abseence so I'll actually be having to get back to it but just thought I'd check in real quick to let ch'all know I'm not dead. More later, promise!

Slowly I turn...

Ha! Just wanted to write that actually. Quick shout out to the Bee clan who were gracious enough to provide a reason to get my children dressed up in cutie costumes and out marching around the town on Sunday. Good times! Not too mention the sheer "it outta be illegal" adorability of the little Bee princess/fairies!!

Then last night, still more trickin' (because, by now the baby is a PRO -- seriously she was "peasin'" and "tank yu-in'" all over the place!) which was a-dorable and finally home for sleeping in (!!) because aforementioned littlest has a check-up this morning and I have finally gotten to understand that I don't have to try to plan these things so I don't actually miss any work at all... mmmmm. coffee. sitting watching the baby for a minute. writing to you all. nice.

Weird mood...

That is entirely related to work so not that weird really... I have a "scratch on my cornea" which was making the vision in one of my eyes all blurry/freaking me out yesterday because I thought it was a tumor or something (!!) Upon visiting my nice Optometrist, Dr. Michael Jackson (I KNOW!) over on Broadway, however, I was disabused of that belief, yelled at (again) about my inability to get my lazy-ass self to an opthamologist to get my "possibly glaucomatic" condition checked out and instructed to buy "smaller" frames that "actually fit my face." What is it about me that the world thinks it gets to boss me around?? Anyway. (that last statement was ENTIRELY untrue, BTW. I am often a little taken aback by the fact that the world actually leaves me mostly alone most of the time -- even going out of it's way to occasionally cross the street and avoiding eye contact when it sees me coming...)

In other news, the much looked forward to nuptials of the world's best God-Uncle to the Boo, Mistah L-L to his nubian queen K. have been postponed due to "acts of god" which, given that the cermony itself was supposed to represent one of those, I'm not sure what to make of but... I will leave that to the theologians in the crowd and instead report the upshot -- that being that I will not be going to Mexico to sit around on a sandy beach and quaff fruity drinks any time soon. No worries though! The wedding has been re-scheduled so 1) I can rest assured that this isn't some elaborate ruse cooked up by the primary parties to explain away some sudden dislike for each other/the whole archaic institution and 2) I didn't wanna go anyway...!jk.

This morning as I walked the Boo to school one of her second grade acquaintances marched up to me and announced "I'm going to be catwoman!" "Great!" I responded before thinking "Oh! You mean for halloween!" Aforementioned child then inquired "Are you gay?" Causing her mother to DIE right there on the playground. I, of course offered up a "Yup, Sure am!" Before making extended eyecontact with her red-faced mom and grinning like a crazy lady. Ha! Seriously. Kids are great. How the hell do we turn them into such incredibly screwed up adults???

Pretty boy is back from Tahiti and has agreed to treat me to lots of fully illustrated stories for which I cannot wait!

And lastly, quick shout-out to BBQ who although she probably knows it not, is, I am positive, going to be one of the small handful of reasons I do not completely abandon grad school... Anyway.

Duly noted...

For the record, this space is herein given to supporting an official rebuttal to assertions that may or may not have occured in this blog by persons directly connected to the matters outlined:

1) "Talking for hours" does and has not occur(ed) as that is "sissy behavior" -- futhermore any conversation that doesn't involve food related aversions is actually generally conducted via grunts and gestures toward "the remote."

2) Any discomfort either perceived and/or felt by [this blogger's] visitors can be traced directly to the fact that one's gal pals have no business suddenly getting "all sexy" on them and furthermore who am I [the blogger] to say that our entire relationship wasn't, in fact, predicated on an aborted attempt to "get into my [blogger's] pants" in the first place?

3) Sporatically realized desire to potentially f*** a person IN NO WAY points to a desire for further commitment e.g. "marriage" or otherwise.

Thank you. Now back to your formerly scheduled program....

overheard yesterday in my kid's classroom...

"uh, huh! 'No guns in class.' I mean, it's like a world rule! Sheesh. It's not like I sit around at home and think up stuff that's going to bum you guys out...!"

Quick, whose 8-year old is being taught by a recovering hippie this year?

In other news, I tried going into work today but I jsut got bummed out so after I went to the doc-tee-aires to have my stich-ii removed, I ended up playing hooky for the rest of the afternoon. Which, interestingly enough, is not something I generally do. I mean, if I have a paper due or my kid is sick or something then, yeah, I'll stay home, but I'm not normally prone to "absence due to sheer bummed-out-ness..." then again the bummed out bit is directly work related so maybe it was for the best that I sat this one out.

I spent the majority of my newly found time putting the finishing touches on me and the babies Halloween costumes, pictures of which will be taken and sent to those of you who prove yourselves worthy of that kind of notice...

Quick note, re: that. I have a friend who I like very much and who thinks I'm the bee's knees as well but in a "friends" kind of way, right, so I've noticed a disturbing trend which is that when I have long hair, like when I'm prancing around in one of the many get-ups that required some type of flowing lock-age -- he gets all silly on me. Like he likes me, likes me. Which is weird. I wasn't completely sure that this was the deal until today when he was over here sitting on my couch watching me model the year's coolest Halloween get-up and he started getting all stuttery and awkward acting, then he jumped up to go get some KFC. So, I thought "Hmmmm. That's wierd. I wonder if his like is turning into LIKE which would be weird and which we should talk about cause that would be weird..." so I take off the wig/visor/sunglass portion of my costume and when he gets back it's just like nothing happened. Again, weird. So I shrug and disappear back into the dressing area to try on another long haired ensemble and pop back out AND HE GOT WEIRD AGIAN! Like couldn't look me in the eye without turning red! Suffice to say, very shortly after this, he left. Now I'm all perplexed. I mean I, of all people, with my pavlovian reaction to long-haired boys certainly understand attraction based on a narrowly defined set of conditions but I guess what's weird to me is that we've already got a friendship going that has nothing to do with that, I just don't see how a little appearance altering is gonna make someone start thinking marriage when hour long talks about every single thing under the sun, shared jokes about truly stupid things that noone else thinks are funny and a livelong commitment to supporting each other's addiction to non-touching food never inspired that particular flight. Anyway...

