Not for the faint of heart

My iPod of... four years? finally bought the farm today.  Hearing a physical click inside a digital device = bad. 

If you or anyone you know has a promissory scroll from Flaming Gryphon, email me with the specs, or message me on here.  These are ONLY for baronial awards (Spear, Plume, Brand), not kingdom level.  The signet and I are starting a project to redeem promissories, since we now have enough scribal talent in the area.

Yesterday's morning, in increments.

Must not kill boy.

 

7:45 - tell Paul to get dressed.

8:00 - " " " " "

8:05 - " " " " "

8:10 - tell kids we're leaving.

8:11 - find Paul sitting in his pajamas in front of the tv.  Scream Real Loud at boy.

8:12 - Paul bursts into tears and claims "You never told me!"

8:13 - send Kate to the bus stop with Lisa.

8:14 - watch Paul hop up the stairs, still in pajama pants.  Scream Real Loud at boy again.

8:15 - finally get Paul out the door, hear diesel engine and tell Paul to run.

8:16 - get to bus stop to find out (as suspected) that engine is from the recycling truck and not the bus.  But at least Paul is there.

8:20 - bus comes.

If he's not a poster child for birth control, I don't know who is.  This morning he was much better. 

Yesterday on Diane Rehm the guest was Naomi Baron, discussing how texting, email, cell phones, &c. are changing our idea of what language is.  Sure, language is always evolving to change the norm of the day.  Fine.  But given the inability of many students to write today, it certainly makes communication more difficult.  Sometimes being able to parse a sentence seems a hindrance, since I can't infer what the (obvious) point of the sentence must be.  It may sound nitpicky, but if I can't understand what a person is trying to relay, then his communication has failed.  Recently, I've tried very hard not to use 'They' as a subject, however successful that may wind up being.

 This morning must have been the first time the term 'nonbelievers' has been used in official address without the accompanying use of 'commies' or 'heathens'.  And I muted the TV during Rick Warren's invocation, but was informed that even it wasn't overly churchy.

Good riddance.

Recently I relapsed into picked up my knitting habit again, probably because it's no longer 85 degrees outside.  That, and Paul asked why I hadn't finished my hedgehogs, including his pink and purple big brother hedgehog.  I also finished the throw that has been languishing since spring merely because I wasn't sure whether I had quite enough yarn left to finish it, and didn't feel like ripping out the extra rows just to make sure I did have enough.

I got a bunch of Moda Dea Cartwheel yarn , in Coral Reef and Sea Blues, at JoAnn a few weeks ago because it was on sale for $1 a skein.  Can't resist that, eh?  I was poking around on Ravelry last night and happened to find projects that people did with the same exact yarn.  Boy, is the Coral Reef UGLY when knitted up.  I think the only thing I'll be able to do with it is double-strand it with a coordinating color and make a felted item with it.  Maybe another pig.  I also hit them on Black Friday, picking up a bunch of wool.  What's the use of yarn if it doesn't felt?

I've been on an animal kick lately, making a few more jellyfish, most of a polar bear, a sheep that got scorched in the the drying process, and a couple of squids, one of whom was made from leftovers and has been affectionately dubbed as Kaiser Wilhelm, since one of his front tentacles felted down to be shorter than the other.  I've made several baskets, wrist warmers, and a few other items for the teachers to choose from, including every teacher at Kate's daycare, since they all work in every room when needed.

I went to the crackhouse/yarn shop last week and spent under $40.  I tried going yesterday to get the second ball of fuzzy yarn needed to finish the polar bear, but they were closed.  I suppose I could have checked the website for hours.  I couldn't find the other things I needed at JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby, so I made it out of Hamilton only spending $14.85.  That has got to be a record for me.  I have introduced at least four friends to the zen that is knitting, and I have at least two more who need to experience the crackhouse.

After convincing the Verizon salewoman  that no, I really don't need to know the last four digits of the company's tax code to get the employee discount, I have a new phone.  This person was a lot more clueful than the one on service last time I tried.  Fifty dollar phone, $50 rebate.  I also dropped our minutes lower, since we never use anything close to our limit. 

Ashley, get a danged Verizon contract next time, and my minutes will be even lower.  I think you're well over half of my out-of-network time.  My mom and almost everyone else I call (besides Nico) has Cincinnati Bell, even though their coverage absolutely sucks in this area.  Same number, for those of you who already have my number.

In the last several weeks, I've gone to Coronation, Michigan, and the beach in Delaware.

Coronation was coronation, with The Awesome Dress finally done.  Must find where I hid the picture.  Kate got a little too rambunctious at morning court, so we missed Kyp getting put on vigil.  Evening court we also cut out of early, so we missed Melly getting put on vigil, as well.  Bah.

