It Was An Honest Mistake, Quickly Corrected, But It DID Give Me Something To Talk About Today

One of the drawbacks of productive days is that “productive” isn’t necessarily the same thing as interesting.  So for most of the day I’d been drawing a blank on what to write about today, then I got the call that my car was ready to be picked up from the shop, so I tabled the matter and went to pick up my car.

“Just approve the amount and sign and you’ll be good to go!” the girl behind the counter told me.

I glanced down at the screen, then glanced back up at her.  “No,” I said simply because $925,480.47 was just a bit beyond the original estimate I had been given.

My Exact Response Was A Horrified “Oh, God!”

L’s Mother hurt her eye a few days back, not badly, but it looked horrible, more red than any other color, particularly the next day.  So much so that I had already admitted to her that I found the sight of it disturbing.

This is perhaps a weakness I should not have drawn attention to.

The next morning (early enough that I wasn’t even thinking about her eye yet) she came into my office wearing a red and white sundress, and proclaimed, “You never complement me when I wear something that matches my eyes anymore!”.

A Habit That Has Nothing To Do With My Star Sign, But Admittedly Might Have Something To Do With The Year Of My Birth

“You’re an Earth star sign, aren’t you?” I was asked via a text conversation yesterday.

While I was privately unimpressed at both the apparent non sequitur and the fact that I knew I was going to be expected to be impressed at what was at worst a one in four chance guess, I still wrote back, “Yes, you’re right.”

“I knew it!  I can tell by how you end your sentences with all those dots  Most Earth signs do that”  (There’s a clue for what’s to come in the previous quote, by the way.)

Now it’s true that at one point in my life I had what might kindly be described as an . . . ellipsis problem, but I knew for a fact that I hadn’t ended any sentences with ellipsis during this conversation, so, more than a little confused I replied, “I don’t know why you’re seeing a lot of dots at the ends of my sentences.  Maybe it’s a formatting issue or something because I’m not typing a lot of dots.”

“It’s not a lot of dots” came the reply.  “Just unnecessary ones”  (Do you see it yet?  This is the point I did.)

With a heartfelt sigh and an eyeroll I responded, “Periods.  They’re called periods, and some people still use them out of habit, you know.”

A More Serious Status Update

We’re actually doing okay here as we continue to wrap up second grade.  It’s been a rough year, and I am desperately looking forward to having a vacation when this is all over, but we are actually doing okay.

Sometimes I just have to take a break and remind myself of that.

Another Quote To Describe My Mood As We Approach The Second Grade Finish Line

What I don’t understand is . . . when you owe a bookie a lot of money, and he, say, blows off one of your toes, you still owe him the money.  Doesn’t seem fair to me.

– Dr. Farthing, Dirty Work

And Not The Cheesy Fun Kind Either

As we approach the final stretch of 2nd grade, we can take some cold comfort in the fact that we’re fine grade-wise.  Academically, this past year looks amazing.

Emotionally, however . . . how do I put this?

This past year hasn’t been an emotional roller coaster; more like an emotional house of horrors.

We Could Use It

With a little luck, we’re on the final week of schoolwork needed for my son to put second grade behind him.

So wish us luck.

My Parenting Experience This Week In A Nutshell

Mr. Furious (AKA “My Son”):  Why am I doing this again?

The Sphinx (AKA “Me”):  When you can balance a tack hammer on your head, you will head off your foes with a balanced attack.

Mr. Furious:  And why am I wearing the watermelon on my feet?

The Sphinx: I don’t remember telling you to do that.

– Mystery Men

Stormy Days

When things get rough, I’m just not one of those people who feels the need to ascribe beauty to an ugly situation.  Yes, I’ve seen storms that have been as beautiful as they were terrifying, but that didn’t make the aftermath any less horrific.

Further Proof That She And I Are From Different Worlds

While out with the household last week, I noticed in an off-hand sort of way that Lala had brought her braid forward while talking to a couple of guys.  I didn’t think anything of it, but evidently she had.

“I wasn’t really preening,” she told me later.  “I was just showing off my hair.”

“That’s preening,” I reminded her with a puzzled tilt of my head.

“I know!” she exclaimed with a flustered sigh.