Weekendy Update
Oct. 25th, 2010 10:50 amWell, it was a pretty damned fine weekend here at the Villa Sternberg.
Friday was the least busy day, unless you count the running around between Kouryou-chan's dance class and Yamaraashi-chan attending the local middle school dance event at the community center. That event is well-chaperoned, so I don't feel particularly concerned about it.
Between dropping Y-chan off and picking her up, the rest of the family went to the Burien Community Center Day of the Dead festival. We have a strong Hispanic population here, so there was a lot of that feel to the event, along with highly Americanized Halloweenisms. Kouryou-chan hit every venue she could that was giving out candy. LisaKit followed us around, the adults were bored. It really was for the under-10 crowd to which Kouryou-chan no longer feels she belongs.
Saturday, after a hot breakfast of pancakes, I made four small boules of French Bread and then we were off to Oloteas, the local large Pagan monthly get-together. While I'm not a believer in anything in particular aside from my own senses and rough consensus, I believe in the value of Olo and any sense of community I get from it. Omaha and I have been trying to emphasize to Yamaraashi-chan just how little "socializing" there is in social media; the real value and real happiness comes from face-to-face interactions.
Besides, at Olo, there are naked people. The hot-tub and swimming pool are very clothing optional, which explains why Yamaraashi-chan hid in the main room and flirted with a young man initialed I. Watching them was a comedy of teenagerhood, as I. had no idea he was being flirted with, and Yamaraashi-chan had no idea that her hormones had put her brain on autopilot and her mouth into flirt mode.
Kouryou-chan spent as much time as possible in the swimming pool, which is not a bad place to be. It was possibly more exercise than I'd gotten in a long time.
I met many beloved friends there, especially![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shemyazi, who had been sending emails to my lost Speakeasy account and was upset that I hadn't replied. Not that I've had any time for going out with friends; my career is taking over my life, and not in a good way I think.
The ritual was fun, the food was good. I had to bully poor LisaKit to the front of the potluck line to ensure she got enough food given her special needs diet. There were beautiful women to flirt with and give backrubs to in the hot tub, and even I'm not sure I was flirting without intent, if you know what I mean...
Sunday, Omaha and I were awakened to the sounds of Yamaraashi-chan talking really loud to some boy she'd met at Friday's dance, who had decided that 8:00am on a Sunday was a good time to call a girl. She had stepped outside, onto the back porch, in steady rain and 52°F, in her pyjamas. We yanked her back inside with a very parental "What the Hell are you thinking?" and more in that vein.
After a flurry of oatmeal and scrambled egg sandwiches, Omaha and I settled into the office to catch up on work missed due to dental appointments, job interviews, and general life events. I actually got a lot done, which was very pleasing: more AWS S3 handling, a better HTTP 500 page, that annoying bug with the array vs. scalar issue I had previously blogged about, and first steps toward a much-improved theater experience with iPad compatibility.
After a lunch of egg salad, we went bowling. Kouryou-chan stressed out about how bad she was-- she has no arm strength, sad to say-- but we all had a good time doing family stuff together. Gawd, I love my kids. They are just both so cool, for such giggly girls. I bowled in my kilt, which attracted very little attention (bummer, that).
We got home, and I cooked risotto w/chicken and home-made stock dish that everyone made vanish. The dinner table conversation was very interesting, sparked by an NPR article about chemical castration. Omaha commented that I wasn't cringing and I told her, "We've been talking about this for several minutes now. All my winceworthy moments are in the past."
Yamaraashi-chan and I have a similar problem. My arms are much longer than my torso would dictate, so it's hard to find coats and shirts in my size. She is shorter than her age would dictate, all bone too, so it's hard to find pants in her size. Omaha was positively heroic in hemming up several pairs of jeans so Y-chan wouldn't be stepping on them as she walked.
We got the girls to bed, and Omaha's still sewing as I clean the kitchen and otherwise get ready for a new work week.
Friday was the least busy day, unless you count the running around between Kouryou-chan's dance class and Yamaraashi-chan attending the local middle school dance event at the community center. That event is well-chaperoned, so I don't feel particularly concerned about it.
Between dropping Y-chan off and picking her up, the rest of the family went to the Burien Community Center Day of the Dead festival. We have a strong Hispanic population here, so there was a lot of that feel to the event, along with highly Americanized Halloweenisms. Kouryou-chan hit every venue she could that was giving out candy. LisaKit followed us around, the adults were bored. It really was for the under-10 crowd to which Kouryou-chan no longer feels she belongs.
Saturday, after a hot breakfast of pancakes, I made four small boules of French Bread and then we were off to Oloteas, the local large Pagan monthly get-together. While I'm not a believer in anything in particular aside from my own senses and rough consensus, I believe in the value of Olo and any sense of community I get from it. Omaha and I have been trying to emphasize to Yamaraashi-chan just how little "socializing" there is in social media; the real value and real happiness comes from face-to-face interactions.
Besides, at Olo, there are naked people. The hot-tub and swimming pool are very clothing optional, which explains why Yamaraashi-chan hid in the main room and flirted with a young man initialed I. Watching them was a comedy of teenagerhood, as I. had no idea he was being flirted with, and Yamaraashi-chan had no idea that her hormones had put her brain on autopilot and her mouth into flirt mode.
Kouryou-chan spent as much time as possible in the swimming pool, which is not a bad place to be. It was possibly more exercise than I'd gotten in a long time.
I met many beloved friends there, especially
shemyazi, who had been sending emails to my lost Speakeasy account and was upset that I hadn't replied. Not that I've had any time for going out with friends; my career is taking over my life, and not in a good way I think.The ritual was fun, the food was good. I had to bully poor LisaKit to the front of the potluck line to ensure she got enough food given her special needs diet. There were beautiful women to flirt with and give backrubs to in the hot tub, and even I'm not sure I was flirting without intent, if you know what I mean...
Sunday, Omaha and I were awakened to the sounds of Yamaraashi-chan talking really loud to some boy she'd met at Friday's dance, who had decided that 8:00am on a Sunday was a good time to call a girl. She had stepped outside, onto the back porch, in steady rain and 52°F, in her pyjamas. We yanked her back inside with a very parental "What the Hell are you thinking?" and more in that vein.
After a flurry of oatmeal and scrambled egg sandwiches, Omaha and I settled into the office to catch up on work missed due to dental appointments, job interviews, and general life events. I actually got a lot done, which was very pleasing: more AWS S3 handling, a better HTTP 500 page, that annoying bug with the array vs. scalar issue I had previously blogged about, and first steps toward a much-improved theater experience with iPad compatibility.
After a lunch of egg salad, we went bowling. Kouryou-chan stressed out about how bad she was-- she has no arm strength, sad to say-- but we all had a good time doing family stuff together. Gawd, I love my kids. They are just both so cool, for such giggly girls. I bowled in my kilt, which attracted very little attention (bummer, that).
We got home, and I cooked risotto w/chicken and home-made stock dish that everyone made vanish. The dinner table conversation was very interesting, sparked by an NPR article about chemical castration. Omaha commented that I wasn't cringing and I told her, "We've been talking about this for several minutes now. All my winceworthy moments are in the past."
Yamaraashi-chan and I have a similar problem. My arms are much longer than my torso would dictate, so it's hard to find coats and shirts in my size. She is shorter than her age would dictate, all bone too, so it's hard to find pants in her size. Omaha was positively heroic in hemming up several pairs of jeans so Y-chan wouldn't be stepping on them as she walked.
We got the girls to bed, and Omaha's still sewing as I clean the kitchen and otherwise get ready for a new work week.
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