The beautiful Ms. Olivia
Slimy!
Another year, another set of pumpkins carved
It must be October
I’d say things are going well
Evie has been going to her new school for awhile now. Although she still misses some of her old friends, she seems to be fitting right in at the new place.
After awhile, Sara and I started noticing that whenever we introduced ourselves to parents at school, we would always get the same reaction: “Oh, Evie? Everybody knows Evie!” Not to say that I’m surprised that everybody knows her (can anybody say they’d be surprised about that?), but it seemed to be a curious reaction, especially since there are three classrooms of kids and she hasn’t been there that long.
I don’t run into the parents that often, since Evie only goes twice a week and she goes to aftercare both days. So I am not around during the standard pickup time, only for drop-off. So I don’t really get to see her interact with the parents very much. I asked her about this reaction we kept getting, since all of the parents kept saying that they knew her.
Apparently, when the parents start arriving, she stands at the gate and waits for them. As they come in, she talks to each parent and directs them to where they should go, shepherding them to their kids. She even has some favorites, referring to some of the parents as her “special buddies” that she spends a little extra time talking to.
Me: “But you don’t talk to *all* the parents, right? I mean, if there’s a lot of them, you probably miss some of them.”
Evie: “The gate is only two mommies wide.”
So apparently Evie has designated herself as the school greeter. I have this vision of all of the parents lined up at the gate, waiting to be let in by the hostess two by two and presented to their children. It certainly would explain why everybody knows Evie.
Grumpy Cat
In the past month or so, our cat Nala suddenly got old.
She’s eating a lot less. She’s a lot less active, sleeping more during the day and being grumpier about moving (for example, when you want her to get out of the chair you want to sit in or when you want her out of a room so you can shut the door). She’s just grumpier in general: more likely to try to attack your ankles (well, Sara’s ankles…she knows better than to go after *my* ankles), more grumble-y about getting kicked out of a room, more likely to yowl at you, more likely to have a grumpy-looking, scowly face, etc.
Now traditionally, my relationship with Nala can be described as rocky at best. But it’s funny, but all this grumpy old lady behavior actually makes me like Nala more, not less. This may seem a bit counter-intuitive (why would I like bitey-cat more than non-bitey-cat?), but there’s really two reasons:
- I kind of feel bad for her, getting old and all. It seems like the least I can do is give her a scratch under the chin now and again. She deserves the same respect any old person gets, just for making it this long if nothing else.
- Seeing her like this reminds me of the fact that she’s going to die some day, and that’s going to be hard on the kids. For both of them, their first words all centered around Nala (I think Oliver’s was “Nala” and I think Evie’s was “Meow”, but she said “Nala” pretty quick too). I think, like many kids with pets, Nala’s demise will probably be their first real experience with death.
I think it is easy to forget that pets, like people, keep getting older. But pets, unlike people, have a limited shelf life. They just don’t last as long as you and your kids wish they would.
I think it’s going to be interesting to see if I miss Nala at all, after she’s gone. Lord knows I have contemplated getting rid of her (or actively wished her death) many times. But when it happens for real, I don’t know what my reaction will be. I’m certainly not going to miss being awakened at night, cleaning up vomit, or finding out she made a unilateral decision to move her bathroom.
One thing is for sure: if I don’t miss her, I will be the only one.
Quote Monday speaks Martian
Evie: “What’s that planet that Spanish comes from?”
::sobbing from Evie’s bedroom in the night::
Me: “What’s wrong, honey?”
Evie: “I have corn in my pants and I want you to get it out!”
Me: “How did you get corn in your pajamas?”
Evie: “Not these pants!”
It took me a long time to figure out exactly what was going on here. It turned out she had stuck three enormous handfuls of corn kernels in her pants pockets during the day (from a school project, not from dinner), and wanted me to get it before they went through the wash!
Evie: “Can you zip my coat up?”
Me: “No, you’re old enough to do it yourself.”
::Evie snatches a sweater out of my hands::
Evie: “But my hands are full!”
And you thought your job was bad
Alright, the video is kind of long, and the audio in French, so I’m just going to sum this one up for you.
This man is about to use his leg as bait to catch a giant snake.
That’s right: in order to catch a ridiculously huge python, this man puts his leg into the snake’s home, lets the snake eat him to mid-thigh or so, and then gets his friends to pull him out of the hole, bringing the snake out with him.
I repeat, THIS MAN IS ABOUT TO USE HIS LEG AS A SNAKE FISHING POLE.
Think about that next time you complain about your job. Unless you’re catching pythons in Cameroon, you’ve got no leg to stand on. (Get it? Because HE isn’t going to have a leg to stand on either…ah nevermind)
Side note, it is especially awful that the snake was still moving that long after they cut off it’s head. I’m just sayin’.
Shane Halbach 