lost

I guess it's been a busy week because, here it is Friday, and I'm all, "where did the week go??"

A lot of things on my to-do list have not gotten done, but there's solace in knowing that it's because of all the other stuff I was getting done.

The car is fixed and Magnum reports that it's noticeably improved. I only drove it home down the hill from the shop so couldn't tell. In the meantime, we have yet to procure that cheapo beater car.

Chaco, Wolfgang, and Meego are now all officially registered and I.D.'d and scheduled for school which starts next Monday. High school registration was Tuesday, and yesterday, Meego and I toted his boatload of school supplies on up to his school for the all important find-out-who-yer-teacher-is session and the all the more important find-out-who-yer-classmates-are peek. I was also suckered into manning the PTO t-shirt selling table at said event.

Yesterday, I had to give a test in the morning, so had gotten up at dark crack of dawn to go running. I walked out the front door to find Chaco and a friend loitering around in the dark. Turned out, they'd stayed up all night to watch the meteor shower and do who knows what else. I myself saw two shooting stars during my run before the sun washed out the activity.

There were dentist appointments scheduled for the afternoon, but I intelligently cancelled them earlier in the week when I realized that stuffing them between work and back-to-school would be like getting a size 18 woman into a size 10 dress.

Plus, sleep-deprived Chaco became crabby as the day wore on. I wouldn't want to be messing with his mouth.

Now it's Friday. Maybe I'll get caught up on stuff. Somewhere in there, Magnum and I surpasssed the 19-year mark. Anyone got a cheapo beater car they want to sell me?

Oh, and we have no dogfood.
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happy dance

Okay, THINK!

What were YOU doing 19 years ago today - August 11th, 1990??

I was graduating from college. Actually, I had already officially graduated, but the whole pompous cap and gown and tassle ceremony was 8/11/90, and I was a happy NO SHOW.

Nope, didn't go. Didn't feel the need. Just give me that diploma in the mail and make sure my transcripts say that I sucked it up 'til the bitter end.

Besides, I had more important things to attend to. I was getting hitched. It's close, but I think getting the husband was easier than getting the college degree.

Today, I'm not actually sure where my college diploma is. Probably in a musty box somewhere. Maybe the same musty box with the marriage certificate.

But yeah, nineteen whole years. I checked online for the traditional significance of this event and found:

"This Wedding Anniversary does not have any traditional materials or symbols

associated with it"

Well now, isn't that special...

But they're not fooling me. It's nineteen years and I consider that a feat! Nineteen good good years! Nineteen years of wedded *COUGH* bliss!

And we're celebratin'!

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in cars

It's Monday morning. Our car's in the shop.

I took it in last Friday because Magnum said it was vibrating (ooooooh) and pulling to the right when he applied the brakes. See, I rarely drive. I just take care of all the vehicle maintenance. So if he breaks something notices that something is awry, I make the appointment, bring it in, etc.

It supposedly needs new brake rotors, oh, and a couple of transmission bu$$hing$$.

In the meantime we have this grandma loaner car - no offense meant to actual grandmas. It's a white Oldsmobile sedan, so basically, it has absolutely NO personality. Oh well, I rarely drive.

And I mentioned in the previous post that we're also shopping for a cheapo beater car. Why, if I rarely drive, is so much effort going into automobiles? Well, Magnum's office recently moved. He used to work about a mile away from home, so he typically walked or rode his bike to work. Now he's about 20 miles away, so he drives - in a carpool - but he still needs to tow the line when it's his turn to do so.

I think I've mentioned here before that, if not for the kids, I probably wouldn't even own a car as I consider myself a bicycle commuter first, reluctant licensed driver second. Maybe Magnum and I would just have one car between us. But that "if" is pretty irrelevant since we have 3 kids. And Chaco just recently got his learner's permit. He is to log at least 50 hours of driving practice within the next year, and it's become very apparent that it's hard to practice driving when there is no car around.

Our other vehicle is a big butt econoline van, purchased mainly for road trips, and not conducive to learning to drive unless at bus driver school.

So we're perusing the want ads. There are some real pieces of crap out there. I can buy a car for less than what I paid for one of my bicycles. I can buy a car for less than what I'm about to pay the shop that's fixing our Subaru. I can buy a car for less than what my students pay just for their online access.

Many remind me of my first car. A truck actually.

Aah, the memories. And what a great personality.

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Silver Lining Saturday, part LI

Greeting friends, lurkers, and people who clicked the wrong thing and ended up here...

It's another beautiful Colorado morning. Just came inside from taking a stroll up the walking path and around the school with Meego and his remote control off-roader buggy thing. There, we found the school principal and her husband cleaning up one of the garden beds - tidying up for the start of school.

Yep, school's back in a week from Monday. We had our first PTO meeting for the year this past week. I've mentioned here that I have mixed emotions about serving on this PTO board, but I signed up for another year of treasurer, Run With Lumber, and general suckerhood at the end of last year.

