Friday miscellany: I need a nap

So, after I wrote my post on learning to love winter, the 3-year-old got sick (a stomach bug, relatively mild, but still). I have been up in the middle of the night for not insignificant chunks of time for the past three nights. I’m really hoping to fit in a nap this afternoon. My brain feels fried. I keep looking at my to-do list and then getting distracted.

Also on the schedule for the next few days: a wrestling meet that starts at 8 a.m. Saturday, meaning we need to be there at 7:15. Meaning the parent on wrestling duty needs to leave the house at 6:45 a.m. I told my little wrestler that I couldn’t handle any additional tournaments beyond the two more matches we have before the season ends. He seemed OK with it. I don’t think he particularly likes waking up at 6:15 on weekends either!

I’ve been trying to figure out when I can get to the super market to buy chicken wings before they sell out. The entire city of Philadelphia is very Eagles-focused this weekend, as you can imagine. The kids were allowed to wear Eagles t-shirts to karate instead of their uniforms. They have an Eagles pep rally at school today. My 10-year-old informed me this means they won’t have math class. Hmm.

They will, however, be doing an activity at some point where they drop eggs in containers off the building to see if they break. He built his contraption two weeks or so ago, and we tested it and it worked! The secret was packing styrofoam and putting everything in one of those Costco parmesan cheese containers. And then using a grocery bag as a parachute.

I have started a streak of writing 500 words of fiction each week day. I don’t envision this being quite like the running streak in that it’s not truly daily (it’s 5 times per week) and I won’t continue in perpetuity because at some point I’ll finish a novel draft and then need to edit it. But nonetheless, it’s been good discipline. It generally just takes me 15-30 minutes a day (much like the running!) and while what exists is not a good novel, it is becoming a novel. And I find it is easier to make something that exists into something better than turning nothing into something.

We got several more fish for the new saltwater aquarium. Two cleaner shrimp died in quick succession, as they don’t do well with salinity changes. My husband got so frustrated by this he went to the aquarium store at 7 p.m. last night to buy a third one. I can’t imagine that getting transported around in 20 degree weather was all that great for anyone. I have also found myself wondering if it might be more exciting just to set fire to dollar bills as a means of entertainment, but as of now the third one is still alive. If there are any other Tanked fans out there, I welcome suggestions on your fish combinations.

Photo: Making snow castles in the back yard. Last night at 1:30 when I was trying to get him to sleep in his room, he said “But I want to sleep with you because I love you.” Quite the line! 

 

11 thoughts on “Friday miscellany: I need a nap

  1. Ugh, one of the things that has frustrated me most about public school is the amount of distractions and interruptions to academic time. I would be super annoyed about a pep rally for *professional sports* taking time away from regular school activities. I mean, it was one thing to have a pep rally for our high school’s state championship football team before they played at the (RIP) Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, but an NFL team?! Sigh.

    I hope you get a nap and some better sleep soon and that there is no more puking 🙁

    1. @ARC – but you know, sports are *important.* Moreso than other stuff, right? The genesis of The Cortlandt Boys was my first high school’s over-the-top frenzy over our basketball team winning the state championship. There were life-sized portraits of the players put up in the gym.

      1. Hah. At least I can *sort of* see it for your own school’s team – I mean, those are your colleagues, right? But wasting instructional time for an NFL team? Ick.

  2. Ohhh, there’s nothing relatively mild about a stomach bug — my condolences!! And my almost-5yo has suddenly started wanting to sleep with us, too. “Because I love your snuggles!” Sigh.
    Exciting about the writing streak! There’s nothing like that flow of brand new words, even if you know they’ll all get deleted a few months later. I’m at the other end — final revisions (final final; for real this time!), and then who knows?

  3. Yeah the Eagles stuff is so crazy! Our school isn’t doing a pep rally, which I’m glad about. But we had a squabble this morning because older boy suddenly decided (after refusing several times a couple weeks ago) that he wanted an Eagle’s shirt to wear to school, since we got one for the little guy who had asked for one. Sorry buddy, too late.
    I hope you get your nap. It’ll be a good weekend for one, brrrr.

    1. Oh man, it was crazy town when I was scrambling to find Seahawks T-shirts for my girls when they went to the SuperBowl in 2014 (ish). There were none to be had around town. I think I finally found a few kids shirts at a local grocery store 😀

  4. Ugh I feel your pain about the sleeping. We went paci-free for my newly 3-year old 3 weeks ago and promptly got two back-to-back colds, resulting in lots
    Of nighttime coughing and waking. Mine has a tendency to sleep much worse when dad puts her to sleep – guess she misses him more than me when she wakes up – because she wakes up screaming bloody murder for him and did that for a week – the only way out is me going up there and ignoring the requests for dad. So I couldn’t resist the “mommy I need you to sleep with me” last night either. Hope you’re getting some weekend rest!!

  5. Oh so much nostalgia for the egg drop. I remember doing that when I was at school. Mine broke. I think the winner used jello…

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