I'm keeping track this year

Total number of school days so far: 6
Total number of forgotten homework assignments (completed, but left at home): 3
Total number of trips I have made to the middle school to deliver these: 2*

*One assignment was left at home, but was remembered before we got all the way to school. Mad dash back to the house!

The iTampon, etc

Do you remember that time, a few years ago, that the invention of the iPad was announced? Some people thought it was going to be the Greatest Thing Ever in terms of convenience and fun, and others thought it was not only a Silly Waste of Money, but also had a Stupid Name. Some of those people made jokes about the iTampon being the next product produced.

Guess which group I fell into.

I thought that iPad was basically just a big iTouch (which, you know... it is), and was trying for the convenience and usability of a computer (which, again...) but not actually achieving it. I wondered why anyone would spend money on something that was somehow both an iTouch and a computer, and yet wasn't particularly good at being either. I made a few more jokes about iTampons. (I know, I know. Humour of a 12 year old.)

But then, guys, I played with one. And then I actually Used One for a Variety of Purposes.

And I thought, "Okay, so these are pretty fun. And certainly easier to use than an iTouch. But it still seems like an awful lot of money for a toy."

And then

THEN

I tried one with a bluetooth keyboard. And. I. Was. Hooked.

When you combine an iPad with a keyboard, it suddenly goes from Kind-of-Silly-And-Pointless to Powerful-Tool-Of-The-Future. At least, that's what happened to my perspective.

So, you know. I bought one. To use for grad school, because I actually think it will be super awesome and helpful. E-books! Typing ANYWHERE! Don't have to lug around my laptop! WOOHOO!

But just in case you were wondering if I'm any less juvenile, I'm not. I will be referring to the little stylus pen I ordered as the "iTampon."

sad ice cream

"Take a picture of that ice cream, Blythe."
"Why, Mom?"
"I think there is a life lesson in there somewhere."

"I don't think I like that life lesson."

R, R, C, and P (Rest, Relaxation, Cats, and Popcorn)

Home alone on a Friday night.

With the cats.

About to eat popcorn for dinner.

I am some women's worst fear.

But I couldn't be happier with this particular arrangement right now. There's a time and a place for everything.

And now
Is the time
And the place

for

Popcorn

Neglected

I'm doing a downright crap job of keeping this blog updated this summer. It's just that all of these pesky Other Things keep getting in the way.

Necessary things, like eating breakfast, like folding laundry, like rock climbing, like going to the lake to swim, like one-on-one time with the kids, like grocery shopping, like being a tour guide for my friend who is staying with us this summer, like takig Pom Pom to dance camp, like getting Clover to practice the violin, like Neptune practicing 2 or 3 digit multiplication, like watching Law and Order SVU, like writing up my papers for my portfolio for application to the grad programme I want (what challenges will teachers face? what are the strengths I bring to the teaching profession?), like, like, like...

And so the poor little blog, which is so often at the very bottom of my priority list, finds itself there once again.


Stay tuned, though. If you're super lucky, I'll post a picture of a salamander I met a few weeks ago. It was adorable.

And I made it so clear...

Me: What's that song? You know, the one with the ukelele? Once it was on the recently added playlist... Once, you know, not long ago. And I like it. And so do you. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Panda: Do you know what it's about? Who it's by?

Me: No...

Panda: Do you know kind of how it goes?

Me: No.

Panda: So basically, you know it has a ukelele in it, and that it was ONCE on our recently added playlist.

PomPom: Everything we have was ONCE on our recently added playlist.

Me: So you're telling me you can't help me out here?

Panda and PomPom: No.







The song, by the way, was Somebody That I Used to Know, by Gotye

"Lazy" Days of Summer, continued.

In case you've been wondering what we have been up to...

We've been making bugs out of plaster of paris

We've been eating vegetable dumplings

We've built a giant fort

We've made Gak

We made (and ate a ton of) inari

We made a HUGE mess with shaving cream

We silk screened team shirts

We ate lunch out of unexpected containers

You know, among other things. I love summer!