caerula's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- all this, and lesbians too We may have experienced an honest-to-gosh Christmas miracle yesterday, people. We had our annual end-of-year sit down with the Dementors to work out next year�s schedule, and I don�t know what�s going on, but it was entirely painless. The most pleasant experience we have ever had with them, honestly. It was like alternate-reality Dementors, or something. I mean, four years ago this same event led to Blue and I moving up our wedding by six months. Two years ago we were accused of "selfishness" because we wanted to spend time with YMB over Christmas. It�s never gone well. But yesterday we went in and all sat down at the table and went through the calendar, and worked out compromises so that YMB will only be missing two of his Saturday basketball games, I get to see him on my birthday and on Mother�s Day, they still get to take him to Florida, he won�t be gone for more than two weeks at a time in the summer, and we have both Easter and Fourth of July � again, which has never happened. Granted, it�s all complicated and annoying and there are lots of transfer details and stuff to be worked out, but really, it was amazing. I left their house with a good feeling for the first time, well, ever. I do think part of it, as Swoop theorized when I told her about this, is that they are finding a ten-year-old boy less charming and cooperative than, say, a four- or seven-year-old. Mrs. Dementor made a comment yesterday about the kid having an attitude all weekend, and we�re like, um, yeah, we know. He�s ten. Not that that makes it acceptable, but it�s one of those ongoing things that you can�t cure in a week or two. And they�ve put up with lots of rudeness from him over the years � one of the reasons we have such problems with it now � so for them to actually say something is rather extraordinary. If they start losing interest just because he�s not so cute now, well, their loss, and shame on them. It will be sad for YMB if that�s the case, but he�s going to find out someday what kind of people they are, and all we can do is do our best to lessen the impact. In the meantime if it helps them cooperate with us and lessens their influence on him, so much the better. Other things accomplished this weekend: More shopping done. Went shopping yesterday afternoon with MIL, which wasn�t near as painful as I expected it to be. Target and toy store and that was it. Nearly done for the Kid, except for his one big present, which won�t be purchased until Christmas week when he�s gone anyway. Done for Blue, just waiting for a couple of things to arrive in the mail. Picked up a couple of cute little things for Squirt. Still need gifts for the sisters and finish making the parental units� presents. Wrapped everything that has been purchased up to this point, including QueenV�s birthday gift which has been sitting around for months and now will go in with her Christmas stuff. Burned Swoop�s Mediaeval Baebes cd and even figured out the cd program enough to make a lovely cover for it and everything. Almost have everything ready to mail but was running too late this morning to hit the post office, so that will have to wait until tomorrow. First wave of Christmas cards addressed and stamped etc. See above re: post office. Attended Christmas party Saturday night with Blue, after having a mini-breakdown on the way over. That was an unexpected flood of tears related to not having YMB or any of the other young kids in either of our families around for Christmas (mass exodus to Florida this year, with cousins on both sides heading out), and not having a church to attend services at over the holidays, and still waiting on FIL�s prognosis, and my mom getting more and more depressed about Kitty�s situation. But it was over quickly, and we had a good time at the party (as I told someone this morning, now with more lesbians!) Played a really fun card game, Apples to Apples, which was far more entertaining and hilarious than one would expect and which I highly recommend as a party game. Heard several entertaining and one tragic coming-out story. Discussed quilting and crocheting at the top of my lungs with someone's 84-year-old grandmother. Cuddled new baby. Played with vastly entertaining two-year-old. When I say "lesbian Christmas party," by the way, I�m not trying to be facetious or obnoxious, and I hope no one is taking it that way. That�s just what it is � I mean, it�s odd but somehow refreshing to go to a gathering in which you, as a straight person, are by far in a teeny tiny minority. It�s just interesting. And my cousins know a wide variety of lesbians, from the most butch to very lipsticky, so you get the whole range. They are somewhere in the middle; not big fans of make-up and dressing up (not that I am either), but not quite to the flannel-shirt-wearing, crew-cut stereotype either. I think it�s interesting how their friends fall across the whole range; there doesn�t seem to be much antagonism from one side to the other, either, which is nice. I mean, Ann Arbor is the kind of place where gay women can be bashed by other gay women for not being gay enough, if you see what I mean. Also there aren�t too many parties I�ve attended in my life where someone proclaiming "we spent almost a thousand dollars on sperm" doesn�t cause anyone to so much as blink. Heh. Ok, and I'll probably take some flack for this, but this is my opinion, as a side note to party events: if your kid is old enough to go in the kitchen and get a snack, and then come over and ask you for a drink, I happen to think that it just may be time to start thinking about weaning her. Or at least pump and give it to her in a sippy cup. Breastfeeding doesn't make me uncomfortable in any way, it's great and fantastic and I'm sad that I won't be able to breastfeed my kids. And I'm all for whatever works for you. But at over two years old, and at a large gathering of people, maybe this would be a good time for your daughter to practice drinking from a sippy cup? It's just a thought. 11:35 a.m. - December 15, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- blah blah Christmascakes Snow this morning: this real thing, finally, huge fluffy white flakes drifting and blowing and starting to settle on the ground. The kid was beside himself, of course, and I have to admit that though I�ll be sick of it by January, this kind of snow does make me happy. It�s so much better than the icky slushy stuff we�ve been getting so far this winter. It�s Christmas snow.
Finally dug into my TBR pile for Ash: A Secret History last night. I�ve been meaning to read it ever since Geni raved about it last year, and picked up this used copy in the summer, but have been swamped since then with review books. Now we�re on to the March ARCs and I�ve only received a few so far, so I have a little time to read something I want to read for a change. In any case, I read about 80 pages before my eyes gave out and I went to sleep, and I�m hooked. Excellent alternate history stuff. True story. Yesterday Cyn (who hasn�t updated in so long she doesn�t get a linkie) and I went to lunch with another co-worker. In the course of discussing worse things to get stuck in your head than "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" that horrid Christmas Shoes song came up, and, bored, we began to plot and cast the inevitable sappy tv movie. We ended up casting Rob Lowe (figuring he needs work now) as a cynical lawyer who�s been left by his wife or girlfriend due to his workaholic ways, but finds the true meaning of blah blah blah Christmascakes when he ends up behind the kid in line at Wal-mart trying to buy some cheapass shoes for his dying mom, played by some young blond ing�nue in pasty makeup. When we returned to work I conducted a quick web search to find an appropriately smarmy yet pitiful child actor and discovered this. Thay already made the freaking movie! With Rob Lowe! As a workaholic lawyer! I�m officially freaked the hell out by our powers of precognition. Or something. Anyway, scary. Obviously I missed my calling. 10:15 a.m. - December 12, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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