sink or swim

My phone is struggling with the aftereffects of its dip in the tea....perhaps I spoke too soon about the whole LG testimonial bit. I had a feeling it was too good to be true.

It happened just in time for a visit from one of my very dearest friends on the whole planet, and her delightful significant other, both of whom had lots of questions about parenting, what it's like raising three boys, how we stay sane, how we fulfill our parenting duties and still make time for our marriage (I think I actually managed to respond to that one without laughing)(not sure, though - we'd had some wine by then). In any case, I felt it was a perfect demonstration.

(fuzzy) silver lining

So Ryan just took my nicest black work slacks and washed them with a load of fuzzy white terrycloth dishtowels. You know what that means.




MY HUSBAND DID LAUNDRY!!!!!

from the mouths of babes

"Mama, I dump your phone in the tea!"

And so far it still works. Feeling like I should write a testimonial to LG.

It followed me home

Happily the steamer trunk has found a home, and not in Mom's apartment. We swapped it for a jar of homemade blackberry-cherry preserves, and got the better deal by far.
That whole (short) episode reminded me that when I left Ryan talking to some nice 4-H'ers at the fair this summer, we ended up with a chicken.
There may be some kind of pattern here.

I left Ryan unsupervised for about 45 minutes today, during which time he happened upon a garage sale and came home with a steamer trunk. Like, the old-fashioned pre-suitcase luggage complete with hangers and drawers and spring-loaded latches. All three of my kids could fit in it, and I'm somewhat amazed that it hasn't been attempted yet. Come to think of it, they're kind of off their game today.
The downside is that it has some water damage and some other kinds of damage, and also it's sitting in the middle of our living room because it's huge and we have no place for it...and it also has what I would imagine to be the typical aroma of an ancient, water-damaged steamer trunk.
Ever see the Stinky Chair commercial for VW?

still not fun

My neighbor suggested that I tender my resignation and set up a school in his basement. I actually gave this some thought.
If it weren't for the health insurance thing (and this nagging suspicion that you probably can't run a school out of somebody else's basement), I'd be there already.

if it was meant to be fun

Mostly I love my job, and nearly always I love the kids, even when they might benefit from some duct tape, but the first weeks back are taking some getting used to. Also everyone in the district is insane right now, due to completely new district-wide curriculum, and also due to the fact that their best friend and/or teammate and/or best teacher in their building got fired last spring and also all the class sizes are huge (oh, and we're all taking a pay cut, too).
Yay, back-to-school!