Gills and Qi.

I'm doing what I'm always doing when I've sat down to make a list of the homework I need to accomplish over the next 4 days.

A lot of other things.

For example, I'm drinking coffee.
Decaf, of course.
Selfishly, so I sleep tonight... and protectively, so our baby doesn't get gills. Or a headache. Or something like that.

I look sad. But I'm not.
Because:

A) I love that coffee mug. My mum bought it for me as a pre-wedding present. I use it every day - sometimes twice. And I'm trying to get over this perpetual fear I have... every time I see it on any table anywhere, I worry that it will fall off and smash to bits. Because I love it so much.

B) I just got to watch the girls basketball team that I coached for the last 2 years play in their Junior game. I love those girls. They hugged me. They giggled. They scored a lot of points today.

C) I am hearing occasional "blips" in the background that indicate someone has played a word. So it's my turn.


Which brings me to my next subject today. Words with Friends.
Ryan has been very concerned for me and the millions of people out there playing this game. He worries about its addictive properties.
Psssh. Ryan.
{be right back. just heard another blip}

The thing with Words is that it kind of makes you smarter... but mostly makes you un-smarter. (I wasn't allowed to call things stupider growing up, I don't think).
For example.
My conscious, linguistically-minded brain knows there's not a word out there spelled J-U-G-O-F.... or V-I-M-E-F... but you better believe I'm going to try to use those words. For like 37 points, I'm going to try.

So we try. And try.

And then after a while you get used to certain words. Like QI.
Ya, you heard me. If you ever play this game, you're like "Yeah, yeah, I just used that word this morning to score like a triple word!"

So now my goal is to use qi in conversation (my spell check has actually underlined qi in red... what does that tell you?...).
But I have no idea how. Is it a noun? An adjective? A verb??

"My, what a nice qi you have. Could I borrow it for the weekend?"

"Ooooh, you're looking very qi today. Was it something you ate?"

"Before I get up every morning, I qi. Then I put my feet over the side of the bed."


I better stop before I accidentally say something rude.