2 year old wants to be on the computer now so I'm out. (Maybe I'll make a phone call or two...)

First off...

There's this. (You need sound.)

Secondly, I'm baaaacccckkkkkkk! Finger is doing well. Thanks for asking. (The rest of the patient is sketchy at best but whaddaya want! baby steps my friend, baby steps...)

K. So I had the following conversation with my Two-year-old this morning:

Me: Hello.
Spark: Hello.
Me: [putting her sock on my head] Do you like my hat?
Spark: No, I do not.
Me: [adding a second sock] How about now?
Spark: [loudly] No! I do NOT like that hat!
Me: Good-bye.
Spark: Good-bye.

Quick, extra points for the lucky person who can tell me which P.D. Eastman book we're channeling at the Magnet house...!

And lastly, I {heart} IHOEL! Thanks for the book/advice/company the other night. You are a keeper.

Please, if you do nothing else for me today, at least check this out. Thank you.

I love this guy...

"Surely when we've reached the point where we're fetishizing sodium chloride and water, and subjecting both to the kind of scrutiny we used to reserve for choosing an oncologist, it's time to admit that the relentless quest for that next detectable gradation of perfection has stopped being about the thing itself and crossed over into the realm of narcissism so overwhelming as to make the act of masturbation look selfless." :-]

I'm a mess...

My finger hurts, my foot/ankle hurts, my head hurts. I was up all night responding to the freaked-out energy in my house (little random puffs of mojo-gone-wild freaking out my cats and giving the baby bad dreams. -- K. just told me there's an earthquake on the way so that's probably what's going on...) Ran into a dear old friend, practically literally, on the Bay Bridge on Sunday. We did that thing that I HATE when people do where you try to have some sort of conversation through your open windows simultaneously slowing down both lanes while shouting "I thought you were gone!" over chick in the passenger seat who's trying to look all pleasant and o.k. with everything/trying not to die. Good times! So, this week-end my big girl suddenly announces (as i'm getting supper ready, getting the dishes -- which I'm not allowed to wash lest I get my stitches wet -- out of the damn way, getting the cat fed and out from under my damn feet) with some level of indignation "You've got too much to do!" Like someone other than me had orchestrated this whole thing! Hands on hips and everything. it was cute. My little champion. Then previous to this little interlude, my littlest one comes into the kitchen carefully holding BOTH of her breakfast bowls -- one in each hand not spilling any of the curlded milk left over from her morning cheerios which she has cleared off her little table in preparation for some sup-sup, and hands them to me! Who's got the best, smartest, considerate-est children ever??? Yup! Me, that's who! (Don't be jealous. Oh. o.k. go ahead, be jealous if you must... ;-])

I'm not supposed to be typing...

I had surgery on my middle finger on my right hand and I'm supposed to be "letting it rest." Ha! Let's all watch as Chick "follows" Dr.'s orders...!

Anyway, just checking in. Went out last night with IHOEL to see one of the best movies i've ever seen! Mirrormask Highly recommended. Quick, go see it before someone realizes that a quality movie actually made it out into the world and does something to stop it!

Blah! My finger hurts. Guess I'm not going to be doing all that much updating right this second after all... k. more later.

Circling back to the "L"-word

No, not THAT L-word. The other one. The one I know is useless. Sigh. Jeesus, it's like a disease where I say I'm gonna leave it alone but I just - can't - make - myself - stop - stopping - by.... No doubt tied to some morbid fascination with the fact that here, apparently, is someone who can do quite nicely without me, thank you very much. I know. Inexplicable but true.

"mini-me" musing cont....

and then I got to thinking about my mom and her life-long desire for darker skin and curly hair. About how she wanted to travel and to grow up in a place that didn't have snow and brown brick buildings all squashed together -- what must she think of her own little experiment with "alternate beginnings." From where I sit, I think we all turned out great. I think she thinks so too but then there's that sort of pervasive bitterness thing that underlies every discussion of day to day accomplishments. Her surprise that we're doing so well. Like there's something sketchy about the whole thing. Is that what you get when you set up your little ones to have the life that you dreamt about -- some kind of wierd jealousy/longing as you watch from the sidelines as these people you created reap the benefits of all your hard work? Anyway... this whole reproducing thing is turning out to be more complicated than I at first thought. Many billions times better but definitely requiring some additional thought.

the fortune I want:

"Your waiting has paid off -- the person you desire will desire you back!"

the fortune I just got:

"Your enthusiasm inspires people!"

great.

Confession time...

So, here's the thing, sometimes I look at my kid and I think "Wow, she's just like me, only better!" And I kind of mean it. She's the ethnic make-up I always wanted to be, she's got the hair I always wanted to have, she's being raised in a cool city, goes to a cool school, is inordinately popular, has "enough" in terms of food, clothes, toys etc., right down to the little sister I never had -- this kid is the living summation of pretty much everything I thought I wanted when i was growing up... which is wierd right? I mean, what the hell? Is this why people have kids? So, they can have little one-offs running around improving on the various areas where they might have liked to have lived life differently? I can't say i was specifically thinking along those lines when we started building her but I do have to say I had a fair amount of choice in setting up my Boo's current situation -- I mean, I did choose her donor/ethnicity, her sibling and her living/school sitch so, it could be said that I have been sort of setting up this up all along. I guess my wondering is whether or not I've been saying I'm just trying to give her the best live ever while what I'm really doing is playing out some sort of unconcious desire to re-write history with a "better" or at least differently situated heroine because i'm curious to see how it (my life done differently) would have turned out. Which seems really wierd to me. I dunno. Maybe it's normal.

---

In other news, it's that time of month again and I need a boyfriend. Just for a week or so. If anyone knows anyone who's hot/willing, please send them my way. Thanks.

and now i'm in a good mood!

Kid is here at work with me. Sun is shining and all is right with the world! :-]

Don't get me wrong...

