anagram of brat

So I checked the forecast this morning to see if, much like yesterday, I could get away with wearing capris to work. Weather.com cheerfully informed me it was going up to some ridiculous high seventies number. What. It's March. I can't. Well, hopefully the fog'll burn off and the air will dry out some. This morning's chilly damp did nothing for the cold takin' holt in my chest and head.

But speaking of freakishly warm weather, it was just as gorgeous yesterday, so after a little arm twisting we convinced both kids that an afternoon at Groff Park was necessary. It because readily apparent that no one needed coats out there, not even with me changing down to a significantly lighter (and frankly better fitting) raincoat; they all eventually got peeled off and flung in the car. After that it was mostly just hanging out and playing with/observing the kids, which was its own degree of fun. Kidzilla is shy and reserved and prefers to play pretend games in her own head or with us rather than engage with other kids. That said, those games are pretty brilliant - yesterday she proposed all of us pretending to be Greek God(desse)s, though my interpretation of Demeter left her in slightly disapproving giggle fits, seeing as I extrapolated Demeter's dominion over grain to being the Lady of the Breakfast Cereal and kept demanding offerings of oatmeal, Honey Nut Cheerios and Frosted Mini-wheats. Come on, how often do you get to run around a playground yelling "I AM THE LADY OF RAISIN BRAN?" It's fun, try it.

Lil'Beast on the other hand, is a charming, sociable trip. He will play pretty much with anyone (especially little girls his size and bigger - we caught him chatting up eight year old girls), but does get rather frustrated and tantrumy if they don't play whatever game he's on "correctly." That is, according to him. Other than that, the other thing I noticed is he's pretty fearless in terms of tackling playground equipment - he was climbing around on some of the higher equipment in a fashion that had both @cell23 and I having mild heart attacks, but didn't phase him any. (Kidzilla, by contrast, in the last couple of years has developed a touch of acrophobia and in general tends to approach new challenges with trepidation.)

I don't know, these kids constantly surprise me. It's fun watching them figure out how the world works, even if sometimes prompting them on how to do it properly and sometimes independently has challenges of its own. Mostly, I'm just constantly boggled at how big they're getting. It seems like they were infants yesterday, and suddenly they've become small people with their own personalities and opinions and challenges, and I am constantly all "wait, when did that happen?" and kind of terrified that I'll blink and suddenly Kidzilla'll be graduating with her medical degree and Lil'Beast'll be, well, not so little, but probably still something of a charming beast. (Insert quip about apples and trees and how his dad inspires the same amount of loving need to whap in the head with a rolled up newspaper.) Honestly I'm glad I get to come along for the ride, and I can't wait to see what sort of grown-ups these two make. Well, okay, I can wait. It's gonna be a sad day when they're both too big to pick up, flip upside down and tickle.

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Hiding, honestly. MA is like KISS ME I'M IRISH WHOOOOOOO epicenter between Boston being Boston and the 2nd biggest St. Pat's parade in the country happening a couple of towns south. Hopefully it'll mean a quiet day with the kids, some corned beef brisket later (yum!) and after the kids go to bed something thick and sweet containing a whole lot of Duggan's Irish Creme.

I did most of my "celebrating" by putting on Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys and Solas at the store. Because nothing sells iPads like some rowdy folk yelling about going to Boston to find a randomly missing wooden leg right?

Seriously, though, I'd make some crack about DO I FUCKING LOOK IRISH but the truth it there is likely some back there for all I really know. Not enough to excuse drinking a Shamrock Shake by choice though, much as whatever Native American I know for sure is mixed up back there doesn't legitimize me doing whatever Generokee crap is fun and popular at the moment. I mean, could you imagine a First Nations/Native American Day? It'd be nothing but war bonnets, eagle feathers and fringe fucking EVERYWHERE and people would be UNCOMFORTABLE.

So um yeah. Not really so much with the Green Holiday.

As an aside, MY BROTHERS, MY SWEET NERDS OF COLOR. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, BUY ANOTHER GREEN T-SHIRT. I mean, it's embarrassing enough that y'all even wear green today, but cool as the idea of an army of John Stewarts is, it just looks like all y'all showed up at the prom wearing the same dress. COME ON.

Been a low key weekend so far with the kiddos. I object to it being this cold still - two sixty+ days and suddenly 40 degrees with a wind chill is suddenly cold again. Brrr. Oh well. It can't last too much longer right? There are robins and crocuses and shit, it's got to get warm sometime. Hopefully it's not going to do the New England thing where one week it's snowing and the next it's bloody 90 degrees. I shit you not, that happens here almost every Spring.

I find myself worrying about people today; seems like its been a long dark winter across the board, and not just for me. Again... can't stay dark/cold for much longer right? I take that metaphorically as well as literally.

