i know I haven’t written in a while (mostly because the website has annoyed me), but I am so proud of Wm today, I am motivated! There are no pictures, however, because the stupid app won’t upload them.

Flip had major surgery yesterday. He had a luxating patella and torn ligament. It cost more than a year of tuition at Ohio State and he had to stay the night at the dog hospital. I took the day off work to settle him back in today. I didn’t realize what bad shape he’d be in and was nervous to leave him to go pick up Wm. A friend offered to drive him home, so I madly texted Wm to walk to her office and then hitch a ride with her. I was nervous he’d be a pill about it, but he handled it like a pro and I got a text later telling me I have a great kid! Then, he came home and spent the whole afternoon helping me with Flip. And, when Suzanne brought over a soft cone for Flip to borrow, Wm went out and met her and got it so Flip wouldn’t freak out hearing a knock or visitor. Wm is really turning into such a sweet and caring young man, I couldn’t be prouder of him!

Flip is sleeping on my lap, drugged out of his mind. He is taking 12 pills a day, including 2 different sedatives. He is out of commission for 8 weeks. Hopefully to be a new dog after he heals. He was in a lot of pain, so we are hoping he will feel reborn!

And, just cause I’m here, we got a new car! Steve traded in his Subaru for an AWD Prius. It’s sweeeeet. Especially because Steve, despite agreeing it was the best car we test drove, doesn’t want to drive it (he says it’s a “lady car” – which would normally annoy me, but works to my advantage, so I support it). So, he’s in the Corolla and I am tooling around in my bright red Prius (that I have named Cherry Bomb). I got 70 mpg on the way to work yesterday!!

In closing, Wm got an A on his first Trigonometry test and I haven’t even asked him one time this school year to do his homework. Kid is basically the best ever. Crazily, his voice is also changing and he’s nearly as tall as I am. He sometimes sounds like a grown up. Wowza. And has developed a new interest in anime. Could he BE any nerdier??? Best. Nerd. Ever.

Steve: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Wm: That’s not true.
Steve: Name one thing that doesn’t.
Wm: [without missing a beat] Osteoporosis.
Steve: Damn.

As happens, when you cram a bunch of disgusting teens into a small space, germs proliferate. Wm came home with back-to-school germs and was all sickly. Then, he gave them to me. He and I went down for the count, so there are no pictures from this week. It’s a busy time at work, but I still took a couple sick days. Then, I dragged myself in, feeling like crap, on Friday and a coworker visible recoiled from the sight of me and said I “looked clammy.” I took NyQuil on Saturday and slept for a zillion hours. Then, Wm and I were both feeling pretty much better by Sunday afternoon (when I finally got out of bed). Just a lingering throat tickle.

Steve ate after Wm (I call him the Goat because he eats all the table scraps) when he was sick and kissed me and claimed he had a “superior immune system.” Then, I was chatting away with him on Saturday morning, as he was packing to go out of town, and I stopped and said, “you look weird – what’s wrong with you?” and he goes, “I think I’m getting sick.” He went to NEO anyway, a kind of travelling Typhoid Mary, and came home not a whole lot worse. So, we thought maybe he’d just had a mild version. Not so. He spent Sunday evening and all day Monday moping around, germs in full force. His “superior immune system” turned out to be a slower immune system – because it just took him longer to get it! He went to work today, but he still didn’t look good.

I’m bummed because Wm hasn’t been really sick in a year and I haven’t been really sick in MULTIPLE years. So, our streaks have ended.

Even though it ruined our long weekend, I’m glad we got it when we did – because next weekend is me and Steve’s 20th anniversary! It is crazy that we’ve been married for 20 years!! We have a very fancy evening planned – including dinner at The Refectory. PUMPED.

Since we didn’t really do anything and I didn’t take any pictures, here is a video from last night of Flip eating a banana. Flip hates bananas. Every time I try to feed him one, he literally  spits it back at me. I told Wm about it and he wanted to see Flip spit a banana. And, Flip decided to make me look bad…

EDITED TO ADD:
I forgot I have 2 videos I uploaded to YouTube! First, is Flip being so cute and waking up on Saturday morning. You can hear my sick laugh/cough at the end.

The next one is also Saturday morning (and why I think Flip is waking up!). It’s an audio, so ignore the picture and turn your volume up. This is what I sleep next to…

Wm really likes his classes! He has a friend in almost all his classes, except Trig. And, even in there, they had a new 8th grade student start who is also in Trig, so he’s not completely alone. On the first day he had to walk to the high school, the Dean of Students at the middle school walked him over to make sure he could find the classroom (it’s not a far walk, the middle and high schools are attached by a lobby!) But, I thought that was nice. Wm is very sad that they have strangled the iPads so that they can’t play any games. Instead, he and his friends try and see who can take the weirdest pictures. Here are some samples of Wm’s:

One thing he loves about Trig is that the high school is much more relaxed. He was like, “If they see your phone in middle school, they take it! But, at the high school, they don’t care! Every lunch is a tech lunch!” So, he’s suddenly very much looking forward to high school!

