The Mastermind and Her Muscle

Doesn't this just look like a future mug shot? Bonnie and Clyde? Just so you'll quit wondering, The Enforcer, aka Little Man, has not just licked a hallucinogenic frog, but Fourth Darling is definitely scheming. Be afraid of the wee little one - she'll have you swimming with the fishes, and I'm not joking. No one will even know you're missing until it's too late.

My Overdue Rant

First, this is a freaking hilarious cake.

Secondly, the source of my rant today, apt pupils, is how crappy grants and financial aid can be for college students. Now that I'm on my way back to grad school to finish what I started before Fourth Darling made her stealthy appearance, I am on the prowl for grants, fellowships, scholarships, anything that can help subsidise this endeavor. I always hear about "money for students that goes unclaimed." Bull. I'd be happy to claim a bit o' that pie, but apparently, I miss the requirements on every mark. My latest teeth-clenching episode was when I received notice of a new fellowship that is available for grad students in my field. Yea!!!! I'm on it. Then I read the notice a little more. While I am "invited" to apply for it (filling out a form and writing an essay, submitting documents, etc.), it reads, "please be aware that single parents will be given priority over grade point average." Whaaaaaatttttt???????? So, I'm asking Darling Man for a divorce.

Noooo....not really. But how discouraging is that? Oh, I'm still going to submit my package, but why isn't there any fellowships for single-income families who are trying to raise their kids to be productive citizens, while going back to school and totally disrupting the family routine? I think I also might have a better shot if I were a one-legged-lesbian-minority-transvestite- natural catastrophe-survivor. And if you happen to be a one-legged-lesbian-minority-transvestite- natural catastrophe-survivor, and you don't like what I just wrote....I don't care.

By-the-way: ha ha...two posts in one day!

Summer Slump?

Okay, okay. I know it's just a few minutes short of being exactly a month since I last posted....but hear me out. This has been a wild and crazy month, and it's not over yet!

We had "The Wedding" of Darling Brother and his Bavarian love. It was a gorgeous wedding, and the Darlings were overjoyed to be a part of it. Well, at least the female darlings were. Little Man looked like he was off to his execution. I hope he's a little more excited at his own wedding one day.
He only became a little more ticked off when he found out he had to wear a "fwower" (commonly known in English as a flower). He actually did great. He wasn't happy about it, but he was a good sport.

Fourth Darling almost sailed down the aisle, and was only saved by grabbing her older sister's skirt. Unfortunately, Second Darling didn't know that Fourth Darling was getting tangled up in the aisle runner, so she kept swatting at Fourth Darling, all while walking down the aisle. It was quite funny. Little Man had no patience for these females, so he decided to pass those two
as if he were a race car sling-shotting (is that a word?) around his sisters.

But wait, we're not done yet! The day after the wedding, Darling Man's sister came into town for the first time in two years. So the kids were chomping at the bit to see their cousin, with whom they played for hours in an ancient sprinkler. They had a blast and we had a nice visit.

Now we have a about three days before we leave for a family reunion. I'm excited because instead of counting it as a business expense, I am counting it as a science class because there's a huge fossil deposit in the state park near our location. I think though, that Little Man is expecting some real dinosaurs...hmmm....how are we going to pull that off? So I'm hoping to have some wild and crazy stories and photos to post. With this many darlings, that almost a sure bet!