Oh great, not GHZ-Town AGAIN
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 21 September 2010 at 9/21/2010 10:28:00 am.
ANnnnnnd so, we're off again. Leaving tomorrow for that long-ass drive into the desert until Saturday. Then we drive alllll the way back down on Saturday, at which point I have to kick my ass into serious birthday party mode. The Mr.'s big day is on friday (the poor thing has to be at a public meeting for our job there where we're going on his bday) but we decided to celebrate it on sunday at our place, with a medium-sized 'do. So I have to plan a menu for the braai and get it all done post-road trip on saturday since early sunday morning will not be available for slaving due to the hash - which he loves so much that we have to go since he's going to have a suck-ass day on his actual birthday-day and I want him to get some pleasure out of the otherwise-written-off-weekend due to the work crap on friday and long drive all day saturday. And if I offer to stay home to get stuff ready for the party on sunday afternoon, he'll insist that he stay home too and help. Which is not an option since it's technically HIS day. So saturday will just have to be a write-off for me. That I have to get major food shopping done for today.
Uncle A. is here in town for a week, enjoying his last hours of civilized living before he kicks off his half-a-continent tour. That means he'll be here for the festivities on sunday as well as the puppy-sitting for the next 3 days. Convenient! Last night he and I made spaghetti and meaty balls which was delicious and then we all fooled around with our new PVR decoder which is a brand new concept to us (I know, how ancient are we) and thus a real hoot to mess around with. Ahhhh, the world of fast-forwarding through commercials.... I can honestly say this new-fangled contraption is going to revolutionize tv watching for me. I even see opportunities for creating an extra 10 minutes for myself in the morning due to the ability to pre-record EuroNews and skip over the boring bits like "Hi-Tech" and "Weather". OMG! An extra 10 minutes!!! Revolutionary, I tell you!!!
Last weekend was pretty spectacular, we had SUCH a fun time at the Annual Ostrich Migratin' with the hash (which is a 2-day event over Sat/Sun and everyone stays at a lodge outside of town together, but since said lodge is only 5km away from our house, we just slept at home and came back on sunday). Our team covered about 17km in 56 minutes which I swear should be a record. We were well-organized and had 2 trucks to pickup/dump off the runners as we each sprinted our alternating legs of anywhere between 50-100m. The main organizer of the day said we were definitely the most well-managed team. :) It was like playing leapfrog with trucks dumping runners through the desert. Classic. And of course a nice lunch with everyone together in between the first 3 and the second 3 teams' relays with some beers and sandwiches in the middle of nowhere. Ours was the last leg so we basically arrived at the designated lunch spot, socialized a bit, then went to our starting point about 15km away, and waited for Team 5 to arrive and "pass the baton" (which this year was a stuffed ostrich on a noose, as opposed to the usual trend of an ostrich tail feather duster) and off we went. Then the party at the end was stellar mccartney and so was the meal and WHOOPSIEDAISIES ye olde grande mattress (that'd be me) threw caution to the wind and, totally dehydrated, plunged into a drinking bender of gin and red wine. Good lord my head the next day. But nonetheless I put my super trooper boots on and did the annual "Liver Run" bright and early with everyone the next day at 8am. Lovely. Ughhhhhhh. I survived though and it was nice to have a super long sunday ahead of me to recover.
Uncle A. is here in town for a week, enjoying his last hours of civilized living before he kicks off his half-a-continent tour. That means he'll be here for the festivities on sunday as well as the puppy-sitting for the next 3 days. Convenient! Last night he and I made spaghetti and meaty balls which was delicious and then we all fooled around with our new PVR decoder which is a brand new concept to us (I know, how ancient are we) and thus a real hoot to mess around with. Ahhhh, the world of fast-forwarding through commercials.... I can honestly say this new-fangled contraption is going to revolutionize tv watching for me. I even see opportunities for creating an extra 10 minutes for myself in the morning due to the ability to pre-record EuroNews and skip over the boring bits like "Hi-Tech" and "Weather". OMG! An extra 10 minutes!!! Revolutionary, I tell you!!!
