random ramblings

So.  Wednesday, the imp told us he'd gotten a green day (minimum level of good behavior that we'll accept).  Thursday morning, Odysseus found that the imp's clothespin was on yellow, not green. 

The imp had lied.  For the lie, he got spanked.  A yellow day only gets TV privileges revoked.  Had he chosen to tell the truth, that would have been all that happened; as it was, he'd gotten a yellow day on Thursday, so he didn't get to watch TV that day, either.  He hasn't lied since, and usually won't for about two or three months. 

I will not raise a politician.

The pixie had a good week, this last week.  We took her to Walmart's salon, this past week, and she's been delighted about having her bangs trimmed and shaped.  The beautician did a brilliant job--the pixie's hair is unevenly curly, and you'd never know that looking at the job she did.  And she handled a squirmy little four year old who'd never been to a salon incredibly well.  Yep--the pixie is four years old, and had never had anyone but Mommy or Granny (my mom) trim her bangs before, and has never had her hair so much as trimmed in the back.  And she has no split/dead ends. 

Her hair is naturally curly enough that when it's dry, it comes to her waist, but when it's wet, it's all the way down to her butt.  We keep it long to keep it semi-manageable. 

We hit Sam's Club, today.  I made the mistake of noting the clearance things on the end caps--and got three boxes of soup.  Marie Calendar's makes an awesome chicken chili, and the boxes (6 cans) were nearly $9 normally, but were marked down to $5.  I also noticed that Frank's Red Hot sauce was marked down from $5/2 bottles to $3.  And the imp and I are almost out of hot sauce anyway, so...yeah. 

We ended up with a cart so full that I had a hard time maneuvering it around corners.

Last night, the cats decided to be downright adorable.  Cricket walked a circle on the imp's lap, then snuggled down to sleep curled up as tight as the big kitty would go (she's about 14 inches tall at the shoulders, with most of that leg length, and about the same in the length of her body--the tail adds another 12 inches--but isn't more than about 10 lbs).  Shadow (who weighs in at about 12 lbs despite being two inches shorter than Cricket at the shoulder and in length) snuggled as close as she could get to the pixie, and wound up curled around her hip, half behind her, and half beside her.  And both kitties and both children were still and quiet watching Transformers for about two hours after dinner.

I think I may have lost my dog for good...my sister's beagle and my mom's Scotty dog (my dog's mother) are both about at the end of their normal lifespans for healthy dogs of their breeds, and neither dog is healthy.  And my mom and my sister have fallen in love with my dog...who is still put out at us for having taken her to my mother's because of the shitty neighbor.  By the time we're able to afford to sell our current house and find someplace out in the country, our dog will have been my mom and sister's house dog (something she wasn't willing to be for us) for a few years.  Possibly even the only dog. 

I suppose it's for the best...the Scotty was so hyper, and is so hyper, that the kids are as scared of her as they love her. 

I just picked up my first set of papers from my classes, yesterday.  I've got my 8:00 class's papers organized, and I'm ready to start grading after I put the kids to bed tonight.  I  need to do 12 papers per night from tonight through Tuesday night, so that I can get them handed back on Wednesday.  I've picked back up with being a teaching assistant, grading a colleague's student work to save his eyes, and he's assigned a paper for them to turn in on Sunday night/Monday morning, so his stuff will be off my plate until Wednesday.

Writing is going.  Slowly, but it is going.  I think I won't manage this one until I've got time this summer, since my plate is a bit more full this semester.