Not for the faint of heart

R.I.P.

ladyvonkulp — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:28:15 GMT

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

Do you have baronial promissories?

ladyvonkulp — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:05:56 GMT

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.

And he's not even cute.

ladyvonkulp — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:15:03 GMT

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.

Why language matters.

ladyvonkulp — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:27:28 GMT

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.

Bravo, President Obama

ladyvonkulp — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:51:50 GMT

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.

More yarn

ladyvonkulp — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:28:29 GMT

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.

New phone

ladyvonkulp — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:31:23 GMT

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.

Way behind.

ladyvonkulp — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:41:56 GMT

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.

Note to self

ladyvonkulp — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:02:23 GMT

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

ladyvonkulp — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:27:51 GMT

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.

I'm good.

ladyvonkulp — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:15:03 GMT

Yesterday I managed to get the kids through the whole day with no computer time, and even no complaining about it, either. The mornings usually aren't a problem, I'd say he tries that tactic about once a week. Then school, and when we picked him up I gave them an early dinner, then we went to the park. It was such a beautiful day, with full sun and breezy, I spent most of the time there flopped out next to the sand pit. Paul had originally said that he was too tired, and he was going to play for one minute before he sat down to rest. Turns out he found friends there and played in the sand pit for over an hour, not wanting to leave when it was time for Chinese. We even ran into mom and dad walking while we were there.

Kate and I spent the whole time during the tutoring on the little balcony, counting the cars and red buses as they went by. For some reason the buses really excite her. After that we drove through the cemetery, which they both thought was cool. We didn't stop because the gates said the cemetery closed at 7, even though it was already past that. We'll go another time when we can walk around.

Then to UDF, which we left early because it was freezing inside, no shock there. A delivery guy came out of the back room looking like he was ready for winter in Minnesota, with the ear flaps and everything. At home it was already past 8, so I had to get baths and stories done quickly. I even managed to get Paul in bed with no mention of computer time at all, it didn't even occur to him. He still swore up and down that he wasn't tired, reading in his chair while I was on the bed. Tom came home in the middle of that, and we finally got him in bed around 9:30.

My current Freecycle loads have all been picked up, making for a lot of clean corners that had been filled with Stuff. Next round! Tonight the parents are watching the kids long enough for us to go out to dinner, then Paul's staying overnight so the parents can take him to soccer tomorrow morning, and Kate will go with us to Coronation. I still haven't found anyone to take the scrolls for me, so we'll just have to make sure we get on the road early. That should be less of a problem with just one child.

Crisis averted

ladyvonkulp — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:18:20 GMT

All the drama from Wednesday turned out to be one big misunderstanding, as is usually the case. The fact that it all happened over email, where you can't really get the haha feelings that were intended, didn't help at all.

Mensch.

ladyvonkulp — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:09:32 GMT

Is it such a crime to want a pair of cords that *aren't* flared?

Another glitch in the system

ladyvonkulp — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:21:00 GMT

With it now being in the 50s most mornings, Paul doesn't want to wear shorts anymore. At least most of the time. This morning when I told him to get dressed, I brought down his clothes. When he said he wanted pants instead of shorts, his answer was 'You get them'. Bzzzt. So, I guess now we get to make that a part of bedtime routine, as well. I'll even put out pants AND shorts if it makes him happy.

Oh, and practice went fine last night, owing to our getting ready half an hour early. He thought we missed practice, since we were the first ones there. Kinda like this morning, when he insisted on leaving for the bus stop at 8am instead of 8:10 as usual, then wondered why Audrey and Erin were so 'late'. I don't think he'll be quite as adamant about that as the mornings get colder. We also took down the swing, so that point of contention is gone. Slowly, slowly, we're getting things under control.

Bleh.

ladyvonkulp — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:23:46 GMT

Lots of baronial drama. This is definitely a part I will not miss.

Done!

ladyvonkulp — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:38:22 GMT

My cote is DONE, finally. All I need to do now is gently wash the pencil marks out of it. The tippets aren't sewn on yet, but if that doesn't get done, I can at least pin them on for Coronation. All I'll be wearing this for is morning court, anyway, swearing fealty and all that. Holy cow, this will be the last time I swear fealty as a Landed.

