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This has been a great homey sort of family weekend :)
I woke up this morning with Grant, Jake, and Elise, and we had a drawn out cuddle session that included falling back asleep, and waking up again.
Isaac wanted to show me every unlocked character and each of their various rides, on Mariokart, as well as all the (really awesome) suits he made for his (hilarious, adorable) "minions." Basically, he calls the tiny little single peg legos Minions and then designs all kinds of giant robot suits and big disguises for them. Also - he's chosen to make his Mariokart Mii a baby, that races around the track in a rocket-powered stroller called The Booster Seat. I don't know, he cracks me up.
It's also so sweet, that he can keep reading on his own after I'm done reading to him, at night :) Even though he's been chapter book proficient for several months, it was such a long road getting to this point, and I still think about it often.
Also - geeeez as I go through it with the younger kids, am I remembering all the awesome stuff they TOTALLY left out of the Harry Potter movies! Peeves, Winky, Sir Cadogan, whole characters...
G and I had to have a big meeting with Annie, about all kinds of little things (not doing her chores completely or without being told, falling behind in an online class again, staying up too late at night, giving us a big fat attitude on occasion, etc) and put new guidelines in. It was tense and there were tears, but at the end of it all I feel good about it and think she actually does too, which is really saying something considering we're talking about a lot of limits on her freedom/free time, for awhile.
For the next couple of weeks, it's going to be just her and me during the days while Grant's at work, Aaron is at dance intensives, and Isaac, Jake and Elise are at music camp. I'm glad, and think it will be good for us. We can swim at the Y, see free movies, I can help her if she needs it with schoolwork she's doing (they're all doing way less schoolwork than normal, because it's summer, but she's still got an online science class, has a lot of math to get done by the new school year, and is writing book reports for me). I feel like I've barely seen her this summer, even though that's a bit of an exaggeration - in the last month she (and Elise) spent 3 weeks at Girl Scout camp during the days, Grant took her to the big derby tournament for 3 days and 2 nights up the road, and she spent 3 days and 2 nights up at Izzy's house when they went to SuperCon. Between all that and the 4th of July party we threw here with a bunch of her friends, and the Neil Gaiman thing, AND her 13th birthday...I think she's been in a somewhat understandable "cool extra shit all the time" entitled mode, rather than, you know, "do your chores, submit your assigments, etc" mode.
She baked a dutch chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, this evening, awhile after our meeting. It's the first time she's ever done a cake and frosting all on her own without my help. I daresay she even felt proud of it, as she started serving it up to a line of siblings.
Last night, Grant and I went to see World War Z. It was SO TENSE. The trailers do not really convey the vibe of the movie, during which there were quite a few times I was thinking, "Ok. They did this TOO well." It was a packed theater and at one point the woman to my right jumped and I glanced at her and we both started laughing, and she whispered, "THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" It felt as though there were half hour blocks during which I did not breathe.
I wish everyone had already seen it so I would have more people to talk about it with. I have a little bit ofbiological warfare plague pandemic flu fear ever since reading The Stand, oh...a DOZEN TIMES, as a kid, that this tapped in to. Also - you really don't realize how OK normal slow zombies are, until you've seen really fast zombies.
I spent awhile reading reviews when I got home, partially because I wonder sometimes WHY we are so obsessed with zombies, as a culture. Why are they a thing? I know lots of people who religiously watch The Walking Dead, and a couple of years ago I read the bestseller The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and there are even Zombie Walks hosted in almost every major city, these days, that are really well attended (by people like my friend Kristin). But zombies aren't interesting creatures we can fall in love with, like so many other supernatural creatures. It's not like a tormented Werewolf who is normal for most of the month, but has this terrible secret. Zombies don't have anything we might want for ourselves - vampires for instance are immortal, they're more beautiful than humans, they can sometimes read minds, fly or turn to freakin' mist. All of that makes for interesting storylines and dynamic characters. Zombies are empty shells o' nothin, targets to kill by the hundred in games like Resident Evil. How is that holding our attention so well? They're not even ideal villains - there's no cool back story like with The Joker, or fascinating yet revolting charm a la Hannibal Lector, in a zombie. How is it that really intelligent people I know, and Cracked, express genuine nervousness that a zombie apocalypse COULD SCIENTIFICALLY HAPPEN?
