Dingoes Defy the February Slump: Keep Running, Mamas - Page 4

[tjsmama]

real~ I do not know how you do it, woman. Wanna run away to Mexico with me and my girlfriends next week?

geo~I think hearts are always appropriate for valentines, regardless of gender or age! I bought a package of foam hearts in assorted valentine-y colors at Target last week. Our plan is for me to print out some sort of "Happy Valentines Day" message that DS can cut out, write to/from on, and glue onto said hearts. And, as much as I don't really love candy valentines, we've got a crapload of dum dum suckers (made in my hometown, and my stepfather/stepbrother were working on a project there over the holidays = ridiculous amounts of candy forced on us by stepsister-in-law ), so we're going to tape a dum dum on each heart. Not mass-produced crap, theoretically should be easy (I hope), and nice (I hope).

jl~Sending peaceful thoughts for you and your gram.

melw~Traditionally, we've done SS over a period of about a month-ish, starting in February and wrapping up around the first of spring. I usually send one small-ish package a week, with a slightly larger package for the reveal. Whatever you think might brighten your sprintee's day is appropriate...homemade crafts (I have a couple of awesome things poppy made me a few years ago), running gear (gels, socks, etc), books/magazines, treats, fun stuff for the dinglets, etc. There's something just so wonderful about getting a surprise in the mail!

rr~I couldn't bear the thought of braving the cold and trudging through intermittent patches of foot-deep snow, so I hauled myself off to the Y after school drop-off this morning. I felt shockingly good for running on the hamster wheel. I just wish I would have had a little more time...I barely squeezed in three miles. Four would have been nice.

Other than that, a pretty uneventful day. Errands, a customer service training thing for work. I went to the car dealership to get a replacement rearview mirror to replace the one that I popped off thanks to being a little too close to the garage door the other day. I figured it would be *maybe* $20 or so (it was JUST the mirror, not the housing or anything else). Nope! FIFTY smackeroos! And that was just for the part, they wanted to charge me another $40 to replace it for me. I said no, thank you, popped it on myself (while still at the dealership just in case there was some trick to it), and went on my merry way $50 poorer, but with enhanced lane changing capabilities.

Tomorrow: work.

[Shantimama]

 Apparently I spoke of dd's recovery too soon. She said she had a good day at school but had a mini meltdown as we were sitting down to eat, left the room and when I went to check on her a little later she was sound asleep in her clothes. She never does that and is rarely asleep before 11:00. Looks like she will be staying home a little longer. Poor girl - now I feel bad for snapping at her for being grumpy and difficult at supper. 

[MelW]

kerc, does geologist #2 not want his job? Because he should quietly leave and let geologist #1 get on with her work...

Shanti, I hope your DD gets the rest she needs and is back to normal soon.

My sick daughter perked up this afternoon long enough to catch the bus with me to pick up the car from the mechanic, and negotiated staying in the car while I made a quick trip to get smoothie supplies and throat lozenges. When we got home she went straight back to bed until dinner, and then to bed for the night. I suspect I'll have her home tomorrow again unless there's a miraculous overnight end to the fever.

[Plady]

Originally Posted by sparkletruck 

Real - A different mommy might hold R down and pull the tooth and lock J in her room with the lights out until she fell asleep. It is exhausting being a respectful, responsive parent - heck, its exhausting being a parent - without the fights and long hours and sleeplessness. You are doing better than any sub would or could and You are an amazing mom. Sorry you cant run away

I said "DO1?" and she said "yeah!" Like we all know how bad something is when its category DO1!

Real - Seriously, by this time I'd be that parent, yanking teeth and locking doors.  And then I'd run away on top of it all.  I'd be DO1 DONE! 

Sparkle - Which is to say, I'm going to adopt that designation because it is awesome!  And, I can easily imagine myself losing it over Tangled, on one of those days.

Geo - Wow, is that some relation to aspergers? 

JenLove -

Jo - Yeah!  In the outline days!  That's cool!

