June 2008

Why yes, that IS a tiny little mantid on that leaf! Cool, huh?

Tonight I’m going to use our BBQ for the first time, ever. Pray that I don’t blow myself up or singe off my eyebrows (which, let’s be honest, might be an improvement over the hedges currently growing above my eyeballs) and that the kids get to eat something that’s not charred to bits.

I’ll save the steaks for when Coffee’s home.

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In a few minutes I’m going to start ripping the seams on the capris-from-hell. I am doing this because I am stubborn, by the way, not because I have any faith that they’re going to turn out properly THIS time, either. And I really like the fabric.

Mostly, I’m stubborn.

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Speaking of sewing, I only recently learned that pattern sizing, in the do-it-yourself world, is not the same as ready to wear sizing. This is really disheartening because when you take my size 16-ish body and tell me that no, I actually wear a size 24 in this fancy sewing world, my head just spins. REALLY? TWENTY FOUR? and NOT 16? HOW DOES THAT WORK?

Haven’t they heard of “vanity sizing”?

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And while I’m still talking about sewing, I’d like to note that in my dream world I’d have a room specifically for sewing so that I’d be spared the agony of moving things around, setting up my machine, sewing three stitches and.. then get interrupted and have to dismantle everything again. Gah.

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I think everyone should have a spare room in the basement where they sleep in the summer. Our bedroom, the former rec-room, is about -20C right now and I’m all shivery. It’s lovely. But cold.

Just think of the A/C cost savings!

I am trying to find a serger that I can afford, which is to say, a free serger. If not free, then at least significantly cheaper than the million-zillion dollars the stores are suggesting I may wish to pay. Did you know that sergers are very expensive?

The problem, of course, is that everyone else in the world who has ever used a sewing machine would ALSO like a serger for very little money (which is to say, free) and so there are many people SEEKING sergers and many fewer people willing to part with them. Especially for free.

I would like to obtain said serger so I can make clothing items that will not immediately dismantle themselves when someone moves. I would like to make things that look funky and fancy and functional.

And, although I do find it funny to watch things fall apart thirty seconds after someone puts them on, I do not find it quite as amusing when I remember that I spent a very long time MAKING those items.

So, what I’m saying here, is that if you know someone who owns a serger that they do not use – or who would like to part with their serger because they’re upgrading – and this person would like to sell that serger for a reasonable price, please let me know.

In return, I will sew you something that (probably) won’t fall apart the first time you wear it.

Happy Birthday to Melle… May there be cake!

This morning, while drinking my coffee, I decided to check on the mantid egg case that’s been hanging out in our solarium for a few weeks.

And this morning I discovered a whole helluva’ lot of mantids inside the white paper bag.

I started yelling, “WE HAVE MANTIDS! WE HAVE MANTIDS!” and the kids came running, followed closely by Coffee.

We took the bag outside and released them – hundreds of little mantids crawling around the bag, our hands, the lawn, the garden.. It was SO COOL.

There were a few casualties, of course, but the majority survived.

I had planned to let Jenn know to come over (pictures!) but the mantids had already grown from tiny white specks to 5mm lengths – a sign that they’d been patiently WAITING to be released.

I didn’t even get my OWN camera out! GAH!

But with any luck, we’ll be running across mantids in our yard for the next while. Happy little natural pest controllers that they are.. Wheeee! They apparently breed quite quickly and efficiently.

Talk about a great way to start the day..

In the fabric store today, picking up some muslin to make a mock-up of the fucking capris that went terribly wrong yesterday, I was casually chatting with the store clerk.

Maymo was dancing around beside me, as usual, when he suddenly leaped about 4 feet over and promptly got up in the clerk’s face to loudly declared, “I SAW A MOVIE ABOUT DINOSAURS TODAY!”

The woman was more than a little taken-aback by his, shall we say, in-your-face delivery of this message. But she quickly recovered and said, “Oh! At school?”

Maymo looked at her like she was the dumbest person on the face of the planet and said, “Yes. And they are all dead. Aaaaall deeeeeeeeeeead. But if we pour water on them they will stop being dead. Mom, we should pour water on the dinosaurs. I would like to see one of them.”

I love Junior Kindergarten.

Middle One announced at dinner today that his “entire class” hates him.