Last weekend was pretty spectacular, we had SUCH a fun time at the Annual Ostrich Migratin' with the hash (which is a 2-day event over Sat/Sun and everyone stays at a lodge outside of town together, but since said lodge is only 5km away from our house, we just slept at home and came back on sunday). Our team covered about 17km in 56 minutes which I swear should be a record. We were well-organized and had 2 trucks to pickup/dump off the runners as we each sprinted our alternating legs of anywhere between 50-100m. The main organizer of the day said we were definitely the most well-managed team. :) It was like playing leapfrog with trucks dumping runners through the desert. Classic. And of course a nice lunch with everyone together in between the first 3 and the second 3 teams' relays with some beers and sandwiches in the middle of nowhere. Ours was the last leg so we basically arrived at the designated lunch spot, socialized a bit, then went to our starting point about 15km away, and waited for Team 5 to arrive and "pass the baton" (which this year was a stuffed ostrich on a noose, as opposed to the usual trend of an ostrich tail feather duster) and off we went. Then the party at the end was stellar mccartney and so was the meal and WHOOPSIEDAISIES ye olde grande mattress (that'd be me) threw caution to the wind and, totally dehydrated, plunged into a drinking bender of gin and red wine. Good lord my head the next day. But nonetheless I put my super trooper boots on and did the annual "Liver Run" bright and early with everyone the next day at 8am. Lovely. Ughhhhhhh. I survived though and it was nice to have a super long sunday ahead of me to recover.
Slipping out of fitness and into life-fatigue...
1 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 15 September 2010 at 9/15/2010 08:56:00 am.
OK now I'm just getting annoyed with myself.
The symptoms of being too busy with work and academia have never kept me from physical fitness and lately that's exactly what's happening. Last week I made it to the gym ONCE. Did NO exercise the entire time we were in Ghz-town, and have thus far made it through this week with a mere 1 run. I am so disappointed!!! Sure I gave myself a free pass to slip a couple times in the month of August when I got sick TWICE in one MONTH (WTF!?!?!? Who is this imposter living in my body??) but lately I think I've been struck down by a case of laziness, life-fatigue, and general lack of inspiration. Not to mention running low on self-discipline. Although, on a positive note I guess, I'm still keeping up with my daily situps&pushups routine, albeit now it's rather begrudgingly. Which is sort of a failure as well, because my intention was that this routine would be something that would be sustainable 365 days a year and NOT be something that I would resent, due to it's 1-minuteness. Granted gaining 1 kg (which is where I'm at now) and avoiding the gym/running/otherwise working out is not the end of the world, and the LAST thing I want to do is become obsessive - there's nothing worse than an obsessive fitness freak who can't sleep if they didn't burn Xno. calories in a day, and that has never been me nor do I want to become that. But the more I slip, the more I fret about it, and thus begins the slippery slope to becoming not only obsessive, but frustrated & grumpy to boot!!! Everybody loses!!! AGhhhhh!!!!
I just have to get back to the gym so that I can remind myself that I actually LIKE the gym. When I don't go, I forget that I like it and how good I feel upon exiting those big glass doors with burning muscles and a spring in my step. Having a normal schedule again would also help - I have hardly been in the office the last 2 weeks (which are the days that are logistically possible for me to get there) because of meetings and trips and other crap so hopefully there's light at the end of the tunnel.
When I get in these ruts I also ignore the various musical instruments in my house that are begging to be attended to and enjoyed. Again, something i ENJOY but tend to avoid and ignore when I get into these periods of uninspiredness. I seem to have given up my short-lived hopes of finding someone to play with in these parts - again probably related to the general life-fatigue and assorted feelings of zombieitis.
On a lighter note, I finished a bunch of books and am now bookless. Too bad we don't have a proper bookstore in this one-cow town. So for my weekly flight up and back to Mauntropolois yesterday I cracked out an old Dave Barry gem that I hadn't read since the 90s (Dave Barry Slept Here) and lo and behold found myself laughing "public-style" (as in trying your darndest to stifle or otherwise mask your chortle/chuckle/hardeeharhar in a professional business-trippy kind of way) for about 4 quality hours. The funny part is that one of my colleagues on the same trip was reading HIS Bill Bryson book across the aisle from me, and doing the same thing. That plane was like the stifle-chortle-mobile.
The recent business-trip "fambly style" to Ghz-town at the end of last week was plagued with pains in my ass due to the long, hot, desert-based, not-worth-going-over-in-detail tale of our current vehicle woes. But the abridged version is basically (inhale) - our regular old trusty 4x4 has a terminal transmission issue rendering it useless for the amount of offroading required by our current work projects and upcoming new projects. Need replacement desperately. Apparently G-city is all fresh out of suitable tick-all-the-boxes rigs for our needs. The Mr. decides to import one from the UK. Arrangements made. Waiting period = 4 weeks. Lots of need for new rig in those 4 weeks. Import dealer agrees to give us a "loaner rig" til the new Cruiser gets here. Said "loaner rig" = "piece of shit" or maybe we should more appropriately call it "bummer rig" (I still be workin' on the cussin'), but what the hey, let's drive it 10 hours into bushman land Kalahari anyway cuz we promised the Client we would. Ugh. Needless to say, The Mr's bush mechanic abilities got a real workout and so did my patience. Of course every time something busted or otherwise crapped out on us, it was at a time when *I* was the one sitting in the direct sunlight (and on "take The Kid to the potty" duty). This did not make for happy travelling. But nevertheless we made it where we had to go, and we pacified our exasparations and feddy-uppyness with staying in a decent bush lodge and eating well (room service) and drinking a good bottle of wine each night in front of those blessed HIMYM episodes that have saved my sanity time and time again (love you, Brandon!) by contributing ample belly laughs to the cause.
