What a nice surprise!

On Saturday, I became the newest member of Atlantia's Order of the Pearl. This was (as His Majesty noted with disappointment) not entirely a surprise. Not because anyone said anything to me - they didn't - but because, well, I've been a moderately active performer in Atlantia for ten and a half years now, and I've been doing industrial-grade research in performing arts for two years. While I think it's a mistake to think you're entitled to an award, my self-esteem is at sufficiently good levels that I don't think it's undeserved. Less "Oh, what a surprise!" and more "Aw gee, they noticed! How nice!"

No, the surprise was that I thought Ben and I were alone at the event. So when they called me in to court, I was a touch unhappily surprised - the Moes wouldn't be here to see? And as I'm handing Ben off to Mistress Fevronia so I can go before Their Majesties, I turn and who do I see but my husband and older child! My Dear Spouse had driven an hour down to the event, and then turned around right after it was done and drove an hour home (Spud was having none of the crowded, noisy hall). It was very sweet and made me very happy.

Thanks to janinas_nest and orlacarey for setting it all up!

Parenting is...

...pushing your kid around the kitchen in a cardboard box.

Laziness is deciding it would be simpler to tie a ribbon to the box and pull it.

Engineering is realizing that the ribbon will probably tear through the box, so you poke two holes in each side, thread the ribbon all the way around, and let the kid's own back (pressed against the far side of the box) help support the stress of pulling him. And then, wondering if a dual-ribbon tiered system would be even better for an even distribution of the stresses.