The next weekend was Ashley, Paul and I going to Michigan for the kids' event.  We got to Finn and Mar's house at almost 10pm, only to find that Mar was in the hospital getting antibiotics for her 1% chance infection after the ablation.  Ashley and I had a great time at the event, even with getting lost both on the way there and home.  Paul spent most of his time at the catapult station.  In the afternoon he went back while I was busy, and the person in charge wouldn't let him participate without an adult, but she sidled up to me after stations closed and handed me one of the catapults for him, since he'd liked it so much.  It's kind of rickety, but I'm sure we can build another one at least as good.  And we need to finish the trebuchet as well.

Sunday Mar finally got out of the hospital, and we were at least able to have lunch together before leaving to go home.  Some day I really will get my Pel back.  She's planning on coming to Baronials in November, but I have an inkling I'll be a little busy that day.

This past weekend was Bethany Beach, and the weather was uncooperative.  Thursday night when we got there, it was raining a bit and very windy.  It was supposed to have cleared out and calmed down by Friday morning, but the wind, probably 40 mph, continued the whole weekend.  It wasn't exactly cold on its own, but the wind chill was probably around 40F.  Even so, mom spent most of her time on the beach huddled in a windproof sheet.  The waves were incredible, and the high tide came within ten feet of the boardwalk.  Even so,  Paul spent about four hours jumping the waves on Thursday afternoon, and another two on Friday.  There were three sisters who joined him, as well.  Ah, to be that age again and not care if the water is 50 degrees. 

Paul had gone with my parents Wednesday afternoon, and we left Thursday morning.  I'd hoped to be on the road by 8:30, but Tom's sinus infection was so bad that he decided to try to get into the doctor for antibiotics, so we had to wait for that and then wait for the prescription to be filled.  Even so, we got to the beach before 9pm, pretty good time.  Mom had called us on the way to tell us that the Maryland state patrol was out in force and she'd been stopped by an unmarked car, but let off with a warning.  She actually sounded a little proud about that.  Such a maverick.  No cops on the way out, but we saw plenty on the way back.

Friday night we went to Grotto's pizza, where Stephanie and Kate and I had also gone for lunch.  The arcade was open, and I almost beat Mike at air hockey.  Up 5-0, I managed to fail the next six passes.  Kate played a few games, and managed to hit big on the Spongebob wheel of fortune by pure luck, scoring 50 tickets on that game alone.

Saturday Mom, Paul, Stephanie, Nico and I went into Rehoboth to see the boardwalk.  Kate was asleep, Mike was at the library, and dad was staying with Kate.  We got books, more books, fudge, games, and various other fun things.

Saturday night we went to the Big Fish grill and ate a lot.  After that, Dad, Tom and Mike went back to the boardwalk since two of them hadn't been yet.  The rest of us went home since the wind was still cutting, and it was even colder by then.  The boardwalk had been mobbed that afternoon, but was apparently deserted in the evening.  Still no place to park, though.

Sunday we packed up and were out by one o'clock.  Mom, dad and Paul went straight in the direction of home, staying at Rocky Gap that night.  It had to be close to freezing at the campground, but everyone came out okay.  Tom and I followed Stephanie and Mike back to Washington.  We went out for sushi that night, with Tom trying it for the first time.  I'm so proud.  Mike tried a few new items as well, including the eel.  It's smoky and salty, how can he not like eel?  It's just like lox.

Monday morning we took our leave and made it home by about 6:30.  We'd stopped at the Sideling Museum at Cumberland, where the parents and Paul had visited last year.  Cool stuff here and here.  The wind was still cutting, so we didn't stay at the lookout very long, but spent our time in the museum and having lunch.  Next time we go to DC we'll probably stop at Antietam or the B&O Canal museum.  Nico also mentioned that he'd like to do some real hiking, and we should be able to get mom to watch the kids with no problem.  I'm looking at various sections of the Buckeye Trail, and it's close enough that we can probably even get the parents to drop us off and pick us back up so we don't have to find a way to get back to the car.

Tuesday Paul was welcomed back to school with lots of hugs and "We missed you!"s.  The morning bus wait was probably close to freezing, and this morning it was below freezing.  I haven't seen the neighbor girls there in several days, so I'm wondering if their mom has been helping out with school more, or if they just don't want to wait in the cold.  Character!  Stephanie and I recalled manymany instances of mom building character in us when we were growing up, mostly involving long car vacations with no air conditioning.

Tonight is soccer practice, and this weekend is the start of the tournament.  They've done okay this season, so they might even make it a few games into the tournament.  Fun with single elimination.  We could conceivably play two games Saturday and another two on Sunday if they keep winning.  Friday is Kate's school Halloween function, and Paul's is next week.  Next weekend is baronials, I hope to have Nico's new shield cover done by then.

If you put four pounds of borax on the carpet, don't be surprised when the bag fills up really quickly.

Soooo, socialized health care and education are inherently evil, but socialized banking is okay.  Gotcha.  I bet we could redo the country's entire medical and school systems for what they're proposing here.