FizzyLizzy

#1
Earlier this week I made my first foray into Costco since my rant against them in January in order to purchase snacks for William's basketball team. While there I noticed they had girls' swimsuits for $11.49. So I returned with the kids today to buy one for Katherine to ruin in Costa Rica. I put it on the conveyor belt at the register and placed one of those plastic bars in between that and the lady-in-front-of-me's baby wipes. Like a deer in the headlights I watched as the cashier removed the plastic bar and scanned my swimsuit with the lady's baby wipes. And voila, already it was too late to take it off her order. Aparently it is some huge hassle--and this lady was in a hurry--to remedy this situation. So I paid the lady cash for the swimsuit. (Of course I only realized later that if I need to exchange it I'm in trouble.) After I did that, the cashier asked for my membership card and started to scan the swimsuit. Dude! Are you totally out of it? And of course no apology from him, giving me a look the whole time like it's my fault. On our way out of the store I found out why the lady was in such a hurry. She had parked her Mercedes SUV in the fire lane.

#2
Some dude honked at me on the freeway. I didn't think he was honking at me so I didn't look, but Katherine said he shook his finger at me in a tsktsk sort of way. Since there was no possible traffic infraction, I can only surmise that maybe he thought my kids should have been in school. I really have no idea.

#3
While attempting to signal to a driver that he was going the wrong way on a one-way around Southdale Mall, he gave me the finger. Nice.

So that's three. I'm off the hook, right? Hopefully the only strange behavior I will further encounter will be at our friend Dan's 40th (or 10th) birthday party tonight.

When I saw that headline on the NY Times website, I thought to myself..."Wow, they're ending tuition for low-income students? That seems to be going against the tide." I misinterpreted this ambiguous headline to mean that Brown was cutting back on its financial aid. While instead it means that Brown is ending the requirement that low-income students pay tuition (or I should say students from low-income families, because I would warrant a guess that most college students are low-income).

The Valentine's Day I will most remember until the day I die is the one when Katherine came home from second grade with a one-pound, heart-shaped box of chocolates. A boy, misguided by his custodial grandmother, had brought in this gift for Katherine-- as well as similar ones for the teacher and the principal. (I'm sure the grandmother meant well--she just wanted to make her grandson happy and make sure he was well-liked.) Poor Katherine had no idea what to think. Of course I was a little alarmed and went to see the teacher the next day. Well, everything ended up fine and the boy had moved on to another crush by the end of the year. I suppose it'll be some lucky girl when the boy moves onto little blue boxes from Tiffany's.

That's the the web page I visited at the Norwegian National Archives. One might expect some of these questions:

What kind of genealogical information is available on the internet?
Can you get me a death certificate for my grandmother?
What kind of information can I find out about Norwegian immigrants?
How can I find my biological father?

Then there was this one:

My neighbour has blocked the road to my cabin and denies me any further use of it. Is there anything in writing about the right of way to vacation homes?

That's a frequently asked question? And I thought the Norwegians were supposed to be such a nice people.

I didn't like seeing the other team lose so badly. But this week's girls' basketball game was a welcome respite to the previous five, after which I was an emotional wreck--three of them because Katherine's team was overpowered by skill, aggression, or both and two because they were close games. Katherine has managed to get eight or so baskets so far this season, a nice improvement to the zilch she made last year. Her skills are pretty on par with many of her teammates and it's fun for me to see her become one of the "go to" players. She's an aggressive (but not physical) defender and managed to get herself fouled out of the game today.

And on the other hand there's William. Someone whose passion for sports may not be enough to overcome his lack of skill. Love you little dude!

or vote! If you care about the choice of candidates you will have in November, then I urge you to participate in your caucus or primary today. In Minnesota only about 2 percent of eligible voters participate in caucuses. That means that that 2 percent decides who they and the other 98 percent get to vote for. If you have a caucus or primary today and you don't know how to proceed, google "League of Women Voters" and the name of your state. They are non-partisan and usually have pretty good information about where you can vote or caucus.

That being said, the caucus system in Minnesota stinks. On a number of different levels. Not the least of which is that it is nearly impossible for centrists (and by that I mean people who don't necessarily vote down party lines) to be adequately represented. Another reason--and I'm going to try to say this in the kindest way possible--is that many people who are very involved in politics are nut jobs. That can make it very annoying for someone like me, who just wants to participate in the democratic process.

So with that ringing endorsement... If you favor a candidate, please vote. If you live in MN and only care about the presidential candidates you can go to your caucus, take the presidential preference poll, and leave. Pretty simple.

In June, the fifth grade is going on a three-day field trip to a conservation center in Northern Minnesota. The permission slip came home this week and along with it the opportunity to go along as a chaperone. I asked Katherine if she wanted me to go on the field trip, fully expecting a "Yes." You know where this is leading. She said, "No." I asked if she thought I would embarrass her and she said no. I asked if she thought I would negatively impact her socializing and she said yes. When I explained that the reason I wanted to go was to connect with other fifth-grade parents and that I wasn't going to hang out with her, she acquiesced. But I'm thinking that her initial response of "No" is the very reason why I should go. Lord only knows what her visions of "socializing" are, and they'd better not involve any fifth-graders with a Y chromosome. Nice mom that I am, I'm toying with the idea of torturing her with the threat that she and I will be staying at my aunt & uncle's cabin just down the road from the center.