Ew

on so many levels.

The Oxford Murders

See, reading the news is a bad thing

or maybe a really twisted good thing?

From a Bea Arthur tribute--a duet with Rock Hudson about every illegal drug imaginable.

Seriously.



P.S. Was that woman born old?

Cowardice

After having a nice long chat with Faith yesterday (that involved possibly every topic known to man) I have decided just to put Rani and Maya on my resume and deal with whatever comes of it. If I don't put them down, I'm automatically a liar and suspicious. So I'm going to risk it and just hope that if they say something negative, my other references will be shiny enough. And if the school wants additional character references I can give them a bunch of people I volunteered with at church. (Unfortunately, everyone but Rani and Maya would be a long distance call.) All this fretting and I have no idea if I'm even vaguely qualified.

With that decided I went to the Phil and Jim website to get the principal's e-mail address so I could arrange a time to chat with her about the position. But they only have one general office e-mail listed. ARGH! So I have to go search out Ms. Conway at school. I HATE searching! Poo. I'll try to do it after school today.

Now that I've abandoned Facebook

I read a lot more news. (This fact seems to correspond to the massive, massive poll--I think a whole 200 students were part of the study--by somebody at OSU that showed Facebook makes you stupid.) But I kind of wish I weren't reading the news because then I find out about possible pandemics and all sorts of horrible things that I might otherwise be ignorant of . . . things of which I might otherwise be ignorant? Ugh, Facebook HAS made me stupid.

Ummm . . . I had something else to say.

Coffee right after you've used mouthwash is pointless AND gross.

That was not the other thing I had to say.

Some Evie-ry

A family discussion that somehow veered into the subject of flowers and perfume--

Moira--"Alcohol's in perfume?"
Me--"Yeah, alcohol's in lots of things."
Evie--"Especially you!"

Thanks, Evie.

Mr. Very Nice Parent Man just called

This is Connie's dad. I mentioned today that I was looking for work and he thought that a teaching assistant job at the school might be a good match. This is the second parent that's mentioned this, so maybe . . . He took the initiative to speak to the principal when he passed her on the way out and she said there was a position open now and a position available in the fall. I'm going to check out the criteria on the Oxfordshire website, but from what I saw before, descriptions for those sorts of positions were veiled with foo foo language about helping children achieve to their potential, blah, blah, blah. I wanna know if I make copies, grade papers, have to help with lesson plans or lessons themselves. The principal said I could stop by the office to find out more about it, and that's probably what I'll have to do. Big brave me.

Anyway, I really need to have Connie's parents over for dinner. Big brave me II.

Happy Birthday, Sam and Sophie!

Sam, we used your birthday as the reason Evie couldn't go to a friend's house to play today. Only her friend's dad would be home, a very nice guy by the way, but I just wasn't comfortable with that. They seem really oblivious to the idea that this scenario could make anyone uncomfortable and I didn't want to hurt their feelings by implying that this very nice guy could be a closet . . . not so nice guy. So, thanks, Sam! And since we want to get our stories straight--in the end we didn't go to London to celebrate with you because you had so much wedding planning to do and were much too exhausted. But they probably will never ask, so none of us will have to go that far into the lie. And how is that for the most neurotic birthday wish ever--yay.

The library and what hope feels like

I checked out the library/Oxfordshire Council website and there were a couple of part-time library positions open--one was in the library closest to us. Very exciting. They made it seem like no in-depth CV and experience was required--just an ability to cheerfully deal with the public. So I'm hopeful. Filling out the job app. and seeing how puny my work experience/education is wasn't fun, but they did allow for listing volunteer work. This gave me a chance to put some more current references down. Shwew! I don't know why they would hire me if someone else with ANY experience applied, but it's worth a shot. Unfortunately, it'll be two weeks before the end of the application deadline and two weeks after that before I'd even hear if I've been shortlisted for an interview. Needless to say, I've got to keep looking. I think I'll still ask if they do volunteer positions. I'd be something to put on a resume while I wait.

