From the mind of Mini

From the deepest imaginary recesses of Mini’s mind – her thought was for me to chronicle parts of stories so she could later finish them.

You’re welcome.

We call this one The Real Tooth Fairy. Title subject to change.

What if the Tooth Fairy was an ancestor, determined pre-death to fill the role? As the Tooth Fairy is quite busy on a nightly basis, traversing thousands of miles to collect children’s teeth, then it only makes sense for there to be multiple tooth fairies. Unlike Santa Clause who is one and only as his job requires just shy of 24 hrs of work, the Tooth Fairy is exceptionally busier. Therefore, she (tooth fairy for girls, tooth men for boys) cannot be a single entity. So who gets to be the Tooth Fairy? Well, it is a generational appointment, beginning as far back as 7-9 previous generations. In theory, it could be my great great great great great great great grandmother. Then, every 100 years thereafter a new Tooth Fairy, still within my bloodline, assumes command. The reasoning is that it cannot be someone who is too close to the present generation as it could make a child suspicious. However, a closer generational family member, my grandmother, for example, could feasibly be the Elf (of the infamous Elf on the Shelf), especially as mini’s grandmother passed shortly before she got Peppermint (mini’s elf on the shelf). Peppermint is much like mini’s grandmother because both enjoy sitting and making mischief. Mini’s words, not mine.

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The reason I’m publishing this post now is because mini was formally accepted onto the UIL Oral Reading team. Did I mention this previously? She really played the part during tryouts and it was a success. The piece, titled “Homework Stew”, was very funny (to me). Her competition piece is something about seeing her teacher “out in the wild” on a Saturday, how teachers shouldn’t be allowed outside of the classroom, and, from the student’s point of view, how dangerous it is for them. Very laughter inducing. As I think mini could conquer the world by making people (me) laugh, this is the perfect introductory situation. She’ll have weekly practices leading up to a winter competition. More to come.

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I ask you –

On a scale of 1 to doubled over laughing, what is your score on her tooth fairy philosophy?

(The post From the mind of Mini first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Vampires & UIL, unrelated

Forgive me for the random assortment of posts lately. I haven’t had much of a thematic approach. Instead, they have been collections of randomness, fleeting thoughts, and reactions to daily activity.

For example. I believe someone else coined the following phrase, but maybe it was me: Martyrs are victims with a cause. Which insinuates we are all victims of one circumstance or another. But our legacy is dependent on what we accomplish or die trying to accomplish. I’m not saying this is fair. What I’m saying is this mostly/probably applies to many ways of thinking.

Made a joke about vampire people and no one laughed

I purchased a new phone and believe I have finally figured out how to use it. When I found myself avoiding its use, I realized maybe there was a better way. Insert tag line for a flip phone.

Courtesy of UIL official website

Probably told you this last year. Listen again. We’ve been encouraging mini to do more than just dance, especially on the academic side of the house. As a champion (and possibly famous) UIL contestant, obviously I wanted mini to compete, but this is the first year she’s taken an interest. Introducing: oral reading! Try outs soon. More to come.

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I ask you –

Bloggers, what do you do when your posts lose focus?

(The post Vampires & UIL, unrelated first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Patience, my child

Mini has an opportunity to try out for UIL events and my little heart exploded with pride and memories. Except for chess, I excelled at these events. Storytelling was my breakthrough – shocking, most definitely – into a world of possibilities for competitive scholastic events.

Many years ago I made a keto carrot cheesecake that was sublime. Really. It was incredible. I haven’t baked in a lonnnnnng while and now I have some free time. You know. While I wait. Anyway, I wanted to bring a family dessert to game night, to impress my friends. And that’s where it ended. The photo below doesn’t look too horrible. But the taste? Let’s just say something went awfully wrong with the carrot cake layer on bottom. It was gloopy, gross, and inedible. The cheesecake layer wasn’t bad, had it not been on top of the carrot disaster. Needless to say, I did not take it anywhere except to the garbage can.

As my brain functions in some sort of random, non-linear, jumbled mess, I can appreciate life’s linearity. One would think dissertation work is linear. Oh, but you (I) would be so wrong. I do the things, then wait. I do other things, then wait. My frustrations are apparent as I check and double check my email waiting for a notification of scheduled defense proposal. I complete the IRB documents, then wait. Turns out IRB approval can take up to 2 months. Although I despise speaking this fear into existence, I’m not sure if I’ll begin the research portion this fall. No approvals = no research. I will have spent nearly the entirety of a very expensive semester awaiting approval. Sigh.

Patience is not my strongest virtue.

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I ask you –

What events did you participate in as a young person?

On a scale of 1 to me, how much patience do you have?

Tell me your worst cooking fail!

(The post Patience, my child first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)