This author tries to address the answer to this question, in his World War Z review:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2013/07/01/130701crci_cinema_denby
"Are they what we fear we might become if we let ourselves go—soulless vessels of pure appetite, both ravaged and ravaging? Do they represent our apprehension of what hostility lies behind all those blank faces in the office, at the mall, across the dinner table? ...I realized why I felt uneasy in Times Square. The zombies aren’t like us; they are us, just degraded a little. And what the zombie media splurge may unconsciously express is not just a fear that people might become hostile but a desire to be free of the crowd—to 'decrease the surplus population.'"
I've been really tired, with a lot of brain fog, for several days running. I wrote last week about the struggle to even stay awake. It hasn't really gotten any easier. I mean I force myself, I did a massive load of dishes and cooked a good dinner and took Jake for a bike ride, today, but it shouldn't be this hard. I have so enjoyed these past 5ish months without crazy ass exhaustion (after the 6 months prior, where it hung around all the time), and have been figuring this bout of tiredness is transient, or diet, or who knows what, but...this morning, my hips and feet felt so horrible. Tonight, my hands hurt in little weird ways, and I have a red spot growing on one sore knuckle. I don't want to set up a self-fulfilling prophecy here, but it is so difficult to NOT imagine that I'm getting ready to have another soul-sucking flare... Which reminds me, I'm late to go get a new SED rate taken. *sigh*
I love sex. I love when Grant and I work our way past another hard spot, and things get awesome again. I love when it's really really obvious that we can do things for, to and with each other that are because of all this time and trust between us. Feel free to stop reading here if you have already heard too much.
If you are still reading, and if the idea of "fisting" sounds terrifying and violent, or just foreign and strange - or perhaps physically impossible - abandon those notions and read this (SAFE FOR WORK) guide by someone I e-know, who knows what's up.
Because there are all these accordioned sort of places inside of a vagina that aren't normally all stimulated at once. But this touches every single one of them. And it takes a long time but at the end of it, you might find that your neighbors are wondering what the hell is so awesome.
Show them the link, too! ;)
I woke up this morning with Grant, Jake, and Elise, and we had a drawn out cuddle session that included falling back asleep, and waking up again.
Isaac wanted to show me every unlocked character and each of their various rides, on Mariokart, as well as all the (really awesome) suits he made for his (hilarious, adorable) "minions." Basically, he calls the tiny little single peg legos Minions and then designs all kinds of giant robot suits and big disguises for them. Also - he's chosen to make his Mariokart Mii a baby, that races around the track in a rocket-powered stroller called The Booster Seat. I don't know, he cracks me up.
It's also so sweet, that he can keep reading on his own after I'm done reading to him, at night :) Even though he's been chapter book proficient for several months, it was such a long road getting to this point, and I still think about it often.
Also - geeeez as I go through it with the younger kids, am I remembering all the awesome stuff they TOTALLY left out of the Harry Potter movies! Peeves, Winky, Sir Cadogan, whole characters...
G and I had to have a big meeting with Annie, about all kinds of little things (not doing her chores completely or without being told, falling behind in an online class again, staying up too late at night, giving us a big fat attitude on occasion, etc) and put new guidelines in. It was tense and there were tears, but at the end of it all I feel good about it and think she actually does too, which is really saying something considering we're talking about a lot of limits on her freedom/free time, for awhile.
For the next couple of weeks, it's going to be just her and me during the days while Grant's at work, Aaron is at dance intensives, and Isaac, Jake and Elise are at music camp. I'm glad, and think it will be good for us. We can swim at the Y, see free movies, I can help her if she needs it with schoolwork she's doing (they're all doing way less schoolwork than normal, because it's summer, but she's still got an online science class, has a lot of math to get done by the new school year, and is writing book reports for me). I feel like I've barely seen her this summer, even though that's a bit of an exaggeration - in the last month she (and Elise) spent 3 weeks at Girl Scout camp during the days, Grant took her to the big derby tournament for 3 days and 2 nights up the road, and she spent 3 days and 2 nights up at Izzy's house when they went to SuperCon. Between all that and the 4th of July party we threw here with a bunch of her friends, and the Neil Gaiman thing, AND her 13th birthday...I think she's been in a somewhat understandable "cool extra shit all the time" entitled mode, rather than, you know, "do your chores, submit your assigments, etc" mode.
