Disney Madness, Part One

Does it tell you anything about my trip that it's taken me 2 days to even coordinate myself enough to sit down and write something?

And even now that I *am* sitting, I can guarantee it will be less than cohesive.

Note to self... schedule a day for down time next time, because dropping right back in is a fool's errand.

So let's see. Where to start.

There's the... um, adventure?... TR endured on his way to Florida in Le Van. About halfway through the middle of nowhere, his check engine light came on. AWESOME! He spent the next, oh, 20 hours or so fighting with that, attempting to find service stations. Finally he decided to just hope for the best, and of course he made it, but the van needed a doctor visit.

Which is fine, because that meant we rented a car.

What kind of car? We'll get to that later.

As for me, I spent Thursday furiously working through everything possible, cleaning my desk so that nothing would hang over my head while I was gone. I was mostly packed, but knew I'd have to finish up some last minute stuff... my mind was mostly at work, but halfway onto the plane!

I had been working hard to get as much school work done as I could, too... who wants to do homework on vacation?! My English teacher was kind enough to give me an advanced list of the Week 5 (already??) work, so I was able to get pretty caught up. I still ended up doing some homework while I was there, but not much!

So at last it was Friday morning. I got The Kid up and ready for school, dropped her off and then headed back home to meet my friend Melissa, who I plied with Starbucks in exchange for a ride to the airport.

I did homework while I waited for the plane, having gotten through security in 3 minutes flat and thus burdened with an excess of free time. No moment wasted, I tell you. I'm SO EFFICIENT.

Anyway.

I totally lucked out on the plane; TR set me up with a window seat because he's awesome, but as an extra bonus, the seat between the window and the aisle ended up unoccupied! The nice guy on the aisle and I high-fived over that one.

Finally landing after our very pleasant flight, I admired the gorgeous landscaping at the Orlando Airport. Well... I thought it was landscaping, turns out that's just how Florida looks. It's unbelievably gorgeous. Those palm trees! All that green!

TR picked me up in the ailing but able van, and presented me with a lei (we were staying at the Polynesian), a button saying "1st Visit!", and my Key to the World.

Isn't that cool? I felt so welcomed... and I wore that pin all week! It earned me greetings, discussions on how my trip was going, and a thorough Fairy Dusting which I'm still finding bits of even now, thankfully!

We arrived at the Polynesian and were immediately greeted by the thing I was looking forward to seeing in person most... the Monorail! I love the Monorail. I wish we had one.

There's no way to accurately describe this place, so I'll just direct you toward the link up there, and give you this picture to look at, which was the view from our room.

We could see the boats going back and forth, the castle at the Magic Kingdom and Space Mountain across the lake, both lit up all night, the other two lagoon-side resorts (the Contemporary and Grand Floridian), the ibis and lizards that were everywhere, and the monorail. We could also see the fireworks at night.

It was absolutely glorious! In fact we spent a whole day there, our feet and legs too tired to go on, renting a boat and eschewing our dinner reservations for pizza, mojitos and fireworks from the balcony. It was tough, but we managed.

The boating happened again. It was necessary. I drove, TR took many photos, and we shared (sort of - I got carried away) a Mai Tai when we got back. A lovely afternoon.

And look what was waiting on the bed for us the first day! We loved our room attendant, Sylvia. She also left us what we named The Towel Princess, and a cute towel dog who I neglected to photograph. We loved Sylvia.

It would have been perfect if not for the adjoining door. Know what happens when you have an adjoining door at the Happiest Place On Earth?

Small children.

Well, a little bit of imperfection just highlights the good stuff, right?

Right?!

Once we had our stuff sorted, it was time to head out and start experiencing the parks themselves!

First, though...

Dinner.

Kona Cafe is part of the Polynesian, and we ate dinner and breakfast there twice. Dinner was the same thing both times because oh my...

Tuna Oscar**
Served with Fried Green Tomatoes,
Tempura-fried Jumbo Lump Crab,
and Wasabi Hollandaise

**That is not my picture. The thing I love about Disney best is the Disney Freaks. There are literally photographs of everything we ate there, taken by other people. This a) shows the consistency of deliciousness available there and b) shows that people are insane. I'm insane too, I just didn't have a good camera with me so *my* picture of the Tuna Oscar was atrocious. Just so you know.

