New Year's Eve
We watched "The Great Muppet Caper" for our last movie of 2012. This is what Skipper had to say about it.
Ten minutes in: "Why are these talking animals?"
Twenty minutes in: "That's a pig! And that's a frog."
Thirty minutes in (describing Miss Piggy in a swimsuit): "Oh! She's so beautiful!"
One hour in: "What are these Nuggets doing?"
We've had a marvelously slothful holiday, full of food, sparkling cider, movies, puzzles, books, piano, foam-sword fights, whoopee cushion pranks, wasting time on the tablet,* and elaborate games with baby dolls. Various friends of ours who also stayed home for the holidays have spent their vacation doing splendid outdoorsy-Oregonian stuff like cross-country skiing or hiking in the Gorge. Not for us! No. Skipper says she's never leaving the house again.
Tomorrow school and preschool and a normal work schedule for Cook start back up again. I have a brief contract job, volunteering at Duchess's school, and another networking-type volunteer gig, plus, of course, TRYING TO GET A JOB. I'm not sure what my new "normal" is going to feel like, but I'm guessing it won't involve so much whoopee cushion exposure.
Anyway, I was going to reflect thoughtfully on our family's 2012, but I'm too slothful. Here's a rudimentary reflection, in list form (Duchess provided her own achievements list):
1) Skipper learned the alphabet and began putting together some basic reading skills.
2) Skipper had her first ever playdate of her very own.
3) Duchess broke her first board in kung fu.
4) Duchess advanced to the much-anticipated "Park Shark" level in Parks & Rec swimming.
5) Skipper's baby dolls now have advanced to a complicated social hierarchy, not unlike middle school. Currently, Elfy is being mean to Clara (Her name in the game is Clara, but her REAL name is BabyBaby), and Gigi is being mean to both of them. Bullying is a real problem.
6) We upgraded to a better (used, crappy) digital piano, and Duchess achieved the great heights of playing Jingle Bells on it this Christmas.
7) We removed a whole bunch of rosebushes and hydrangeas.
8) Cook painted a little bit of the house.
9) I had my first panic attack.
10) I quit my job (and gained my FREEDOM!).
11) Skipper started at a new preschool, yet again.
12) We didn't move to a new home. Seriously, not once. That was great.
13) We established college funds for the girls (both accounts currently contain less than $300, but at least it's not zero...), and continued the brainwashing program to convince the girls to become engineers.**
14) Other stuff. I can't remember. It wasn't our best year ever, but it worked out fine. I have high hopes for 2013.
*Guys. There's a Sims app. AND IT'S FREE. My time-wasting options are now LIMITLESS.
** I got Duchess a programming book (not as boring as it sounds, I swear) for Christmas, and signed her up for a lego robotics class in February. I checked out "What is a Mechanical Engineer?" from the library and later had the pleasure of listening to Duchess read it to Skipper. Skipper declared her intention to become a "plug engineer."
Ten minutes in: "Why are these talking animals?"
Twenty minutes in: "That's a pig! And that's a frog."
Thirty minutes in (describing Miss Piggy in a swimsuit): "Oh! She's so beautiful!"
One hour in: "What are these Nuggets doing?"
We've had a marvelously slothful holiday, full of food, sparkling cider, movies, puzzles, books, piano, foam-sword fights, whoopee cushion pranks, wasting time on the tablet,* and elaborate games with baby dolls. Various friends of ours who also stayed home for the holidays have spent their vacation doing splendid outdoorsy-Oregonian stuff like cross-country skiing or hiking in the Gorge. Not for us! No. Skipper says she's never leaving the house again.
Tomorrow school and preschool and a normal work schedule for Cook start back up again. I have a brief contract job, volunteering at Duchess's school, and another networking-type volunteer gig, plus, of course, TRYING TO GET A JOB. I'm not sure what my new "normal" is going to feel like, but I'm guessing it won't involve so much whoopee cushion exposure.
Anyway, I was going to reflect thoughtfully on our family's 2012, but I'm too slothful. Here's a rudimentary reflection, in list form (Duchess provided her own achievements list):
1) Skipper learned the alphabet and began putting together some basic reading skills.
2) Skipper had her first ever playdate of her very own.
3) Duchess broke her first board in kung fu.
4) Duchess advanced to the much-anticipated "Park Shark" level in Parks & Rec swimming.
5) Skipper's baby dolls now have advanced to a complicated social hierarchy, not unlike middle school. Currently, Elfy is being mean to Clara (Her name in the game is Clara, but her REAL name is BabyBaby), and Gigi is being mean to both of them. Bullying is a real problem.
6) We upgraded to a better (used, crappy) digital piano, and Duchess achieved the great heights of playing Jingle Bells on it this Christmas.
7) We removed a whole bunch of rosebushes and hydrangeas.
8) Cook painted a little bit of the house.
9) I had my first panic attack.
10) I quit my job (and gained my FREEDOM!).
11) Skipper started at a new preschool, yet again.
12) We didn't move to a new home. Seriously, not once. That was great.
13) We established college funds for the girls (both accounts currently contain less than $300, but at least it's not zero...), and continued the brainwashing program to convince the girls to become engineers.**
14) Other stuff. I can't remember. It wasn't our best year ever, but it worked out fine. I have high hopes for 2013.
*Guys. There's a Sims app. AND IT'S FREE. My time-wasting options are now LIMITLESS.
** I got Duchess a programming book (not as boring as it sounds, I swear) for Christmas, and signed her up for a lego robotics class in February. I checked out "What is a Mechanical Engineer?" from the library and later had the pleasure of listening to Duchess read it to Skipper. Skipper declared her intention to become a "plug engineer."
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