There's not a lot to talk about here, folks, but that's never stopped me before, right?
Let's see. This week, the kids went to the dentist. No cavities, no alarming "fix it right now!" problems. They could both do a better job on the oral hygiene, but couldn't we all? Ruby has three very loose teeth. Carl got a green plastic snake and Ruby got a squishy ball thing for their cooperation prizes. I got the bill for the copay and the bottles of fluoride gel (no emails about the horrors of fluoride, please!).
Ruby is being slightly more compliant about homework. This week, she offered to keep her homework whines deep down inside, "so they'll get pooped out later." Whatever works, I always say. Carl felt a little left out at homework time, so we found some "homework" for him to do at the same time; tracing letters in a wipe-off workbook. Ruby starts piano lessons next week. We shall see how it goes.
I went to help with kindergartners' reading at Carl's class, and it was fine until Carl showed up and climbed all over me and basically made an ass of himself. I will have to hide better next time. I am a little concerned that his teacher doesn't have such a good grasp on the reading levels of the various kindergartners yet, but I guess since my kid's not in kindergarten, I will cut her some slack.
What else? I got my hair done today,in the autumn-inspired slightly less blond variation. I went to the grocery store every day this week, even though I didn't feel like it. I did some laundry. I cooked dinner, even when I didn't feel like it. I took the kids to a play date and to their creative movement classes. I went to a farewell dinner for a friend. I did not make it to the gym. Oops.
This weekend, I am going to visit my sisters in the big city. I will get to remember how the single people live and be in weather cool enough for a sweater. We're all doing the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation walk and having brunch in honor of mom. It's a 5K walk, so this can't really be considered an athletic event, although I do get a t-shirt! It's more of a leisurely stroll and bonding experience, one mom might have enjoyed had she not suffered the various nasty ravages of juvenile (Type 1) diabetes and then died from it one night. On the bright side, it's a disease science is making a lot of progress on just now, so maybe future Type 1's and their families will have it better.
The kids' school is doing fund raiser after fund raiser, so if you need coupon books, wrapping paper, terrifying shelf-stable cookie dough, poinsettias, or who knows what all else, I can fix you up. I have just been writing checks to the PTO every time, in lieu of marketing to all my friends and family, because I hate selling stuff, and the PTO gets more money out of me that way anyhow.
Read anything good lately? Before school started, I read Through a Glass Darkly, by Karleen Koen. Koen has a connection to the kids' school and I've met her a few times, so I was interested to read this. This week, I finished Bridge of Sighs. I think Richard Russo's work is pretty darn great in general, but I could use a good laugh and so I kept hoping this would turn into one of his funny books, which it isn't, although it has a few moments. A friend has me reading Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks, which is about the plague. I do love a good medical drama, and it's absorbing, but I find myself skimming ahead. Maybe I just lack patience right now? I am also listening to Cider House Rules on the ip@d while knitting and driving, and I am hooked. How I could have gone through life without reading it already or even seeing the movie? Or maybe it's just the magic of audio. Or maybe I'll get halfway through and tire of it, too.
After a lot of nagging by a certain friend, I joined Facebook this week. Let me know if you want to be my "friend;" the list is pretty short just now. I also have been slowly adding some of my old knitting projects to my Ravelry notebook, so if you are on Ravelry and want to share, that would be cool, too. Ravelry is a bit like Facebook for knitters/crocheters/needlework people, if you are wondering.