After the never ending winter many of us experienced in Pixieland, one would think I would be be more appreciative of the telltale signs of spring. However, Tween Son pointed out that he has less than one month of school left and that means the Season of All Whines is nearly upon many of us who still have school aged children at home.
AW: Tween Son and Teen Daughter have several sleepaway programs that they will attend.
W: Only one activity overlaps.
AW/W: Teen Daughter is old enough to be junior staff at the camp she and her brother have attended for years. The AW is because I am proud she was selected and the W is on behalf of Tween Son.
AW: They are really excited about their summer plans and we are taking a nice family vacation with our extended family by choice (not birth) to a quiet lakeshore town once again.
Plus, in non-parenting related anti-whines: Hooray for Minnesota today!
What's new in your corner?
Reminder: Next up at the Wednesday Book Club: 5/22/13 - Sandcastle Girls, by Chris Bohjalian (hosted by Esperanza). I really want to read this book!
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68 comments:
Yay for Minnesota! It is so great to see this much positive movement, and so fast.
Miranda, yay for summer plans!
AW: Daughter has 2 more phone interviews tomorrow. Things are picking up!
W: you know. SIL continues to be a hot mess.
lalalalala I can't hear you summer no school lalalalalala.
Whines, they are plentiful:
* broke the garbage disposal
* efforts to fix it did not go well
* baby snake in my pantry
* school decision still unmade. We are down to two choices: academically superior, religiously objectionable vs. academically questionable, religiously acceptable
* 94 year old grandma declining rapidly
antiwhines...mmm....I'm making brownies today.
ok, seriously, whoever is in charge of appliances: a non-draining dishwasher is not funny at this point.
The non-draining dishwasher may be connected to the broken disposal. If you fix the disposal, the dishwasher may start draining with no problem.
W: The always effective dem0cratic c0mmittee in my county couldn't find anyone to run against the anti-choice incumbant.
W: I'm filing to run because he didn't have a challenger LAST TIME either.
W: Because of history, I'm expecting that I will not get the Dem nomination without a huge fight. When they don't have anyone else to run.
AW: I am actually looking forward to being the most cheerful sweet delightful person while I tell them that all they have to do to get me out of their hair is to prove to me they're running someone else. Bueller? Bueller?
Yay for Minnesota!
Hugs and cool refreshing summer beverages for all of the End of School parental whines.
esperanza - sorry about the snake in the pantry, the appliance demons that have clearly been playing in your kitchen....and especially sorry about your grandmother. Tough call on the school choice.
Liz - Wow! They would be foolish not to nominate you. You are a Warrior Pixie for all things fair and just. They need you.
AW: I have the lovely and delightful Miss K, who is four, playing with my bucket o toys on the floor of my office. Her grandma is taking care of some business downstairs. My office is much better when populated by such fun company!
W: Our precious little girl cat seems to have a urninary tract infection - poor thing. She will head to the V.E.T. as soon as I can get her an appointment.
Garbage disposal was replaced yesterday, and indeed the dishwasher problem was related. Easily fixed, really, once someone who knew what he was doing arrived. Even so, I'm beginning to feel like the Appliance Angel of Death.
How old is the house you're in? Did all the appliances go in at the same time? If so, you're not the Angel of Death, you're the victim of bad timing, and built-in obsolescence.
1978. Garbage disposal was my fault. Too many potato peelings. Dishwasher is only 3 years old, the problem this morning was due to inexpert installation of new garbage disposal yesterday (ie did not read directions).
Ah.
Potato peelings were something I had to learn about the hard way, too, not ever having used a garbage disposal until I was near 30.
Forks, too.
And spoons.
Ah, potatoes. Mr QWP tried to put potatoes in our blender once, and that's why we don't have a functional blender anymore.
W: Li'l E apparently only likes being at home with as much quiet as possible. I've made my child into a hermit. She fought napping at grandparent houses all weekend, and we had to come home from a friend's house early today because she refused to sleep or eat (because if she nursed, she might fall asleep by accident you know).
