The Great Grade Race - Fall 2009 Edition

So by now you all know how Scientist Genius Brother is every parents dream child which pretty much means he is a pain in my ass. But I overlook his habit of making me look bad because he takes my kid on vacation to the other side of the world for three and a half weeks PLUS he is an awesome brother.

But, I am out to overtake him in the grade department if it KILLS me. At least for my undergrad degree g.p.a. I have no intention of getting a Ph.D. in chemistry - getting root canals and digging ditches sounds like more fun than that.

To recap, he graduated with a 3.86 g.p.a. As of the end of my Junior year I had a 3.76 - ARRRGGGGHHHH! I was LOSING!

Here are my grades for fall quarter '09

Literature and Popular Genre a.k.a. Westerns Really Aren't That Bad - Except "Shane", it sucked = 3.9

Public Memory and Dissent in American Culture; Remembering Nat Turner a.k.a. History is Confusing = 3.6

Approaches to Social Research a.k.a. Snoozefest = 3.9

So in the great grade race I am at a 3.88, I'M WINNING! But not by much, I'm gonna have to kick some ass in my last two quarters if I want to keep my lead.

Yup, I'll be graduating in June. Only 2 quarters left.

What *will* I do with all my spare time after I graduate?

I'm on Christmas Break and Daughter is in Australia!

SCHOOL IS OUT FOR THE QUARTER! I'M OFF UNTIL JANUARY 4TH!!!

*ahem*

Sorry about that, I got carried away for a moment. But really and truly, I cannot remember the last time I needed the break between quarters as badly as I do right now. Apparently taking the summer off made my brain atrophy or something. Or perhaps senior year is just that much HARDER. Or it could be the fact that I volunteered to be co-prez of the high school parent group this year. (I was weak and they got me.) Whatever it is, school is officially kicking my ass but NOT FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS!

I'm spending my time Christmas shopping, doing the bookkeeping, scrubbing the parts of my house that haven't been touched since last summer, catching up on parent group stuff and it's RELAXING because it isn't writing or reading anything for school.

Daughter and Scientist Genius Brother arrived safely in Melbourne, Australia and I know she's having fun because I haven't heard boo from her. Scientist Genius Brother sent me an update today but she is NOT spending time emailing or skype-ing her mother which means she isn't bored/homesick/sad.

This is part of the email Scientist Genius Brother sent me today:

"Daughter is being a good guest. No need to worry about that. She's been taking quite a few pictures, and I'll make sure she takes a bunch more.

I have been bugging her to email you since we arrived, and she said she would last night, so I hope she has. (She hasn't.) I don't think she has done any homework yet, so I'll bug her about that too. (Heh. He'll think twice before he has any kids after THIS trip!)

Daughter can really SHOP. She wore Awesome Aussie-Girlfriend and her sister and I out yesterday. I think today we are going go to Healesville animal sanctuary, where they have all the native Australian animals, and a cool birds of prey demonstration, where they have hawks and eagles swoop over the crowd. Daughter was excited about that."

I told him to tell her I want a baby Koala. I'm sure it would fit in her carry-on bag.

Next up will be The Great Grade Race Fall 2009 Edition but I have to wait for my grades to be posted first. Of course smartass Scientist Genius Brother has been offered a bunch of Post-Doctoral positions so I'll never catch up to him. Showoff. But I CAN get kick-ass grades.

I just can't do it and cook dinner every night. Thank GOD for pizza.

I Love Christopher Walken

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Cartooning at its Finest

This is the card Thing 1 made for Grandmother's ninety-fourth birthday. The kid is pretty serious and straight-laced in person but his drawings expose his inner goofball. Someday I'll tell you about the series of comic books he made in elementary school about Clam Man and his loyal sidekick Mollusk Boy...

Thankful

This year's Thanksgiving festivities went off without a hitch. We had 22 people to our house for Thanksgiving dinner and there was enough food, lots and lots of laughing and nobody got into a fight - even my offspring got along!

I am thankful that Dad, Stepmonster, Marvelous Mom and Stepdan all get along and can celebrate the holidays with us so my kids - and everyone else, it means the world to us - can have their entire family together without any fighting, drama, histrionics or even snide comments. (Except for Grandmother and she makes snide comments to EVERYONE without discriminating!) There are not enough words in the world to tell you four how much this means to us, we love you all so much!

I am thankful that after almost 16 years, husband still enjoys spending time with me and my family and that we love each other more now than when we were married.

I am thankful for the newest addition to the family, Grande - it was the icing on the cake to have a beautiful, happy baby to hug and squeeze! The only hard part was sharing him.

I am thankful that Grande has the same shape head as my Dad and not the same shape head as Thing 1. There is a reason Thing 1 doesn't have a buzz cut, I'm just sayin'... But seriously, aren't these two adorable? Grande with his Great Uncle Al.

Is it just me or do they both bear a striking resemblance to Charlie Brown?

I am thankful that Scientist Genius Brother was able to come up from Berkeley to join us. He is the bestest brother in the world and we are so freaking proud of him! Grandmother was especially happy to see him since it had been a while and she hardly let him leave her side the whole evening.

And last but not least, I am thankful for a certain (almost) 94 year old lady. Grandmother is doing amazingly well - I'm convinced she is made out of flubber - and continues to amaze, astonish, frustrate and annoy me. I wouldn't have it any other way!

I have so many things to be thankful for - my health, red wine, a beautiful home, sleepover summer camps, the opportunity to go to college, midol - but my family and friends are the most important things in my life and I love you all so very much.