I adore my kid's little troop of buddies. i think they are smart and sweet and considerate of her ... and yet, at the same time when they're all together they're capable of forming into one of the brattiest, spoiled-est, snottiest, shallow-ist, most racist, manipulative groups of 8 year old terrors I've ever seen. my god! And I'm not saying these tiny people were formed in a vacuum. i mean, their parents are pips as well! Case in point at the brithday today, birthday girl wants to cut the cake. Mom says no, I'll cut it. Birthday girl begins to SCREAM "NO! I'm cutting it! No! I'm doing it!" Mother replies "O.K. alright, just make sure to cut it into smaller peices so everyone gets some... no, not like that, smaller than that, no, Honey, now see you're getting it all over [at this point instead of just taking the damn knife away she turns to her soon to be estranged husband, rolls her eyes and says "Far be it from me to be the cause of a melt-down!" Then throws her helpless little hands in the air and walks away leaving her daughter to serve pieces the size of Mt. Everest to about three children before hopping off her chair and running off to complete some freaking "art project" she had going on earlier.]

second case in point -- Child-who-I-cannot-stand is telling my child to stay away from another little girl because she has lice. I explain sternly to CWICS that she should stop being mean because she's had lice, Boo's had lice, we've all had lice and 1) it's no big deal and 2) it's not THAT contagious. Upon arriving home I get call from CWICS's mother demanding to know whether or not other child was announcing she has lice and chasing the children around and rubbing her hair on them (no!) which is ridiculous if you think about it because 1) how is that a fun child's game and 2) whatever! When I explain that no, in fact she wasn't but that I'd had a chat with her daughter about being mean she shot back "Well, she probably didn't think she was being mean, she was probably just scared, I mean I spent $3,000.00 getting rid of the infestation the last time and I really can't go through that again, I mean, seriously, if CWICS has been exposed again, I don't think I can let her in the house!" Nice. Sigh. God. When they were littler it was so much easier to tell myself that they weren't their parents/going to be a truly annoying influence on my kid -- and I know this is probably coming across as a big ole "Wah, I don't want those nasty, bad children sullying the pure perfection that is my child" but you know what??? I don't! I think they're a pretentious, spoiled, hypocritical bunch of upper middle classers and I actually would like my kid to grow up surrounded by folks who are a little less self-centered/a little more conversant with freaking empathy! Unfortunately the only places I seem to be able to find that kind of compassion are places where people have alot fewer life choices than I and my kids do and so I'm not so sure it's all rosy on that side of the track either.... Anyway. I'm in a bad mood. i'll stop now.

"linner? lunper?"

O.K., on the one hand sick and wrong but on the other... kind of funny.

http://harrietmiers.blogspot.com/

---

More importantly, whose two-year-old can recognize her numbers AND count to eleven??? That's right, baby! All that brilliance crammed into one adorable little body -- how DOES she do it??!

Sigh. I'm exhausted right now. A buddy of mine told me Sephora is looking for a website manager. Not that that MEANS anything I am simply making a statement of fact.

Anyway, I had big plans for coming on here and doing this massive update so all those tens of people who follow my life can understand exactly where it is I am at right now ... but I'm too tired. In a nutshell, i would like to say, the Bee B-day din was fabulous! So, nice to see all the pretty people gathered in one place and drinking wine. Boo B-day party the following day, also brillant! I love that kid and am beyond blessed that she (and her baby sister for that matter) chose to grace me with their lives. K. More later maybe after I get some sleep.

Company Holiday Party

So, I just had THE best idea for my holiday party get-up! the theme is Back to High School or something like that so I'm gonna get D. to do my hair so it's long and big and I'm gonna wear my hot pink prom dress -- THEN I'm gonna carry around big old picture frame with a blow-up of a person in a tuxedo (complete with matching corsage/bow tie and big Elvis pompador) but with a cut-out section where the face goes. Then I'll have my camera on my wrist and go around making everyone take "prom pictures" with me! I know. Sometimes it hurts being this brillant...

in a MUCH better mood now, thanks for asking! Big party week-end coming up -- happpy B-days to the way-beyond-cool Mrs. A Bee and, of course, all the best coming year's wishes imaginable for my own stellar little Boo!

blah!

I'm sick. I'm sick and i'm overwhelmed and I keep having all these wierd freaked out single parent dreams like last night wherein my brain considered whether or not, if I were to die in my sleep, there were enough random baggies of cheerios lying around the house to make it so that Spark would have something to live on until someone noticed something was wrong and came looking for her. Or what if I was really sick and couldn't move who'd take care of Spark then? I mean, my awake brain knows that I have people in my life who would be more than happy to assist in these scenarios and that these sorts of things aren't really issues I should be worrying about but seriously the last three nights have been all about this kind of crap. {sigh} Boo is sick too. I hope Spark doesn't get it next. Anyway, I'm going back to bed now.

When I was a senior in high school, my drama class paired up with the chorus department to do Hair -- i couldn't sing so they made me a part of the ensemble that sang this song:


"White boys are so pretty
Skin as smooth as milk
White boys are so pretty
Hair like Chinese silk

White boys give me goose bumps
White boys give me chills
When they touch my shoulder
That's the touch that kills

Well, my momma calls 'em lilies
I call 'em Piccadillies
My daddy warns me stay away
I say come on out and play

White boys are so groovy
White boys are so tough
Every time that they're near me
I just can't get enough

White boys are so pretty
White boys are so sweet
White boys drive me crazy
Drive me indiscreet

White boys are so sexy
Legs so long and lean
Love those sprayed-on trousers
Love the love machine

My brother calls 'em rubble
That's my kind of trouble
My daddy warns me "no no no"
But I say "White boys go go go"

White boys are so lovely
Beautiful as girls
I love to run my fingers
And toes through all their curls

Give me a tall
A lean
A sexy
A sweet
A pretty
A juicy
White boy

Black boys!
White boys!
Black boys!
White boys!"


Now, twenty years later, a self-actualized adult with daughters of my own, I can only ask in amazed wonder -- What the HELL were they thinking??!

22 hours of little to no sleep...

and counting.

My life, at this point, sucks.

I swear i'm trying to be appropriate...!