We had a crazy busy weekend. I wouldn’t enumerate all the activities, but Wm did a great job mowing the lawn and at the Humane Society! Poor Flip has an ear infection, so he needs his ear cleaned out and then antibiotic drops for 10 days. He’s not a fan, but he is letting us do it begrudgingly!

And I went to see a drag show with some friends, which was really fun! Wm was unimpressed.

Me: I’m leaving. You and Pop are on your own for dinner.
Wm: Where are you going?
Me: A drag show.
Wm: OK. Bye.

The main performer was very cool!

Wm’s class schedule is in! They have spent the last 3 days doing various “sessions” instead of normal class schedule. Wm was delighted that yesterday entailed being assigned his advisor (same awesome guy as last year!) and finding out one of his besties got reassigned into his advisory. They then spent the day doing ice breakers and activities in advisory – and his advisor brought snacks, so Wm was thrilled. But, today, actual classes start! And, here is what Wm will be taking this semester:

Modern Classics (English)
Alchemy in Action (Chemistry lite)
American History: 1492-1786
Prototyping and Problem Solving (I’m thinking computer modeling?)
Visual Arts
Trigonometry

Wm has now advanced out of the Math that any other middle schoolers are taking, so he has to go over to the high school to take Trig. He isn’t sure how their timing works, where the class is, and knows nothing about the teacher, so he’s a little bit nervous! He’s also very tiny and will definitely be the smallest dude in the class. He had an older kid in his Geometry class last year who is now in high school and they were friends, so I’m hoping he lands in Wm’s Trig class, too! I told him that he will be at a big advantage next year; he’ll know his way around the high school, know how things work, who some of the students/teachers are, and what to expect. So, that made him feel a bit better!

I am very anxious to hear Wm’s report of how his first day of classes went!!

Today was Wm’s first day of 8th grade! He actually got up and got things accomplished without too much trouble. I have been waking him up earlier the past few days in preparation, but today was his first 6am wake up call! He doesn’t have his schedule yet since they do advisory the first few days of the term. Hopefully he will get it today or tomorrow. They are also switching to iPads instead of laptops, so hopefully his backpack isn’t so insanely heavy! He did let me take one before school picture at home – and I had to sneak one from the car at drop off.

Wm had outgrown all his pants over the summer, so we had to do an emergency trip school clothes shopping with Mimi. And Wm is fully dudded out in pants that fit today! I’m sure we’ll have to buy new ones halfway through the year, but, for now, he’s nailing it.

Friday was also Flip’s 3rd birthday. He celebrated by going on long walk and then sitting and starting at me sleepily from the couch.

Wm wanted to see what Flip would do if he pretended to die. Wm is no Meryl Streep.

Wm also forced me to do cat care at the Humane Society this weekend. I told him on the way home, I don’t think I can ever do that again. It was AWFUL. First of all, have you ever tried to just pet a cat for 2 hours? Literally just sit there with nothing else do and pet a cat FOR TWO HOURS??? It was the longest 2 hours of my life. PLUS – the improbably named “Sugar” hissed, bit, and scratched another volunteer who was trying to help us get her back into her enclosure. Luckily, she didn’t break the skin, but she was purring one minute and a demon of hate the next. I got a hold a tiny kitten and that was the only thing I liked. Wm, the SUPER WEIRDO, loved this cat named Butterscotch who was literally insane. Butterscotch was so evil that we could not even open the door to her enclosure. Wm just played with a dangle toy behind bars. For some reason, Wm was delighted with Butterscotch. I told him Butterscotch would cut a bitch and he goes, “I like her, she’s funny.” WHUT. I forced him to let me go pet the puppies before we went home. Then, on the way, I told him if he wants to do cats again, he’s going to have to talk Steve into doing the training and taking him because I am not doing that again!

Lastly, here is Flip being very cute and having a tantrum because he wants a belly rub:

Wm is officially all registered for 8th grade. Yesterday was a mess. I dropped him at school to do his MAPS test. He called me and said I had to come check him in. So I went back and fought my way in to discover that this was incorrect and I didn’t need to be there. Then, when he was done, I had to go in and register him for school (forms, fees, and school pictures). The planning that must have gone into the registration process was likely done by the same person who organizes riots. It was chaos. Luckily, I had done e-registration and paid the fee online, so after waiting in line for pictures for a half hour to be told it was the wrong line and there was a longer line for the actual pictures, Wm and I were like, “screw it.” And left. He can do picture retake day! Which is good, anyway, since the poor dude is all broken out and I would have had to pay for the retouching.

