Weekend Journal

I've had el crapo day for unbloggable reasons. I'm having trouble shaking it off, so I'm going to use this blog post to remind myself of how good life is.

Last week's lectures went fabulously. In my Media class, we were talking about the First Amendment and how one of the problems with the freedom of speech is that we have to allow the crap to exist as well as the smart. Freedom of speech means that we also have to endure the existence of porn, Howard Stern, and rape simulation games coming out of Japan. Most students are reflexively libertarian. I'm not sure why. It must have something to do with youth. But I poked them enough to get a good debate going and, at certain points in the lecture, they forgot that I was in charge and turned to their neighbors to fight about this issue. I love it when you get those rare, spontaneous eruptions of debate.

The boys are growing. Their bodies have elongated this winter. I noticed it at swim practice this Saturday. Ian's arms and legs stretch out and his torso has lost the little boy tummy. He's too thin and pale, though; he needs a warm sun and a bike. Jonah's pants stop two inches above his ankles and his sneakers are in shreds. I'm going to have to take him shopping this week.

The house is beginning to fill with boys. I like an open house for Jonah's friends. I like the noise of boys making fart jokes and discussing the intricacies of video games. Ian likes the commotion, too, blending in silently in the sea of bigger kids. Some boys are dropped off by their parents. Others just bang on the door and come in. We've been throwing in Trader Joe's pizzas into the oven and popping corn to feed the masses.

There was a break in the weather this week. People emerged from their cocoons and picked up old leaves, pushed the new babies in strollers, and just came outside for a "hello." I studied the garden beds and cleared off the leaves that I had never bothered to rake up last fall. The tulips are poking through the dirt. I'm planning out the garden this year. Tomatoes and basil by the back fence. New shrubs by the garage. An Ikea patio table by the house. I can't wait to get my hands dirty again.

I'm busy clearing my desk of old projects. I want a clean slate in May to work on something entirely different.

But I will have to wait a bit longer for the new projects and the gardening. Another snow storm is coming. Ian's school has closed. I'm hoping my school closes, because I can't take him to school with me, and my mom will be too chicken to drive to my house in the snow. This snow is a set back, but it shouldn't last long. I think that I'll be able to prune the rose bushes next week.