11.04.06
Bachin’ it
(That’s “bach” as in bachelorette, not as in Johann Sebastian.)
Indeed, I am without my hubby today. Jamie went on a retreat, and I stayed home to theoretically do important and edifying things. Not so much. Instead I:
- Didn’t shower until 2ish
- Ran a few errands (including renting the first season of Desperate Housewives on DVD… no, I am not desperate)
- Crocheted a hat
- Loaded the dishwasher (ha! At first I typed “dishwaster”) to clean up after our very first dinner party, which took place last night. More later.
- Folded some laundry
- Went to O’Hare to pick up Mo and have dinner while she had a long layover on her way back to Princeton
- Knit and watched TV (I am determined to empty my knitting basket so that I can start new projects–I’m discovering one of the joys of marriage is someone is there to critique your crafting habits)
The past week has been a bit of a challenge. After school classes started, which means I race downstairs at the end of the day to teach kids to knit. Fun, but an extra time commitment is not exactly what I was looking for this week. Report cards were due Wednesday, and despite the fact that I told the kids that I was writing the comments for their report cards (and they reacted with appropriate expressions of horror), they still did not behave themselves. At least only one of them got to talk to the police this week. I miraculously got the report cards done on time (tip to the teachers–print your comments on mailing labels and just stick them to the cards. Then the next quarter, all you have to do is change a few words and print again! Yay!), thought it was a challenge to figure out how to say things like “Your child is a lying, cheating punk” in a nice teacher way. In Spanish. After I finished the report cards, I had to write my Individual Growth Plan for the mentoring program. Basically it just involved setting a goal and saying what I would do to achieve the goal, so it wasn’t hard, just annoying. Especially when I would rather be baking for our professional day potluck.
Friday the kids didn’t come to school (not a coup, just a professional day), and I had a meeting for a writing project I signed up for. I was really proud of myself when I said “We were under the impression that this would not take up our whole day and that we could spend the afternoon in our classrooms. I’m going to be selfish and say that I need that time.” Becky puttin’ the smack down! They must have taken me seriously, because they called their artist who was supposed to take up our whole afternoon and had him come early (he still ended up taking forever to do his schpiel). Later the other teachers thanked me. I’m proud of myself for sticking up for what everyone was thinking, and not putting up with an infringement on our union-regulated half-day of prep in our rooms when we didn’t agree to give it up. Teacher power!
Friday I shifted gears from school stuff to our first dinner party! We hosted a small group dinner with a “comfort food” theme. I raced home from work to clean the kitchen, make two chicken potpies, try a new cider recipe (yummy) and watch Jamie make pumpkin bars. We had a delightful dinner, though our tiny table forced a bit of creativity (who knew TV trays could double as table leaves?). The food was yummy, we had about a billion desserts, and the kitties didn’t get too freaked out. Yay.
A certain sister-in-law asked about our Thanksgiving plans. We are staying in Chicago, and hopefully having dinner with some friends, then I’m cranking out thank you notes (and perhaps even afghans! But not to go with the thank you notes). I have a full day of school on Wednesday, so travel gets a bit hectic. Sigh.
My eyes are getting droopy. I hope it isn’t to weird trying to fall asleep without Jamie next to me… I suppose I could do it for 23 years, it shouldn’t be too hard, right? But I do miss him. Perhaps I’d better get down the down comforter.. my heater is gone. 
jeni said,
November 5, 2006 at 2:32 pm
Hehe, it’s amazing how quickly you get used to your “space heater”! When I sleep alone the bed just feels so large…
Comfort food sounds delicious! Please post recipes for pumpkin bars, cider, and chicken pot pies!
mary said,
November 5, 2006 at 5:57 pm
If you have made a phrase translator from real speech into I’m-a-professional speech, I will buy it.
Especially if you include:
Your kid is delightful when he skips class. When he comes, he is a foul-mouthed, lazy beast.
Your child couldn’t read the directions to operate a personal flotation device. This is a problem, and largely your fault.
I assume your child learned his/her outspoken hatred of (insert Christians, gays, jocks, or women here) from you. Work this out or else.
jeni said,
November 6, 2006 at 8:45 am
Mary:
1.”Your child excels at truancy. Attendance, classrom participation, decorum, and respect are examples of skills that need improvement.”
2. “Your child needs to work on self-preservation skills, especially those associated with emergency procedures and general literacy.”
3. “While I appreciate your child’s ability to absorb and repeat information s/he learns from authority figures, this seems to include intolerance and chauvanism. If these skills are not improved, a meeting with me and/or my baseball bat will be deemed necessary.”
I accept all major forms of payment, especially Mexican food and bundt cake.
Raina said,
November 7, 2006 at 6:55 pm
now translate those into Spanish, ladies.
anyway, beck, i find it funny how much more i post when the house is empty (see a week and a half ago at my blog). seems you do the same. and it was lovely. good job on stickin’ up for your rights. that stuff’s really hard to do. i hate being assertive myself. (long story i won’t go into here reference)
i can’t wait for christmas and new years! i already have (part of) your present!
miranda said,
November 11, 2006 at 8:52 pm
Fishy! My little bachelorette. It was like we were spouses again for a few breif hours.