I did also find out that Wm has more than enough high school “points” in Math to graduate already! He only needs 4, Wm has 9! This point system has replaced the proficiency tests I remember. Of course, it’s even more confusing. But, Wm scored off the charts on the Algebra I and Geometry tests, so he doesn’t even need to worry about anything else and didn’t even have to take an Algebra II test. Next up for Wm: Trig.

Much to Wm’s dismay, we had friends over for a cookout on Sunday. But, he was delighted that dessert was an Oreo taste test. Now that they have all those new flavors, everyone was tasked with bringing their favorite and then we had an Oreo-off. The contenders were: pistachio, lemon, marshmallow, carrot cake, and dark chocolate. Steve and I liked lemon, Wm liked marshmallow. Everyone else liked pistachio, which was my least favorite.

And, last, some pics.

Wm is returned!! He had a great trip! But, he says he is also looking forward to sleeping in his own bed tonight. BIG thanks to Mimi for taking him on such an adventure!! Wm did some virtual reality thing that he has talked about non-stop and said was “the most thrilled experience of his life.” Here are a list of Wm’s adventures: visited The Bean, went to Shedd Aquarium, went to the planetarium, went to the science museum (where he had his amazing VR experience), toured a submarine, and was a great flier! He and Mimi sent me some pictures, so here is Wm’s trip via the pictures I got:

Wm ate a metric ton of pizza in Chicago. And, I know you’re thinking, “of course he did, Chicago is famous for this pizza..who wouldn’t?” But, no, Wm liked California Pizza Kitchen. Which he could eat here – or anywhere. I told him he broke my heart. He texted me as soon as they landed back in Columbus and wanted to go to lunch at a favorite place. Their plane was a little late and it’s a breakfast/lunch only place, so we sprinted to the restaurant and made it! Wm devoured his lunch!

He chattered the whole lunch about all the fun things he did. Then, we came home and he willingly went on a walk to chatter some more. We took him out for ice cream after dinner to celebrate his homecoming and goes, “I have gotten so much ice cream!” Tricky little dude.

Wm is currently in the shower, hopefully washing all the travel germs off him. I have a feeling he’s going to sleep REALLY well tonight!

And, lastly, it wouldn’t be a proper blog post until I showed you Flip in the new pajamas I bought him for wintertime. I think he gets chilly at night. Steve said I’m nuts. But, how cute is he?! Worth it.

 

Wm leaves tomorrow morning for his trip to Chicago with Mimi! He’s super excited!! He’s going to be hard to drag out of bed for his flight tomorrow morning. He has promised to eat food and sleep normal hours. Fingers crossed!

Wm even agreed to go to IKEA yesterday. Which was surprising. He seems to genuinely enjoy going. But, when we get close to the end, he usually runs out of steam. I asked if he only wanted to go so he could make bad Swedish puns (favorite pastime) and he goes, “no, I like IKEA.” So I asked if he would forgo the bad puns then and he replied, “Oh, there WILL be puns.” And there were. So many puns.

Flip also go to go swimming TWICE this weekend. Once, he got to initiate Charlie into water fun. Well, really, Flip mostly ignored Charlie while he swam for his ball and tried to avoid an over-eager golden doodle who kept trying to steal it. I took him back the next day, hoping he’d have the beach to himself, but there was a German Shepherd ball thief! Poor Flip was very upset at this turn of events. Luckily, he left soon after we arrived and Flip could swim with his ball to his heart’s content!

While I took Flip swimming, Steve made great progress on the continued baseboard touch up, post-flooring! The stairs are now complete! All that remains is a bit of touch up around the rooms here and there which we can put off for a bit to have a rest. Steve is also very tired to because a guy at work unexpectedly quit. Steve is having to cover for him as well as interview for his replacement. So, needless to say, Steve is exhausted and grumpy!

Wm and Flip were snuggling so cutely yesterday morning, I had to get pictures. They are the cutest.

Wm, out of nowhere, said to me the other day, “I really like your art. It makes the house beautiful.” That kid knows how to deliver a compliment! We did a family painting the other day, which was fun! There was lots of laughter. Basically, each person got 3 minutes to paint whatever they wanted on a common picture, then, we’d rotate. And we kept rotating for 30 minutes, until the picture was deemed complete and hung in the den.  Wm set everything on fire…

4 Things I had to explain to Wm this week:

1. What a dark room is and how pictures used to be developed.
2. How dial up internet worked and the weird sounds it made.
3. Moviefone. And how one had to look up movie times before the internet.
4. Pre-google disagreements. If you disagreed with someone about the meaning of a word or who was in what movie, the discussion would just have to end with both people being sure they were right – with no way to verify this. Not like now when someone immediately is like, “Siri, was Brad Pitt in Training Day?” and gets verification of right/wrong.

 

These conversations took place on our barely 30 minute walk yesterday. It wasn’t THAT hot, but I thought someone was going to die.

And, also, how cute are they??