An apology
Dear Awesome blogger,
You wrote a great post a couple of weeks ago. I left a comment on your post. The comment was heartfelt and sincere. It must also have been offensive in some way. I don't know why you deleted it, but I want to apologize if that's the way it came across.
I know they're not excuses, but the reasons I trip over myself with my comments and sometimes my own posts are 1. I'm new to blogging, and 2. My brain doesn't filter things very well, and 3. Sometimes I have an odd way of thinking about things.
I know you probably don't read my blog, but I've felt sort of guilty about it and wanted to get it off my chest. So again, I apologize.
Sincerely,
me
P.S.
If any of the other readers feel like being nosy, don't bother. It's not anyone who comments of my blog and it's not anyone in the links on my side bar.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
3.5 grits
The Massachusetts DMV will allow people to choose their own gender to put on their driver's licenses now. That means a man can use the women's restroom if he wants to. Would you feel comfortable with that?
On the other hand, if someone truly feels like a woman trapped in a man's body, or vice verse, and they've been living and dressing as a woman/man, is it appropriate for a police officer or security guard to make them prove their gender to use the restroom?
When I read or hear stories about gender confusion, I feel very sad for that person. And I also think that there has to be genetic components to their decision. Why in the world would someone decide to live their life with pain and confusion about something so fundamental to who they are?
The Massachusetts DMV will allow people to choose their own gender to put on their driver's licenses now. That means a man can use the women's restroom if he wants to. Would you feel comfortable with that?
On the other hand, if someone truly feels like a woman trapped in a man's body, or vice verse, and they've been living and dressing as a woman/man, is it appropriate for a police officer or security guard to make them prove their gender to use the restroom?
When I read or hear stories about gender confusion, I feel very sad for that person. And I also think that there has to be genetic components to their decision. Why in the world would someone decide to live their life with pain and confusion about something so fundamental to who they are?
When I say my kids pile up like puppies at night, I'm not kidding.
Bud is on top, Pickles underneath. Just disregard how the sheets don't match. Or, for that matter, Bud's top and bottoms of his pajamas. OR, that Pickles isn't wearing pajamas. OR that these used to be bunk beds till the boys broke the top bunk.
Bud is on top, Pickles underneath. Just disregard how the sheets don't match. Or, for that matter, Bud's top and bottoms of his pajamas. OR, that Pickles isn't wearing pajamas. OR that these used to be bunk beds till the boys broke the top bunk.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Conversations with Pickles
Pickles: Are leopards mean?
(He asks this question regularly in various forms - Are worms/spiders/wolves/aliens/Bigfoots mean?)
me: Pickles, leopards are animals! Sure, they eat other things to stay alive, but they don't trip other leopards and then laugh! Animals aren't mean.
Pickles: MOM! You know what I mean!
me: Uh, actually Pickles, I don't. But that's what makes you special.
_______________________________________________
Pickles: What are we having for dinner?
me: Noodles with sausage, peppers, onions, and mushrooms.
Pickles: That's disgusting Mom! Onions!?! Hey Bud, look at what was in my nose!
_______________________________________________
Pickles: When I grow up, I don't want to have any tattoos.
me: Well you don't have to. You never have to do anything you don't want to do. There are consequences for every action, good and bad. And-
Pickles (interrupting): Cause it would hurt. And I don't want to get my ears pierced either. You know, like Dad.
_______________________________________________
Pickles: You know what I hear sometimes when you talk Mom?
me: tell me my little cheeseburger...
Pickles: blah, blah, blah, blah. I TRY to listen, but sometimes you're boring!
me: Pickles, don't be rude. When I talk to you, it's important that you listen.
Pickles: huh?
________________________________________________
Pickles: I want a gecko for a pet.
me: You have to keep your room clean. That will show me that you're responsible enough for a pet.
Pickles: A gecko won't care if my room is clean.
me: That's not the point.
Pickles: Ok then, how about a turtle?
me: No.
Pickles: Then how about a red eared slider?
me: That's a kind of turtle
Pickles: How did you know that?
________________________________________________
Pickles: Mom, you said there was no such thing as a Super Croc
(Prehistoric reptiles are another favorite topic around here)
me: That's not what I said. I said it's not called a super croc technically. It has a scientific name.
Pickles: Oh, I know. It's a Sarcosuchus imperator. They found it in the desert and it was more than two of our trucks long. It weighed about 8 tons.
(Pickles likes facts)
me: That's very interesting Pickles. You're so smart!
