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In the course of just this morning, I have:  (errr…8:15 at the start of this blog…)

–Read two craptastically crappy books to Drew, one about Star Wars, one about Batman.  I know–not exactly mind-enriching literature but whatever it takes to get him interested in reading.

–Let The Dog out, in (mud removed from feet with an old towel), out, in (again with the mud removal process) and finally out again and fed her after she kept nosing me and licking my laptop keyboard as I checked email.

–Fed the kids breakfast and cleaned up a cereal spill which required a clothing change and an emergency wash of the (hopefully) washable brace.

–Barely averted a meltdown over the fact that I will not let a certain little girl paint.  I can’t handle paint before my second cup of coffee in the morning.

–Read an equally craptastic book about magic tricks to Malyn and even patiently reread sections about the particulars of certain magic tricks–the directions for which were entirely above her head.  (Thanks stupid Summer Reading Program Magician Show.)

–Swept up the remnants of the towel that The Dog ripped and chewed into soggy little pieces last night.

–Sighed heavily over the fact that my glasses (which I wear at night and in the mornings when I don’t have my contacts in) basically disintegrated while they were on my face.  They’re old and were cheap (as I don’t wear them out of the house) but they served a purpose.  And unfortunately, this is no “find and replace the little screw” repair.  Nay, I believe this is a ‘total glasses replacement’ situation.

–Finally turned on the television just to have a moment’s peace.

What I was trying to do was to finish editing pictures I took of my nieces, Brooklyn and Makenna this past weekend.  I’m beginning to suspect that this whole photography business is actually going to require some uninterrupted work time.  I have been in the process of editing these pictures for the past five or six days but cannot steal enough time to maintain the correct balance of concentration, motivation, creative mindset, magic fairy dust in the air to get these done.  And it’s frustrating.

BUT, tonight is the night we find out whether my sister is going to provide me with a niece or a nephew.  So there’s that squee-worthy aspect.  AND, I get to go with her for the ultrasound.  AND I get to drive to Atlanta to do so…by myself…alone…in the car…both ways.  It’s gonna be Awesome and, methinks, a few hours break from the daily grind of parenting.

Happy Hump Chey Day!

And THIS is why I want to edit those pictures…because she’s ADORABLE!  And it’s FUN to edit pictures when there is squishy baby involved!

Baaaaayyyyybeeee

I’ve been incredibly surprised to realize that I am very much enjoying working.  It’s exhausting and there are times when I literally get out of bed and go non-stop until I sink to the couch, exhausted, after the various Evening Time Rituals.  I suppose that I could just be enjoying the novelty of having a job but I think it has more to do with actually having a framework for my day.  It seems to agree with me, this having a set of tasks to accomplish and the ability to output brain power, creativity and random yelling at children in the context of a school schedule.  Ahem.  I mean..well…whatever.

A few things to note:

If I die tragically, I need someone to be in charge of Malyn’s hair.  While Bryan has many talents, his half-gayness is letting me down BIG TIME in this area.  As it goes, I usually leave before the kids get dressed for school and Bryan delivers them to their respective schools.  Bryan has said that one More than One Occasion, Malyn’s teacher has gotten her out of the car with a “Whew!  Let’s sit you down next to the other teacher so she can help out with that hair!”  I *try* to handle it before I leave but sometimes, her hair style gets lost in the crazy morning shuffle.

Also, as if I needed reminding that I am my own worst enemy, I have a confession.  I have been teaching my second graders about angles.  You know, right angles, acute angles and obtuse angles.  To help them visualize angles, we have been making different angles with our thumbs and forefingers and holding them up against different parts of our bodies.  So, INEVITABLY, a couple of students were doing the ‘L’ of the right angle on their foreheads calling people “losers”.  So, I taught them that calling someone a “loser” was very “acute” (insert fingers poised in acute angle here) but honestly a bit “obtuse” because OBVIOUSLY any intelligent person would know that they are, in fact, “Right Angles”.  Well, we got a kick out of that.  In the meantime, I have long since found that if I engage students in activities while we are walking through the halls, they walk quietly, listen to me and it gives me a great way to review (and keep kids from getting antsy) while we are waiting to enter the lunch line, go to PE, etc.  So, the other day, we were walking to lunch and I asked them to show me different angles on their foreheads.  We came upon a third grade teacher with whom I used to work and who heard me cycling through the angles and she said, “Oh!  That’s a GREAT idea!” and I thanked her and went on, while directing the kids to show me Right Angles.  After we shuffled by, another teacher, who came upon us, asked the third grade teacher, “WHAT did *that* class do?”  The third grade teacher gave her a puzzled look and the other teacher said, “They must have done something horrible for her to make them do that.”  She ‘tsked, tsked’ and continued,  ”I think it’s so bad for their self-esteem and extremely degrading to make them walk around the school with LOSER on their heads.”

So yeah, evidently, one or more of the staff thought I was making my Limited English Proficiency Students walk around with the ‘Loser’ sign on their foreheads as punishment.  Sweet.  Great way to impress the higher-ups don’tcha know?

Needless to say, we have ceased that particular review method.  Although, I walked into a meeting where the entire second grade staff and the principal were giving me the Loser sign and laughing quite heartily at my expense.  So I guess word had gotten around.  Thankfully, the third grade teacher had the decency and presence of mind to, on the spot, explain what I was actually doing to that other teacher who was, admittedly, embarrassed to have assumed the worst.  But still, here I was asking my students to, effectively, walk around with a Loser Sign on their foreheads.  And my sweet little guys did it!  I think we all know who the real loser is here.

I did, however, get a bit of a bright spot in my week as my brother, Curtis and SIL, Alexis (parents to the incredibly beautiful Brooklyn), asked me to come to their 20 week ultra-sound where I found out the gender of the baby.  None of the rest of my family knows and I am in the process of torturing everyone and planning the Mother’s Day Reveal.  Can I get a collective “Ahhhhh…”  ????

Also, I may or may not be free trial-ing (new word) a New, Awesomer (not original but appropriate) Photo-Editing Software.  It’s…erm…advanced.  But it’s also incredible.

Behold!  SPRING!