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Updates (Title! Such creative! So exciting!)

NonSoccerMom — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 03:56:14 +0000

I guess I’m back to posting sporadically, which is presumably better than not posting at all. I suppose so, anyway. Even though I really enjoy writing, I find there isn’t much of interest going on in my day-to-day life. At least not much of anything that I could write about in a way to be interesting to others. So in lieu of a totally cohesive story for this post, I’ll just run through a few update-y type things that have happened recently.

My 14-year-old son Lex was assigned toÂ his top choice of high school. I don’t know if I’ve ever written about the craziness of the school system here (I did a cursory search of my old posts and didn’t find anything, so maybe not), but it’s essentially a lottery system for kindergarten and 9th grade. We moved here when he was going into 4th grade, and I was lucky enough to land him a spot in an awesome elementary school. Total dumb beginner’s luck that worked in our favor twice, since he was going into 5th grade there when we needed to get Misty into kindergarten. There’s no way we would have gotten her into that highly-desirable school without the sibling preference weighting factor in the K lottery. Middle school was no big deal, as they actually assign those based on the closest elementary. My point? This is the first time that we’ve truly dealt with the SFUSD lottery assignment process. We toured different schools, he took the required admission test for one of the options, we talked about what order to list our preferences in. One grade-based school requires you to enroll thereÂ if you put it as first choice and get accepted; the others aren’t grade-based admission but there’s also no way to weight your chances at acceptance. It’s a lengthy, stressful process that culminated in a delay on receiving the assignment letters in mid-March due to an error by the school district. In the end, he was assigned to the school he put first on the list, and now I have a small idea of what the college application process looks like from a parent’s perspective. All’s well that ends well, I suppose.
I have accepted a new job. Same university, similar role, but in a central administration office rather than one of the individual schools. A lateral move for now, but with more opportunities down the line. I hadÂ several reasons for considering the position (I was essentially recruited – or, as a coworker likes to say, “poached”), some of which would require a password-protected post, but the main thing is that this will get me back into a part of the job that I really enjoy. I’m really looking forward to it, and will start in my new role on May 8 because of something else that I’m about to mention. There! That was a lot of words to not say much at all.
So, even though I was offered the new job in mid-March, my last day at my current job isn’t until May 5. That’s because I was selected into a US/Europe exchange program and if all goes well, I’ll be in Moscow later this month. I’d give more details, but I don’t really have any. I filled out the visa application and sent off my passport, so now I have A) no passport B) no plane tickets C) no visa D) no idea where I’m staying E) no firm travel dates and F) no clue when I’ll know any of this. The program staff are all very chill about the whole thing and they do this all the time, so I’m trying not to freak out. But theoretically I’m leaving in less than two weeks and since I refuse to do any packing or preparation until I have plane and hotel reservations in hand…it could be a photo finish, is what I’m saying.

So there you have it. I’d say I’ll try to update more regularly, but I think we all know that’s a lie.

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This cannot be real life

NonSoccerMom — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 20:22:12 +0000

It’s been weeks now since the election and I’m still not over it. I don’t know that I ever will be. Beyond the obvious heartbreak that this country apparently would rather have a racist, bigoted, misogynistic blowhard reality TV star in our highest office than a woman with a normal amount of political scandals in her past, I just wake up every day horrified anew. It’s like the Twilight Zone. It looks relatively like the life I used to have, the America I knew, but clearly it isn’t.

Neo-Nazis are being selected to some of the highest positions in the land. Phone calls with world leaders are happening off the record. Evidently there will be limited access by and virtually no transparency with the press . Oh, but there will be closed meetings with high-profile press members, in which our president-elect will rant about pictures showing his double chin. All the while, he isÂ still tweeting insults and complaints like a child. He’s threatening freedom of speech. Immigrants and people of color and Muslims are scared for their futures. So is the LGBTQ community, and rightfully so. This should not happen. It is 2016 in America, a country founded on and known for its freedoms. What is happening to us? We’re going backwards. This is horrifying. I can’t even link to all the articles and tweets and news fromÂ the last few weeks because there’s too much. Not to mention the numerous conflicts of interest, because it seems that Trump is not going to back away from his business dealings as he should. Plus his apparent refusal to live in the White House full time, thereby costing taxpayers more money to protect him in New York. Oh, and his daughter Ivanka is attending transition meetings with world leaders for even more appalling conflicts of interest. I just. It’s too much. How is this happening?

