It could always be worse but it was certainly messy

The good: Henry finally finished reading the biography of Mozart aloud to me. Next up is James and the Giant Peach. I hope he keeps this up.

The bad: He was not home for even five minutes when he knocked an entire bottle of Dave's Insanity sauce onto the kitchen floor.

The ugly: I thought dumping baking soda on it would make it easier to clean because it would soak up the mess, but it just made it look like vomit -- vomit made up of habernero peppers and glass shards.

Only my child

can put me in this maddening position.

First, you must know that Henry freaks if Lucy makes any noise at all while he is doing his homework. Thank God it usually only takes a few minutes.

So, I go to the trouble to get her on the computer, and after several false starts she is finally content and quiet.

Then he has disappeared.

Then I hear the sound of the violin.

He doesn't want to finish his math, do his reading, or practice his spelling. He just wants to play violin.

So once again I find myself in the ridiculous position of getting mad at my kid for wanting to play music.

I wouldn't mind so much if I hadn't just arranged everything just so to accommodate his idiosyncrasies, only to have him ignore me anyway.

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Now playing: Stereo Image - Pack Moves
via FoxyTunes

Get your Holiday shopping started early

I just discovered Indie Fixx -- they cover handmade goods of all types. I will definitely be consulting them to get gift ideas.

And to motivate you, they are having a really great giveaway, so check it.

A few bright spots

So I pulled myself up, dusted myself off, and got distracted.

1. Lucy has been cracking me up. She got out the Mr. Potatohead yesterday, decked it out, and said, "I made Cary. Hi, Cary. You're a potato."

2. Cary and I were in hysterics over a fake political campaign where I run for State Senate and my slogan "I want to serve you so I can stop serving them" -- where them refers to my family.

3. I've been cranking out the submissions for the next print issue of Venus - in better bookstores everywhere on 12/1/08. I've more or less quintupled my contributions. V. exciting.

4. I'm lucky to have such lovely friends, and it's great to get to see them once in awhile.

Trough

1. Yesterday we finally got that phone call from school. Henry had refused to do what the teacher had asked and had gotten very upset. The call itself and the reason for it wasn't that bad, but I had to take the phone call with the bus coming up the street and Lucy clinging to my leg and screaming.

2. Today Henry came home with his pant legs wet up to his mid calves, his socks ruined, and his shoes sopping wet because there were puddles under the swings.

3. And we got his school pictures back and you can see food on his face. Food. on his face. I'm livid. Did no one inspect him? Now we have to hope that they bother to schedule retakes before he has his lunch.

My mood is crap. Between the TV and the neighbor's lawnmower I think I'm about to eat my own head.

I've got some stuff up at Venus and Donnybrook. I seriously don't even feel like linking to it.

They call them long weekends for a reason

I'd just like to say, for the record, that long weekends piss me off. My kids don't have school again until next Tuesday, and I have no earthly idea what I am going to do with them from now until our routine resumes.

I would welcome the time with my kids if they were just nicer to each other. Every time Henry plays the piano Lucy screams. I can't believe I'm actually telling my kid to stop practicing piano. I feel more like a referee than a mom.

On the bright side, I've got a bunch of stuff up on the web. I declare my love for Sigg bottles at Venus. Also at Venus I express disappointment in the latest Stills record. At Donnybrook I cover These United States and Her Space Holiday, both of which are excellent.

Testing 1,2,3

So this probably won't be a regular thing, but Lumpyhead's mom wanted pictures, so pictures you shall have.

Cardigan - random brand, Dress - Liz Claiborne, Socks - Chinese Laundry, Shoes - Sanita

This is the first time I have ever worn this dress because it is too big on top, so I was excited to realize I could just throw a sweater on and no one will know (except you, dear reader).

Also, it's a big hair day.