Until next time
November 24, 2008 | 12:24 pm
It’s over. But pajama day was awesome while it lasted.
We laid about in bed knitting & increasing our brain strength
Our dogs joined us
The Girl played some Guitar Hero
That fat beagle lays around a LOT!
In between activities we ate – pork roast with root vegetables for dinner – and drove Steve West crazy.
Absolutely fantastic!
Topics: Awesomeness, Dogs, Hogs & Fish, The Girl | 1 Comment »
We need more Indians
November 15, 2008 | 12:59 pm
The Girl is in 5th grade. I, in part, chose the school I did because there is a family involvement requirement. Great, right? Parental and family involvement only helps the children, right? I had no idea just how complicated things could become. Over the years I have quit volunteering in areas that require group work and I thought I was in the clear with this being our last year at the school. I’d made it. I was involved but invisible to those committee and group think people – even when I was a committee chairperson. Just to clarify, I am not a woman who identifies herself as “mommy”. I don’t even identify as a “mom”. I am so many things that just boiling myself down to what my uterus can produce seems very limiting. I also have very few friends with children. I have never seen the appeal in talking about what my kid’s poops look like, when my child started walking, how long I breast fed, how her physical development is going – seriously, is it anyones business if she has gotten her period yet except hers? – so I never sought out other mothers to befriend. Really, if I am going to be honest here, The Girl came as a shock surprise. Sometime during the whole “holy shit I’m pregnant” swirl I decided I was going to do this thing. I was 27. I had a house and a job and I could do this. I think having it sprung on me like that was the only way I was going to have a child. If left to my own devices I wouldn’t have done it at all because I am not a kid person. I don’t really like them and I really don’t care for the typical parent. So the parent friends I do have are similar to me in that they are living less than conventional lifestyles and have lives outside of their children. They are mostly older than me, too. Maybe that’s the difference? Onto the reasons Holly has backed off and tried to go invisible…
So I’ve got this friend that also has kids at the school. She was going to be taking on this project and asked if I would represent for our class to help her out. She needed an ally. Okay, so I agree. We go to the first meeting and hash some things out and develop “A Plan”. Over the next week we find out that people involved in the original decision had been talking and wanted to the “The Plan”. Okay. Then they said they wanted to put the whole thing on hold for a while. Okay. Now the whole thing has started up again, out of the blue, and the same people who said certain things are totally doing the opposite of what they said they wanted to do. Okay. Can you see the crazy here or is it just me?
Example dos: One of the attached neighborhoods was having their yearly festival which involves a parade. We typically go check this festival out but aren’t involved in the parade at all. One day one of the other parents asked if I would be willing to drive my car in the parade – they were going to be walking to represent the school and my car is blue and convertible and The Girl could throw candy out of it. I say “yeah, I could probably do that” he says he’s not involved with the planning but he’ll send me the email about it. Great. I’m thinking we get together one weekend and make a banner, pool some cash and buy some candy and then put the word out that our school is doing this parade and that everyone who wants to walk should show up at this time on parade day, at this place, in the school colors and we’ll do this thing. Simple, no? No. These people are trying to decide how to determine which kids should carry the banner – the banner that hasn’t been made yet to my knowledge. Should we have a crazy hat contest? Should we this? Should we that? They should we’d themselves right out of the parade! They could never decide and ran out of time. And no, I did not get involved. Just like I don’t go stand in the middle of the bee swarm I don’t wade into discussions I wasn’t a part of from the start.
So the latest…the reading group The Girl is involved in in her class is about out of books. We don’t have books at the school that are of their reading level. I get an email from another parent about this suggesting that maybe we could get them from the local library. I say sure, but that I would also be willing to purchase the books they decide to read and then donate them to the school for future use. She says that’s great and that she too would be willing to go the purchase route and we’ll just throw it out there. Mind you, there are only four kids in this group so it’s just a handful of parents involved. Small should be manageable, right? Wrong. The latest email is the kicker. Now she wants to know if maybe we should let a certain student “spearhead” creating a new book club format in partnership with the library system to leave behind as a legacy. Why can’t it be simple? Why? Why does everything have to be so complicated? How do I attempt to bring these people back to earth without being a total asshole? The worst part is I didn’t even see this one coming, but I really should have considering the players. This is exactly why I keep my distance. These people are crazy! Everything, everything, gets turned into a huge deal. We would be able to get so much more done if people would use their heads and not go global. But no. That can’t happen. Maybe they don’t feel like they are really getting things done unless it’s complicated? Is it power or sheer, unadulterated madness? Or maybe I am mad? That’s a possibility but I am not so sure it applies to me in these situations. Do y’all deal with this sort of lunacy too or is it just this group of people? Is it horrible that I just want to be done with all of this?
Topics: Fucktards | 2 Comments »
Treats, not tricks
October 31, 2008 | 9:04 am
The Ladies and I are heading out in the a.m. for Oaxaca. I’ve got tons to do before we leave, including getting dolled up for trick-or-treating, and am feeling a little stressed. I am looking forward to warmer weather, good food, the worshipping of the idols (not by my atheist ass, by the locals), mezcal and time away! I’ll be back Tuesday night – don’t worry, I already got my votes in and you know I didn’t vote for that pervy old dude – with pictures and tales to tell I’m sure!
Catch y’all on the flip!
Topics: Travel, \m/ | 1 Comment »
The Petting Zoo
October 6, 2008 | 11:54 am
What did the UPS guy bring this morning? Why, 11 pounds of Icelandic wool!
What’s that? You thought I would just get a wheel or two? No! No way. I purchased two full bundles. That would be 15 to 18 wheels per bundle. That my friends is an ass-load of wool. Have a look at this picture just for perspective
That’s my darling girl holding the bundle. She’s 5′ 3″ 5′1″ (sorry, I was growing her fast. Good thing we went to the doctor yesterday), just for the record and that is one huge hunk o’ wool. I haven’t opened either bundle yet as I want to wait until I am ready to cast on because the bundles are going to expand. I am not sure how I am going to store them now, so I can’t deal with any expansion. What started this bit of madness? Ponchos. Ponchos on bicycle riders. In Copenhagen. Um, yeah. I decided that a poncho would be the perfect solution for staying warm on my bike in the winter. I hate wearing a coat anyway, and wearing a coat on my bike sucks balls but wearing a poncho on my bike would be the awesome so I ordered wool. Lots and lots of wool. Wool that smells like the zoo. Now I’ve got to get about deciding on a stitch pattern and casting on. Wonder if I can get one poncho done by SAFF? Here, have a look at the close-up while we ponder that last question.
Topics: Bike Riding!, Knitting, Poncho, \m/ | 1 Comment »
Fair Warning
September 23, 2008 | 9:02 am
To the people in my house: if you touch my measuring cups again in the feeding of the dog I will shove them up your ass sideways, take your credit cards and head out to purchase new ones. I’ve made polite requests that have been ignored. My next step is the visual aide and nobody likes it when Hollay employs the visual. You’ve been warned.
Topics: Fucktards | No Comments »
