mardi gras

Here in the south, this is an honest-to-goodness holiday. The big kid is off from school. Some schools are out for a couple of days, others for the whole week. I need to research this celebration. Keep us in your thoughts on this looong, looong break.

falling behind

I'm in a rut and can't keep up with things. What kind of rut could I be in, you ask? The kind of rut that makes one lose one's mind. I am in the middle of contemplating homeschooling the big kid. This would mean a lot of changes (all for the better if I can give in to them) in our daily routines.

I shouldn't even be uttering the words "home school" when I've barely scratched the surface. On to other things...

We made church windows. I don't have photos of the finished craft. The piles of delicate, colorful tissue paper make me happy anyway.



I used the mandoline/mandolin/Benriner again. I sort-of kind-of followed this recipe for Yukon Gold Potato Gratin. It was good. It may have been better with a stronger cheese.



This is proof of how very different the wee one is from the big kid. The big kid never differentiated between bread and crust. The wee one is a finicky eater.

truly a blah day

Don't know why, it just is. We went to a fundraiser dinner for the big kid's school last night. That was nice. We had conversation with other adults. Before dinner we drove a short way along the coast and stopped at a "closed beach" because I was itching to see the sunset. They've been so pretty lately. This is totally manipulated by increasing the contrast using the color curves in PSE6. I promise I did it only to make it look as it did in person. It's amazing how someplace that makes me so miserable can have such beauty.



I'm working on my recipes for the kitchen challenge. How about you?

sabotage

I knew from previous memos home there was going to be a fund-raiser event at Chuck E. Cheese this week. What I didn't know was just how aggressively the school was going to pursue our attendance. I picked the big kid up and there, at the door, was a large t-shirt and sneaker clad rodent. He was waving and patting the children on the head as they exited the building. She emerged from the school wearing a smile and a coercive Chuck E. Cheese sticker promising 10 BONUS tokens if she attended this evening.

We aren't going. Bah-humbug.

catch up

Granny is gone. We are sad. While she was here, she was able to meet all my friends aka the people who work at my friendly, neighborhood drug stores. The deals were/are hot recently. I worry she wanted to see more than the inside of Walgreens.

Seriously, we had a nice time. The kids adore her as much as I do. She's great at playing and entertaining both the big kid and the wee one.

The Baron has been busy working on the haunted house props. Here's a taste:

washing my hair? watching a debate?

Which excuse should I use for not going to PTO this evening?

We're going even though I wish we weren't. The Baron needs to relay information about the haunted house aka haunted field tent he's suddenly found himself organizing. I am supposed to show up and dazzle them with my many sources who are clamoring to be vendors at the Fall Festival.

Thanks to helpful fellow PTO members I had a list of 20 names. The only thing is, I haven't heard back from anybody. Okay, there was that one lady who said, "maybe next year" and the other lady who has moved half a continent away since the PTO acquired her business card, but other than those two, I've got zip. Oh yeah, I told them I had no contacts, no resources, which was my way of saving some dignity. Maybe I should have said I have no friends, no social connections, then I wouldn't be the Chairperson of the Craft Fair at the Fall Festival. Could I be any more pathetic?