But the meeting was good. There's really only a couple of people that rub me the wrong way. You know the type - the attention wh*res. Of the remainder, 4 of them are way cool and have become good friends. I'm happy to serve with 'em.

And some may remember that last year, the school year ended on a very sad note with the death of one of Meego's classmates - shot by his older brother. Part of the PTO meeting sort of opened up that wound for me, but I'm happy that we were able to purchase a stone and tree for him with PTO funds.

The memorial sits in a serene spot just off of the playground.

In other thankfulness news, China the heartworm patient is doing well. She spent the day at the vet's on Monday - took a big shot of nasty stuff. Heartworm nuke or something like that. She was very sore and lethargic for about 12 hours afterward, but seems to be feeling fine now.

On a related note, oh wonder of wonders, it seems that the CAT, of all things is concerned and has been acting very protective of China during her recuperation. Cookie, the tough loner cat, usually barely tolerates any and all pet-like creatures encroaching on his territorial family. Dogs are probably lowest on the totem pole. But he's not fooling anyone now with his bedside vigils and whatnot.

And, just so you know, we're shopping for a piece-of-crap car. Just a cheap thing that runs. And there seems to be plenty out there still. Save them from the Cash for Clunkers clutches!

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a happy place

When I was growing up, we had a bird. It was a parakeet named Peppy. It was originally Grandma's bird and then we inherited him.

Peppy had a cage that he mostly used for eating and sleeping. Other activities, like pooping, chattering loudly, and general bothering of the humans, were done outside the cage - the door of which was usually just left open so he could roam about the house. I think he thought he was the Alpha.

Nowadays, I live with more conventional pets. A spoiled cat and a dog that's a little nuts, but in a sweet way. Both are surprisingly quieter and less messy than Peppy the parakeet. They are also friendlier, but that's not much of a surprise. I have since learned that domesticated birds are quite notorious for being b*tches, yes even the males, to everyone except for one choice human of the household. The choice human of our house was probably my mom.

Anyway, so China the dog began phase 2 of Operation Heartworm Annihilation this week. Hopefully we have successfully killed off all of the babies and now we're pulling out the big guns and going after the adults. She's under vet's orders to do not much of anything lest a dead heartworm carcass go and clog and artery on its way to heartworm heaven.

Luckily, China is crate trained for when she's in the house. And she loves loves loves that crate! She loves it so much that when I bring her in from outside, I worry about her excitement levels causing that bad thing with the heartworm carcasses as she does her exuberant sprint to the crate.

She loves it much much more than Peppy the parakeet loved his cage.


The door is left open, but she often just remains, happily in her crate bliss.

I'm thinking I want one of these... for myself.
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driven

And so it was that Chaco and I found ourselves with the other captives at the Department of Revenue this morning for two hours of our lives. Two hours for what was approximately 5 minutes of actual Department of Revenue business.

We were there to get his driver's permit. Welcome to the world of government efficiency, as I told him. It was reminiscent of the time he broke his arm and we were at the after-hours care place and another patient had a "cardiac incident" and so all the rest of the patients got put on the way back burners for a while.

But we survived. I suppose I should be happy that it was only 2 hours.

I thought back to when I got my permit and, eventually, my license. In the small town where I grew up, I remember there was one guy. One guy, one counter. He administered and graded the written test. He approved the permit. He gave the driving test. He approved the license. Maybe there was someone else there who took the picture, not sure. But I remember that, for all the other stuff, there was that one guy. All the teenager's knew him. Just go see that guy. One guy, one counter. No take-a-number-and-wait. And wait. And wait.

And wait.

And just think. A year from now, we get to do it all again to get his license.
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Silver Lining S-day, part L

Is that right? Part "L"? Looks funny.

But it's another weekend, and according to my records, it's the 50th silver lining Saturday (on a Sunday)!

Recess!
Lovely week we had. We got a break in the summer heat, which really hasn't been that bad, but we cooled down big time and it was goooooood. I decided I should bake something to celebrate the occassion since I typically practice oven abstinence in summertime. So I made a cornbread.

And, speaking of appliances, due to Brilliant Beej's ordeal, I'm reminded how thankful I am to have a fridge that works! We did that weeks-without-a-fridge thing a couple of summers ago. Doable, yes. Fun, no.

Driving
Yesterday, Chaco completed his obligatory 4-hour driving class and passed his written test to get his learner's permit. I don't know when this 4-hour class became required. I never had to do it, but then, when I got my learner's permit, the wheel had just barely been invented.... Anyway, he's coming right along with his learning-to-drive-a-stick practice. Now we can practice legally.

Back to School
School starts up again in a couple of weeks. I have mixed emotions, but I'm happy that Chaco and Wolfgang are both in high school this year. The high school doesn't give out those obnoxious school supply lists that require everyone to bring in boat loads of pencils and glue sticks and markers and other stuff they often won't even use. High schoolers certainly do have to get stuff as the year goes on, but explain to me, for instance, why Meego and every other kid in his class each needs 48 pencils??

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