RR: Lifted in the afternoon and it was fine for me, I did get a lot of painting done and that was good.  And my triceps are still shuddering as I type, so that's good too.

NRR: Cutting it short because it's past everyone's bedtime but guess what doesn't happen if mama doesn't make it?

[Realrellim]

Mel38--yay for such a great long run. Also, I'd dread cutting out that many heart-shaped bits of fabric too.

1jooj--I'm glad to hear you had a nice time at the beach this (last) morning. I hope more of those are coming your way.

kerc--I drink tons of water. I don't think it's that unusual. Also, I love the mama-replacement job-sharing gig. Hope you can find a solution for the math issues and the even more frustrating and ridiculous job situation.

JenLove--sorry to hear the news about your grandmother. That's a hard stage.

sparkle--I understand that overwhelmed feeling about being sick. It manages to trigger some really strong feelings in me about the same issues. Feel better soon--

Geo--Wow, crazy stuff in the report. Hopefully your colleagues can provide some answers. And regarding your son, I think he can do pretty much anything he wants for Valentines. Then again, our kindergarten was pretty laid back and honestly, I don't even remember what the boys did. One gave R a matchbox car (generic version though). I don't want to think how much that costs. Also, my preference is for cards only or other paper things that can be recycled because she already has too much candy, pencils, stickers and random junk.

MelW--hope your oldest feels better.

BBM--hope the anxiety continues to improve.

tjsmama--do not even talk to me about Mexico.

Plady--you made me LOL for real. I am DO1 DONE, for sure.

Valentines: my plan was to buy cheap cards and call it good. But some people will do candy, and in her class, likely a lot of people will do candy or whatnot. Heck, last year we didn't even have to write names on the valentines. The teacher pointed out that even the kids who could read rarely could read everyone's names, so it was easier to not bother. This year, our over-achieving room mother sent out a list of names for everyone in the class, just in case people were writing out valentines this weekend. (No, we were busy fighting over the research project. Most likely room mother's kid turned hers in last week.) Le sigh. I do not have time to put candy/stuff into bags this week and I do not want to spend the money to do it. The party is Friday.

Trying to motivate myself to grade papers and do class prep. Bleh.

[babybugmama]

Ugh I had dreams last night that I was eating sugar...and felt all panicky, even when I realized it was a dream.  Silly.

Kerc, I agree about prof 1 shutting their mouth...idiocy.

So now I have: JenLove, Shanti, Geo, MelW, tjsmama, plady...

Must get ds's school underway, he's bugging me to. I shouldn't whine, at least he wants to.

[kerc]

Originally Posted by MelW 

kerc, does geologist #2 not want his job? Because he should quietly leave and let geologist #1 get on with her work...

no kidding.
 

Originally Posted by Realrellim 

Valentines:....snip.......This year, our over-achieving room mother sent out a list of names for everyone in the class, just in case people were writing out valentines this weekend. (No, we were busy fighting over the research project. Most likely room mother's kid turned hers in last week.)

And you should consider this a bonus: you maybe aren't room mother material and now you won't ever have to be because you didn't pass that test. My daughter's kindergarten teacher once sent out a note that was rather babbling, but in it she wrote something about how they were working on winter projects. Usually she uses white paint for winter projects because well winter here is snowy. But this year she was using glitter. Because we all needed a little sparkle (due to the extreme lack of snowfall). And she thought you either are a glitter person or you are not. (She is). I feel the same way about being a room mother.
 

[Geofizz]

To be clear, the report doesn't diagnose face blindness, or even really comment on those weird scores. 

She does seriously have an inability to remember faces, or names paired to the faces.  We encounter this in real life, where she tends to seem to not see people she considers friends, even if they say hi to her.  So she comes off aloof and rude.  We've worked hard on it.  She did have one super-high score in that section of testing, however, when she heard a story about the people she was looking at, and then she scores 91 percentile on recalling names and faces.  That would mean to me that the social stuff we see would be transitory.