Pickles: I know. I thought for awhile that I was smarter than you since you said there was no Super Croc.
________________________________________________
Pickles: Sometimes I wish I was a cartoon character.
Pickles: Are leopards mean?
(He asks this question regularly in various forms - Are worms/spiders/wolves/aliens/Bigfoots mean?)
me: Pickles, leopards are animals! Sure, they eat other things to stay alive, but they don't trip other leopards and then laugh! Animals aren't mean.
Pickles: MOM! You know what I mean!
me: Uh, actually Pickles, I don't. But that's what makes you special.
_______________________________________________
Pickles: What are we having for dinner?
me: Noodles with sausage, peppers, onions, and mushrooms.
Pickles: That's disgusting Mom! Onions!?! Hey Bud, look at what was in my nose!
_______________________________________________
Pickles: When I grow up, I don't want to have any tattoos.
me: Well you don't have to. You never have to do anything you don't want to do. There are consequences for every action, good and bad. And-
Pickles (interrupting): Cause it would hurt. And I don't want to get my ears pierced either. You know, like Dad.
_______________________________________________
Pickles: You know what I hear sometimes when you talk Mom?
me: tell me my little cheeseburger...
Pickles: blah, blah, blah, blah. I TRY to listen, but sometimes you're boring!
me: Pickles, don't be rude. When I talk to you, it's important that you listen.
Pickles: huh?
________________________________________________
Pickles: I want a gecko for a pet.
me: You have to keep your room clean. That will show me that you're responsible enough for a pet.
Pickles: A gecko won't care if my room is clean.
me: That's not the point.
Pickles: Ok then, how about a turtle?
me: No.
Pickles: Then how about a red eared slider?
me: That's a kind of turtle
Pickles: How did you know that?
________________________________________________
Pickles: Mom, you said there was no such thing as a Super Croc
(Prehistoric reptiles are another favorite topic around here)
me: That's not what I said. I said it's not called a super croc technically. It has a scientific name.
Pickles: Oh, I know. It's a Sarcosuchus imperator. They found it in the desert and it was more than two of our trucks long. It weighed about 8 tons.
(Pickles likes facts)
me: That's very interesting Pickles. You're so smart!
Pickles: I know. I thought for awhile that I was smarter than you since you said there was no Super Croc.
________________________________________________
Pickles: Sometimes I wish I was a cartoon character.
Guilty until proven innocent - 3 grits
This really bothers me.
Blagojevich, IL's illustrious governor, has been impeached, Jan. 9th actually, for crimes he allegedly committed. Him being impeached it what bothers me. I don't personally like what I've seen of him. I mean, have you seen videos of him? Have you read some of the transcripts of his conversations about selling the big O's senatorial seat? He seems to be quite the slimeball.
HOWEVER, because he has not been convicted of anything, I don't think he should have been impeached. Let the Lt. Guv take over until it's done with, sure, but don't toss the guy out before due process of law has taken place. It's kind of scary because it opens the door to other governors being taken down because someone didn't like what they were doing/saying/spending.
I'm editing this post to include a (much more thought out reaction than mine) response. Just in case you don't read the comments. I feel this comment includes a lot more info than I presented and provides a complete thought. And that's what I get for posting without doing research. :) I've always been a little more into sci fi than poli sci anyway.
Thanks, Charlotte.
"I have been thinking about this a couple days and I have to disagree with you. Impeachment is a completely separate entity from legal proceedings.
Impeachment is the legislative branch's equivalent of making formal charges against a government official. Once an official is impeached, the legislature can exam the evidence and come to a conclusion of his guilt and need to remain in office (acquitted) or be removed (convicted). It doesn't matter if the official has charges pending or has been convicted or has yet to have charges filed. In fact President Nixon resigned before he could be impeached and President Clinton was impeached, didn't get enough "conviction" votes after the evidence was examined to have him removed from office.
By evoking the "guilty until proven innocent" part of our constitution you have mixed our judicial system with our legislative system. Impeachment is a legislative checks and balance and is not related to the judicial system's due process of law (although most impeachments are based on indictable offenses).
I don't know how Illinois handles their impeachment in their constitution, but I'm sure it is similar to the US Constitution's system. Also I am unsure where in the process they are- if at impeachment phases or conviction phases, but it behooves them to move quickly and the constitution is in no way overrun by what they are doing. In fact, they are specifically given the right to do so. "
This really bothers me.
