I've been racking up some major milage with Flip. Today, on our walk, my shoes felt weird. So, when we got home, I checked them out - and I had walked them clear to the insole! They aren't even a year old!!
Toast
New ones are on order and should be here tomorrow. So, Flip and I can continue our travels.
Wm continues to love school. He has a 100% in all his classes so far! I went to Curriculum Night yesterday and was SO impressed. His teachers are AMAZING and the school is just so good! One of their core values is service - and all the kids have to do 20 hours of volunteerism/community service this year. I found out that Wm was moved into the second part of pre-Algebra, so he starts Algebra (8/9th grade math!) next semester! Wm's favorite class is Genetics. Next semester, he will have a class called Medical Detectives instead of Genetics. I guess it's sort of an anatomy class. Genetics is not easy, though! I loved this text:
Wm has joined The Coloring Club at school. Every Wednesday, he stays after school and does calming adult coloring books while jazz plays and they have pleasant chit chat. Haha! Wm is....quite the character.
So is Steve...
Steve: What is cisgender again?
Me: You are cisgender. It's someone whose gender identity matches their sex. So...not transgender. Or genderqueer. Or whatever.
Steve: So, normal?
Don't be surprised if you see Steve at the next angry white man MAGA rally!
Wm: OH MY GOD! MOM! MOOOOM!!! THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH FLIP'S WIENER! There is something coming out of it!! It looks like it's bloody!
Me: Oh my god! Where? [Looks at dog wiener.]
Wm: Do you see it?
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!
Wm: WHAT?!??!?
Me: Wm...that is a tiny dog boner. Dogs have different penises. That's what they do. It's fine. He's fine.
Wm: [horrified] Why is it red? Why does it do that? EW.
Me: I have no idea. It's just how they roll. But he's fine. I think he's just happy to be going on a walk.
Wm's Genetics teacher brought in her chameleon and Wm got to hold it!! He was so excited!
I was disappointed it wasn't Wm colored, but he says they only change color when they are threatened. I told him he should have whispered in its ear that he was going to eat it later to try and freak it out, but he wasn't game. He is really liking all his classes. The Genetics class he is in is, apparently, an 8th grade science class, so he's a little freaked out by the workload. He has 60 vocab words to memorize by Thursday. At which time they have a quiz. That he has to get at least 90% on. The pressure's on! But, we talked about how to study and worked on study skills/time management and he's feeling good. FINALLY - some of my skills help Wm!! Curriculum Night at school is this week. I'm pumped!
We went out to dinner and for ice cream with good friends last night. Afterwards, we went back to their place. They have 3 small dogs. Wm LOVED them. He is so far over his fear of dogs, that he was like Jack Hanna with all those dogs all over him. He only wanted to play with them. When we left, he goes, "I remember those dogs being bigger. And scarier. But they were AWESOME!"
Today, I am deep cleaning this place. I sent Steve off for a carpet deep cleaner. I'm cleaning the couch with it, too. This place is going to be sparkling when I'm done!! Flip, unbeknownst to him, is also getting a deep clean. He will not be pleased.
And, lastly, for some reason, this catalog keeps arriving for Steve. I sat down and looked through it today. Best. Decision. Ever. Where else could one buy old timey licorice candies, suspenders, a braided rug, and incontinence underwear? I am now going to mold my entire life around this catalog. Steve hit the jackpot with this one:
Well, Wm lasted 1 day in The Language of Science. He took a pre-test on the first day of class (yesterday). Then, when he went to school today, they pulled him out of class and told him that he had already mastered the class material. So he has been moved up to Who's Swimming in the Gene Pool? That is, apparently, a class about cells, genetics, and evolution. They even get to do a reach project on genetic diseases.
When he texted me that he had been moved up in science and then followed it up with "who's swimming in the gene pool?" I thought he was being cocky. Like, "they moved me up - who has genius genes?!?" When he got to my office and I asked what class they moved him to, we had quite the circular conversation for a minute while we figured out what the other one was talking about.
Wm is in these classes for 8 weeks. In that time, he has to master them. Then he moves on to new classes. If he doesn't master one of the classes, he has to remediate it until he does. Mastery is scoring a 90%. I guess that means Wm will graduate with a 4.0!
Wm has his first Big Time School Schedule!! Metro does class blocks, so he will have these classes for a term and then get new classes. So, for his first term, Wm is taking:
Short Stories, Plays & Poems
Pre-Algebra
Regions and People (Eastern Hemisphere)
The Language of Science
This is not a drill, people! Wm is officially a Big Dude taking Very Serious Classes!!
