Various and sundry
Feels like it's been longer than 5 days since I last posted. Weird.
Anyway, our weekend was all right, nothing really noteworthy except the public pool opened for the season on Saturday. It was a disappointment to the girls, though - it had rained on Fri so the pool was pretty chilly, and the clouds didn't clear until late afternoon, so the early afternoon was barely 70F/21C - not really swimming weather. We only stayed a bare hour. Sunday was better; we stayed about 2 hours, before doing some shopping (since Will was home and I had a ride). I was realizing with shock that my mom's birthday is REALLY soon (2 weeks - and things have to be mailed cross-country) and I hadn't anything for her, and MiniPlu was in need of casual sandals and a few other summer items. In the end, Will got some new belts (he was still using the pre-weight-loss ones), Two got a summer dress shirt for church, and MiniPlu got some flipflops ... and I got nothing. Sigh. I did manage to order some things for my mom online yesterday, though.
Six more days until I can drive again. Not that I'm counting or anything. :-P
Speaking of birthdays - sigh. My bday is coming up in 3 weeks and I have no idea what to tell people. Yes, yes, First World issue. But, honestly - I have a few things on my Amazon list but nothing really that thrilling. Besides, I'm still working through books people gave me as part of my recuperation. What I really want, I cannot have - either "not now" or "not ever". Like - a fully functional arm. A vacation (with or without my family). The puppy. (OMG, I still want that puppy SO MUCH.) Kids that like reading. Tickets to see Oklahoma! this summer. (At ~$50 a pop ... sigh. I could maybe go, but I really wanted to take the girls, and kids' tickets are only $5 less than adults'. That adds up quickly.) Someone to come declutter my house.
Yeah, not getting any of those things. Sigh.
Our church has been unusually lucky in that we've consistently had 4 priests for as long as we've been there. However, today we're losing my two favorite priests, and only getting one new one to replace them. In 2 weeks we're losing our permanent deacon, too, so lots of big changes coming up, as far as ministry goes. It's absolutely killing me to lose the two priests, though. I wrote them each letters of appreciation (via the word processor on my cell phone), and got a nice thank-you note back from one of them. This priest is legally blind, taught religion at the high school, and had been with us for 24 of his 25 years as a priest. In his thank you note, he mentioned that he was sad to leave our church but "this is the life I have chosen. So I had better suck it up." Best. Line. Ever. He also noted, in his final homily on Sunday, that the incoming priest used to be one of his high school students and that we should be extra-nice to him because "he's going to need therapy". :)) You see why I'm so bummed to be losing him? And the other priest, aside from being a super-nice guy - well, his last name was ridiculously appropriate for his chosen profession, and he never hesitated to use it to full humorous effect. So, yeah, it's a big loss. Never underestimate the worth of someone you enjoy listening to.
In cheerier news, Neil Patrick Harris rocked the Tonys. Ok, I admit it - I wasn't watching on Sun night, not knowing a thing about which Broadway shows were being honored. But I saw the opening and closing videos, and they were awesome. To wit: Opening video, Closing video. (Although the 2011 Opening was hilarious, too.)
I also got a Letter to the Editor published last week, in response to a nice, front-page article my otherwise-wimpy daily rag did about a m/m couple who applied for a marriage license this spring, knowing full well they wouldn't get one. It was basically a vehicle about the current battle to nationalize legal gay marriage, but it was nicely done, and I commended the couple for being willing to come forward with their story. I was also trying to counter anticipated backlash, but, so far, such letters have not appeared. Good.
I set aside Crucible of Gold for a little bit to tackle some library books. I just finished The Smoke Thief; it's a prequel of sorts to The Sweetest Dark, which I read recently. In Dark, there are very old letters featuring the main character from Thief, which is why I wanted to read about her own story. However, while Dark is mostly a Coming of Age story, with some romance thrown in, Thief is more like a Harlequin romance, with the headstrong woman and the man she's butting heads with - and then they have sex. Several times. And, yes, there's a story, and in that, I did get what I wanted. But the focus of the story was different, and it wasn't what I was expecting. So ... it was all right. Entertaining, but not as good as The Sweetest Dark, IMO.