Blagojevich, IL's illustrious governor, has been impeached, Jan. 9th actually, for crimes he allegedly committed. Him being impeached it what bothers me. I don't personally like what I've seen of him. I mean, have you seen videos of him? Have you read some of the transcripts of his conversations about selling the big O's senatorial seat? He seems to be quite the slimeball.
HOWEVER, because he has not been convicted of anything, I don't think he should have been impeached. Let the Lt. Guv take over until it's done with, sure, but don't toss the guy out before due process of law has taken place. It's kind of scary because it opens the door to other governors being taken down because someone didn't like what they were doing/saying/spending.
I'm editing this post to include a (much more thought out reaction than mine) response. Just in case you don't read the comments. I feel this comment includes a lot more info than I presented and provides a complete thought. And that's what I get for posting without doing research. :) I've always been a little more into sci fi than poli sci anyway.
Thanks, Charlotte.
"I have been thinking about this a couple days and I have to disagree with you. Impeachment is a completely separate entity from legal proceedings.
Impeachment is the legislative branch's equivalent of making formal charges against a government official. Once an official is impeached, the legislature can exam the evidence and come to a conclusion of his guilt and need to remain in office (acquitted) or be removed (convicted). It doesn't matter if the official has charges pending or has been convicted or has yet to have charges filed. In fact President Nixon resigned before he could be impeached and President Clinton was impeached, didn't get enough "conviction" votes after the evidence was examined to have him removed from office.
By evoking the "guilty until proven innocent" part of our constitution you have mixed our judicial system with our legislative system. Impeachment is a legislative checks and balance and is not related to the judicial system's due process of law (although most impeachments are based on indictable offenses).
I don't know how Illinois handles their impeachment in their constitution, but I'm sure it is similar to the US Constitution's system. Also I am unsure where in the process they are- if at impeachment phases or conviction phases, but it behooves them to move quickly and the constitution is in no way overrun by what they are doing. In fact, they are specifically given the right to do so. "
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
My friend sent me this in an email...
Cup of Tea .
One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me.
I was maybe 2 1/2 years old. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as
a gift and it was one of my favorite toys.
Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I
brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After
several
cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home.
My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of
tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' My Mom waited, and sure
enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she
watches him drink it up.
Then she says, (as only a mother would know.. :)
'Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get
water is the toilet?
Cup of Tea .
One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me.
I was maybe 2 1/2 years old. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as
a gift and it was one of my favorite toys.
Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I
brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After
several
cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home.
My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of
tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' My Mom waited, and sure
enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she
watches him drink it up.
Then she says, (as only a mother would know.. :)
'Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get
water is the toilet?
Monday, January 26, 2009
Hmmmm...
I'm not feeling too inspired to whip up a nice delicious post right now. But, I figured that if I just sat down and put something on "paper", maybe I could deliver something slightly interesting.
My day started out much much earlier than I would have liked for it to. Before 6 AM actually. Which wouldn't have been too bad, except that I didn't go to sleep before 1AM. Because I was up studying. Because James wasn't home all day Saturday or Sunday. But the kids were. And they had activities. And I had activities. And I got to do them all alone. So I didn't get a whole lot of studying done over the weekend.
But you didn't come to hear me complain did you? No, you came to hear me be hilarious about mundane things involving my kids with maybe a side dish of political musings.
Well, too bad. This morning on my walk up the hill to school from the parking lot, in the cold, because it's winter here, I watched 2 high school girls walking away from the high school. Kind of curious, says I, but since I didn't really care, it was just one of those things that passes away into the dark recesses of useless memories. Until the girls started screaming cuss words. At the car following them slowly. Their MOTHER was in car! Telling them to get into the car that minute. They screamed back, lacing their objection with obscenities. And then started running down a side street. That was when the mother stopped the car and jumped out to chase them. It was all very special.
But it made me think. When did that mother lose the respect of her kids? Did she ever have it? Did she treat her children with respect? This wasn't a problem that started a month or two ago. My mother and I screamed at each other. Not very often, but I was a teenager once. We disagreed on a lot of things. But never once would I have even considered cussing at my mom. It wasn't even an option. How does a mother/child relationship make it to that point? I'm pretty confident I'm doing things with my own parenting that will make an exchange like that never happen between my own children and me. Very sad indeed.
But I'm passing all my classes. I even have 3 A's. Sorry I don't have straight A's Mom and Dad. I guess I'm not living up to my "potential". (Do the quotes in the air for me)
Anyway, that's all y'all git fer t'naht. Ahm all writed out and Ah cain't do no more.
