Tuesday news

First, today marks the 7-year anniversary of the day that Princess Diana died. I remember it very well.

Second, I have some exciting news! (Well, exciting for ME, anyway!) While I was dropping off Jack today for his second day of PreSchool, his teacher Mrs. Crosgrove pulled me aside. She prefaced herself by saying that she wanted to ask me something, and that she wanted me to answer it honestly. I instantly started thinking that something had happened last Thursday, and they wanted to kick Jack out of school or something - I was worried. Instead of that being the case (!), she asked me if I would consider being a substitute teacher for his class for 4 sessions in the following weeks.

I was so relieved! It turns out that one of the three teachers will be gone during her mother's surgery, and they need someone to fill in. She told me that Jack - although the youngest - is probably the most independent kid in the classroom, and she figured that would give me the opportunity to help the class.

So yay - my kid's not clingy! And I get to help with his class because he could care less whether I'm there or not! I'm so excited! :-D

Netflix and a little bit of water

I liked Netflix's old rating system better. For those who might not know, after you watched a movie, you'd rate it on a 5-star system. A little while ago, they changed the description underneath each star. It USED to be something like this (I'm unsure exactly):

* - Did Not Like At All
** - Just OK
*** - Liked It
**** - Really Liked It
***** - Loved It

Now, the system goes as follows:

* - Hated It
** - Did Not Like It
*** - Liked It
**** - Really Liked It
***** - Loved It

See the change at the * and ** levels? Yes, it seems very simple, but when it comes to actually rating movies, it makes a big difference.

For example, last night Maria and I watched The Human Stain while we scrapbooked. This morning I logged into Netflix to rate the movie. I had decided to myself last night that I would rate it ** - meaning that I thought it was "Just OK." I forgot the system had changed. This wasn't possible.

Yes, there was still a ** rating available. But now it means "Did Not Like It," and that wasn't really the case. I couldn't give it *** though, because I also didn't feel that I "Liked It." I was torn.

I ended up giving it ***. I felt that only ** would have been undercutting it too much, but I feel that my ratings, and therefore upcoming "recommendations," results are now slightly skewed. I am annoyed. Hmph.

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Our water is shut off today for some sort of maintenance. From 9am to noon. This is also annoying.

Stuffs

The 3.5 hours of sleep I had last night/this morning finally kicked in today. I had to lay down for a nap at 2:30, and Philip didn't come to wake me up until 6pm. Ahh, I feel so much better now!

Kiki *just* pooped in the litterbox. Naturally. Because I am in here. If I weren't in here, she'd have held her poop until I *was* in here. {sigh}

This 'having-both-kids-in-school-even-if-it's-only-part-time' thing? It WORKS. It rocks. It's not the free time for myself, no. It's the having both kids in bed and sleeping by 8:45pm, with no wake-ups in the middle of the night that is so wonderful. They are just too exhausted now, and they need their sleep and need it well. I love this.

Also, I'm loving our quasi-freedom from diapers/Pull-Ups. We only put Jack in a diaper during the night now (just in case), and it's wonderful. Pride-raising. Money-saving. Knowing that we won't have to buy any more diapers, and that we now have two potty-goers. Yay!

Oh, and friends that call ME and want to scrapbook? I can never get enough of that. My, how things have turned. From pseudo-friends that never wanted to do anything, to awesome friends that plan so much stuff we don't even have enough time to do it all. I feel so loved!

I'm off to clean the litterbox now - I can barely breathe!