Nymphs and other unnecessary things I know way too much about...

This weekend, in the midst of struggling to juggle so many activities I had a few brief moments of clarity, wherein I am a savant. They were very brief.

Friday night, I saw X-Men: First Class at a local theater with my friend Staci who dearly needed a break from reality. I had such a blast watching the film, connecting with the prequel history of the X-Men franchise characters, as well as actors that I'd loved in other movies. Our evening wound down with a walk through Old Town and a mint julep-fueled movie discussion at The Majestic. The weather was gorgeous and the soft, cool summer breezes made me wish I could stay out all night.

Saturday was Rosie's last soccer game of the season, the earliest in the day—so at the very least, we got it out of the way first thing! Got changed out of soccer gear, and rushed Rosie over to Staci's to play with her BFF MEO and a whole mess of second-grade-classroom-raised chicks (see photo!) that Staci was keeping for the weekend. I barely remember lunch and getting Dash to ballet, but I'm so glad my brain clicked on enough to recall that I needed to buy Rosie new tights for her recital costume while I was at the studio. I had forgotten the third activity of the day: Dance Studio Photo Day. I remembered it about two hours before our first photo session, which gave me enough time to shower, put myself and Rosie in stage make-up, do her ballet bun, dig up the kids' costumes and mine out of various bags, closets and car trunks, and warn Dash over and over that he was wearing white pants, do not jump, kneel, or brush up against anything. All photos were done by 6:45. Whew. I had enough down-time left over to commune with my new guilty pleasure addiction: Netflix's five seasons of Ghost Whisperer.

Sunday, I fit in an aerobics workout, and we all went to the pool for a delicious picnic lunch. Highlights of the pool: the West Potomac Crew was having a party there, and many of the high school students were swinging on swings and playing on the playground equipment (intended for the 5 to 12 age set). *Snicker.* Rosie and Dash socialized with a couple of pool friends.

When was I a savant? My brief moments of non-floundering parental glory were when Rosie asked me what a Nymph was. I was able to educate her on my semi-exhaustive knowledge of dryads, oreiads, hamadryads, naiads, and their respective residences and anti-social habits. Also, while I was talking with a friend about seeing X-Men, I dazzled her with my ridiculous knowledge of the actors in the movie, all their previous roles in other movies, and the backgrounds of the various X-Men characters and how they relate to each other. Actually, strike savant. I think I can solidly be labeled a GEEK.

Dash at the Dentist, with Shoggoth

No, I don't have any whacked out, drugged up vid of my boy, post dentist. Just a good report, xrays, cleaning, fluoride treatment, all the good stuff, minimal screaming. He must have his father's teeth. Mine have been drilled, filled, root canalled, scraped, and braced over the years in so many ways; I hope I don't pass much of that on.

Dash brought Shoggoth (per my suggestion), because he has soooo many teeth (36, in fact) and the dentist might want to look at them, too. I'm such a geek!

Dash told the dentist, "Shagga' is a sea monster! He's a Kraken! He's very scary!" (note: we've told Dash Shoggoth is a Kraken [as seen in Fellowship of the Ring] because that's easier to understand than protoplasmic hell-creature created by the Elder-Things)
The hygenist asked, "Oh, should I be afraid?"
Dash said, "No, he's only a toy."
The dentist asked, "He has so many eyes, too, does he watch over you?"
Dash said, "Yes, he keeps my nightmares away!"

Background on Shoggoth (originally from a tale by H.P. Lovecraft), according to Wikipedia:

"The shoggoths were created by the Elder Things as living bioengineered construction equipment. Being amorphous, they could take on any shape needed, making them very versatile within their aquatic environment. Though able to "understand" the Elder Things' language, they had no real consciousness and were controlled through hypnotic suggestion.

The shoggoths built the underwater cities of their masters. Over millions of years of existence, some shoggoths mutated and gained independent minds. Some time after this, they rebelled. Eventually, the Elder Things succeeded in quelling the insurrection, but thereafter watched them more carefully. By this point, exterminating them was not an option as the Elder Things were fully dependent on them for labor and could not replace them. It was during this time that, despite their masters' wishes, they demonstrated an ability to survive on land.

Within the Mythos, the existence of the shoggoths possibly led to the accidental creation of Ubbo-Sathla, a god-like entity supposedly responsible for the origin of all life on Earth, though At The Mountains of Madness brings up the possibility of the Elder Things being the creators, having made early life as discarded experiments in bioengineering."

Shoggoth, being a nightmare creature himself, must know the scene pretty well; I'm glad he's on Dash's side in the nightmare business. Woot to healthy teeth!

Shoggoth is my favorite friend!

I don't believe we'll be reading Dash any Lovecraft anytime soon. In the meantime, Shoggoth, with his many eyes, teeth, and tentacles, will be guarding Dash from the bad dreams and nightmares instead of creating them.