The Average Blogger

Not Really a Post, Not Really a Blow-Off.

I owe more to this blog than it's getting, I know that. And I have lots of excuses for not keeping up. 

One problem is that my biggest life absorptions at the moment are, well, deeply absorbing and take up LOTS of time.

Another problem is that those absorptions are extremely frustrating and not entirely my story to tell, and I'm still not sure what crosses a line and what doesn't. Here's the short version: Homeschooling is probably a wonderful and fulfilling endeavour when you sign on for it willingly and are well-prepared going in, and aren't obligated to try to keep pace to some degree with an existing classroom full of students that -- at least theoretically -- will eventually re-enter the picture.  But as a stopgap because of a fucked up school bureaucracy that seems to put everyone but the students first, it pretty much sucks. So, yeah. More on that later, maybe, after it's all sorted out and so am I. 

Work is work.  My boss has been incredibly gracious about dealing with the Aforementioned Academic Fucked-Up-edness.

NYAB's work is work.  To an outsider it all appears to be coming apart at the seams, but at this point I reckon he might as well ride it into the ground and see what he can get out of it, and then we'll move to an island that start with a B.

House, yard, money, all those grownup woes -- not so woe-like, but mildly distracting.

Election! Well, the debates have been fun.  And because of the AAFU-edness, the kid has been allowed to stay up and watch them all and learn a thing or two.  I'm not sure he's learned very much, and he tends to get distracted and bored, but then he circles around to listen some more, so that's been interesting.  If nothing else, he learned that it's Simpson-Bowles, not Bowles-Simpson, which is more than I can say for the candidates.

In my copious free time, I've decided to become a sweepstakes junkie.  I figure if I'm gonna spend all that time dorking around online, I might as well be dorking around with something that has 0.00002 percent chance of getting me something, as opposed to 0 percent.  And the kid likes to push buttons on some of the little interactive games, so it's a bonding thing! At least, that's my story.

Oh, and we finally watched Season Seven of Weeds. A big accomplishment.

And that's all I've got for now. 

Peaks and Troughs

Well, the last couple weeks have brought a bit of sturm und drang to ye olde Blogger household.  JB was felled by an affliction that required an ER visit and lots of drugs, but he's on the mend.  The boy has had some issues with school that required after-hours attention and bureaucratic paperwork nonsense, but we keep muddling on as best we can with all that. On Wednesday we have Part Two of the three-part ADHD-Or-What doctor assessment thang, so we'll see where that lands.

All that aside, we're all doing pretty well.  I'm still healthy and sane -- at least by comparison, so I guess that means I win.  None of us have been booted from our respective Daily Grind establishments, which is also good. The weather is lovely.  My yard is lovely. My house -- well, it is untidy, but that's what next weekend is for.

The big news since my last post is that my parents came to visit. And as far as I know, we all had a good time, which is nice.  Mom and I spent hours wandering around on various shopping expeditions, Mom and Dad went to a party on Saturday, I worked, JB worked, Thomas did all his homework, and he also took his first stab at mowing the lawn.  Admittedly, he's a tad unclear on the concept of mowing in nice, even rows and circles, so the result looked a bit like the work of a drunken midget, but when he hopped down and I explained it to him, he understood immediately.  Something to shoot for next time -- although I'm sort of fruitlessly hoping that "next time" will be next spring, not next weekend.  It's October, for pete's sake.

I'm also still debating whether to have a Halloween party.  We've done this every year since Thomas was in kindergarten, but I'm not sure why -- attendance has dwindled each year, and last year it snowed on the big day, which was a nasty deterrent. I'm just not sure it's worth it.  And unfortunately, I have to hurry up and decide -- it's October, for pete's sake!

Still, the only thing I feel like I am consistently falling down on is blogging.  Well, and writing.  Last week I was so unmotivated to sit down and tap out a diary entry or a new chapter that I persuaded myself it would be a good idea to start exercising instead, and I began a couch-to-5K program.  The dog is happy, as she loves the exercise. The kid is less thrilled, as he is about as big a fan of sweating and panting as I am. And I'm not sure I have much interest in actually running a 5K, which sort of diminishes my motivation.  Which do I hate more: running or writing? I guess it'll depend on the day.  Besides, the Nats are looking good for the postseason, plus there are lots of movies in my Netflix.  Perhaps TV will win again. Because, yeah, that would be a shock....