I am aware that there was a large contingent of Trump voters who voted for him solely on the basis of anti-establishment. They wanted him in office to shake things up. To get away from traditional politics and really make a change. But is this what they intended? Are there Trump voters out there watching all of this unfold with the same horror I feel? For the future of our country, I certainly hope so. I have to believe they’re realizing the depth of their mistake. Not that it excuses voting for a childish man that is soÂ obviously racist and uncaring of basic human and civil rights, but I know from personal experience that not all Trump voters are deplorable. Some of them are very good people, and though I will never agree with their choice in this matter, I have to believe that they truly didn’t think they were enabling the Neo-Nazis to take over this country. And yet.

I don’t even know what the point of this post is. I just needed a place to rant and put my feelings somewhere in more than 140 character snippets. So here it is. If things keep going as they are, there will probably be more at some point. In the meantime, hang in there America. We’ll get through this. We have to. Because there isn’t an alternative.

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Here we are

NonSoccerMom — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 05:08:51 +0000

I really do want to get back into blogging, so I guess the best thing to do is just a little free association-type writing…and a few updates.

The Job – is the job. Good days and bad, just like any job. I have a great team and have made some good friends. That is all I’m going to say about that.

The Schools – are great. T is in 1st grade this year (I KNOW) and A is in 6th. So they’re not at the same school anymore…we got to enjoy that for all of one year, but I guess that’s more than we would have in our old district (the elementary only went up to 4th grade there). Anyway, the middle school transition has gone remarkably well for A and I’m very proud of him. And the schools are only 6 blocks apart so it isn’t a big deal – I drop them both off at T’s elementary in the mornings and A walks down to school with his buddies since it starts much later. Easy.

The House – is also great. Total dumb luck that we found a place to meet our needs in a city with such a crazy rental market, but we really enjoy both the neighborhood and the house itself.

The Pets – still alive, annoyingly enough. I’m kidding, sort of, but the dog is old and starting to become incontinent and, well, it’s exactly as fun as it sounds.

The Husband’s Job – is going well, I think. He’s actually on his second job since moving out here and now works at the same university I do, though in a different department and at a different location within the city.

The Holiday Plans – second (third) verse, same as the first. We’re headed back to Texas for two weeks to visit family. But we are going to Disney World starting on Christmas Eve (through T’s birthday) so everyone is very excited about that. It’s what we decided to do with my parents, sister and brother-in-law instead of exchanging gifts and so forth but as I’m sure you can surmise, it isn’t exactly the same cost-wise. Oh well.

So there you have it, in a nutshell and with almost no editing. The state of things, such as they are. I’m back, baby.

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This blog has been dead for almost 2 years but who cares! Let’s talk about Sons of Anarchy!

NonSoccerMom — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 21:33:38 +0000

Hi! Obviously it has been *mumble mumble* months since I posted anything, but it’s never too late to revive this poor blog, right? Especially when I have very important things to talk about. Things like Sons of Anarchy. Forget about boring updates on why I haven’t posted lo these many (many) months, I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT SONS OF ANARCHY! I have a lot of thoughts and feeeeeelings!!

Spoilers for Red Rose ahoy – consider yourself warned. And if you’re not caught up you’ll be hella confused anyway because I’m just plunging right in. Here we go…

I think I’m struggling more with Unser’s death than anyone else. I mean, all these people are getting slaughtered and he just was the one person that still had some semblance of a moral code in all this. Well, relatively speaking I guess. Anyway, Jax just SHOT him and they made no further reference to him at all, as if he was never even there to begin with. Gemma had it coming (more on that in a minute) but Unser was a plot twist I didn’t see coming. But he obviously knew that Gemma was about to die and Jax made it pretty clear that he wasnt’ messing around and would kill Unser if he stayed. Unser’s motivation has always been his love for Gemma so I guess he figured there was no point to his life anymore with her death. Plus, he’s been dying of stage 4 cancer for 7 seasons anyway, so.

