Not if you say, "You know what, polar bear, come to detention and we'll talk about it then."

Totally going to do that.

Actually, my kids this semester are pretty great. They're fun and creative and full of energy. Which means they do great in my class but sometimes have Issues in their core classes.

Hah! I am so going to have to start doing that. I mean, polar bear will still get you some funny looks but not quite the same way.

Yeah, that definitely happens with us, ChiKat. We're all, "So&So is great! So attentive and he works so hard!" And the other teachers are all "..."

I mean, part of what we do is recognize kids that are smart but slipping through the system. But lots more of it is just SO syndrome, which is to say, rocking his music classes, not interested in anything else. He gives a good lecture about this.

Honestly, I can't tell you how many times I've thought, "Man, I so wish I could channel Vortex right now..."

Channel away! A good vortex beginning is "you know what, motherfucker . . ." Or polar bear. Whichever.

Dude, I channel various Buffistas for different situations. I'm not always good at it, but I have excellent role models in you all for various things.

Excellent news, o-a.

I found it much easier to be a boss than a parent. Probably for the, "dude, I can fire you" fallback with an employee. You can't really fire your kids. Saying "no" was easy, but really meaning it under the gun wasn't. It took me a long time to be able to put the foot down.

omnis, that's very good news. Continuous improvement~ma for your dad.

Honestly, I can't tell you how many times I've thought, "Man, I so wish I could channel Vortex right now..."

Me too, especially since the F2F.

It started as just a joke about the kind of Lutherans Teppy found in her sink. Hubby finally got so tired of his sinus headaches that he went to a sinus specialist--who peered up into his sinuses and went "Oh dear."

Hubby has a bacterial infection in his skul. *In* his skull, as in the bones and the spaces in the skull. In November they're going to crack open--well, I can't even bring myself to type it. Suffice to say, they need to remove bone before this spreads to his brain.

This is, of course, if his cardiologist and neurologist don't say it's too dangerous for him to have this kind of surgery. His neurologist may even be attending.

Sweet Jesus they're going to cut into his face. And I can't stop picturing it. And I need to get the horror out before I get home to hug him, because he's scared too.

I'm sorry if this squicks anyone else as bad as it's squicking me, but if I don't get a handle on this I'm going to have hysterics on the drive home, and that does no one any good.

Oh my God, Connie. That is absolutely horrible and terrifying, and I am so sorry! Of course you're both scared.

Best outcome~ma to both of you.

Yikes, lot's of health-ma for him.

And though this seems very unimportant now, I did want to note that I did in fact spend an hour on my Most Dreaded Task.