I looked up face blindness, and this is a test given to help test for it.  I know it's rare, so this is a "zebra" designation.  Mommy is wondering about those hoof beats, and mommy gets dangerous when googling. 

The distinction with autism/aspergers is that she did really well in the section on determining affect (75%).  She also took the "gold standard" (ADOS) for autism and did fine.  There are a few other things in the profile that eliminate autism spectrum. 

Thanks on the valentines.  The school nurse sends out this massive list each year for all the things you can't send in for each classroom.  Mrs. A's class:  no peanuts or eggs; Mrs. B's class:  no bananas or tree nuts, yada yada yada.  I've got a great solution!  No food!  Of course, there I go being that weird mom again...

[Nickarolaberry]

Hi all!

Wow, so much to talk about. I am  that for some reason my sub to this thread keeps evaporating and I don't get notifications. Gah.

Real, wow....you had a Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day! (I think that was the title of the book?). I hope things are looking up today. I have so been there, yeah, you need a mommy stand-in. Don't we all, sometimes? Jeesh.

Jen, so sorry to hear about your grandma. I hope she has a peaceful transition and that you also find solace. 

Kerc, your colleague is displaying moronic tendencies, which, I must say, is not at all mutually exclusive to academics. Yeah.   Let him be the sacrificial budget goat and you can continue to provide your institution of higher learning with the stellar scholarship, research, and teaching that you have been, indispensible as you certainly are. 

Geo, that's a lot to take in! But it is helpful, I would think (?) to have some quantifiable sense of where she stands on things so you have a clue where to go from here. Lucky for her she has a brilliant mama who is willing to put in the time to help her maximize her potential and cope with whatever challenges she has. 

BBM, just pm'ed you on the secret sprinter. I'm in...didja even doubt it? 

Shanti and Mel, hope your dd's are soon on the mend! Sending healing vibes for a speedy and complete recovery...

Today is a big day for us...ds has his 'siddur party' at school. A siddur is the Hebrew prayer book, and the kids spend kindergarten and the first half of first grade learning to read Hebrew (they spend half the day in Hebrew immersion and the other half the day in English, all subjects) and do the basics of the order of the morning prayers. On Tu B'Shvat (our "Arbor" day -- it is the new year for the trees in the Jewish calendar and this has special significance for children -- we don't harvest fruits from a tree less than three years old until the fourth Arbor Day, and children are considered like 'first fruits', they start their formal Jewish education at age 3 and age 6 it is 'doubled' as they mostly will have progressed to being able to participate on their own in prayers ) it is common to have this big celebration. He is very excited and so am I!

[JayGee]

Morning All!

Nic ~ a huge milestone for your DS!  May have have a wonderful day at school and congratulations to him.

Geo ~ very interesting results...This Mommy gets dangerous when googling as well .

kerc ~ yuck.  I hope things iron themselves out at work.  Geologist #2 should have kept his big, fat mouth shut...  Good luck with getting your DD the challenge she needs in math.  I'm working on the same myself with DS.  So far no progress though...

Shanti ~ oh no.  I hope your DD feels better soon.  Shingles can take a long time to heal.

Sparkle ~ yeah, I cried at Tangled too.  And Up turned me into a sobbing pile of snot within the first 10 minutes.  Feel better.

JenLove ~  to your grandma.

Valentines ~ still working on that one....  No pencils though.  My house is overrun with pencils as it is.

RR ~ walked with DH at the Y last night and then he showed me how to do a couple of the weight machines.  He's been trying to get me to lift for years.  Maybe I'll do it now...

NRR ~ radiology report showed perfectly normal hips and back.  Ho hum.  Back to the drawing board.  Actually it's nice to know my hips are not degenerating .  I woke up at 4:45 this morning (thanks, #$%@# cat) and finished The Girl Who Played with Fire.  I've been reading obsessively for three days and DH is about ready to KILL me. Did I do anything yesterday?  Make beds?  Defrost dinner? Do the dishes? Um.... no, I read .  I'm not proud.  But the book was so gripping I couldn't put it down.  Blame Stieg Larson!  I think I'll save the 3rd book in the trilogy until we're on vacation or something and I can read it without feeling massively guilty.