Then there’s Nero. The scene where he and Jax talk about Wendy and the boys going with him to the farm was great. It was very well done – Jax clearly making plans for his fatherless boys because he knows it is almost over for him. Nero has been a phenomenal father figure for poor Jax, who has only ever had Gemma as a consistent parental role model. Anyway, in the end Nero was trying to protect Jax, not Gemma, and now I’m worried about how he’s going to react because what he told Jax is absolutely right: there’s no coming back from killing one’s own mother. But he already knows, I’m sure he does. He’s not stupid, and he’s been in the life for too long to think it could end up any other way. Nero knew exactly what would happen while he was giving Jax that phenomenal speech in the end of Suits of Woe.

Let’s get back to Gemma’s death, while we’re on the subject. Gemma got off easy. Because cutting her off from her grandsons (and what’s left of the club she knew) would be a fate far worse than death. Jax let her off the hook, basically, and she knew it. And Gemma’s final little speech to Jax about did me in. It definitely did him – I can’t believe he was able to pull the trigger. But she manipulated him right up until the final second, giving him that whole bit about “This is who we are.” The entire scene was very well done, even though I felt like I was being beat about the head with Shakespearean symbolism.

Moving on!

I have several burning questions that better be answered in the finale:

1. What is going on with Jax physically?Â At the very beginning of the episode they definitely made a big deal of the fact that his leg gave out when he stood up from the cot. He also appeared to be limping on that leg on and off throughout the episode (although it is hard to tell with him sometimes on account of The Swagger). Has he been poisoned? Is his heart condition going to catch up with him before Mayhem can? Something else entirely? WHAT IS HAPPENING? This is a big one for me. It just has to be something. It has to be. Maybe it’s going to lead to him losing control and going out in a motorcycle crash, dying the same way his old man did. But that doesn’t make a lot of sense, because on a motorcycle you brake with your hands, not your feet (I think). Anyway, my #1 thought is that it has to do with his heart somehow. Wouldn’t it just be like the show to give us all this buildup, thinking Jax is going to go out in a blaze of outlaw glory but in the end, he just dies of a heart attack?

2. What is Nero up to? Again, a big deal was made of him going into the garage at Jax’s house “looking for tools” and generally being all squirrely and then nothing seemed to come of it. Is he plotting to protect Jax somehow? Is he going to avenge what Gemma’s inevitable death? What is he DOING? Or is it a red herring?

3. What did Chucky do? Tig got off the phone when they were meeting with the Irish and said “That was T-M. Chucky did it”. But we never saw anything come of thatÂ either unless I totally missed something. Plus Chucky’s been getting a bit more screen time in the last few episodes so surely that’s another plot point to be wrapped up.

4. What is the deal with the homeless lady? SheÂ showed up at the vending machine before the scene with Milo the trucker (nice cameo by Michael Chiklis, btw) and Gemma. It’s the same lady that we see throughout the series…and now we know she is/was Rat’s girlfriend’s mom. I’d like a little explanation here. Is she a ghost? Just a sad-sack lady who left her former life behind for some reason? Why does she always show up before some major death?

5. What is the “unwritten bylaw” Jax refers to in the scene with the other SOA presidents?Â They specifically cut out to the boys waiting in Red Woody during that part so I know we’ll get back to it next week but I really have no idea what that could be. Jax clearly is planning for his own death at this point (or is that just what Sutter wants us to believe?) so I am assuming he knows the vote will be for Mayhem. Although I am a little unclear on who exactly gets to make this vote (see: much mumbling, talking in some sort of biker lingo), I do think it is SAMCRO. Jax did say he’d make sure they vote the right way.

Surely all of this will get resolved or I am going to be very disappointed. I expect it will be – Sutter doesn’t appear to do ANYTHING randomly or half-assed. Come on, writers. Don’t let me down.

I still can’t believe that Gemma is dead. Just like that. Omg. And also, possibly I am too emotionally invested in this show. Also also, poor Juice. I’m glad he at least got to finish his pie but you know prison pie can’t possibly be that good. What a way to go. Sigh.

The end.