I returned something I found in the girls' room that Rani had let them borrow. Just passive-aggressively left it on the doorstep--they hadn't answered when we'd knocked before. And I sent the Why e-mail earlier this week with no response. I guess the last of the ties have been cut. That actually feels good.

So I'm looking forward to what the future holds, and hoping it holds it soon so we can buy Ben some sort of bike. Extras are out right now--*gasp*--including most alcohol consumption. I guess it proves you're not an alcoholic if you're too cheap to buy wine. That's a load off all your minds, I'm sure.

Pretty darn funny

if you start at the 1:35 mark--before that it's just kind of irritating. A couple of old ladies from North Devon who've come to the US to retire. I lost it when they started pulling things out of the fridge. And the diving into American gun culture is great too.

I think we should all promise

to go punting in Oxford when everyone's in town for Sam's wedding. PLEASE?? We haven't had the guts to do it on our own, but with everyone else's moral support (and perhaps past punting experience), I'm sure we'll have the courage. And if we head out from Wolfson or the Cherwell Boat House next door, we can end up at a pub . . . and then punt back really wasted and take bets on who survives. Sound good? I know it does.

Latest job ponderings

There's this Lebanese cafe place in Summertown that always smells soooooooo good. Though sorely tempted, I've been too cheap to stop in. They were hiring when we first arrived too, but I was too chicken to 'apply within', mainly because of the very tall and intimidating Lebanese guy that works there--I assume he owns the place. But I may be ready to step out of my comfort zone and ask about the hours and payrate. How do I actually step inside without buying anything?!? Sooooooooo yummy.

I'm also considering asking to volunteer at the library. They'll probably say no, but it's worth a shot. I'm getting tired of living without any sort of job experience, combined with no degree. That makes me qualified to clean somebody's toilet or babysit somebody's kid, but I'm really intelligent enough to handle a little more. If I volunteered at the library, it would at least count toward the experience bit and would be worth it even if it didn't pay at first. It would have been nice to have a reference from Rani to at least show that I have a bit of experience in an office and/or real estate environment--there are lots of positions out there for that. But that's not gonna happen. Without a CV to hand people, I'm pretty darn worthless.

I still haven't sent the Why e-mail. I go back and forth about it. They won't e-mail back, that I'm sure. So I'm really just considering what it says about me.

Just got this e-mail response from my local library

Thank you for y our kinf offer of book dontaions, we are always more than happy to accept donations which sometimes have to go into other branches but please deop them of whenever you are passing, we are more than happy to accept them, mANY THANKS


I think I'm going to go online now and suggest this as an addition to their library collection.

Can you tell I'm home all day?

Expect about 140 posts a week now.

I wanted to share about the weird thing with our neighbors and the birthday party. Evie invited Na Yung over for her birthday, but she was really strange about it--something about being allowed to play outside with everyone but not being able to go inside our house. This was kind of a slap in the face, since I felt like we had a really good relationship with the Chois. Now suddenly we're not to be trusted with their children? But I just found out that they're Jehovah's Witnesses, and, remembering back to the days when I knew everything about Michael Jackson including his Jehovah's Witness youth, it occurred to me that they aren't allowed to celebrate birthdays--no presents, parties, nada. So--Mystery Solved.

It's always nice to find out you're not being rejected after all.

Is it the desperation

that is making this seem like a really good idea for the time being?

Probably.

But, c'mon--free lunch!

The Great Residential

Moira is leaving tomorrow for her school trip to Devon. She'll be gone for (*gulp*) 5 days, staying at Beam House with the rest of Phil and Jim's year 6. On the way they'll stop for lunch in Burnham-on-Sea and have some time to play around on the beach.

Activities for this trip include (another *gulp*):

A mud/obstacle course
Archery
Rifle shooting
Climbing
Abseiling
Mountain biking
Quad biking i.e. 4X4 whatever they're called
Beach walks
Trapeze
Zip wire
etc.

