We Interrupt Our Sunday Night Study Session . . .

We're all feeling a bit drained here. I went out today (swimming and running some errands) for the first time since Thursday. I don't like being cooped up too long. It makes me go all Shinning (I don't want to get sued!).

I haven't watched any scary movies this year. I LOVE scary movies - but they have to be good scary, not craptacular slasher movies. That's not scary to me, that's just gross.

What's your favorite Halloween movie? I think The Exorcist is a good one, but I really like M. Night Shamalan's movies. Psychologically creepy and a good story to boot.

o.k. back to work. Blech.

Hey There!

So. Been a bit busy lately.

School stuff (exam, writing, studying).

House stuff (the whole furnace deal).

And the latest - G blew out her knee while skating the other day. DISGUSTING.

She's much better, once they popped the kneecap back into place (for which she was thankfully knocked unconscious and I was quite thankfully out of the ER room) but she's on crutches and in a brace and has to see an orthopedist on Monday and . . . I'm VERY VERY tired and realizing the world is a much better place since I'm not in one of the caring professions.

O.k., I'm off to do laundry and do homework and pray for sweet relief (because of COURSE E has to work today. Of course).

Update-ididdidly-oodly

* I hope everyone is watching Reaper on Tuesday nights at 9pm because it is hilarious and I don't want them to cancel it.

* It's amazing how a well made garment actually looks really nice and holds up well. I'm done buying cheap ass clothes.

* I ate a bunch of sausage and now my stomach hurts. Not totally surprising, but upsetting nonetheless.

* I still haven't had G's photos developed from August. I have 2 disposable cameras sitting on my desk, as well as 130 digital photos on my computer. LAME.

* I have not put out one single Halloween decoration and it's my favorite holiday. That makes me sad. But evidently sadness is not incentive to fix things.

* I have a Wonder Woman lunch box on my desk, and damn, she's got a very skimpy outfit on.

* I'll have to take a picture of my desk and "shelf" (which is actually a broken chair) so you can see how I work. Like a crazy person, that's how.

* I need to go eat some fruit or something reasonably healthy. That sausage is not doing me any favors.

Sunday Evening

* Another illiterate update note from the kid's teacher. Seriously. She pains me.

* Had my twin five year old nieces here for the weekend. I'm tired. And thankful for the whole only child thing.

* So much work to do and I just spent oh, 2 1/2 hours putzing around online. Flickr, I'm looking at you.

* It's actually kind of cold, and I'm afraid to turn on the furnace because of the whole carbon monoxide thing. So, I'm baking a lot. Well, not a lot. But I'm actually baking things.

* I've been having shopping anxiety. I go to the store full of resolve to purchase shoes/shirts/jacket/pants/bras no matter what the cost and then look at the items and think - Do I really want that? Does it go with anything? Can I pull it off? Is it part of my "style" (Hahahaha - let's all move along now)? And then I don't buy anything even though I really desperately need some regular non-jean non-work-type pants and some comfortable shoes. Oh. And bras. I can't seem to do it, though. Part of it is money, part of it is hating the clothing options in my price range, part of it is . . . depressive indecisiveness. Still, I managed to buy some make up. It's Clinique Bonus Time at Macy's!

* It's time for dinner. Leftovers. Blech.

What Have I Been Doing?

Hi! I just spent almost $300 and haven't even left my house!

I'm in the wrong business. I spent $151 to get my dryer fixed. The guy was here less than 1/2 an hour. But now I can do laundry at home! It's sad that I'm so happy about that.

Also, I had the humidifier fixed and the furnace checked. Humidifier is fixed! Furnace may be killing us all!

Ugh. Now we have to get a bunch of estimates and see if the furnace WILL actually kill us (is 7ppm of CO really that bad? I see conflict on the internet) and then decide who we are going to give a bunch of (credit card) money to.

Yup. It's great to be a student!

There, I Said It

I hate my daughter's teacher.

In her school, the kids get the same teacher for 1st & 2nd, 3rd & 4th and 5th & 6th grades. The classes are split between those grades so there is continuity and the kids get to work with a variety of people not only of their own age.

So far, her 1-4th teachers have been great. The 1&2 was really good for her socially and emotionally, working with the kid until she was able to deal with frustration and perfectionism (somewhat) so she wouldn't melt down every single time something went wrong. Even though she was a flaky teacher (one parent never got her kid's report card), I was happy with her because she loved those kids and really took time to get to know them and see what made them tick and work with them at their speed.

The 3&4 teacher was phenomenal in all aspects. It's easy to see why she was voted teacher of the year several times. Just amazing in all respects, working with the kid on things at which she excelled and particularly working with her on things that were seemingly insurmountable; taking lunch hours to work with her, that kind of thing.

Now, I don't expect every teacher to go to that length, and I know I've been spoiled, but this new teacher . . .

The kid goes to a gifted school. The teacher has never taught in this program before. She's a relatively new teacher, having only taught kindergarten and 1st grade before. Because of budget cuts, the great new teacher from last year was let go because he didn't have enough seniority, so she's here now.

I went to meet her after school on the first week and ended up standing in her classroom for easily 5 minutes before she even acknowledged me. Granted, she was having an important discussion with the other new teacher. About camping. Not school camping. But a trip she took with friends.

Whatever. If you're in the middle of something, just say, "I'll be just a minute," and I'll wait. But c'mon. It's the first week of school and you are blowing off a parent for that? Have you not heard about the parents at this school? They will eat you alive. (Not me. Not yet, anyway. But it looks like soon.) One new teacher left because of the constant questioning/second guessing/disapproval from the parents in her class. Right now, I want to find out who those parents are and get some tips from them.

