Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That

Wow, it's been a while. Which, of course, I say every time I post, and it doesn't encourage me to post more often. *rolls eyes at self*

Nothing too much is new; work is as beastly and deplorable as ever, so I'm viewing and applying for other positions every week.

Hubby and Boychild are both in good health and happy. Boychild is trying wrestling this winter at school - we don't have the slightest idea why, but hey, it's exercise. He'll do tennis again in the spring.

My parents and sister were approved to move into our apartment complex, and they actually got to have the one right across the hall from us. This is a really awesome thing, and so we've been busy helping them move in bit by bit each weekend lately. We both leave our doors unlocked during the day, which enables us to just go back and forth between the two apartments. They don't have a microwave yet, so they come over to use ours; if someone's in one bathroom, we can go across the hall to use the other one. It's just really nice, too, having them right there.

We've also been going to the Y when we can. Not often lately, but things have calmed a little, so we're going to try a few visits this week. We all love the pool, though we're going to try more with the weights, too.

Finally got a new library card (my wallet was stolen a couple years ago and I just never replaced the card), so we've been in and out of the library again. Have a few books on hold, but can't pick them up till tomorrow. Hubby's getting both The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (Max Brooks), and I'm getting Dreams From My Father (Barack Obama), What's So Amazing About Grace (Philip Yancey) and His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik). I hear so many good things about the Temeraire series, I decided it was high time I looked it up and tried it. Thoughts?

I should really update my reading list here, but will wait on that one - formatting takes too long and I am too lazy at the moment.

In the meantime, I've been reading lots of Narnia fic, specifically rthstewart's work on both AO3 and ff.net - it is fantastic stuff and so worth the time it's taken to get through it all. The world-building is phenomenal and the writing exceptional.

I don't think I've anything else to report. How is everyone?

1. So I'm lagging behind again, as per usual, but that makes this no less heartfelt. To all the moms on my flist, whether your children are human or otherwise:

Happy Mother's Day!!

On Saturday afternoon, the boychild decided to get a subtle hint across:

Boychild: "Mommy, you can sleep in as long as you want tomorrow."
Me: "I can? As long as I want?"
Boychild: "Yup." ... "But you should sleep on your BACK."
Me: *trying hard not to snicker and giggle*

Now, I would say that maybe only moms might understand the reasoning behind that suggestion, but my cousin's wife, who is a mom herself, didn't get the implication, so I can't assume everyone reads into it what was so easy to see. It was his way of ensuring that I would be in the proper position for him to set a tray on my lap in the morning, brimming with "breakfast." ROTFL.

I got scrambled eggs with cheese melted on them, pancakes nearly drowning in syrup, bacon too crisp to eat and burnt toast slathered with butter and strawberry jam. Despite some of these unfortunate things, it was still the best breakfast ever. And he was so excited to have done it. ♥♥♥

Hubby made a fabulous roast beef with potatoes, carrots and celery for dinner, and Yorkshire pudding to go with it, and there was ice cream for dessert. We invited my parents and sister over to join us and had a lovely evening.

2. We didn't go to the church yesterday. We'd planned on it, quite forgetting that it was going to be Mother's Day. So we intend to aim for NEXT Sunday. Hubby already has another church picked out to try after that one. He's leaning hard toward a United Church of Christ church, because based on what he's read and his growing-up-experiences, they seem to be most closely aligned with what we both believe.

I have a hard time in the whole church/religion department. Do I believe in God/Jesus? Yes. Do I subscribe to one set of rules for how best to follow Him? Hell, no. I don't always have the greatest amount of faith, I don't habitually - or even easily - pray (though that's a whole other kettle of fish), I don't believe that to be a good Christian, you have to go to church every Sunday. From any church I attend, I expect to be accepted however I choose to arrive, whether I am in formal attire or rags. I expect that my thoughts and opinions are respected, whether or not they are agreed with. I expect that ANYBODY is welcome to join in, regardless of age, race, religion, sexual orientation or anything else that I'm currently forgetting to include. I expect that questions are accepted and considered thoughtfully, if not encouraged, and I expect that should I choose to regularly continue attending the church, I am not required to TAKE A CLASS.

I know I'm kind of all over the place with this whole discussion, I haven't exactly thought my points through very clearly, so bear with me, here. This whole "You have to take a class before you can be a member of this church" thing...NONONONONO. I want no part of any church that requires me to attend a class in order to be fully welcomed. That's not acceptance, that's not CHRISTIAN. My parents' church made them take a class in order to be members. My dad said it was "to make sure they believed what the church believed." *snorts haughtily* I was so offended on their behalf, because God knows they didn't have the sense to be offended themselves. *rolls eyes* I love my parents, don't get me wrong; I simply despair over their version of "Christian."

So to sum up: If I'm attending a church, they need to accept me no matter how I look or what I believe, as well as any other human being. If they can't or won't, then it's not the church for me.

Reading back over this whole section, DUDE. Help me flesh this out. Ask me questions. Make me think about it. It feels like random points with no concrete frame, no solid foundation. Wait, scratch that last bit - my foundation is simply that we are all human, and all of us are worth the same, regardless of choices we make throughout our lives. But still - point out my wobbles, ask questions, help me firm this up into something that makes a little more sense. Or tell me if it already does (but I don't think so).

3. thefourthvine posted a FABULOUS rant Here. Fanfic lovers, enjoy. ♥

4. Speaking of fanfic...I have so many ideas, but so little motivation. I have chapters in my head for my next-gen, but the first sixteen need some overhauling before I put any of it down. I've been going round and round with some founders fic in my head, as well as a Rowena Ravenclaw one-shot that's trying to form. On top of all that, I've been reading a little bit of Narnia fanfic, and now have a couple one-shots in my head! I've never written fanfic outside of HP, so if I ever manage to sit down and just write, it should be interesting.

I think part of the whole motivation thing is not really knowing who - beyond myself, anyway - would want to give reading it a go. I mean, why bother penning it out if I'm the only one who cares anymore? *sigh*

But also, part of it is just knowing I have to overhaul what I have before moving on. I could write it down, but I just can't let what's come before sit there and continue eating at my brain - I have to fix it. asdf;lkj

5. I'm having an aversion to cuts, lately. Sorry.

6. I finally - just this morning, actually - found out what "tl;dr" means ("too long; didn't read"). And I have to say, I think sometimes my own entries get like that! *snerk* But oh well. If you regularly make it to the end of my entries, kudos to you. If you don't, well, at least it's still here for my own perusal. :)

7. My books are all due in 3 days. Boo. Now I have to gather them and go back to the library because I'm out of online renewals for all of them. *sad face*

8. That must be all for now. You know me, I'll post again if I feel the need. I hope you all had a good weekend!

Saw Prince Caspian again last night. Hubby wanted to go to a movie, and Mikey was so upset at having missed it on Sunday (Matt took him home before it started because he'd puked all over the theatre floor) that we went again.

Not that I'm complaining; I had to see it, hear it. Again.

Can't stop humming the song near the end - have to get my hands on the album - and on the DVD as soon as it comes out. Now the question is: Can I wait that long? *sigh*

Now we're back to the beginning
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can't feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
Till they're before your eyes
You'll come back when they call you
No need to say goodbye

I'll come back when you call me
No need to say goodbye