Yeah. Twice.

For desert the first night, in celebration of a week of not having to be an adult in any capacity if I didn't feel like it, I got the most ridiculous desert on the menu.

The Kona Cone.

Again, not my photo. As evidenced by the copyright. Duh!

This is a waffle cone. Filled with two scoops, one vanilla, one chocolate. With a chocolate Mickey in it. And sprinkles. And M&Ms. And cotton candy.

Who would feed this to their child? Seriously!

It was pretty awesome.

It was a good thing I loaded up on the sugar though, because we had a long night ahead of us...

Epcot at last!!

There's no way I can go into full detail about our time at Epcot. There was too much. The first and last ride at Epcot for me was Spaceship Earth. I was completely blown away by the detail and everything else, and was a weepy mess by the end. That happened a few times actually, most notably the Hall of Presidents, American Adventure and Last Day rides.

Okay, there's no Last Day ride. But I was bummin', and there may have been hormonal imbalances going on, so there.

So since I can't quite detail everything for you, I'll sum up. During our week, we experienced all of the following at least once.

• Air conditioning pit stops.
• Test Track at midnight.
• Mission Space is not for the faint of heart, but if you're going to do it, do the orange line and grab a sick sack.
• Stupid Judy!
  
• The fountain of a thousand oversprays! So welcome on a hot day. And they were all hot days.
• The Land Pavilion... baby alligators, feeding fish, hydroponic instruction, Farmer Mickey, the best salad ever on Earth and SOARIN'! I loved that ride so much.
  
• Turtle Talk is the coolest thing ever.
• The store in Japan was enormous.
• Canadian steaks and soup and Tropical Mojitos.
• Strawberry Oolong Tea Slushies in China.
• Orange Cream Vodka Slushies in France.
• Margarita Slushies in Mexico.
• German beer by the murrfurrin' quart. (Yes we pretty much drank our way through Disney. Vacations RULE.)

The detail on all the buildings blew my mind, and Hidden Mickeys are EVERYWHERE. I got a little obsessed actually, I started seeing them even when we weren't actually at Disney. Like in the fan at the hotel on Hutchinson Island. And in the fields on the way home on the plane. I think I have a problem.

So that was Epcot. Not really, but you get the idea.

Well, I think that's enough for one day... I have at least 3 more blog posts I can squeeze out of this trip! There's Magic Kingdom! Animal Kingdom! The beach! It's all coming. If I can remember.

It's all getting hazy...

I think I'd better go back there and do some fact checking.

You know, for accuracy.

Still Finding Sand

Hi guys! I'm back!

I had an incredible vacation. As you can imagine, I'm totally and completely swamped with work and catching up to life.

TR has often told me about how hard it is returning to the "default world". I sort of understood before - it's hard to go off-planet and then try to jump back in - but now I really get it; I haven't disconnected like that... since...

Well, never actually! I've never been that out of touch with the world.

And it was wonderful.

And I want more.

Le sigh.

Anyway I'm back! And I have lots to tell you. Just not today, because holy hell.

I'll just leave you with this for now...

Holy Spontaneous Surprise Clapping Babies, Batman!

So today I get to be part of something awesome.

Jana and Sasha, mutual blog friends of the Famous Formerly Almost Mrs. Dandy, got together and planned an awesome online baby shower! I've never heard of doing this before, and so of course I'm convinced we are the first. Don't burst my bubble if you know different!

They are super cool girls and I'm so grateful to them for inviting me to be part of it.

Click that right there...there should be a whole list of blogs shortly!

We're treating this just like a regular ol' baby shower, too, minus the cake unless you thought ahead like me and are eating a cupcake while typing.

Let's see, what comes first?

Oh right. Games.

Can I confess something to you? I hate Baby Shower games. But this is a traditional baby shower, dammit, so here goes.

