It is absolutely mind-blowing that this is my thousandth post over here.  The last time I stuck with something for this long, I got seriously burned out.  What follows is nothing of major gravitas befitting this milestone of mine, just some meditations on recent happenings - which is mostly what this corner of the internets has been about, anyhow.  Barring unforeseen life changes, I hope to keep things up for a while longer' round here, so here's to the next thousand...

Some thoughts on Toothiness: 

Really, the only reason I've had anxiety about my son's supposed lack of powers of concentration has been due to my not taking things too well when it is suggested by teachers of his that he get tested for these sorts of things.  As it turns out, a recent in-school screening for any learning disabilities he might have turned up negative - which is how I spell "relief" on that front.  So it frees this slacker mom to worry about the things that matter...

...like how the kid's permanent teeth are coming in.

The last time I was this anxious about the kid's mouth, one could argue that evacuation made me crazy.  This time, I have no such excuse. 

We headed to the park and, amidst the little guy's fun and frolic, I took a good look at his happy grin and saw that a new tooth was pushing its way out of his gums next to his top left front tooth. Once I complimented him on his growing-guy status being enhanced, I got worried because it looked like his tooth was growing out of the front of his gum rather than directly between the two top teeth.  Slight panic that accompanies the need moms like me have to try to see the possible future of our offspring followed - key words like "orthodontics", "braces", "pain", and "money" crossed my mind. 

The only possible relief for this was at my fingertips, for in this day and age, anybody can be reached at the park by way of a cell phone...so I called up my mom and told her of my anxiety.  She said his mouth could still rearrange itself as his gums grew, so it wasn't something to freak out over, and I felt a little better - but I still see that thing coming in and I wonder about how my own teeth came in.  I want to quiz my husband and his family on how their teeth came in.  I get this hankering to go over the family trees Dan's been researching to see if the past might be prologue as far as our son's dental work goes.  I have a pretty unhealthy thought process regarding his grins at this point, so if anybody has any suggestions on how to let this insanity go, I'd greatly appreciate it.

In the meantime, the weather has dictated that the great bed bug-esque lump make an appearance between our covers:

So my big cat didn't move from that spot today from the time I made the bed at 8 AM 'til 12:20 PM.  You'd think he was a shorthair, but he just likes to burrow.

The season also brought the Po' Boy Festival at which I didn't have a single po' boy this year due to having cooked up a huge pot of chicken soup with matzah balls with a group of kids at the religious school just before heading to Oak Street.  I instead left that duty to Dan and ended up with the medallion mother lode:

I'm certain there was more po' boy-related swag that I missed, but who can pass up stuff that says this?

Hey, it's great that Mahony's is looking out for its customers, but what if the shop is closed?  I mean, think about it, guys.

Of course, after I get that River Parish Disposal medallion, the garbage pick-up folks saw fit to leave these with the emptied cans this morning.  Problem is, the rains this morning soaked them off the garbage can handles, because this is how I found them:

Get your truth about the trash contracts!

The website it refers one to - www.TruthAboutTrash.com - is encountering technical difficulties, perhaps because some agreements were made today concerning those same contracts.  (UPDATE, 11/16: So here it is: http://truthabouttrash.com.  And Adrastos rightfully points out the incongruity of trash pickup folks trying to spread the word by...adding to the trash.) At least one aspect of the city's budget might be settled, but, judging from the in-City Council chambers tweets of The Lens, the business of finding money on which to run a city can quickly turn into a sick comedy of errors.

I decided to consult a bit of swag my husband brought back from his volunteering duties at the Jewish Federation's General Assembly a couple of weeks back:  the Hillel Foundation Magic 8 Ball:

Oh, heimishe Magic 8 Ball, will the budget be balanced to the satisfaction of all, enabling this city of mine to grow and flourish?  What say you?

So I didn't need an 8 Ball for that kind of answer.  Hey, it's still fun to shake it around.