Obviously, I'm living in great fear that she'll be mortally injured during this trip. I'm also living in fear of entertaining Evie all by myself for 5 whole days. I hope I don't have to dress up like a princess.

Another photo

Me and Evie

I am celebrating minutia!

ALL the worthy Bath photos are now up on Flickr! YES! So go check it out!

I haven't given up on making a post, but, Jessica, I will still be sending you step by step instructions on how to view things in a slideshow--'cause it may be a while before these things hit the blog.

Two random photos

Moira and Na Yung made this crown of flowers for Evie's birthday. Moira would like you to know, however, that she did all the hard work.


I thought Jessica would like to see that I finally hung up her housewarming gift. I thought, since it was a product of the American Library Association, that it should go up next to the girls' library. Moira's a bit torn between absolutely hating the poster and thinking it adds legitimacy to their library. She says if there were more posters from the READ series, it would be better. So, Jessica, we might be asking you to put that membership back into use--to be reimbursed, of course. (hint, hint)

(I visit the girls' room a lot more now.)

Shows that suck and why I love them

Actually, I don't have much justification here.

Dollhouse--I know I've talked about this before. You have to admit that it's a fun sci-fi concept full of interesting ethical/moral implications. People wiped of their own memories and able to be programed to fit any parameter a client desires--all supposedly done after the individual has willingly signed up to become a 'doll'. It has Olivia Williams--PLUS! It has Eliza Dushku--initially a negative for me, but her acting is so bad it's good. And who could not love the opening--my favorite part is when she spins around while talking on the phone. Classy. I just feel bad for Joss Whedon because I KNOW this had to have been seriously dumbed down by the network. Basically I came for the concept and stayed for the cheese. Serious cheese.

Castle--WHAT?!? So bad, just so bad. A crime novelist teams up with a detective to solve crimes. The female detective is the attractive, no-nonsense cop driven up the wall by the sexy tagalong author full of playboy vigour and annoying insights that always help to solve the crime. Everyone loves him but her. Ah, the sexual tension. It's so formulaic, it's so cheesy, it's so wonderful. I love how they embrace the goofy/horrible writing style of the crime genre. Nathan Fillion is always adorable, and that chick from Falcon Crest plays his mom--sweet. Faaaaaalcon Crest.

As for shows that don't suck--Caprica looks promising. The BSG prequel about how the cylons came to be. A good start full of all those tantalizing questions about what constitutes life, religion and everything else. And while I've never been an Eric Stolz fan (usually despise him) he isn't too bad in this. Besides, Polly Walker is there to balance everything out. As Ben puts it--"I love to watch her . . . acting." It's also fun to see how monotheism is the minority/dangerous view. The different colonies are being fleshed out and that's interesting too. A lot of potential for good sci-fi there.

Well, I really can't think of any other newish shows that don't suck. I've heard Kings is good, but haven't watched it yet myself. Ben really likes it. But it's so good it's getting cancelled.

Any other recommendations out there? I've got a lot more time on my hands and would love to waste it on tv.

And just for fun--

Getting Fucked Over Oxford Style

Okay, so I'm neurotic and paranoid and I can be pretty damn obsessive and sneaky when I get screwed.

So I'm going through the Daily Info and I see that there is a babysitting position available. I stupidly applied for it. Then I checked again and noticed that a position for office help was directly beneath that one--posted only minutes apart.

Paranoia.

This whole thing just seemed weird, and I've witnessed a lot of lies from Rani and Maya, so I decided to go all undercover and reply to the add incognito. (I told you I can be obsessive.) Sure enough it was Maya.

So I'm wondering a) why I got fired b) why they can't tell me straight out like decent human beings c) why they thought I could 'still keep in touch' and not realize that I'd been replaced

I'm also wondering if I should confront them. Obviously, I can't trust them as a reference when I don't even know why they got rid of me. Is it because I wrote a bitchy post? I've checked google and I'm not searchable and I have no hits from anything that could have been them. So that's not it . . . ? Is it because I asked for time off when the girls were on break? Rani had begged me to work less and take care of the girls when they were on vacation. She said 'I don't want to lose you so let's always be open'. So the only thing I can think of is that she somehow blames me for her credit card information being stolen recently. And if she thinks I'm capable of that, why would I want to work for her anyway?