 

 

Look Who It Is!

Hahahaha.  OK, that was a slightly longer hiatus than I intended.

Work kicked my butt, y'all. That learning curve was steep, and I had a hard time adjusting my own expectations that I'd be done, not half-done, at the end of any given day.

I thought about ditching the blog altogether, frankly. I didn't write here, and I didn't really miss it much. I had lots of other writing to do (rewrite on my novel is officially with the editor again), and not nearly enough time to do any of it. I had games to play with the kid, and a to-do list that threatened to bury me.

But the thing is, then I went back and read some stuff I've posted over the years, and I realized how much I like having it. I wrote about stuff that I'd forgotten even happened. I don't know how much of a dodderer I'm going to be in my old age, so having it all recorded might help preserve the warm memories for those cold winters.

Here, then, are some highlights of what I didn't write about in real time:

The Young Prince attended tennis camp, basketball camp, two drama camps, and a math camp. He won a talent contest by singing Loser Like Me, which was hella cool and made him a BMOC for that week. He was wroth about spending the last two weeks of summer doing multiplication, and yet I do believe it is the camp he's enjoyed the most. He asked to go to the next level next summer.  I'm so thrilled with what they've done, I can't begin to sing their praises loudly enough.  The kid learned all his times tables in eight days -- after fighting with his teachers, his parents, and his babysitter for more than eight months. Amazeballs.

The Young Prince also got himself into a heap of trouble during one of his drama camps, which precluded his participation in the B-52s concert at Wolf Trap last month. Instead, he and Not Your Average Blogger stayed home that night, and I went to the show with a friend of ours. We made it through Squeeze, the opening act, and then it absolutely dumped rain.  We toughed it out through two songs, but then the lightning started and I didn't really love the idea of standing in a big field with a bunch of electrical equipment nearby, so we left.  We were so drenched that my car seat was still damp the next day (this, despite sitting on a towel!) and the cash in my wallet never did dry out while in my possession.  Still, it was gobs of fun -- at least, I thought it was.

We went to a water park and commented, "We should do this more often."  Then we didn't go back, becuse things got crazy busy.

We went to Chincoteague and loved it as much as ever. Then we didn't go back, because things got crazy busy.

I spent a weekend making jelly, and was rewarded with another blue ribbon from the fair, this year for my blueberry offering. For the second time in a row, they misspelled my name on the ribbon.  This time, I was Arwen Brickwell. OK, then.

While we were in Chincoteague, we visited the Goddard Space Center.  The YP got a bunch of lunar landing model kits and action figure things.  Then he and his dad built a movie set for them and re-enacted the 1969 trip to the moon.  It was inspired.

Then we went on our official vacation, to Orlando.  Many anecdotes.

1: Being a parent has shortened my patience for standing in line with teenagers. On the last ride of our first day, NeighborGirl and I were waiting with a bunch of squealers behind us, and some guy ahead of us was yapping with them. The girl behind me tried to push ahead to him, and without even thinking about it, I barked at her, "Absolutely not!"  as if she were my 9-year-old.  Then she pushed again, and I said, "I'm pretty sure I said no..."  at which point her friend who spoke English interceded and said, "She just wants to go talk to him."  I said, "I don't care. If he wants to talk to her, he can give up his place in line and come back here. I haven't stood here for 40 minutes to let all six of you cut in front of me." NeighborGirl was cracking up by this time, and the guy in front of me just looked astonished that I stood my ground.  Ah, the joys of being a Cranky Old Lady.

2: Karma bit me for it, though. As we were getting off that ride, I tripped going over a bridge thing, and rather than splatter my face into the pavement, I caught myself -- and chucked my phone into the lake 30 feet blow us. So I spent the next several hours trotting around to the Apple Store, Verizon and Best Buy, and shelling out an embarrassing amount of money to replace it RFN in case the dogsitter called.