Honest! Can I help it if my cutie vendor support types aren't cooperating??! Sheesh. Anyway. Vendor Guy was here all day yesterday driving me crazy with his "Just a phone call away!" comments and his casual touching of various of my body parts -- then he has the audacity to call me last night to "give me an update"... How the hell is that not gonna devolve into naughty talk???? Eh hem. Anyways... I bring all this up because I just saw pictures of myself being inappropriate with a whole OTHER set of vendors whilst I was in the midst of signing up for my sexual harrassment refresher course and it got me thinking "Hmmmm. i wonder if there's some sort of policy on this that i should know about?" Ah well.

I'm up tomorrow morning at 5am testing the hardware changes we're working on right now so the odds are kind of good that i won't spend too much time obsessing about anyone in particular. Can I just say: boys + me = trouble and the sooner I figure that out the better for everyone involved!

We have the young Stevie Nicks here with us tonight. Such a beautiful kid. Seriously, it's borderline insane how rock star that kid looks. Plus, she can actually sing. She was serenaded us in the car -- kid is six years old and she's belting out tunes she made up about the alphabet with flourish and crescendo 'n sheet! Thank the sweet heavens above she's now got a mom who's not about to let the forces that be take any kind of advantage of her little girl because mark my words, at multiple points in this little lady's life she's gonna get approached by people wanting to hand her a one-way ticket to stardom...!

In other news, the BBQ Baby Girl is having her B-day party tomorrow which is promising to be all kinds of fun and for which I cannot wait!

and lastly IHOEL went ahead and had that triple bypass/intra-species transplant surgery she'd been considering for the last coupla years and I am relieved and delighted to be able to announce that it looks like the Baboon heart is going to take and that she'll be released from the hospital in a matter of months! JK. I am glad steps are being taken though to relive some of the not so great goings on with my muchly missed IHOEL. If there's anything I can do to assist convalescence (short of whipping up some sort of soup) do let me know and I will get right on it!

I'm tired right now cause I went out with some vendor types last night to smooze the night away (one of whom was the flirty lass from the July trade show!) -- not alot to report (got french kissed by the wrong one) but I did want to say that the place we went for food; some Vietnamese place in the Mission -- was GREAT! I know! I'm as shocked as you people are but really, the shaken beef was to - die - for! K. {yawn} Nuff of that noise. I'm off to put the kiddies to bed so I can put myself to bed so I am less cranky tomorrow. Ciao...

I have seen the future...

and it is my babysitter.

So, yesterday a truck chose to become "engulfed in flames" on the Bay Bridge translating into more than a few unpleasant things in my world -- the most annoying of them was the complete and total inability to get to my toddler (which was disconcerting as well since this is the first time I've ever not been able to physically get to my kid. It wasn't panic inducing, or anything, because I knew she was safe at her daycare -- just frustrating knowing that I was massively inconveniencing them and that I would end up having to pay upwards of thrirteen thousand dollars in late fees) but after several panic-ey type phone calls I was able to reach her current "while-I'm-in-class" sitter who lives on that side of the Bay and was able to go get her. (Quick thanks re: the amazing luck that it is mine to have that she was cool with that kind of bizarre request when basicaly she's only known us for three weeks and that she had the time and a car!) Anyway, we ended up at Mills picking up the little one and BabySitter was there with her friends and it just struck me all upon a sudden how very young they are. Now I look at my big girl and she's aging years every time a freaking minute goes by and I look at these fresh, earnest, well-scrubbed young people who are in college fer chrissakes and they just seem really really young. So, my question is at what point do they stop "growing up to fast" and start "not being near grown enough?"

There were three of them in this group. The middle one (my KidSitter) seemed alot like my Boo -- aware, calm, smart, plesant and polite but not particularly forthcoming. Her friend was that girl -- the one who likes to interact with adults, in fact feels they're more her equal than the children she has to surround herself with normally, also super young looking but trying to act in a more mature/sophisticated way. Then the last was the cuter, more puppy-like, nice but not super-sure what you're supposed to say when you're pulled into a conversation with some random adult and her two kids. I was looking at these kids and at the ways they interacted with me and i realized that this little group was Boo and her friends not too long from now. And that while that was comforting (because, really, they all seem relatively secure in their own skins -- meaning, i guess, that none of them really expect that the world is going to be screwing them over any time soon) it was also wierd because it is, in some ways COMPLETELY foreign to the environment in which I grew up. These kids are not wary. they are not anxious and they are not in need of "options" -- i'm not saying they don't have problems but they don't have the problems we had growing up. And, it kind of just occurred to me, neither will my Boo. Which is good -- kind of what I guess we're all working toward but which also means, there's going to be a point where I will have no idea what's she's up against. God. i hope she keeps talking to me.

In other news, i gave Boo the "Who's cuter" test (aka "Is preference genetically determined") by flashing pictures of these two popular cuties:




and





She, of course, being ma ba-bee, unhesitatingly chose Chad proving beyond a shadow of a doubt (at least until Spark is old enough to indulge her Mommy's weirdness) that this kind of stuff is innate. For the record, we both also agreed that Bow Wow




is just soooo much cuter/looks like he'd be more fun to play with than Lil Romeo

So, it's like cyst is it??!

I have a ganglion cyst on my middle figer, right hand. I'm going to have it sliced out and because I have to drive to pick up the sprouts later in the day I'm going to have it done using local anesthetic. No big deal, right? I mean can't be any worse than childbirth... Oi.

I am a dyke!

I need to just put it out there that I am a big ole dyke. And not one of those "because women are objectively beautiful" types either, I am not interested in admiring a woman's "beauty" -- I want to get into her pants pure and simple. So then, having firmly established my unswerving/staunch lesbianicness in everybody's mind, I would now like to consider for a moment the rapidly expanding list of BOYS for whom I feel melty. eh hem...:

New York Guy - sure he's messed up but he's got a voice like hot honey and every time he smiles it makes my knees buckle. Plus he's got a convertible that he likes driving almost as much as I like riding so you know that's a draw...

Pretty Boy - tragic, sweet as hell, centered and soooo deserving of a nice normal girlfriend. I'm just glad he's letting me sub until she shows up!

Dirty Boy - he's not here anymore so I can go ahead and admit that I kind of like being with him; it's like rolling around in a big ole pile of autumn leaves; fun, kind of filthy, in the end sorta itchy and you really need a shower after.