It's just a really surprising and fucked up situation that I NEVER saw coming.

So I'd like some opinions--should I ask what went down? I wouldn't be rude, but I think I deserve a straight answer after pouring such energy (emotional and physical) into that family. Why did they stab me in the back?

That birthday

It's the only good thing going on right now in my personal sphere, so I think I'll focus on my awesome family.

Evie had her friend, Connie, over. The birthday girl opened presents and cards and then we all headed down to the University Museum. (Oh, we stopped over at Jay's to drop off a toy guitar they had literally begged us to borrow. I was going to invite them over later for Evie's party, but only the painter was there.)

Museum--Here they are hugging the stuffed, lifeless corpse of a Shetland Pony--perfect for petting!

Having their arms chewed off by a Tyrannosaurus.

They obviously purchased spyglasses in the gift shop.

After the museum (in which, I believe, we spent more time in the gift shop than looking at the exhibits) we headed down to The King's Arms for lunch. And they were all out of PIZZA! Grrr. But we were able to find some food they enjoyed, which is especially difficult for Connie. This kid is the pickiest thing I have ever met. She doesn't even like french fries. And forget any vegetarian options. So we got her fish and chips and Evie ate the chips. I ended up finishing her fish for her, because I couldn't bear the idea of throwing out something that gave up it's life . . . for Connie. Maybe that's a weird thing for a vegetarian to do, but I feel pretty strongly about it. (In all cases, not just Connie's.) That's the first meat I've had for a very, very long time.

On the way back we passed one of the buildings in Oxford where I'm destined to live . . . and make tea . . . and own cats. It's the Museum lodge, but, hey, I can dream.

We cut through the University Parks, and I got a few shots of Moira looking 21.


When we returned home, the girls set up outside with water guns, water balloons, various trinkets and some very good popsicles. We'd arranged to meet outside with some of the Wolfson kids. Two of the girls didn't show, which was odd considering one of them is right next door and kept popping her head out. I was worried this was going to be a huge dud, but Emily and then Miguel showed up and things really took off.

I don't know if I've written about Miguel here before. He came late in the school year to Phil and Jim, and Evie befriended him. They were pretty inseparable for a while. He has this funny low, kind of gravelly voice that cracks me up--especially when he's in a water balloon fight and yelling DAMMIT! He's from Colombia so he has this odd mixture of accents that's pretty adorable too. He kept calling Ben 'mate'.

If you look reeeeeeally close, you can see some pretty nice water balloon splatter. Evie got nailed.

Ben won father of the year for his participation in all the water balloon, squirt gun wars.

Eventually Ben and I were so tired from replenishing the water balloon supply (why are balloons so IMPOSSIBLE to tie?) that we called it quits. Connie and Emily went home and the girls were pretty much zombified from all the activity. So we said goodbye to Miguel and he went off (with a devilish look on his face) to find his brother and shoot him with his new squirt gun.

So that was the day.

Ben and I are exhausted

and our fingers hurt from tying about a hundred water balloons, but Evie is very, very happy. Pictures soon . . . but I've promised that before.

Sooooooo

I'm looking for a job now. I can't expect anything as good as I had, because working for Maya and Rani was just a little too perfect. And I really can't expect to find a kid as great as Jay. But, at this point, I'm just hoping for something . . . anything. I'm going to be in the States for a month this summer and I don't think anyone is going to want to hire me and then immediately give me a big vacation. So I may not be employed again until next September . . . ?

I'm so screwed.

But I'm going to try to stay friends with Maya and Rani. I hope it was more than just an employee and employer relationship. I really do care for them, especially Jay, and I would hate for this to just all fizzle out. They've really been my anchor in this whole Oxford experience and not having them feels like losing family. But maybe it was just me that was feeling that way.

