Bad days aren't bad when you have good boys.

Today when I went to work I knew we would be short.  I don't remember how I knew this, but I was trying to prepare myself for a very busy day and I remember thinking that my goal today was 130 calls.  That is a ridiculous goal, and I didn't get that- I got 141.

It was a long, exhausting day and the boys picked me up and were shocked at how many calls I had.  We stopped at the store on the way home and they drove the cart and admired my skill with coupons.  We went home and Chris had just enough time to get ready for work.

After Chris left we were trying to clean up the kitchen while having various scattered discussions.  At some point I referenced Bill Gates, then paused and asked him if he knew who that was.  He said he did.  Ok, then who is Bill Gates?

He sputtered for a minute something about a discovery, then asked:

"Wasn't he one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence?"

Oh, no!  This is terrible!

He must have known something was wrong by the bits of horrified expression he could see through the hands that were covering my face.

Backpedaling, he blamed the movie National Treasure.  I told him that character was supposed to be related to Benjamin Franklin.

"Ohhhhh, yeah."

So then I asked him who else had signed the Declaration of Independence.

"Abraham Lincoln?"

Ok, I need to stop playing this game.  I sent him over to our new collection of educational placemats, purchased by Chris and I immediately after Ant told me he couldn't remember which one was a planet, Venus or Uranus.

We have the solar system, the presidents, a map of the world, and the periodic table.  Ant checked out the presidents and successfully named Thomas Jefferson as a signer of the Declaration.  Whew.

So then we talked about this year and how he could be successful.  He seems much more interested in applying himself, which is neat because he's starting to see a little longer term as he gets older.  Of course, adolescence is going to barge in and ruin all that.

We switched placemats over dinner and started refreshing our memories about the planets.  What's nice about these discussions is that they bring up questions and current events.  We talked about the Mars rover and did an algebra problem to figure out how long it would take to travel around Jupiter.

After that, Ant mapped out his schedule and talked to me about his classes.  He's excited to have the easy classes after lunch- he said last year it was hard to concentrate on math at the end of the day.  I warned him that science might be tough right before lunch when the fuel is running out, but he told me that his science teacher is strick and I had the opportunity to explain that strict ends with a t.

"My teacher is really strict," he said. "There won't be any problems paying attention in her class."

After all, he knows what that's like.  :D


So then we went on a walk and it was through lots of green, freshly watered grass and sidewalks and weirdly angled loading docks for Ant to skate on.  Jasmine chased her monster and Riley chased birds and bunnies and eventually we sat down for a water break.  Among other things, we talked about how he wants to become an architect.  We also got on the subject of Disneyland dads, where the term comes from, why it's negative, and how it's pretty much unavoidable.  He said it makes the dad look like a jerk and makes the mom look... like a mom.  Hee hee hee.  He wasn't being derogatory at all, just very thoughtful.  Ant told me that when he's a dad, he's going to make sure that both he and his wife each have one day a week that's fun for them and the kids.


"I am wiser than Yoda," Ant said on our way back.

"You are wiser than Yoda?"

"Yes.  Well, no because he's got the Force.  But I am still wiser than Yoda."

He resumed skating down the sidewalk, then turned to wait for me.

"Be cool," Ant said in Yoda speak. "That is not you must."

Fruit as a Stress Management Tool

72 calls by 11:30, sheesh.

I'm trying to choke down my lunch so I can go walk a few laps around the building before coming back in here and possibly breaking my record.  Fridays are not normally record days, but we're short today and it is a zoo.  There are 800 things to do tomorrow and Sunday is going to be very full indeed, so I feel very rushed but productive.

Oh wait, I just bit into a pear.

It is not possible to rush through a pear.

Mmmm.

The Sistine Chapel wasn't painted in six months.

Well, I feel better now. We had Kumbaya Class when the phones transferred to San Francisco and I found out that I am hardly the only one ready to explode. That was a twenty minute venting session and the poor Kumbaya leader likes more of a solution-based approach. We were overdue, I think, and the venting was more forthcoming because the boss was gone. I tried to corral some of our frustrations on paper afterwards to give to our Kumbaya teacher. I am going to try to organize it a little, see how it arranges itself. We get twenty minutes with this woman every two weeks at the end of the day when everyone is tired and frustrated. I am not jaded enough yet to give up on trying to improve things, but I have to figure out how. Ignoring the status quo is the first step, I'm sure.
So after work I went to get my eye exam and order some new glasses. (Thanks, Dad!) I was so sad to lose my green glasses and it amazes me to realize I had those things for eight years. Crazy. I like the new frames a lot- they should be ready next week. After that, Chris dropped me off at home and went to work. Ant is at his friend's house squeezing the last bit of life out of his summer vacation. I laid down with Riley and watched a few episodes of Roseanne. Many belly laughs later, I took the dogs for a long, energetic walk and finally started some laundry. We're getting close to zippy weather, finally. Oh, how I love zippy weather. I cannot wait to be able to come home and start laundry and cook dinner and not have to worry about cooking us inside the house. And then it's Halloween and pumpkin time. Soon I will smell October and there will only be four months left until I get hired on for real, a raise, and it will be time to start browsing for more challenging job descriptions at the VA. Hang in there, Jenny, doing good.

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Superfast Miniblog

I'm in a phase where I am very bored and I don't want my phone to ring.  I was like this yesterday too, but in a much worse mood. Last night I got more sleep and feel more normal today, but I still don't want the phone to ring.  It's been busy, thanks Thursday, and I am just cranky with having to spend my days in a box.  I can't believe that some people can do this for years.  I cannot.  I have to remind myself that I am learning the system and what better place to start?  I need to learn as much as possible and stay put long enough to look reasonable before applying for the next step.  And maybe that job will get boring too, but it would probably be a good thing to emulate Shannon and keep changing jobs every year or so until I get into something that I like.  If I have to spend this much time away from home, it needs to be something that doesn't drive me insane.  I have to cut coupons or do something with my hands while I'm on the phone or I get unbelievably bored.

This is temporary.

I won't have to sit in a box all day forever.

Eight and a half hours of staring at a wall.

We got internet at home today, so maybe now I can start getting my writing together and publish something and get a fabulous job writing blogs about my fabulous life and I can switch to part time and do fun things like take classes and go to weird events and little road trips and then I will be much happier.

But do we really need to be sitting here in boxes for 8 hours a day?  Is this helping anyone or serving any real purpose?  Could this be accomplished in 6 hours?  Or 4 days?

Come on, Diet Coke, propel me through the rest of this day.