Il Duce

So needless to say, the last couple of weeks of school were brutal. Six classes-worth of students handing in final projects, final papers, last minute revisions, etc. is just a freaking ton of work. So I didn't do much other than grade papers and do the basics of human existence - eat, sleep, play with the baby, etc.

But now, thankfully, it's over. I handed in my final grades a week ago and I've been free ever since. But free to do what? Run errands, do stuff around the stuff around the house, play with the baby, etc. The thing we're doing right now is prepping for a trip out west. We plan to spend the first couple weeks of June traveling out to Idaho, hang with my family for a week, spend a few days in SLC visiting Temple Square and the zoo, and then head back. Sounds fun, right? I'm sure it will be. Maryn and Avery are especially looking forward to playing with their cousins and seeing Grandma and Grandpa Brown.

However, we were having serious second thoughts about the whole thing due to some recent developments with Parker. Apparently, she suffers from a condition that develops in small children between the ages of 6 months and 2 years. She's only recently been diagnosed so we're just dealing with it all now. Her condition is called Mussolini-itis. Yeah, I hadn't really heard of it either but apparently it causes small, super-cute babies to act like Benito Mussolini. They yell a lot, demand stuff, expect the trains to run on time, and generally act like they're going to hang you upside down by your ankles if you don't do exactly what they want when they want.

It's a sad condition and hard on everyone involved. Her condition particularly flares up in the car. As we drive to town for groceries or home from church it only takes a split second and she transforms from cherub to this:



Not cool, right? So far there’s no vaccine or anything. We just hope it’s not terminal.

So, given her condition and its tendency to really act up in the car, we contemplated not even going. In the end, however, we decided that if we didn’t go, the Fascists would win. Can’t have that. So we may try night-driving or possibly large doses of Baby Tylenol to make it.

In other news, Lost had its series finale last night. It was two and a half hours of satisfaction, surprise, and, ultimately, joy. I have more to say about it but I’m going to wait. I still need to ponder and talk about it some before I write anything down. I will say that I really enjoyed it and that, after six years, I felt satisfied. The final scene between Jack and his father with the luminescent stained glass window in the background was perfection, I thought. That’s all for now.