The post This blog has been dead for almost 2 years but who cares! Let’s talk about Sons of Anarchy! first appeared on NonSoccerMom.com.

This week, in summary

NonSoccerMom — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:27:04 +0000

It has been a week, let me tell you. For everyone, it seems. Here’s an overview, as told in a series of (slightly edited) email excerpts between my sister and me. As you’ll see, our conversations span a wide variety of extremely important topics.

***

Monday

Sher: I was in some kind of FUNK this weekend.Â I was so rude & all over the place in spurts this weekend with J.Â I think he was scared. My hormones were just out of whack or something- I mean, I could SEE and HEAR myself being crazy but I Just. Couldnâ€t. STOP. I explained it to him, but he is a dude so I think he was just confused.Â To tell the truth, I was confused too.Â No idea what that was.

Me: Hahaha, it happens. Heâ€ll get used to it, Iâ€m sure. As my own husband puts it (oh so eloquently): Women be crazy.

Tuesday

Me: Figuring out summer camp options for Lex is a NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTMARE. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Sher: So what are the options?Â I will pick for you.

Me: Well letâ€s see. We have the $$ options at N’s work â€“ the only ones of which Iâ€m willing to pay for he probably wonâ€t be that interested in (Cooking camp, anyone?). There is a much cheaper option at the park across from our house, but it only runs from 9-3 each day and if they wonâ€t allow him to leave without being picked up by a parent, that isnâ€t really reasonable (if he can just walk back across the street to the house, we trust him to be there for a few hours alone until one of us can get home). There are all kinds of awesome-looking sleep-away options, but most of them are $$$$$ and the ones that arenâ€t appear to be catering primarily to inner-city kids. I found one reasonable option that includes lunch and actually runs from 9-5 each day (which is the closest to a full work day we can get, it seems) but it would take 45 minutes to get to each day by bus, not to mention the time to get back to work afterwards. Airfare is still more than Iâ€m willing to pay because they havenâ€t run a good summer deal yet, AND I discovered that thereâ€s a $100 surcharge for unaccompanied minors so it wonâ€t be as cheap to fly him to Texas as Iâ€d hoped. I donâ€t suppose YOU have a couple weeks off this summer to come stay with us and watch him. Iâ€m so frustrated and overwhelmed, Iâ€m about ready to beg Mom to come stay the entire summer.

Wednesday

Sher: So the accounting supervisor was just a real asshole to me on the phone for no reason & I am still seething.Â And the best part is that the situation includes my crazy coworker so when she gets back from the doctor, the supervisor will probably tell her a skewed version of the story (you know, the crazy woman interpretation) and then crazy woman will come down to me and be all crazy. LOTS OF CRAZY GOING ON. OH OH and yesterday, crazy woman pulled this: I was on my lunch break, but took it at my desk instead of leaving the office like I normally do so I could watch the SNL from Saturday with Justin Timberlake.Â But still at lunch- not â€œoutâ€, but not taking calls, not doing work. I had everything minimized on my screen except the hulu page with SNL playing.Â I was leaning back in my chair with headphones in my ears watching it. That would indicate â€œHey I am not at work.Â It is 12:45 so most likely I am on my lunch break.â€ to most people.Â And to us here, our lunch breaks are sacred because we need the time to unwind and clear our heads so we can do our stressful jobs.Â She comes into my cubicle while this is taking place, starts talking about work.Â So I have to pause what I am watching, take my headphones out and turn around to look at her dumbfounded â€œSorry, I am at lunch right now- can this wait?â€ To which she makes an annoyed sound & says â€œOh I didnâ€t know you were at lunch.Â I guess it can wait.â€Â HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW I WAS AT LUNCH!?!?!Â WHY WOULD I BE WATCHING A TV SHOW ON MY COMPUTER, NOT EVEN TRYING TO HIDE IT, IF I WAS WORKING?!?!?!Â I wanted to punch her.Â Bitches be CRAZY.

