Popular Girls

I was not one. I had my circle of friends and a few friends from other groups (you know who you are), but I was not "popular" in the er... popular sense. I was a Nerd Without a Cause - too string-based to be a Band Geek, too tied up with music to be a Drama Geek, glasses as thick as my hand, braces on my teeth, and girls just were not computer geeks in the early 1980s. In fact, at my 20-year high school reunion, I was shocked at the number of people who not only recognized me (no glasses now) and remembered me fondly. Who knew?

My eight-year-old daughter, Abby, is a Popular Girl. She's popular with the boys because she likes "some boy things and some girl things", according to her nine-year-old friend Greg (he means that she likes superheroes but is squicked by bugs, mainly). She's popular with the girls because she's basically a nice person, unstinting with compliments to her peers and all-around kind. I'm not under any illusions that she's perfect; I try not to be That Parent. And she certainly has her bratty, whiny and just plain strange moments (did you know she's half-vampire? But only on the left side of her body). But I do feel a certain amount of pride along with the annoyance due to knocks on our door up until (and sometimes past) the kids' bedtime, just because a neighbor child would like Abby to come out and play.

She's a Popular Girl, although she doesn't seem to grok that she is. I wonder if her classmates will remember her in 2041.

The Dropped Spoon of DOOM

I know I've explained the concept of Dropping the Spoon before. It's the tendency of tired or ill people (especially children, but adults are not immune) to be going about their normal business until something totally minor goes wrong (like dropping a spoon). And then the world comes to an end. Today has been fairly quiet for the most part... Lizzy's been sipping diluted apple juice and watching Nick Jr. DVDs from her bed mostly...but then a Spoon Gets Dropped and there is much angst on both Lizzy's part and mine (and her sisters' parts and so forth).

Yesterday she was fine - a little sniffly when I dropped her at Grandma's around 11AM was all - and by the time Leanna and I picked her up at two she was a wreck. whining and crying and basically miserable and wanting company in it. Thankfully she fell asleep in the car while we went to get Abby, and stayed asleep once we got home, whereupon I went to finish my fill-and-polish (more about that in a minute). When I got home she was okay except for spoon-droppage, but Laston says when she woke up to find me gone it was Meltdown City.

While Abby was at a birthday party, and Lizzy was at Grandma's, Leanna and I got to hang out and do girl stuff. She chose Red Lobster for lunch, which was nice, but their service was remarkably slow which made us late for our manicures. They got Leanna's manicure done but had only managed to do the actual fill on mine before we had to leave to get Lizzy and then Abby. So the very nice man who runs Nail and Spa said, "you come back later - any time this week - and we polish for free because you already pay". So I did; as soon as Laston got home, with the big girls playing outside with Kiki, and Lizzy asleep, I went back and got the polish too. They did not have my favorite colors in stock (or they were in use by other clients) so I got Silent Mauvie, which is a nice one too.

And came home to melted-down-but-now-calmer coldy sniffly toddler. Abby and Leanna went to Kiki's after supper, played outside until nine, and then spent the night over there. This was also nice, because with Miz Liz sick, nobody would likely get much sleep if they were all here. They came back this morning at nine or so, ate breakfast, watched some TV, went out to play, ate lunch, watched a movie, and went back out to play.  Laston's taking Leanna back to her mom in a few minutes, and we'll settle down to getting ready for the final full week of  the 2010/2011 school year. Aside from the sniffly snuffly toddler, this is how Sundays should be.

Out of the Mouths... and a Book Review

This morning my littlest Seattleite informed me that she'd "weally like something cold fwom a latte stand, like a smoothie oh maybe a 'Talian Soda."

The 8yo used me as an example of "A 3D object" on her math homework. I am used for "doing dishes". Her little sister is also a 3D Object; her purpose is "to annoy people".

On the way to school, we saw a police cruiser pulled up to a latte stand. Abby asked me if it was "one of those things like the police guy eating donuts on TV. Yes, I taught my eight-year-old the term "stereotype" today.

I got an email from Abby's teacher today. They are doing a drug unit in health (this is second grade) and when the teacher asked if anyone know of things that have nicotine, Abby piped up with "Tabasco! It's a sauce."
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I don't usually review specific books on my blog, beyond the occasional remark here and there. But I am really... "enjoying" is not the word here, because I'm not enjoying this book. I love Marian Keyes, and her books are often quite bittersweet - she deals with abandonment and addiction and a lot of that sort of thing - so when I bought this one sight unseen, I was expecting more of the same.

It is more of the same sort of topics, but taken Up to Eleven. Primarily abuse and alcoholism and depression are the topics at hand here, and this one - while not enjoyable as such- is fascinating. In a deer-in-the-headlights sort of way. Now I have never dealt with any of this stuff - aside from depression due to season (I do live in Seattle) or postpartum hormones - on a personal level. But I have many friends who have, and the characters in this book are so sympathetic that here I am, writing a review before I'm even done with the book.