She baked a dutch chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, this evening, awhile after our meeting. It's the first time she's ever done a cake and frosting all on her own without my help. I daresay she even felt proud of it, as she started serving it up to a line of siblings.
Last night, Grant and I went to see World War Z. It was SO TENSE. The trailers do not really convey the vibe of the movie, during which there were quite a few times I was thinking, "Ok. They did this TOO well." It was a packed theater and at one point the woman to my right jumped and I glanced at her and we both started laughing, and she whispered, "THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" It felt as though there were half hour blocks during which I did not breathe.
I wish everyone had already seen it so I would have more people to talk about it with. I have a little bit of
I spent awhile reading reviews when I got home, partially because I wonder sometimes WHY we are so obsessed with zombies, as a culture. Why are they a thing? I know lots of people who religiously watch The Walking Dead, and a couple of years ago I read the bestseller The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and there are even Zombie Walks hosted in almost every major city, these days, that are really well attended (by people like my friend Kristin). But zombies aren't interesting creatures we can fall in love with, like so many other supernatural creatures. It's not like a tormented Werewolf who is normal for most of the month, but has this terrible secret. Zombies don't have anything we might want for ourselves - vampires for instance are immortal, they're more beautiful than humans, they can sometimes read minds, fly or turn to freakin' mist. All of that makes for interesting storylines and dynamic characters. Zombies are empty shells o' nothin, targets to kill by the hundred in games like Resident Evil. How is that holding our attention so well? They're not even ideal villains - there's no cool back story like with The Joker, or fascinating yet revolting charm a la Hannibal Lector, in a zombie. How is it that really intelligent people I know, and Cracked, express genuine nervousness that a zombie apocalypse COULD SCIENTIFICALLY HAPPEN?
This author tries to address the answer to this question, in his World War Z review:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2013/07/01/130701crci_cinema_denby
"Are they what we fear we might become if we let ourselves go—soulless vessels of pure appetite, both ravaged and ravaging? Do they represent our apprehension of what hostility lies behind all those blank faces in the office, at the mall, across the dinner table? ...I realized why I felt uneasy in Times Square. The zombies aren’t like us; they are us, just degraded a little. And what the zombie media splurge may unconsciously express is not just a fear that people might become hostile but a desire to be free of the crowd—to 'decrease the surplus population.'"
I've been really tired, with a lot of brain fog, for several days running. I wrote last week about the struggle to even stay awake. It hasn't really gotten any easier. I mean I force myself, I did a massive load of dishes and cooked a good dinner and took Jake for a bike ride, today, but it shouldn't be this hard. I have so enjoyed these past 5ish months without crazy ass exhaustion (after the 6 months prior, where it hung around all the time), and have been figuring this bout of tiredness is transient, or diet, or who knows what, but...this morning, my hips and feet felt so horrible. Tonight, my hands hurt in little weird ways, and I have a red spot growing on one sore knuckle. I don't want to set up a self-fulfilling prophecy here, but it is so difficult to NOT imagine that I'm getting ready to have another soul-sucking flare... Which reminds me, I'm late to go get a new SED rate taken. *sigh*
I love sex. I love when Grant and I work our way past another hard spot, and things get awesome again. I love when it's really really obvious that we can do things for, to and with each other that are because of all this time and trust between us. Feel free to stop reading here if you have already heard too much.
If you are still reading, and if the idea of "fisting" sounds terrifying and violent, or just foreign and strange - or perhaps physically impossible - abandon those notions and read this (SAFE FOR WORK) guide by someone I e-know, who knows what's up.
Because there are all these accordioned sort of places inside of a vagina that aren't normally all stimulated at once. But this touches every single one of them. And it takes a long time but at the end of it, you might find that your neighbors are wondering what the hell is so awesome.
Show them the link, too! ;)