Me: The lunch thing is SO annoying. People just assume if you are sitting there youâ€re working. Happens to me ALL THE TIME. I was lifting a forkful of food to my mouth yesterday when someone came in and goes â€œYou at lunch?â€ SIIIIIIIIIIGH. It makes me think of Bill Engvall. â€œHereâ€s your sign.â€

Thursday

Me: OMG, last night’s Psych was not so great at all. I was highly annoyed. I really despise â€œdocumentary footageâ€-type episodes of shows anyway (Supernatural did one this season also and I was similarly displeased) but ugh, Psych just really didnâ€t bring it with that one. We chuckled at a few parts but mostly I didnâ€t think it was too funny. Fingers crossed for next week!

Sher: Oh I am totally with you on â€œdocumentary styleâ€ filming.Â I hate it.Â If it isnâ€t making me sick to my stomach, it is just annoying me. I really need to go home.Â We are going to a concert tonight- some a cappella group J loves.Â I didnâ€t have to pay for my ticket because a friend last minute couldnâ€t go & just wanted someone to use it.Â The group is pretty good, so it should be fun.Â But it would be more fun if they would just perform in front of me while I sit on my couch at home in pajama pants. <- OLD.

Friday

Me: How was the concert? I left early yesterday because I just havenâ€t felt great all week (stomach is funky and Iâ€m so tired) but I ended up working my ass off from home all afternoon (which was even more work than it would have been from work, because of stupid computer issues and lack of dual monitors). So now Iâ€m still tired, and Iâ€m incredibly cranky on top of it because COME. ON. ONE AFTERNOON. ONE. THAT IS ALL I ASK. I feel as though Iâ€m dangerously close to having a screaming tantrum, like a toddler. EVERYBODY LEAVE ME ALONE. I DONâ€T CARE WHAT YOU NEED, OR WHAT YOU WANT ME TO LOOK AT, OR WHO HURT YOUR FEELINGS OR WHAT. I DONâ€T. JUST BACK THE EFF OFF BEFORE I BITE YOU.

Sher: OMG TODAY HAS BEEN THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOORST.Â I literally just got bitched out on the phone by a crazy person for no reason.Â She wouldnâ€t talk to me & then said she was either going to talk to someone else or she would cancel the order.Â I transferred her and she told my coworker she never wanted to talk to â€œthat womanâ€ again!Â I wish I could give you a play by play of that phone conversation.Â My coworkers heard my end & were like, You were so nice I donâ€t understand why she was yelling at you!!Â OMGÂ Â I WANT ALL THE WINE IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. And it looks like you are having as grand of a day as I am.Â TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!

***

So, yeah. Happy Friday – hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

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The pursuit of thankfulness

NonSoccerMom — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 02:30:34 +0000

As was probably obvious in the last post, I’m feeling rather…put upon. And crabby. And because of events out of our control, N’s trip to SF has been delayed by a day. Less than a day, actually, but he was scheduled to arrive tonight and now won’t be here until around 3 pm or so tomorrow. We haven’t seen him in a month so as you can imagine, this delay – while minor in the overall scheme of things – has not improved my mental state.

Maybe it is silly (or cliched) to come up with a list of things that make you happy in an effort to actually be thankful that you have them. But I do this every so often and it did work for me here and here, so I’ll give it a try.

So here we go. In no particular order, a bunch of little things (because duh, of course I’m thankful for my family, friends and health) that make life worth living:

New bronze ballet flats. Re-startingÂ Sons of Anarchy from the beginning, back before every character’s life became a total train wreck. The ridiculously good $1.99 wine from Trader Joe’s. Supernatural on Netflix Instant. Cookie Butter. The way my 4-year-old calls the first meal of the day “brep-tist”. The song “Boston” by Augustana. A perfect pair of skinny jeans, on sale for $20. Grocery delivery. Enjoying a really strong cabernet out of my favorite wine glass. Taking the bus without the kids so I can listen to music and zone out completely. A Gap denim jacket with perfectly long sleeves, even for my freak-show monkey arms. “Go to California” by Rob Zombie. OPI Midnight in Moscow. A mega-cheap, super-convenient dim sum place near my house. Timing the morning commute so that we don’t have to wait more than 5 minutes at each bus stop. Discovering a new show to watch on Fridays, thereby locking up every single weeknight for laziness maximization. Live Free or Die Hard. Calling the landlord for house-related issues instead of shelling out money. Lentil hummus from the local farmer’s market. New friends to have lunch with. Creme brulee coffee creamer. Booking tickets to Texas for two weeks at Christmas. Finding a reliable, available babysitter. Children miraculously entertaining themselves, so that I can write this post.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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Observations

