Chillin'

Here I am in a quiet house. The kids are asleep as is the dog, and Pamela... well her day is still going strong far from here. I came home "early" from Cleveland yesterday and got everything ready for Pamela's big trip: Off for 7 days to an art retreat and then a couple of extra days of fun. I pick her up on Wednesday night, and I fully expect her to be ridiculously happy and rested. I was happy to use the fruits of my labor (miles and points) to get her first class for her flights, a free hotel and a mustang convertible for transport. She's out with a good friend (who she had a Vegas Adventure with 2 years back too), so I know it's going to be a good time.

In the meantime, while I'm not IN Cleveland, I have a few meetings I need to attend remotely. So people have been very good about helping me wrangle the Isaac (Bella is a) in school, and b) a bit easier to distract when around). He's making the rounds of playtime - having spent some quality time at the "all moonwalk" playground today with grandma, and will be playing with a neighbor buddy tomorrow while...

My mom (aka the serial commenter "anonymous" on this blog - hi mom!) is taking a fun adventure, getting rid of 75% of her things, storing 20%, and taking 5% while she relocates to the family homestate of Colorado for a few months. Part of it is pure pattern disruption (changing a routine), and part is financial, as she waits for some more flexible housing options (she's been swimming in a big old northeast 2 bedroom duplex, and could probably get along great in an efficiency closer to public transit...). Anyway, it's something I'm supporting her in, and she's up and leaving next week. So Friday the dutiful children will be helping her with her 20% in storage by loading it up and putting it into Carrie's basement (which is very kind of her - because our basement is already fit to burst). So I have a couple of hours of Isaac being watched AND my not having work calls to be on, so I'll be helping out.

Cleveland... It was a good week. I got to do my geek thing. So that's good.

Oh - a Bella joke from last night:
Why did the bugs get jobs in a bakery? Because they wanted to get at the dough. And in case you didn't know, another word for "dough" is... "money".

In truth, I'm not sure what bugs have to do with anything, but I also remember tormenting my friends and family with a "101 hamburger jokes book" that I got from the scholastic book fair in 3rd grade, so I know that the subject of the joke can be quite variable depending on what noun they're shaping the joke book around. So it's likely this came from a "101 bug joke" book.

Bella's at an age where I now have somewhat clear, and sometimes painful memories of my life. I recall my Emergency lunchbox, and for some reason, the pictures of Gage and DeSoto on the side looked particularly well drawn, so I boasted to my classmates that these were "ACTUAL" pictures of Gage and DeSoto. The key word "ACTUAL" being repeated over and over for emphasis.

I also remember getting in a fight with Tony Mingo because I had just learned a joke (What did the Pink Panther say when he stepped on an ant?), and was proudly telling it to Mrs Rasmussen's class , and Tony not only knew the punch line, but ran up to the front of the class and shouted it out for everyone to hear - literally stealing my thunder. We had a moment on the playground that ended up with me in the Principal's office. I understand they're much better at conflict resolution in school these days.

But anyway, I remember now how my brain worked back then, and it's a thrill to map that to what I'm hearing from Bella. And it makes me happy.

And so, with that I think I'll call it an evening.