It's MiniPlu's last day of school today, all 2.5 hours of it, half of which will be spent in church. :-P I can check her grades online, so I pretty much know what's going to be in her report card when she brings it home today: All A's, I think, except science, with a total 92-point-something% average - enough for First Honors, which she earned for 3 of the 4 quarters. Very proud of her, although she's disappointed she didn't get Distinguished Honors (95%+ average) once. She's also bringing home her standardized test scores, so I'm really curious to see how that turned out. (We won't get Two's until September!) But MiniPlu is so incredibly unhappy about going to the public school next year, she's making me second-guess my decision. Will says we're doing the right thing, but, gah, it's hard.
I also want kids in the "happy medium" range when it comes to academic attitudes. I have one kid who doesn't give a shit about school (at home, anyway), and resists every effort to get her to practice [insert skill here], and one kid who views every single event in view of whether it will get her into Yale or not. Seriously. *bangs head* (Actually, I could go on about how MiniPlu's anxieties are driving me batshit, but that's a whole 'nothing post, I think.) Two's grades won't come in the mail for a few more days - but so far this year she did reasonably ok. For her, anyway. It's the last report card with numbers, though - next year she gets letter grades.
Both girls have mailed out their party invitations. Two's having a small slumber party in 2 weeks, for her postponed birthday party, and MiniPlu is re-creating Field Day for her birthday party in 4.5 weeks, as the public school's event got rained out this year. Egg race, water balloon toss, relay races where you might get wet, three-legged race, that sort of thing.
And that's it for now. Thankfully, I can now use a laptop computer to type, as long as I take off the sling, prop up my arm on a cushion, and keep the laptop close. Otherwise, I still have to stick to using the phone for everything. I WANT MY ARM BACK!
Anyway, our weekend was all right, nothing really noteworthy except the public pool opened for the season on Saturday. It was a disappointment to the girls, though - it had rained on Fri so the pool was pretty chilly, and the clouds didn't clear until late afternoon, so the early afternoon was barely 70F/21C - not really swimming weather. We only stayed a bare hour. Sunday was better; we stayed about 2 hours, before doing some shopping (since Will was home and I had a ride). I was realizing with shock that my mom's birthday is REALLY soon (2 weeks - and things have to be mailed cross-country) and I hadn't anything for her, and MiniPlu was in need of casual sandals and a few other summer items. In the end, Will got some new belts (he was still using the pre-weight-loss ones), Two got a summer dress shirt for church, and MiniPlu got some flipflops ... and I got nothing. Sigh. I did manage to order some things for my mom online yesterday, though.
Six more days until I can drive again. Not that I'm counting or anything. :-P
Speaking of birthdays - sigh. My bday is coming up in 3 weeks and I have no idea what to tell people. Yes, yes, First World issue. But, honestly - I have a few things on my Amazon list but nothing really that thrilling. Besides, I'm still working through books people gave me as part of my recuperation. What I really want, I cannot have - either "not now" or "not ever". Like - a fully functional arm. A vacation (with or without my family). The puppy. (OMG, I still want that puppy SO MUCH.) Kids that like reading. Tickets to see Oklahoma! this summer. (At ~$50 a pop ... sigh. I could maybe go, but I really wanted to take the girls, and kids' tickets are only $5 less than adults'. That adds up quickly.) Someone to come declutter my house.
Yeah, not getting any of those things. Sigh.