First up, the "Don't Say the B-Word Game", wherein you get a safety pin, and lose said safety pin to the diligent attendee who hears you say "baby".

Whoops! Already lost that one... I've said it like 20 times already.

Okay moving on... how about Baby Bingo? Okay I'll start. Clear your Free Space. B-1!

Oh you don't have a board? Hm. I don't either, now that I think about it. Maybe the games will have to wait.

Let's just skip to the best part...

Presents!!!

From Babycakes & Decor, an AWESOME Etsy shop. The Dandys have been calling the Dandyling "Peanut", which is adorable, and look what Mrs. Dandy found for him and put on her extremely convenient registry?!** They even wrapped it sweetly, which makes me feel better about not having something ready to wrap and send myself.

**If you want to send her something too, email me privately and I'll give you her name - gotta protect the innocent!

"Wait, Mimi," you're saying. "Don't you have the Kraft Krazy running in your veins? Where's the handmade goodness?"

Well, it's coming. I'm working on it. DON'T PRESSURE ME!

No seriously, I have something fun in mind that I obviously can't tell you about but I can guarantee The Dandys will like it! I hope! I'll share pictures when it's done.

Now that we're done with the games that don't work and comparing presents, it's on to the most important part.

Advice.

My first bit of advice is don't listen to any of it too closely. Everyone is going to have things to offer, bits of wisdom, experiences to share, and your experiences will be the same sometimes and vastly different at other times. Every single pregnancy, birth and baby is different - that's why it's so much fun!

Having said that, here are some things I remember about when The Kid was a tiny thing.

• Breastfeeding is awesome. Your nipples are going to hurt for a little while though, so have some nice cold packs ready to go! (No really, you have no idea how powerful a vacuum a baby's mouth is - one time in the doctor's office, she was hungry but the doctor was coming in, so I let her suck on my chin - don't ask me why. The resulting hickey took 2 weeks to subside.) I read somewhere that cold, wet tea bags are a good option, but honestly who wants cold wet teabags stuck to them?! I'm sure there's a fetish out there, but for this purpose I'd say go with a little ziplock, filled with frozen peas, covered in a little bit of cloth. It's important not to use paper towels or flannel or anything that might leave a trace. Trust me on this. A handkerchief will do nicely, folded up so you don't freezer-burn your tatas.

• Bottles are equally okay! I was only able to breastfeed for a few months because I had to go back to work and it just wasn't a viable option. You've seen photos of my Amazon... it clearly did not stunt her growth. The point is, do whatever works for you! Others' opinions are exactly that... opinions.
  

• Sleep is important. Make sure you two take turns taking care of him, because not only are you both going to *want* to, you're going to need to in order to stay sane.

• Couple time is important too. Let your mom or another trust friend babysit! You and B go out and have an awesome dinner. Eat cheese. Drink wine. So many couples make the mistake of suddenly becoming a threesome and not remembering where that threesome started! It's okay to leave Peanut home with a sitter now and again.

• Germs are okay. They're even important! Sanitizing is important, too, but don't overdo it. Play pass-the-baby at Christmas, it's okay! If he gets sick, it's okay too. He'll get better. Building up those antibodies is important!
  

• Speaking of which, medicine is a good thing! Lots of people have differing opinions on immunizations and such. I wouldn't presume to tell you what to do, but I *will* tell you The Kid has had every immunization imaginable, and other than getting a severe case of Sassy Teen, she's been absolutely fine. Immunizations aside, though, trust me on this one... BABY IBUPROFEN. USE IT. If he doesn't have an allergy, it's SO the way to go. It will bring a fever down and relieve teething pain in 15 minutes flat. Tylenol doesn't do that! Of course, this is just my advice. Again, don't use it if it doesn't work for you.
  

• On the subject teething... It's awful. Their noses run, they cry, their ears hurt, they run fevers... give him medicine. They say if an adult went through teething they'd die from the pain. Baby Anbesol, Ibuprofen or Tylenol if that works... whatever it takes! And here's an awesome thing I discovered! When he's doing the Two-Year Molar thing, hand him a frozen waffle (younger than that and the waffle might be too much in the way of foodstuffs). He'll thank you for it. It's cold, tasty, and the ridges feel AWESOME. Ever have a sinus headache, and find just the right part of your cheekbones to push so it relieves the pain? Yeah, like that.

