October 5, 2014

  • Lights and Lavatories

    We've got a full plate here. Scouts, school, choir, friends, soccer, art projects, costumes to plan, and uncountable other projects around this place waiting to get done. Why yes, I do include those lights from the last post on the list, how did you guess? Fun Fact: If you return a goofily expensive light fixture to Home Depot and get one that might work, you'll have enough left over to buy mums, seeds for Tiny, a lampshade, and a six-pack of one of the only vegetables Chance will eat: collard greens.

    I've been doing a lot of bus-duty (insert Chance saying, 'Duty, heh heh!' here), and working out a routine with the younger two. Rone's got reading/writing/math responsibilities every day except Wednesday. Cotton still gets to work on her own things, with some writing and math practice. Their other interests are growing.

    I still worry that Rone will never want to do anything beyond Minecraft and other video games, but he's started working with Chance on his game, and that's a great thing. He also said, when I asked what was something he'd like to know more about, " I'd like to learn about architecture." It's possible Wilderness School stick huts have got him wondering how we got from there to here. I told him he can build a clubhouse out back and ban the girls from it if he figures out how, as motivation.

    Cotton is interested in learning more about birds. And tigers. And polar bears. And anything endangered. It's a lot of animals to worry about and she's determined to draw them all. And paint them all. And get anyone who can spell to help her write about them all.

    Middle school is still rolling along for Seph. She's got theater and choir, french and algebra. She's staying after often, but we're both glad that she didn't repeat the dance classes 4 days a week after school. She's been going to football games with her friends, and walking to coffee shops, and generally wishing she had a driver's license already.

    Chance and I are both projecting. I've started a blog about grocery shopping in Austin, called CheepieAustin, and he's working on the game he thought of years ago. The game will be a desktop wargame like the ones he loved playing in the 1990s. My blog is a work in progress, but the idea is to scan all the sales and let people know what the best deals are. Both projects have been in our heads for a while, and the impetus of unemployment has us working on them. We'll see how it all pans out!

    Lately, the peskiest thing here is bathrooms. The kids can't find the sink, the trashcan, the cup their toothbrushes go in, or the towel rack. I'm used to a certain level of mess, but crabbing at me about your mess is where I draw the line. I'm not the one squirting toothpaste on the floor, you cretins! I also don't leave wet towels on top of the pajamas I mean to wear again, and then cry because they're wet. It's a sad day when my personal space is the cleanest space. As anyone that lived with me in college can attest to.