This book is touching me in a way few books do.

(Pre)School and Work

Lizzy and I visited the Montessori preschool at the top of my list today. It was great. She really enjoyed herself, and she got to participate in just about everything. We were there from 9:30 through 11:30 and during that time she did three puzzles with other kids, played a counting game with "birfday candles in pwetend birfday cakes" (for the record the candles were pretend too), painted a picture, played a matching game, participated in circle time and a birthday song for a student there, had a snack, and played outside for 45 minutes (in the process learning how to hoist herself up on a swing and taking turns pushing the other kids on swings). She had a blast and as soon as she's (reliably) potty trained we are so there.
And I had a job interview today. I think I did pretty well; they did a fair bit of nodding and taking notes. This one would be particularly nice for me; it's a small-to-medium company, a mile from my apartment, and their product/service is interesting and helpful to society. It's a customer service position - my favorite! - with some light testing/QA and/or documentation at need. I really like working at companies where one gets to wear many hats, and this one has a lot of hats I enjoy as well. Bonus!

No, I'm not going to tell the Internet at large where I (hope to) work, nor where my kids go to school; that you know I live north of Seattle is enough. But do think good thoughts for me on this job... even if I have not shared everything. Pretty please?

Dental WIN!

I heart my new dentist. And her assistant. And her office staff. Even the location is good. Bright Now! Dental in Woodinville was the first one I came across in yesterday's search for a new dentist - nearest my house of all those in my DMO's network.

I'm glad I called them. And really, when you think of dentists, the general feeling is more Steve Martin in Little Shop of Horrors than a tidy and kind woman with a good sense of humor. I used to say, "I hate dentists!" This is no longer true. It's more accurate to say, "I hate dentistry!" Because the dentist was really nice. And most important in any sort of medical practitioner, she paid me the courtesy of assuming I have a brain and I know how to use it. That's huge. Their prices are reasonable (insofar as any dental work is reasonable) and they're willing to work with one on a payment schedule. Also huge.

They're quick on the uptake too... I'm lying there in the chair, and they're starting to get out the stuff that looks like little strings made of Silly Putty, to pack the now roto-rooted canal of Tooth Number 18, when my jaw muscles start spasming. I think they figured out what was going on before I did. They whipped their tools out of my mouth, sat me up, started massaging my left jaw joint, and suggested we take a little break. We did, and then they put this large rubberized brick thing in the other side of my mouth to keep it open without me doing the work. In some ways, Dr. Chintala is much like the OB/GYN who delivered Lizzy; her soothing "You're doing fine," doesn't sound condescending at all. I never thought of dentists' bedside manners before, but they are important!

In addition to the emergency root canal today, I also have a lot more work that needs doing, but it's not as urgent. And most of it is from two reasons: 1) I lost my Rx nightguard uh... six years ago when Abby and I moved out of the condo we had shared with her dad after we separated, and the nightly teeth-clenching causes broken fillings and teeth under which crud can get; and 2) I'm getting a bit hmm... on in years and those reproductive hormones I'm not using any more are in flux, causing swollen gums and the like. (Was that circumspect enough, Dear Readers?)

Added to the excitement of emergency root canals today was a visit to my favorite of the Montessori preschools we're considering for Lizzy in the fall. Tomorrow I get to take her with me for a visit there to see how she likes it. I also had two calls from potential employers (while at the dentist - whee!) and I have an in-person interview at one of those tomorrow afternoon. Yay me! Wish me luck!

The anesthetic is starting to wear off now - they had to give me extra - and I don't take the Rx painkillers until bedtime, so I'm signing off for now.

Do I Get Giggle Gas?

I have a toothache. Lower left first molar (see chart). I've had it for a few days, but sometimes when you sleep wrong or grit your teeth (and goodness knows I did a fair bit of teeth-gritted smiling last week) it happens. Or popcorn gets stuck or whatever, so I didn't think much of it. Until last night when I couldn't sleep because it hurt and it's been getting steadily worse all day.

I called my dentist. They are not in the network for my new DMO. Hmm... okay, let me find out who is. Okay, this other dentist, not far from here; I can deal with that. But by the time the transfer paperwork is complete it's too late to go in as a new patient today. Tomorrow at 11AM it is.

Ow. This is kind of throbby.

So I post on Facebook, because really, too much ibuprofen is not good for one's body. I get lots of useful suggestions; sadly, the easiest one to implement hurts. Like. Hell. Listerine swish may clean out some of whatever is inflaming or infecting (it is an antiseptic after all) but Holy Freaking Cow does it hurt. Pharmacist recommended saltwater rinse and alternation of ibuprofen and acetaminophen, plus a diphenhydramine at bedtime and topical anesthetic as needed. Basically treat yourself like a teething baby. One who weighs over 250 lbs. So far so good.