NonSoccerMom — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 01:21:12 +0000

Totally copping out with a bulleted list already. I have to be honest, now I remember why my blog posting has always been so sporadic. It turns out that a lot of times I’m just flat not in the mood to write anything, especially not when there’s wine to be consumed and TV to be watched.Â (Or more specifically, several seasons of Supernatural to catch up on via Netflix. Seriously, how have I been missing out on this show since 2005? It’s like Charmed and The X-Files rolled into one, with an touch of horror movie campiness thrown in for good measure. Fun!)

Anyway, things are moving right along. I get up, get dressed, hike uphill (no really) to catch the bus, goÂ to work, learn stuff/meet people/work work work, then head back to the apartment, talk and/or FaceTime with N, the kids and my parents, then watch TV until it is time for bed. Second verse, same as the first. Maybe this weekend I’ll have something more interesting to talk about, but not so much at the moment. In the meantime here are a few things I’ve noticed over the last week or so:

It is way more pleasant to ride public transporation while listening to music – kind of like having a personal soundtrack – and as an added bonus, having earphones in keeps random strangers from striking up a conversation.
It is much, much easier to clean a 350-square foot apartment with one occupant than it is to cleanÂ aÂ 1900-square footÂ house that has four peopleÂ plus an indoor dog and cat. Duh, says you. AWESOME, says I.
Another for the DUH files: Being a manager is tooooooootally different than just being a member of the staff. That’s all I have to say about that.
I shouldn’t have taken free workplace coffee for granted. The only place to get coffee at my new office is down in the cafe, and that’s almost $2 a pop. Turns out there really is such a thing as the latte factor. You do get a (tiny) discount if you bring your own mug, but at the rate I drink coffee I’ll be broke in no time.

Huh. Turns out that even with bullet points I didn’t have much to say. Sorry about that.

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Eyeballs, etc.

NonSoccerMom — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 03:33:57 +0000

LASIK update

Y’all.Â Y’ALL.Â I had several people tell me how awesome it is, how I would wish I’d done it years ago.Â And guess what?Â I TOTALLY WISH I’D DONE IT YEARS AGO.Â In addition to the cost (which is admittedly substantial), I was mostly worried about silly things, like being required to keep my eyes closed for 4 hours after the procedure (not a problem, thanks to the Xanax AND Valium they gave me beforehand, ZZZ) having to keep up with multiple sets of eye drops, and being able to see well enough to drive myself back home (90 miles) by the next day.Â But in the end, none of that was a big deal at all (well, except the money but WORTH IT).

I may sound like a cheesy-ass ad but seriously.Â I’ve worn contacts for 25 years, glasses for a couple of years beyond that.Â I walked into that operating room unable to see the big E without corrective lenses.Â I had high myopia and required about a -7.5 corrective diopter to see, at best, 20/30-ish.Â My vision was about 20/400 uncorrected.Â That is not good.Â Impressive in its crappiness, actually, especially when you consider it’s been that bad since I was about 10 years old.

But now I see 20/15 in both eyes.Â Better than “normal” visual acuity of 20/20.Â I can’t even begin to tell you how cool it is to open my eyes in the morning and SEE.Â EVERYTHING.Â I can see in the shower!Â I can fall asleep to the TV without worrying about my glasses!Â I’ve never known what that was like.

It is AWESOME.

Tiny Little Smartass

I believe I’ve mentioned how Misty/Miss T (am still trying to give these new names a chance, perhaps it would be easier if I wrote more often) is cute but evil.Â In yet another example of the child’s disturbing cleverness, yesterday N was playing Wii so that she could watch.Â But then she got tired of Super Mario 3.

Misty:Â I want to play a different game.Â I want to play a different game.

N:Â [says nothing; continues to play]

Misty:Â I want to play a different game.Â I want to play a different game.