[Shantimama]

dd is definitely down for the count again. She fell asleep at 5, I finally fell asleep just before midnight last night and felt a tap on my shoulder about half an hour later. It was dd, confused and asking if it was time for breakfast yet. I got her something to eat and drink and she was awake until 6 this morning. Thank goodness she is 14 and no longer needs me to stay up all night with her any more! She read all night and slept for a few more hours. I woke her up just so she doesn't get completely turned around but she feels so tired. I went in to speak with her teachers and they said that she is their top student and to take all the time she needs to rest and recover. 

Nick - congratulations to your ds! What an exciting time for him.

kerc - time to let your bosses know how much they need a geologist on staff - and clearly you are the one since you value and respect what you contribute more than your goofy colleague does!

JayGee - that trilogy had the same effect on me. I always feel guilty when I want to read so much but I also love the feeling of getting so absorbed in a book!

My kids have outgrown the school Valentine thing and I can't say I miss it. We used to buy little cards and sometimes I would bake brownies but that was about it. We do some fun stuff at home but I don't find sending it into school as fun. I remember homework in kindergarten being sent home with a list of class names to copy out onto Valentine's. Most of us couldn't read the names but doing that helped us learn them. Isn't that what school is supposed to be about? Seems like a perfect opportunity for the teacher to make a candy fest into a learning moment. Oh well.

[Geofizz]

First rule of academia:  Never give any admin rope to hang you with. 

kerc, however, is making herself quite useful in the university beyond the narrowly defined field of geology.  Kerc, it might be good, depending on the climate of the university, to start describing yourself as an environmental geologist, or start using earth science instead of geology.  Change the vocab on them.  If environment and sustainability are their thing, call yourself that.  If they're concerned with water resources, remind them you're a hydrologist.  Offer to give a public lecture on something you've done that's interesting -- show pictures of doing field work in the tropics and tie it to this winter's crappy snowfall.

Sorry no answer still JayGee!  How frustrating.

Half hour on the phone with the psychologist.  I'm so confused.  I'm less confused on some other things because it turns out I caught some errors.  But the upshot is that this poor kid starts tutoring at the university asap.

OK, I've been doing this all at home.  Smart and resourceful DH evidently has the themostat set to go off when no one is here during the day.  Brrrr.

[kerc]

Originally Posted by Geofizz 

First rule of academia:  Never give any admin rope to hang you with. 

kerc, however, is making herself quite useful in the university beyond the narrowly defined field of geology.  Kerc, it might be good, depending on the climate of the university, to start describing yourself as an environmental geologist, or start using earth science instead of geology.  Change the vocab on them.  If environment and sustainability are their thing, call yourself that.  If they're concerned with water resources, remind them you're a hydrologist.  Offer to give a public lecture on something you've done that's interesting -- show pictures of doing field work in the tropics and tie it to this winter's crappy snowfall.

Yes, I'm working on this. urgh.

[bec]

Oh, Kerc - So frustrating!  I would have a hard time not saying something to Geologist #2.

Geo - It sounds like your DD needs to have the context of the person before she can recognize the face.  Interesting.  But, yeah that on the where to now? 

JG - I can hear your frustration on not having answers AGAIN!!!!  It is just that it seems like you keep getting all these everything is fine results, but you still hurt!  Not fair, mama! 

Real - Oh, on the sleep deprivation and intense kids.  I want you to consider that the best you are giving is the best there is.  Although, it sure would be nice if Mary Poppins would stop by and give you a break once in a while!!

BBM - Sent you a message.  I'm in for SS!!!

Shanti - Quick healing vibes to your DD!!  I've had my own DD wander out of her room in the middle of the night saying she was getting ready for school.  Cute and bewildering.  I hope she is feeling better soon.