Vendor Guy - another New Yorker (this one by way of Clevland!) who's here ostensibly to help up get our systems "up to speed" but whom I can't help sort of sparring with in a very borderline flirty/insulting/you know you love it kind of way. He's got this huge scar on the side of his face which plus the accent makes him very Harrison Frod action type guy which, granted is discusting but, still kind of sexy.

and let's not forget

the Crush - used to be a girl now identifying as a boy; See! even when I try I still somehow end up on the hetero side of things!

Goddamn bridge!

You wanna know how long we sat in traffic this morning waiting to get on the damn bridge before giving up, turning around and taking BART/Muni to get my baby to school??? Too long, that's how long! So, anyway. I'm actually super busy here at work trying to cover my job and my ex-web developer's job whilst I train her replacement so I REALLY don't have time to sit here jabbering away to you people, but... interesting development in that I've just found out that guy who I think is cute is going to be at an event I'm going to on Sat. so now I have to figure out how to somehow work "sexy and alluring" into "outfit one wears to baptism" -- i'll keep you posted on that one. In other news, the Fox has decided to overheat at a moment's notice but it's all good. Fixing will happen. the world will continue on. {sigh} O.K. i'm actually really going to get back to work now. (I've just become enormously tired but it'll be over soon. Wait. No, it won't! Hmmmm...)

Life in nutshell:

Outing with Pretty Boy to Point Reyes = splendid! His ex-chick really messed him up but he's a big ole trooper and a wonderful, worthwhile person, and soooo unbelievably much more than ole EC will ever deserve (not too mention being on his way to Tahiti where he will go sailing with buddies for the next fourteen days!) plus he's got me to help him out with the more...eh...hem... physical gratification stuff so, really, honestly, I'm thinking he'll be aight!

Kids = great! Everyone is in shipshop shape and bein amusing as all get out. i love my babies. they are the best.

Work = so-so. Bad turning to good but we're still somewhere in the middle.

School = fabulous. Spark-sitter is wonderful. Spark seems very content to be left with her, profs are brillant, papers are getting written (sort of)

All-in-all, sum total i think that if I could just get a little sleep i'd be good to go!

Black folks "loot", white folks "find things"...

I'm sure some of you have already seen this:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/01/photo_controversy/index.html

but I'm fascinated by the "controversy" as well as by the immediacy of the response. (Although I do note that of the two, yahoo pulled the picture showing the lighter folks...)I mean, when in our recent history have questionable representations of marginalized people been able to be so quickly and thoroughly discovered, discussed, rallied around and dispatched...? Interesting.

if I may...

I would just like to take a moment to be really very happy and content and satisfied right now with my life. I love my class -- I feel like I'm not just learning in it but that I'm actually refining concepts that I can apply to my real-world settings and which help me structure my ideas around not just what I think I think but around why it is that i might think it thus providing both strategic arguments to support my more grandiose theories AND validation in that other people think they're kind of grand too. Plus my teacher is HOT and I LOVE her (I may or may not have mentioned that I thought I was taking this class taught by a Prof who I like very much but whom I'm not particularly stimulated by only to find that my beautiful, delightful, thought-provoking, clarity-creating Professor K. is co-teaching...!)

Then too, we had our first night with the new Toddler-sitter watching the Spark whilst I'm in class which was by all accounts a complete success (e.g. no crying upon hand-off, happy smiles upon re-aquainting, reports of spinning in circles until dizziness ensued and bare toes getting tickled and lots of different foods getting eaten)!

And lastly, I think I may have found a fabulous replacement for my departing fabulous assistant at work -- all in all not a bad Wed. at all (and I haven't even gotten to the part where me and Pretty Boy are planning a drive out to Point Reyes to "relax" and hang sans babees -- thank you Bees! -- this week-end)! {sigh} My cup. Truly it runeth...

What is it about New Yorkers???

Jeeze. i don't know what kind of aftershave they're collective using over there in the not so distantly settled east but man alive, i sure do have some serious reactions to it! Eh, hem, anyways, had new vendor/support person/team come out to "assess our systems" and while I'd spoken to the cranky one on the phone and sort of gotten the sense that he's that particular kind of crotechy that kind of makes me want to pin em down and force a smile I had no idea he was going to be so very... well... so very manly and blustery and big, cranky bear guy who's already annoyed with us (because we have dumb hardware configurations plus the previous IT boss-lady treated him and his company like CRAP) but still couldn't keep himself from succumbing to our (admittedly strange) appeal. {smile} Gosh. I think I may be developing a whole other "type" preference now that I'm entering my autumnal years (plus it's kinda that time of the month. No, not THAT time, the other time...) mmmmm. right. sorry. moving on.

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So, came this close to paying 54.00 freaking dollars for stockings today at Macy's. I have been looking to replace this particular pair of "Town Taupe" opaque stockings which as anyone who knows these things knows you can only do in the summer because that's when the autumn collections are out/when opaque is "in" so off I went to the Grandmother of all seasonal shopping experience centers where they did not have my color ("last season. Right now we're doing variations on flesh-tone net") so I combed the racks and instead selected something that was kind of close, a little sheer but could work, I thought, I'll just buy it and take it home and see ::flipping package over to glace at tiny circle with price:: I mean seriously, even if it doesn't work $5.00 isn't going to kill me -- wander over to register then attempt to disguise horror as perky salesperson remarks "Alrighty, $54.95. Will that be ATM or credit?" My response was to squint at the package as if suddenly, in the light, the tone was off, grab out the old pair of tights and state "You know what? These look alot more sheer than I thought. [perky salesgirl removes them from package and holds them up helpfully] Ah, yes. Much too sheer. Sorry. Bye now!" ::rushes from shop still in shock that anyone could justify paying more for stockings than for a week's worth of groceries.:: And that was my day.

and now it's Monday...

hello. in a weird mood right now and not sure why. Week-end was nice. weird in a clingy mildly stressful way (nothing serious just had a not very happy 2.5 year old who may or may not have been getting sick and who has two enormous canker sores right in the middle of her tongue making pretty much anything involving chewing hurt like hell/provoking screaming/annoying her mom who was doing her best to "understand" and still at the same time was being driven INSANE -- anyway, got the definite impression that I/my little family would have been better served all round if we'd just kind of stayed in the house the whole time but at the same time, but I can't honestly say that that would have "worked" any better since pretty much regardless where we were her poor little mouth would still be hurting.... anyways. Saw the Bee kids on Sunday which was grand! Really honestly, too adorable! one of the littler ones wasn't feeling so great though so that was sad. Little kids being under the weather is probably one of the saddest things ever. they're just so tiny and miserable and there's nothing you can do except stand there trying to force them to eat/drink something "cherry-flavored" that they have NO interest in... Travelin' Man was on the scene though (thank God!) and so was able to do most of the "dirty work" re: comforting whilst the rest of us made tiny pandas out of play doh. Good times.