I'm not feeling too inspired to whip up a nice delicious post right now. But, I figured that if I just sat down and put something on "paper", maybe I could deliver something slightly interesting.
My day started out much much earlier than I would have liked for it to. Before 6 AM actually. Which wouldn't have been too bad, except that I didn't go to sleep before 1AM. Because I was up studying. Because James wasn't home all day Saturday or Sunday. But the kids were. And they had activities. And I had activities. And I got to do them all alone. So I didn't get a whole lot of studying done over the weekend.
But you didn't come to hear me complain did you? No, you came to hear me be hilarious about mundane things involving my kids with maybe a side dish of political musings.
Well, too bad. This morning on my walk up the hill to school from the parking lot, in the cold, because it's winter here, I watched 2 high school girls walking away from the high school. Kind of curious, says I, but since I didn't really care, it was just one of those things that passes away into the dark recesses of useless memories. Until the girls started screaming cuss words. At the car following them slowly. Their MOTHER was in car! Telling them to get into the car that minute. They screamed back, lacing their objection with obscenities. And then started running down a side street. That was when the mother stopped the car and jumped out to chase them. It was all very special.
But it made me think. When did that mother lose the respect of her kids? Did she ever have it? Did she treat her children with respect? This wasn't a problem that started a month or two ago. My mother and I screamed at each other. Not very often, but I was a teenager once. We disagreed on a lot of things. But never once would I have even considered cussing at my mom. It wasn't even an option. How does a mother/child relationship make it to that point? I'm pretty confident I'm doing things with my own parenting that will make an exchange like that never happen between my own children and me. Very sad indeed.
But I'm passing all my classes. I even have 3 A's. Sorry I don't have straight A's Mom and Dad. I guess I'm not living up to my "potential". (Do the quotes in the air for me)
Anyway, that's all y'all git fer t'naht. Ahm all writed out and Ah cain't do no more.
Friday, January 23, 2009
It's that time of year again.
Anyone need any Girl Scouts cookies? I mean, if you haven't already bought some from the little girl at church, some from your niece, some from the neighbor girl, or some from your co-worker's daughter. Or maybe you have. Maybe you've bought at least two boxes from each of those little girls because how can anyone say no to a little girl with cookies?
I think the marketing of these addictive cookies is sheer genius. It's like selling crack for only two weeks a year. You can deny you have a problem, since your drugs only last a few weeks at most. But you buy more the next year and put extra in the freezer. You know you do. You know you love it. So you buy just one more box from that cutest of marketers. A Girl Scout. How can you resist? It's just a box of cookies for Pete's sake!
But they freeze so well, you tell yourself.
You're planning on having a get together and it would be great to put GS cookies out. EVERYone loves GS cookies.
You can just buy the low fat ones.
You HAVE to try the new ones. You know, the lemon ones.
They're called THIN mints. They don't make you fat.
You're supporting a national do-gooding organization.
It's for the CHILDREN!
You can buy an extra box from Sassafras if you want. I won't tell anyone your dirty little secret...
I have to say that this is the funniest, as well as mildly disturbing, video I've seen in a long time.
Anyone need any Girl Scouts cookies? I mean, if you haven't already bought some from the little girl at church, some from your niece, some from the neighbor girl, or some from your co-worker's daughter. Or maybe you have. Maybe you've bought at least two boxes from each of those little girls because how can anyone say no to a little girl with cookies?
I think the marketing of these addictive cookies is sheer genius. It's like selling crack for only two weeks a year. You can deny you have a problem, since your drugs only last a few weeks at most. But you buy more the next year and put extra in the freezer. You know you do. You know you love it. So you buy just one more box from that cutest of marketers. A Girl Scout. How can you resist? It's just a box of cookies for Pete's sake!
But they freeze so well, you tell yourself.
You're planning on having a get together and it would be great to put GS cookies out. EVERYone loves GS cookies.
You can just buy the low fat ones.
You HAVE to try the new ones. You know, the lemon ones.
They're called THIN mints. They don't make you fat.
You're supporting a national do-gooding organization.
It's for the CHILDREN!
You can buy an extra box from Sassafras if you want. I won't tell anyone your dirty little secret...
