Things I Love

Man oh man.  Matt's parents arrived at our house right about the time my head was about to explode, shortly after I'd had a conversation with Shecky about how Charlie was growing so fast so quickly, and who knew that feeding on "your mother's soul" could provide such nutrition?  The last few days have been wonderful, and we've all been spoiled by the doting grandparents who are more than happy (and if they're not, then they're really good at pretending) to hold the boy who decided that he would like to be held 23 1/2 hours every day (he needs 30 minutes a day to hang out with his zebra).

So I'm much happier and content and un-crazy than I was this time last week, and I just wanted to share some things that I'm loving right now.

1.  Sleep.  I've been spoiled the last few nights by my in-laws who have been helping with the aforementioned needy young man.  I've always loved sleep, but now, oh man.  What I wouldn't give for a coma nap right about now.

2.  Girls on HBO.  Omigod.  Watch it now.  Later, after we've seen a few more episodes, we'll all talk about it like we're in film class with pretentious film students or like we're at a book club where people actually read the books and don't just go for the wine (a.k.a., a stupid book club).

3.  Grandparents.  Lifesavers.  For realz.  I'm happy that Charlie's grandparents are here right now, and I'm happy that my grandparents will be here in a few weeks.

4.  Mad Men.  Can't get enough of this handsome fellow.



5.  Crazy Baby Faces.  I told you he was possessed.

I think he looks like Chloe in this picture.

6.  Oreos.  Why are they so good?  And who buys Oreos that aren't double stuffs?  Crazy people?

7.  The cutest guard dog of all time.  Providing protection against the mailman and kids riding down the street on bicycles.

8.  The greatest sister in all the wide world, who turned 16 today!  16!  How did that happen?  I'm so lucky to have a sister who would send me this picture of an awesome bruise with an explanation that started, "Well, I was playing Hunger Games with my friend. . ."

Things Charlie loves right now.

1.  Boobs.  He's quite taken with them.  Apparently, last night Matt's dad introduced the boy to Christina Aguilera and her assets, and our boy wouldn't peel his eyes from the television.

2.  Justin Bieber. I told you that when the boy was all holed up in my uterus that he would go crazy kicking every time Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe" played, right?  Well, now it seems that whenever that little teen cuteness shows up, Charlie is quiet and happy.

3.  Zebra.  The boy lies down on his little mat and smacks at and loves loves loves his zebra.  Just last night, Charlie said to me, "Mother, when I am one can we please go on a safari so that I may see a zebra in the wild?"  He's very advanced. 

4.  Crap that makes noise.  I was all about avoiding any toy that played music or made a bunch of noise, until my boy screamed for the better part of a week.  And then it became Operation: Find Something That Makes the Boy Stop Screaming.  And what does the trick?  Yep, crap that makes noise.  It's fine, though, because there are different tiers of awful noises, and I can take lullabies and fake heartbeat sounds much better than I can take the sound of my kid screaming.  So there's that.  Sure didn't take long to sell out, huh?

This is a boring post. But at least I'm not telling you too much about yesterday's visit to the vet.

Okay, listen.  This is the last time that I'm going to hound you to go enter to win the HomeGoods gift card on my reviews page.  The sweepstakes ends tomorrow, so you totes need to head over there to enter a comment.  Or chirp about it.  You and I both know you want to go shop at some HomeGoods.




I was going to post yesterday, but didn't because I had to take my little furry child to the vet, which proved to be quite traumatizing--both for the dog and for me.  After I dished the DISGUSTING deats to Cassie, she swore that if I posted them on the blog she'd unfriend me forever.  So I won't, but let's just say it was awful, and that afterward Mitch wouldn't even look at me, and I wanted to forget the whole experience so I went home and took a nap until almost 10:00 pm and only reason that I even got up then was because Matt had made chili dogs and Alexia fries for dinner, and I couldn't resist.

Poor little handled pup.

Anyway, aside from that, there's not much going on at la casa de M Cubedo.  You know, except for my recent mastery of Spanish.  Right now all of my energy is being consumed by the last week of school, which is simultaneously the easiest and the hardest week of the year.  The last week of school also really distorts my understanding of time; I did not know that time can, in fact, stand still.

Earlier this week, I was crazy productive at school--so productive that now I don't have much to do during my planning period.  Yesterday, then, I decided to take some pictures of what the last week of school looks like in my happy little room.  This was also a chance to play with Ann's 50mm lens.  If I could marry a camera lens (and if I wasn't already married to a human fellow), I would marry this lens.  But, alas, I'm neither into committing myself to inanimate objects nor am I a polygamist.  Oh well, can't please all the people all the time.

Where was I?  Oh yeah, what my classroom looks like.  This is really just a glorified version of that whole "what's in your purse" bull jive that I think is stupid, so I'm kind of a hypocrite.  Sorry about that.

Here's what makes me happy at work (oh, and I posted about the classroom itself a long time ago).

Freedom Tomorrow! 

Picture that I took in high school of one of my scariest and most hilarious teachers, Randy Richardson.  Occasionally the students will ask me if that's a picture of my husband, and I'll tell them that yes, yes it is. 

Better for grading your essays, my sweet!

Textbook accounting is the most fun.  And by most I do mean least.

Old magazines (early '60s) that I scored from the media center.  The kiddies love them.

                                                                   I am a schoolsupplyophile. 

This is the greatest stapler in the world.  If you have to staple things ever as a part of your job, treat yourself to one.  It has the best sound, and it staples stacks of papers like it's goin' out of style.  

Not that stapling stacks of papers was ever in style, but you know what I mean.

 No desk is complete without a Mitchouette.

 Kind of a writing utensil hoarder.

 Shakespeare insult mug, you whoreson villain!

Well, I told you that this post was boring.  I'm going to go see if Mitch and I are on speaking terms again.  If not, I'm going to suck up to him with slices of cheese and prosciutto.

Who Cares What's in Your Bag?

Have you ever seen these "What's in your purse?" blog posts?  I think it's basically what people write about when they're completely out of ideas.  They'll be all, "I carry chapstick and a pen" and then you're supposed to be all "You carry chapstick and a pen?  OMG!  So do I!  We're so much alike!" 

Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame.

I hate those posts so much.  Unless it's a handgun or a puppy, I don't give a shit what's in your purse. 

Likewise, you probably don't care that I cleaned out my school bag yesterday and, among other more boring items, discovered 10 Pilot Precise V Rolling Ball pens and 52 Sharpies.  And that's not a typo.  I had 52 Sharpies in my bag. 

[This picture has nothing to do with anything, really, except that I thought it was funny.]

I like to smell them and I like the colors.  Is that so bad?

It's [almost] the [second] Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

(Because we all know that summer is the most wonderful time of the year.)

The Christmas/Thanksgiving combo is a close second, though.

Hey, is it time to start watching Elf yet?

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Fifth day of self improvement plan. So far, so good. To reward myself for keeping to the plan, I allowed myself to spend money on useless stuff. For the record, spending money on useless stuff directly contradicts the principles of the plan.

My Target shopping experience tonight was one of those moments where I judge myself. Kind of like when I say "cute" too many times in a conversation, or when I talk too much during a movie, or when I leave dishes in the sink overnight, or when I accidentally say "ax" instead of "ask" (it has happened), or when I use too many exclamation points.

Tonight, on November 5, I bought Christmas ornaments. Do I need Christmas ornaments? No. Not in the least. At 28 years old, I already have two large boxes of holiday crap.

But these little felt friends are so fun!

Just wait until they meet Salty Snowman and Pepper Penguin!

I'm a damned hypocrite.