This coming weekend is the annual Ostrich Migration which is a big Hash event whereby we cover 75km as a relay, each runner sprinting 100m at a time while waving a feather duster... don't ask... split up into teams that compete for the win. Our team is surely to kick some arse as we are all good runners but it's really just for fun so no one gives a wank. Our team name is Yank Me Doodle, Dandy (as the majority of us... actually now that I think about it, all of us except The Mr., are of american liniage) and I reckon we have a good chance at whatever crap prize is up for grabs (which I should know, as the GM, but I dont - chalk it up to life-fatigue again). It will all culminate with a giant meal and drinking and dancing and is sure to be a good time. Then Sunday, Uncle A comes up for our last night with him before he sets off from our place on foot/public transport on his un-planned 6-month trek up the Righthand side of Africa.
In news from the Awesome Department, there was surprise/unexpected snail mail in the PO for us this week.... a huge package out of nowhere from Favorite Cousin Scott & his good lady Tina (did I used to call them S&T? I can't remember my blog monikers anymore. Well, from now on they're Favorite Cousin Scott & Tina) which actually, was not for me but for LJJ, and it was packed with random cool stuff from back home such as clothes in acceptable colours and 1 pragmatic toy and a very luxurious blanket and toddler crackers & snacks. For no reason, just the fact that they are awesome. As always I forget there are people like that on this selfish narcissistic planet and it just moves me to.... i dont know what... when I get these little kicks in the ass that prove that random acts of generosity do exist.
And on that note I have to get back to my data cracking, coffee mainlining, and word-writing. I feel like I've ACTUALLY made progress on this BLOODY piece of research (perhaps that's what is sucking the life from me? I dunno.) and may actually be able to have it in some sort of respectable form by the 1st week of October when I have to send it in for review by my shiny new advisor named Jonathan. Let's hope his name is as auspicious as I hope it is - Jonathan - lovely ring to it, no? Far better than Mr. Butter (my old jackass of a useless &$#%!) because I'm way past the point of no return on finalizing this beeyatch.
The symptoms of being too busy with work and academia have never kept me from physical fitness and lately that's exactly what's happening. Last week I made it to the gym ONCE. Did NO exercise the entire time we were in Ghz-town, and have thus far made it through this week with a mere 1 run. I am so disappointed!!! Sure I gave myself a free pass to slip a couple times in the month of August when I got sick TWICE in one MONTH (WTF!?!?!? Who is this imposter living in my body??) but lately I think I've been struck down by a case of laziness, life-fatigue, and general lack of inspiration. Not to mention running low on self-discipline. Although, on a positive note I guess, I'm still keeping up with my daily situps&pushups routine, albeit now it's rather begrudgingly. Which is sort of a failure as well, because my intention was that this routine would be something that would be sustainable 365 days a year and NOT be something that I would resent, due to it's 1-minuteness. Granted gaining 1 kg (which is where I'm at now) and avoiding the gym/running/otherwise working out is not the end of the world, and the LAST thing I want to do is become obsessive - there's nothing worse than an obsessive fitness freak who can't sleep if they didn't burn Xno. calories in a day, and that has never been me nor do I want to become that. But the more I slip, the more I fret about it, and thus begins the slippery slope to becoming not only obsessive, but frustrated & grumpy to boot!!! Everybody loses!!! AGhhhhh!!!!
I just have to get back to the gym so that I can remind myself that I actually LIKE the gym. When I don't go, I forget that I like it and how good I feel upon exiting those big glass doors with burning muscles and a spring in my step. Having a normal schedule again would also help - I have hardly been in the office the last 2 weeks (which are the days that are logistically possible for me to get there) because of meetings and trips and other crap so hopefully there's light at the end of the tunnel.
When I get in these ruts I also ignore the various musical instruments in my house that are begging to be attended to and enjoyed. Again, something i ENJOY but tend to avoid and ignore when I get into these periods of uninspiredness. I seem to have given up my short-lived hopes of finding someone to play with in these parts - again probably related to the general life-fatigue and assorted feelings of zombieitis.
On a lighter note, I finished a bunch of books and am now bookless. Too bad we don't have a proper bookstore in this one-cow town. So for my weekly flight up and back to Mauntropolois yesterday I cracked out an old Dave Barry gem that I hadn't read since the 90s (Dave Barry Slept Here) and lo and behold found myself laughing "public-style" (as in trying your darndest to stifle or otherwise mask your chortle/chuckle/hardeeharhar in a professional business-trippy kind of way) for about 4 quality hours. The funny part is that one of my colleagues on the same trip was reading HIS Bill Bryson book across the aisle from me, and doing the same thing. That plane was like the stifle-chortle-mobile.