Quick shout out to IHOEL who's starting (maybe already started...?) her new job today. It pretty much goes without saying that this is a slam dunk but cool that some sleeves are finally getting a chance to rolled up as it were... Good luck, have fun -- You rock and everyone there will soon know it!

Plus, kudos to my other Buddy Bee who is finally at the end of her "what other hoops do I have to jump through just so you'll let me basically raise your children" credential program and who will be entering her very own (well, almost) classroom today I think! You go girl! Try not to give up before my kid gets to your school...!

Then little shout to Boo the third grader and her new cohort. I know this will be the best third grade year ever so I'm not even going to wish you luck. I will wish you fun though, and good times. You're amazing, I love you, and if you insist on continuing to grow/get older I may have to call in the authorities...

This is how I torture myself...

First, I take a relatively general invitation personally and decide to go see my Wanna-be-sooooo-not-interested-in-me-Sweetie do some drummin. Upon arrival at the admittedly very cool event I then get in line behind the fifty thousand or so OTHER friends who also want to say "hi"/hug/chat with my WBSNIIMS as well as get to watch his on-going concern/interaction with his most recent ex. From all of this comes one quick hug, a beautifully sweet smile and total ignoring for the remainder of the gig. Nice. Pathetic=me. Seriously, I really need to get myself to a qualified therapist, fast!

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Boo school starts school on Monday! She apparently has "the good teacher" -- this from a parent of one of the many children who is delighted that the Boo-meister is in the same class with thier kid. I have no idea who aforementioned teacher is but I'm glad she comes highly recommended. They have a new principal this year too who I hear is AWESOME. So, then, seems as though the world is all set in terms of third-grade-age.

Speaking of cool Boo stuff, she had a show yesterday wherein she demonstrated an amazing flying karate kick AND a backbend walk-over (neither of which things she could do previous to this week!) Needless to say, I was pretty shockingly impressed by the whole thing.

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On a final note: my fabulous assistant is leaving me to go make fifty times more money so if anyone knows anyone who might want to do web development at the foremost purveyor of adult merchandise, send them here (but if they want to be overworked,underappreciated and barely paid send em to me!)

Sad.

My DB just told me that he and the "missus" are moving to El Reno. What the hell? Where the heck is that??? Is it too much to ask that my freaking friends NOT keep moving the hell away to places I would never in a ba-zillion years ever consider visiting were it not for thier newly arrived presence??? I mean, jeezus people, can't you all see that I'm delicate right now. Anyway, I just got all teary. i'll be fine in a minute. move along folks, nothing to see...

(Although, apparently they've got quite the line up "of festivals and activities" out there in the hinterlands...)

School starts for me tonight!

Whoo Hoo!

For Bleeding Fuck's Sake!

Could one thing POSSIBLY not go stupidly, annoyingly wrong today? Seriously!

Ah, life...

WHY am I having seriously inappropriate thoughts/dreams/etc. about a friend of mine???? I mean, once or twice during the course of our long-lived pal-ship, sure, but three nights in a row? that's just nas-tey! Anyways...

Conversation with Boo this morning wherein I ruminate on subliminal racism and Boo responds by cracking me up:

Me:So...[reflecting on the fact that Angelina Ballerina appears to be not only the star of her own show/series of books/etc. but also the only white mouse in her not so small town] what color is Angelina's mom?
Boo: Light brown.
Me: What color's her dad?
Boo: Dark brown.
Me:Is Angelina adopted?
Boo:[Laughs] I don't know! that's funny though.
Me:I'm just saying, because it looks like she's the only white mouse in the whole town.
Boo:her [ballet] teacher is white.
Me:But her parents are brown. You can't get a white mouse from two brown parents.
Boo:Hm.
Boo:maybe it's a perk!
Me:[snort - coffee flies out nose]Ha!
Boo:[laughs]Eeeewwwww!

Although, having done some research, I've since turned up the fact that Mr. Mouseling (aka: Angelina's dad, Maurice) does in fact have a white mouse for a mom but still, Angelina's being pure white still sort of points to a little hanky-panky between he and "Miss" Lily -- sort of makes you wonder if there's some deep dark secret there; Miss Lily was a prima ballerina in her day, Angelina for some reason loves to dance; everyone knows that prima ballerinas can't have/raise kids, what would that do to their career...? i don't know people, I think there's going to be some sort of cliff hanger in season four where all of this comes out... eh hem. K. So. Understanding that I need to get out more...

Henry the octopus!

I have the Bee children here with me right now -- Boo and Spark are also here so for all intents and purposes I currently am as much of a "draw" as, say, the couch... Anyways --they are here and they are adorable and I ::heart:: them. Before the lovelies showed up our life was all about back-to-school-shopping (!!) for one big ole grown up 3rd grader! Her CP and I are pretty much able to act like friends right now but interestingly enough (or distressingly, however you want to look at it...) at one point Boo (tired and hungry) was not listening to her CP and aformentioned CP says to me "Does she do that with you? Disrespect you like that?" Now this threw me a little. First, actually, no she doesn't but even if she did I don't know that I would call her behavior "disrespectful." I mean she very definitely was being "bad" in that she was continuing to do something her mom had asked her (politely) not to do but disrespectful??? I dunno. Seems to me more like she was just expressing her (granted, wrong) opinion about how she'd like the situation to work. I mean, is it just me? Anyway, it made me think that we've (me and CP) almost never sat down and "discussed" the Boo (I mean we RAVE about her all the time but actually discussing her almost never happens other than trying to figure out a way to address some need she might have expressed or where she goes to camp on a given week) and then too almost never when she's not around... So, I left a mee-suage with the CP asking if she'd like to "go for a coffee" after we drop off our angel for her first day of school so we can discuss. Hopefully some good will come of it/I will not get mad and have to kill her.