3: A good friend of mine from high school came to visit us at our kamping kondo, which was absolutely wonderful. She's not as sweet as I'd painted her in my memory, and I was delighted with her wickedness. We had all kinds of fun and wine and I'm very excited that she's coming up here next summer so we can do it again. 

4: Universal Orlando is a lot of fun.  Three-day passes were nice, because I didn't feel all stressed out with all the time spent standing in line. We still got to see everything, and hit the highlights twice.

5: Harry Potter's Field is impressive. Butterbeer is good, but not worth the souvenir mug. The YP felt his wand pick him, and then, weirdly, some woman who worked there (who hadn't been around when the kid was going through this flight of fancy) recommended the same one he said had chosen him. Spooky.

6: LegoLand is impressive too, in a different way.  The stuff they've made out of Legos is mind-boggling. I wonder how you get the job of creating a scale model of the Capitol out of Legos.

7: We also visited my old neighborhood. It's a suburb now.  So weird. And all the trees in my old front yard are gone, which makes the house look much shabbier and not as secluded as it used to seem. Or maybe I'm just old and jaded now. There are also a slew of McMansions that went up -- across the street from the Boys and Girls Club.  For the view, I suppose. 

Then, last weekend, NYAB and I ditched the kid with NeighborGirl and went away for our anniversary. I was basically along for the ride, NYAB did all the planning and he did a brilliant job.  We went to Valley Forge and saw everything and completely amused ourselves with jokes about all the signage and railroads. Then we went to the Nats-Phillies game and had a great time, even if the Nats lost.  Next morning, we visited the Liberty Bell before heading home. (It's still cracked. But now it lives in a lovely air-conditioned museum-y type building.)

The boy lost his two top teeth this summer, and he's grown about an inch since we marked his height on Opening Day.  I reckon he'll have a beard in his next school photo. Sheesh.  He met his teacher for fourth grade today. Word on the street is that she is smart and fit, and will keep the kid on his toes. Both the YP and NYAB had favorable reports on her, so that's promising.

Next week, I hie myself to California for business. Don't I sound all impressive? I'll be staying with my aunt and uncle, and I think I have dinner with a few friends lined up, unless I wuss out and decide I need bed more than food.  Not sure when I'll have time to post next, but I'm optimistic it won't be as long a break as the last one!

Good Times, Bad Times

It's very easy to write here when things are going well; when we are all riding a wave of success and happiness and accomplishment. 

It's easy to write here when things are going OK; when there are challenges -- ahem, opportunities -- and a little bit of work is required but we are generally plugging away and Getting Things Done.

It's less easy to write here when there are setbacks and obstacles. Partly this is because I'm reluctant to overshare negative details about work and school that are anything beyond minor annoyances, and partly this is because I hate admitting there ARE setbacks and obstacles.  It's like letting them win.

But it's darn near impossible for me to write here when things go seriously wrong. First of all, who wants to hear about our screwups?  People have their own messes to clean up, and don't really need to hear about mine/ours.  (Unless I can make them funny. I do make those attempts, on occasion.) Secondly, again: it's oversharing on details that affect people other than myself. Our biggest hangups are almost all outward facing -- if the Blogger household could just hang out at home and limit or even eliminate our direct contact with Most of Those Annoying Humans in the Outside World, I do believe we'd be the three happiest people on earth.  But probably the biggest reason it's hard to write about problems here is the abject reality that time is a finite commodity. The minutes or hours I spend wallowing here in a slough of despond are minutes or hours that would probably be better spent actually tackling the problems and wrestling them into non-problem territory. And I'm a fixer. I don't like wallowing or letting things lie; I want them Figured Out. Dealt With. All Better.

So as you might have guessed by now, a couple serious Outside World things popped up last week. Don't worry, we are all healthy, relatively happy, no shattering traumas -- these were more along the lines of a wake-up call that we need to make a concerted effort to implement some serious changes that are hopefully going to be in the right direction, but are also going to be extremely slow and gradual.  And they are going to take a lot of time and energy, juggling of schedules and whatnot -- which means the indulgence of blogging is likely to take a hit. 