Our church has been unusually lucky in that we've consistently had 4 priests for as long as we've been there. However, today we're losing my two favorite priests, and only getting one new one to replace them. In 2 weeks we're losing our permanent deacon, too, so lots of big changes coming up, as far as ministry goes. It's absolutely killing me to lose the two priests, though. I wrote them each letters of appreciation (via the word processor on my cell phone), and got a nice thank-you note back from one of them. This priest is legally blind, taught religion at the high school, and had been with us for 24 of his 25 years as a priest. In his thank you note, he mentioned that he was sad to leave our church but "this is the life I have chosen. So I had better suck it up." Best. Line. Ever. He also noted, in his final homily on Sunday, that the incoming priest used to be one of his high school students and that we should be extra-nice to him because "he's going to need therapy". :)) You see why I'm so bummed to be losing him? And the other priest, aside from being a super-nice guy - well, his last name was ridiculously appropriate for his chosen profession, and he never hesitated to use it to full humorous effect. So, yeah, it's a big loss. Never underestimate the worth of someone you enjoy listening to.
In cheerier news, Neil Patrick Harris rocked the Tonys. Ok, I admit it - I wasn't watching on Sun night, not knowing a thing about which Broadway shows were being honored. But I saw the opening and closing videos, and they were awesome. To wit: Opening video, Closing video. (Although the 2011 Opening was hilarious, too.)
I also got a Letter to the Editor published last week, in response to a nice, front-page article my otherwise-wimpy daily rag did about a m/m couple who applied for a marriage license this spring, knowing full well they wouldn't get one. It was basically a vehicle about the current battle to nationalize legal gay marriage, but it was nicely done, and I commended the couple for being willing to come forward with their story. I was also trying to counter anticipated backlash, but, so far, such letters have not appeared. Good.
I set aside Crucible of Gold for a little bit to tackle some library books. I just finished The Smoke Thief; it's a prequel of sorts to The Sweetest Dark, which I read recently. In Dark, there are very old letters featuring the main character from Thief, which is why I wanted to read about her own story. However, while Dark is mostly a Coming of Age story, with some romance thrown in, Thief is more like a Harlequin romance, with the headstrong woman and the man she's butting heads with - and then they have sex. Several times. And, yes, there's a story, and in that, I did get what I wanted. But the focus of the story was different, and it wasn't what I was expecting. So ... it was all right. Entertaining, but not as good as The Sweetest Dark, IMO.
It's MiniPlu's last day of school today, all 2.5 hours of it, half of which will be spent in church. :-P I can check her grades online, so I pretty much know what's going to be in her report card when she brings it home today: All A's, I think, except science, with a total 92-point-something% average - enough for First Honors, which she earned for 3 of the 4 quarters. Very proud of her, although she's disappointed she didn't get Distinguished Honors (95%+ average) once. She's also bringing home her standardized test scores, so I'm really curious to see how that turned out. (We won't get Two's until September!) But MiniPlu is so incredibly unhappy about going to the public school next year, she's making me second-guess my decision. Will says we're doing the right thing, but, gah, it's hard.
I also want kids in the "happy medium" range when it comes to academic attitudes. I have one kid who doesn't give a shit about school (at home, anyway), and resists every effort to get her to practice [insert skill here], and one kid who views every single event in view of whether it will get her into Yale or not. Seriously. *bangs head* (Actually, I could go on about how MiniPlu's anxieties are driving me batshit, but that's a whole 'nothing post, I think.) Two's grades won't come in the mail for a few more days - but so far this year she did reasonably ok. For her, anyway. It's the last report card with numbers, though - next year she gets letter grades.
Both girls have mailed out their party invitations. Two's having a small slumber party in 2 weeks, for her postponed birthday party, and MiniPlu is re-creating Field Day for her birthday party in 4.5 weeks, as the public school's event got rained out this year. Egg race, water balloon toss, relay races where you might get wet, three-legged race, that sort of thing.
And that's it for now. Thankfully, I can now use a laptop computer to type, as long as I take off the sling, prop up my arm on a cushion, and keep the laptop close. Otherwise, I still have to stick to using the phone for everything. I WANT MY ARM BACK!