AW: She's asleep in her own bed right now. She does sleep at home well. Routine works so well on her! But deviating from that routine...
Terrified whine: I feel like my entire academic future is in question right now. (If I'm granted retroactive medical leave for the insane pregnancy and early baby days, I'll be able to finish the PhD. If not, I'm done. Also, I was waiting to register for summer until I heard the decision, and then forgot, and just realised it's mid-May. When did it stop being April? Is this a symptom of NewMomitis?)
Cluesticks for everyone involved in Liz's situation, because she's obviously fantastic.
garbage disposals and snakes in the pantry? award-worthy.
go, liz! you're our favorite candidate.
love sue's AW - cute borrowed little person! hoping the purr factory is feeling more herself soon.
fingers crossed, QWP! somehow, they do seem to survive even if the environs are busier than preferred, so hope you are all more settled in a bit. xoox
AW: Okay, I'm less panicky now. I talked to our grad secretary, and she said that she would have told me not to register for summer, because my sick leave will take care of that. She's pretty certain it's going through, and I just have to hang tight. Significantly less angsty: hooray!
Yay, QWP!
Liz, I'd vote for you!
Esperanza, I feel your pain. Unclogged a sink drain, but now the whole pipe leaks. My new fix: a bucket. low tech, but at least it works. And snakes? omg
Hugs for Sue's cat, poor thing. Hope she feels better soon!
Yay for minnesota!
AW: I got the job!!!!! Shook the superintendent's hand and everything! Official 6th grade science teacher come September!
(only feeling a little panicky and overwhelmed, but mostly just happy!)
--Neighbor Lady
WOOOOT!!!! for Neighbor Lady! Yay! And now you're a SCIENCE TEACHER at the very age when you can engage those interested young minds!! Go, sister!
And yay, QWP! So glad the leave is working out, knock wood. :)
The further adventures of SIL -- boy, howdy; does she ever know how to demonstrate her own mental instability -- have sent me back to netflix therapy. Also, the fireplacing ex. There really should be some cap to the crazy. But on the up side, things should be legally resolved in July. Gah.
Yay Neighbor Lady!!! May I humbly suggest miracle of cream and sugar in a clean jar, packed in a large coffee can filled with ice and rock salt and rolled on the classroom floor as a fun thing to do in a science class?
Yay Neighbor Lady! (I had to go back and undo my Canadian spelling of that.) My husband's a high school science teacher (but has taught all the way down to grade 3, thanks to small schools), and has a great wealth of fun demonstration ideas. He says that if you (properly) blow up something once, they'll do a lot more work for you, because of the prospect that you MIGHT blow something up again.
Hugs to Kathy A. Hoping that the road to resolution goes more smoothly soon.
Yay NL!!! Congrats!!! Science - that is just sooooo wonderful!!
Yay QWP!! Fingers and toes crossed that all of the leave will be approved.
Wasn't "Snakes in the Pantry" the original working title of that movie about snakes and a plane???
AW: Kitteh is feeling a bit more chipper tonight but is bored with me checking on her.
W: Attended a three hour meeting that I SWEAR was a time-traveled bit of misery. I attended the same meeting, with the same conversation, with a few of the same people 15 years ago. It was shortly after my ordination (15 years on May 24th) and it was just as boring the first time around.
I kept waiting for The Doctor to come and whisk me away. Or at least for a Dalek or two to make it interesting.
I'd vote for Liz, too.
Hooray NL! And I considered a bucket, till the leak was greater than a bucket could handle, and greater than my limited plumbing skills.
QWP, hoping with you that the leave business will work out. And do I EVER hear you on both the benefits and downfalls of a strong routine. I am the mean, mean mommy who enforces bedtime, even when we are Having Fun, even when we are at a party, even when we are Visiting Grandparents. Because when that one small part of the routine falls apart, it's all down the toilet, which clogs up the toilet, and then we're back where we started this whining.
Clearly, I need to go to bed.
