Wednesday, April 25, 2018

And then there was BRUNCH

It turns out that when one hypothetically updates her blog every few weeks, one probably has a blog post all planned out in her head that seems to become stale and old news given the rapid acceleration of time between the hours of 6 AM and 10 PM every single day.  And then, hypothetically, one might write the same blog post twice because it's been a minute and one didn't realize that one already reported on other things.  I think it was funnier this time.  But I deleted it and started over.  Your loss, I know.
 
Other things are happening around here, though.
 
Por ejemplo.  It turns out we like bathing with hot water as the very best option.  Our water heater went fizzle-fizzle-fizzle-tepid, and because this joint came with a home warranty for the first year, we thought we’d go that route and save mucho dinero.  However.  Saving mucho dinero comes at the price of mucho day-o-s without hot water. 
 
(I do know that “dias” is “days” en Espanol, but I’m practicing a differentiated instructional strategy here that allows me to not ostracize my many readers…probably none of my readers…who took Latin or French or Mandarin in high school and aren’t entirely aware of how mucho the dias actually were.  Muchas gracias, Senora Bloemker, my German-born Spanish teacher who also had perfect English just to show off a bit.)
 
(We’re entering the last few weeks of the school year when I’m caught between “Oy vey, what is another fresh, new motivating tool?” and “Oy vey, do I really have to reflect on my teaching habits and effectiveness for the past year?  I wasn’t the best and wasn’t the worst; I’m probably just gonna slide in there somewhere anyways.”  Hence…differentiated instructional strategies.  Define the term and report back tomorrow with ideas for how I can do this while effectively teaching writing, of all things, more effectively.  Refer to the first “Oy vey…” for reference on the general state of mind right now.)
 
(This is a lengthy aside.  I shall move on.)
 
So the water heater.  It’s sparkly new…as much as that ever occurs with something as BLAH looking as a water heater.  Some things (FOOD), I’m pretty much always OK with spending money on.  Some things are worth it.  If I’m going to lose some dollars, at least let’s revel in the consequence of that decision to spend.  Some things just make me and others around me happy.  Some things (WATER HEATERS) are a drag on my resources and need to just work and stay back in the shadows where I don’t have to think about them anymore.
 
It feels good to check a box for “things it would be nice to use before it expires – home warranty."  It makes the To Do list look more productive at least.  But the house also needs to stop being so “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha…!”

And, we finished reading all of the Harry Potter books with the kids (you can edit some language when you read it out loud if you're as quick on your reading toes as I am).  Here's approximately how the last month has gone with the Elder:  "I HATE this because I love it SO MUCH...please keep reading!!!"  So where do we go next?  Back to fairy books and Judy Moody?  Probably.  Those are always good for a quick read before bedtime.  Granted, we talk about allusion, imagery, characterization, themes, and symbolism a bunch less when we read the fluffy stuff.  But it's like eating pudding for desert: It's probably never your first choice but a solid choice nonetheless when you can't always have that gorgeous slice of triple chocolate crunch cake from the cute bakery down the street that costs $7 a slice.  (I've never had such cake and have no cute bakery down the street.  At $7 a slice, my wallet and running regimen are glad.)

Also (speaking of running regimen), the boy and I ran our first 5K this past weekend.  We maybe signed up for it specifically because they promised seriously soft t-shirts and brunch post-race.  BRUNCH.  There is almost no better reason to run.  It was perfectly pleasant and enjoyable.  The boy probably wasn't expecting me to reply "I thought we already had" when he asked "Are you ready to speed up?" at the 2-mile marker as we pre-arranged.  And to be clear, he was totally trying to beat me at the end.  He did.  By 1 second.  Questionable move, spouse...

But then again...BRUNCH.

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