misc.

Things that are on my mind this morning, in no particular order:

1) Finishing the foster licensing, for once and for freaking all: Our plan is to get this done this summer, so it’s not hanging over our heads once I’m back in school. We don’t have plans to become foster parents, but if we get our house into compliance with their standards, we can accept a foster-to-adopt situation if something like that comes up. We’ve made it clear to the agency that we want to wait a little while before considering any specific matches, because I want to get used to my new academic schedule before taking on parenthood. But fortunately, our social worker is very supportive and cool with this. In the meantime, we may provide some occasional respite care.

Most of what’s left is annoying house-related things, like putting smoke alarms everywhere, storing the kitchen knives above the sink (apparently it’s safer if they fall on my head than if they remain in a normal drawer), disposing of all the old paint in the basement, locking up anything that could be interpreted as a chemical, locking up the booze, locking up medication…I guess I should make sure there isn’t anything about knitting needles. Once we’ve been approved by the proper authorities, we’re allowed to backslide until the event of an actual child. My plan is to stumble around the house chugging Nyquil and dropping kitchen knives on the floor, just to get it out of my system.

2) Trying to offload my volunteer responsibilities. I’ve served as the communications officer on the board of an interfaith women’s organization for the past two and half years and am finally resigning, with a fair amount of burnout. I was hoping to be done with it this week, but the person who has taken over for me has, through no fault of her own, activated the spam filters of approximately one hundred members with her first bulk e-mail, and now I am trying to deal with that.

Also: There’s nothing more charming than a person who chooses the moment that you are trying to resign from a volunteer position to send rude e-mails suggesting that you should format all your communications in bullet points because it’s too hard for people to read actual paragraphs. My advice to this person? Learn to read, and then look up the word “volunteer” in the dictionary. Definition: Not paid to put up with your whining bullshit. (OK, I didn't actually respond with that. I wrote something about how my successor would appreciate her "patience and polite suggestions.")

3) Iran. The news is breaking my heart. I’m especially edgy about it because a friend and fellow board member left for Tehran with her children to visit her parents, just a few days before the election. She’s supposed to come back in July, and none of us has heard anything from her yet. I’m sure she’ll be fine, but it’s scarier to hear the news knowing someone who’s there. I hope she doesn’t have any trouble getting home.

Repressive governments suck.

4) On a brighter note, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has finally slain Edward Cullen of Twilight’s creepy stalker ass, and good riddance to the slimy bastard:



I think this may be the first time I’ve ever embedded a video on this blog. A suitable inaugural choice, this one. Although you can see it on a wider screen at here; it's kind of clipped off in the embed.