Random ramblings

We found Dragons: Riders of Berk--the entire first season--on DVD, last week.  The first four episodes are the same as on the DVD they released earlier, which got the kids hooked on the series, but there are two more episodes on that disk, and three more disks.

The kids have been enjoying the "new dragons" immensely.  It's what they're watching right now, since Saturday morning cartoons are nowhere near what they once were.  Seriously.  I'd welcome smurfs and My Little Pony, compared to the shit they've got on now.

The cats (besides beating up hairbrushes and stealing my scrunchies) are as always: fuzzy, lazy, and very affectionate.  Evenings are the best--Shadow, in particular, really enjoys curling up between the kids on the couch and soliciting affection.  Cricket brings her toys to the kids and begs them to play with her.

Does anyone know how to train a dog not to eat kids' toys?  I can't keep their toys out of the living room, and can't keep the dog from chewing them up when she finds them.  I hate keeping her in her crate as much as we do, but it really doesn't feel like we have any choice at all.

I also need suggestions on how to train her not to jump on the kids.  They love her to death, but are terrified of her because she's so enthusiastic to play with them, and too rough when she does.

I've been working on the Comp II textbook.  It's taking longer than I thought it would, because so much of the textbook I'd written before was geared toward an online class, and one that was writing a thousand words per week of blog posts--as such, I was hesitant to assign them too many papers, because I didn't want to overload them with composition work when I knew they had other classes.  I'm kinda unique on campus, like that. 

The other thing I've been working on for classes have been course schedules--when we're doing what, and when papers and things are due.  I had Comp II nearly done...and then realized that I need to pull up the semester calendar to fit what I want to do in around the days we have off: Labor Day, Fall Break (one of the Mondays and Tuesdays in October), and Thanksgiving Break.  So, I still have that to do after I finish the textbook (which should be just a couple more days at most).

With class prep, housework, and chasing kids around taking up the bulk of my time, I haven't managed any more writing.  Especially after yesterday--which was a very, very long day.

My mother-in-law's birthday was yesterday.  So, we wound up getting up with the kids to get around, get ready, and get gone early.  Very early.  We usually get out of the house by about 10:00 a.m., but yesterday, we were out of the house more than an hour sooner.  And this after a night where I didn't get to bed until a bit after midnight. 

It was a good visit, and the kids spent most of the time playing outside, except when it rained and they played in the garage. 

We left about two in the afternoon, because the dog had gotten put back in her kennel without having dropped a number two.  We hurried home to get her out on a walk, and give her a bit more food.  The kids went down for a good, long nap apiece, despite the pixie having slept all the way home. 

We went to a local restaurant for supper with friends, one of which has been living in New Hampshire for the last five years.  We wound up with seven adults, and five children between the ages of twelve years and eighteen months old.  And my friend from out of state was almost an hour late because of his mother being a twat and not letting him leave when he needed to. 

Yeah...the kids didn't get to bed until an hour and a half after their normal bedtime. 

So.  Yesterday was an impossibly long day.  And I got jack shit done yesterday.