I'm not sure when I'll write here again, because every time I've said, "That's it, I'm ducking out now,"  I wind up finding something I can't bear to leave unmentioned or omitted from this archive.  So it's a safe bet I'll wind up on here again before you've even noticed I'm missing.  Just not sure when.   Cheerio, but be back soon!

Some Time Away

Time flies when you're not blogging, apparently. 

Let's see. I turned 41 and had a lovely time opening presents and eating myself sick. And then my warranty expired and while washing the dog I screwed up my back in such a way that I actually had to go to the doctor for drugs. Not even good drugs, just anti-inflammatories that maybe made things hurt a wee bit less than they would have otherwise. 

(On top of this, and DEFINITELY in the TMI department, I also got one of those infections not mentioned in polite company. One of the ones that require you to stand up and sit down a lot -- because, why not? For the first time in my entire life, it hurts to do JUST THAT, so what better opportunity for the whole system to go down?)

I'm pleased to report I'm entirely mended now, however.  It only took two weeks and an entire congressional recess. Rah.

NYAB was also on the DL, suffering from a banged-up rib he acquired while chasing the dog in the dark. He is also largely mended.  The Young Prince is hugely relieved that he no longer has to mince around us like the senior citizens we apparently are.

Last week I took off from work and did a boatload of yard and house work.  I filled the vacuum cleaner twice, and I ripped the hell out of my hands with weeding and digging.  Everything looks good now, though, and should stay that way til ... mm, next week, I'd guess. 

We also went to Opening Day, which was a very nice outing. Good weather, great seats, and the kid even took a moderate interest in the game for a half-hour or so -- up from about 15 minutes last year.  I'm hoping this means that by the time he's in junior high he'll be good for three innings.

The kid's play is coming along nicely.  I got assigned prop mistress, which beats the hell out of selling ads for the program like I had to do on the last one, believe me.   The only down side on this is that all the stuff has to stay in my car pretty much all the time, and there is SOMETHING in that mess that reeks like a dead animal. I have yet to figure out what, but as soon as I do, the bleach will be liberally applied. 

My Cliffs Notes writing project is still in the hands of the editor.  I keep waiting for her to tell me it's ready for revisions, but so far I've only had one email saying, "Mostly formatting fixes. Don't hesitate to check in with me if you start to feel neglected!"  Uh, no, I've got my own life, I'll just wait for you to tell me when you want me to do something else... lalala.

My book is still waiting for the agent to read it.  12 weeks is the average on hearing back on that, as I understand it -- no need for dismay yet. 

And now we are caught up! Ye gods, I lead a dull life.  And I'm quite happy to keep it that way, thank you!

Stuff and Nonsense

It's been a good week.  Things are going the right direction. I am doing some things and giving myself permission to ignore other things in the process. 

I'm writing a Cliffs-Notes-like thing for pay. At least, I assume I'll get paid.  I suppose they could tell me it sucks and not pay me ... but it's Cliffs Notes and doesn't seem like that complicated a task.  The other thing they want is Creative Commons photos. It just so happens I live near some of the sites mentioned in the book, so this was a good excuse to run off for the afternoon and take pictures of things by myself. And buy some clothes while I was at it.

And I've got other fish biting, which is always an ego boost.

The kid has been on a hot streak with school and play rehearsal. I think my fear of god speech last week actually had the intended effect -- now I'm just waiting to see how short-lived it is.

We saw the Hunger Games this weekend, at a Cobb Theater.  I'd never been to one before, but I'm not sure I will be able to go back to my boring old humdrum Regal experience.  The idea that you can take a pitcher of beer into a theater and kick back just warms my heart.  Plus, they've got D-Box seats and I am all fired up about trying those out.

