Coming up on Re-Election Day. 10/29/22

We are trying to sort out math. I don't think I've gotten the full story, yet. Boop is not in the class with her regular classmates, and she's disappointed. I'm trying to understand what happened and how to help. Maybe she made a miscalculation <ahem>; maybe she was just a bit lazy; maybe a little of both. However, I think we can still get her back on track if she doesn't fall too far behind. I'm never sure how intrusive to be, but my perception is that she was placed in a math class that was significantly below her ability. 

We are preparing for Halloween and the election. It's been a while since we've done much to support candidates. The legislature has been taken over by another party since I've moved here, and they changed the districts. So, our area used to have 5 representatives, but the party changed our more urban district to have 5 single representative districts, meaning that I can't vote for the people that I used to. No matter, I still support the 5 folks in my area. And when the call came out to help one of our former reps and friends in a parade, we were happy to help. 

Hot Stuff. 10/17/22

We got our hair chopped off. Boop decided that she wanted to be Gretchen from Mean Girls for Halloween. I was relieved that Gretchen was a motivator for the shorter hair and know it will be easier to manage our various scalp maladies. Then, we went on to the Goodwill to find an appropriate Gretchen outfit. We will need to engineer it a bit, but we feel pretty good about our choices.

The house is abuzz with news that I was wrong about callbacks. Boop got a speaking part in the play. The theatre company really doesn’t need to worry about doing much publicity, as Boop is sure to tell everyone in town (and surrounding states) that she is going to be Grandma Georgina. Fortunately, Boop, much like Grandma, also likes grapes; so it will not be a stretch for her artistically.

Twice in one week to our fabulous downtown; it must be a record. We went to see our friends' 8 year olds in their first band. Heroes from Bowie was a solid choice, and V was a strong lead guitarist. Her bandmate was a whacky drummer and nearly poked a dad's eye out when he threw his drumsticks. At 8 years old, it all could have gone terribly wrong, but you know, they were very tuneful, kept good time, and were all playing the same song. I've heard pub bands who could not claim as much. 

Boop wanted to stay a bit longer at the recital/show when she saw some kids from her school that she knew. I am glad we did, and I am a newly-minted fan of the Ghost Peppers. These 9 year olds are destined for fame. Either they will set the rock world on fire or burn down the neighborhood, but they will do something big. Boop is going to try to find them at school today to make sure they participate in the school talent show. It's funny to see a bunch of professor's kids interpret rock music. They grow up knowing how to navigate college life; so none of them have much investment in the typical draws of rock fandom. And they have all of the resources of any sort of education that they want. 

While there, we surreptitiously dropped off a couple of books to the library, which were months overdue. I think we are still missing one. I need to bite the bullet and just pay them for it. It's not in the spirit of a public library to keep other kids from having access to books. Our other trip downtown was a few days ago. We had a health booth at the Arts Fair, and our coloring pages for kiddies were a hit! As I guess the parents understood, we were just generally sending kindness. 

And we continue to send healing thoughts to those in the hinterlands. And we hope that we see our constituents in the coming year, even though things got cancelled for us, and others were rescheduled. 

Stormy Weather 10/8/2022

It's another semi-annual kids consignment sale on the books. The prep is crazy and all-consuming, but it's such a relief when it's all over. It got me behind in some editorial consulting; so I had to try to catch up this weekend. Another grant review planned. Some extra money. I've had my eye on Portugal for some time. It's one of the countries in central Europe that I haven't visited, and I spent a few months trying to learn Portuguese on Duolingo. The consignment money, along with my consulting money, should make for a decent trip, if I could just commit.

Boop has started another round of auditions and practices for a local play. I let her pick one thing, and aside from flute in school band, which doesn’t require much from me, she wants to do acting. She lost out on her student council bid, but maybe the quality of her campaign has helped people to see her in a new light. So, now she has thrown herself into learning about all of the annoying and bratty little kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. How many times have I heard that she wants a ‘bean feast?’ She didn't get a call back, but if she keeps at it, she will get there. I love how Boop keeps putting herself out there, even though she's had mixed results.

More adventures in topomax for this struggling momma. Among other funky sensations, my hands and feet felt like they were perpetually asleep. Good times. I got a promotion at work, and in my first meeting with students, I almost cried. Embarrassing, and I apologized profusely. A few days later, I dropped an apple at church and said the d*** word in frustration, in front of the pastor's wife no less. I could only laugh and apologize. She knew my challenge. We had already had the discussion about topomax, well known for the 10 point IQ drop in her psychiatry work. Fortunately, the neurologist backed me down to a lower dose. My eyes are still a bit psychedelic; the funky migraine aura light show continues. Last word from the neurology nurse, it could take 3 months for the topomax to make a dent on the migraine auras, and I'm thoroughly unimpressed so far. 

Netflix and Chill. 9/21/22

First Day of School

I've never seen Netflix originals, but I guess they're bad. And I guess my writing is right up there but probably worse. So, what did Boop and I do this weekend? I will say it was a culmination of my poor planning, general grumpiness, and rampant anxiety.