After some gentle questioning, it was revealed that Middle One sat down with some kids from his class, at a table (at lunch?), and asked them point blank if they hated him. They all “looked around and didn’t say anything” and then got up and walked away.

I will be the first to tell you that Middle One is a weird kid. Of the three, he’s the one that it took me longest to feel attached to and the one I had the hardest time understanding when it came to behaviours, actions and words.

There’s nothing visibly strange about him – he’s a very good looking kid (I’m biased, yes, but it’s the truth) and he’s exceptionally caring and loving. He’s the first to give a hug if you look even the slightest bit grouchy and he’s the first to apologize for any wrongdoings even if he wasn’t involved. He’s outgoing and affectionate and not even the slightest bit shy.

I say this next part with no judgment – just stating facts.

He lies. He exaggerates. He’s loud and says inappropriate things at inappropriate times. He screams “for fun” and annoys the living hell out of anyone he possibly can, whenever he can. His interpersonal skills are seriously lacking. He has no concept of boundaries.

We work on this constantly and as gently as possible.

At first, we started with some very basic rules of etiquette for when people visit – and we practice them regularly (and he is making progress). Simple things like allowing people to speak and not interrupting and not clinging to near-strangers. Avoiding the expulsion of noxious gas while hugging people. Not screaming and rolling around and acting like a maniac when people are trying to talk to each other.

We’ve talked about why it’s not polite to call people and invite yourself over – even when you’d prefer to not have your younger brother around. We’ve talked about how (and when) to leave a voice mail message – one without weird noises and slurring and shouting and other oddities. We’ve talked about appropriate behaviour at other peoples’ homes and what’s polite and not polite.

There has been MUCH progress made. He is becoming more enjoyable to be around for all those involved – including his brothers.

As an adult, and one who has known him for a while and learned about specific behaviours via research, it’s not always easy for me to cut him some slack. Even now, I have to check myself at times to keep from snapping at him about some specific behaviour. I take deep breaths before I respond.

Understanding WHY he does things makes it easier, of course, but, again, I’m an adult. He’s eight and so are most of his friends.

I just don’t know how to help him at school and with kids his own age.

I have my suspicions as to what’s bothering the other kids, of course, but Middle One denies that he has anything whatsoever to do with the other kids not liking him. This makes it hard for me to help him develop the skills that might help him make more/better friends.

I know – oh, I know – that kids can be mean. And I know that they gang up on each other and they take sides and they go from “like you!” to “HATE YOU!” for absolutely no reason sometimes. There is no doubt in my mind that there’s some of that going on in this situation.

But I also know, without question, that Middle One doesn’t make it easy for the other kids to adore him. And since they’re kids, they’re not likely to cut him much slack when it comes to quirky behaviours.

With less than a month of school to go, I’m half-relieved and half-worried. Relieved in that he’ll have the summer to continue developing his interpersonal skills and to settle further into the security of our family. Relieved, too, that he’ll be able to avoid the kids who are being mean to him at the moment. I’m hoping he’ll grow a little (in all senses of the word).

But I’m worried that he’ll spend the summer alone, save for the dreaded Milhouse (gah), and that September will be even harder for him as a result.

Any advice?

By around 9 a.m., I was wishing I was naked. To hell with getting arrested in public and to hell with people seeing my nippular-region! I WAS HOT.

So, after I dropped Maymo off at school, I went into Fabricland (BIG SALE!) and bought a pattern and some fabric to make myself some funky capris. And this afternoon, if Maymo is feeling agreeable with my plan, I shall sew those capris whilst he plays 82 hours of Pokemon on his DS.

It may only take me 80 hours; it’s supposed to be an “easy” pattern…

Speaking of hot and (half-)naked you should pop over and visit Sylvain. Wheee!

Plants went into the garden today – off the top of my head I recall: strawberries; plenty of tomatoes (both cherry and the big fat ones); spinach; green peppers; jalapeno peppers; watermelons; sunflowers; broccoli; cucumbers; pumpkins; zucchini and a whole bunch of herbs. Oh! And some loofah!

I AM SO EXCITED!

I avoid looking at my stats, generally, because they make me feel needy. Why aren’t there MORE people looking? Why didn’t they look at THAT post and yet they ALL seemed to look at THIS post? Why are my hits up one day and then down the next? WHY?

It makes me twitchy.

This is what my little stats graph looks like for this week.

Do you see why I try not to look?