• Accidents are going to happen. Don't worry too much. Babies and small children are unbelievable resilient. And wiggly. I discovered The Kid could roll over when she plopped down into the open sock drawer in which I was rummaging at the bottom of her changing dresser. Lesson learned! One hand remained on her belly from then on if I had to multitask. You learn as you go along, and they learn with you! Remind me to tell you about the time I dislocated The Kid's elbow. Twice. Lesson learned... Nursemaid's Elbow is not something the doctor made up to make you feel better!
  

• Sometimes, big accidents happen. This doesn't make you a bad parent! Broken bones and road rash are par for the course, unfortunately... kids are daredevils! Know where your insurance card is at all times, and keep the kid's doctors phone numbers in your cell phone.

Is your head spinning yet? Okay, okay, tell you what. I'll just wrap it up with one more bit of advice.

• Trust yourselves. "What, that's it?" you're asking. Yes! Trust yourselves. You are a smart woman. B is a smart man - he married you, didn't he? You two will figure it out. If you want advice, trust yourselves enough to ask one of us Mamas. Just don't take it as Bible Truth - take what makes sense to you, leave the rest, and go with your instincts! There's no instruction book. You do what feels right, what feels like it's best. That's your best compass.
  

Okay I said I'd quit with the advice, but I want to just say one more thing.

• It's okay if you don't do everything perfectly. I swear. Peanut will remember hugs and kisses, his favorite teddy bear, his favorite book, car rides where he throws up spectacularly, and traditions of holiday joy - these are the things that stick!
  

Good luck, guys... you're going to be awesome.

Oh, and Mrs. Dandy? The diet's almost over. I promise.

So Much Time, So Little To Do... Wait, Rewind!

Ah, my weekly post. Is this how it is now? Apparently.

I feel better knowing that some of my favorite blogstresses (Mrs. Dandy & Finny to name two) don't post every day, either, but still!

I think that because I've been writing SO much for my English Composition class that I *feel* like I've been writing every day... which I have, just not in here. Which I need to fix.

Anyway.

So it's Wednesday! It's 8:30AM and in about 50 hours (read: not soon enough) I will be...

Wait, sing it with me...

"Leeeeeeavin'... on a jet plane! Don't know when I'll be back agaaaaain..."

Well, I DO know, but you know what I mean. And now you have an earworm. It's my gift to you, no need to thank me.

So! My weekend, to sum up, this weekend I...

* Went to a Doctor Party
* Filled my backyard with dust (well, TR did)
* Stuck things in my ears and set them on fire
* Watched Disney videos from a by-gone age
* Celebrated an anniversary of gestational completion (Happy Birthday, TR!)
* Held a small, crying dark-haired baby
* Got 100% on my Math quiz... at 11:45PM (high fives all around please)

All in one weekend. I was exhausted.

Our friend Chris graduated with his Doctorate just lately. We're all very proud of him, and this past Saturday a few folks got together to celebrate! TR was pretty bushed still from his journey, having just gotten back the night before, so we only stayed for a couple of hours, but it was really nice to be able to say congrats, and I met the most fantastically chill cat ever. Enormous, black, and even small children did nothing to disturb the calm.

Sunday, TR suggested we do some ear candling. Have you heard of this? (No pun intended.)

There is a lot of literature saying it's bad for you, but equally as much touting the benefits. Being a fan of the holistic approach, I figured why not? I already can hardly hear, not like I'm going to damage my eardrums further (thanks Groovie - 20 years and counting!).

Ear candling is definitely an exercise in trust. You lay there, your head and eyes covered with a towel, a lit candle crammed in your ear and another person poised above you with sharp scissors and a bowl of water. I, of course, felt perfectly safe - TR being TR - but still!

And you would not *believe* the crap that came out of my head. I want to do it some more, not only because I want to see what else I can pull out (carrots, potatoes, possibly small mammals) but also because it felt AMAZING. It has the official Mimi Rickets seal of approval, but don't do it alone is all I'm going to say. And do it lying down, not sitting up like the picture shows. Trust me.

