Summertime

Summer is so so busy and so so expensive, amirite?

The two older boys are in a day camp all summer. This will be the last year Brother is eligible to be in camp. Frankly, I had to hem and haw and hedge him in this year. I just am not comfortable with him doing NOTHING all summer. This way they take field trips and swim everyday and he is with kids around his own age. So he can tell them corny jokes all day.

He has taken to listening to podcasts of comedy shows on his ipod. Another thing I am not so sure of. But he lives to retell the jokes and laugh and laugh. It actually spawns a lot of fun moments when we are both cracking up as well as opportunities to discuss race and religion and why some things are stereotypes and why some things just aren't funny. I feel like it is a positive experience.

I still need to sign up the kids for swimming lessons. I feel like Brother is finally old enough to where I am wondering if there is any true benefit to it. He passed the swim test at camp. I don't think he particularly wants to take any more lessons. We will see what the instructor has to say.  Jelly, on the other hand, NEEDS LESSONS.  He is not the natural swimmer Brother is and I am kind of embarrassed about his skill level. Scooter needs to start as well. They both had lessons before, but we skipped last summer because I didn't have any time to think about it....

Why? Because my job takes every ounce of brainpower I have. I have a confession: After starting this job, I sometimes forget to pay the water bill. And the babysitter. I am very neurotic about paying bills on time and in full, so this is a pretty big blow to my ego. I have no idea why these particular things are slipping through the cracks, but it makes me wonder what else I am missing while thinking about writing schedules and planning programs.

Another thing about my current job is that it makes life zoom by. I live in the future. I can barely register it is 2013, because I think so much about 2014. I have a hard time remembering the current date. I guess the long and the short of it is that I need to find a better work/life balance. You can give me tips. (SaLy, I'm looking at you.)

Scooter is getting so tall. All the boys are growing up so much. Honey is starting grad school in the fall. The house is a disaster, but we are mostly happy.

Snippets

• I am cooking a couple of chicken breasts, dumping some sort of smoked red pepper soup on the top of them and serving the whole mess over pasta. I call it: Dinner.
• I just had to buy a copy of the Outsiders because the library didn't have any available for Brother's homework. Not that he is actually going to DO the homework.
• Jelly is inordinately annoyed because Scooter is wearing big boy underpants nearly nonstop and yet still gets M&Ms every time he potties. Jelly wants M&Ms, too. He tells me, "I peed at school!"
• Yesterday, Honey and I exchanged small gifts for May Day.  I got him some fruity wine, which was quite good. He bought me some pink and white calla lilies. It was kind of fun. I can get behind a religion that has flowers, booze, and sex at holiday time. 
• I was off today so I went and got my hair cut and took Brother for the first step to starting braces. Then we went to get frozen yogurt and to the bookstore. It was pretty nice. I am trying not to be mad at him for all the crap he is pulling lately. Anger is a useless and impotent emotion when it comes to power struggles. It is hard to admit there is not a whole lot I can do about him refusing to do schoolwork.
• Scooter has snitched a measuring tape and is measuring everything. Two year olds are cute.
• Jelly's newest passion is video games. He plays on the Wii so much more than he used to. I am still the only person to use the Xbox that we got them for Christmas though. Brother says it is because I won't buy him any "cool" games. Heh.
• I have promised to buy him some expensive headphones that he wants if he makes honor roll, though. It would be worth it. 
• Honey is in the midst of taking final steps to ensure we will not have any more babies. Because of the finality of this, I feel death encroaching. What does one do when there are no more babies?
• Sigh. 

Happier

I would be happier if:

• My house were cleaner.
• I had more patience.
• Reading were a form of aerobic exercise. 
• The general public was less "general public-y."
• My kids were more obedient.
• The yard was cleaned up.
• I was less chunky.
• I was more productive in every facet of my life.
• People ceased to tell me "no" without good reasons (ie those I agree with.)

Now, I need to determine which of these are actually important and which of these are just red herrings and which of these are actually not feasibly accomplished in conjunction with the items denoted "actually important."

Reads

Twitter was abuzz with Where'd You Go, Bernadette? and so I ran to Technical Services and stole a copy, just as fast as they could get the spine labels on.  I did like it. I thought the device was really unique and interesting and I liked the characters a lot. Highly recommended.

I just finished Seraphina last night. I thought this was very well written with a lot of unique perspectives in it. It had elements in it that I had never seen before in a fantasy novel, which is thought provoking. It makes you sit up and pay closer attention. It is always fun to read something that feels a bit outside of the formula. It reminded me a lot of Daughter of Smoke and Bone with a dash of Kristin Cashore.

I have also recently read Barbara Kingsolver's newest work, Flight Behavior. Oh, I really loved this book and desperately wish for the time to listen to it on audio. It was much like Prodigal Summer. Same setting in Appalachia. Same themes. Different tale. Man, the characters were so good. And the message. Ah! I really loved it. If you liked Prodigal Summer, you will want to kiss Barbara for giving the world this book.

This month in the book club, we are reading Christopher Moore's Fool, which is brilliant and dirty all at the same time. It's more like Sacre Bleu or Lamb than his other work and I am set to start rereading it today. (I am slightly worried about the book club's reaction to the bawdy parts...which is basically the whole book.)

What about you? Read anything good lately?

Project/Kiddos

Sometimes I just need something. I have to have a goal or something I am working on. (Or maybe lots of things. You would think the whole librarian/motherhood thing would be enough. But no.) I get anxious. I get antsy. I need to DO something. Preferably something easily accomplished in a reasonable amount of time. My attention span isn't want it once was. So, I have picked a project: Going on a cruise with Honey. This will require money management, travel planning including getting passports (not necessary, but I don't want to be stranded with no way home), and a little self improvement before I go. Basically, I want a new swimsuit...in a smaller size. So! Mission set out. Now, time to accomplish.

Funnily enough, I get this almost exact same feeling when I don't have a book to read. Weird, right?

~~~~~

• Brother is so annoying when he does the exact same annoying things that I do. Why is it not annoying when I do it? Oh, wait.
• Scooter is practically completely potty trained. So, yay. Due to this and sleeping through the night, we can see some sort of light at the end of the tunnel and so some snippage will be taking place. Preferably before we go on a cruise.
• Jelly had the barfing flu yesterday, but is much better today. The kid has serious control for a 6 year old. Only one surprise in bed in the middle of the night, but after that, made it to the bucket.  We followed Swistle's method. Worked.
• Scooter is now starting to play some games on the computer. When I am teaching him how to click the mouse, I am reminded of teaching full grown adults how to do this same thing at work. It is kind of surreal.