BAT. There was a bat flying around my living room, around and around. (My glasses were off; I thought it was a bird at first, also unacceptable as a houseguest.) My beloved found a net and caught it and put it outside. It wasn't a big bat, but it had a decent wingspan for a small and possibly rabid animal that does not belong in my house. The End.
Esperanza for mullet for her penultimate paragraph.
And thanks for the votes, everybody.
YAY NEIGHBOR LADY!!!!
I'd vote for Liz, too.
More hugs for Kathy.
Sick leave approval vibes for QWP!
Motivation vibes for me! I want to read in bed all day but as a grown up, I will go to work instead.
Bats and snakes, oh my!
Kathy - in our family it is understod that ALL bats have a 26 foot wingspan regardless of its body's relative size. At least, that's what it always looked like from the top bunk at the cottage.
What you need is a snake to eat the bat. Hey....
W: I did not enjoy high school. I am not happy about repeating it at church meetings.
Because my congregation did not hand over our lunch money (large valuable piece of land with a ho-hum building on it) to fix the big cathedral church and be Borg-ed into their life, we are NOT the cool kids now.
The unhealthy social dynamics in that meeting were astounding. Mostly I kept my mouth shut so that I wouldn't say anything I might regret.
For this I spent three years in grad school?
AW: This morning I get to visit with a Mom about her daughter's upcoming baptism.
AW: Kitty much better this morning. I think she's almost back to her normal kitteh self. Yay!
Bats and snakes put my kitchen ants into perspective! This has become the Belated Halloween Edition of Wednesday Whining.
Sue: hooray for the kitteh getting better! But kicks in the shins to everyone at that meeting.
Tiny tiny whines this morning: difficult-to-trim baby fingernails, a pocket full of baby puke at 7:30am (HOW DID SHE DO THAT?), and bad sleep yesterday begetting bad sleep today.
She puked in your pocket??? Shirt pocket is somewhat imaginable. Pants pocket I can't even imagine.
And those darn fingernails are impossible. They are still smushy enough you can't tell if you're cutting baby fingernail or baby finger.
Shirt pocket, thankfully! And boy, was it ever the weirdest feeling.
Baby Puke in My Pocket could totally be the name of a grunge band's hit love song, if you just added a comma in the right place.
My experience with Muffin Man was that I could only trim his wee baby fingernails if he was sleeping in someone else's arms.
QWP brought the bodily fluids this week!
Sue, that meeting doesn't sound fun at all.
a BAT?!?!?!?
Yikes.
Thanks for all the support, pixies, and for all the aweome suggestions about fun science projects and demos!
:)
Laughing at Liz's band suggestion. :)
Cluesticks to the meanies at Sue's meeting!
--Neighbor Lady
W/AW: New glasses. I'm pretty sure they're a good prescription, but am feeling nauseated because they are correcting for my changed astigmatism.
Bleah.
I remember the first pair of glasses I got (for astigmatism). The doctor said, "It's going to feel like your eyeball is being pulled out of your head." Lovely. He was right. Goes away in a day or so, but bleah is right.
ack, i always put off the new glasses -- the adjustment is really easier than i expect, but it's there. i was stunned to learn last time that i already had trifocals, so that took the edge off of the trifocal adjustment worry. :b
AW: was planning to cook supper. Honest. Then the Baboos and I went outside to check the sprinklers. You can see where this is going. Then we had to clean our feet with the hose. Then I decided playing with the hose was way more important than cooking supper. Two soaking wet, happy Baboos. Thankful for time to play today.
(This is my third try leaving this comment.. fingers crossed. I will pretend to be anonymous, to see if that helps).
Whine - It is going to take two weeks to get my engagement ring resized. Every single person who hears I am getting married wants to see it, so this is annoying!
Anti-whine - Engagement ring! We'e planning a party in August!
(Reassuring note to Pixies who have been around here a while: this is the awesome Northern Tundra Librarian, not the Graduate School Boyfriend of the infamous Turkey Day in Our Nation's Capitol. That guy is ancient history).
