Sunday, June 05, 2016

A Happy Things Hodge-Podge

I sat down to write a post, and discovered at least 20 emails indicating I had new comments. All were spam. That is cleaned up now, but finding some of them required skimming through some old comment threads that had some nasty "full anonymous" (i.e., not pseudonymous) commenters. I guess the spammer was looking for old threads with a lot of comments? Or it was just bad luck. Whatever the reason, the combination of dealing with spam comments and the forced revisiting of old nastiness but a bit of a downer on my mood.

So, instead of the post I was thinking to write, I'm going to write a post with a hodge-podge of happy things.

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Pumpkin is a complete bookwork now, and has happily incorporated that into her identity. As far as I can tell, no one at her school teases her for it, or if they do it is entirely good natured and doesn't bother her. Her friends certainly recognize that aspect of her personality, though: she's still spending her way through the Barnes and Noble gift cards she got for her birthday back in April.

Here are a couple of her current favorite series (the links go to the first book in the series):

I'm sure there are more, but I can't keep up with everything she finds. Partly that is because Mr. Snarky usually takes the kids to the library (a bit of a trade for me usually taking them to gymnastics), and partly that is because I want her to have the space to explore on her own. She also recently read (and loved) The Secret Garden.

For my birthday last weekend, the kids and Mr. Snarky got me a hammock. We've set it up under our big, 60 year old avocado tree (it is a wonderful tree for many reasons!) I love the hammock. So does Pumpkin, and on the weekends, I'll often look out and see her in the hammock, reading. That makes me almost as happy as being in the hammock myself, reading.

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Petunia got one of the Frozen light up tracing easels for Christmas. She has taken to setting it up on the floor near our phone table and stretching out on her stomach, writing and drawing on it. On Friday evening, I asked her what she was working on. She said: "A book. A very long one."

I'm not clear whether or not this is the chapter book version of her Captain Draw series, which she started recently. Captain Draw was inspired by Captain Underpants. He has three crayons on his head. I had a picture of it, but I can't find it right now. When I find it, I'll try to remember to post it, because it is wonderful.

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We went to a rugby game today. There is a new US Pro Rugby league, and San Diego has a team. This is the second game we've gone to (the first was on my birthday). We lost today to Denver, by one point. But it was still a good game, and it is fun to get to see live pro rugby here. The kids want to go back in two weeks to the last home game. We'll see.

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I have been doing a new thing on Thursdays at lunch. I read a short story or essay instead of reading Twitter. Here is a post I wrote about it for Tungsten Hippo. If you're inclined to join me in my weekly #lunchstory habit (it doesn't have to be on Thursdays), I think it would be fun to see what people are reading!

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My Time Management course continues to sell now and then, even though I still haven't figured out how to market it, and haven't even had time to go in and add the new testimonial quotes that have come in. This is a really small amount of money in the grand scheme of my budget, but the response to this course (which I almost didn't do) gives me hope that if I get myself motivated and organized to figure out how to market my courses in a way that doesn't make me feel sleazy, I might have a chance to build that into a sustainable business. Which would be awesome. I've decided to make that something I focus on after I come back from vacation.

Speaking of vacation, it is coming soon! I won't post the exact dates before I go, but you might notice a lull in posting. Also, if you are in Wellington, Auckland, or Rarotonga and want to try to meet up in person, send me an email. I can't make any promises, because we already have a lot of family and old friends to  catch up with, but I'm always happy to try to organize a meet up. 

And that's all for tonight. I feel less grumpy about the spam, so this post has served its purpose. I'm off to bed. 

2 comments:

  1. Yay bookworm!! I think I was gently teased as a kid-bookworm but never felt bad about it since I could sense an undertone of envy from kids even as early as 3rd grade.

    I love when kids love reading.

    And you've reminded me of a future house goal: hammock! I've wanted one since I was mine and by Jove I'll find a way to have one!

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  2. I was also recently given a hammock - a replacement for the concert tickets I got for Christmas (concert was cancelled). I LOVE it!

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