...Especially if one of the nerds in question happens to be one of my sons.
Younger Son (who recently celebrated his 14th birthday), is on the junior high Quiz Bowl team. Last year the team placed second at state and they're state-bound again this year.
This alone us enough to make a mother's heart swell with pride in her progeny.
But that's not all folks!
Jeez, I'm so excited I can barely type this next part.
Today Younger Son informed me that the team has been invited to compete in one of the NATIONAL tournaments!! This specific one will be held this May in New Orleans.
I've been on the verge of tears all evening. I'm just so proud if these kids.
In Dallas to meet Younger Sister who is flying home for her annual visit. The flight arrives late this evening so we got a hotel room for the night and will drive home in the morning. Staying at the Courtyard Marriott. Lovely room and Sis fit a good deal on it through whichever travel site she uses. The problem?
I can understand that all of the rooms are non-smoking. But the room has a balcony for fucks sake and they won't let me smoke there either! Nooooooo. I have to vacate the entire fucking building to smoke!
*is pissed*
And! I'd really like to get onto iTunes for some new music but for whatever reason it won't connect.
Because I'm politically INcorrect like that. Happy Holidays, Blessed Yule, or Hey Just Enjoy A Few Days Off Work for those who celebrate differently. Or don't celebrate at all. Whatever floats your boat.
I'm off work for the next FIVE DAYS so I'm Extremely Happy. Work has been completely hectic the last few weeks at the clinic. After uncounted cases of what I call Not-Flu (all the symptoms of flu but testing shows just...not), we had our first confirmed case of the flu yesterday. Poor guy looked like death warmed over and spent the afternoon on an IV. I'm hoping this will be our only case but being the realist that I am, I'm betting when we go back to work on Thursday we'll be faced with more of it. * keeps fingers crossed just in case* Job security, right? *tries for optimism*
We're all set for Christmas here. My sister will be here Sunday for her annual week-long visit. Prayers for my sanity appreciated.
An update on the boys since it's been AGES.
Older Son is now 18 and will graduate high school this spring. Still no drivers license and absolutely no interest in learning to drive. He's learning to be his own man, though. He stood up to his grandmother all on his own and told her, no, he did NOT want to go with her to Arizona to see his dad for Christmas. I've told my ex for years that the absentee parent thing would one day bite him in the ass with no help from me and it's finally coming to pass. Karma.
Younger Son is 13 and in the 8th grade. He's growing his hair long, much to the displeasure of every adult in the family save me. He's a kid. It looks good on him. He keeps it combed. It's HAIR. He makes excellent grades and does what his momma tells him to do. They need to back off about it. He told me recently,"I wish I could go back to preschool. We got to take naps and all they expected me to do is tie my shoes and say the alphabet." apparently being a 13 year old boy is stressful.
So...Long time no see...post...yeah. Lots of reasons for that but as I'm posting from my iPhone and not even sure I've got enough connection to even post what I'm typing, we'll just skip the explanation and say that I've missed you all sooooo much!
I've been skimming through older entries as I'm able.
The boys and I went to the midnight showing of The Hobbit the other night and enjoyed it greatly. Is it completely wrong of me to say that a couple of those dwarves were actually kinda hot?? Hm. Better to say, maybe, that a couple of the actors playing dwarves were kinda hot. Might sound a bit better.
All for now. Will post more as data connection allows.
Went for my gall bladder ultrasound today. Completely ignoring the fact that my digestive tract is still not 100% happy with me, I just knew the testing today would be a complete waste of time.
I was wrong.
I am the rather peeved owner of gall stones. More than one. "Multiple" as the radiologist's report put it. Lucky me, I get to have my gall bladder taken out. *sigh* I don't want my gall bladder taken out. To date, I still have all of my parts (minus the tooth that had to be pulled a couple of weeks ago).
Tonsils? check!
Appendix? check!
Fingers and toes? check!check!
Various organs specific to the female of the species? check!
Gall bladder? Not For Long! *wibble*
I have a consult scheduled with the surgeon this Thursday and they'll set my surgery date at that time. I'm hoping to get it over with next week when the clinic where I work will be closed for the last half of the week. That would hopefully put me back at work (though on light duty) the following Monday if all goes well.
I know I'm being a wimp about this. People have their gall bladder removed all the time. My step dad had his removed just this summer. But it's my gall bladder and I'd much rather keep it. It's not like it's nonfunctioning. It works just fine! It's just got rocks in it. It's really not fair. People with kidney stones can have the stones pulverized with high-frequency waves. Why not gall stones?