- Redzils
Congratulations, Redzils! And I'm pretty sure your comments are trapped in the spam filter; this happened to me last week.
W: So, you thought I was bringing the bodily fluids before? Plugged duct for me and a plugged/runny nose for Li'l E. Up at 3am to have a hot bath, and then had to administer nose drops to a squirming, crying baby. Everything in this house is clogged, apparently.
WOOHOO REDZILS!!! Mazel tov!
And QOWP, I change my vote for mullet to you.
(I went looking in the spam folder and didn't see your earlier comments, Redzils. Blogger may just be feeling lousy.)
EEE! Congrats, Redzils!
QWP, I'm so very sorry about the clogged duct. That is super painful, and I have hints whatsoever on anything that really worked to help it. Ouchie.
Congrats Redzils!!!! How exciting!
QWP - Ouch! I hope you are both unclogged very soon - poor L'il E!!
I'm having flashbacks of clogged ducts and my sisters piling tea bags and cabbage leaves on my tender rack of pain. Good times...
W: The elastic waistband on my favourite pj pants finally dissolved in the wash. Rats! It took me two years to break those pjs in! Now I have to start all over. Wah!!
Sue, that is Old Skool worthy.
W: Sweet Baboo sleep problems. Anxiety? Too many changes at end of school? Tummy issues (she seems to be having reflux issues and not eating well this week)? What? I just want to get some sleep, because of course Baboo sleep problems = Mama sleep problems.
Have declared a mental health day. Canceling therapy appointments. Hopefully tonight will be better.
congratulations, redzils!
Sue: "Tender rack of pain" is amazing. And my heartiest sympathies regarding having to break in new pyjama pant. Ah, that window between too much elastic band and dissolving in defeat.
Hugs and naps for esperanza and baboo. (And now I'll go take a nap in your honour, because I was up for a few hours with my tender rack of pain. Now that I have myself mostly declogged, I'm going to take a powerful anti-inflammatory and nap every time the baby does. Work can wait!)
Premature jammie death is a classic whine.
Esperanza -- happy wet baboos! Definitely a summer treat.
QWP -- hope the tenderness is gone shortly. Good thing the bitsy ones are so cute, eh? :)
SIL W-a-pallooza, cont.: somebody from a facility is going to see her in the hospital (emergency psych evaluation), and decide if they can manage her. I'm afraid she'll flunk the congeniality test for a locked memory care facility.
Redzils!!!!! Yay!!!!! Congratulations!!!!
:)
Neighbor Lady
I would flunk a congeniality test today. Just saying.
Esperanza, my sweet -- you are totally NOT in this league. Never can be; never will be.
But sending some virtual thin mints, 'cause it's crappy feeling like you might be. xoxo
Have I whined about this fireplacing school decision before? Yes? Oh. Well. Repeat.
Bleah on school decisions.
Liz, do you have a campaign motto?
Redzils, tell us about the party! Our wedding, it was a very fun party.
I'm still steaming, so here's the deal. School was highly recommended by two families we know, with kids in Sweet's grade level. Kids love it, learning to read, doing great. Visited today. Rundown buildings, which is not a deal breaker. Cluttered classroom. Again, whatever. Playground equipment also rundown, to borderline dangerous condition. Nothing that Sweet can manage unassisted, except sandbox. Teacher answered her phone, twice.
But. Kids definitely all reading at end of pre-K year. I don't know how such learning takes place in such a chaotic classroom.
Not to mention, way heavy-handed in the religious department. And I'm a preacher, for heaven's sake.
Awards will be tomorrow. I am getting ready to do divorce mediation and then tonight my best gal pals and I are going to cheer each other up. My one friend had some tough decisions ahead. Plus the clue stick posse might also needed to help her out.
Esperanza: where will Sweet be happiest? Reading at the end of preK is not really that important in the scheme of things.
My m0tt0 will be something like: you deserve a choice.