The recent business-trip "fambly style" to Ghz-town at the end of last week was plagued with pains in my ass due to the long, hot, desert-based, not-worth-going-over-in-detail tale of our current vehicle woes. But the abridged version is basically (inhale) - our regular old trusty 4x4 has a terminal transmission issue rendering it useless for the amount of offroading required by our current work projects and upcoming new projects. Need replacement desperately. Apparently G-city is all fresh out of suitable tick-all-the-boxes rigs for our needs. The Mr. decides to import one from the UK. Arrangements made. Waiting period = 4 weeks. Lots of need for new rig in those 4 weeks. Import dealer agrees to give us a "loaner rig" til the new Cruiser gets here. Said "loaner rig" = "piece of shit" or maybe we should more appropriately call it "bummer rig" (I still be workin' on the cussin'), but what the hey, let's drive it 10 hours into bushman land Kalahari anyway cuz we promised the Client we would. Ugh. Needless to say, The Mr's bush mechanic abilities got a real workout and so did my patience. Of course every time something busted or otherwise crapped out on us, it was at a time when *I* was the one sitting in the direct sunlight (and on "take The Kid to the potty" duty). This did not make for happy travelling. But nevertheless we made it where we had to go, and we pacified our exasparations and feddy-uppyness with staying in a decent bush lodge and eating well (room service) and drinking a good bottle of wine each night in front of those blessed HIMYM episodes that have saved my sanity time and time again (love you, Brandon!) by contributing ample belly laughs to the cause.
This coming weekend is the annual Ostrich Migration which is a big Hash event whereby we cover 75km as a relay, each runner sprinting 100m at a time while waving a feather duster... don't ask... split up into teams that compete for the win. Our team is surely to kick some arse as we are all good runners but it's really just for fun so no one gives a wank. Our team name is Yank Me Doodle, Dandy (as the majority of us... actually now that I think about it, all of us except The Mr., are of american liniage) and I reckon we have a good chance at whatever crap prize is up for grabs (which I should know, as the GM, but I dont - chalk it up to life-fatigue again). It will all culminate with a giant meal and drinking and dancing and is sure to be a good time. Then Sunday, Uncle A comes up for our last night with him before he sets off from our place on foot/public transport on his un-planned 6-month trek up the Righthand side of Africa.
In news from the Awesome Department, there was surprise/unexpected snail mail in the PO for us this week.... a huge package out of nowhere from Favorite Cousin Scott & his good lady Tina (did I used to call them S&T? I can't remember my blog monikers anymore. Well, from now on they're Favorite Cousin Scott & Tina) which actually, was not for me but for LJJ, and it was packed with random cool stuff from back home such as clothes in acceptable colours and 1 pragmatic toy and a very luxurious blanket and toddler crackers & snacks. For no reason, just the fact that they are awesome. As always I forget there are people like that on this selfish narcissistic planet and it just moves me to.... i dont know what... when I get these little kicks in the ass that prove that random acts of generosity do exist.
And on that note I have to get back to my data cracking, coffee mainlining, and word-writing. I feel like I've ACTUALLY made progress on this BLOODY piece of research (perhaps that's what is sucking the life from me? I dunno.) and may actually be able to have it in some sort of respectable form by the 1st week of October when I have to send it in for review by my shiny new advisor named Jonathan. Let's hope his name is as auspicious as I hope it is - Jonathan - lovely ring to it, no? Far better than Mr. Butter (my old jackass of a useless &$#%!) because I'm way past the point of no return on finalizing this beeyatch.
Well I have no time for this but I'm gonna do it anyway, or else avoiding the blog is gonna become a trend.
Making a long story short, tomorrow The Mr. & LJJ and I head up to Ghz-town (10 hours away or so, "The Cap'tl of the Kalahari", they call it). For work, but we gwine to do it over a weekend so that we can stay in a nice lodge and try and make believe that it's a nice weekend away.
This week has been hectic, busy, and lacking in the sleep-department, but lots of things appear to be getting done. The Kid can tick "potty training" off her list, for all practical purposes. She still has the odd accident but since she's butt-ass nekkit most of every day, and outside, or on tiles, it really only just clarifies to her: "yep, *that's* what happens when I feel *that* feeling all right!!"... which only helps the learning process, I reckon. To say she's 100% totally flawless would be foolish, but hey, if she has to go, she asks, then she gets taken to the potty, and goes. She's not even waiting for the frozen pea anymore, she's just on and off and happy to do it all over again when the feeling comes 'round again. So that's good enough for me.
