Hola, vw!

I am exhausted. Reading that article did nothing to get me into bed earlier last night, so I'm only half-conscious. Thank god I don't have to actually teach most of the time!

Hola, Emily! I wrote about you in one of my Spanish assignments. I said your birthday in Spanish (if I got it right. I always forget if it's the 27th or the 28th...or maybe the 29th).

Good plan, Jars!

I know! And, in fact, I'm going to complain about the stupid system that is making paperwork for me.

See, the Irish government has guidelines that a licence has to be applied for every time you want to alter or export an archaeological artifact. Which makes sense. However, they also apply this to environmental material, which is stupid. So every time I want to cut up a piece of charcoal to ID it, I have to apply for a licence to cut up that piece of charcoal. And every time I want to C14 that charcoal, I have to apply for a licence to cut it up to ID it, a licence to export it to the C14 lab, and a licence for them to crush it up to date it. It is so goddamned frustrating.

Here endeth the complaint.

Good complaint! Now, let's see if I can translate that into Spanish.

Nope. Can't.

See, this is my current frustration. I don't know enough words or conjugation to actually *say* anything. So, I get frustrated and give up, which, well, doesn't help.

I just finished skimming from yesterday. (I can read so much more when I'm not at home with a not-wuite-sick baby.)

Laga, my heart goes out to you and your family. Family issues can be so tough and just plain intractable sometimes. I hope you all find your way through this.

Ellie is feeling much better and thanks for all the well wishes. We even went swimming at a friend's house yesterday and she had a great time. So even though it was a sick day, it ended up being a fun day as well.

Stephanie, I'm so glad she's better. That was an awful scare.

I hope this tingling on my chest isn't shingles returning. I'm going to assume it's not and try not to stress.

I'll tell you what I discovered, vw -- you only really need to know lots of words if you're going to speak informally. If you're going to use lots of big words, you just say them with an accent, cause they're usually the same!

t /Emily's Rules of Language Slacking

Yeah, I was freaking out a bit on Sunday.

vw, I'm sorry Spanish is so stressful. I have to use it every day and it totally stresses me out. (see: perfectionist tendencies)

eta: I totally forgot to mention the creepy ending to our day. I mentioned there is a dengue epidemic here at the moment. Just as Ellie and I were getting out of the car last night, this truck goes down our street spraying insecticide in the air. I *know* it was insecticide, but it reminded me so much of a vehicle used to disburse chemical weapons. Thank goodness the baby is basically all developed at this point.

I'll tell you what I discovered, vw -- you only really need to know lots of words if you're going to speak informally. If you're going to use lots of big words, you just say them with an accent, cause they're usually the same!

Ha! That's totally what I do! Just add an "o" at the end, and suddenly it's a Spanish word. My prof laughs at me at least once a class period, because I've done that.

Ok. Off to take the test. No-fail~ma please! I'm shooting for a C-. That would be good. Did I mention lately that I SUCK at memorizing? And that's kind of what learning a new language is all about?

Stephanie, I'm so glad Ellie is feeling better!

After the PMS has cleared, sending this:

A while ago I came to you with an open heart and an open mind (and my mother in tow) with the hope that we could reach an understanding of how to deal with each other as adults. You told me (and my mother) that you would never be able to respect me, no matter what I said or did. I'd like to offer you the opportunity that you were not willing to extend to me and inform you of what will be neccesary in order for you to earn back my respect. You will need to apologize personally to me and (if he so chooses) to Dennis for implying that we were both stupid and crazy when we tried to speak to you about household conflicts.

Without this:

Unfortunately I suspect that your heart wasn't really in that apology that you sent to everyone. If that is the case, please ignore this letter and never speak to me again.

It may be well nigh impossible to do so, but if you can, it may be helpful to realize that your sister and b-i-l's malfunction is outside of you. It's difficult because it does hurt you, and because it does feel personal. But the reality is, whatever poor choices, whatever mental illness, whatever addiction, whatever cruel intent, whatever poor social training, whatever blindspots they have, are not yours, and you are not required to take them in to yourself. I hope this makes some sense, as it is what I have had to tell myself time and time again about my mother and her ex-husband. It has helped me to pull back from her without completely cutting off contact.