Esperanza, go with your gut. I ignored that stuff with MM's first two daycares and it was a mistake.
If things are borderline dangerous WHEN YOU'RE VISITING, what are they like when there are no visitors?
Miranda -- cluesticks at the ready for your friend.
Experanza -- agree with Miranda and Liz's thoughts about making the choice. Will she be happy? Is this too chaotic for her? Also -- if it is too religious for a preacher, is this the right place? xoxo
Go, Liz!
I too have the cluestick ready Miranda. I'm happy that you and your friends are there to cheer each other after a rough time. That's so important.
esperanza, I would say trust your gut, but listen to your pixies too. There are definite red flags there, but the biggest one for me is the religious piece. Really - you're a preacher!
Also, it occurs to me that Miranda might need cluesticks, also. We are there if needed.
Esperanza: I seriously agree with everyone about going with your gut. And this is coming from someone whose husband teaches at a place that's a touch heavy-handed in the religious department. Reading by the end of pre-K isn't everything.
Miranda: I have a cluestick at the ready:
AW: duct unclogged! Back to normal.
W: It's a good thing Li'l E is so cute, because she's given me her cold. She and I are being miserable together today. So, I traded a plugged duct for a plugged nose (well, mostly a sore throat). Also a semi-plugged bathroom sink. So, still everything's plugged in this household.
AW: long weekend! Thank you, Queen Victoria. For the next three days, if the baby wakes up early and I'm still feeling achy, I can roll over and make Mr. QWP (The Royal Consort of West Procrastination?) deal with her.
It's the particular brand of religion that I quibble with. I was willing to work to counteract that with what we teach her at home and church, if the academic piece was superior. Which it may be, but it's just hard to find in the lack of structure. It's a no. I'm not sure what's a yes yet.
Other options include two-two day a week programs (obviously not ideal to switch like that all the time). Another religious school, of a different brand that is less objectionable, but 30 minutes away from our house. Or, I guess, public kindergarten which she is not ready for in any way, shape, or form. Public preK is not an option in this state unless you meet certain qualifications which we do not.
Blech. I was hoping this place today would be the solution. But my gut is all uncomfortable about it, as is Daddy's (and his gut doesn't usually say much). So no dice.
Did my last comment end up spam filtered? If it just disappeared:
AW: Unplugged milk duct! Long weekend! Thank you, Queen Victoria (for the second but not the first).
W: Baby gave me her cold. So, the average number of plugged things has stayed level. And it really is a good thing she's so cute.
-- QWP
Yay for unplugged ducts QWP!! Boo on clogged up sinuses.
Hooray for the first long weekend of the spring/summer! It's cold and wet, but who cares?? It's a Long Weekend!!!
Yes, QWP, even the spam filter seems to be clogged. I have no idea why yours keep getting stuck there. Someone who is smarter on Blogger than I am will need to take a look.
Esperanza -- I think it's great (even though it doesn't feel that way now) that you are identifying what you + Sweet can and cannot work with. For what it's worth -- I agree that a brand of religion is tolerable; chaos in which my kid could get lost is not. (We made similar decisions at various points.)
30 minutes is a trek! Any chance of working out a car pool?
Know why you are worried about the 2 days/2 schools -- more complicated routine. But it could actually work, if both are comfortable places. It could be a chance to test-drive both. There is a fair amount of movement in and out of pre-K programs -- so if one is a standout, perhaps they'd be able to switch after a while to more days/week.
my beloved went to pick up some stuff from SIL's board + care home, to which she will not return. he brought home this freakin' enormous TV, at least 2.5'x3.5'. apologies if everybody has one of these, but the darned thing is scary big.
AW: went canvassing for signatures today. DOORS!!
W: I am out of shape.
Liz IS the Doorbell Queen! Let nobody forget.
Sending virtual GS cookies and prescribing a nice soak.
Pixies, my apologies for the lack of awards. My modem died let me see if I can do a post from my phone. - Miranda
No problem, Miranda. At your request, this thread is closing. xoxo
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