Wm is becoming increasingly camera shy as he gets older and too cool for me, but Flip remains willing to be my subject. (Wm will still often let me take his picture, but he now follows that up with "don't post that online!" and I respect his privacy wishes - but Flip seems unconcerned with his internet legacy.)
Here is Flip sleeping on the couch the other night:
Then, Steve captured me sleeping next to him, shortly thereafter:
Yesterday was my department chair's annual party. Wm went to Mimi and Guy's house while Steve and I headed over (no kids allowed at the party). When I went to pick him up, he had the hiccups from laughing so hard! So, it goes without saying that he had blast!! Steve and I...did not have the hiccups. Mimi's House > Work Parties.
Our Sunday looked nothing at all like I expected it to! Steve was going to head out of town to play in his alumni soccer game and I was going to clean and have lunch with Suzanne. But, Steve woke up with an upset tummy (a frequent occurrence these days!) and decided not to go, then an hour later, Suzanne had to take a rain check since she's heading on adventures next week and needs to get ready. So, suddenly, everyone was home with a whole day empty! While I was plotting how to spend the day, our garbage disposal broke. So, Steve spent the day installing a new one. I did get to clean, as expected, and tried my hand at some make-ahead frozen dinners that I can just throw into the crock pot. I also took Flip on a super intense walk and we are both exhausted!!
Here are 2 random pictures from this weekend:
X-treme Closeup of refusal to get out of bed/gray hairs
A rare shot of all 3 animals!
Wm stays late at school tomorrow to see the eclipse. He is PUMPED. He actually wanted to drive 3 hours to see a 100% eclipse. But, I told him he has to go to school and make do with an 87% eclipse. And OSU starts classes next week, so my life is about to a whole lot crazier!
I'll end with something I thought was super funny! I was listening to my most favorite podcast, which is a feminist/body positive author I like and a comedian just talking about stuff. So, the author asked the comedian what is the one thing she'd grab if her house was on fire. She answered, "My kids. NO! My dog!" I laughed so hard. For some reason, Wm didn't think it was as funny when I told him later. ;-)
Here are 2 of the fun facts Wm shared about his first day of middle school:
1. Wm said he made his first friend when he pretended to have an English accent for a good hour. When the kid asked where Wm was from, Wm goes, "Here...I don't have an accent, I was just messing with you." Proving that he is at the right school, the other kid goes, "That's weird. I like you." And they were inseparable the rest of the day.
2. Wm said he loves how diverse Metro is. He said, "In elementary school, there were only 3 black kids in my whole grade and no Muslim kids at all. At Metro, there are as many black kids as white kids and 2 girls in my advisory wear a hijab!" Wm sees this as a major plus in his education and is really happy to be able to hang with all different people.
Drop off today was MUCH easier and Wm was just 100% excited. He is going to walk to my office after school all on his own. He is, pretty much, the biggest kid ever.
Today was Wm's first day of middle school! He was very excited on the drive in (he is now my commutin' buddy!):
Big time!
But, then, it started to rain, it was pretty chaotic when we got there, and reality set in. So did the nerves!! Wm looked terrified. He still let me take 2 pictures of him in the lobby, with the hordes.
In the lobby
The hordes
He had Panic Face, so I knew he was upset. He also asked me to stay, which he never usually does. After a few minutes, he saw some kids he knows and I figured I could peace out. But, he still insisted on giving me a hug AND a kiss before I left. That's when I knew he was at Threat Level Magenta. That kid NEVER wants public displays of affection anymore. He's too cool. I was a wreck all day.
But then, when he came running out of school, he was all smiles. He had a great day!! He made new friends, got to use his laptop during lunch, played four square (his favorite game) with his new amigos at recess (which they still get in middle school - yay!) They spent all day in "advisory" today. And will again tomorrow. Wm's advisor is really nice, he says. But, he said he is an "athlete" and made them do a bunch of exercise and outdoor activity. Wm's nightmare! But he loved the school, loved the other kids, and had a grand time!!
Tomorrow, we are doing regular day stuff. I will just drop him at the door and drive off and he will walk to my office after school. He's a big deal now!
I took a picture of Wm's Concentration Face at violin yesterday. I loved it.
Look at his little lips all pinched!
Then, I got to order Wm's school pics online and got to pick a background. Wm liked "Fancy Blue."
