brother's wedding turned out not-so-hoiwty-toiwty, which was swell. the mom-in-law was down to earth and very appreciative of my sister and i making it out. the blizzard that closed down South Dakota a few days before the wedding kept my mom, sister Sara, and her boyfriend from making the trip.....
so we went through the ceremony, the gents and I with nips of vodka to keep lubed, took the pictures, practiced the walk.... ceremony came and went in under 15 minutes... and then SURPRISE! the South Dakota intrepid travelers arrived about 15 minutes after the ceremony. they didn't tell anyone they were on their way, in town, or even close to coming because they didn't want the ceremony to be delayed on their behalf. What a cool, gracious surprise....
....and of course, the one thing that would make mom's blood boil- the pompus, arrogance of her ex-husband (my asshole of a paternal contibutor) approached mom while she meeting the in-laws to TOUCH HER and tell her he's glad they made it through the weather.... I could see her resist the urge to turn around and whack him; she took the high-ground and ignored him, him walking away immediately after getting the vibe that his well-wishes weren't fucking appreciated.
the whole thing, aside from having to deal with "his" presence, was very enjoyable. got to meet niece Grace, and spent more time with my brother than expected. the bride's sincerity and graciousness throughout the weekend was comforting. to put up with my brother's custody situation in stride attests to her devotion and willingness to work through tough stuff.
....sat in as mentee/co-DC-ish on two IEP's this week with the 'new folks', new school psych included. i feel it's hard to provide the constructive criticism that they probably need- i'm still working on that, especially on things that are more about personality/style and communication about the whole complex process of providing services for one kid out of 1900 to a parent while not just blowing smoke up the parent's ass. getting stuck in the minute details of a certain assessment score, letting the jargon get out of hand, or dwelling on a negative incident for too long is what dirves me batty, especially for kids that have sooooo many deficits. it's a learning curve that sucks to have to watch a peer experience.
i cleaned all the 6 milk cartons out of my fridge...finally. had to tidy up the apt as part of a yearly inspection. i'm so embarrassed by the whole thing. got ride of the mushroom science experiment and vaccumed for the first time in forever too. my sister will be happy(er).
so we went through the ceremony, the gents and I with nips of vodka to keep lubed, took the pictures, practiced the walk.... ceremony came and went in under 15 minutes... and then SURPRISE! the South Dakota intrepid travelers arrived about 15 minutes after the ceremony. they didn't tell anyone they were on their way, in town, or even close to coming because they didn't want the ceremony to be delayed on their behalf. What a cool, gracious surprise....
....and of course, the one thing that would make mom's blood boil- the pompus, arrogance of her ex-husband (my asshole of a paternal contibutor) approached mom while she meeting the in-laws to TOUCH HER and tell her he's glad they made it through the weather.... I could see her resist the urge to turn around and whack him; she took the high-ground and ignored him, him walking away immediately after getting the vibe that his well-wishes weren't fucking appreciated.
the whole thing, aside from having to deal with "his" presence, was very enjoyable. got to meet niece Grace, and spent more time with my brother than expected. the bride's sincerity and graciousness throughout the weekend was comforting. to put up with my brother's custody situation in stride attests to her devotion and willingness to work through tough stuff.
....sat in as mentee/co-DC-ish on two IEP's this week with the 'new folks', new school psych included. i feel it's hard to provide the constructive criticism that they probably need- i'm still working on that, especially on things that are more about personality/style and communication about the whole complex process of providing services for one kid out of 1900 to a parent while not just blowing smoke up the parent's ass. getting stuck in the minute details of a certain assessment score, letting the jargon get out of hand, or dwelling on a negative incident for too long is what dirves me batty, especially for kids that have sooooo many deficits. it's a learning curve that sucks to have to watch a peer experience.
i cleaned all the 6 milk cartons out of my fridge...finally. had to tidy up the apt as part of a yearly inspection. i'm so embarrassed by the whole thing. got ride of the mushroom science experiment and vaccumed for the first time in forever too. my sister will be happy(er).