Damn slinky!

Is there anything more insidious than the slinky? A seemingly innocent and fun toy, until it inevitably becomes entangled with itself. We have had big slinkies, small slinkies, metal slinkies, cool-colored slinkies, plastic slinkies--you name the slinky, my kids have had it. They all ended up with the same short life and cruel fate, hopelessly tangled and unable to slink anymore. Yet again, in a moment of weakness (I had a headache, what can I say) at the pharmacy, L started campaigning for another slinky. It was cheap and easier to let her slip it into the basket than to argue and revisit all the years of slinky pain I had endured. It's been less than two weeks for this poor slinky. She came running up to me, as I was trying to feed cats, "Mommy, can you fix my slinky? It's only stuck in one place." It was indeed only one small tangle that I felt pretty sure I could handle. I was wrong.

After about three minutes under my very clever ministrations, I realized that what seemed like a very simple, straightforward manipulation was not working. It was slowly improving the previously existing small tangle, but was also creating a much larger mess. I had to stop myself at that point and just admit that yet again, I'd been bested by the slinky. If there was still a chance for this slinky to slink again, it lay with Mark. I told L to take it to her daddy, because he was much better at fixing slinkies than I am. She marched away with the slinky, and I heard her tell M, "Here. Can you fix this? Mommy was trying but she made it worse." Failure again. I'm on pins and needles waiting for M to work on it though. I'm curious to see if it is even possible to fix those stupid things.

I've decided that it's a win-win situation, though. If M fixes the slinky, sure it's still Amy-0; Slinkies-86 or so. If he doesn't fix it, we're out yet another slinky (the last one!!!), but at least I'm not alone in my abject failure at slinky maintenance.

L started summer school today. She's taking Spanish, Phys. Ed., and Mathematically Thinking. Those classes are for four weeks. She also has swim in the afternoons, and that's for six weeks. She was very excited about classes last night and was trying to chose her outfit. She was up and ready early this morning, which is when I noticed that she used her supply-labeling Sharpie to draw a couple of tattoos on herself for the first day of school. On her skinny little shin, she drew the logo from a Pink album. She loves Pink and Katy Perry right now--they are definitely her current faves. On top of her left hand and down her wrist, she drew a skull and crossbones and the Aerosmith logo. She apparently saw it on the album art in her iTunes. Lovely. I'm sure she made a charming impression with her tattoos today. I didn't have time to take pics this morning, and despite the fact that they were drawn with Sharpie, the Aerosmith one had faded a ton from swim. The Pink one didn't fade nearly as much. She let me take a pic of that, but not the Aerosmith--she didn't want anyone to see it 'all messy'.

I rely on routine to get through my mornings and get everything done. I basically operate on auto pilot, which as all I'm capable of until I get some caffeine. This morning was different, because of summer school starting. My morning routine had to change, which always causes me problems. I managed to make it out the door on time without forgetting anything. I was almost out of town, when I glanced up at the visor mirror to check my makeup to make sure it was okay in the bright sunlight. It was then I realized that I had only put on half of my makeup (and I don't wear much in the summer anyway). I had my neutral base eye shadow, under-eye concealer (only the first layer), and mascara. I got sidetracked by L changing into a different outfit, and never finished my eyes. I had a 'backup' eye liner in my purse, and one stoplight left at which I could quickly apply it. I went to work that way. I doubt if anyone but me noticed--people maybe thought I looked more tired than usual, but it made me chuckle all day.

It reminds me of the day I spent at work (when I was still teaching college full time) with two different shoes. As a vegan, shopping for professionally appropriate shoes can be a little difficult. If I find non-leather shoes that are both appropriate and comfortable, I tend to buy them in a couple of colors, if available. I had purchased these particular shoes in black and navy blue. I wore one of each color to work, and didn't notice until I was halfway through my morning classes. It wasn't obvious at home, but it sure was under the glaring florescent lights in my classroom. Mornings are rough for me. I'm surprised I don't do things like this more often!

>>The photos above are some of the native ferns and mosses M and I enjoyed seeing on our camping trip hikes.