Author: The Jody

Last night – CPR from 6pm to 10pm. So far I’m certified in Adult and child, tomorrow night (6 to 10 again…yuck) we do infant and first aid. Feel free to NOT need CPR around me, although I do feel strangely powerful with these skills. I just don’t want to have to ever use them. I think fear kept me from ever taking a CPR course. I didn’t want to have to do it in front of everyone. Fear of screwing up, etc. Well, the two people I was paired with actually made me look like a professional EMT, if you get my drift. If I ever pass out from choking, please God let someone else know how to handle it.

==

This morning we took Junior to Kindergarten orientation. We met his teacher, and it turns out I know her…after her whole presentation to us, I did that “You look so familiar” thing. When she said she graduated in 82 (from my high school) I placed her immediately – she’s one of my cousin’s closest friends – they all graduated the year ahead of me. I don’t think I have the yearbook from that year or I’d find her to show Junior.

I was completely overcome with emotion this morning during the orientation, and not for the “normal” reasons. Walking into that building just ripped my heart right out of my chest and put it out for everyone to see. Oh my GOD it’s just the same in so many ways! And stupid things like walking into his room and realizing that I was only a year older than him when I first started at that same school – his room was my first grade classroom, and the coat hooks in the hall are the SAME ONES FROM WHEN WE WERE THERE! I mean, these are original, my GRANDMOTHER may have used one when SHE was his age too. The school was built in 1894. Looking at it as an adult I’m in awe of these ornate tin ceilings and all the woodwork. As a ex-student there from 1971-1977, I wanted to run around screaming and pointing to things. “That’s where the piano used to be!” “I know what that big vent up there sounds like when they let the chain go to close it!” etc. etc. Totally wasted on Junior. And it just kept hitting me over and over again, in so many little ways. Hell, 6 years of your life when you’re 12 is half of it. I spent half of my known life at that point in those rooms, 5 days a week. And I hadn’t been back in about 25 years (my sister was there for two years after me, so I may have gone in at least once in that time).

So anyway, I really don’t think it was me being emotional about him not being my baby anymore (I’ve been fairly depressed about that all summer, it’s not like it would just hit me this week all of a sudden.) But oh my God, being in that school…wow.

Anyway…I had already taken today as a vacation day and earlier this week I’d been telling Mr. Dump that I was considering taking Jr. to Canobe Lake Park (medium-sized amusement park less than an hour from home…I LOVE this park) because we hadn’t been yet this year, and I love amusement parks, plus I figured kids would be starting back at school, so maybe it would be a good time to go. Then this morning I was thinking I should stay home and get some work done, so it was probably good that I hadn’t told junior anything. Well, we all went out to breakfast before the orientation and Junior starts with the “Mama, remember that time you took me to this place…blah blah blah….” it takes me a couple of minutes to realize that he’s describing…Canobe Lake Park. I swear to you, I never ever mentioned anything about it to him. Mr. Dump just looked at me, shook his head with a look that said “He may look like me, but he’s so you.”

We both came up with the same place? Must be an omen! So we spent the day up there, stayed a little TOO late, of course, and I just got back at about 9pm. I’m wasted. If I didn’t plan to keep this note as a record for my “Junior files” I probably wouldn’t have stayed up to write it. Sun and hot and walking for 8 hours and I’m ready for bed.

So that’s our day. Oh, really ODD thing…I realized that I made the exact SAME mistake last year, thinking that the kids starting school would make the park attendance light. I just checked my blog archives, and while I missed a day of posting, if you read the ones for 8/27 and 8/29 , you’ll see that it’s when I went to the beach and Canobe Lake. That’s right, the Wednesday of last year, which would have been the 28th. Basically the SAME FREAKING DAY. Oh, and last year we ran into my sister’s neighbor up there around dinner time. Around dinner time this year? We met HER OTHER NEIGHBOR. I swear to God, it was actually almost spooky. I mean really, are the odds that low? She only has two real neighbors (one to the left and one across the street/to the right because it’s a cul de sac). Gee, maybe next year my sister will make it! Oh wait, he’ll be in school all day next year. *pout*. Well, hey, it is open from noon to ten until after labor day.