Now it's time for Evie's birthday party, which I am completely not suited to plan. I am NOT A PLANNER!!!! I think we've settled on a trip to the museum with her friend, Connie, and then Evie's going to hang out with some Wolfson friends and pass out popsicles and stupid party treats. I'm going to try to invite Jay--we'll see what happens.

Today was the Wolfson Easter egg hunt. I suddenly realized that we were probably going to be the only ones with older children, so I sent Moira out to see if any of her friends were coming. They weren't, so I thought we should just go to the park instead. Then all of a sudden Moira's crying and I find out she really wanted to do this stupid thing even though she said she was totally fine with skipping it. Then I felt ENORMOUSLY guilty because I'm just trying to make the kids happy because I feel like I totally let them down with this job thing and then I go and do the opposite and make them miserable. To make matters worse, on our walk we stumbled onto the group hunting for eggs and there were older kids there with really nice parents that we could have been meeting. They slipped us some candy eggs they'd found.

So I just kinda feel like crap right now.

The griping has taken care of itself

'cause today I just got fired.

Joe cut off Maya's money shortly after she quit her job, so now she's going to do Rani's secretarial work and I got nothin'.

Nothin', nothin', nothin' and it fucking sucks.

So whenever I gripe

I end up getting smacked in the face with niceness. ARGH!!!

So I just deleted my last post because of all the guilt I'm feeling.

I feel like dirt.

Oh my freak!

So I was walking home and noticed this thing on the sidewalk. After a brief pause, lest anyone notice the bizarre thing I was about to do, I walked back and scooped it up in the container I'd taken my salad to work in. (This was post salad consumption, I must point out.) I thought--Why should I be horrified alone when I can freak my whole family out with this thing? My favorite response was Evie's.
(prior to actually viewing spider) "You know I loooove spiders."
(After viewing spider) "Oh, I HATE it!"

I looked it up online and expected it to have a name like Red Eyeball-eating Monster Spider from Hell. Alas, it is actually named the woodlouse spider, which gives you a clue what it eats--not eyeballs.

How disappointing.

Bath was fabulous

Ben and I had such a lovely day--perfect weather, beautiful scenery, some very nice food and great conversation. Thank you, Sam!

I'll have to put off an official post for a bit. Sheesh, I still need to make an official post about Jessica's visit. But I'm resting after 3 1/2 hrs. in the emergency room. Not just the emergency room--the children's emergency room. There were many times I just wanted to make a break for it and wait in the nice, peaceful adult waiting room. But we made it. Evie was enjoying her recent bout of health (though still technically on the antibiotics and coughing a bit) and was playing outside with Moira and some friends. Until she fell. She has a nasty looking cut on her chin that's being held together with glue and tape. She was a trooper though, and I couldn't be more proud.

In addition to all that, Ben has suddenly come down with an increasingly wicked little cold. (This does not bode well for you, Sam.) He's wiped out upstairs and about to pop some NyQuil. So I've called off work (this is becoming a habit) and I'll be nursing everyone back to health and making runs to the grocery store tomorrow. All in all, not the most auspicious beginning to Easter break.

Oh, and we've just run out of toilet paper . . . and all the stores are closed.

Tonsillitis sucks but hopefully Bath doesn't

Evie's cold turned ugly on Friday and she came home from school with a fever and even more intense coughing. We moved Moira's bed down to the living room for the time being. She at least has been getting some sleep. I took Evie to the doctor yesterday and it turns out she has tonsillitis. Thankfully she's already feeling much better due to the antibiotics. Last night she was coughing so hard she was vomiting. I don't even want to talk about what the doctor said was the reason for the coughing. If I think about it too much, I may start vomiting too.

BUT on a happier note, this Saturday we'll be heading to Bath!!! Very exciting. Sam, in a bid to forever secure his position as best uncle, is sending us away and watching the kids all day. Why is it my kids are always sick during these visits? No, no, no--I'm sure Evie won't even be showing signs of illness by then. Positive. Totally.