Whatcha Want?!

I've been hearing The Imperial March in my head every time I checked my grades online. Now that they have come in, however, I only hear The Beastie Boys. I got an A MINUS in the course I was worried about. I guess I should feel grateful.

I'm in St. Louis this week. I'm relaxed and looking forward to reading and sleeping in, but I'm kinda home sick this time around. I miss my kitty and my hubby, and not necessarily in that order.

I love seeing my family though: sitting in the living room with my mom and little brother, talking about books we're reading, movies we've seen, shows we're addicted to -- making plans for later in the week, letting the kids stay up late watching movies that I grew up watching.

I'll get back to serious tomorrow.

Shit Stain

Whew! It's the first day of summer vacation and I'm already feeling more relaxed. I feel like I have just been going non-stop for the past week. I turned in my final project for my master's class and the professor emailed me saying that I had "numerous" errors and that he would give me time to revise. That bummed me out because I really felt that I was understanding grammar better. Then when I saw what he called "numerous" I realized that he was just nit-picking me to death( there were three and my compound and extremely complex sentence containing three semicolons, a colon and five comas was perfect.) He also implied that my originality was in question, which did not make me happy. Don't fret, World. I sent it back with corrected nit-picks and added notation on exactly where my ideas, games, activities, worksheets, came from. I told him this wasn't so much to give credit to the few websites and people, like my mom, who helped with ideas, but to assure him that the rest of the work was my OWN. I think if it is within ones capacity to question the work of others, perhaps one should just require references from the start. It would go a long way to weed out the not-so-serious students and take away the guessing games. But what do I know? Either way, I believe I earned an A. Now I play the waiting game to see if he agrees.

Today is LAUNDRY DAY!! We have a trip coming up a few days, I'm very excited to road-trip again, but damn it do I need some clean underwear!

Have a great Thursday, World!

Really? Wait. What?!

The phone rang tonight. It was from "Out of Area" which of course means that it was my 80-something year-old, next-door neighbor -- the one who kills my grass and thinks I'm a horrible parent. I can answer my phone once again when she calls since I've started calling her out on things that she does to our property. For instance, last summer I asked her not to spray our grass ever again. Then this spring, I asked her to keep her mowers off our grass since we are aware that her concrete is actually on our property - not our grass on hers. I've also started letting her know, in subtle ways, that I don't give a rat's ass what she thinks about my parenting. The most recent example of this happened a few days after Gryffindor adopted us. Another, black and white fur ball appeared on our doorstep and Polly rang our doorbell to see if we wanted another cat. She gave us a sales pitch by pointing out how cute the cat was, saying that it might be pregnant, and talking about what a sweet disposition it had. I checked for claws and found some (on the cat). I explained that I took in Gryff because he was clawless. In that case, she thought I should feed it and then maybe it would go away. I told her I've been feeding my kids since they were born and they haven't left. Anyway, she's coming around to the idea that she's my neighbor, not my keeper. So when she called tonight I answered. The kids scaled her fence earlier that day for a lost shoe. I thought the least I could do was field the complaint when it came in. I answered the phone, "Hi Polly!" just to keep her on her toes. Well, apparently she called because she read some useful tips in a book or magazine or something and wanted to share.
I figured I might as well pass these little nuggets of knowledge along because I can't imagine in what alternate universe I would begin to need them. Tip #1: to untangle necklaces, put olive oil on the knot then use the point of a pen (or pin?) to kneed the knot out. Tip #2: to store necklaces, cut a straw in half and thread the necklace through the straw. I thanked her for these, but she wasn't finished. Tip #3: to get a stuck ring off your finger... Preparation H! She then proceeded to explain what Preparation H is and how it works. If I had a way to play back the audio of my neighbor explaining how "Preparation H restricts the blood vessels" you would all be in for a treat tonight. As it is, this will just remain my own personal sunshine for days to come.

So, what d'you do today?

Jonah

Hey there!

This was sweeping across Facebook and I have shit to do, so enjoy!




p.s.
There are many people who want this video to be fake because they think it will somehow erase the real pain that teenagers like Jonah are experiencing. But the effects of bullying are real and permanent. Stop being afraid to feel ashamed of the society you live in, and start summoning the courage to CHANGE IT!

Talk Softly

After being taught extensively about racism in school, traveling the world, witness class division, and now experiencing this war on women, I think that a common theme has emerged:

Equality is a whispered promise, while inequality is a bellowed demand.

I would rather talk softy.

Oh-Well

Holy CRAP! How long has it been??
It feels like ages.
Well, shit.
Sorry, I guess.
I'm not ready for this week. I'm in the process of finalizing a project for my last class of the semester. I only have one week left. Then I have a little project I'm working on for this blog. Technically I have tons of little projects in my head that I would love to be working on for this blog, but one that will take precedence. At some point this summer, I want to do some stop-motion photography. I wonder if my kids would help me with that. But that's not the project that will take precedence, that's just one of the many other things I would like to do, but I can't even really think about that right now because I have to focus on getting my school work done so that I can enjoy a little quiet time before my kids are with me 24/7 again. And Oh My Buddha, do I need to have some quiet time with no school work! I keep thinking I'll paint, then I think I'll read, then I think No! I want to spend hours on my blog projects! but in reality, those two or three days are going to come and go in the blink of an eye and before I know it I'll be carrying piles and bags of artwork, sculptures, math homework, painted and glittered messes, and binders full of review material to my car with two sugared up, excited, finished-with-their-year, feeling-the-excitement, and talking-a-mile-an-hour kids, wondering where the year has gone and feeling like I'm just not ready for this summer.

Not Nice!

And now for a little game I like to call, "THAT'S a nice problem!"

• It's the end of the semester and I have only one project left to do. I am obsessing about it slightly because I want to do such a good job, but at the same time, I have five more days to complete it. So, although I have a slight headache from staring at my computer screen, I think my obsession headache will turn out pretty in the end. 

THAT'S a nice problem to have. I could obsess for a week and turn in shit. That would not make the headache worth it.

• I will finish my semester with about four days to spare before the kids get out of school. Although I am excited to start our summer adventures, they love their friends and schools so much that they would only be angry with me if I pulled them out early.

THAT'S a nice problem. I can push our plans back one week to spend a miserably happy four days BY MY SELF! What ever will I do?

• My run has been suffering lately due to fatigue. I've had to stay at the same level for the last three weeks, which has caused it to become easier and easier, so what used to kick my ass three weeks ago has now become a relaxing workout.

THAT'S a nice problem. Though I look forward to moving up, I can't complain that where I'm at feels good.

• Wow! I'm really sucking at writing a blog today and this game was so much more fucking stupid than I thought it was going to be. But hey it's my blog and I can stop whenever I want to and I'm tired, so it's not nice and it's not a problem, it's just PEACE OUT!