While we stuck flaming muslin wands in our ears, we also watched two videos full of those old Disney educational videos, which I love. There's something so delightful about the music, the saturated color... and Uncle Walt, of course. He's just *excited* about everything! It's no wonder he did what he did.

I always loved the nature videos, they were so lovely! The DVDs TR found were full of WWII and Atomic Age videos. By the powers of You Tube, I give you...

THE WINGED SCOURGE!

Malaria blows, and mosquitoes suck. I made a funny!

OUR FRIEND THE ATOM

Part 1 of 5... you can watch the rest online!

Sunday was also TR's birthday! We didn't make a big fuss, at his request, but a bunch of people did meet for dinner thanks to his brother's quick work.

And I got to meet Moira, owner of the fabulous plaid bibs! She's just a bitty thing, with a full head of black hair and lungs that put Maria Callas to shame. She had had JUST ABOUT ENOUGH when they showed up, having spent a full day getting passed around no doubt, and just really wanted to be swaddled. And I almost made off with her. I think I made her parents nervous, actually. I'm such a spaz.

Sunday was also the deadline to take Quiz #2 for my magical math class. I had to finish it by 11:59 PM... and at 11:45PM I scored 100%, thus proving that - at least occasionally - I can still function like the high school student I once was.

I'm really learning, too, though how much I retain is up for debate. For now, however, I can solve the following, and did.

On a 255 mile trip, Gary traveled at an average speed of 70 mph, got a speeding ticket, and then traveled at 60 mph the remainder of the trip. If the trip took 4.5 hours and the speeding ticket stop took 30 minutes, how long did Gary speed before getting stopped?

Can you answer it? I CAN. I am totally tooting my own horn, because that sucker was tough.

This week so far has been full of getting ahead on school work (who wants to do Algebra on vacation!?), watching The Kid practice her skating, packing, and daydreaming about Florida.

I can't WAIT to get outta here.

Happy Wednesday!

Hither And Yon... On Fire!

First, a news break... to all of my out-of-state family and friends, I'm okay! The fire is creating a ton of smoke and ash down here, and breathing is kind of rough at the moment, but I'm okay. Lots of folks have lost their homes, but there's been NO loss of life! That's the important thing.

I can't believe it's Wednesday. Where the hell did he week go already!? Oh yeah... long weekend.

Let's see, where to begin!?

Friday night The Kid and I hung out at home, had some dinner and just relaxed awhile. It was really nice, and in retrospect a good thing since the rest of the weekend was busy busy busy!!

Saturday morning was spent doing lots of homework. I know I bitch about it a lot, but truthfully it's not so bad - there's just a TON of it! I'm also learning, though, not only about fractions (which are useful even though they're making me nutty) but also about how I am now as a student.

I have to have a plan.

When I was a youngin', I could go by the seat of my pants. Now, I need a checklist! I've also learned that I remember more effectively now, so that's a real bonus! The math book is helping with that - lots of repetitive questions which is awesome...practice makes perfect! The teacher is also fabulous.

I'm continuing to enjoy my writing class, though it sometimes seems a bit redundant. There's a lot of prep work, and some of it seems unnecessary, but I think it's because I'm a more experienced writer than the intended audience. That sounds snotty, I know! What I mean is that whereas the book is intended for a fresh-from-High-School first or second year student, I've been in the working world and writing for personal enjoyment for years, growing as a writer and learning by doing.

I think what I've enjoyed most so far is the excuse to sit and WRITE. I just write, the whole time! Some of it isn't stuff I'd choose to write about, but it's all fodder, yes?

Right now we're starting on our Personal Essay. It's basically a 4-page blog entry. I think I can, I think I can!

So that was my Saturday. Also most of my Sunday, and a good chunk of Monday. But I did other stuff too! I swear!

