She rode in her third horse show this weekend. She competed in four events and got ribbons in three of them. The trainers were very pleased with her outing. She kicked the heck out of that horse all the way around the ring and got him to move much faster than he usually does. After her fourth and final event, she asked permission from the trainers to take her pony into the schooling ring to continue cantering. The trainers just lit up at that request and off she went to canter around for another quarter hour or so. Eventually, however, the pony got tired and he had to be brought back to his stall. My daughter untacked him herself, brushed him out, gave him a treat, and put him away. Then we had breakfast with my parents who had come up to watch the Girl Child ride.

Then I took her to the doctor. The doctor said that the left ear was an example of the worst ear infection she had seen in two weeks and the right ear was the worst she had seen all day. She was shocked that the Girl Child was not totally incapacitated. She was stunned to hear that the Girl Child had actually ridden in a horse show. She then turned to me and said, quietly, that if pus starts to come out of the Girl ChildÂ’s left ear that I should call her back because they will need to prescribe some special ear drops.

What, might you ask, were the Girl ChildÂ’s concerns? Whether she could still go sledding with her friends that afternoon and whether sheÂ’d be able to take her regular riding lesson on Sunday. No to the sledding and yes to the riding.

This is one tough kid.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 11:46 AM | Comments (30) | Add Comment
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The study of other cultures is very big right now. The Girl Child's class has "traveled" to Africa, Thailand, Mexico and Sweden and learned all sorts of things about the cultures there. Or, so she says. With reference to Sweden, the class has been studying Santa Lucia and the celebration thereof.

You will be pleased to know that the Viking Bride has been doing her part to help the GC learn about other cultures. The GC learned a new song about Santa Lucia. When she got to school, my not quite 7 year old daughter got up in front of her 1st grade class and informed them that she had learned a new Santa Lucia song from her mother and did they want her to sing it to them all in Norwegian? They did.

The song, which the Girl Child belted out, she then went on to translate.

It goes something like this, according to the Girl Child:

Santa Lucia went into the woods to poop. When she was finished, it smelled wicked bad.

You cannot say we are not doing our part for multi-cultural understanding!

Her classmates were amused although I gather her teacher was not quite as amused.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 04:23 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 That was hilarious. Bet you can't wait for the next Parent/Teacher conference.

Posted by: Howard at December 19, 2007 04:57 PM (u2JaN)

2 I vividly remember learning about Santa Lucia in kindergarden. As the oldest daughter, I thought it would be cool to wear candles on a wreath on my head.

Posted by: Angie at December 19, 2007 05:17 PM (JRxQD)

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A little catch up is in order. When last we left our hero, he was holding the phone, cursing the fates, and wondering how he was going to prepare for oral argument on a motion that was six months old. Well, here's what happened. I told the judge that I wasn't coming in the next morning but could see him next week and he agreed.

So, I spent hours and hours getting re-prepared, re-researching, updating old research, re-dissecting arguments and constructing some new ones, and, and, and today was the day. I was up at 3:30 this morning because I could not sleep. Six hours later, there I was, standing in front of the judge, trying to tell him why we did not need to have an immediate trial on a particular issue. The judge, however, was hot to trot and when the other side said that they had a family trip planned, the judge scheduled the trial for the day after the guy's return. That is ugly. So, away we go. Let's get ready to ruuuuumble.

* * *

We had our joint birthday party, the Viking Bride and I. It was a cocktail reception for 70. It was a grand success. We had to keep the bar open for an extra 45 minutes. We stayed in that night in the City. The kids were in the room across from ours. The kids came to the first 45 minutes of the party. How could we have a party to celebrate our birthdays and tell the kids that they couldn't come? We couldn't figure out how to do that, so we didn't. They came.

The Viking Bride and I retired at 1. At 3, the baby woke up, screaming his head off. I ventured across the hall, picked him up, and soothed him. He would not go back into his crib. By this point, the Boy and Girl Children were up. I gave up and took the baby into bed with his brother and sister who had been happily sharing a king sized bed up to that point. The baby insisted on staying inside the circle of my arms with his head against my face. That made it easy for him to head butt me in the eye socket or chin whenever he wanted and it was also easier for him to reach my hair when he needed something to pull. I had just about managed to get us both back to sleep and I heard the following exchange.

BC: GC, I cannot tell what time it is. That is one of the hard numbers for me.

GC: Let's figure it out together, BC, shall we? What comes after 4?

BC: 5!

GC: Very good! Give me a hug!

It was too cute, even if, at the time, I just wanted them to shut up.

* * *

The Girl Child continues to ride and ride well. The senior instructor types were telling my wife that they think she's going to be a great rider. She's back to where she was before her fall and more so, even. She informed me when I got home that she learned something new, how to do a cross-over. I thought this might be a neat new way to change a diagonal. Nope, it is, instead, a new way to smack the horse with your crop.

She's going to make some man very miserable one day. Or very happy, I suppose, depending on the guy.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 02:11 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 This is no lie...I was watching TV the other day, flipping the channels and happened to catch someone jumping with a horse. My first thought? I wonder if the GC can do that?

Posted by: Howard at December 17, 2007 05:12 PM (u2JaN)

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Let's say you worked your butt off on a set of motions in a case that is now something like 19 years old. The motions were marked submitted by the judge back in May or June. It is now December. You have not heard anything about the motions. Indeed, you have practically forgotten about the entire existence of the case, not just the motions. Then, it is 1:00. You get a call from the Part Clerk saying that the judge wants all the lawyers to come in at 9:30 tomorrow morning. When you ask why, you get the impression that the Part Clerk has no idea but is merely speculating when she tells you that "there are motions outstanding and maybe the judge has some questions".

Hit the panic button. Run around like an idiot for a half an hour. Now, pull the huge stack of papers you have on this case and try to prepare yourself for whatever the judge might be wondering about since he got the papers back in the spring.

Pat, Vanna, I would like to buy a clue, please.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 01:35 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 I can't give you a clue, but since I played the role of Howie Mandel at this year's Christmas party, I can give you a shiny briefcase. Hope it went well...

Posted by: Howard at December 10, 2007 04:50 PM (u2JaN)

2 Well? Did you win or what? Don't keep us in suspense.

Posted by: Kathy at December 11, 2007 12:10 PM (7f9Tx)

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