Good Lord, they've bottled it...

(For those of you getting out the magnifying glass to read the bottle, that's "momspit")
Oh the horror...

I'm gonna need valium and earplugs...

...to make it through the next few years. I was fool enough to allow Things 1 and 2 to host a Halloween party here last night. Upwards of twenty shrieking teenagers went stomping, running, screaming and spewing drama all over my house and yard. Oy. I think we can dump that one in with "what was I thinking" as well. We discovered that "Poltergeist" has held up well over the years as far as being scream-worthy. The kids were relatively well-behaved, with a couple notable exceptions, but they were loud and rowdy, and went through chips and cheap pizza like oxygen. The Things have done a fair to middlin' job of cleaning up after themselves, and were also quite good about tolerating younger brothers and sisters ( a couple friends had to bring theirs, and that forced the issue, I think). I still think I can justify a nap today, though.

***

Ever lose a kid in your own house? I just hate that feeling of panic. A couple times when Thing 1 was little I went flying through the house in a frantic frenzy (yay for alliteration!) only to finally find (can't stop!) her snuggled down between her mattress and the wall or otherwise safely cocooned somewhere. When we first moved to this house, I woke one morning and Thing 3, three years old at the time, was MIA. The doors were all secure, so I was a bit less panicky, but it was a new-to-us house with undiscovered nooks and crannies that I dreaded seeking out. I found her relatively quickly, snuggled into a box of blankets and towels that had yet to be unpacked. Yesterday, I had much the same experience with Thing 4. The doors were secure, but he was nowhere to be found. I was a bit flummoxed as I kept rechecking rooms because I could think of nowhere new to search. Thing 3 had a nicely folded, perfectly square blanket on the end of her bed (we won't mention the condition of the floor...) Thing 4 had snuggled himself perfectly under that blanket. Eventually he stretched and his little feet came poking out to give him away. I breathed a sigh of relief and went about my morning routine. I made some tea and checked my morning email, to read that a friend's grandson had been approached in town (pop. 5600, 2 hours from metro anywhere) by a man who tried to lure him into the car, and there were two other reports, including one in which the man actually walked up to a mother and attempted to wrestle her 1 year-old child from her arms. I'm really glad I read that AFTER I had my kid safely at the table with his breakfast.
With that happy news, I leave you all to your day, and I'm off to seek some fall sunshine, or nap.

In training...

I suppose I'd better work up to once a day gradually. I wouldn't want to strain anything. I joined a couple of NaBloPoMo groups for writing prompts and other hints. You teeming masses out there reading could post some questions in the comments and I'd answer them, such as "What were you thinking?" (Answer: I wasn't. Duh.)
In true Minnesota fashion, I'll talk about the weather. After our two weeks of rain, we've had a week of cool sunshine. So, as we travel the back roads, we see fields of dry cornstalks, fields of something really short and bright green (sugar beets? I thought they were all out...), trees with leaves that are bright red, yellow, faded out, or gone. The grass in the ditches is bright green and looks like April. Weird. Fun for the eyes, tho'.
Got one test back with a B. Cool. Nothing too difficult there, but sometimes a little hard to verbalize in a test question. For example, give me a couple of sentences to sum up Emerson's concept of "Man Thinking." Go! I apparently did OK, because I got full credit on that one.
Thing 4 has reached a stage where he watches TV actively. He talks back, sings along, and dances with the music. When he plays a video game, he jumps and runs in place with the game. We won't have that sedentary kid syndrome here. Makes me tired just watching him.
Well, I'd better knock off before I wear out. Gotta go cool down...

NaBloPoMo

I'm doin' it. (No-one said the posts couldn't be lame.)

They're gonna put me in the movies...

Friday we went to the opening weekend of Arnold's Park. It was great fun and we got some good screen time. The kids had a blast spotting themselves and their friends. I was a bit dismayed that the old adage about the camera adding ten pounds seems to be about 40 pounds shy. I'd almost forgotten my hair was that long two years ago. The movie is a PG-13 murder mystery. No gore, no cussing, some adult situations. Great teen flick. So, here's a shameless plug. Check the theater list on their website and go check out the cute family the photographer is working with.

