A New Obsession

Well, we have officially abandoned the obsession with 'P' and have moved on to 'A.' At intervals throughout the day he stops me and points and says, "Mom, there's an A" as if it's a blood diamond.

And then there are shovels and dirt and the garden project. I just put a folding chair out there and watched them. This is what I heard:

B: John, don't get behind the pickax.

J: OK Dah-dah. Look! A big BOULDER!

K: Really? Bring it over here and let me see.

J: No no Mom. No put the amela on the boulder. (translation: Don't take a picture with the CAMERA.)

K: OK, I won't. But I still would like to see the boulder.

J: Oh yeah. Hey Mom. You need some gravel?

I got two handfuls in my lap.

We're (they're?) building a garden. Here's proof:

What you can't see is my blue folding chair with a water bottle and a stack of Classification Essays beside it.

And also the state has decided to paint our house. The outside only, luckily. The last effort to paint the inside involved a prison crew (before we moved in) and clearly there was no warden around because they dripped paint all over the wood floor. But the strangest part is that even though it didn't matter what my answer was, they asked for my input. And I said that I liked the color: Tulip Poplar (appropriately, that's the state tree and there's one in our front yard). But I didn't know that they meant that that was the color (khaki-ish) for the ENTIRE house ... the bricks, the gutters, the eaves, the columns, the doors, the window panes, and the shutters. So that's a little bothersome, but I am handling it rather well, I think. Just to be sure though, I have an appointment with my therapist tomorrow.

And the painters themselves are the most interesting part. I know all about their personal lives since I have been home all week on Spring Break. They all smoke. One of them has a seven-year old and is addicted to Playstation. The older one doesn't think they should talk about their alcohol consumption while at work. The one who only comes sporadically has tried twice now to give me advice about our French doors (which have been duct-taped shut for 2.5 years). I tried to tell him that we don't really worry about structural issues since we don't own the house. He asked if we rented. I explained to him that it's part of the employment package as a park ranger ... either you live on the park or you get a housing stipend.

Then I said, "It's like a little perk, you know, a job benefit."

To which he replied, "Not much of one if you ask me."

Me: "What do you mean?"

Him: "Well, I been to Davie Crockett State Park up in Lawrenceburg and their lake is at least four times as big as this one here at this park and you can even fish there. You know they love Davie Crockett up there in Lawerenceville. Even though they had to kick him out on account of he didn't pay his land taxes. That's why he moved out west and got involved in politics. Hmph. Davie Crockett."

At this point I just turned around, walked upstairs, and attempted to dye my hair back to it's natural color.

It didn't really work.

And then when I went back downstairs, Playstation asked me if I worked. As if going to Mommies in Motion and then eating lunch outside on the patio isn't work! I told him yes that I was a teacher and I was on spring break. He asked what grade and I told him college. So he said, "Oh, you're a professor then well lah-dee-dah." And now he uses the word "well" instead of "good" everytime we have a conversation ... even when an adverb isn't appropriate. I started to tell him that I studied about that in sociolinguistics class ... about how people overuse certain forms so that they can sound "RIGHT" when really it just shows that they have no understanding of the correct form. But somehow, it just didn't seem appropriate at the time. He also informed me that there is a wasp nest the size of the Taj Mahal behind the upstairs bathroom shutters (which are now khaki, just like the bricks around it and all the window panes -- not that it matters). It just keeps getting better.

So that's all the news in these parts. I have had the most relaxing week of slowly making progress with school work and the house (check my Flickr account for pictures of our new mantle decor and TV stand), and I have even managed to call around to more preschools. It's looking good for the Lutheran place across the way. We'll see how he does on their entrance/placement exam. If it's not a good test then we have a Presbyterian back-up plan.

Y'all just pray that they ask him about the letters 'A' or 'P' (as he says, "Like 'pop' and Go Dog Go! by 'P.D. Eastman').