It starts with my dad, actually, who contracted polio when he was in his early 20s and lost the use of his right arm.
Fastforward to my early childhood. Two girls, ages 4 and 2. Both tomboys. Both with very long hair (mine was to my waist by the time I was four). One stay-at-home dad who only had use of one arm.
Dad insisted to Mom one day that she take my sister and me in for a haircut. And I don't mean a trim. Dad insisted that if he was going to be responsible for us while Mom was at work, he had to be able to brush and "fix" our hair. Ever try to put hair into a braid or pony tail with only one hand?
After much protesting and screaming on our parts, (in my own defense, I was convinced that cutting my hair would cause it to hurt and bleed), my sister and I got our hair chopped. LOL My sister and I had the androgynous look down before it was ever in fashion.
This continued for several years until my sister and I were finally old enough to take care of our own hair and were finally allowed to let it grow out.
Fastforward again to today.
I called my mom today to thank her for listening to Dad when he insisted she get my hair chopped off. She asked what suddenly brought this on, so I had to explain...
A woman and her four-year-old daughter came into the clinic today. The little girl was about to start pre-school and needed a physical. The girl was...well...she was an absolute mess. Her hair was probably long enough to reach the small of her back, but I couldn't be certain. See, most of it was tangled (and probably matted in places) to the back of her head. The mother said that the little girl wouldn't LET HER brush it. (Makes one wonder just who is in charge of the household, but that's beside the point.)
One look at that little girl and I had immediately flashed back to my own childhood and my tantrum over that very first haircut.
I said to Mom, "Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for listening to Dad all those years ago."
All she could do was laugh.
Later in the day I had to call my sister and tell her the story. We both wondered for a moment what would have happened if either of us had said, "You're not brushing my hair today." It didn't take us long to agree that, at the very least, there would have been spankings. One thing would have been certain, though. We both heartily agreed that we would never have said something so utterly stupid to either of our parents Ever Again.
So, tonight, on the eve of what would have been my dad's 78th birthday, I remember the man who, even though I didn't realize it at the time, really did have my best interests at heart.
The boys have both finished the Harry Potter essays I assigned a few weeks back. I've read Younger Son's and it's adorable and I just want to gobble him up for some of the things he wrote. I'll type it up and post it for everyone this evening.
Older Son's handwriting is so horrible I'm making him type his up himself before I attempt to read it. It may be a few days before I'm able to post his.
A reminder of the assignment...
Both boys were given the same eight questions to answer in essay form. The total finished product was to be no shorter than the front and back of two notebook pages (handwritten), but long enough to answer the questions. The boys were given strict instructions not to discuss their essays with each other as they were writing. LOL Didn't want to near-identical essays. I had hoped they would use the questions as a guide in forming one essay. Younger Son, being 12 and likely not understanding that concept just yet, answered each question individually so the essay doesn't flow as smoothly as I'd like and there are places where, if the reader doesn't know the question ahead of time, they might be lost. I'll give reminders of the questions later on.
For now, a preview of Younger Son's essay...
Question: What did Harry Potter (as a series), teach you about life?
Answer: If I could choose one thing that Harry Potter (the series) [taught me] it would be this: Life Is Full of Surprises.
LOL Amazingly enough, that was the shortest answer he gave to any of the questions. No word count as of yet, but his total answers take up the front and back of five notebook pages. *gobbles him*
I've been planning this for some time, but haven't been able to give the assignment to the boys until now. They're finally both home, under the same roof, and won't be running off to Lord knows where any time soon. School will be starting again here on the 19th and it's time for at least one of my boys to get his brain working again.
The assignment is to write an essay about the Harry Potter books and movies. I came up with this because the boys, like so many, love to pick the movies apart after seeing them for the first time. What did they like? What did they dislike? What was left out that shouldn't have been? What was not in the book but was in the movie? I'm sure you get my point.
Minimum length for the essay is the front and back of two notebook pages, but it still must be long enough to address the questions I want answered. I'll post the essays (due Aug. 18), here when they're complete.
Here are the questions. If you have a question you'd like the boys to answer, don't be shy! Please remember, though, that the boys are 17 and 12 and both have to answer the same questions.
The boys have been told that they may not discuss their essays with each other as they write. LOL I'd end up with two every similar essays if they did. I'm really interested to see what they come up with.
bouncy
curious