N:Â [still says nothing; continues playing]

Misty:Â I want to play a different game.Â I want to play a different game!Â I! Want! To! Play! A! Different! Game!

Me: [in the kitchen, unsure as to whether N is purposely ignoring her or is so deep in the zone that he truly doesn’t hear, but either way I am slowly being driven crazy whether he is or not]Â MISTY.Â That is ENOUGH.Â We HEAR YOU.

Misty:Â But I want to play a different game.Â I want to play a different game!Â I want to play a different game!

Me:Â Say it again.Â Say it ONE MORE TIME, and you’ll sit in time out.Â [meaningful glare]

Misty:Â [sweetly and deliberately]Â Daddy, can you please put in another game?

A New Purchase

Though I did love my BMW X5 and for the most part I enjoyed owning and driving it, we decided to let it go and get something a bit more practical.Â We’d had the X5 in the shop no less than four times since purchasing it a year ago, and between the constant threat of major mechanical problems and ever-rising gas costs, it began to feel rather like an albatross.

So we took it down to the local Toyota dealership and they offered us a good deal.Â Now we’re rocking a 2011 Prius.Â It isn’t flashy, it isn’t fast, but it is a smooth, dependable ride and quite frankly the potential gas savings make me a little weak in the knees.

N and I plan to trade off driving it, but I’ve been back behind the wheel of our old faithful 4Runner for a couple days now and honestly, I’m completely fine with that.Â I loved that 4Runner from the second I got behind the wheel for a test drive back in October of 2001 and there was a part of me that always felt I’d betrayed it by buying the X5 in the first place.

It might sound silly, but now I think we’ve returned to the natural order of things.Â I belong behind the wheel of that old stellar blue pearl (NOT PURPLE) 4Runner, not a snobby, stuffy, tank-like X5.Â Turns out I wasn’t much of a BMW gal after all.

Cubicle Farms

I’ve been working in my current cube for 3 years now and while I’m generally not bothered by ambient office noise, the lack of privacy provided by 5.5-foot walls does get irritating.Â Particularly when I’m in the midst of a deadline or trying to work on a complex budget.Â My cube also happens to be at the end of a row at a rather high-traffic area, so people are walking back and forth all day long.

But a week from tomorrow, all that changes.Â Because I’m moving into a new cubicle.Â And it has eight-foot walls and a sliding door with frosted privacy glass.Â A DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR.Â With a lock even!Â I am so excited!

There’s also a ton more desk space, lots of storage and several magnetic dry-erase boards.

Oh, and did I mention the door?Â This new cubicle has a door.

(Seriously!Â A DOOR!!)

The End

You’ve reached it.

The post Eyeballs, etc. first appeared on NonSoccerMom.com.

Arlene*

NonSoccerMom — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 01:44:47 +0000

First order of business – N told me he’d divorce me if I refer to him as Nic on this blog.Â Or at the very least, take my site down completely!Â I was correct in my assumption that he wouldn’t go for Nic, heh.Â Betty had a good idea, but I call my father-in-law Roz (in real life) so I can’t make that work in my own head.Â So!Â For the sake of simplicity and the agreement of all involved, from now on N will be referred to on this site as:

I know!Â All that to end up right back where we started, but I think it is for the best.**Â Lex and Misty are here to stay, though.Â They don’t get veto power because they don’t have access to my blog.

Segue!!

I got the monthly analytics report just now, and while I had opened this window with the intention of writing a couple of movie reviews I thought this might be more fun.Â Or a easy post for the lazy.Â However you prefer to look at it.Â So anyway, what were some of the Google searches that brought people to my little corner of the web during July?Â I thought you’d never ask.

“best soccer scenes in non-soccer movies” – This, gentle readers, is a very specific thing to be searching for with Teh Google, is it not?Â And frankly, it’s something I’ve never given much thought…hmm.Â The only movies involving soccer that I can come up (without cheating) areÂ Bend it Like Beckham (definitely a soccer (football) movie, and a good one at that), Kicking & Screaming (which is funnier than I thought it would be but again, entirely revolves around soccer)…and, um….Ladybugs (which I am ashamed – for so many reasons – to admit that I have seen more than once).Â Beyond that, I can’t even think of any soccer movies (although for a minute I was all oh! Invictus! but no, that’s about rugby), much less any non-soccer movies that have a good soccer scene.Â I realize why the word “soccer” brings so many people to this site and I was really hoping that maybe I had something movie-related to offer this person, but no.