Nic - Congrats to your son for making it to this milestone!  I love the analogy of the trees and the fruit picking.  I hope he has a wonderful celebration.

NRR: Non because there hasn't been any!  Frustrating, but there it is.  I totally spaced tri class last night, but realized halfway through it, that the reason I didn't remember was because I was busy fighting a HORRID headache!  So, probably best I didn't go.  I still have it, and a friend just dropped off some McD's sugar free vanilla ice coffee (AKA liquid crack) and some excedrin migraine.  I have to work at 1pm, so have to be able to function happily by that point!  I think I am the last in the house to get sick.  Hopefully, I will not get the whole throwing up/fever/cough/sinus thing the others have had.  I'll take a couple days of really bad headache instead!

In other musings about work.  I surprise myself with how much I like it.  I like selling to people.  And, I'm good at it.  I like trying to read them and their situation and match them with the best thing that we have for them.  I would sure love to make more than $8.50 an hour doing this though.  And that is making me wonder if there was some other kind of selling job that I could get without needing more education, licensing or what not.  Yegads, if the market wasn't so bad, I might start thinking about becoming a realtor.  The idea of fitting families with homes is appealing.  Is that cheesy?  I think I'm envious of people who have such a clear picture of what they want to do, what career they want to have.  Other than parenting, I have never been terribly focused.  It's times like this I really, really regret going to art school.  It was a ton of fun, and I worked hard in school, but it really hasn't translated to anything in my adult life.  Or, should I say adult profitability.  I just feel, that at 38 years old, I should have some clue what I want to be when I grow up.  And I really don't.  I've done a lot of soul searching over the last couple of years to try to figure that out, and while I have a bunch of areas that I think would be cool and good, I would enjoy, there's been nothing that gives me that "aha!" feeling of completion, that calling that I'm hoping for.  Plus, everything that I'm remotely interested in has years of schooling before even contemplating.  Is it worth it to go back to school as I near my 40's?  I just don't know.  Maybe it is.  I wish I had had all my stuff together when I was a kid, unmarried, without children of my own, and could have the freedom to mess with my schedule! 

[mommajb]

I've read to catch up and now am out of time to comment on anything. I hope all news is good news for dingos today. I hope I start getting updates soon.

[sparkletruck]

Bec - I think what you describe resembles what many your/our age feel. Either they did pursue the thing in their 20's and are now sort of burnt and looking for the next thing, or they raised kids, or had other life experiences that circumvented a straight shot to career/finding "the thing". But, I dont think "the thing" comes to you in a shining moment, and then you pursue it. I think it comes in steps, and your job is to pay attention, as you are doing. The fact that you notice you are good at sales and enjoy it is a big deal. Now, what to do with that realization. The market will change someday - maybe in the few years it takes you to get licensed? You just need to get on the path, which your realization is part of. My Dh is sort of a zen idiot (in a good way) in this regard. He has always been a one-step-at-a-time kind of person, able to focus on the moment. He reminds me that I dont need to know how it will all turn out. And in fact, when he realized he wanted to go to med school, he was pursuing certifications to become a back-country guide. Seriously, he just wanted to ski and raft and mtn. bike for the rest of his life and get paid for it. Then he took a required Wilderness First responder course, and liked the medicine more than the wilderness. And somehow managed to parlay that into a med degree in his mid-30's (granted, while his partner took care of everything else - including the kid birthin' and raisin' ). 40's is not at all too late or old to start. And, no, realty isnt cheesy. I was having the same thought this weekend - not that I want to do it but that I could understand the satisfaction of doing it. on the next step

Kerc - urgh indeed. Great advice from Geo, but what a pain. Selling oneself is so unpalatable

Geo - how curious. It does make me think though, about how many "variations" people live their lives with that are never diagnosed. What an incredible tool and incredible support all this testing will be to your dd, not just in the near future, but it will compound, the more metacognitive she becomes. Kudos to you mama, and on finding errors (of course you did )