Honestly, it's like I told Not Your Average Blogger the other night:  Apparently I'm a bit of a fatalist, because every time I've ever been in this position -- this hanging moment in time where all is opportunity and it still looks like every success is attainable -- my first thought in these moments has always been, "OK, I can be hit by a bus now, because everything's good; I've got stuff to look forward to,  nothing has gotten fucked up or been a huge disappointment."  Of course, I've never been hit by the bus and I reckon I've had as-many-if-not-more successes than failures, so I'm not sure where that sort of Scandinavian outlook comes from. The thing to focus on, really, is that I'm at a point again where I'm thinking that way at all. Huzzah for that.

The diet is going to take a dive this week.  It's my birthday on Friday. I'm having cake. I'm having food. I'm not gonna sweat it. I'll probably have a debauchery hangover next week, but, eh.

On the Upswing

Well, I was waiting until I was in a more positive frame of mind to write something here, and it appears to have paid off.  Several waiting games are still being played, but we have at least seen some small movements on several fronts.

The Young Prince is well into his form of capitalism, which is to say that he now understands good deeds are rewarded and shoddy work is shunned.  He is paid in the form of poker chips which are redeemable for a dime at some later point in time.  He's up to about $8 right now, and I was thunderstruck when he said he did not want to spend it all on a milkshake but would prefer to keep going and buy a videogame. Deferred gratification is a bit of a stunner in my ADHD world.

He's writing more. I can't tell you how happy this makes me.  His penmanship is still for shit, but then, so's mine and I've got 30 years on him.

The writing conference was good.  It kicked me back into gear, not least because the agent I chose to talk to asked for three chapters and a synopsis.  So yay.  I was also pleased with the fact that doing research in advance led me to actually choose the agent I would have chosen in person.  She was the only one on the panel who seemed to have it all there: one was a bit too tree-huggy for my tastes, one said like she was in it for "a change of pace from writing books," and one was absolutely irritating with her arrogance; when someone asked how to bounce back from bad sales of a first book and how to convince Barnes and Noble to take a chance on selling your second, this one had nothing helpful in the way of how to pitch the second book capitalizing on what little good may have come out of the first, or altering one's marketing strategy, or looking for other sellers, or writing in a different genre, -- no, her advice was "write a better book."  I found that a bit insulting, as if the people in the room intentionally wrote/pitched/published a bad book the first time around.  (But in sharing this with others I have also been informed that I'm an ass for thinking this was unhelpful, so what do I know?)

Weight loss continues to be a slow if steady process. I'm down 10.  35 to go. If nothing else, I'm getting a hell of a lot more exercise these days.  The family put in a 5-mile hike yesterday, which wound up being a little longer than that after the dog took off on a spree and Not Your Average Blogger and I headed out to find her, leaving the tired and complainy YP where he was to wait.  As it turned out, he's the one Miss Amy returned to, and he also had the presence of mind to ask other people he saw on the trail if they'd seen her, and if they happened to find her later to please call the number on her tag.  We didn't tell him to do this; he just used his brain. I can't tell you how delighted this made me, especially when coupled with the fact that he'd up and started a load of laundry entirely on his own a few hours before. 

Even with the heart failure of the dog disappearing, days don't get much better than that.  Life is good, y'all.

Wow. Has It Been That Long?

I am exhausted.  And yet, so little has happened. 

Work at the office continues apace. Congress was in recess this week, which means that everyone has free time to schedule a zillion other meetings about stuff that gets shoved aside in the day to day bustle.  I spent one day in management training.  I spent another day thinking about staff evaluations.  I even managed to spend a few hours thinking about the actual members of my staff.

Wednesday was a fairly early night off work for NYAB and myself, so we went to a Japanese steakhouse.  The YP was surprisingly well behaved and snarfed down more food than I've seen him eat in ages, which made me quite happy.

Last night was the read-through for the play he is in.  NYAB came along, and we both immediately opened our own books and ignored each other for most of the 2.5 hours we were there. The YP's behavior was sterling.  I couldn't have asked him to be more professional and adult. 

This morning I got up and made brownies for a cooking club thing at work that I'd forgotten about until I got home last night at 11. I was still in the office by 6:45. On the other hand, I made a rookie mistake in dealing with a person who works for me.  So I'd say my performance is breaking even on that front. 