The secret to my success (I think)

ladyvonkulp — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:08:44 GMT

Over the summer I was dreading the anticipation of school mornings, since Paul's SO not a morning person and has even weirder quirks in the morning than he does the rest of the day. Three big ones that make for a lot of tears:

1) If I get up before he does he breaks down because he didn't get any snuggle time with me, nevermind that he's been asleep next to me for half an hour. It also doesn't help when he doesn't make his usual transition from his room to our bedroom floor before he gets up.

2) Kate gets up before he does and gets her milk first, and he breaks down. It doesn't help that she's way more of a morning person, to the point of being the Chipper Tyrant. There would also be tears if Kate or I got the instant breakfast packets and didn't let him get them out of the box.

3) He doesn't get ready on time, so he's late out the door, so the neighbor girl gets to the bus stop before he does, so he stops in the middle of the street and breaks down, making him even later to the bus stop. His big lunch box didn't help with that, either. I now put his lunch directly in his backpack so he only has one thing to carry. Usually he sprints to the stop, as well.

Plus a few other smaller ones that aren't fun either, but usually don't result in breakdowns.

I worked ways around these, somehow.

- I started by closing Kate's door all the way, so she can't get out earlier than him and get milk sooner than him. He's pretty much given up on the packet protest, which helps a lot. I still ask him, however, in case it's an especially moody day.

- We set an alarm clock for 6:30 for him, primarily so he can avoid bedwetting, but it has the added bonus of guaranteeing that he'll move to our floor and not miss snuggle time. If only he would turn off the damned alarm when he gets up.

- The third answer is primarily pestering him earlier and making all the things he asks for in the morning contingent on his getting ready early. He wants his waffle, he has to get dressed. He wants computer time, he has to get ALL his things ready by the door, shoes on, etc. And promise that he won't throw a fit when it's actually time to do. This one is linked to being at the bus stop first, so that's usually not a problem any more.

One other thing was that the woman's house where the bus stop is has a baby swing on the tree, and he and the younger girl try to set 'records' by winding up the swing more than the other. Audrey always says she wins, and Paul always breaks down. She's quite the antagonizer, and her mom has to keep yelling at her about that. Michelle (homeowner) was actually out early this morning, so I asked if I could cut down the swing, explaining the issue at hand. Her grandkids are too big for the swing now, so she had no problem with that. I'll cut it down some time this morning.

It looks as though I'll have to apply the getting ready bit to soccer practice as well, since Monday he was a little late and instead of hurrying up, he barnacled himself to my legs at practice, screaming the whole way, and WOULD NOT go with the team. I finally gave up after fifteen minutes of that and took him home, with no computer time that night. We'll see how tonight's practice goes.

After the failed practice, I sat down with him and the whiteboard to draw out a flow chart about his behavior. "I understand the first part, but not the second part." Oh well, at least he knows standard flow chart symbols by now, if nothing else. Last week I explained Venn diagrams to him using chocolate, milk and coffee as the groups, he found that amusing.

The meds seem to be working great, at least. I've had no calls from the teacher, and sometimes Paul tells me about how other kids have to sit on the bench at recess. I asked if he'd ever had to sit on the bench, and he said no. Too bad the meds have worn off by the time he gets home.

So close

ladyvonkulp — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:23:56 GMT

Everything is done on the cote except hemming/tacking in the lining, and Kristen's coming over tonight to do that. And trim the armbands for the tippets, since there's about a foot on either side of the hangy part. 78 eyelets in three days.

Goal for today.

ladyvonkulp — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:10:47 GMT

I'm going to go a day without using a generic 'they'.

It's fall

ladyvonkulp — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:48:47 GMT

It's fall alright. I've woken up the last four mornings with icicles for hands, even though it's only hitting about 50 overnight. Verrrrrrrrrry cold-blooded.

Harvest Days was great. We gave TRM over 100 scroll cases, which they used to hand out that evening's scrolls. Even the Snoopy ones were being handed out, and Palymar got one of the Victorian toile cases for his Bronze Ring. So manly. I did my first two scrolls ever for the outgoing archery champions, since it would have been a little awkward for the signet to do her own scroll. Not horrible. The area signet took a look and said I was ready for kingdom scrolls, so I've been roped into yet another theater. I taught a kids' class on bookbinding, and quickly learned that every kid needs an adult supervisor for that one. I have three more classes in the works that might actually get implemented within the next year, knowing me.