Also, Steve is very annoyed at The Animals. Seriously, it's those damn cats! Schroeder barfs all the time and yowls all night, Luna scratches up our stuff and gnaws on my plants! Flip, meanwhile, is an angel.
I know I said I was getting Flip out of my system yesterday, but he's the best, so suck it. You get more Flip. He snuggled super cutely with me last night:
Cuddle friend!
Then, he literally laid on top of my and flopped onto his back. He fell into a deep sleep and twitched all around. It was awesome.
And, thankfully, tomorrow is Friday!! I am READY for the weekend!
Tomorrow will be dedicated to All Things William as he heads off to middle school! We are taking him out for ice cream at Jeni's to celebrate his last day of summer this evening.
Since I will be showing off Wm tomorrow, I will show off Flip today! He has been working hard on his training!! I took a video of him doing "place." Our chair is his place. When we point to it and say "place," he is to go there, sit down, and stay there until the release words ("all done") are said. The idea is that if the doorbell rings, we can get him in place and deal with whatever is happening without a barking excited maniac running around trying to lick on and jump all over visitors. Here are Wm and Steve acting out a pizza delivery to test Flip's "place" (Wm as pizza delivery man):
Nailed it!! When an actual visitor comes in, he is still pretty excited to say hello. We are working on doing a similar thing (sit and stay) when a dog passes on a walk. We still have a long way to go on that one! Flip looooooves visiting other dogs and sniffing all the butts! But, Flip has proven to be easy to train and a real smarty pants!! He will do anything for food, basically.
On Friday evening, Steve was sitting on the floor trying to fix the sweeper. Flip decided he would gracefully jump over Steve in an attempt to get to the stairs. Only...Flip is a big dumb lug. He began his graceful jump, but apparently doesn't have good visual-spacial skills because he slammed his cement head into Steve's head. Here is the aftermath:
Flip: Totally unfazed.
Steve: Down for the count with ice
On Saturday, we went to Alum Creek. We hiked through the woods, visited the beach, and had a great time! Flip wasn't allowed on the beach and was VERY sad that he had to wait with me on the grass. Wm declared the beach "not nice."
The Not Nice Beach
The nature trails were super nice, though!! We will be back! We took Flip to the dog park there and he ran around like a maniac - he didn't full recover until Sunday evening!
I made us a traditional Sunday dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas (much to Steve's chagrin!) Here is my constant cooking helper. It does make getting to the sink difficult.
Sous chef
Then, last night, Flip reeeeeally wanted to play tug-o-war, but was also soooo sleepy. This is him half asleep, trying to play:
This is also Wm's last week of summer! In fact, his last full week was last week. He starts school on Thursday!! I'm not sure how many pictures I will be allowed to take. He's getting grumpier about posing. He's at work with Steve today, he's coming to work with me tomorrow, then has one more day at home to chill out before Thursday.
I will end with a sad story of woe. We went up to the antique stores along High St because the geniuses are always setting their stuff out front and I see it on my walks. There was a chair that I wanted. I decided I must have it. So...up we went. Wm and I were sitting out front with the chair, waiting for Steve to pay for it (bargain!) when a homeless man walked up and asked if I was Wm's grandma. YEAH. I was like, "UH, NO!" And if he thought I was going to give him any money after that, he was SORELY mistaken. I then made the mistake of telling Steve. Who was delighted. And has, ever since, taken to needling me. For instance, he asked if I had an Werther's in my purse. :-/ Luckily, one of my friends pointed out that in that man's experience, women ARE grandparents before 40. So then I felt slightly mollified.
Oh, also, fucking Nazis, man. Can I not have to explain that action to my 11 year old kid, please??? Can we not have the news filled with this horrifying business? That would be great.
Me: Do you want to get a yard sign that says, "Hate Has No Home Here"?
Steve: Not really.
I was slightly annoyed. And then I realized that if my entire reaction is sticking a sign in my yard, I'm just Scott:
Wm is growing up! He has his first zit! He thought it was a mosquito bite. But then said it didn't itch and hurt when he pressed on it. Welcome to adolescence, Wm!! I texted everyone and was like "My kid has his first zit!" and Wm was like, "stop telling people about my zit!" I told him he's a little man now and he's growing up, so I HAVE to share! I told him it is the harbinger of strange hairs and smells that will need to be dealt with. He is not happy about it. He says he wants to be Peter Pan and stay a kid forever.