Then, I hear from the kid that the teacher has kindergarten and first grade reading materials in the classroom for the kids to read. Also, she keeps comparing (not favorably) her students to the kindergarteners she used to teach.

A bunch of other stuff that just rubs me the wrong way.

Finally, I was reading over last week's weekly newsletter she sent home. Rife with spelling and grammatical errors - may favorite being "We're most gracious" for the parents who sent in supplies. Most gracious. Seriously.

So, I'm not pleased. I'm trying to give it a shot. I'm not saying anything to the kid about it. I AM saying stuff to the husband.

I don't know what to do. I don't want to be one of "those" parents, but I find myself seeing red when I think about the fact that my kid is going to be in this class all year. Ugh.

I Have Had ENOUGH

I'm done. Seriously.

I am minding my own business, driving down the street, where the CARS are supposed to be, when I come upon an idiot bike rider who decides the sidewalk isn't good enough (Insert inane bike rider complaint about "I can't ride on sidewalks blah blah blah" here) and so I have to make sure that I look out for Idiot Biker who has no interest in traffic law or in staying in the same general area.

Do you not get that there are VERY LARGE METAL OBJECTS HURTLING DOWN THE SAME PATH? Idiot.

(Biker: "Oh, but you should look out for bikers." Fine. When you are sitting in your house, greasing your gears, be sure to look out for cars, o.k.?)

Even better is when I'm driving down a windy park road where there is a FUCKING BIKE PATH and there are idiot bike riders who insist on riding on the shoulder.

I don't even want to know what the inane rationale is for that one. It's not going to fly. What? The bike path is made of some kind of material from an alternate dimension that eats bike wheels? What?

Finally, today, I was driving down a residential street, which is chock full of sidewalks, when a person was RUNNING in the street. Where, again, the very large metal objects are. Not running like he was being chased. Just out for a jog.

AND THEN. AND THEN! I was driving home down my own residential street which is again, PLAGUED with sidewalks, when I saw a person WALKING IN THE STREET. IN THE FUCKING STREET.

Not a Screw Authority Sullen Teenager, out to show The Man she's not following any dumb rules.

Not a child who escaped his parents' watchful eyes and is scampering, free as a chipmunk, in the street.

No. This was a middle aged woman in a track suit, out for her morning constitutional.

Now I am a very careful driver (because I have horrific anxiety about getting into an accident) and I will watch out very carefully for other cars, because you never know when another driver is texting something important (C U L8R KBY) or suddenly spills the soup they are eating in their lap. Because they are in big cars and might hurt me if they lose control.

I will even brake for animal life, from stupid squirrels and chipmunks to deer to those fucking geese and ducks who think they and their brood can cross ANYWHERE THEY WANT. Because they are idiot animals who evidently cannot read street signs.

But you. You humans. There is no excuse but pure cussedness for your behavior. It must end now.

Sort of WebMD.

I had an appointment with the ear doctor today - I've had this congestion/debris/constant clicking when I swallow for about, oh, 2 years or so. My regular doctor gave me some drops which helped somewhat, but I figured it was high time to actually see a specialist.

The audioligist gave me a hearing test, which gave me test anxiety.
"Say 'yes' when you hear the noise, even when it's really faint."
So I sat in the soundproof room with headphones on, leaning forward in my chair and squinting, trying to make out if that was actually a noise or just the incessant buzzing that usually goes on in my head.

The doctor said my ears are basically fine, no real hearing loss, I just need to use a potion (vinegar and rubbing alcohol) after I swim, and take a mild decongestant to rid myself of the excess clogging.

Of course, when he cleaned out my ears, it felt so good I wanted to French him right there in the examining room.

Thursday

Last night was Open House at my daughter's school. Whoo. I forget, year to year how: Hot it is; How crowded it is; How much fun it is to see the parents I don't see very often.

So, it was all those things, and very different from Open House when I was a kid - where you went in and the teacher talked to you about your kid. This is a big spectacle, where there is a theme (Travel Around the World) and each class is responsible for creating activities and artifacts for each country (Stonehenge! The Leaning Tower of Pisa/Pizza Boxes! A kid dressed as a leprauchan!). I love the inventiveness these kids have, and how the teachers get into it, too. The office staff was India, and the secretaries wore saris.

So that was last night. And now, tonight, I've got a metric ass ton of homework (and housework) to do, and can't seem to get myself in gear.

I need a motivational speaker for my life.

Attack of teh slugs

We don't treat our lawn with chemicals. At all. I generally don't mind, except for those goddamn prickly weeds, which I believe are Satan's fingernails. (BTW, who watched Reaper last night? That's a great show!)

Anyway, we don't treat our lawn at all, because I'm not a big fan of chemicals and my kid likes to play outside. And the rabbits living under our deck seem to enjoy munching on the pretty purple and white flowers that bloom all over the treelawn in the summer. And the dandelions are fun to pick up and blow when they've died.

So because we are crunchy granola holistic lawn family, we get slugs travelling great distances (I'd imagine) to chill out in our environs. Last night, the mother of all slugs was sliming its way up our screen door. I nearly hurled. And then E and G went outside for something and they found ANOTHER giant slug on the driveway. It's like an infestation.

On the screen door:



We also think that maybe they are coming to meet their master:

What's New, You Ask?

The guy who sits in front of me for one of my (1 1/2 hour long) classes has THE WORST DANDRUFF EVER.

Seriously. I'm going to hurl.