Wednesday, January 26, 2005

 
I just voraciously consumed a great novel, The Devil Wears Prada. I finished it up and hoped against hope that it was a true story and, hurrah, it is! I recommend it as entertaining reading, even if you aren't interested at all in fashion. Be warned that it will make you feel hopelessly poor and slovenly dressed, even if you, (like me) aren't dressed in Three Stooges boxers.

I spend two lovely hours in the dentist chair yesterday. When the appointment was rescheduled, they asked if I minded having my regular dentist's *associate*. I said, sure, but the name was so familiar. When I arrived I found that, indeed, he WAS familiar. A man from my hometown who did hours and hours of dental work on me when I was a freshman in high school. As I lay there being sadistically drilled and chiseled, I remembered my Mom telling me that he and his minister's wife had had an affair and left their spouses. I didn't remind him of this nugget that I had recalled. I'm sure he appreciated it.

The day before my girls had their yearly eye appointments. Happily, they'd not gotten any worse (however, no better) and they were thrilled that we would get to eat lunch in the cafeteria. Cafeteria isn't really giving it enough due, because they have a grill, salad bar, imported fast food and full-fledged Real Food. It was quite good (well, I did have extreme junk food), but the common-eating area is a great reminder of how fortunate you are. I saw a 4-lb. baby, a girl about Emma's age pulling oxygen along behind her and several other saddening sights.

Emma had a little trouble last Friday with a girl on her bus. Apparently, the little brat had put lip gloss in her hair and smacked her on the head (numerous times!) with a folder or something. She got off the bus (and straight to Grammy) with a MARK! on her face. It being Friday, I forgot to shoot off the note to the principal until Monday at 3:30 p.m., already too late to have her do something that day. However, I met the bus and the kid on the bus steps. She said that normally that girl didn't sit by her, so there was no problem today. Good thing. I was all prepped to storm on there and pick the kid up by her t-shirt.
posted by Lisa 7:35 AM

Sunday, January 23, 2005

 
Mystery Solved

I've always raved on and on about how there was So Much More snow when I was a kid. Now, my kids are enthralled and amazed by 1-2 inches. And it never stays very long. I found some weather history and it's very telling. In 1977 and 1978 (when I was 9 and 10) it snowed 44 inches each year. And in '78, the snow cover stayed on 71 days. I think that was the year that our house burnt to the ground. It was shortly after that cover was started (January 9th). I remember it took us a very long time to reach the closest neighbor and the firetrucks could not get down the snowpacked roads.
posted by Lisa 5:34 PM