Nine.

Yup, you guessed it. It's my 9th post! Can you believe it? I never thought I would last through nine whole posts as a blogger!

Hardy har har. No, that's not the nine I'm talking about....

This past week, my dear Little A turned 9. NINE! (By the way, birthday party planning was the reason for the most previous absence....just in case any of you were wondering if I had spent the past too weeks floating in a liquor filled pool of master's completeness...I wish.)

Her birthday was the standard Little A multi-day extravaganza and she seemed quite happy about everything. Mostly. I gave her the ultimate of all gifts this year...a trip to Disney. (I'd tell you to feel free to question my sanity, but most of you already know the true state of my sanity.) She was....weird. Fully expecting her head to explode upon figuring out this gift out (I included a series of clues in some small gifts), the room was silent. And she looked...confused....just generally weirded out. It was truly anti-climatic.

Last night, about 3 minutes after she went to bed, she comes into my room saying she had a nightmare. We went to Disney and got caught in a tornado (I'm guessing she means hurricane, but whatever). She's freaking out about the trip and thinks we are going to die in a hurricane. Where the hell did this come from? Weekly Reader. Remember those? Some Weekly Reader she read this year in school has firmly connected Florida with hurricanes. Great. Super. Thanks Weekly Reader, I owe you one.

So this morning...I offered her a new gift. "We don't have to go to Disney if you don't want to," I said praying I could get my money back if she really took this route. I have to tell you, these are not words that I ever thought I would have to say as a parent. We talked the whole way over to her Dad's though, and after guarantees of pretrip weather checks and contingency plans, she decided that she really did want to go to Disney and actually (finally) started to get excited about it.

I have a VERY sensitive child...have I mentioned it before?

The Blessed News

"I am pleased to report that the paper passed without further recommendations or changes."

I am finally DONE with my Master's Degree. DONE!!!!!!

Finally.

Done.

Did you get that?

FINALLY DONE!!!

A really good way to piss me off?

Suggest, or even better, INSIST that I take Little A to church after I tell you that I am not a christian. Because, yuh know, I guess I should save her from my heathen ways.

Hello? Are you listening? I DO NOT BELIEVE IT. And if I'm going to save her from anything, I'd rather save her from organized religion. But thanks for your righteous advice. It was really helpful, really. Maybe next time, we can discuss patriarchy.

So if you still need to piss me off some more? Say it again. Go ahead. I dare you.

This has happened to me more than once in the past couple of years. I cannot understand how anyone can be so wrapped up in their own beliefs that they don't even seem to comprehend not believing. Instead, they think I'm sitting around waiting for them all to save me. And to save Little A, apparently.