guess what i'm thinking of

Does that seem wrong?

Thanks to Larry, I've found Wordle - a deliciously fun waste of precious moments way to postpone chores.

onward

Tomorrow morning we leave for Amsterdam, via airplane that thankfully did not cost more than my bedroom furniture (and for those wondering - we ended up getting to Paris last week on the Eurostar train; it was a bit cheaper plus much more timely than a flight).

Thank you to those readers who are taking the time to sit through what is essentially a 21st century version of the neighbors' vacation slide show. And you don't even get watered-down drinks & pretzels with it.

I'm not sure what kind of Internet access we'll get in the Netherlands (the country's name leaves me dubious). We were awfully lucky to have a free [if weak & spotty] connection at this hotel; London was a Medieval nightmare where we had to deposit pound coins every 29 minutes in the lobby computer (or surreptitiously use the free Wi-Fi at a nearby hotel).

I still have lots of things to tell that you might find thoroughly entertaining, mildly amusing, or downright idiotic, depending on your state of drunkenness level of medication tolerance for boring neighbors. You may want to bring your own pretzels & cocktails.

exhausting

I pride myself on being maniacally disturbingly admirably efficient. (Thanks, OCD!)

At school, I carefully plan copying & printing tasks and visits to other classrooms to maximize my time (and, of course, to avoid climbing two beastly flights of stairs more than once a day).

When running errands in the car, I work out routes so I can do everything in a loop, making as many right hand turns as possible. And though it was a Godsend to find drive-through anything when my kids were small and required multiple bucklings & unbucklings when getting in & out, now I try to limit idling situations.

Why? Mainly because I enjoy breathing.

A recent Ideal Bite tip reinforced what my non-sciencey brain thought was true (sometimes we English majors make up shit like this to seem smarter about something other than grammar or Faulkner) - idling cars emit loads of pollution and waste gas; I'm not cool with either of those things.

We've been having issues with our elementary school parking lot for years. Parents lining up along the curb to wait for their kids a) make it hard for wee ones to see actual moving cars in the parking lot and b) usually leave the motor running while they sit there. And I'm not quite clear on the b part because, what? You have to be ready for a quick getaway? Did your kid rob the place?

Despite my legendary aversion to exercise, I am perfectly willing to park my car and walk to the school for the kids because again, I enjoy breathing, and also? I actually like to see other parents and have a little conversation while we wait. And it's refreshing (literally) to know I'm not the only one who can take some time and give the environment a break.

busy cluttered mind

I'm trying to get ready for a PTA meeting with our elementary principal, plus putting out the fires of siblings with too much summertime on their hands, plus waiting for Photo Friday to be official so I can post pictures of my adorable kids.

Go here for something slightly entertaining in the meantime. We'll talk more later.

the hardest part

I'm about at the place where I get so jazzed about something that I shut down for awhile. Already I've slept until after 8:00 (I usually stick to my school-year schedule and get out of bed by 6am; don't hate), and although I've put our comforter in the wash (small syrup spill from breakfast in bed, provided by kind-hearted son who probably thinks I'm having some sort of breakdown) and set the dishwasher to start later (giving myself 2 hours to get showered lest I be frozen alive because our late 20th century house is somehow not plumbed to allow hot water to run in more than one room), I'm starting to stagnate.

I've settled the outfit dilemma (thanks to my faithful readers who care; don't feel guilty if you're not one of them, I'm sure you're really busy, no time to cast a simple vote that might help me make a decision at a particularly stressful time; it's no big deal), I've made friends with my skin again, am managing my cold (daytime Nyquil and lots of tissue), put the tickets in my 'going out' purse, and have stopped listening to FoW to avoid overkill. Now I'm in a waiting place.

I'm waiting, however, not just for the time when I get dressed and drop the kids off with their grandpa, but for a phone call from the principal at the alternative HS where I taught last spring. Remember how I mentioned that after putting away all of my classroom stuff, I would be offered a job? Yeah, that. Look at me trying to be all nonchalant. So I'm in the bind of needing to shower before the dishwasher starts (and, obviously, before getting ready to go out), but not wanting to miss the call. I suppose I'm reduced to having the cordless in the bathroom with the ringer set to HIGH; how many people get to interview naked? Besides porn stars. (Is my rating up to R yet??)

How about a little hold music?