The Zit
Continuing on his path to the Big Time, Wm went to his new school this morning for placement testing. He also got his school laptop and school pictures. It was cool - we could see all the pics they took and select the one we wanted! They will use that for his school ID and we can order it has his school pic, too. As we left, they said, "welcome to the Metro family!" and Wm beamed. He is soooo excited!! He already has his laptop all set up and ready to go. I thought this was super cute: he wanted to play games on it, but didn't want to break any rules, so he was up there reading the Student Handbook on the acceptable use policy for the school laptop. Games are OK!! (Hate speech and porn...not so much.)
And, just for S&G, here is Flip's latest wiener pic:
My spot was taken when I went to bed last night.
There is one creature who will be VERY sad Wm starts school next week! Flip was so excited to see Wm when I brought him home from school today. It's going to be a rough transition for him...
Wm really liked COSI camp! But, he did not enjoy the overnight. He said it was boring and he wished he hadn't stayed for it. His camp BFF left about 9pm, and then it was all downhill. But, he had a great time during the day! And we had a great weekend!
Flip had a playdate with Lily, the dog that Mimi is dog sitting. Lily is an Alpha and Flip is happily a Beta, so they got along great! They had a second playdate on Sunday, but Flip was too focused on destroying his new squeaker ball and Lily was annoyed she was being ignored (been there, Lily!)
I took an hour and a half long walk with Suzanne around Antrim, which was gorgeous! We went and got the last of Wm's school supplies, so he is ready to go! And we had a family movie night and watched Kong: Skull Island (which was NOT great cinema). Basically, we hung out, did fun stuff, took some naps, and had a blast. Oh, Flip also got his monthly bath and was NOT a fan. But, even more upset was Schroeder. Flip usually tears around like a meth-ed out maniac while he's wet. Schroeder was NOT liking that. He mostly sat, hugely puffed, growling and growling. So, everyone had an exciting time!
Steve living his best life with his faithful companion
I got Flip an orthopedic memory foam mattress for his crate because he failed his Freedom Test (Day 1: chewed up my lambskin rug, Day 2: chewed up my yoga mat, Day 3: back in crate). He actually seems more content in his crate. I think being out alone in the empty house makes him anxious...hence, the chewing. Wm decided to test out the new mat and gave it the thumbs up! But, Flip did NOT like someone else invading his den!! He whined and pawed that the crate until Wm got out. Wm actually fit quite nicely in there:
Flip = NOT AMUSED
Wm: early morning, after he said he's ugly without glasses.
Wm also said yesterday that he wishes he was Asian because Asian people are better at everything. Wm is the next Rachel Dolezal. He goes on Thursday to get his school pictures, school ID, school laptop, and placement testing. Then, he starts school next Thursday!!
Wm has found his tribe. And they are the kids who go to Circuits/Programming camp at COSI! One of his new BFF's also goes to Metro! So Wm has made yet another new friend he'll see in a couple weeks at school. AWESOME!! Metro is a really small school, so I told Wm the fact that people keep popping up from there means that he will have a lot of shared interests with his new classmates. But, Wm is having a GREAT GREAT GREAT time at camp!! He says that next year he wants to do 2 COSI camps and skip violin camp. Ha! I cannot describe how much I hate driving him to COSI, so this is not good news for me! (Today, a very scary man knocked on my car window and asked for money and I witnessed a drug deal going down. COSI is...not in a good area. The traffic to get there is also a NIGHTMARE since it's right by downtown.)
But, Wm is doing super duper cool stuff!! (So it's worth it.) On the first day, in the morning, they used Snap Circuits to learn basic circuitry; and in the afternoon, he learned how to use something called Scratch to program his own computer game!
Then, today, he spent the morning wiring a breadboard with the circuitry needed to light up a little lightbulb. In the afternoon, they wrote the computer code to make the lightbulb light up, using Morse code, with their name. Wm got a video of that he took himself at camp:
We get little letters every day about what they did and what they are going to do the next day. Here is the one from the first day:
Tomorrow they learn how to program using C/C++ - that's what my students use! Wm is crushing it!! I loved this story he told me when I picked him up today (key thing to know: "the blue group" is the littles, then comes "the green group," and, finally, the oldest kids are in the "yellow group" - Wm is in the yellow group, which is grades 6-8):
Me: So everything was cool after I dropped you off? There were people there the whole way to show you where to go?
Wm: Yep! The COSI woman goes, "are you in the blue group?" And I said, "No. I'm in the yellow group. I'm just short."
Me: Haha!! What did she say?
Wm: She just laughed awkwardly.
