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March 29, 2006

this one is for susan

The sometimes-our-cat who we routinely bring in for the winter had kittens last week.

7.

They are exceptionally cute, and the momma cat was smart enough to birth them in our downstairs pack-n-play (for which, fortunately, J-baby has been too big for nearly 6 months now; I just haven't taken it down).

There are: two brown tigers with white bellies, two black (one has a spot of white on the neck, the other is solid), one tortoiseshell calico, one white calico, and one tuxedo. If anybody needs a cat, they'll be ready in about 7 weeks.

In other news: there is too much other news going on right now for me to cover. I went to Cs, saw some great stuff and some scary stuff (more later), visited my family extensively, and came back exhausted. This week Jack had minor outpatient surgery (the impetus for which deserves a post on its own--but whether I'll ever get to that...well). I'm trying to keep my classes from scattershot fragmentation (the result of spring break, then me missing for Cs, and then this surgery stuff). I'm trying to get a foot hold back into reading for exams, since I haven't looked at a book in two weeks.

I'm trying to care about running. I'm trying to care about eating a little better, and trying to get up a little earlier. Trying to not let the housework pile up.

And the sun is helping. And I'm trying.

Posted by mryonker at 09:02 AM | Comments (5)

March 14, 2006

what I'm doing over the break

The perfunctory list. I am

1. teaching monster toddler how to work a mouse so that *he* can click on the cartoon clips he wants to watch on the cartoon network website. Then I don't have to get up from my machine when he wants to switch. So far, he can't hold it still long enough for the click to take. He moves the mouse to what he wants, but the click is unsteady and so he gets *mad* when it doesn't work.

2. copying recipes from magazines. It's one of my favorite time-wasting things to do. I checked out several issues of Cooking Light and Vegetarian Times from the library yesterday. Cooking Light is not as good as it used to be several years ago when I had a subscription, but Veg Times is pretty great. I'm gearing up for a new curry dish this week!! YUM.

3. slowly realizing that last week's taste o' spring was just THAT. A tease, a taste. It is now SNOWING big fat UGLY flakes.

4. doing laundry, the bane of my existance. It takes me a days' worth of loads just to finish the kids' clothes. I can do laundry ALL DAY and still not have any clean underwear of my OWN.

5. closing comments and trackbacks on ALL MY OLD ENTRIES. I cannot run a close comment script since my blog lives on an MT that hosts a whole department's worth of blogs. I am ::this close:: to shutting the whole operation down and opening up somewhere else (again). But, for now, I've done 80 or so entries, and I've got about 200 to go.

6. planning the FINAL camping trip of troop #28. I know I've said it before, but I mean it this year: I am done being a troop leader.

7. trying to find summer work. I foolishly missed the deadline to apply for summer teaching at SU. So far I have THREE gigs, hopefully their total remunerations will pay the power bill and the mortgage for the three months I will have no real paycheck. I'm thinking if I can stay on top of my bills, we can play "Survivor: A Backyard in Parish" and the kids can root for grubs and wild onions. I'll just wait until the lettuce comes up and eat that.

8. thinking about Cs next week. Honestly not looking much forward to the traveling part of it. Looking forward to being with friends, visiting my aunt, uncle, and grandparents, and getting a chance to meet Clancy and other cool people; not looking forward to leaving my family for nearly a week. I'll miss them a lot, and I worry that Brian will probably be a big ol' stress ball when I get back.

9. waiting for the next episode of Grey's Anatomy. Man I am a lame-o.

Posted by mryonker at 02:17 PM | Comments (5)

March 06, 2006

where I am unable to sustain

As in, I don't have the attention span (or time) right now to discuss anything *important.* So, here's a little of what's going on:

1. The training is going well. I have managed to maintain my weekly mileage so far, and considering how crappy the weather was last week, I'm stoked. Also, the weather looks like it's on the upswing, at least for now. TWO DAYS OF SUN in a row, and warmer temps on tap.

2. Reading progress on the exam stuff is lurching, but steady. I'm having trouble juggling reading for the three areas, two of which are quite related (and so that isn't tripping me up too much) but reading for the third, which is quite divergent from the first two, trips me up every once in a while. My problems come from this strange urge I have to *make everything fit* or find connections and patterns and etc throughout everything (as making such links increases my chances for remembering things relationally--I find this is how my memory works best).

3. This weekend Hannah asked me, as she was folding some laundry, "Where is the friction in *my* jeans, Mom?" Gah. Too much Fallout Boy. I explained to her what friction was, and that friction could happen anywhere in any piece of clothing. I lifted my arm and showed her the grody red crusty spots I get where my jog bras chafe my skin into rough near-callouses. "This," I declared proudly, "is the result of friction."

"Ew," she winces. "That's really gnarly, Mom."

Dodged a bullet there, I did.

4. I'm working through something this semester that is completely new to me, and is giving me some interesting perspective: a baby sitting co-op. It's not a huge co-op (in fact, right now it's just me and another mom). It's saving me money, certainly, and it's less of a time commitment than I thought it would be. Also, on the days I have her kids, I am compelled to get up early and clean the floors (she has one crawler/walker) and while they're here I do a lot of housework, since I can't really do anything that requires more than my cursory attention. In all, it's working out quite well. The only drawback is that when my co-op partner cannot take my kids, it's normally because she needs *me* to take hers--so I do a lot of scheduling acrobatics.

5. New term here in the house: "Jackcident." Jack often says "It was an accident" to show how he didn't intend to ____ (fill it in: hit Josh with the truck he threw, rollerblade into the table and knock over my water, sit on the cat, etc). I'm trying to teach him about accountability--that accidents, while certainly not something done purposefully, are still the result (usually) of an action that could have been avoided provided the actor gives said action proper forethought. We are still working on this concept of "forethought." Jack has not yet come to that place where he can think ahead, apparently.

6. New favorite sandwich (to replace peanut butter and honey): vegetable cream cheese, green onions, and maybe some turkey or meat (but entirely unnecessary) on a bagel or other hardy (hearty?) roll.

Going to make one right now.

Note to self: stop and buy some breath mints on the way into school.

Posted by mryonker at 11:39 AM | Comments (1)