Grandma! (Part I)

What's up, Party Posse,

How's everybody?  Good?  Awesome.  As you all know, it's June, and June around here means we here at the Fortress of Houghitude can expect a visit from Grandma (and usually Papa John as well, but unfortunately he's swamped with business and couldn't swing it this summer).

Mom was supposed to fly in to the Sanford International Airport two days ago, sometime around 10:20pm.  This was already not-so-awesome for us, since Sanford's nearly an hour drive away, but seeing how her fare was dirt-cheap and we're not really waist-deep in relatives down here, we took what we could get.  Well, long story short, Mom didn't actually set foot on Floridian soil until after 11:30pm, and as a result Yours Truly was forced to take approximately twelve victory laps around the airport Departure/Arrival circuit (since they financially rape you to park there).

By the time we got back to our house, it was nearly 1am, but, being the genius that I am, I had deemed it 'a smart move' to down a Red Bull shortly before setting off to pick Mom up.  I think I fell asleep sometime around 3am, but who knows. . .

The next morning, when I awoke (much earlier than what I deemed appropriate - thanks, kids), Grandma's Summer 2012 Visit was well underway.  What of the great things about Mom coming down to visit - besides her company, of course - is that she's a great help around the house, with the kids, etc.  As you all know, we just bought a house a month ago, and we're still in the process of putting it together - having an extra set of hands at our disposal has been awesome.  Of course, we have to reel Mom in once and awhile - she has a tendency of not only serving as a live-in maid and babysitter, but also purchasing gifts, items for the house, and groceries despite our futile protests (which are always appreciated). 

That's just how Grandma rolls.

Here's some crap from the first few days of her visit.  Enjoy:

Yours Truly explores the newly-discovered Attic above the garage. . . wherein was discovered a vintage fishing rod, a camping stove, bags of Christmas decorations, and other plunderous goods. . .

The Hough gals, out on a constitutional with Grandma. . .

Why would she deem it necessary to bring a PILLOW along with her on a walk around the neighborhood, you may ask?  Because she's the Cannonball, folks.

Important phone calls.

Colors/Shapes flash cards.  (Contrary to popular belief, Teachers do NOT take summers off. . .)

Abby spies a snack. . .

"GRANT ME YOUR BACON!"

 On Monday, Alayna has Zumba, which, for those of you not in the know, is something like dance-fighting. . . I think.  Or maybe it's more like aerobics.  I actually have no idea what it is, I just know our kid loves the hell out of it.  Once Grandma rolled into town, the Cannonball was quick to show off her flashy new dance moves (and even grant Grandma admission to Zumba practice at Sunchild).

Morning dance party.

We've spent quite a lot of time in the pool over the last couple of days, if only because a tropical storm is expected to slam into us soon and we wanted to take full advantage of the sun while it was out. . .

While we had an extra hand to coral kids and haul away yard debris, I felt it was time to tear down a few of the trees we had in the backyard.  The previous owner had planted some of them so close together that they were stunting one another's growth and forcing branches to grow in unhealthy ways.  Being fruit trees, this wouldn't be good for my 'harvest,' so, brandishing my trusty handsaw and hedge-trimmer, I sprang into action. ..

Behold my wrath. . . (that lone branch still standing held a bird's nest, and I didn't have the heart to bring it down in front of the kids. . .)

. . . its days are numbered, though.

One of the things Mom wanted to do while she was down was help us paint the girls' bedroom.  Well before we moved, we decided to let the Cannonball choose what color to paint their new room - it was only fair, seeing how it's theirs.

She chose purple.

We were going to paint a darker accent wall, but then said 'screw it.'  I don't think the kids will complain.

Mom ended up doing about 90% of this by herself. . .

Photo © Cannonball

Photo © Cannonball

The Sticker Chart: A Quasi-Effective Positive Behavior Support System.  Photo © Cannonball

Photo © Cannonball

Photo © Cannonball

The Temporary Library - Adam and I still have to build/paint the outer case for it.  Then I'll get around to organizing it, either by subject or alphabetically - I haven't decided yet.  I'm still in a quandary, though - this holds about 2/3 of our collection, which is in a constant state of expansion. . . I might need to build another one of these before long.

More to come.  Stay tuned.

- Brian

Tropical Storm Gay

the title speaks for itself, guys. it really, really does.

i've never once in my life been known as a 'go-getter' or anything, but i think i've reached that point in my life now where if my occupational headquarters (i.e. school) calls and says 'hey guy, why don't you take the day off today?' my initial response is no longer a 'booya' or, perhaps, a 'cowabunga,' but, instead, a much lamer 'really? are you sure?'

yes, readers, i've gotten that lame.

on tuesday, as ol' fay began pounding southern florida with rain and wind, the higher-ups at the district level decided that our entire county would take the day off of school. at that point in time, i guess, tuesday was to be the day that we central floridians would be getting hit the hardest by fay. and so, on tuesday, my second day with students this year, i didn't have to go to work.

now, i'm a big fan of sitting on my ass and not doing anything (believe it or not), and that's pretty much what happened: i sat around the homestead and did some lesson planning, changed a few urine-soaked diapers, and spent some quality time with the wii. alas, the day off of work didn't feel justified, and was therefore not thoroughly enjoyed, because there was no Goddamn storm. the weather outside was nothing more than the occasional terrifying fury of sprinkles and slight breeze. nothing near to what had been initially predicted. it was just crappy enough outside to prevent us from doing anything entertaining. to make matters worse, i knew i'd be making this day-long prison sentence up by sacrificing one of my thanksgiving vacation days later on in the year.

not so cool.

i'm also a big fan of the 'better safe than sorry' rationale, folks, but come on: nobody realized at some point in time that this storm was nowhere near us on tuesday? seriously? don't they have satellites and other such space tools out there that give people (i.e. meteorologists, other scientists) the appropriate information needed to make such calls as 'on tuesday, we're all pretty much f***ed.'?

apparently they don't.

the next day, on wednesday, we did get hit. my school was without power for two hours in the morning, and i had to consequently keep a room full of bored teenagers content in a dark, sweaty classroom without air conditioning or fans. i couldn't teach and we couldn't go outside because of the wind and rain. horrible, horrible business.

the following day, on thursday, i had to drive through absolute hell to get to work.... that is, if hell was a place where instead of having one's flesh burnt off in fiery pits, one was instead just constantly drenched with rain. on several occasions during my commute, i was nearly killed by morons who don't know how to drive in more than a drizzle. this is somehow not surprising in florida - i'm a firm believer in the theory that all of the world's worst drivers have been relocated here.

...and, might i add, on neither of these two days - neither wednesday nor thursday - was the call made to cancel school. "well crap, fellas - we already took tuesday off, didn't we? the kids need to go to school... and, more importantly, we don't wanna look bad here."

thanks a lot, guys.

- brian