Mother May I?

No, it's not May yet, but it's close enough. According to something I read in The Boleyn Inheritance last night, May is a time for putting off old things and taking on new ones (a la Henry VIII and his wives.) For me, it's more a matter of taking on something old again, but making it new. Again, close enough.

"Chateau Sur Mer"

We took our first actual vacation ever this year. Yes, we've taken time off to go visit family and friends before, but this was the first time we've ever gone somewhere just for the sake of going there. It was SO relaxing. Our destination was a beach house on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. (Yes, there were a LOT of stairs!) I'm not going to wax eloquent about it. I'll just post some pics now, and probably some more in future posts.

Hatteras Island Lighthouse

I'm getting back into the swing of normal life again, which (in my usual style) involves trying to do way too many things at once. One of my goals is to make a set of alphabet beanbags for Craft Hope's donation to the Liberia Orphan Education Project. It's a great project to get the kids involved in, as the sewing is very simple. I plan to use stencils from Dick Blick and fabric paint to do the letters. Looking online, I was despairing of finding anything affordable until I found those, and joy of joys, MuNKi can pick them up at the store in Detroit on a work day.

Prawn woke up barfy today. :-( I had her make a nest on my bed after a bath, and Enya immediately decided to keep her company.

Kitties make even pukiness better!

She just woke up, and is feeling a lot more chipper. Never underestimate the value of kitty therapy.

Kitty therapy x 4 = WIN!

An Inauspicious Day

In Chinese philosophy/theology, there are days that are auspicious for certain endeavours, and other days that are less so. Today, March 19th, is a particularly inauspicious day for our family, as it's the day my father died, as well as the day that MuNKi choked last yr, requiring the Heimlich to save his life (thank you, Erica!)

Today we played hooky from TKD in the morning, because we were so behind in everything else due to extensive yard work this week. (A result of the gorgeous weather.) After I decided not to take the kids, I realised what day it was, and silently breathed a sigh of relief for the avoidance of whatever driving disaster we may have ended up in had we gone. We agreed that my dad would have highly approved of our schedule-breaking hooky behaviour.

MuNKi went off to take part in a BIG presentation at work, dressed (as we would later realise) in one of my dad's suits. He ate his lunch with full supervision in the office and did not choke even once.

I took the kids to the library for volunteering as usual for Thursdays, but when I saw Grumpy Newspaper Man in the Teen section, I got worried about the Littles, who were in the kid section. Usually Grumpy Newspaper Man stays in his wing chair by the fireplace, thus leaving my Littles free of his candy-giving, worriesome-question-asking behaviours. Today, noting that he was on the prowl, and also taking note of the date, I uprooted from the teen section (where you can plug your laptop in) and took my laptop over by the Littles in the Kid Section, passing GNMan on the way. He was already interacting with some tiny kids, but their dad was there, so I felt comfortable moving on to my own crew.

I got hold of MuNKi upon arriving home, and determined that he was still alive (he was supposed to call me after lunch, but is notoriously bad about remembering to call me back, ever, LOL!) and not too long thereafter, he arrived home safe and sound.

We played hooky from night class and sparring, too. I just wasn't in the mood, which isn't really like me, but what can I say? I felt guilty, but it passed (all too quickly, as Mr. Bennet would say.)

And that was March 19th. There's an hour and 5 minutes remaining. I think we'll make it. In the meantime, a weirdly coincidental song that found my sister today:

Overheard

"You can tell we're geeks because we're composing Dr. Who episodes in Latin."

"Are you still employed?"

"Mater in horto herbum ingneus."

"Run!"

"Gavin Rossdale!" (*gasp*)

"My calves are sore!"

"It's Wednesday!" (exultant sigh of happiness)

"It really does look like a body."

"I got a great Bigfoot picture through the smoke."

"My calves are sore!"

"I still have a job."

"Which one of these is Jimmy Hoffa?" (there was a weird correspondence between a newly resurrected newspaper/headline/photo and our family's running joke)

"The Master!" (*swoon*)

"Eheu! Dominus ad est!"

"My calves are sore!"

"Euge, more like!"

"Where are the binoculars?!?!"

"Why is the rice purple?"

"The world's biggest land animal!"

"Lara, put fwoaty cwoaffee beens in tha potatuh coolah!"

"I'm sharpening my wit."

"Want some of my nutritious slop?"

"I'm covered in chocolate."