Unexpected weekend

For having nothing really planned this weekend, a whole lot of things certainly happened. On Friday afternoon, an impromptu meeting with Helen about my dissertation turned into a two hour gabfest about the statistical analysis, our meeting with the stats consultant on Tuesday, and future projects that we will be able to create out of this data set. I hoofed it to the gym, and then ran home to get ready for Happy Hour, a now treasured tradition, and my last minute appearance as a rescue date to the Jeff Dunham show. I faced my fear of puppets and actually had a great time! Saturday morning I went to my friend's son's little league baseball game, and sat at the top of the bleachers cheering for Travis. Well, his team got killed but I noticed how much they had improved from the first game of the season! It is so hilarious to watch 7 year olds in the outfield watch the ball drop to the ground, roll, and THEN they react. Usually running behind it. A particularly tiny short stop name Tate caught a fly ball and leapt with joy when he looked into his glove and realized the ball was still there! After a salon appointment, I went home to clean, do laundry, etc, when I got called into my lab to babysit for a dissertation subject. Our fool proof logistical system broke down (I'm pretty sure I was the one who dropped the ball) and we didn't have a sitter for the child during the parent-only portion of the assessment, so I dropped what I was doing to go an hang out with a total brat. I love kids, but this one was a real putz. After putting up with his shit for about 45 minutes I finally laid down the law and started setting limits. My inpatient behavioral mod training came into full effect.
Me: You may not throw Legos at my head. That is not safe.
Him: But I wanna!
Me: You do it again, and those Legos are going to disappear for the rest of your life.
Him: (ducks head, begins to wind up for a good loud Whine)
Me: I don't listen to whining. So if you want to use your words I bet we can work it out.
Him: Can I throw Legos down the hall and on the floor?
Me: Sure. That's a great alternative. Nice job using your words.

And so forth. We went round and round a few times on the issue of "Push me down the hall on this wheelie thing or else I'm going to start crying." I told him that was not an effective way to get me to do anything, and he could cry ALL he felt like. He promptly changed tacks. My feedback to his mother (who wasn't shocked) was, "Well, we had a little trouble with accepting no, but we managed to work it out."

I got home sweaty and gross from scooping up about 1,000 tiny Lego pieces from a very, very long hallway, in time to get ready for a celebratory evening entitled "I'm done with finals for the rest of my life." I met friends at La Fiesta for margaritas and dinner, and then the party moved to Crickets. I got home at 2PM this afternoon, and considered it a successful celebration. For the rest of the day I will be recouping, and picking up where I left off with house cleaning. I leave for San Francisco on Wednesday.

Happy Mother's Day!