School let out for the summer about 2 weeks ago. Alex and Ana have been staying home with me. Every morning they get up astoundingly early, earlier than they would on school days. By the time I get up they’ve usually been awake for 2 or 3 hours. At first they waited for me to get up to ask for breakfast, but lately Ana has started scavenging for food herself. She rummages through the cabinets that she can reach to find cereal, then eats it dry out of the box. Alex doesn’t seem to have much appetite in the mornings, so he still waits until I’m up before eating.

Earlier this week I finally got over the summer cold that Angie recovered from over a week ago and Ana recovered from over 2 weeks ago. It wasn’t much, just some sinus congestion. At one point I even forgot that I was sick. But when it started turning into sinusitis I felt totally listless. In the end I successfully fought it off without antibiotics, so I guess all that time spent feeling mentally useless was worthwhile.

Last week, this made me laugh…

Ana: (with a blanket draped over her head) Look Alex! Oooooh! I’m a zombie!

Today, this made me stammer…

Alex: Mom, is it really you and Dad that put the presents under the tree at Christmas?

Tags: sick,silly,summery
Categories: kids and parenting
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I’m having a rough week. Somehow I managed to mess up my back. Yesterday I was in so much pain I had to take the afternoon off. After an hour of sitting on the massage chair and a good night’s sleep, I’ve almost recovered, but there’s still a huge tender spot on my back. Kevin thinks it’s a pulled muscle.

Tuesday was Alex’s 8th birthday. The party with family and friends isn’t for another week, but we did have a cake for him to make a wish on and a present for him to open. I had to work late, so I didn’t get to have dinner with the birthday boy, but I did get home in time to hear all about his day, eat cake with him, and watch his eyes light up when he opened the present.

Wednesday was Alex’s first piano lesson. Kevin reported that there are four other kids in his group lessons. Also, the teacher seems to be really good at keeping the kids interested.

I’m thrilled. Music isn’t supposed to be punishment, and if Alex told me tomorrow that he’d really rather not take piano lessons, I’d say fine, let’s stop and find something better to do. But so far he likes it.

I asked if he’d want to play a band instrument when he hits 4th grade, and he said yes, he’d like to play the drums. (Yay for my wallet! Drumsticks and drum pads are cheap, haha!)

In other news, I’m a Second Life tard. A couple of friends and I got interviewed for an article about SL for a campus magazine, and the photographer wanted to take a picture of us with our avatars. Before we could get shooting, someone asked why my avatar had sticks for arms. I swear, I have no idea how they got that skinny. After much effort I found the setting for fattening up my arms, and in the process I managed to enlarge my hands until they looked like “man hands.” By then we had to get going, so I ended up taking pictures with my avatar as is. I must be the only person in SL with an avatar that’s uglier than I am in real life. How brilliant is that?

Tags: musical,ouchy,silly
Categories: kids and parenting, music
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