The Mr. made a divine Chicken Parmesan last night for dinner, which was way cool considering I came back from my weekly day up north in the Delta at around 7 pm just about DEAD as the flight I had to endure on our way back down was the most horrible, bumpy, horrible, bumpy, horrible..... bumpy plane ride I have ever had (probably not, but gotta be a contender at least) so much so that it made me airsick for the rest of the night. I didn't puke but DAMN it sucked. I could hardly hold my head up when I got back home. So to have dinner made and everything cleaned up and be completely free to flop down on the couch and remain horizontal was the best present I ever received. Oh, that and "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" were both on. WIN!
In other WIN news, the arse-munch who was my advisor for my thesis last semester is now no longer my advisor and instead I have someone else. I'm sure whoever else this guy is has GOT to be better than the first.... even if he's still an arse, there's NO way he can be AS big an arse, so I see that as epic win on my plate. Now I just gotta have something to deliver to him in Draft form by early october. Inhale.
Work is about to get messy. ugh. I dont even wanna talk about it. Messy-busy, though, not Messy-bad. So I guess great, whatever.
Summer is here. Hot as hell. Need A/C for upstairs.... which apparently G-city is clean out of at the moment. Sweat box. Ugh.
Uncle A. is coming up next week to drop his motorcycle here for 7 months while he travels around Egypt and back. I'll miss him. :-( But his trip is so unplanned it's just a completely open schedule, so hey maybe he'll realize being on the road in Africa for that long aint all it's cracked up to be and will come back to us sooner. Who knows.
OK that's all I got. I gotta Hash Mis-mgm't meeting tonight at the B&B bar so I gotta get a move on this work I need to finish, pronto.
Making a long story short, tomorrow The Mr. & LJJ and I head up to Ghz-town (10 hours away or so, "The Cap'tl of the Kalahari", they call it). For work, but we gwine to do it over a weekend so that we can stay in a nice lodge and try and make believe that it's a nice weekend away.
This week has been hectic, busy, and lacking in the sleep-department, but lots of things appear to be getting done. The Kid can tick "potty training" off her list, for all practical purposes. She still has the odd accident but since she's butt-ass nekkit most of every day, and outside, or on tiles, it really only just clarifies to her: "yep, *that's* what happens when I feel *that* feeling all right!!"... which only helps the learning process, I reckon. To say she's 100% totally flawless would be foolish, but hey, if she has to go, she asks, then she gets taken to the potty, and goes. She's not even waiting for the frozen pea anymore, she's just on and off and happy to do it all over again when the feeling comes 'round again. So that's good enough for me.
The Mr. made a divine Chicken Parmesan last night for dinner, which was way cool considering I came back from my weekly day up north in the Delta at around 7 pm just about DEAD as the flight I had to endure on our way back down was the most horrible, bumpy, horrible, bumpy, horrible..... bumpy plane ride I have ever had (probably not, but gotta be a contender at least) so much so that it made me airsick for the rest of the night. I didn't puke but DAMN it sucked. I could hardly hold my head up when I got back home. So to have dinner made and everything cleaned up and be completely free to flop down on the couch and remain horizontal was the best present I ever received. Oh, that and "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" were both on. WIN!
In other WIN news, the arse-munch who was my advisor for my thesis last semester is now no longer my advisor and instead I have someone else. I'm sure whoever else this guy is has GOT to be better than the first.... even if he's still an arse, there's NO way he can be AS big an arse, so I see that as epic win on my plate. Now I just gotta have something to deliver to him in Draft form by early october. Inhale.
Work is about to get messy. ugh. I dont even wanna talk about it. Messy-busy, though, not Messy-bad. So I guess great, whatever.
Summer is here. Hot as hell. Need A/C for upstairs.... which apparently G-city is clean out of at the moment. Sweat box. Ugh.
Uncle A. is coming up next week to drop his motorcycle here for 7 months while he travels around Egypt and back. I'll miss him. :-( But his trip is so unplanned it's just a completely open schedule, so hey maybe he'll realize being on the road in Africa for that long aint all it's cracked up to be and will come back to us sooner. Who knows.
OK that's all I got. I gotta Hash Mis-mgm't meeting tonight at the B&B bar so I gotta get a move on this work I need to finish, pronto.
Now it's time to put the pedal to the metal
1 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 02 September 2010 at 9/02/2010 03:00:00 pm.
So the next 3 months are going to be a whirlwind and I'll probably have to minimize my extra-cirricular typing activities cuz it's about to git biz-zay.