Jo - awesome progress on the writing Ive been thinking that if you have a slice of life piece about being an expate in an area that is touted constantly as one of the best places to be one and one of the best places to travel, I have a contact in the upper eschelons of Mother Jones Or if any excerpt from your book would work... as a plug before it gets published

Shanti - on your dd. I hope recovery comes in leaps and bounds

Melw - same for your dd. So pathetic, and so cute

JenLove - to you about your grandma

JG - Interesting that you havent done weights much. I have found it to be very mood boosting, empowering, supportive of every other kind of exercise I want to do (I cant do other things pain free unless I have an active weight-lifting regime going). I found a circuit online while in bed sick the other day that resembles what I do alot. Ill try to find it and post it here, fwiw...

NRR: I am DO1 done with this illness. I think Ive entered phase three, where the fever comes back but now my head is stuffed The croupy, painful, unproductive-but-relentless cough has decreased, thank g-d, as it is exhausting to be so O2 deprived so much of the day , but I still feel like IM being dragged behind a truck. Sigh. One day a ta a time

NRR(2): Im working on a letter to my dd1 (9) who is very much a first born; a perfectionist who seems to value herself for being the best at things (which she sometimes is, but only relatively) but cannot bear to hear any form of critique, no matter how lovingly couched, such that she storms off, plugs her ears, etc. She NEEDS to be able to hear what needs to be worked on so she can in fact reach the potential she thinks she is reaching, but so far, she is temperamentally averse to anything being non-positive. It is SO frustrating. So I thought if I write to her, maybe she can read it in private, put it aside when she doesnt want to continue, and return to it to re-read if she wants, and not feel the judgement and criticism she feels in face to face exchanges. We'll see.

NRR(3): Our credit card # was stolen, and caught by the CC co. We suspect it was stolen from somewhere online. Does this mean we should go to every site we can think of that we've ever bought something from and change our password, or just start using a new password from now (once our new card/# arrives) on every time we by something anywhere?

[1jooj]

bec, I think it takes a very special kind of person and personality to be good at sales. IMO, not a lot of people are actually good at it, so if you are, you have a good chance for success there. There's real estate, and in urban and business environments, there are other sales-related positions that do pay more than $8.50 an hour. It's something to embrace if you love it. Explore! I know at the time of the bubble, a lot of "retired" people got into RE and there were tons of people who frankly sucked at it who were making money just because property was changing hands like hot potatoes. Now, it's a market for people with real skills and an interest in serving customers. Why not look deeper?

kerc, I was thinking along the lines of Geo, with regard especially to your location and your specialties. It seems shameful to suggest that's not something that needs to be taught, or that would be of interest to students and communities where you live. And as for walker,  . Public transit. Health insurance state group set-up funding. You know where I think he can stuff his brown bag. (Hint: not on his head ) 

Health and healing vibes to all the sickies, mamas and Dinglets alike. Such a yuck time of year. I know some people think it's hooey, but it seems like a lot of people have been suffering more with the lack of a truly cold winter this year. Like all the microbes are hanging on longer and better. Yuck.

My walk from the vet's yesterday was 7km, and anyway just as I was getting to the park track, dh called and needed ss numbers and stuff. Time to set up for taxes, and this is his first time being involved in the process. So I had to get home and dig up stuff and get that started. So much fun. Kitty got fixed, got registered to me (I named him Tolstoy), got his breed changed in records (no, every fuzzy cat is not a Persian, thank goodness), and got his paw pad lanced. I told him I know how that feels. Was not too long ago it was my paw pad being lanced. He looks to be feeling 150% today, judging by his outrageous behavior. I have to wonder how much was sheer relief at coming home. His records indicate the previous owner only had him 5 weeks before discarding him, and then 2 months later, I haul him away for the day. He seems really happy with us, and I hope his wanderlust calms now that his testes are gone. 

