More Words (and Pictures)

Good morning. Yesterday was one of those okay days that was really ridiculous. One of those days when you see someone with only two children and you think they’ve got it easy.

Today is Seth’s birthday. Because Amena works this evening and Paul has a hard time getting home at a reasonable hour, I asked Seth when he would like to have his family party. He said Saturday which is completely fine. If it’s the choice of the person whose birthday it is to celebrate on a day other than the actual day of birth, I’m completely okay with it. If it is chosen because it’s easier for those who might want to be there, I’m not so okay with it. His choice; completely okay.

Paul likes to do birthdays on Sunday because everyone is home, blah, blah, blah. Only problem with that is that I hate doing birthdays on Sunday just because it’s convenient. That’s why we have three day weekends and I wrote letters to my representatives about that many years ago. I can understand why, I just don’t like it. And I probably won’t ever like it.

Because Seth said he was okay with Saturday, I told Cedric that he could spend the night at Jacob’s because that’s when he’s having his birthday party.

Because I said Saturday was the day, Paul said, “I’ve got meetings for Stake Conference.”

What? Really? The first time since we’ve been here that you’ve decided to go to the meetings on Saturday? Hmmm. I guess I should really work on my Jedi mind reading skills.

Because I said Saturday was the day, Amena said, “But I wanted to go to Nick’s after work.”

Well, that’s a huge surprise. We can make all kinds of deals to get to his house for birthday parties for his cousin’s but your own brother doesn’t even rate? Right?

My solution is this: Amena can go to Nick’s after work. Paul can go to his meetings. Paul can pick Amena up on his way home. Problem solved.

Will they like it? Probably not.

Do I care? Not at this point.

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Maddie baby. She's the cutest little girl around, let me tell you. She had eaten all her pears and had some milk and still thought she'd give her book a chew, too. This is from the 21st.

I wasn’t going to make hot chocolate for Amena and Cedric this morning because a couple of days ago, Amena made a big deal about the fact that I’ve made a big deal about the fact that she didn’t wash the thing that she takes hot chocolate in but I’ve never made a big deal about Cedric not washing the one he uses. I went ahead and made hot chocolate anyway, and told Cedric that if he wanted some, he’d have to wash the thing. I don’t even know where he put it from yesterday so there’s no way I could wash it. Amena at least put hers in the sink but I didn’t wash any dishes this morning. So, there’s hot chocolate on the stove getting cold. I’m sure Seth and Joseph will be happy to have some once they get up.

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Kitty was helping me read. She's a big help, as you can see. From the 23rd.

The water here usually doesn’t taste very good in the morning so I’ve developed this habit of drinking a cup of tea when I get up. I’ve run out of all the ones I like and I went through everything that’s here and tried something that seemed promising yesterday. It wasn’t that great so I went through the shelf that Paul has his tea, etc., on. I didn’t find anything that I wanted to try because although there are some I like, they are meant to be made by the quart as iced tea and that’s not what I want right now. Although, now that I think about it, I could just make that much and drink it hot. A quart isn’t really that much more than I have to begin with. Well, you know, sort of.

What I did find was two open boxes of Truvia. That’s the stevia sweetener that Paul likes to use. There were five or six unopened boxes as well. Most of them were hiding and he looks for things about as well as some children I know so I guess it’s natural that he would think there weren’t any which is why he bought some a month or few ago to take to work. There were two opened boxes of Swiss Miss Dark Chocolate hot chocolate mix. There was a Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup still in its wrapper that bugs ate through. There was an open and partly used box of lasagna that had had bugs in residence.

I ended up emptying four boxes and there is now actually a bit of wiggle room on that shelf. I also ended up trying some of the tea that there had been two open boxes of. I know that Laura liked it when she was here (that tells you how long it’s been around and the scary thing is that there is some tea here that has been here longer than I have). It’s okay but I’m not a big fan.

***

The clouds were really pretty yesterday with the layers and sunlight. There was an even more incredible view toward the west but by the time I got to the school in Barre, it wasn't as amazing so I didn't take a picture.

Yesterday afternoon Seth and Joseph got to go to the church for games and a possible movie as a kind of birthday party for Seth. They both reported that they had fun which is always nice to hear. I dropped them off and went to Barre to pick Cedric and Jacob up. Then I was home for a bit before going back to church to meet Katie.

Cedric texted earlier in the afternoon asking if he could spend the night at Jacob’s. On a weekday night? I don’t think so.

On the way home, he asked if he could play soccer on Sunday because there’s going to be a tournament at Clark University in Worcester and Jacob is going. Jacob’s mom is supposed to have emailed me information about it. I haven’t even looked at my email since early yesterday afternoon so I don’t know what the details on it are.

I asked Meredith if she could give Seth and Joseph a ride home because my plan was to be out with Katie and Erin for a prenatal. She was able to, yay!, and the boys traded the snow stuff that Tyler left here Tuesday for my rubber boots that he accidentally wore home that day.

Katie texted at some point in the afternoon to say they were going to leave an hour early to go to Korean. I was welcome to go or meet them at the appointment. At first I thought, “Korean? Is that a new client or something?” No, dope head, it’s a kind of food. An hour early still gave me time to pick Cedric and Jacob up so it was all good and I got to the church, which is an excellent meeting place for many of our destinations to the east, a few minutes early. When Katie pulled in, there were two cars behind her so I thought I needed to hurry and get in her car so they could get by (I think they could have if I’d have thought about it). When I got in, she said that Christiana, Katie’s daughter was going with us and would sit on the stairs during the appointment and that Erin was in her car, and Erin’s friend was in her car which is why there were three cars. Katie was in the lead because she’d have me and I’d be able to tell them which exit for the Korean restaurant.

That was a blast. Really. On the way there, I got to listen to Christiana talking about group chats and it was amazingly similar to Amena’s discussions about group chats. When we were at the restaurant, Katie retold the story of a parrot that one client has who likes to choke himself; absolutely hilarious.

I got home at a reasonable hour not too much after nine, and Paul got home not long after that. I thought I was going to get all kinds of reading done but I didn’t. I did get a few pages, but not nearly as many as I wanted to. Paul brought home one of those huge avocados that is almost ready to eat. Sometimes the pits are so big you get almost no actual avocado; I’m hoping this isn’t one of those.

Today Seth and Joseph have dentist appointments so we’ll do that and read a few pages of The Fellowship of the Ring and I’ll get some reading done and I’ll make ice-cream and maybe Seth’s cake. Seth isn’t happy about going to the dentist on his birthday and both boys asked if I could reschedule. Their appointments have been rescheduled and forgotten too many times already so I didn’t. If I had, I’d be going with Katie and Erin to a prenatal in New Hampshire for a client I haven’t met yet who is due in March. Next visit I’ve got to go.

Anyway, that’s that. Have a terrific day.