Friday, September 30, 2011

Procrastination: Periadolescence and Stereo Projects

I have LOTS of grading to do:



All those piles aren't ALL grading. Some of the papers are graded papers to return, copies of handouts, and administrative papers. Those books are copies of the selections for my class book club. I am still missing two books, so I will post pics of those later. If you look closely, you can see a small, white bottle of ibuprofen at the far end of the table.

I think ibuprofen should come with a teacher discount.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

My daughter is almost 11 and 1/2 years old. Things are happening to her body. THOSE things. Along with THOSE things come the moodiness, fits of temper, and the prerequisite acquisition of knowledge superior to adults in each and every way. Might I call it periadolescence? Between HER hormones and mine, I am pretty much aggravated at her every waking moment.

I have little reminders, though, of the actual PERSON she is in the midst of all of this. I bought some mini pumpkins the other day for her to decorate. This is what we have scattered around our living room right now:

 Harry Potter pumpkin



 Traditional Jack-O-Lanterns


 I think this is a girl pumpkin.


 Angry pumpkin. Grrrrr!


Another girl pumpkin. Apparently the long bang, swept to the side is popular right now.


When I see these, strategically placed around our living room and entry way, I remember that underneath all that pre-adolescent angst and know-it-all-ness is my crafty, hands-on, creative girl.

She thought very carefully about WHERE to put each pumpkin. "Which one goes with a horse, Mom?" Here are the results of her contemplations:






Please note blue plaid curtains from Target. The folks at Wrath of Mom are quite fond of them.

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My husband has worked on a few projects around the house lately. The results of which mean I can listen to music on two different systems in the living room or one in the dining room--RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER from the living room.



System One: Please note directions. This isn't my husband being overly picky. They are necessary so that I am able to listen to music when I want and so that I do not blow up the precious amps.


 System Two: Good for listening to music and for listening to the television. Please pardon the blurry picture. It is what it is. The truly spectacular part of this system is the volume control. Done with the device pictured below:



Even more special is that it is connected to Sound System Two via this lovely cable: 


And now, System Three:

   This system features an extra fancy "Now Playing" indicator:


Extra fancy tech. That's how we roll in the LUE household.

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Well, that was truly a decent amount of time spent procrastinating. Mission accomplished!

6 comments:

Terri B. said...

I agree. We should be getting discounts through our colleges for ibuprofen. I'm beginning to think I should just add it to the morning "take a vitamin" routine.

Wow! Three systems to choose from! #notreallyjealous I need to request an instruction sheet from my lovely husband. There are too many little boxes with switches that do special things (want 24 bit sound anyone?) and it always seems that one of those switches needs flipped so I can get any sound ... which one, which one ... where is my ibuprofen ...

Ok. I will go away now and stop rambling in your comments area :o)

Wrath Of Mom said...

Yes, I have curtain envy. Also I love your dining room suite. Also on my I-love-but-in-a-totally-non-creepy-manner list are the pumpkins! I have side sweep bangs! Not b/c I'm fashion forward but because I'm in desperate need of a trim.

I am imagining you noodling with your many, many sound systems and informing guests "These go to eleven" in a English accent. It's a very nice picture

josetteplank.com said...

"Might I call it periadolescence?"
YES! That is the perfect term!

And I love the pumpkins and the thought that went into the placement.

With my own 12 1/2 year old, yes, I do forget that there is still that kid somewhere inside the 25 year old adult. ;-) I need to remember to give her the opportunities to be the little kid, still, and not react immediately to her teen personality. She won't admit she likes still being a little kid (of course) but I know she does.

Nicole said...

I love those pumpkins! Those cute little pumpkins, I have never once thought of decorating them like that. I'm going to do that - well, or have the kids do that - we might have some angry looking pumpkins!

Ibuprofin SHOULD come with a teacher's discount. I would recommend also a glass of wine, but I know you're not a wine girl, so...extra strength Motrin?

Mel said...

Go figure I adore the punkins. She done GOOD (periadolescent that she is)!
And I'm with you on the sound system/remote/howdoImakethiswork jazz. Mostly himself has to be around TO make it work or it just ain't happenin'.

*sigh* STILL.
We've had this system for a good seven years.
YES, seven.

*laughing* I suck!

atypical said...

I need to comment just because I like the word verification on this one. Nesgula sounds like such a good science fiction kind of word. Here, whenever I get used to the way the surround sound things are set up, someone changes something. Therefore, I usually only listen to music in my car. It is a sad state of affairs.