Current Mood : Mad scientist-y. And very tired.
Current Image Notes : Here's a 'Then and Now' Barbie head on a 'Glam' Fashionista body. I like it !
Today was even worse than I thought it'd be. Dearest Son's meeting was a mental minefield, one of our ill senior family members is no longer with us, I'm dizzy and nauseous, and despite it all, I'm happy because I got two new dolls. Goss, I am so self-centered...
Dearest's meeting wasn't good. Basically, it's pretty apparent that Teacher resents every extra minute she has to spend with him, and she's pretty much given up. I know that he's an extra challenge, but watching her weave her head back and forth on her neck like a hypnotic cobra while she defended herself against nothing - truly, all I'd said was an apology for being late (they'd moved the start time, but AGAIN forgot to tell me) - pretty much told me that Beloved Hubby's conclusion was correct. I also found out he'd been given a multitude of tests, and he's not doing well this year. I think I know part of the reason why. And why his spelling words are actually easier than the ones he had in first grade. (sigh)
I came home upset, and Beloved set up an appointment to speak with the principal, who wasn't at the meeting. And he confirmed that Teacher did, in fact, lie to us about not getting permission for the field trip. Teacher'd spoken to the principal with her concerns two days before, but she didn't know that Teacher never bothered to contact us until just before departure - and the crap about ‘no time for permission slips' was just that, crap. He also said I'd been ambushed and put on the defensive about today's meeting, where again, we were the last to be notified about changes. Principal was unaware of the details, but said she'd make sure that future decisions would include us, and in a timely fashion. First time for everything this year, I thought.
Want a laugh ? Teacher made absolutely sure we got his delayed Thursday folder today. Because tomorrow's photo day. And we don't wanna miss that ! What if we didn't have an order form ?! Horrors ! We might miss out on yet another money-making opportunity for the school, and get more blurry, hurried images that we paid for in advance and can't return. Who'd want to miss out on all that ?
So I left the meeting feeling pretty low. I'd already done the grocery run and found the ‘Glam' Fashionista Barbie, and swapped her outsized head for the one on the ‘Then and Now' Barbie I got from Target a few weeks ago. That's her, in today's image. It's funny how it's very nearly the same head, even the same makeup, but Glam's is noticeably larger. I put the unused Glam head on the belly-button body and added her to the Flea Market trade bag. I like TaN's sidelong glance and smaller head with the updated body much better, and have no use for the Glam head on the belly-button body. I also got the two Pilot dolls in the same space and selected one. I'll probably pull one more doll for the trade bag, to make it an even 20. I'd been happy with my Franken-dolly, but today wasn't quite done with turning into ash yet.
We found out this afternoon that Uncle went into a coma Monday, and slipped from it later that day. The service is tomorrow, but the burial will be in another state. I'm not even sure if I can go to the service, since shortly after lunch, Dearest's school called. He had a fever, so he may be home tomorrow. We also found out that Grandmother is off all medication now, and is pretty much stuck in bed until her time comes. This I do not understand, since we know she's been in pain for some time, so... it's not our decision to make, but I still don't understand it.
So, with all this going on, what do we do ? Since Beloved was home when the school called, we picked him up, and went to TRU. Got a copy of ‘Operation' for game night, and I snagged the toddler Tiana. You'll see her photos soon - her hair is a delight to play with. And she's very pretty. With the Tiana I bought this weekend, we got a special gift, a pretend Snow White baking set. A bit too feminine for Dearest, he wasn't interested, so I put it away for Toys for Tots' bins later.
Came home, Beloved went back to work, and I made a simple snack plate for Dearest, and put him on the sofa. Deboxed Tiana, and played for a little bit while he napped. With everything going on - death, illness, bills, education, fear, confusion, and despair - I noticed that Tiana's shoes had crowns on the toes and frogs on the soles, and her hair is wonderful. I managed to get the Glam earrings into TaN's smaller earholes, and tried to swap bodies with other dolls, but the ivory skin tone for ‘My Melody' and ‘Hello Kitty' dolls don't match any of the Fashionista's. I brushed hair, swapped clothes, found shoes, and took photos.
I played.
Then, when Beloved came home, we played more. Together. ‘Operation' now makes more obnoxious sounds beyond the buzz, the game now doesn't involve cards or play money, and Dearest is surprisingly dexterous with those tweezers. I ‘read' a coloring book to him tonight, making up voices and comments for a book with no words. Anakin is convinced that he's better looking than Obi-Wan, but Obi thinks his arms are his best feature and his lightsaber is bigger, and Yoda can still kick everyone's Jedi butt. And if you rub three battle-droids together, you might have enough intelligence to turn on a vacuum cleaner, and clone soldiers love to pose for family pictures. Or Heismann trophies.
Maybe I'm as selfish as I think I am, maybe I'm doing everything wrong. But I hope that our son knows that, no matter what his teacher thinks or what the school does, we're on his side. Always. And that life always goes on.
