New Baby Madness

 Scout would like you to meet Huckleberry.

(He isn't sure we ought to keep her though.)

And here are all four kids…

(Nu is Huckleberry's special big sister

--and raising Huckleberry is clearly tiring work.)

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Three Valentines...

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"Two Beds, One Fight!"

Game developer: Nu

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All I remember from the Road Trip...

Dog fight!

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Puppy's First Hotel Stay

Aloft Hotels, Chicago

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In the Middle of the Night...

All three of them…

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Bathtime

Scout's gotten so big

At can barely carry him.

(So…  my Nu offered 

to carry both her brothers.)

Cliches, Glitches*

Sometimes…

the dog…

does eat homework…


* English is weird. In any other language, words that look like that would rhyme .
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New Nu Notes

1.      [While helping me make dinner]
My best friend is Michael. His name's also Letrell. He said that his favorite color is pink. He said sometimes people laugh when he says that. He said I could laugh too if I wanted to. But I didn't. I think he's lucky to have a strong friend like me. I'm going to eat a good dinner so I can always protect him. (Michael is half the size of Nu.)


2.      [When I walked through the door; sitting me down in the living room]
Mama, if you're not there, I'm not there. [?] I want you to eat whole meals, [?] sleep well, and get lots of treats so you'll be happy and healthy.


3.       [Dinner with grandparents. At had just admitted that at a "Power of the Pen" sleepover at school, he had slept right through a fire alarm. Most of us at the table laughed at him. Fresh from a fire drill at school, Nu clutched her brother's arm tightly, then this in a voice wobbly with tears.]
Guys, [Mom and Dad] I know I said I'd live with you forever, but I'm going to live with Nana forever. He needs me to help him wake up if the fire alarm goes off.


4.     [Communing with Scout...]

Look: I'm a "huppy" (half human; half puppy).

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The Last 12 Hours

Groggy from a long chat that ended after 2:00 a.m. A chat that started with Big A awake and frustrated at being awake since he has to work till at least midnight today.

A rendition of "Big Dogs Don't Cry" didn't help, so I started talking about Virginia Woolf and Martha Nussbaum. (What? It puts students to sleep?)

Meanwhile:

Trying not to think of how it was the anniversary of him smashing his wrist while skiing. 

Skirting the topic of why on earth does he have to start work at 7:00 a.m. doing stuff as part of an additional job he interviewed for in Feb and isn't being compensated for in any way. 

Finding out that fake yawns can't make your companions sleepy.

Thinking about Nu saying "people look at me weird"--which is worrying whether it's real or imagined. 

Finding out we were talking too loudly for Scout who sighed at us loudly and went to At's room for the rest of the night.

Then I woke up a little later because At was riffling through all his things because he couldn't remember where he put his inhaler and he had been reading about the 12-year-old in Canada who died at school without his inhaler before bed.

And students in and out all day, jittery with finals panic and juggling everything from cancer to toddlers.

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Après-Laundry

Hide from your siblings.

I've been working like a dog...

and 

I'm beginning

 to pant like one 

too.

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Mornings

Puppy and me at 4 a.m.

he yells at me if I move.

So I just sit here and work.

Cutest + toughest boss ever.

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Devout Puppies

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Boo! (Or, My Boos)

Posing (in order of height):

A little vampire, 

Louis from Left for Dead, 

and a guest--Glitterstim from Star Wars.

Not Posing:

all of the above + 

Scout as a medieval jouster's trusty steed.

(That puppy just loves his big brother.)

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I wonder what he's thinking about

When he clambers up the sofa

to stand on his hind legs

with his front legs folded--

kinda leaning on his elbows--

with his "lovey" carefully
tucked under his arm

looking out of the window
across the water

watching the water rat 

 birds and the other dogs 

Happy Birthday Dad!

From the production titled,

"Visiting Dad at work to wish him a Happy Birthday:"

(Working Title: "Midnight Adventure")

Featuring: Nu on flowers,

At on baked goods, and

Scout with Balloon

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Helping me get... Helpy

Not sure what's going on, 

but yesterday, after making dinner

I just didn't have any more energy 

So the kids put me to bed.

And then Scout sat on my feet

--To make sure I don't get up? 

To fart on my feet for warmth? 

So no one would wake me up?

And that reminded me 

when Little A was little 

and would say "Helpy" 

when he meant "healthy."

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What's so important, anyway?

no one understands...

It's Gotten Dark

It's nearing the end of September and I should have expected it. But I'm surprised by how dark it's gotten.

Also, it's Monday.

But I'm going to blame everything on how dark it's gotten.

It's why I needed to leave the door open to get dressed this morning and it shone on A's face in bed and he yelled at me and I yelled back and said his sleeping schedule was dysfunctional.

And the kids were still eating breakfast after I'd unloaded the dishwasher, made beds, made lunches, made eggs, tidied, got dressed (and yelled at) and I was mad.

And when I got to work, my Chair was in early and wanted to have a conversation with me. And the thing she wanted to talk about was awkward at first and then painful (for me).

And I worked obsessively in my windowless office for eight hours. About four hours in, I realized I was wearing blue paisley and gray, which is alright in theory, but was awful in the light.

Things got better once I got to the gas station: (a) made it just before the needle turned to empty (b) a red car pulled up beside me (c) the driver waved at me (d) after one too many seconds, I realized it was Big A (e) ended up smiling back at him (f) he pumped my gas (g) gave me a hug (h) I told him about my horrible work conversation (i) got hugged again (j) He took the grocery list off me.

And I got to go home and wheedle I-had-a-bad-day hugs from kids.

And they ate grilled cheese their dad made.

And I was excused from the "Poo-lympics" (picking up all the doggie poop in the grass).

I still have to work every waking minute on the thing my Chair talked about for the foreseeable future.

Unless there's an apocalypse.
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