Someone just remind me next August to not go up there THIS week? Thanks.

I’m in a hungry kind of mood. I hate that. Actually, I’m taking a first aid class from 6 to 10pm so I figure anything I eat now will count toward my food requirement for getting through the evening. What the hell was I thinking? And it’s 6 to 10 again on Thursday! I hope to heaven there’s a chance that we’ll get out of there early. I mean, I’m just not used to sitting in a class for that long. What if I get those blood clots like you get from sitting long periods of time? Someone will have to do first aid on me!

I also was turned away from trying to donate blood today. I’m bummed. I was just a little too anemic for them. Actually, he said my numbers weren’t low enough to qualify for anemic, but they were low enough that I couldn’t donate. Boogers. I need to be better about my multi-vitamin, and maybe I’ll treat myself to some red meat more often. Maybe a little more spinach and green beans and I can make another try next time they’re here. They come at least once every two months.

I used to be fairly anemic years ago, but I thought I’d gotten it under control. Well, at least I tried to donate, right?

You all have a Chao, right? You do play Sonic Adventure 2 Battle for the GameCube. There are all these adventure levels, and then there is the Chao Garden portion of the game where you raise these little creatures. Sure, you’re supposed to be raising them to race against other Chao, or to do Karate, but really, we’re just raising them because it’s fun. So Junior has about 8 of them running around in the three gardens, one of them we made evil and named Satan, but Elvis is mine. Whenever I play the regular game and get robot parts or small animals, I give them all to Elvis. He recently learned to swim when I gave him a dolphin. Satan already knew how to swim, but I just can’t claim the little evil one as my own.

For the record, we apparently also raised a neutral one. I thought they either ended up heroes (with a halo to show they are good) or dark (with a kind of a spiky circle) but this one was started off dark and then we changed our minds and were nice to it. But I guess it wasn’t enough because after he transformed he….was neither. So that’s cool.

And most of you didn’t understand a word of what I said. But if you did, drop me a line. We want to finished the 3rd section of the 1st level (find the missing chao) but the only one of our characters that has mystic melody is the girl, and she doesn’t play the first level. Can you give something like that to another character?

Hey, it’s not like I wasn’t trying. Full day of work, pick up the kid, make dinner, play a little, go out to mow the lawn before it gets dark (and don’t be mistaken, it gets dark way earlier than I want it to, damn it).

That’s cool, I’m mowing. I’m even mowing in straight lines. Life is good. But ahead, I see a sprinkler head start up, right near the property line. No problem, it’s not windy. So I’m mowing…mowing…and the water is actually shooting over onto my lawn. Which is kind of cool because hey, I wasn’t watering it. If she wants to pay to automatically water my lawn for me, I’m not going to complain. Unless I’m standing there trying to mow the lawn. You see, I have an electric mower, which by definition is less powerful than the gas versions. So not only is there a big label that says not to use it in the rain, I know for a fact there’s no way my mulching efforts are going to work on grass that was already pushing the limits on length for mulching, but is now wet. Yea.

I cannot leave the lawn half done so like an idiot, I just keep walking in and out of the lightly falling water. Cause I’m a mowing fool.

Here are links to the new bookshelf and the end table (one door cabinet).

The cabinet matchs a desk they have, the only problem being that I think it’s half an inch too big for the space where I intend to put a desk. This is unfortunate because the style of the desk would go great with how I’m picturing the eventual redecoration of the whole room – pale yellow with pale green and white accents.

Unfortunately, it won’t be a case of letting it overhang something – I’m planning to put the desk in the alcove space where the window is on the cape, so there are actual walls on both sides. So no, it’s not very flexible unless I want to trim off part of the desk.