Third Culture Kid(s)

BP: good.

Diss: well, I did some helpful reading yesterday while M. was keeping an eye on MM, so that’s something. I keep kind of hoping that the piece of crap I will inevitably send to the diss group on Friday will get me booted, although M. pointed out that it will probably read more like a cry for help.

My Dad is here today being very generous with both his time and energy; we have a biggish yard here at our rental place, and the trees finally gave up enough leaves that it made sense to take care of them (the big oak in the backyard still has about half its leaves, but if we wait for them to fall it’ll be February before we get to the yardwork). Since M. is definitely not a yardsman by any stretch of the imagination (his tales of childhood lawnmowing notwithstanding), and since I’m pretty much down for the count, physically, my Dad agreed to come over and do the leaves and mow the grass. It’s looking so much better out there now.

He also replaced the air filter, fixed the gas exhaust so that we don’t all die in our sleep (we do, for the record, have carbon monoxide detectors…I like cooking with gas, but otherwise I hate the stuff), and got down the bassinet, infant carseat, and bouncy seat from the attic. Since mice had apparently taken up residence in the two seats, I’m running them through the wash. The carseat instructions said “hand wash,” so I put it in the delicate cycle. I’m sorry, but I don’t trust my own hand washing, you know?

I also managed to track down my hand pump (which, frankly, always worked better than the expensive-to-rent electric one, and really wasn’t that big of a pain in the ass - the electric one was much more of a bother) and I need to get out the little bottles, just in case we have latching issues.

Meanwhile, 2.0 is trying to find a way out through the upper part of my abdomen. I’m not quite sure how to communicate the idea that it ain’t gonna happen.

AND, lest I forget, my Dad also brought over our Christmas present!!  Yes, we’re now the proud owners of our very own HDTV.  It’s wonderful (or, as MM put it, “It’s the most yeutiful TV ever!”).