scouts and songs

cub scouts starts up tonight, and i've decided to make it another Cheeseburger in Paradise night, not only because it is yummy, but because it is relatively easy and quick, both in the prep and the cleanup, and it reassures me that the boys will have plenty of food to get them through thier evening. Dragon is still young enough to stay home, at least for this year. perhaps he and i will make cookies.

I like mine with lettuce and tomato,
Heinz Fifty-seven and French fried potatoes.
Big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer.
Well, good God Almighty, which way do I steer
For my cheeseburger in paradise.

reading

i'm reading Bag of Bones by Stephen King. I'm about a third of the way through, and by this point the prtagonist, an author who has writer's block ever since his wife died, is speaking out loud to the moose head in his lake cabin. bizarrely enough, i understand and identify with this behaviour. it's not mad so much as it is imaginative and introspective, both on the character's part and mine. early on, there is a line about writers being people who have taught their minds to do odd things. perhaps it's true.

i think the reason that writers always seem to have a cat or another about is so that they seem to be talking to someone when they are actually talking out loud, letting the pieces of their internal conversations slip forth into the real world. today, i've been grateful for the kittens, watching them as i listen to the voices inside me, giggling as they show that cats have only one arch emeny, but that they are powerless against it: the sunbeam on the floor (no really, they walk across it and get stuck, sure as flypaper, and then are quickly drugged into a napstate for the coming quarter hour). the soundtrack that seems to be going along with my dialogue today is a snippet of a song, one that i don't know the title of or any of the verse lyrics, but i know the chorus and tune are correct, at the very least.

you should see the look on the animals' faces as i get up to get coffee or go to the bathroom, dancing a bit and singing

I like to hear some funky Dixieland
Pretty mama come and take me by the hand
By the hand, hand
Take me by the hand, pretty mama
Come and dance with your daddy all night long

september is the smell of freshly sharpened pencils

met Laurie and Ian, spent an hour or so at the blues and jazz festival before heading over to Metro for some suchi and miso soup. though Laurie has been taking the boys to school in the mornings, this is the first time we had to really hang out as girls. we talked about past loves, divorce, cats, dogs, houses, you name it. it was good to connect. park time after sushi was in order (ian was extrememly well behaved, even more so considering he spent yesterday in the emergency room awaiting surgery to disloge a wedge hunkn of apple). he ran into a friend, and we all sat and watched the repeated skateboarding adventures. Tiger and Dragon were missed, and Ian looks forward to coming over for soup night as a play date.

all in all, it was an excellent day.

settling in

after a short week, it seems we have settled into a schedule:

Morning
• 07:00: wake up, roll over, listen for the boys, wonder what time it is.
• 07:02: boys come into my room and bring their stuffed animals to me for the day's keeping
• 07:07: brush teeth, get dressed, bathroom routine, waking up conversations
• 07:17: breakfast and table talk
• 07:37: pack up backpacks with lunches and folders
• 07:45: find shoes and socks
• 07:50: put on shoes and socks
• 08:00: hugs and kisses on the way out the door with the car pool.

Afternoon
• 15:45: make snacks for the table
• 16:00: receive jax and boys to table and snacks and conversation
• 16:20: wave good-bye to jax
• 16:25: check folders for notes and homework
• 16:30: homework or playtime (typically also when Tiger checks his email)
• 18:15: make dinner
• 18:30: set table and serve dinner
• 18:45: eat dinner and talk
• 19:15: clear table and do dished
• 19:30: bath routine
• 20:00: reading time
• 21:00: lights out

is it nutsy that i feel comforted by this routine? is it even more nutsy that the children are? in any case, it is working and i feel more freedom than i have in quite some time. i'm looking forward to finding a job from 08:15 to 15:45 so i can continue this schedule even while working. i truly enjoy sending the children off and receiving them each day. perhaps it is the old-fashioned training we all received, but it feels wholesome and right.

katrina, soup night, and a personal note

soup night went well. why is it that i feel so much more restored by being visited by relatively introspective, introverted folks than the loud boisterous ones?

also, my sons and i have raised and matched $125 for the Katrina campaign hosted by one.org. i am proud of them and hope it helps. ultimately, $250 doesn't seem like very much.

jaime, i love and support you. no matter what.

recommendation

if you haven't read Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, you absolutely should. it's amazing. i read it a couple years ago, and it has yet to leave me. in ways, it keeps growing richer with time.

wisdom

in these spiritually bankrupt times, we look for knowledge, wisdom and connection where ever it is to be found. most of us employ yoga, coffee, therapy or some blend of these and other pursuits. honestly, though, i find a regular bit of wisdom on craigslist regularly. it will one day be archived as the Text Of Our Time. here are the latest bits of truth that i have found in the hallowed ether. take it to heart.

this guy had an epiphany while searching the net. this woman's husband changed their relationship forever under similar circustances.

these posts can help us become aware of other people's boundaries as well as our own. and ultimately, they can even serve as warnings of danger inherent in city living. all with a smile, or at least a smirk.

the internet. who knew?