“drop it as though its hot” – Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it actually ‘drop it LIKE it’s hot’?Â Although I suppose if you are truly concerned with proper syntax, ‘drop it as though it is hot’ would be closer to accurate use of the English language.Â Either way, ‘its’ is possessive, ‘it’s’ means IT IS.Â Come on, people.Â IT’S not that hard.

“how was your day” – Okay, who googles this?Â No, I’m really asking.Â Who?

“what did my rock candy not crystallize yet?” – I’m so sorry, Mystery Googler.Â I hope you were able to eventually find the answer to your oddly-worded question, because lo, you did not find it here.

and finally, the strangest one of the lot (this month, anyway):

“bizarro y zoo” – I don’t even know.Â Maybe my Spanish skills are rustier than I thought, but doesn’t this mean that someone was searching for bizarre AND zoo?Â Â Hmm.Â I’m actually a little afraid to think too hard about what kind of unique zoo this person may be seeking.

*I really, REALLY suck at coming up with titles, and also I hate it, so from now on if I can’t easily come up with something I’ll default to the same system as used to name tropical storms.

** Hey!Â I could have used this system to figure out a name for N!Â If I jump to the 2011 N name on that list it just so happens to be a guy’s name.Â Huh.Â Maybe I’ll do that after all.

The post Arlene* first appeared on NonSoccerMom.com.

Bullets of boredom

NonSoccerMom — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 02:01:19 +0000

I felt like writing, but don’t have anything of interest to say.Â At all.Â You’ve been warned.

I’m taking a 5-week class that isn’t going very well so far.Â The instructor (a PhD student, mind you) didn’t even post the syllabus until the third day of class, and she’s been equally slackerish in terms of posting each reading assignment.Â Not a great feature in someone who is teaching a short summer session, and it’s easy to see from the discussion boards that I’m not the only frustrated student.Â She’s giving approximately 24 hours for us to read the articles and do each assignment which doesn’t work so well for those of us who, I don’t know, HAVE JOBS and KIDS and LIVES.Â In short, if my GPA is tarnished because of this woman I am going to be most irritated.
A few days ago, N wrote a lovely tribute to AE’s first daycare provider.Â I bawled like a baby when I read it, just like I did the day we had to leave Nonnie behind.Â A wonderful lady, and we were so lucky to have her in our lives, no matter how briefly.
I’ve been feeling generally crappy for several days now.Â It started out with full body aching, like the flu, but now I wake up every morning feeling as if I have a hangover (no) and my right ear buzzes whenever I talk or Miss T raises her voice too high.Â It’s really bizarre and quite frankly I don’t have time for this shit so body, take note.Â PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER.
The kids start swimming lessons on Tuesday, and fortunately they only last for two weeks because N and I foolishly disregarded the fact that we had also paid for Miss T’s summer gymnastics lessons that are at the exact same time on Wednesdays.Â Oops.
This is really boring, I’m sorry about that.
AE spent all of last week at my parent’s house in The Swamp, and we met them at Frazier’s on Sunday afternoon to get him back.Â (Side note: and now I’m laughing because if you google Frazier’s Concrete Heaven, this post at N’s blog is the third search result.)Â Anyway, within 10 minutes of getting AE home, he accidentally smashed his sister in the face with a Wii controller which resulted in a bloody nose and many many tears from almost every member of the family.
It is really effing hot outside, a fun fact about this region of Texas that I always seem to forget during the winter.Â “I’m so cold,” I’ll say, “I can’t wait until summer!”Â Then early June rolls around (which is NOT SUMMER YET, by the way) and it is already 100 degrees outside and then I’m all “It’s so damn hot!Â Come on December!”Â Sigh.Â I think I may be better suited to more temperate climates.
Oh tiny baby Jesus in his tiny little manger, this is the worst post I have written in recent memory.Â THE END.

The post Bullets of boredom first appeared on NonSoccerMom.com.