I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

No, I didn't die.

Nor did I fall off the face of the planet.

Please accept my most humblest apologies for my long absence. My life has been  . . . . busy. Hectic. Chaotic. Insane, even.

Like this lady, except she apparently still had time to put on makeup.

I'm attempting to finish the last semester of my undergraduate degree (!) and even though my summer courseload is waaaaaaaaaaay lighter than previous semesters, it's a different kind of challenge to take classes in the summer. The dudes are out of school, which means that it's usually a struggle to make time for schoolwork. It would be a lot easier if I would give in to their constant demands to play video games or watch TV. But I'm mean. I'm the meanest, most unfair, most horrible mom ever, and I'm pretty strict about how much "screen time" they get. I'd much rather they do something active that requires movement, or something that requires imagination and creativity, than stare slack-jawed at the television. I hate TV. Did you know that your brain is more active when you sleep than when you watch TV?

Oh wait! Here I am atop my soapbox! How did I get here? Excuse me as I climb down.

So, yeah. I refuse to make things easier on myself by letting them occupy themselves with electronics so that I can do schoolwork. Maybe I should. Without TV and video games to occupy them, they are constantly - constantly - telling me that they're bored.

Because 89 billion legos are boring.

So are 542 thousand crayons, markers, colored pencils, stamps, stickers, and papers.

And hundreds upon hundreds of books.

And it's too hot outside.

Ok, I'll give them that last one. It's crazy hot here. Last time I checked the temperature it was 90 degrees at 10 pm. Hot.

Hot.

Despite my joking, I do realize that only about half of their complaints and cries of boredom are due to actual boredom, and the other half stem from their desire to spend time with me. Or maybe it's 60% boredom, 40% me? Maybe 70/30? Who knows? At least some part of the issues is that they want to play and chat and interact with their mom. And I want to hang out with them. They're super cool dudes.

So, most of the time that's what I do. I hang out with my dudes instead of doing homework. Sometimes we draw and color and make signs for Dad.

Like this.

Sometimes we bake bread together.

They disappear, though, when it's time to clean up.

We also read together, play Uno, chat about Greek mythology, tell knock-knock jokes, practice multiplication, and, as often as possible, we go to the pool. We are having an AWESOMETASTIC summer.

Except for the homework thing.

Not so much with the homework. Because aside from all the fun with the dudes, the past month(ish) has also included:

• Babe's lovely knee issues. Issues that mean walking is excruciatingly painful. He's getting better now with PT, but he was stuck on his butt for many many days. And somehow, even though I was a single mom for many years and used to do all this stuff by myself, this time, with him out of commission, everything sucks. A lot. But it's getting better.
• I had to have a tooth pulled. One of the very very back ones on the bottom. That means it was especially difficult to extract. Lots and lots o' yanking and pulling and pain and misery. And then a big hole. And a sore jaw and lots o' pain and crankiness.
• Babe's nephew came to stay with us for a few days. Which wasn't a hardship at all because K is pretty fantastic and fun and he was a huge HUGE help to me. But, y'know, having houseguests throws ya off your game a little bit.
• It's hot. So hot. I know, I sound like a whiny baby. But it's really really really hot. And humid. The kind of hot you can see. The kind of humid that makes walking to the mailbox feel like swimming. The kind of hot that means there is no point in running the AC during the day because it will still be 80 degrees inside my house. The kind of humid that means my hair has puffed out to about 4 times its normal size. The kind of hot that suckes the energy out of you and makes you want to just sit by a fan in your underwear and eat a popsicle. HOT.

Pictured: HOT.

And, for some reason, in the midst of all this, I decided it was an opportune time to quit smoking. Which, yes, is awesome and spectacular and healthy and saves us tons of money and yadda yadda yadda. But still, looking back on that decision, I have to question my timing.

So, now, at 2 am Monday morning, I have 5 (!) days left of this semester. 5 (!) days left of my undergraduate degree.

A degree that I began in 1996. A diploma that has been 14 years in the making. And all that stands between me and that long-awaited degree is . . . .

Four papers.

Not four pages.

Four papers.

Because I'm awesome.

So maybe I should stop writing THIS, and start writing THOSE.

Yeah. Good idea.

Love,