Loads of miscellany today.
Brace Faces: It has been two days now, and for the most part both kids are still struggling with having braces. CB is having issues because of the spacers they put on his lower back molars to prevent his upper molars from hitting his bottom brackets when eating food, making it very painful to chew food of any kind. Last night Denis went to the store and picked up pudding, jello, yogurt, applesauce and soup and we told CB he could live on that (with our blessing) through at least Sunday, at which point we want him to try something a bit more solid again. CG is faring a bit better, but has mentioned that the brackets have been scratching up the inside of her mouth. I told her she’d build up calluses over the next week and soon won’t even notice them anymore. Both kids have flatly refused to take ibuprofen for their general achiness and mouth pain.
Teen Summers: CG got a summer job, but has decided she does not want to work full-time this summer. She doesn’t even want to work part-time in a traditional sense (read: 20-25 hours a week). Nope, she has decided she only wants to work 1-2 shifts per week AT MOST. Wait, what? When I told her that she needs to at least work enough to cover her gas and insurance, plus spending money, that’s when we calculated that working 1-2 shifts per week would do it. And so that’s what she wants to do. She is crazy, and I told her as much. “Do you realize that if you work 40 hours a week until school starts back up in August, you’d earn back at least HALF of what you spent to purchase your car? That amount would be back in your account.” Her response, “I don’t care.” And that’s when I realized that you can teach your kid about finance and responsible saving, but when it comes to summer vacations? Sleeping in and Netflix win every time when you are 16 years old.
Podcasts: I posted a few months ago about my new podcast obsession – and that continues. My reading time has lagged (I’ve only read 12 books thus far in 2019) but I always enjoyed talk radio when I commuted back in the day, so listening to podcasts makes me feeling like I’m listening to talk radio again. The latest podcast that I’ve become obsessed with is To Live and Die in L.A., which is a true crime podcast of an active investigation in Los Angeles, CA. I’m only on episode 5, but it is spellbinding and it is all I can do not to go online and find out where the investigation is now.
TV Shows: Now that summer is upon us, and the kids can stay up later, this means more bingewatching for CG and me. The past two nights we’ve been catching up on “3%” on Netflix. We watched the first season of this Brazilian dystopian drama a few years ago, but then never got around to watching Season 2. A couple nights ago we discovered that Season 3 had been released, and we knew it was time to play catch up. Last night we finished Season 2 and watched the first episode of Season 3. It’s an intriguing show that changes each season, and both CG and I really like it. There are some minor frustrations with ever-changing character behavioral motivations when watching it – and bingewatching the whole show makes those minor issues much more glaring than if we watched an episode a week – but if you are not turned off by subtitles, I highly recommend you look for it on Netflix.
Cocoa Kitty: I have been told that when only her mama (CG) is around, Cocoa Kitty is okay with jumping up on the sofa and laying on her mama’s lap for a few minutes. It only lasts for a few minutes at best, because Cocoa is Crazy and runs away from her own shadow sometimes. But last night she came into the TV room, approached the sofa, and at least half jumped onto the sofa before changing her mind when she saw two of us sitting there instead of just CG. So I think the rumors are true about her sitting on her mama’s lap when no one else is around.
Weekend Plans:Â This weekend CG works her first real shift (versus being in training), I take my car in for an oil change (and will likely NOT get my car back for the cost of an oil change because I think there’s something wrong with it (and have told them to look into it)), and we will celebrate Father’s Day by taking Denis to see “The Dead Don’t Die” even though it’s getting less than stellar reviews.
