Friday, August 23, 2013

7 Quick Takes: Whining About Law School Edition




Here the girls are doing their school work yesterday.

Maggie continues to surprise me... because I have now learned that she has to do every single thing her sister does and the fact that she doesn't have her own Singapore Math book continues to be her first real encounter with absolute injustice (at least in her little three year old eyes).  She keeps trying to lean over and do the pages over her sister's shoulder.  And that doesn't go over well at all.

While I took this picture I was holding and walking Patrick because he hurries over and grabs a crayon whenever we start school and then fusses because apparently he feels a little left out:



What do you like to wear on a hot, somewhat humid summer day?

If you're Mae Bae than the answer just might be a pink tutu with super hero boots and a huge down jacket.

I hid the parka last night after she went to bed so we wouldn't have a repeat discussion about whether or not it's appropriate attire for summer:



I read this last night and then sent Paul an email with the link saying that I absolutely want to move to Alaska.  Or just the middle of nowhere.  Because while it made most of the people commenting on it angry it made me feel like having a panic attack.


I might also be a little grumpy because Paul's school starts on Monday and that makes me want to cry a little because it means that he's going to disappear from our little corner of the earth until... August 2014?  After the bar I'm guessing.  We are definitely going to be missing all the fun Daddy time we squeezed in this month... especially since he's doing work and school now...



Today, before he heads back to the library, we're going to a local historical town for a "prairie girl" picnic.  I'm pretty sure I don't want this morning to end.

If you can tell I'm not coming to terms with this whole 3L thing at the moment.  Not. At. All.

I have a feeling they won't either:




Sometimes Paul and I debate which state we've lived in has the craziest drivers.  Michigan isn't usually near the top, although it's ever bumpy roads are (Florida, definitely is.  I don't know how many Snow Birds almost took us out while attempting some dangerous illegal maneuver while we were crossing the street).  This, however, happened pretty near to Paul's school and when I heard about it from my mom I couldn't help but notice it coincided with the first week of school and traffic getting particularly crazy around here (although since it's a truck towing something I doubt that that is actually it):



Paul has come up with a new nickname for Patrick.  He's started calling him "Boomer."  Somehow it seems appropriate (maybe because the first word that comes to mind when I think of Patrick is "boisterous"):


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2 comments:

  1. Re #6, I'm afraid that I'd have to put in a strong vote for Texas drivers as being the worst out there.

    New York? Nasty, foul-mouthed--but mostly competent.

    Midwest (Missouri/Illinois/Wisconsin)? Courteous. Annoying, but courteous. The ones in Missouri, especially, like to pass you while you're doing the speed limit and then drop to 5 below the speed limit. Grrr. But they use their turn signals, and may well wave as they pass!

    Florida: The snowbirds really do seem out to kill you. What with the swerving between lanes (or just plain off the road), mixing up the gas and brake pedals, driving at 15 MPH in a 40 MPH zone with their turn signals on for about 3 miles before and after every turn...scary. I maintain, though, that they have but little on Texas drivers.

    In Texas, speed limits are totally ignored. People will do ten under the speed limit or fifteen over, but rarely do the actual speed limit or the generally accepted five over. If you're on a five-lane freeway, SOP is to drive in the left lane until about 500 feet before your exit, and then slam on the brakes while cutting across the other four lanes to get to your exit. In all likelihood, this charming maneuver will be accomplished without resorting to a turn signal; about 70-80% of drivers here just don't use them, so when you see brake lights you kind of have to guess whether and/or where this person is turning, or if they're just stopping.

    Speaking of brake lights, Texas drivers are completely befuzzled by anything out of the ordinary on the roads. A slight rise in the road ahead, a few drops of rain, a cloud of gnats--all are met with the same reaction: SLAMMING on one's brakes, and then crawling along at at least 20 under the speed limit.

    Another common "Texas thing" is to pull halfway across a divided highway on a crossroad at which the divided highway has the right of way, and then just leave half your car hanging out into the left lane of the highway whilst waiting for a break in the traffic on the other side, thus causing people to have to brake and swerve around you. This saves you a whopping extra ten seconds, of course, though it can (and does) cause all sorts of accidents when people have to swerve around you at 75 MPH. (Rural roads in Texas mostly have a speed limit of either 70 or 75.)

    Like many states, Texas has a law which says that if you are in a minor motor vehicle accident, there are no injuries, and both vehicles are driveable, you are to pull out of traffic in order to exchange information and/or wait for the cops. Unlike many states, Texas's drivers usually ignore this, preferring to block up major roads for an hour or two (again, often during rush hour).

    Lest I be accused of being anti-Texas, I hasten to point out that I literally moved here as fast as I could--about ten days after I turned 18, to be exact. I love my adopted state. Its drivers may be crazy, but if you are a woman and stranded at the side of the road with a flat tire whose rim won't come off or a car that died, you'll have at least three very courteous people stop by and ask "Anythin' I can help you with, ma'am?", "Mind if I give that tar arn (Texas for "tire iron") a try?", or even just "Honey, I can't help with that tar, but you'd better take this water, it's way too hot out here to not be drinkin'" before the roadside assistance person even gets there. Seriously. Texas has the kindest, nicest, friendliest people of anywhere I've ever been. That's a huge part of what made me decide to make this state my home. Maybe they all get any kind of irritability or aggression out on the road? *shrugs* Your guess is as good as mine.

    And re #7: with that nickname, we in Texas would say that Patrick has a future in football, albeit, regrettably, at That School A Bit North of Us. (Boomer Sooner!)

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  2. I know the same dread that you feel about missing your husband for school. Leo starts school on Monday. I am, however, looking forward to all the great intellectual discussions we will have about the great works!

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