So today I got up early, b/c I needed to go to Big Research U. Yay competent professor!

Then I fucked around online all morning, and didn't get dressed and on the road. Boo, bad professor!

Then the boys woke up (they slept in late b/c Mr. B. is sick as a dog and pseudonymous kid is a late sleeper, especially if one of the grownups is still in the bed providing a warm bolster), and pseudonymous kid was happy I was still home. So I made him breakfast. Yay good mama!

Then the power went out. Boo!

Then I decided that since the power was out and Mr. B. was sick, I should take him and pseudonymous kid to Big City and park them in a heated cafe or something while I did my library stuff. Which would, of course, necessarily mean that I'd spend less time in the library than I really should. Yay good wife and mama! But boo, bad professor!

Then I thought about how the electricity would probably come on soon, and should I really drag poor sick Mr. B. to the Big City? But I kind of wanted his and pseudonymous kid's company on the drive, and their sort of imagined company while I was working, because the weather today was crappy and I didn't want to go out in it alone. Boo selfish wife and mama!

But pseudonymous kid was really excited about the idea. Yay good mama!

So we piled in the car and off we went. I had to cash a check intended to reimburse me for some dental work, because I didn't have enough money to buy gas or to pay for parking or to buy a copy card. Boo, bad spendthrift!

So off we went, we got to Big City Research U., we parked, pseudonymous kid wanted to play outside in the freezing cold, and I had to run off to the library because now it was getting very late. Which meant I had to leave poor sick Mr. B. out in the cold with pseudonymous kid. Boo, bad wife!

But Mr. B. has, along with a sinus infection, croup. And cold air is good for that. So actually that was okay.

Then I went to the library, found the material I needed, found out some other things I hadn't known before, worked very efficiently, had several brainwaves while I was reading microfilm, jotted down some notes for my conference paper. Yay brilliant and quick-thinking professor!

Then I went to the bookstore to meet Mr. B. and pseudonymous kid. I sat there for an hour and read this very interesting book, but did not buy it because I am broke, but I shall have to read it in more depth later and blog about it because it was very interesting. Yay fortuitous reading! Yay personal epiphanies!

But Mr. B. and pseudonymous kid did not show up, and I started to worry a little. Usually I abhor that kind of worry, but Mr. B. was sick. An hour later, when the bookstore finally closed, I went outside and found that they had tried to meet me in the textbook section (?!?) b/c Mr. B., on cough syrup + codeine, hadn't figured out there was a popular book section, and finally they just went and sat outside in the cold. Because I had been worried, I berated him over how silly this was. Boo, bad wife!

Then we decided to go to a pub across the street and have dinner. Yay good mama and wife! Boo, bad spendthrift!

(Brief interruption of rhythmic narrative: Mr. B. told me that pseudonymous kid had had a poop accident, and that as a result he, Mr. B., had simply wadded up pseudonymous kid's underwear and thrown it away. Then, as he was cleaning p.k's shit-smeared ass with wads of spit-moistened toilet paper [those of you who don't want kids: you're right], he tried to flush, and the accumulated t.p. caused the toilet to overflow. Mr. B. snatched up both his laptop (which he'd brought with him, and was laying on the floor while he did his parental duty) and pseudonymous kid's half-naked ass and moved to the stall at the far end of the row, where he proceeded to try to clean pseudonymous kid a bit faster, as the overflowing toilet water slowly crept across the floor towards them. Not able to move fast enough, he salvaged the situation only by building a toilet paper dyke, which luckily held the flood at bay long enough for him to finish up and skulk away. At this story, I laughed aloud and pounded the table in the pub.)

After dinner, pseudomous kid played a round of pool on the table, with a little help of course. Yay good mama!

Then, with the sun well down, we made our way to the car. Pseudonymous kid, having a fine old time, was making a strenuous argument that we should "stay in Big City and keep having fun!" Kid after my own heart, but as it was cold and I was growing impatient I would have none of it. We stopped at Starbuck's so I could grab a coffee. (Pseudonymous kid: "Let's do something fun!" Me: "Ok. Let's go into Starbuck's and buy me some coffee, that's fun." Pseudonymous kid: "No, coffee's not fun. Coffee's just a grownup drink.") I shut him up by buying him a cookie. Then, as we continued to walk to the car, he began dawdling and trying to "hide" and then jump out and "scare" us, and because it was cold I was getting very surly and not playing along and starting to say mean shit like, "Jesus christ, pseudonymous kid, hurry up already. No, I'm not going to be scared. Knock it off," and grabbing him and dragging him, yelling, along the sidewalk. Boo bad snarky mama! Boo, bad and irresponsible cookie- and coffee-buying spendthrift!

Then we got in the car and drove home and he fell asleep. I put him in bed in his coat. Boo bad mama, keeping pseudonymous kid out past his bedtime on a school night!

Then I went in to the study to find the files I needed, which were on the backup hard drive, for the conference paper I need to write. Managed to find them right away. Yay smart professor with good memory!

Checked files. Yes, the bulk of this conference paper can be based on this fairly old work I've already done, with a few added things. Boo, bad professor, recycling old ideas! Boo, bad professor who wrote abstract in order to force herself to do something new with this old material, then procrastinated and will simply fall back on existing work! Yay smart professor who remembered exactly where the old material was, found it quickly, and has to admit that even though it's old to me, it's new to everyone else and so will be a perfectly fine conference paper! Boo bad professor who should have published this a year ago!

And now, here it is. 1:30 am. And I'm still flying on that goddamn late-night Starbuck's shit. Boo, bad teacher who will be totally dragging tomorrow! Boo, irresponsible human being who cannot manage her own sleep schedule! Yay heroic professor who, despite a total lack of sleep, will somehow soldier through! Yay heroic mama/professor who sacrifices her own sleep in order to take care of sick Mr. B. and pseudonymous kid even while she gets work done on her conference paper! Boo bad professor who should be writing her conference paper instead of blogging, if she's going to be up at all hours!

The electricity came back on, though. Yay!

So that's 12 yays and 17 boos. Even if you discount one boo for the croup, I'm still not coming out ahead.

Shit.