Saturday afternoon I put together dinner to take down to Chris & Robyn's house. Chris set up his computer so it showed on his TV, and we were able to watch Burning Man as it happened! I made my oh-so-famous baked pasta and a salad, which everyone enjoyed. I had to leave before the actual lighting, so I'm hoping to run across some photos...

Why did I have to leave, you ask?

Because I had to pick The Kid up from a party. A HIGH SCHOOL party. With boys.

Ug.

Sunday was Derby practice, and you'll be glad to know that things are really looking up! After emailing with her coach, I found out that a) she can skate at the local outdoor hockey rink - which I can see from my front step - with her regular wheels (meaning no shelling out for specialty wheels or something), b) she, the coach, and several other highly skilled skaters took ages to pass their skills tests and c) there was a special one-on-one training going on Monday morning.

I'm really glad I emailed her!

So Sunday early in the day, we headed to the hockey rink. The Kid worked hard, and I was able to work some good techniques out with her, like using her ab muscles and not her back to hold her form - it hadn't occurred to her, and it made a huge difference in her confidence level. I came up with a great thing for her to remember, too, when trying to think about how her body should be positioned. One of her favorite Halloween movies is Hocus Pocus (I love it too!). At one point in the movie, the witches in question hunker down and stalk forward after their intended prey. I realized that's exactly what she should be doing! Forward, aggressive...it made for a great touchstone and she's been using it!

After our mini practice, we headed to TR's to check on the kitties. I spied em', but they were pouting. I scooped the boxes, refilled the food and water, and talked to them for a few minutes. I knew they were there and figured a little human voice couldn't hurt, especially one they know!

Afterward, we went and joined George & Elise, TR's brother and his wife, for lunch and hanging out in their very cute house. We ate at DJ's Berkley Cafe, which was lovely! The Kid had the most delicious-looking club sandwich... we were bummed when we realized we left half of it in George's fridge, but it's just as well. We still had to get to practice, and it was HOT! It wouldn't have survived.

At practice, it became evident that the rink-practice and the mirror-work from the night before (another tip from the coaches) had us on the right track. Her instructors made a point to tell us that she was much improved! Score. I feel better (because it's all about ME right?!) because I was able to give her assistance in some way. I was feeling really helpless about it all - I'm supposed to be able to help my kid... and I did!

After practice, it was up to Greeley for us. I spent a little time on homework again - it's my new hobby for right now - but we also had a delicious dinner of home-made pork green chili, which was beyond spectacular! (Thanks guys!)

I watched the Temple burn out on the playa, and wished TR well, then hit the sack. I was beat from all the heat and driving!

Monday morning, despite the holiday, we were up early and, after a delicious breakfast of crepes courtesy of Nova, we were out the door and back to Rollerpunks for the special session practice. It was totally worth it. The Kid is now feeling super confident, has a concrete list of things to work on - it's short, but noteworthy, and we're going to work on it tonight.

After the practice, we did yet more driving, and headed down to Parker to spend some time with Melissa and her family. It was lovely! She bought a metric ton on ribs, made her own sauce (tangy, spicy and AWESOME) and we chowed down contentedly. Though Parker isn't too far from the practice space, it's a good 50 miles from home, so we took off not long after eating, though I would rather have lingered!

We were able to see the plume from the fires as we drove home - scary stuff.

The Kid and I were pretty wiped after our long weekend, so it was straight to bed and a dreamless sleep for both of us.

Tuesday morning, I got up, got ready for the day, got The Kid off to school and was just heading to work when suddenly my phone beeped... "Reminder: Doc @ 9:40".

Good thing I put it on my calendar! I would have been in Boulder, at my desk before I realized.

Since I had a couple of hours to kill, and was tired of homework, I got some sewing in. I've already seen that I can get really obsessive about the school stuff; I know that if I don't fit some Kraft Krazy in there somewhere I will go Konventionally Krazy. Nobody wants that!

I plugged in the sewing machine, fixed one of TR's favorite sheets (the edging was almost entirely ripped off), altered a tank top... it was like taking a deep breath. I MUST make sure I fit more of that in.

Remind me, ok?

Okay this is going to be really corny. You've been warned.

(corn)

The best part of Tuesday?

TR called.