• I dragged Boop back to my hometown for too short of a trip. So that's Boop not happy with me. She went shopping with her Gammy--so that is some redemption. 
• I was hoping to meet up with my cousin at a concert. His sister got her long-term foster child taken away--that morning. By the time he was on his way, I was already gone. I'm old. And the topomax just made me a zombie with a migraine. 
• My FB just churned and churned and would not connect; I did not get to meet up with my friends at the concert. I hadn't seen some of them for like 20 years. You know, I should have planned more in advance to meet up with them before I went. Bad JuJu happens when I am alone at concerts. 
• My fave band was going to cancel due to an injury, but two of the members made a quick trip in. The play list was perfect, and they used much strategery to pull it off. And even brought in a friend to play my fave song. It was completely ridiculous!
• And I was in a situation where I should have been supportive and appreciative and loving, and I was not in the proper frame of mind and let my anxiety win out. 
• And the lice. I try to kill the lice. But the lice win every time. Every time.

So, let's summarize: I suck as a Mom, a cousin, a friend, a writer, a cheerleader (Team Easy E!), and a pestilence eradicator. It’s like the old trope on the Nanny goes: I wonder what new renovation project my therapist will undertake as I try to get this all straightened out.  

Ceramics: It did turn out to be a blue pig.

Boop and Me: Uncovered

Before going on stage for Seussical

 

I get a moustache; she gets a crown. Sometimes life isn't fair.

Talent Show 3/14/22

 

Sigh. 1/30/22

Boop got a gift card for a climbing wall for her birthday, and we finally made the trip with a friend. I guess she wasn't feeling it today. She was anxious about heights, but she made it about half way up the walls anyway. I kept trying to encourage her, but I wasn't doing it the right way, she told me. 

 

She needed to get out. Very cold, below 10 degrees F in the early mornings. A fair bit of snow. It's been kind of miserable for me who is used to more moderate climates. Boop manages a bit better, but I haven't been able to get her out of my bed. With all of the snow days, she just camps out up there playing Roblox and Minecraft. I have to work, but I have been working from home a fair bit. I mean, I work A LOT, just sometimes at the office. I'm still hoping I can get a functioning PC at work. Looking back through emails, I haven't been able to use Adobe reliably on my PC at work since last summer; apparently the 8 year old PC just can't manage a newer operating system. Eventually, the stars will align, and I will be compatible with 2020.

Boop got COVID in January and tested positive the day we were supposed to fly out to California. I had a borderline fever on New Year's Eve. Boop never had a fever. It was hardly discernable from a bad cold/allergies. Thankfully, we were both fully vaccinated, and I was boosted. I never tested positive: either I had something else, or my timing for testing was off. Boop did test positive. Although school started back on January 3rd, Boop has barely been to school for a handful of days since before Christmas between ailments and school cancelations. 

I've learned not to be optimistic about people where COVID is concerned. Our area has a high COVID count, yet a majority of folks are not wearing masks. So many in the hospital have not been vaccinated--by choice. We all know that COVID is endemic, now. Somehow, I'm going to have to figure out how to travel. I'm still unsure about my trip to San Antonio. I wish I could go further and see folks that I've been missing. Things feel out of sorts in some quarters, and I really don't know how to rectify it.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. It's hard to know the next step. Boop likes it here and doesn't want to move. I appreciate Aunt D who runs counter to the push, "She is a kid, and she will be fine. She might even be better." 

Remember this guy? I think of him often:

What a way to go out...

   

An Anthem? 1/11/22

There's so much to unpack in Encanto. Like most of the world, we are Lin-Manuel Miranda fans. Boop first got to know his stuff from the Electric Company, and I know she's seen Encanto at least 3 times all the way through and has the videos on heavy rotation.

How many of my academia momma friends have been saying how they feel this song so much? Too many. And I don't hear it coming from other sectors. Boop likes the part where they are riding unicorns. She knows they don't exist. 

All the World is a Stage. 12-24-21

Some people enjoy putting themselves out there. We went to a Merry Crispness party or maybe it was a Merry Chipness party in celebration of Pringles at a neighbor’s house for Christmas Eve Eve. I wasn’t even close to the mystery flavors. Boop tried a tiny bit of one chip, which was a big accomplishment. She is working hard in OT. Although she’s started to have some social anxiety since the confinement, Boop is still quite the extravert. If she’s not out there in the mix, she’s more anxious. Fortunately, most of my neighbors these days are very kind-hearted and can manage both of us: her out there and me hoping that if I lean on the wall enough that it will suck me in. After she had chased the mini-Jeep around the circle, she was exhausted and conceded that she would go home.

This is all the news that is fit to print about us, I guess, here on my baby blog. I wonder what kind of distorted perceptions folks get from different slices of our lives? As bizarre as it might sound, I’ve suspected that more than one tribe is hiking up this creek, the existential dread. Who knows what perception folks have of me, or how they got it? This is all too self-indulgent. Mostly, my life is pretty plain; although a couple of folks can push my buttons. Angry, jealous me is rarely seen but is entirely unpleasant. And I rarely give someone the satisfaction to know that I was so affected. These days I’m trying to focus on the gains that Boop is making, rather than the frustrations. I have to think that 2022 will be better.

A belated Merry Christmas when I finally post this—across many ponds.