My last, ultimate, eternally-permanent-forever-final university semester began yesterday. I got my due dates for thesis drafts and it looks like I need to have something considered "draft-worthy" by the first week of October (yikes!) and then the finalamente finale in mid-November. With any luck I will then be a Master-Master by the end of 2010. I don't even want to think about that because I'm still in the dark as to whether or not my proposed study will be accepted. But I've pushed that boat out into the lake now, and there ain't no turning back. Too many numbers are being crunched and too many thousands of words have already been written. So I'm just crossing my fingers.
The Kid is getting to be a handful. Let me just say that babyhood has been easy for us. And no that is NOT because we were BLESSED by a magically flawless creature. (I'm going to rip the face off the next person who tells me how "lucky" we are. Yeah, i'll tell you where to take your freakin "luck" and go. And it aint gonna be Vegas). Through hard work and an extremely dedicated joint-force task team (i.e. The Mr. & I) we have now successfully enjoyed the babyhood and came out on the other side with a pretty good kid. Worth at LEAST 10 bucks, I tell ya. However, now it is over. Now it is Toddler Time and all I can say is BOY HOWDY, HOW DO SOME PEOPLE DO THIS ON THEIR OWN!? I mean, DAMN! I'm not just talking about having another newly-mobile person in the house. I'm talking all the extra pee and poo that comes out of these things. And you gotta take 'em to the potty all the time. What's up with that? Every 15 minutes you're taking em to the damn potty. I waste half my days next to that damn potty. In babyhood, you just let 'em crap themselves and if you're really lazy you use disposable diapers so you don't even have to spray the things out with the hose. And then there's the extra food that needs to go into 'em when they're this size (which you gotta cook now, no more bottles and quick-mix-porridge, as well as cognitive "stuff" like now having to watch your mouths all the time and literally be TEACHING all. the. dang. time. every. minute. of. every. day. Sponges, I tell you, sponges. Oh, and that whole dealing-with-that-new-thing-they're-developing called a "temper"..... Santa Maria! Not only do you have to be uber vigilant on the reprimanding & follow-through, but you've also gotta keep your OWN temper in check. Holy Balls!
Anyhoo, LJJ is going to preschool in January so we've been out checking them out. All the options. All the crap. All the fees. All the pros & cons. I'm sorry but I'm (we're) not driving 45 minutes out of my (our) way every single day just because one school offers Kindermusik and the other one doesn't. Or because one has a more culturally diverse clientele than the other. Or an apple orchard. Ugh. Ultimately my philosophy is that The Kid is going to be learning as much if not more from ME than whatever 5 hours she spends on somebody else's watch anyway and whatever we feel she's not getting from nursery school, I'm pretty sure we can supplement at home. Frankly it's just gotta tick as many boxes as possible, including boxes that belong to Mom & Pops too, mmkay?
Speaking of family matters and Mom & Pops, in the TMI segment (I know at least 1 someone who will be interested in this if for no other reason than a certain madey-uppy band name that it refers to), The Mr. has his first appointment for his snip-snip consultation coming up. Woo hoo! Much to the dismay of our families and apparently every other human we know, we will officially not have "procreation" to add to our list of cares in the world in a few short months!! hee hee! My mate Soo keeps asking "are you SURE? are you SURE?" and I think now at least that the appointments are made, she'll finally believe us. Now when all the nosy, rude, ballsy inappropriate assholes hit us up with the "can you not HAVE children of your OWN?" bit, I can just go "Nope! We are officially vas defrens-less!!! Ta daaaaaaa!!!" ba-dump-CHING!!!
I think the trip back home in July and the time spent with all the insanity-inducing black eyes and sibling-induced temper tantrums and mulitple-carseats and "we dont go anywhere anymore" management issues we got caught up in with some of our friends/family of mulitples (Disclaimer: clearly this doesn't mean ALL of them, of course!!!), our whole desire to be parents of a singleton was cemented with a phone call to the private hospital. And since we've already got a lifetime ahead of us with dealing with the whole "your kid looks different than you" world of issues, we might as well face the judgemental dickhead mentality of people who have no problem announcing to you that "your child will be spoiled and stupid if you do not give it a sibling!".