---

Other news has to include the fact that the fabulous Miss Tail has "met" someone on one of her school group outtings and I could not be more thrilled! He had better call her/not be a jerk/user/a**hole, though -- I just don't have the time to kill anyone right this instant.

Fish!

My big girl got another fish this week-end. It's a Kawarimono Nishikigoi (non-metallic koi) of the Shiro Matsuba variety (all-white) that has been bred to have more flowing "butterfly" fins and tail than standard koi. I bring all of this up because up until I reached the register and displayed some surprise at the fact that I was paying $8.99 for a freaking goldfish (keeping in mind, people that the Boo's official class fish we had previously purchased -- variety: "feeder" -- was $0.78 with tax) I had no idea what an illustrious line of finned family I was buying into. Anyway. We now have this "lucky fish" which, I do have to admit, especially when seen shimmering silkily next to her other, less exotic brethren, is pretty damn beautiful. Her name is "Snowy" and I have NO idea what we're going to do with her after she assumes her full-grown size rivaling that of a small dog. Ah well, c-est la vie....

I'm at home right now putting the "finishing touches on" (aka thinking about starting in about twenty minutes or so...) a paper that's due tomorrow in my Proposal and Dissertation Readiness class. I am officially over school. Nice since my Fall classes begin again on the 22nd. {sigh} which, now that I'm thinking about it/just made myself feel guilty, I think I'll actually go do. Stay tuned though for the point at which I get bored with writing and come back here to spout off about the lady at work who called me "conservative" (and meant it as a compliment!)

Be jealous...

Be very, very jealous. Me and the big kid just put horse-headed flames on the sides of our car! Plus, we put this cool tribal decal on the hood. I mean, I KNEW we were cool but now -- we're sa-weeeeeeet...!

Whose 7-year-old Baby Girl is with her at work right now?

Yup. Who's delighted with that scenario? Me, that's who!

I have the best baby!

Well, I mean TECHNICALLY she's a toddler but she's my little sweetie so she'll pretty much always be my baby regardless... and anyway, what's wrong with that?! why the hell do I have to justifying myself...! Whose blog is this anyway??! Sorry, I'm in a fiesty mood today because i was up all last night reading an awful book which I would like to compare to Portnoy's Complaint except that it's not that "awful-but-deep" kind of rambling by a self-centered egotist who while presumably going on and on (and on) about himself, his needs and (more importantly) his entitlements is at the same time begging some deeper more global sociological questions occuring in the schism that is considered relations between the sexes... but I cannot. Because this book is not that. It is a collection of ramblings by some Jewish (I throw that in because her Jewishness is a predominate theme in this book) chick who is spoiled to a shocking degree (31 years old, not working, supported by her parents and getting remorseful about the need to "trick" her parents/grandparents into buying her a $25,000 SUV -- she thinks she should just be able to ask them straight out for the car in question...), completely unable to accept that she is the root of all things evil/give her freaking boyfriend-husband/the world a break already. In short, I hate this woman. For every sentence where she admits that some of her misery (because, yes, she has the freaking audacity to be miserable) may (possibly) be her own damn fault is followed by pages of whining about her on-going unmet need for really good sex. Why I am reading this stupid book is a mystery to me, except that I have this thing where I cannot not read a book all the way to the end just in case there's something redeeming on the very last page that makes the rest of it make some sort of sense. Anyway. Sucky book. Long book. Up waaaaay too late last night reading it. Tired today.

---

I do need to say, however, that the beginning of last night was splendid though. Went out to wish the M L-L/K faction Godspeed (they're leaving for L.A. this weekend. I was in denial, now I'm just sad.) Big dinner. Lots of people. My toddler was a DREAM. She was so happy and settled and accepting of that in your face, pinching-of-cheeks attention adorable kids get at these sorts of things(and I hardly need mention she was the epitome of A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E) even when it scary loud she just sort of hunkered down but didn't get all cry-ey or anything. Sweet. I love that kid.

Things I'm looking forward to:

1) Dinner tonight with the fabulous and sadly leaving Mr. L-L and his luverly wife-to-be K.
2) Getting my little Fox back so i can start putting cool flame decals all over it.
3) Seeing my big girl (that's not til tomorrow but I'll add it to the list anyway because I MISS HER!)

Things I'm not looking forward to:
1) My next three meetings
2)Cleaning up my messy desk and organizing my "files" (aka "stacks of papers that are piled under my desk")

Hmmm. I guess that's it. not bad for a Wednesday!

She shoots, She scores!

Finally. Christ. I was beginning to forget what all the fuss was about. Anyway. HUGE thanks go out to Mistah L-L for watching the chil-uns (e.g. teaching the oldest one how to play Blackjack and where to go to get her driver's license online and feeding the youngest copious amount of pizza then letting her stay up until 11:00pm.) Who's the best kiddsitter, ever?? (Seriously, you rock but I wouldn't go thinking about having your own children anytime soon... KIDDING!)

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Early part of day was spent at park with the Bees, including loverly G-ma B. (!) and the BBQ + her progeny! Good times, my friend, good times... Then lost the big girl for a bit during the afternoon whilst she went off to see the newest Depp creation with her CP after which I regained her briefly only to lose her again to the aforementioned ML-L who so gallantly offered to attend whilst I not only became privy to the secret initiatives being developed in the world of major search engines/community service not-for-profit portals but also was able to re-aquainted myself with the sheer delights of one-on-one adult interaction... eh hem.

And now I'm at work. Sigh. Week-ends are never long enough...

small yappy dogs and kids that don't eat...

The really awfully nice lady who owns our house now lives in the front flat. She's great. Her husband is cute and very nice. They have one of those little yappy dogs though... Suffice to say it's usually up circa 7:00ish and yapping at something ten times it's size. anyways.