I heard this morning that Diana Wynne Jones passed away after a long battle with lung cancer. I honored her memory by putting Howl's Moving Castle and its sequels on my PBS wish list. PBS is really good for replacing books I've lost over the years - so far I've got six heading my way that I'm super excited about. I seem to be in the process of filling out/replacing my Vorkosigan saga, Tripod Trilogy, Patternist and Xenogenesis series, A Song of Ice and Fire, and the Hawk and Fisher books, not to mention almost done with Harry Potter (still need 1 and 3 in the correct size) and starting the Young/Cat Wizard series and Kushiel's Legacy. On the other hand GODDAMN cell23 and I need bookshelves like whoa. :P

I don't know, not much really going on in Andee Land right now. Honestly, I'm okay with that. Quiet spells are always welcome.

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We took the bus down to Umass today to feed the ducks at the pond. There were a LOT of ducks. As in we were completely mobbed by waterfowl.



I think I successfully dodged Kidzilla's question as to what the original lyrics of that song are, lol.

Happy may day/beltaine/1st of may! You know the song, so I'm not gonna post it, but somebody on my f-list better go out and make this fucking outside thing happen. JUST SAYING. Especially since it's gorgeous in the Northeast today!

Better today - 2 relentlessly happy musicals, work on bowser, ice cream and some mancuddle time later and all is less ragey with the world. If the virgins sent to placate me are still en route they will still be accepted and most probably ritually slain. Gotta keep my youthful appearance somehow.

Planning to do utterly nothing today other than maybe the manbeast and some more Bowser. He's almost completely off the bottom bit of the loom and the sides have been finished already, so I'm psyched. Also there maybe some surprise extra drükids tiem later. :)

I dearly love waking up with my eyes glued shut. And by dearly love I mean ewww, fucking allergies. I hate you trees I really really do. Despite your pretty and your oxygen making, springtime makes me want to bulldoze every single fucking one and dance around the continent sized bonfire as the world suffocates. Least my eyes wouldn't itch.

Also I hate birds. Especially at 4am. SHUT UP YOU LITTLE FUCKERS THERES NO GODDAMN SUN YET AND PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP.

Evidenced by the bread-maker score, I'm back on freecycle. I'd never actually left, mind, but I had been on the digest version since I don't generally feel like driving hither and yon after things. But, I am trying to keep my ear to the ground for free and or cheap things I actually want/need, like a different desk chair (my ass doesn't really fit on this tiny dinky one I got now) and a camera tripod so I can take nonblurry pictures in the dark.

Speaking of pictures, I have so fallen off the 365 wagon. Need to fix that. Man, I wish I'd thought to bring the camera for last night's impromptu late evening adventure in Northampton with deliriumdeva and cell23. We drove down and became vagrant ten year olds for the evening cause deleriumdeva treated both of us to ice cream and then we went to the Pulaski park playground for a bit and then I suggested going to the far superior one over by Smith's Early Education department (btw, College Hall is covered in white sheets and scaffolding - it's kinda creepy not being able to see it on top of the hill). Dear gods, I love that playground... hadn't gone in a few years so there had been little changes here and there, but it's getting increasingly rare to find all wood playground structures anymore, especially ones that are that elaborate and cool. But yeah, it was fun to sit on top of the spiral slide tower and watch the two of them run around the rest of it, and kinda remember the years of personal history I've had there. All good stuff. But I digress - Northampton is increasingly not-fun during the day due to the exploding hipster quotient, but is still fantastic at night when everything's either closed or closing. I just want to drive down and park some late evening and wander around it with tripod and camera.

Also the new bike trail looks fantastic. I really need to get Bellenoire either fixed or replaced. :P

I need to get one of those accordion file type things - I've decided I'd make some attempt for the remainder of the year to keep some of my receipts for gas, medical stuff and living expenses type of things so I can actually include them into my tax return next year. Being super lazy with the filing is probably costing me a butt-ton in refund. So I'm going to make a stab at that whole pretending to be responsible and adult and on top of my money thing. *sigh* fake it till you make it right? Ugh. I would like a lot less faking it and a whole lot more making it. I also wish this year's refund would hurry up and hit my account. I'm starting to get a wee bit nervous about taking the car out seeing as I haven't paid my excise tax yet. :P You know, among other things. Fucking money. Much to my own personal shock my application for Squire seems to have been accepted as cell23 said that LaDonna is drawing up our lease for next year, which sort of makes me want to be all like "woman, did you actually run my credit??" and also sort of not because that whole thing about pushing luck and gift horses and blah blah blah.

One day more... another day, another destiny (snort), another few hours and chunk of to-do list that I need to set my teeth in determination and hammer out. Off I go.

goddamn horny trees
I understand that it's spring,
but my eyeballs itch.