Unimportant Drivel (repeated again)

Miciah's reaction to the last day of school:

Classic.


The Zoo

I bought a zoo pass.  We hit the 6-year mark in Cincinnati yesterday, and I finally bought a zoo pass.  It just felt right this summer.

So I took them for the first time last week.  They've all been before, but not much, and not for a year or so.  I was thrilled to surprise them with such a great thing, and even more thrilled that we could make our zoo outing short, without feeling wasteful.  We rode the train.  We looked at a bunch of animals.  And the whole time I kept waiting for this "Wow, Mom, you're the best!" reaction, but that didn't quite happen.  I wanted to say, "Come on, guys!  I paid $135 for this!"

We were almost done with our very first membership-touting zoo outing, when Tank finally squealed with delight.  "Hey, Mom, look!  It's a rolly polly!  I didn't know they had those here!"

We paid $135 for him to be excited about bugs he can find on our front porch.  Excellent.

Justin Bieber, Again

Miciah has been talking and talking about Justin Bieber.  And she's been asking and asking for me to play his songs.  We only own 3 of his songs.  Miciah made a Wish List for herself.  Of all the things in the world, there was only one thing on the list:  "Every single Justin Bieber song there ever is."  Rob just said, "It starts."

A typical car ride:  I'm in control of the iPod.  It's set to the Purchased Playlist, and we've listened to all 3 Justin Bieber songs at least twice.  I switch to Kelly Clarkson, P!nk, or the song from the ending credits of the computer game Portal (seriously, it's awesome).  Halfway through the first non-Justin Bieber song Miciah says, "Can we listen to Justin Bieber again?"  Elijah groans.  "Not again!"  I just smile.  What great sibling interaction!

Rob asked Miciah if she thought Justin Bieber was cute.  She looked away and said, "No!"  Rob TOTALLY believed her.  The next day, when Rob wasn't around, Miciah said, "Mom, I think Justin Bieber is really cute."  Shocking.

I told Rob that I don't think he's cute.  He reminded me that I'm 29 and that I shouldn't think 16-year-old boys are cute anyway.  Oh, yeah.  Right.  I forgot that I'm so old.  ...  People say I LOOK 12.  Does that count?  (The answer is no.)

Hugs and Kisses and 'I Love You's

I like to squeeze and hug on Tank.  He's so squeezable!  But I'm aware of the fact that I don't squeeze on Elijah and Miciah as much.  So I'm trying to pick up the pace with them, too.  Problem is:  they're not as good at it.  While Tank has a ritualistic "hug and kiss and 'I love you'!" gig, hugging and kissing the other 2 kids can be awkward.  Miciah isn't touchy-feely, and while Elijah is, he's a really bad kisser.  (This is not a phrase I can use once he gets older.)  It's hard not to back away every time he puckers up.

That just strikes me as funny, that's all.

Elijah

Someday a boy is also going to tell Elijah that "boys don't wear the color purple."  ...  Are there some boys who grow up being sensitive and affectionate, and in-touch with their feminine side, who DON'T get ridiculed by other boys?  Do some boys keep that sweet softness?  Is there hope for our son?

Our Van

We have now paid almost $400 for our van's AC over the last half a year.  The mechanic (whom we like and trust) promises it will work for longer than 7 weeks this time.

Marriage

I really, really like spending time with my husband.  (Sorry, this is actually somewhat important news, despite the post's title.)  Just thought you'd like to know.  I sure was happy to re-discover it.

Bruises

Oh!  I had to add this.  I've been getting some AWESOME bruises at my soccer games.  One of them was 10 inches, end to end, with the imprint of the ball in the middle.  Note to Tamra:  When a guy drills the ball towards the goal, don't try to stop it with your thigh.  Just get out of the way.  (Idiot girl!)  Another one was on my shoulder.  I came home with a knot the size of a nickel.  I didn't recall how I got it, I just knew that it hurt A LOT.  Rob said I should take some drugs, but I refused, because I'm tough.  Being able to rotate your shoulder is overrated.  Sure enough, it resolved itself two days later, and I forgot about it until today when a huge yellow bruise about 4 inches wide showed up.  ...  I love bruises.

And this one isn't mine, but it's pretty sweet, too:

(Okay, so it's only a little baby black eye, but it's all the cuter for being small.  And it is a little easier to see in person.  One of my most intense disappointments in life is that bruises are really hard to photograph.)  Elijah "accidentally" rammed a Nerf gun into Tank's eye.  I still never did figure out if it was an accident or not.  Though Elijah's a bad liar, so I suppose it really was an accident.

The End