In other news, I've filled out enrollment forms for online charter for the kids, in case we decide to go that route, but I am iffy on the residence stuff, because we will be back here for much of the year. So I have not submitted, and I have a couple of months to figure it out. And in that time, we should shake it out and probably will do the private, paid school anyway. But at least the forms are ready, I just have to click one button. Dd is still complaining daily about school. And we're about to write another check for 2 grand to cover bus expenses. Gross.

RR: It's back to the beach today. Back to barefoot. And more writing.

[MelW]

48 hours into DD1's fever, and DD2 spiked a fever this evening. No bootcamp tonight. Plans to make the trip to visit my husband (10-12 hours travel at kid pace) leaving Thursday morning are in limbo. Missed bootcamp tonight because of sick kids, but have begged MIL to come and relieve me tomorrow so I can run. 

Went to the optometrist today (with sick kids in tow ) and the congenital lesion on my eye that they've been watching do nothing for a few years is sometimes associated with certain genetic colon cancers. My family has a pattern of polyps/cancers in the 30s/40s but genetic testing was negative. I've had a colonoscopy and there's not much more I can do beyond general healthy living, but it feels like an interesting potential piece to the puzzle. Or a very unusual coincidence. My vision is 20/20, even with the lesion and congenital cataracts. 

[Realrellim]

kerc--no worries on being a room mother, as our current one is a career SAHM to an only child (her LinkedIn profile lists her as the "CEO and Senior Researcher in the the field of Child Development at My Universe"). She truly is the kind who has transferred her workaholic tendencies to parenting. Also, it's pretty clear that she has every intention of being the room parent for the next five years. She also runs her daughter's Daisy troop (and has said repeatedly that her dream is for all the girls in her daughter's class to be in her troop. Yeah, over my dead body), does a ton of work for the PTA, and seems to have her daughter involved in dance lessons and a ton of other stuff after school. She has her child's best interests at heart but we're pretty different and have vastly different budgets. Apparently they take the 6yo to Disneyland for her birthday every year, visit several other times a year, and I just learned that said 6yo has her very own Kindle that she apparently brings to school every day. She's the one who had a holiday party at her house and invited all the kids and their parents--and had plenty of room for all of us.

That said, it's equally true that I'm not room mother material....

Shanti--our teacher is making the Valentine's party into a learning moment by having the kids copy all the names onto envelopes. Trouble is, I do not have time for that kind of learning moment this week (I teach evening classes T/R and Wednesday consists of violin lesson, dinner, and mama running off to direct the handbell choir). The timing is just ugly.

Nic--congrats to your son. That sounds like a really big deal.

JayGee--I'm glad you had the chance to read, even if everything else is being neglected.

bec--I know what you mean. There are some things about retail that are very appealing. I'd suggest looking into the management side if you'd like to stay involved but make more. Some stores have their own training programs even, and you already have a degree so that opens a lot of doors. I'd avoid the real estate market though. My husband's cousin decided to stop being a teacher and go into real estate. I'll merely point out that after she quit her teaching job to become a real estate professional, she moved into her parents' house and is still living there. She declared bankruptcy somewhere along the way too, supposedly because she couldn't pay the student loads she'd taken out (for real estate school? or for the teaching master's degree that she was no longer using?).

sparkle--something similar happened to us on one card. I assumed it was more a fluke than anything.

1jooj--glad your kitty is back home.

Mel38--that is interesting.

Can someone explain to me why my husband:

- doesn't empty the dishwasher or sink, but immediately puts away the one pan I left out to bake brownies?

- dresses J in leg warmers after I specifically ask him to put her in pants instead?

- packs 4 diapers for a 15-minute library story time?

- has absconded with the baking soda and put it who knows where. It has lived in the same spot in the cabinet for 11 years. Most likely, he'll tell me tomorrow morning that he thought it actually lives in the linen closet, behind the sheets.

RR: 3 on the treadmill, at 11 pm. Good times.

[babybugmama]

So for SS, we now have JenLove, Shanti, Geo, Tjsmama, MelW, Plady, Nickarolaberry, Bec, and myself.

Hope all is well in dingoland!