He's out, and safe, and mostly in one piece. His duds worked out wonderfully, he had a (mostly) awesome time, and is on his way home.

Welcome back, TR... I missed you!

(/corn)

What?! I warned you! Quit rolling your eyes.

And yay for HTML nerditude!

Last but not least, I am happy to report that although it's going to cost me $1200, I now need no longer feel guilty about going to Disney World without The Kid. This March, she's going with her Orchestra to play a festival there, and they get to spend 3 solid days running around the parks! I worked out the bucks, it'll be tight but do-able.

I told her, though... whatever fund-raising activity they've got planned (and they do), she should plan on participating to the fullest extent possible. I'm willing to pay, but she can help that way!

Countdown to Florida:

9 days, 1 hour and 13 minutes until takeoff.

Woohoo!

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

I will post all about my exciting weekend of driving hither and yon soon, but in the meantime, I give you the funniest photo I've seen in awhile!

All your memes are belong to us!

I love memes anyway, but this just really made my morning! And it's hypnotic... you look and look and it just goes deeper and deeper... it's like Inception: The Picture. I guess... I haven't actually seen the movie.

See how my brain works today? This is why the post shall wait.

Happy Tuesday... real live post soon!

The Process

Things I've learned this week (week 2 of School: The Time-Suck)...

Online learning takes way more time than regular in-class learning. I can't imagine this is not true. I'm doing okay but...

Wow.

I'm looking forward to the time when The Kid can get herself to school and back, and I can take traditional classes, because I think I will enjoy that environment a lot more.

ANYWAY, I really did learn something besides fractions these last two weeks!

(Clearly it wasn't how to tell a cohesive story. That comes later. You hope.)

The "fastwriting" continues to be my favorite part, mostly because as you do this you discover things you didn't already know. This has always been my Achilles heel - doing things I don't already know how to do. It sounds arrogant to say that I can figure most things out and do them well, but...

It's true! I can't help it!

So when faced with something I *don't* know (like fractions) I get very frustrated with myself.

This often happens when I sit down to write... even this blog. You may have noticed me floundering around a time or two, posting videos rather than writing something... that was me not knowing what to talk about, or how to articulate what I *did* want to say.

This method really gets the creative juices flowing, and I have found myself not only with lots to say (I can't write fast enough with some of the prompts) but also with *new information* - things I didn't read about, or sit down and contemplate, but which came unbidden as I wrote.

I discovered, for example, that while I am still the perfectionist I've always been, and still seek praise, my idea of perfectionism has changed greatly, and though I still enjoy the motivation of being appreciated by others (don't we all?), the praise I seek most often is my own.

Hm.... I think I just started my personal essay! :)

So! Enough about school. I don't want it to become my life (tooooooo late).

I'm feeling a little bit better about the whole Derby thing, though not great. I'm really going to try to back off, although I did send a note to her coach asking for some advice, and to hopefully prevent some serious hurt feelings. Their team shirts are in, and I'm not sure The Kid is on the team since she hasn't passed her skills test. How embarrassing would that be for her?! So I figured I'd ask in advance. The coaches haven't been super clear on all this, which is understandable since this is the first year and they only see us once a week. I don't know what will happen, which is probably half of why I'm so anxious about it all, but I know The Kid will be okay in the end.

I hope.

I know disappointment and embarrassment is part of life, but how can I let it happen if there's something I can do to prevent it? She's had plenty of disappointment already. She's definitely not sheltered.

On deck this weekend...

• Noshing and watching The Man burn with some of my favorite people and probably being slightly depressed for a little while - I so wish I was there in person, but I'm enjoying Camp Envy at least! The Nut compels us! (Don't ask.)
  
• Writing and Math homework (OH GOD WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS).
• A trip to the mall to scout non-jean pants for Florida - I hear it's swampy.
• Visiting with TR's kitties and giving them a good brushing.
• Trying to just be supportive and not so worried at practice Sunday.
• Hanging with The Fabulous Greeley Crew.
  
• Sleeping in on Monday - yay for 3-day weekends!

Happy Friday!

PS... Here's something I liked today.