An argument with Pickle Hater.

It all started when I made fun of people who like rap music. Pickle Hater informed me that she likes 50 Cent and Eminem. I didn't believe her, because I thought she was normal. She seems normal.


Here I am, saying that I didn't believe her.


Are you kidding me?


"What's wrong with rap?"


She calls her husband who verifies that she does indeed like 50 Cent and Eminem.


And we try to look mad at each other and pose for a picture to document our fight, but we both laughed at the last moment.

It's ok H - you hate pickles and you enjoy bad music, but we can still be friends.

New Chucks

Friends Rock.

Today I was in a funk because I left the oven on all night after making Isaac's chicken strips, and I think I left the back burner on too. God knows how long that was on. The last time I remember using it was last Friday at supper time. We were gone all weekend. Maybe I should just order takeout every night.

But my buddy G. came to the rescue! We went out for lunch and coffee, and she cheered me right up. She's good at commiserating but not letting me wallow too much in my bad mood. After spending a few hours with her, I'm actually ready to tackle the rest of my week. Better than beer, that girl.

And now, a gratuitous Isaac-in-Nature shot.

Non Sequitur Post

1. I forgot to tell you the awesome news about our trip to Ohio. Masud ended up needing to go to St. Louis for a business trip and his boss agreed to let him come up and work from here. Originally, he planned to stay until Labor Day but then he found out that he needed to make another trip to a plant in WI on Sept. 6, so he gets to stay ANOTHER ADDITIONAL week!! It's almost gonna be like we're a real family again! And it's a good thing, too, since we won't see him again until Thanksgiving.

2. Whoever designed Transformers does not have children. Isaac loves them. I hate them. No matter how many times I follow the instructions to transform them, I can't remember the next time and have to meticulously follow the diagrams to change them from robot to car back to robot. Hours and hours have been wasted, my friends. He has this evil one that goes from scary alien-like robot to boombox, and it makes me sweat every time I have to change it. If you push too hard the stupid appendages fall off.

3. It's time for me to buy a new pair of Chucks.

4. There is some nasty sh*t going down in the Desh. Rezwan has been following the events and reporting where mainstream media has been shut down. The mobile network has been shut down by the government, the submarine internet cables cut, and a curfew ordered in response to student riots against the caretaker government. Just what they needed in addition to the horrible flooding!

5. Here is why I am having trouble letting Isaac sleep in his own bed...bedtime goofiness:






6. Back to school season is upon us. Yesterday Isaac and I went to his new school to register and find his classroom. Not to insult my alma matter (which Isaac was attending last year), but this school is going to be a huge improvement. They have over 60 countries represented by students, they host an international festival where students can wear clothes from their country and give presentations about their heritage, the classrooms are huge even though the teacher/student ratio is low, there is a climbing wall in the gym, and the school is within easy walking distance from our apartment. Isaac is stoked, and so am I!

7. New music: Feist, the Beta Band, and the new Smashing Pumpkins album. It's not bad even though James and D'Arcy are missing.

8. Just finished reading Promethea. Book 5 was super-deep, about the end of the world, which will actually just be enlightenment for all. Read it and be enlightened.

Baby!

Last night I got some great news! Thanks to Rob and Lisa, a new little one will be joining our family sometime next year! She or he will probably have red hair like Rob and gorgeous huge eyes like Lisa. Thanks for choosing our family little baby! We can't wait to meet you!

The flooding continues.

If you can, please donate to help flood affected people. Donation link on the right.

Weekend Report

1. Isaac has slept in his bed by himself three times. The first night, he fell asleep fine but then there was a thunderstorm. He was fine - but I was scared. So I went and grabbed him and brought him back to my bed. I couldn't help it. I slept like crap the other two nights because I'm not used to sleeping alone!

2. Masud is coming to Madison instead of us driving to Ohio. I'm really glad I don't have to drive, and he's flying so he doesn't have to drive either! We're both very grateful to his boss who lets him telecommute once in a while so we can be together.

3. It's been raining a LOT and we've had flash flood warnings here in Madison. I love gloomy, rainy days. They make me super-productive. Yesterday I finally tackled the huge scary beast that was my filing cabinet. Now at least I know where everything is! (I totally found Isaac's immunization records! They were scrunched in my "pets" folder.)

4. I had ice cream for dinner tonight. With hot fudge.

5. So much for productivity. I'm going to snuggle into bed and read a book now. It's 7:38, does that mean it's okay if I fall asleep for the night?

At long last....

...I emailed my paper to my professor! My relief is great but short-lived. Now I am focusing on a few other deadlines and trying to prepare as much as I can for the upcoming semester. Isaac and I both start on September 4th. What happened to summer vacation? I thought that was one of the great parts of being back in school...summers off!

We're heading to Ohio on August 23 for a visit to the patriarch. Masud says his apartment is like an oven, so that should be fun! This will be our last visit until Thanksgiving. That's a long time, people. I'm still waiting for them to build the light rail line between Canton and Madison. Do you think it will happen?

Week of Productivity = No New Posts

I got a LOT done this week. Here are the updates (in no particular order):

1) Bangladesh is having really bad floods this year. Click on the link at the left to make a tax deductible donation to Nari Jibon (you can use your credit card!) and we'll make them into relief packets for flood affected families. We can make a packet for every $1.50 you send. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced already, and the biggest risk right now is water-borne illness. This is only the beginning, so be ready to hear about this more in the coming weeks.

2) I dyed my hair dark brown.

3) I finally went to the doctor who put me on niacin to lower my triglycerides.

4) Masud came to visit again! I love these little surprises!

5) I've revised my paper twice, and went to the writing center yesterday where I got some excellent suggestions for another revision. If you're in school, please see if you have a writing center. It's the greatest thing since Dippin' Dots.

6) Finished reading Harry Potter (finally!)

7) Got a bed for Isaac, managed to tie it to the roof of my Civic and haul it across town without incident. Except for the HUGE black bruise on my shoulder.

8) Got the 60,000 mile maintenance done on my Civic.

9) Spent hours looking for Isaac's immunization records so I can register him for school. I know I saw them when we moved, but have no idea where I put them. They are certainly not in the filing cabinet. In the end I gave up and asked his previous school to mail them.

10) Made a big mess of my apartment. See if you can identify the pictures that I posted...a great idea from Bitch PhD.

Party!

Well, Abby (the baby) was definitely the main attraction. She was on center stage the entire night. Watch out, mom and dad, this one's a party animal!

Now that I've had a housewarming party (or a birthday party, according to Ben), I can settle down and really finish my paper...After I'm done with Harry Potter, of course.

Farewell to and Old Friend

My computer gave up the ghost last Tuesday. After a minor nervous breakdown, I realized that I had backed up everything on my external hard drive. I then proceeded to freak out about having to buy a new computer. Fortunately Hob came to the rescue and helped me find a reasonably priced laptop. Now I'm trying to figure out how to use Vista. Intuitive my foot.

I will miss my old POS laptop. We've been through some major stuff together. I hope she's happy in the great beyond.