Five Friday Favorites – Random Monday Edition

I started this list last Wednesday thinking I would be all set to publish on Friday. Didn’t happen. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have five things on the list. Maybe it’s because we were busy doing a hundred other things. Who knows?

At any rate, better late than never, here are this last week’s favorites – completely random and in no particular order.

1. Favorite thing Kidzilla said recently: “He’s just  a plain old skunk.” Zilla was playing with a bunch of stuffed animals – cats, dogs, lobsters, bears – and sorting them out according to kind. When she got to the skunk, she held him up high in the air by his tail and said, “I’m playing family and he doesn’t have a family…he’s just a plain old skunk.”  OK, maybe it’s not really that funny to most people, but it was hysterical to me and the Fab Hub. You see, the Fab Hub hates skunks. A lot. The reason, of course, is that one sprayed him emphatically one evening when he left my apartment back when we were not dating. He left my building, passed the corner of the next building, and….

PPPSSSSSSSSSTTT! Mr. Skunk nailed it.

I never knew it until later when we talked on the phone because Fab Hub got in his car – skunk stink and all – and drove home to clean up there so he wouldn’t stink up my apartment. His car, though, smelled vaguely of skunk for quite some time. Ever since, if he sees or smells a skunk, he yells “They’re after me! The skunks are coming to get me!” and dives under the dashboard of the car. OK, not really, but he does shudder just a little bit. And so, if Zilla demotes Mr. Skunk to “no family, just plain skunk” in her play, that’s perfectly OK with the Fab Hub.

2. Favorite thing someone said they had to do last week: “I have to take the dog to physical therapy.” If it would have been appropriate to do so, I might have dropped to the floor to commence laughing. Instead, I inquired as to the need for the dog in question to go to physical therapy.  I don’t think I’ve never heard of a dog going to physical therapy. Apparently, it happens. The reason? A torn ACL. Apparently, that happens, too. Who knew? The worst thing one of the Rotten Cats ever had was when Cat Three developed arthritis in his knee. And he got the same medication I was taking for mine. Me and Cat Three taking the same arthritis prescription. Awesome.

3. Favorite thing we did this weekend that made me just a little bit sad: We registered Kidzilla for Kindergarten next school year. It was exciting – and no one is more excited about going to Kindergarten than Zilla herself. We turned in paperwork, toured the school, met some teachers. Afterward, we all went to Church together and then out to lunch to celebrate Kindergarten Sign-Up Day. Fun. And sad. There is no way it is possible that she is old enough for Kindergarten. As fun and interesting and exciting as she is, there is a little part of me that wants Zilla to stay a baby. Forever.

4. Favorite thing Kidzilla does better than I did at her age: Nose blowing. No, I don’t really have a particular interest in kid boogers. It’s just that Zilla is really good at nose-blowing. The reason I am impressed by this? Well, in Kindergarten I got a poor grade in nose-blowing. It’s true. It’s the bad grade that haunts me to this day. In the category of “I Know How to Use My Handkerchief” I got a grade of “NI” – Needs Improvement. Zilla, on the other hand, is a champ. Fab Hub even said she is the cutest nose-blower he’s ever seen – she scrunches up her face and wiggles her entire head in her efforts to rid her little nose of snot. Hey, whatever works. My Grandfather would be so proud – that man had a thing for proper nose-blowing technique. “Better out than in,” he’d say. Good advice. But somehow, I just could never get the hang of it. So I’m glad that Zilla has bested me in this category. It will probably save her from a number of sinus infections in her life.

5. Favorite thing we did this weekend: Chores. I know, who lies that? Well, we are on a slow but sure mission to purge, simplify, clean, and organize the house right now. But all that got kind of put on hold over the summer after Fab Hub’s abrupt employment status change. And then it got put on hold in the fall when school started and we all tried to adjust to our new responsibilities and schedules. Then Hurricane Sandy got in the way…then it was the holidays…then everybody had a cold…so the projects have all been on hold for what now seems like forever. But lately we have been able to focus on these large and small jobs once again, which feels great.

And now that my Friday Favorites are finally finished, I am going to resume enjoying my favorite thing about being a teacher – the snow day. Yes, yes, the kids are great and there’s the whole touch the future, make a difference in the world thing. But let’s be honest. There is no one who loves a snow day more than kids except for the teacher. OK, maybe the principal. Maybe.

Have a great week, everyone. Put your recent favorites in the comments – I love to read them!