Some Assembly Required

Well, Hollis and I just watched the DVR’d Dancing With The Stars premiere. A most brilliant observance on her part: The dancers are more celebrities this season than the “stars” themselves. Of course this 45 minutes of decadence puts her late in going to bed and the massive resistance effort begins. Takes 20 seconds to [...]

So here it is, Sunday night after a day a mostly wrangling and cajoling Hollis to do her homework. She actually did do some of it between bags of popcorn, a mad dash out to catch the ice cream truck guy (which, I have to say, is the fastest I’ve seen her move thus far) [...]

I have a sprain on my left thumb this morning. It was caused by overuse of the Wii nunchuk. Because this weekend, fate has finally revealed to me why I have a 15-year-old girl living with me: Dancing With The Stars for Wii. I bought this game about a year ago when Dance Dance Revolution [...]

Hurrah! Hollis showed marked improvement on her biology test concerning the chemistry chapter. She scored an 84, which is a B-minus! This will help her overall grade considerably in a very difficult class. I’m very proud of her. We’ll celebrate tonight by watching taped episodes of Glee and Office and share some popcorn. Maybe even [...]

I’m as anxious as an award recipient standing on a stage and realizing Kanye West has just left his front-row seat. I’m awaiting the results of Hollis’ biology test. I don’t think I was this nervous 25 years ago when I was looking at a little plastic stick and trying to figure out if there [...]

My atoms, at the moment, are highly charged and increasing their oxidation state. The ensuing loss of electrons are imploding out of my ears and eyes. This, in case you are wondering, is not a good thing. That is because I have been attempting to prep Hollis for her chemistry chapter test in biology class [...]

Another adjustment I’ve had to make since Hollis became my roommate is the increased laundry. Before, I washed a small load once a week and a towel load after I washed the dogs. But since Hollis’ main method of cleaning her room is to place all of her clothes in the laundry basket, I’m doing [...]

This was going to be a weekend of study for Hollis. She’s beginning to understand her typical homework routine isn’t going to cut it at Norfolk Collegiate. She’s dug quite a hole for herself in biology. I’m a little annoyed the only grades they have posted on Edline have been her not-so-great classes. Where are [...]

Last night, Hollis went to a Middle School Mixer to “chaperone” some of the kids, including her soon-to-be 13 cousin, Michael. I don’t believe it was all that interesting for her and she clearly didn’t believe anyone of note would be there given the casual attire she wore. But it sure beat her watching TV [...]

It’s been one of those days. I think it started after Val-Del showed up five minutes earlier than I thought to pick up Hollis for school this morning. I was expecting 7:50 — not 7:45. That tilted the world a little off its axis and that’s pretty much how my day went. And Hollis got [...]