Now we're onto something...

Got my papers back from last week, and doing the happy dance. So all this learning is good for me, it makes me well-rounded and knowlegeable in my field, but its the little marks in the gradebook that go on the ol' transcript. Also, it's good to have some sort of benchmark to measure the time I sit in class. Had two midterms today, too, so hopefully they'll turn out as well and life will be good.
On other fronts, in Minnesota we've had measurable precip for 16 of the last 18 days, and I'm beginning to forget what the sky looks like! Not looking forward to driving home in the yuck.
I had to drop Thing 1 off at her job at McDonald's on the way to school, so at the suggestion of Bossy, I tried a cinnamelt. Pretty good. They have a great texture. I work at a place renowned for its baked goods, however, and for a dime more I can get a carmel roll roughly the size of my head there, and homemade and yummy to boot. Cinnamelts stay on the back burner, I'm afraid.
Now it's time to rattle off that last test, then hop in the car and shift to "home" mode. The good news is: no work today!

Yuck

So I head to the 5th (Extreme Quiet) floor of the library to work and a class has a meeting room with full window walls booked and they are watching Fast Food Nation. Great flick, major distraction, and I won't need lunch today...

Still feelin' corny

Did I say something yesterday about it all evening out? I like how the wall streeters have their panties in a bunch while those familiar with the ag industry seem to say, "Duh, what did you expect?" I would still like to see the locals grow more people food instead of cow and pig food, and fuel, but it's all about baby steps. Along with all the ethanol plants sprouting up in this area, there is a plant about 30 miles away burning turkey manure for power. We have a major turkey processor with a plant locally and several plants in Willmar, so there are many turkey farms in the area. Hopefully they will smell better, and my power bill will go down. The turkey poo plant is in the same town as a vodka-producing plant. Farmers will always find something to make a market for the crops!
Off to Job 1, have a great day!

Land of a Thousand Distractions

Sing with me: Naaa, nana na naa, nana na naa nana naa nana naaa, nana na naaaaaaaa...
Enough of that. Finally got a couple of papers to write, and now I'm finding EVERYTHING else on the internet much more interesting. I was actually reading sonnets like a good girl, but got much more interested in the Wiki biographies of the poets than the actual poetry. That one I can actually count as useful information for the ol' English teacher repetoire. Not so much the Evil*Empire online shopping.
I have a new Job #2. Another bar and grill, but this one isn't open past 10 on weeknights or 11 on the weekends. It's food and booze only, no dance floor or entertainment, or anywhere to put it, really, so I can help clean up and close and still be back in bed on old lady time. Woot. Christmas is comin' and the propane tank needs fillin'. Those corn burners aren't quite as attractive this year, what's corn now, $15, $20/bushel? Go farmers. Here in Minnesota a record amount of corm was planted this year, so it should all balance out eventually. Then maybe we can go back to feeding the people with the crops. Radical, man.
I'm out of dog food, and too lazy to go get any until I have to go to town anyway, so I made the dogs oatmeal. Don't laugh until you go read the ingredients on the side of a dog food bag. Anyway, I just tossed some oatmeal into some water on the stovetop, and snapped it on medium while I went to rotate the laundry and do a couple other chores. I came back and it was perfect, better than if I'd actually tried to cook it nice for the kids. Next time I try to make oatmeal for the kids, it'll turn out runny or lumpy or something. Phooey.
Break time's over. Now to choose whether to write about sonnets or the influence of Franklinian thinking on modern society. I think it's ol' Ben up to bat.

Parcel Post

Lately it seems like Thing 1 can't remember a blessed thing she needs to get through the day. I am becoming well-acquainted with the office staff at her school. So today, once again, the phone rang. This time: ice cream for TA treats. TA is like homeroom, and the kids take turns bringing treats on Wednesdays. So I rearranged my schedule, loaded Thing 4 into his car seat, ran some errands and dropped off her treats. I was feeling mightily persecuted, and coming up with a snappy quip for the secretaries, but when I got inside, the counter was lined with snacks from all the other parents who got called in a panic this morning. Looks like I was in good company, today anyway.