I'm almost done (yeah yeah, I know I've said that enough times) with my ermine & or cote which I hope to have done by Coronation next weekend. Complete with ermine tippets. It needs about 45 more lacing holes in addition to the 30 I've already done; the lining tacked down; and the armhole lining secured.

We had our windstorm Sunday afternoon, as everyone knows by now. We lost power from 3pm Sunday to noon Monday, but we didn't even lose any food. The only casualty was some soupy ice cream, and we threw ourselves on that grenade. We had enough flashlights and batteries and an emergency radio. I'm very glad we had milk and full gas tanks; when I went to Meijer on Tuesday, cars were wrapped around the block trying to get gas. They had three employees outside just directing traffic for that.

Ashley stayed over Monday night since she still didn't have power, and this being Friday some places STILL don't have power. School was canceled Monday-Wednesday, and there was a 2-hour delay on Thursday, even though Paul's school started on time Thursday morning. Another mom and I were confused as to what time it started Thursday morning, since there was public school, even if it didn't start on time. No tragedies, though. Very glad to have school again.

There were no Miami classes Monday, but when the university announced there were classes on Tuesday, some students staged a sit-in. How totally lame. Ted has a wonderful description and commentary of it here.

What else... we culled Nico's closet, so there's actually room for new things now. I got some new things for my potential work wardrobe, since all the things I had from before the kids were three sizes too large.

The kids' pictures were back yesterday afternoon, and they actually look like natural smiles instead of the big fake ones that kids usually do at this age. Very good photographer, I'm amazed he can do that every day and not totally want to strangle some of them. I totally butchered Kate's bangs the day before, since they were almost covering her eyes again. Only one adult was necessary this time, instead of three. The scar by her eye? She walked into a grill side table, I'm just glad it didn't actually get her eye. And there'll be a story to tell about the picture.

I think that's everything, for now.

Note to self

ladyvonkulp — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:59:59 GMT

Caffeine and detail painting do not go together.

Biggish day

ladyvonkulp — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:29:10 GMT

Today is the day I

1) Contacted Paul's potential Chinese tutor to meet up with her tomorrow;
2) Drove my application for a librarian position at Miami-Hamilton down to the actual place, since it's already over the 'reviews will start' date;
3) Will be seeing my GP to get a referral so my insurance will pay for the sleep study;
4) Was reminded that Kate's having school pictures tomorrow so I'll need to remember to dress her prettily. She normally hates that;
5) Actually ordered the beginnings of work-appropriate clothes since all the ones from before Paul were now three sizes too large;
6) Set up the Google group so that the five of us who are overhauling the library at Paul's new school can actually communicate and let each other know what we're doing.

Small things, but they add up to a bit. On some of them I just have to wait. Sigh.

Stop already!

ladyvonkulp — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:15:02 GMT

Dear national media reporters:

Pleasepleaseplease stop using the word 'irony' where there is none. It is not 'ironic' that Gustav happened almost exactly three years after Katrina; it is unfortunate coincidence. It is actually to be expected, given that it right now the height of the Atlantic hurricane season. No, 'ironic' is the revelation that Sarah Palin's daughter is pregnant at 17, especially given that her mother is a staunch abstinence-only supporter. Please get it right.

Regards,
A person who cares about appropriate language usage.

The unthinkable has happened

ladyvonkulp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:39:05 GMT

I'm almost out of Ugly Fabric(tm). I should be rid of the last of it today, with Ashley's help.

Granted this is just the cotton stuff, I sure have plenty of brocade bits that just don't translate well into scroll cases. I'll need to find something else to do with those.

Shoe question

ladyvonkulp — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:21:05 GMT

For an interview? I'll probably have a red jacket and a red/black print skirt.

http://shoedawg.com/720901.htm
http://shoedawg.com/1024401.htm
http://shoedawg.com/1018401.htm
http://shoedawg.com/720801.htm

I'm such a sucker for MJs.