I'm almost done with Brideshead Revisited.  I'm rather glad, because while the writing is beautiful and evocative, I find pretty much every single character in it fairly despicable. It's a lot like the Great Gatsby, actually. I love the craftwork in that book beyond all measure too, while finding those characters every bit as vile and irritating. 

Beyond a Saturday rehearsal, I'm not sure what this weekend will bring.  Hopefully several hours of sleep. Presumably another dog park visit or two. And I may sneak off and indulge myself with several pounds of chocolate before resuming the diet effort in earnest.  Or so I tell myself. 

It's interesting.  I count myself very lucky on so many fronts.  I have a good job that pays well. I have a house I like. I have a husband who is steadfast and brilliant, who is not an embezzler or a drunkard. I have a son who is coming along quite nicely and continues to surprise me with his abilities. I have the best friends a person could hope for. I have plenty to keep me busy and lots of interesting things to read and think about.

And yet, there is a tiny part of me that is exhausted with waiting for a spot of good news and starting to doubt and despair. I'd settle for bad news at this point.  Any news, really.   A friend of mine laughed at me yesterday when I admitted I had started checking my email spam filters because of the deafening silence.

Well, next week is another week. Guess I'll cast more bread on the water. (Speaking of which: I know that's an allusion to sowing rice, but am I the only one grossed out by that imagery? Why would you want soggy, disgusting old bread returned to you? Wouldn't you rather not see it again? And what about that flock of new seagull friends looking for a handout? Don't look up when they come around -- ugh!)

 

Experience Is What You Get...

What's new? The federal budget, that's what.   So I spent 15 hours Monday and 15 more hours Tuesday working on coverage and charts detailing its ins and outs.

This time next week, it will be utterly irrelevant. But that's OK. That's news.  And every budget experience is another chance to refine the process and figure out another way to not screw it up next time.

The Young Prince auditioned for Fiddler on the Roof last week. Even though his monologue was fairly uninspired and he's going to miss one of the performances, he still got offered a spot in the chorus.  He's pretty jazzed.  I'm pretty sure he's the youngest one in the outfit.  That'll be interesting.

More interesting, one of the women who works for me also got a role in the show.  I'm not sure how I feel about this. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled for her and she'll be great. But I do wonder how horrified she will be when I inevitably drag the boy offstage by his ear during some rehearsal because he is not behaving himself and needs a reality check issued in harsh hisses and snarls.   Oh, well.  I reckon either she'll applaud my mad parenting skillz or she'll wind up scared of how I'll react if she misbehaves at work.  Win-win?

The weekend was good.  Steak and Shake was delightful, and we timed it well, in that we drove down in a light rain, ate during a massive snowstorm, and drove home in a light rain. Very strange weather.

Star Wars was less impressive. The 3-D was weak, and of course the plot was not improved. I still hate Jar Jar Binks. We came home and NeighborGirl and I watched Evil Dead 2 instead. Far superior, even in 2D. 

On the sloth front, I'm halfway through reading Brideshead Revisited, and I'm caught up on my viewing of Portlandia, Downton Abbey, Walking Dead, House, Glee, New Girl, 30 Rock and Justified. Man, it looks much worse all written down in a row like that.  Just think how much stuff I could get done if I wasn't a slave to someone else's stories!  There are also several things still languishing in NetFlix that I'm pretty sure I can zip through before spring comes. Ahh, winter. Even a mild winter like this is carte blanche to stay inside doing absolutely nothing. And it's everything I thought it could be.

Happy hibernation, y'all. 

Odds and Ends

Because it is winter and we are, for the most part, in hibernation mode and just watching endless hours of television (Downton Abbey, Justified, Arrested Development), I don't have a lot to report.  Work continues to be work.  School seems to be proceeding apace -- at least, I haven't gotten any reports to the contrary from the Powers That Be and the kid keeps bringing home papers with A's on them, so I'll assume all is well.

