Fresh, Hot Wastes of Time

Halloween is here, and in the air is a strong scent of bacon.

WTF? Why does the street smell like bacon? It’s been bacon-smelling since we took the kids trick or treating an hour and a half ago. Now the smell is so strong, it smells like bacon in the house.

Not that I’m complaining.

But… bacon? Huh?

Some Halloween goodness. Our little devil and Spiderella, and the severed ladyfinger cookies I made for my classmates (yes, I’m baking cookies for my college colleagues… Hub keeps calling me a little old lady.

)

While I was fixing dinner tonight:

Caroline: Mommy, your fingers look good enough to eat. But I won’t eat them.
Me: Sweetie, you’re scaring Mommy.

We’re back from Disney World, btw. It was exhausting, but fun. 11 nights on the road and in Orlando. I heart my Camelbak. Perhaps I’ll do a more detailed write-up; perhaps not. Won’t be today, anyway.

So, remember when I went all SQUEE about the movie adaptation of The Dark is Rising? Yeah, turns out, not so much. Bah. I have been reading Phillip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series lately (on book two now) and enjoying the bejeebers out of it, though.

School starts tomorrow, for me and for the kiddos. I got into the “Lying and Deception” class that I’ve been wanting to take – the longer I’m at St. Ed’s, the more I’m noticing a sort of class division between the traditional college and New College, which (I’m extrapolating) is resulting in things like courses that my Portfolio prof thought I could place out of won’t count, and therefore I need to take more courses to graduate… and even though I was told that someone from the department would try to send me a note “just like I would send my traditional students,” that didn’t happen. Luckily I am aged and crafty and hit refresh a lot and have had tons of practice mashing buttons in Wootoffs.

Anyway, I had planned on taking one other prerequisite and my Capstone course (in which I produce a 20-30 page paper), then graduating this December, but due to the hoop-jumping, I think I’m going to drop Capstone and take it next semester along with something else in the Communication department. So hopefully I’ll graduate next May, which might be nice since it’s the larger ceremony then.

The kids are with their grandparents in Houston right now. The dog is really sick. He’s got a particularly virulent form of autoimmune anemia and dogs with this condition have about a 40% survival rate. He’s been in and out of the hospital a few times over the last couple of weeks, most recently to get a blood transfusion and immunoglobulin. The steroids he’s on have knocked his immune system down – on purpose, so that it would quit attacking his red blood cells – but he’s developed a couple of infections and is in a good deal of pain. Today he couldn’t keep anything down, so he’s in the ICU.

I figured it would be better for the kids to be prepared that their dog might not be here when they get home, so I told them over the phone that Cuervo was sick and might not get better. Jo took it okay, although I’m sure she’ll privately fret about it. Caroline started sobbing. 🙁

Gawd, this sucks.

We’re planning the big Family Vacation this summer and I’m trying to absorb everything there is to know about Disney World. I came across this video of the Kiss Goodnight they play after the park closes and I got a little teary at the beginning, then just about lost it when they started singing, “Like a bolt out of the blue…”

I choked up last time we were there, and I’m sure that seeing the kids have a good time is going to make it just that much worse this time. Oh lord, I’m weepy just anticipating it. This is not good.

My five year old typed this up in February all by herself and didn’t ask anyone for spelling help. I think it’s adorable. I’ll recreate it:

wood you be my v a l e n t i ne if you wood you shrle now how happy i WEEL be shoogr and spis and all thigs nis thats what you are to me if youl be my v a l e n t i n e

Finally more about The Nutcracker!

A few weeks ago, David Wyattsent an email to the Austin Bloggers mailing list offering local bloggers the opportunity to attend a technical rehearsal of Ballet Austin’s The Nutcracker. I had already purchased tickets to one of the performances, but I thought that the kids (okay, okay, and me too) would really like to see backstage at Bass Concert Hall, as well as see an actual rehearsal in action.

I was slightly concerned about taking the magic of the stage show away from the kids and I sat them down to talk about it. My older daughter and I went to the show last year, and after seeing my younger daughter sit still for hours watching the Baryshnikov version on DVD, I decided she was old enough to go this year, too. So I told them both about what they would be seeing, and how it might take the illusion away that the ballet is effortless for the dancers, but they were both still interested in going. Of course.

When we got there, Lance Johnson, the marketing director, showed around the bloggers, giving them a tour of backstage and explaining how the company works. They’re moving into a new home in a short while and apparently have been very lucky with patron donations to fund it. They offer the house to disadvantaged kids on dress rehearsal night, which I thought was really nice. Heck, after seeing the great time the girls had at the rehearsal, I’m considering putting them in the Petite Partners program.

The show, of course, was wonderful. It’s amazing how many people they can pack on the stage at once, between all the adult and kid cast members. And by the way, going to one of the matinees is really, really fun. You have never in your life seen so many little girls all dressed up in their holiday finest. I guarantee.

A big thanks to Ballet Austin, David Wyatt, and Lance Johnson for putting this together. They really won over the kids, and I’m sure we’ll be attending more shows together in the future.

Started out with hubby heading over to Gamestop to wait for their delivery truck. He scored a Wii, extra controllers, Zelda, Call of Duty 3, and Trauma Center.

Then my husband and I independently bought Roombas (robot vacuum cleaners) in today’s Wootoff.

Then I received a call from a professor at school, who had gotten my name from one of my instructors, and who invited me to be a New College student member of the Teaching, Learning and Technology Roundtable.

Then I rounded up the girls and we headed over to a technical rehearsal of Austin Ballet’s The Nutcracker, which opens this weekend. There was a kind invitation extended to the Austin blogger mailing list for admission to anyone who would like to attend the rehearsal and have a backstage tour. The kids really liked it. I think I might have gotten some nice pics, too, so I’ll try to write up more about it tomorrow or so.

Oh, and on my way to class the other day, I saw a small owl divebombing the runners on the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail and two unicyclists.

So far I’ve got As in all my courses. I turned in my final project and took the exam for Interpersonal Communication (A-COMM 1312) on Tuesday, so I’m waiting to hear back on that. If I don’t even show up for the final in Intro to Comm (COMM 1306), I’ll have a C. I need something like a 60 on the final to get an A in the class.

Guess it’s time to start Christmas shopping, stollen baking, and tamale wrapping soon. A friend of ours gave us a jarful of freshly-rendered lard that we’ll use for the tamales, and I think we’ll try making some from feral hog.