Flashback Friday and A Tiny Rant...

Currently Reading:  Finished Jean Joachim/Ben Tanner's Love Lost and Found and loved it!  Now I want to go to St. Thomas (pout!).  Recommended Read:)  Also finished Amber Skyze's Pretend With Me, and discovered when my Sony locked up, I was only 3 or 4 pages from the end!  Still, it was nice as I skimmed, refreshing my memory about the story line.  This one is also a Recommended Read:)  As soon as I recharge my Kindle, I'm going to curl up with Carol Preflatish's A Kitchen Affair, which I've been dying to read for 3 or 4 years!  (see Monday's interview...)

Print-wise:  Finished both This Calder Range and Calder Pride.  TCR I mainly skimmed, and as I said earlier, I'll probably pick this one up in ten or so years and read it cover to cover.  Just wasn't that interested in all the details.  And CP I read all the way until 3/4 of the way through, then began skimming when I realized the blatant plot.  Another one to put away for ten years.....And am now engrossed in The Perfect Father by Peg Sutherland, one of my favorite HQ authors.  I had an eye-roll moment when I realized the 'mistaken identity' part, so am interested in seeing how this plays off.  I hate it when characters don't talk to each other and base everything on assumptions....but that wouldn't keep us turning pages, would it?  But I don't like to read and yell at the characters.

Jan 1993:  
The mother of the 5 y/o I was baby-sitting was having money issues, and decided to quit paying for the day care, and so would drop him off at my house every morning at 5:30am before going to work.  Little B was still sleepy, so I'd get up, welcome him in, lay him down on the couch with a blanket, and go back to bed myself for two more hours.  Baby T didn't arrive until 7:30, and my now-toddler K was usually up by 7, so this worked well.  My spouse left for work between 7 and 8, so I'd turn on PBS kids while I fixed breakfast for the two boys.  I'd then leave them eating cereal and go get dressed while T rolled around the living room floor with his toys.  We'd then turn off the TV  and color, play games, and play with toys.

It was somewhere during this month that K took it upon himself to feed T spaghetti dinosaurs.  T was now nearly 6 months old; my lunchtime routine was this:  Get K and B settled at the table with their lunch while I changed T's diaper and put him in the high chair.  I'd then mix up T's cereal and baby food.  One day as I had my back turned, I heard B try to stop K, then heard my name being called.  I turned around just in time to see K put his spoon in T's mouth.  Knowing the pasta wasn't going to hurt him, but he could possibly choke, I sent K back to his chair, and watched T's reaction.  Sure enough; soon he spit out the pasta T-Rex and grinned at me.  Since his mom and I frequently spoke on the phone, I called her and related the event.  She got a good laugh out of it!

The afternoon routine was enjoyable.  I let the kids watch another Barney episode and at 1:30 would get everyone settled down for a nap; T in the crib; K on my bed; B on the couch.  I should also point out B was legally blind, so taking off his glasses ensured two hours of sleep, no matter how hard he protested, and it usually took 20-30 minutes before he'd settle down.  I dimmed the lights and turned on some soft classical music.  2-4pm was 'my time'.  I'd settle on the floor with a notebook and pen, with the coffee table as my desk, and worked on Keri's story or Gretchen's while everyone slept.  Then it was change diapers, feed T a bottle, and start dinner.  T would be picked up around 5:30, and his mom usually stayed around to talk some more before heading home.  My spouse was usually home at that time also, but B's mom sometimes worked until 9 or 10pm.  So B would often eat with us, and I'd give him a bath with K.  On her early nights, B's mom would sometimes eat dinner with us also.  She was a paramedic, and worked long shifts with only a bite to eat here and there, and appreciated a hot meal when she came to pick up her boy.

Next Month:  That moment when you realize your day care kids listen to you more that their own moms.

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Present Day:
I am sooooo sick of the latest 'news':  Who cares about Kim K's pregnancy?  Who really gives a shit about Lance Armstrong's confession?  And why are we speculating soooooo much on Manti Te'o?  So what if he got caught up in the hoax?  Maybe he continued the farce to save face?  Or who cares if it was all a cover up to hide his sexuality?  I. Don't. Care!  Let the guy have his privacy, for god's sake!  He needs time to deal with this, not having every news and entertainment show shoving cameras in his face.

Rant over; here's what I plan to sing at karaoke tonight:
Do That To Me One More Time-Captain and Tenille
Do Wah Diddy-Manfred Mann
Do You Know The Way To San Jose-Dionne Warwick
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me-Culture Club
Do You Want To Know A Secret-Beatles

Two more, Do Ya Think I'm Sexy by Rod Stewart and Do You Want To Touch Me by Joan Jett need more practice.  I may even save these two for when we sing at Cincy Saloon again.  The Railroad Inn is more suited to country and oldies; it's an older crowd.  Toward midnight, we can get more into the rock and roll!