Boys are gross

As I write this, the male members of this family are involved in an in depth conversation about their different bathroom techniques. Folding toilet paper, positioning, etc. This "poop conversation," as they have deemed it, has been going on for at least 10 minutes.

Fortunately, they waited until we had actually finished consuming our food before diving into the food's eventual condition. I had to leave.

They sit there at the dinner table, the boys enraptured, worrying only that their father (or mother) might sometime put an end to the discussion.

Oh wait, now the conversation has moved on to "bear poo" and the latest episode of Man vs. Wild.

I am surrounded by boys and men and boys wanting to be men and men wanting to be boys.

No wonder I get such severe PMS. It's my female hormones trying to assert themselves in this testosterone filled world.

When he's not memorizing Pi,

this is how Wolfgang spends his time...

Spring Training

At our house, this is how we know that spring is coming:



Note the handles reinforced with black electrical tape to make the bats stronger and more light saber-like.

Sign me up!

The following message arrived in my inbox this week:

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone is interested in pigs again this year. I need to reserve them now. Hope you all liked how the pork turned out!

The beef isn't bad either! I contacted Tim Rodriguez, the guy we bought beef from last year, and he says there are cows available this year for slaughter in Nov, so let me know if you are interested.

Steve

I am now into it for another 1/2 pig



and 1/8 of a cow.

Blasphemy

I can multitask with the best of them. I can make dinner while helping with homework while cleaning the kitchen while taking phone calls from work while updating my facebook status while making the next day's lunches.

I'm good, very good, but I know when I'm beaten.

Flipping through the channels last night before falling asleep, I came across the most impressive multitasker I've ever seen.



Celeste Zepponi sang her songs to Jesus while, at the very same time, painting wispy angels on canvas. Thank you EWTN for sharing.

If only I had a youtube video to show you what a real multitasker looks like. But alas, you'll have to take my word for it: I've been outclassed by the religious right.

Perhaps I need some divine intervention.

Alert: potential downer

Don't take this the wrong way. I'm not slipping into another spiral of despair. The sun is higher in the sky, the days are longer, and, perhaps most importantly, I'm back at the gym. The outlook is generally good and I'm doing just fine.

Then again, the email I just sent to a friend begs the question - exactly what the hell is fine? This is what poured out of me:

Sometimes I feel like this is what it's going to be like for the rest of my life - just more and more death. It's like somewhere a valve was opened and it won't ever shut off.

It feels like now that I've tasted the grief of death, it's to be a regular part of my diet.

Where does it all come from and why now?

As I ask the question, I know the answer. In part it comes from working in a newsroom - I find out about death, the manner of death and the pain of death. I guess it also comes from just working at all - interacting and developing relationships with a diverse group of people. And, then, of course, there's the fact of my own loss, which just makes me more sensitive to loss in general.

There. Analysis by Carolyn.

I'm sure that this must be an official grief stage, so that's progress, isn't it?