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Other things of note this morning, I decided to stop telling my kids every three seconds that they should eat their food. I figure it's partly (mostly) my fault that they don't eat because I can't stand the fact that they might be hungry so I make sure there's something they can/will eat pretty much the second it occurs to them to get hungry so there's no real incentive for them to eat at whichever period during the day when they might have a meal in front of them. We're on day 1 and half of this initiative and it's already killing me. Not so much the part where I have to bite my tongue as I watch thier cereal turn progressively more mushy but the part where I'm assembling snacks for later in the day and I KNOW they'e going to ask for something in just about half an hour and I'll KNOW I have food for them but I'll have to say "nope" until lunchtime. Durrrrr! I've said it before and I'll say it again, parenting is all about discovering novel ways to prove you know nothing about how to parent!

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Yesterday we had a fun interaction with a nice traveling magician guy and his lovely wife who spent a significant amount of time pulling quarters out of the Boo's ear in the laundrymat. Good fun. And today we're off to meet the B family for some serious Tot-type fun! Whoo hoo! I love week-ends. I really, really do.

And the verdict is...!

nope. Zilch. TSG cute as she is (although she struck me as decidedly less cute than I remembered) I'm sure is a very nice person but she is also, alas, dull as dirt. Well, to me anyway. I did have a great time out with my Work Chums (a vivacious and adorable bunch to say the least) so that at least made the "going out" part worth it but sadly, not a single spark was felt for or by Miss Couldn't-Hold-up-her-end-of-a-conversation-if-you-gave-her-a-bucket... Sorry, I'm being mean. She was o.k. and in a way I'm glad we got that over with before she showed up on her "real" vacation circa the holiday party -- how awful would it have been if I'd ditched some other young lovely in order to hang out with the unknown that was TSG only to discover the awful truth!! K. Anyway. once again returning to the land of sheltered, understandable, asexuality. It really is lovely here at times and while it's not exactly fulfilling it's not particularly fattening either so it all kind of works out in the end...

and then they were one...

Just had the very best lunch time impromptu date with the oh-so-cute (especially with the long hair) BBQ! Yay! Which meant that I was unavailable to take the THREE calls from my new friend TSG -- 1 telling me they were unable to set up the booth and so had time to hang out if I was available, 2 telling me that an "favorite hoodie" with muy sentimental value had been lost and 3 letting me know that TSG co-worker/sidekick, would NOT, in fact, be joining us for this evening's festivities.... hm. That's all. Just "hm."

possible interesting developments, maybe...

But not likely. First, TradeShowGirl is in town and is maybe going to stop by today for "a tour" of the offices. She and her buddy have also opted in to going out with me and my band of merry Work Chums tonight (I owe my various Kidsitters BIG, BTW, both for tonight and for Sundee eve, ML-L you rock!) so we shall see what we shall see. In the spirit of "what's the freaking point-i-ness" of it all, I'm refusing to get in any way excited about seeing TSG but i am actually quite excited about getting to hang out with my WCs since they're a pretty cute bunch themselves and more than likely will present myriad moments of amusment/hilarity so pretty much regardless, I'm good.

Then on Sundee I not only maybe get to see the Bees in all their glory, I also get to see Pretty Boy who you might remember from seventy thousand years ago when he was alive and active in my life and who has since dropped off the face of the damn earth (due entirely to "being-newly-girlfriended" so it's expected/understandable but still sucky) -- anyways, we're gonna get some din-din so I can hear how the life is going, fill him in on my highlights and try my darndest not to proposition him. We shall see how well that plan works out!

YES!

Just got a note from my School Law and Public Policy Professor:

"You're all done. I posted your grade: A-. Thanks. --Dan"

Whoo Hoo! ::does happy little dance around desk:: [sigh] now then, if I can just stop having dreams about my co-workers and start thinking about the actual instances coming up this week where I might realistically be gettin' some, I think everything will be all right...!

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Had lunch with the effervescent Ms. Bee yesterday, BTW and I just have to say, that gal is quality! And, no, I'm not just saying that because she is currently sporting the nicest set of bosoms I think I've seen in a very long time (a thought which I've been thinking for awhile now but somehow her particular outfit yesterday highlighted their voluptuosity in such a way that made them appear really quite stunning!) anyway, moving on...

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Thanks also to the much maligned DB for bringing me this thing called an "academic calendar" which (still inexplicably to me) starts with August! I do not know why a calendar would choose to start mid-year but still and all, thank the gods I have people who know people (who are still attending college -- which is it's own scary issue) who can help me manage my life!

you know what's pathetic? What's pathetic is getting to the end of your calendar (which stops at the beginning of AUGUST for some inexplicable reason!!) and knowing that you have to go get a new one yet and still being so completely lazy that you'd rather write things/dates in the goddamn margins then get all concerned when you "forget" stuff -- than just freaking expending the damn energy it would take to GO GET A NEW CALENDAR. Seriously. I mean, doesn't every single drugstore in the world have these things??!

Not to brag, but...

My kid is a such a rockstar! Consider the following conversation this morning when I dropped her off for the first day of her new camp (kinda new, she was there last year but this is her first day this summer.)

New Counselor: Well, hello! And who are you?
Random Child sitting on stage: That's Boo.
New Counselor: [raised eyebrows] Oh, You're Boo?
Boo nods.
New Counselor: [Looking at me all impressed] Well. I've heard alot about her! [to Boo] Susan [program director] says you're a very nice little girl!
Boo nods again taking it all in stride, then goes off to pick a cubby. Second random child goes chasing after her. Mommy beams.

Sheesh. I'd be nice if I thought I had anything to do with it but... nice anyway that I somehow got such a great kid.

Speaking of which, Boo occasionally opts to change her name and her current pick happens to be "Panda" which I think is THE most adorable name ever!

Finally, quick sigh of freaking relief since final paper for summer class (School Law and Public Policy) which was due TODAY got finished yesterday (thanks in no small part to ex-work chums who came to whisk off little Panda and a little big girl who, while cranky still managed to entertain herself the better part of the afternoon while Mommy typed) and sent away. Hooray! One more to go (poster project, no big deal) then Fall semester starts August 28th.Sigh. I know this is all making sense in the grand scheme of things but honestly, sometimes I think I might be better off just taking the MA and running...