Right. Love that one. It's so innocent and justified, isn't it. Because YOU know one kid who's an only child and they act like a brat, that's how MY kid is going to turn out. Classy. That's a flat out judgement of MY parenting abilities you just passed. WTF, I'm the mother who denied her child a freakin PACIFIER throughout infanthood and gives her ONE. FROZEN. PEA as a "special treat". Spoiled my ass. Let's do a follow up in 10 years and see how your 5 yelling, screaming, sister-hitting brats are so above and beyond the benchmark for "plays well with others" than mine. And IF you don't mind, I've seen my fair share of self-absorbed bratty one-of-two/three/four/five/six'es. Not to mention I haven't met an older child (or "ex-only child" as I like to call them) who wasn't better behaved and LESS spoiled than the younger one(s) so there's MY two cents. Oh, and ye who come to me with the whole "only children can't socialize well" thing? Well, that myth has been debunked by science over and over again (including in the book I'm reading right now which is FASCINATING, by the way - if anything, it says, Singletons are far more willing to adapt to others, solve social problems creatively, etc, so as to not fall out with their friends and other "worthy adversaries", whereas multiples have the whole "I'm sentenced to you for life" mentality when it comes to siblings, "so I can just beat the crap out of you and treat you like poo as much as I want - you aint goin nowhere".) so I'm gonna go ahead and go with real data instead of that old cliche that you heard 20 times in your playgroup of moms with 6 kids each and no jobs.
Ugh. Yes, there's a bit of ranting I've had stored up for a few days after a certain recent encounter. Whew. Good to get that out. Every parent needs a screw-you! blog.
But for the record (and post-rant), The Mr. and I both come from a long line of multiple siblings who were all pretty much a waste of time as far as "besty-friendy" sib-relationships go, and although we know they're out there (with my luck, that accounts for 100% of the 2 people reading this), it never really happened for us. Lucikly for our relationship, both of us, as "oldests" are on the same page about the issue. For every besty-friendy sibling set we know, we also know (or are related to) another bunch who either hate, resent, fell out with, or couldnt give a shit about each other. So, that in tandem with our enviro-nazi beliefs and attempt to fractionally-neutralize our own immediate families' carbon footprints (HA!) no touchy-feely crap at stake on that topic here.
I hear the sound of snipping!! Chuckle.
I have been so busy lately that I have been too exhausted to do Jack Shyte in the evenings. Seriously, it's insane. However, this means that in a few of my random acts of couch-flopping from exhaustion, I have managed to catch yet another Hi-Larry funny-ass show on the boob toob - "Modern Family". HA! Speak of the devil. Anyhoo, I saw it was nom'ed for a bunch of Emmys so I thought I'd give it a whirl and it was terribly funny (in sort of a "Best In Show' and "Spinal Tap" way, which makes sense then that I"d like it since those are 2 of my favorite movies). I'm still using "Cougar Town" and "HIMYM" for belly laughs too lately, both of which never fail to disappoint.
Oh crap I am so behind. Toodles.
My last, ultimate, eternally-permanent-forever-final university semester began yesterday. I got my due dates for thesis drafts and it looks like I need to have something considered "draft-worthy" by the first week of October (yikes!) and then the finalamente finale in mid-November. With any luck I will then be a Master-Master by the end of 2010. I don't even want to think about that because I'm still in the dark as to whether or not my proposed study will be accepted. But I've pushed that boat out into the lake now, and there ain't no turning back. Too many numbers are being crunched and too many thousands of words have already been written. So I'm just crossing my fingers.
The Kid is getting to be a handful. Let me just say that babyhood has been easy for us. And no that is NOT because we were BLESSED by a magically flawless creature. (I'm going to rip the face off the next person who tells me how "lucky" we are. Yeah, i'll tell you where to take your freakin "luck" and go. And it aint gonna be Vegas). Through hard work and an extremely dedicated joint-force task team (i.e. The Mr. & I) we have now successfully enjoyed the babyhood and came out on the other side with a pretty good kid. Worth at LEAST 10 bucks, I tell ya. However, now it is over. Now it is Toddler Time and all I can say is BOY HOWDY, HOW DO SOME PEOPLE DO THIS ON THEIR OWN!? I mean, DAMN! I'm not just talking about having another newly-mobile person in the house. I'm talking all the extra pee and poo that comes out of these things. And you gotta take 'em to the potty all the time. What's up with that? Every 15 minutes you're taking em to the damn potty. I waste half my days next to that damn potty. In babyhood, you just let 'em crap themselves and if you're really lazy you use disposable diapers so you don't even have to spray the things out with the hose. And then there's the extra food that needs to go into 'em when they're this size (which you gotta cook now, no more bottles and quick-mix-porridge, as well as cognitive "stuff" like now having to watch your mouths all the time and literally be TEACHING all. the. dang. time. every. minute. of. every. day. Sponges, I tell you, sponges. Oh, and that whole dealing-with-that-new-thing-they're-developing called a "temper"..... Santa Maria! Not only do you have to be uber vigilant on the reprimanding & follow-through, but you've also gotta keep your OWN temper in check. Holy Balls!
