I was told there would be no math

My dear friend, Shannon, watched the kids for me today so I could take the Biology placement test at the community college. For the past week and a half I have been trying to cram an entire semester of Biology into my brain so I can score high enough to skip General Biology and sign up for Microbiology in the Fall. Even though I have not taken Biology since tenth grade. Which was what? 1991? And I did pretty poorly in it then.

But skipping General Biology would save me a whole semester of school and about $500 so I have been trying.

The test was 100 questions. I scored a 68. And I needed a 70 to pass.

DAMN IT.

So I went to Starbucks on the way to Shannon's house and picked up a vanilla latte and some lemon loaf for her. And a vanilla latte and some lemon loaf for myself. Screw Dr. Atkins. I was so frustrated and a bit hungry and I love lemon desserts. So I told Shannon it was to make myself feel better. Which was total crap because if I had (by some miracle) aced the test, I would have bought myself a lemon loaf to celebrate. When you need something lemony, people, you find a reason.


Anyway. I can retake the test after seven days. So this gives me seven more days to learn all those stupid chemical compounds that I messed up on today (who knew there was so much Chemistry in Biology?) and hopefully get at least two more questions correct next time.

Like Jonathan said, this is just a minor setback.

He is so ready to come home. And I am so ready for him to be home. It is just so pointless, being apart. All this time, wasted being away from him. For what? Because for some reason there is work to be done in the city of Detroit that someone who already lives in Detroit cannot do? How does that make sense? Meanwhile, I am alone, chasing yet another gigantic moth out of Blue's room, wondering how I ever lived on my own for so long. What did I do when I came across a spider? I honestly don't remember. Is that why I moved around so many times?

Anyway, the kids have been staying busy while Daddy is away. We have been painting with watercolors a lot this week. Which is very messy. But which they love to do. Every afternoon now they ask me if they can paint. And they have painted stacks of gorgeous watercolors: flowers and princesses and Daddies and giraffes and birds and pirate ships and a family that was so sad because their baby died. (That last one was Blue's creation and I have no idea what prompted it, but I had to cover my mouth with my hand so I wouldn't laugh. Where do kids come up with this stuff? I mean, those poor grieving stick people really did look sad. They had huge purple frowns across their faces.)

Lion painted one of a knight before going up to bed. (They played knights with Shannon's little boy, Elijah, today.) He told me, pointing to a big green blob of paint, "That is a knight. And that," he pointed to a blob of brown paint beside it, "is his woman."