There really will be days like this...

But WHY? Why must there?

So far today I have:

• Gotten my ass out of bed early to go in for healthy snack.
• Found out there was nothing to chop up for said snack.
• Had an unpleasant conversation with Mr. S's teacher.
• Made an appointment to speak to the principal tomorrow.
• Been bewildered and frightened by the recent addition of pop-up ads on my computer, despite the pop-up blocker.
• Vacuumed 10 lbs of granola and cereal products from under the dining room table.
• Took Dorian out for a treat and was subjected to people at the next table commenting on my letting him sip my coffee. (It's decaf, people! Relax!)
• Discovered that my car is making a horrible groaning sound.
• Made an appointment that isn't until next week to address the car problem, leaving me to wonder how to get to my talk with the principal.

And what will be next? I'll probably burn dinner, break a dish, be vomited on and then sulk through a special 2 hour diva fit on ANTM. Oh, bedtime, come quickly....

People are nuts

I'm guessing most of you know that the White House is going to have its own 1100 square foot garden, producing 55 different vegetables. Of course I think this is great. I am jealous of its size, but then I don't need to prepare state dinners, so it is better that I will not have that many perishables on hand. Good for the Obamas.

But this line from the article in the Washington Post just cracks me up:

With the Obamas as role models, it could also be a turning point in their battle to overturn the perception of organic food, farmers markets and gardens as the preserves of the elite.

Because the President of the United States of America is not elite?

Dinky's Peabrain reaches new heights!

Last night, while Jeremy and I were rockin' out as Dinky's Peabrain, our RockBand, things were not going so well. I actually failed while singing some shit song during a mystery setlist. (Only once, and we still got 4 stars, but I still don't like failing.) Then I tried to step it up to Medium level drumming, and while there was no failing, it was definitely a trial. So after 7 mystery songs, we decided to finish our evening with a 3 song Make a Setlist of "Today", "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated)".

We both chose Expert, me singing and Jeremy on drums. We got 5 stars on "Today" although I only got 82%, but I guarantee you Billy Corgan himself couldn't do that well himself. Then, the magic happened...

On the last 2 songs, we not only got 5 stars, but 5 gold stars. I have to assume that sort of reward is reserved only for doing an almost perfect job on Expert. (We both got 99%.)

Made my weekend.

Spring pants for Dorian, or My sewing machine is a racist

Amanda and I packed the younger boys in the minivan yesterday and headed over to Keene to do a little fabric shopping. I wanted to make the boys new spring/summer pants like last year's which you can see here, here, here and here.

Dorian was coming with me, so he would have the whole store to choose from, but Sebastian had to give me a few choices of designs to look for. He wanted "gears, robots, rockets, or anything outer space." Bad news for him, because I kid you not, there were absolutely no robots or rockets to be found. There weren't even babyish prints or garish ones I refused to buy. There were none. There was one outer space print of some planets, but they were so large that it would not have looked good. I almost made an executive decision and got a music print, but he is getting older and pickier, so I opted to just not get him anything. Dorian was more successful and picked out the monkey combo you see above as well as a swirly blue design I haven't started on yet.

I had high hopes for getting these done quickly, seeing as I had made 4 pair of the exact same pattern last year. Not to mention things had been going exceedingly well for me with the sewing machine recently. We have had nary a fight while making the picnic quilt, the machine and I. No bobbin mishaps, no weird snarls, no thread snapping on its part, and therefore no cussing, crying, kicking or threatening on my part.

These pants were a 3 hour nightmare that involved multiple reloadings of the bobbin, seam ripping, snarling, breaking thread, and excessive frustration for me. And here's my theory: my machine is a racist. Yeah, that's right. See, the quilt is constructed with white thread and I was using brown thread for the pants. Plain as day, that sewing machine is trying to keep brown down.

We'll find out if it's pro-military when I use the navy blue thread for the next pair.

Veggies

It was a gloriously sunny day today, and so the seeds were planted! Dorian helped me plant approximately 40 pea vines (maybe there will be enough that I will get to eat some this year), and a row each of radishes and Swiss chard. Dorian is excited for all the different colors of the rainbow chard and for the white radishes from the Easter egg mix. "I think they'll be very yummy and sweet," he says. I hope that means he's actually willing to try them. Then, when Sebastian came home, we planted the carrot seeds. That leaves 5 rows open for all the stuff that has to wait for after the danger of frost has passed.

Folks, we have a winner!

Dorian and I visited a preschool yesterday and it looks like it will be Dorian's stomping ground for 2 mornings a week starting this fall. So who is the winner? Me, of course, because I will be getting 8 blessed hours to myself every week after 7 long years of having at least one child hanging on me at all times. Dorian will also be a winner since it seems like a really nice program.
Here's what it has going for it:

• It shares a parking lot with Sebastian's school, so drop-off will be easy-peasy. (Especially since Jeremy can do it and I can still be in my slippers.)
• It shares a schedule with Sebastian's school, so they will have all the same holidays and snow days.
• It runs from 8:30-12:30. 4 hours is better than the 3 you usually get from half-day programs that run 9-12.
• We can do just 2 days a week, which I think is plenty, as opposed to the preschool Sebastian attended that requires 5 days.
• The teachers were all really awesome and I was very impressed with the way they managed the class.
• It is a small space, but well organized and not cramped.
• There are 3 teachers for 15-16 kids. Sebastian's class had 2 for 20.
• It is way cheaper than Sebastian's program was even if we did 5 days, so it won't break my limited budget.
• Did I mention I'll have 8 hours to myself?

The horror of it all!

Does this image strike fear in your heart? Make you burst into tears? Well, it would if you were Mr. Dorian. Yesterday, he came over to me clutching his beloved cube puzzle and promptly started sobbing. "What's wrong?!" I asked, imagining a piece was missing or something.

"That no thing says 'no for 3 years old' and I'm 3 years old! It's no for me! It's no for me...."

Just telling him that it was okay, he plays with it all the time was not satisfactory. Clearly, this little symbol trumps Mama every time. I had to explain that what that really meant was it was not for babies who put toys in their mouths and since he doesn't do that, everything was fine and he could play with it all he wants.

It's hard to be 3 and have rudimentary reading skills.