Anyhoo, LJJ is going to preschool in January so we've been out checking them out. All the options. All the crap. All the fees. All the pros & cons. I'm sorry but I'm (we're) not driving 45 minutes out of my (our) way every single day just because one school offers Kindermusik and the other one doesn't. Or because one has a more culturally diverse clientele than the other. Or an apple orchard. Ugh. Ultimately my philosophy is that The Kid is going to be learning as much if not more from ME than whatever 5 hours she spends on somebody else's watch anyway and whatever we feel she's not getting from nursery school, I'm pretty sure we can supplement at home. Frankly it's just gotta tick as many boxes as possible, including boxes that belong to Mom & Pops too, mmkay?
Speaking of family matters and Mom & Pops, in the TMI segment (I know at least 1 someone who will be interested in this if for no other reason than a certain madey-uppy band name that it refers to), The Mr. has his first appointment for his snip-snip consultation coming up. Woo hoo! Much to the dismay of our families and apparently every other human we know, we will officially not have "procreation" to add to our list of cares in the world in a few short months!! hee hee! My mate Soo keeps asking "are you SURE? are you SURE?" and I think now at least that the appointments are made, she'll finally believe us. Now when all the nosy, rude, ballsy inappropriate assholes hit us up with the "can you not HAVE children of your OWN?" bit, I can just go "Nope! We are officially vas defrens-less!!! Ta daaaaaaa!!!" ba-dump-CHING!!!
I think the trip back home in July and the time spent with all the insanity-inducing black eyes and sibling-induced temper tantrums and mulitple-carseats and "we dont go anywhere anymore" management issues we got caught up in with some of our friends/family of mulitples (Disclaimer: clearly this doesn't mean ALL of them, of course!!!), our whole desire to be parents of a singleton was cemented with a phone call to the private hospital. And since we've already got a lifetime ahead of us with dealing with the whole "your kid looks different than you" world of issues, we might as well face the judgemental dickhead mentality of people who have no problem announcing to you that "your child will be spoiled and stupid if you do not give it a sibling!".
Right. Love that one. It's so innocent and justified, isn't it. Because YOU know one kid who's an only child and they act like a brat, that's how MY kid is going to turn out. Classy. That's a flat out judgement of MY parenting abilities you just passed. WTF, I'm the mother who denied her child a freakin PACIFIER throughout infanthood and gives her ONE. FROZEN. PEA as a "special treat". Spoiled my ass. Let's do a follow up in 10 years and see how your 5 yelling, screaming, sister-hitting brats are so above and beyond the benchmark for "plays well with others" than mine. And IF you don't mind, I've seen my fair share of self-absorbed bratty one-of-two/three/four/five/six'es. Not to mention I haven't met an older child (or "ex-only child" as I like to call them) who wasn't better behaved and LESS spoiled than the younger one(s) so there's MY two cents. Oh, and ye who come to me with the whole "only children can't socialize well" thing? Well, that myth has been debunked by science over and over again (including in the book I'm reading right now which is FASCINATING, by the way - if anything, it says, Singletons are far more willing to adapt to others, solve social problems creatively, etc, so as to not fall out with their friends and other "worthy adversaries", whereas multiples have the whole "I'm sentenced to you for life" mentality when it comes to siblings, "so I can just beat the crap out of you and treat you like poo as much as I want - you aint goin nowhere".) so I'm gonna go ahead and go with real data instead of that old cliche that you heard 20 times in your playgroup of moms with 6 kids each and no jobs.
Ugh. Yes, there's a bit of ranting I've had stored up for a few days after a certain recent encounter. Whew. Good to get that out. Every parent needs a screw-you! blog.
But for the record (and post-rant), The Mr. and I both come from a long line of multiple siblings who were all pretty much a waste of time as far as "besty-friendy" sib-relationships go, and although we know they're out there (with my luck, that accounts for 100% of the 2 people reading this), it never really happened for us. Lucikly for our relationship, both of us, as "oldests" are on the same page about the issue. For every besty-friendy sibling set we know, we also know (or are related to) another bunch who either hate, resent, fell out with, or couldnt give a shit about each other. So, that in tandem with our enviro-nazi beliefs and attempt to fractionally-neutralize our own immediate families' carbon footprints (HA!) no touchy-feely crap at stake on that topic here.
I hear the sound of snipping!! Chuckle.
I have been so busy lately that I have been too exhausted to do Jack Shyte in the evenings. Seriously, it's insane. However, this means that in a few of my random acts of couch-flopping from exhaustion, I have managed to catch yet another Hi-Larry funny-ass show on the boob toob - "Modern Family". HA! Speak of the devil. Anyhoo, I saw it was nom'ed for a bunch of Emmys so I thought I'd give it a whirl and it was terribly funny (in sort of a "Best In Show' and "Spinal Tap" way, which makes sense then that I"d like it since those are 2 of my favorite movies). I'm still using "Cougar Town" and "HIMYM" for belly laughs too lately, both of which never fail to disappoint.
Oh crap I am so behind. Toodles.
Labels: The Kid Files
