Sleeeeeeeeep, not braaaaaaaaains.

I'm alive, for certain degrees of "alive." At least I haven't developed a craving for brains yet; not even with fava beans.

I am reading my f-list, and trying to comment here and there, but I am so tired by the time I can sit down in front of the computer for more than a couple of minutes that my brain can't come up with anything more intelligible than "Jade need food/water/sleep." T-ball has taken over our lives, and will continue to do so until the end of May, so expect me to be light on posting and commenting save for the weekends until then, and maybe even a little after then as I plan to do some work to the house.

On the plus side, I have been able to do some reading, more than I have in recent months at any rate, and I'm enjoying getting semi-regular trips to the bookstore. The downside of this is that I am learning I really need to get a set of bookshelves. I'm thinking I'll get two; a small one for my bedroom and then a bigger one for the living room. Also need to purchase a desktop computer at some point.

Speaking of household projects, hopefully today I can finish painting the kiddo's room, or at least mostly finish it since it'll need a second coat. Once the paint dries, I get to put up Cars border and decals. I'll post pictures of the before, during, and after.

Tomorrow I might have to drive Mom to a doctor's appointment for a routine preventative procedure, unless my cousin agrees to do it. Kiddo's t-ball game for tomorrow was canceled, but I still need to take Sasha to the groomer for a bath, and then the kiddo may or may not have speech depending on if his therapist is back from the Special Olympics event at another school. Tuesday I have his IEP meeting, and then soon he'll have testing for Kindergarten.

Monday and yesterday, the kiddo had his first couple of games. Monday, he had a hard time staying out on the field, which is understandable. It's been unusually hot for April (feels more like June), and he gets cranky when he's hot. Plus, when nothing is going on out where he is, he got bored. So we spent Monday convincing him to stay out on the field instead of sitting with us, to not much success. Yesterday, one of the assistant coaches took the kiddo under his wing and kept him focused with little reminders, and encouraged him when he went after the ball. With positive reinforcement, he can stay on task. Kiddo still played around (picking at the grass, rolling on the ground when his teammates got to a ball before him - stuff the other kids do on occasion), but he stayed out there.

When it comes to hitting, thanks to a chance for me to give him some pointers at home, he's now on par with his other teammates, if you ignore the ones who will be graduating up to machine pitching next year - really, when compared to the team they were playing against, I noticed the kiddo's team is full of the older end of the spectrum for t-ball. But the coach came over to talk to me to make a point that he was pleased with the improvement and glad I had the opportunity to work with him at home.

OK, time for breakfast for the kiddo, and for the first time in a week, he's asking for something appropriate for breakfast rather than chocolate or ice cream. :)

Jade and the Lizard

While someone was here mowing the lawn, the kiddo tried to look out of the living room windows, which involved pushing aside the curtains and the blinds. I kept trying to tell him no, but he didn't listen, and that's when I noticed something crawling on the curtains. I headed over there and sure enough a lizard had managed to find his way into the house. He was calmly hanging onto my curtains.

Lizard: "'Sup?"
Me: "What are you doing here?"
Lizard: "Oh, I'm just chillin', hangin' out. These curtains are tight."
Me: "Er, thanks, but I think you need to go back where you came from."
Lizard: "Hater." *runs down to the floor*
[A small chase ensues, wherein, after about half a minute, I manage to grab hold of him.]
Me: "Gotcha!"
Lizard: "What are you--HEY HEY WATCH THOSE FINGERS! I MIGHT NEED THAT LATER! BAD TOUCH, BAD TOUCH!"
Me: "Kiddo, come here and look at the lizard."
Kiddo: *makes his Not Sure If Want face*
Me: "Oh come one, he's not going to bite." *touches the lizard's 'chin'*
Lizard: "HEY, WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT THOSE FINGERS?"
Kiddo: "Tickle the lizard!"
Lizard: "DON'T ENCOURAGE HER!"
Me: "I won't tickle him. Come on, let's take him outside."
[Kiddo and I go out onto the porch to release the lizard.]
Kiddo: "Bye-bye, lizard!"
Lizard: "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?" *scurries away*

Then the kiddo screamed, and I saw a wasp was on the porch. I told the kiddo I'd get it and he calmed down. I grabbed the spray from the kitchen and promptly terminated the wasp with extreme prejudice. In less than ten minutes a lizard (who may or may not need therapy now) was released back into the wild, and the indoor porch was protected from stinging/potentially dangerous insects.

In other words, it's just another day as a mother.

Proud Moments in Geek Parenting

So, I've been able to get the kiddo into Star Wars. We've only watched Episode IV thus far (what? There's no such thing as Episodes I-III!), and he has requested to watch it again the last couple of nights. Well, really he only likes to watch the last part where the Rebel Alliance launches its final attack against the Death Star. Last night, he came over to me, pointed at the screen when they showed the Death Star and said, "Moon, moon!"

I, unable to resist my nerd impulses, immediately replied, "No, kid, that's no moon. It's a space station."

He repeated me and said "Space station." I patted his head and told him he was right.

Of course nothing compares to watching him act out Darth Vadar and Obiwon Kenobi's lightsaber battle. The geek is strong with this one.

(Now to get him to watch Episode V. I just hope he won't start talking like Yoda and confuse his speech therapist.)