By the end of last week, I suspect I had several people ready to call the SPCA on me.  First, I complained on Facebook that Miss Amy Pond barks like mad when we crate her up for the night.  Now, yes, we could just not crate her, but there are issues with that.  We have to shut off the downstairs to enclose our cats, one of which has a terrible penchant for peeing on our upstairs rugs.  If we close Amy down there with them, no only will she go bonkers chasing them around all night, but she's also a chewer and there's no telling what our house would look like in the morning.    If we let her sack out with us upstairs, that means I have to get her up and outside and fed at 4 a.m. -- and she is not a quiet child.  She is high-energy, and upon being let off the leash is about as likely to follow me downstairs as she is likely to jump on the bed and attack my sleeping husband with claws and kisses. So, no.  I am full-on ready to go Shock Collar on her, but thought there might be cheaper/less nasty avenues.  Well, I was half-right.  Apparently there are collars that are motion sensitive and spritz the dog with something stinky (citronella, lemon, essences vary,) when they start yapping.  These cost about as much as a shock collar, and I wondered about their efficacy.  Nobody who responded to my Facebook post had tried one, but they all had opinions about what I should do instead.... which, well, thanks, but that's not really what I was asking about, now was it?  I am perturbed by this.  If I ask you, "What is your name?" I don't want to hear that you were born in Pago Pago. 

After that bit of amusement, I then went home and took her out for some exercise.  Because she is a strong little thing, but also rather obstinate and much more interested in barking at the deer than in chasing the tennis ball, it occurred to me that one way to wear her out would be to weigh her down before walking her.  So I fashioned a harness and hooked her up to the Young Prince's wagon, then told him to park himself in it and let her pull.

It was rather amusing.  We walked three blocks and she was just fine, trotting along, keeping up with me, la la la.  Then we went to turn the corner, and I could actually see the realization dawning in her little black face that OH MY GOD THERE IS SOMETHING ATTACHED TO THE BACK OF ME PANIC PANIC DANGER.  I made her sit. She sat, staring at it warily.  I made her walk. She started shimmying sideways to keep an eye on it.  I made her walk faster, and she broke into a run, trying to get away from it.  Well, of course, you can't get away from something that is hitched to you, so the noise scared her more.  The Young Prince tumbled out, and for once laughed it off instead of adding to the problem, which earned him several brownie points from me.  I made her sit again.  She did.  We walked home without further incident.   Once we got to our yard, however, I had Thomas get out,  and the change in noise sent her all bucking bronco terrified. 

So we have dialed that back a bit.  I am now dragging the (empty) wagon myself, to get her used to the noise.  After a few minutes of that, I hook it to her on a longer rope and make her walk.  I believe that eventually she will be well-suited to haul firewood and other assorted stuff.  And hopefully be too tired at night to kick up her Infernal Abandonment Racket. 

On the other insubordination front,  the YP hit a milestone over the weekend when we busted him looking at nudie pics on his DSi player.  A bit of prodding led to the expected (and highly embarrased on his part) answers of "I was curious/no, I don't do this on school computers/no, nobody in real life has asked me to get naked, nor have I asked anyone else."  So there is that. I think he was most surprised that we weren't angry.  Little does he know that his father had to do the first round of chatfest not only because, well, it's a Boy Thing, but also because I was hiding in our bedroom with a pillow over my head trying very hard to keep my laughing muffled.

Only other news of note is that Saturday was a Winterfest school event that I got suckered into volunteering for from 10-4.  Imagine, if you will, five hours of Kidz Bop music and one hour of cleaning up.  (Can anyone explain the point of Kidz Bop to me? Why not just have compilations of the real songs? I mean, these aren't kid songs, and they aren't particularly kid-ified.  Seriously, how do you make Put a Ring on It or California Gurlz relevant to a 9-year-old? You don't! So why make a 9-year-old record it, rather than just letting all the other 9-year-olds lip sync along in their own hairbrushes? Do I sound old lady curmudgeon here? Or sane?)  Still, the kids seemed to have fun, and the Young Prince showed valor during the raffle drawing by consoling a kid smaller than him who started crying about not winning a Transformers prize. 

He's growing up, that one.  Shudder.