I have to say that this is the funniest, as well as mildly disturbing, video I've seen in a long time.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
I'm sick of all the sickness around here. I'll spare you the graphic details, but I was severely sick last Sunday. It took me all day Monday and Tuesday to recuperate, even though I couldn't keep to the bed for those two days due to other responsibilities. Sunday was actually the best day to be sick, since I babysat a friend's kid all day Saturday and then took my kids sledding that evening. Except that the man wasn't home and my amazing 9-year old Sass watched the boys till Daddy got home at 2PM. So between Sass and the Wii, I was at least able to get a little rest. That stomach virus took me out of the game though. It was awful. I haven't been that sick for a long long time. And then Bud got it Tues night and stayed home from school Wed. And today is Thurs (for those of you who didn't know) and I had to go pick Hamster up from preschool for the same illness.
What gets me about it is that I wash my hands about 20 times a day. I'm a mom, it's what I do. I wipe the cart handles off at the grocery store and even the steering wheel in the car cart for the kids. I make my kids wash their hands after they use the bathroom, although if you asked them, they would swear that I don't care if they do or not. I'm not a germaphobe by any stretch of the imagination, but in the winter I definitely take precautions.
So how did my kids get it? Maybe I don't really want to know. Kids kind of gross me out sometimes. But adults are worse by far. I spend my time at a graduate school all day. And I watch ADULTS not wash their hands. I watch ADULTS wipe their noses/mouths/eyes with their hands and then touch stuff. And then I read articles like this, and I'm ready to live in a bubble.
What gets me about it is that I wash my hands about 20 times a day. I'm a mom, it's what I do. I wipe the cart handles off at the grocery store and even the steering wheel in the car cart for the kids. I make my kids wash their hands after they use the bathroom, although if you asked them, they would swear that I don't care if they do or not. I'm not a germaphobe by any stretch of the imagination, but in the winter I definitely take precautions.
So how did my kids get it? Maybe I don't really want to know. Kids kind of gross me out sometimes. But adults are worse by far. I spend my time at a graduate school all day. And I watch ADULTS not wash their hands. I watch ADULTS wipe their noses/mouths/eyes with their hands and then touch stuff. And then I read articles like this, and I'm ready to live in a bubble.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Conversation on the way home from school.
Bud: Mom, are there still woolly mammoths?
Pickles: No you idiot! They're all dead.
Me: Pickles! That's inappropriate! Don't call your brother an idiot.
Pickles: Sorry Bud. Mom? How big were woolly mammoths?
Me: 1 and half times the size of a regular elephant.
Pickles: So they were really small?
Me: Not HALF the size. Just like 1 and a half elephants put together.
Bud: What parts would the half be?
Me breaking the cycle of crazy (sort of) and modifying a Super L joke: How do you make woolly mammoth cocoa?
Sassafras: How?
Me: You get a cup of hot water, and you put in a marshmallow and a woolly mammoth.
Sassafras: ewwwwwww! It would be full of wool!
Pickles: That would be way nasty Mom, cause you know woolly mammoths are really gassy.
and things just went downhill from there...
Bud: Mom, are there still woolly mammoths?
Pickles: No you idiot! They're all dead.
Me: Pickles! That's inappropriate! Don't call your brother an idiot.
Pickles: Sorry Bud. Mom? How big were woolly mammoths?
Me: 1 and half times the size of a regular elephant.
Pickles: So they were really small?
Me: Not HALF the size. Just like 1 and a half elephants put together.
Bud: What parts would the half be?
Me breaking the cycle of crazy (sort of) and modifying a Super L joke: How do you make woolly mammoth cocoa?
Sassafras: How?
Me: You get a cup of hot water, and you put in a marshmallow and a woolly mammoth.
Sassafras: ewwwwwww! It would be full of wool!
Pickles: That would be way nasty Mom, cause you know woolly mammoths are really gassy.
and things just went downhill from there...
Monday, January 19, 2009
With this being my one hundredth post, and in the tradition of blogging, I'm gonna post 100 things about myself. Take it however you want to.
1. I'm ambidextrous. I can write, play ball, eat, and many other things with both of my hands equally.
2. I don't have a favorite color. When I paint, my palette usually has dark blue, emerald green, rust, and a deep medium yellow, but that's as close as I get to favorites.
3. When I was growing up, I didn't want to get married or have kids. 15 years later, I've been married for almost 11 years and have 4 kids.
4. I hate jello.
5. I love chili chocolate.
6. I would change my kids' middle names if I could go back and use family names instead.
7. I like being alone.
8. I have learned to love spicy things. I have learned this after being married to someone who will eat hot peppers for fun.
9. I love having blue eyes.
10. I love it that my daughter has brown eyes.
11. I look like my dad more than my mom.
12. I like having pets less now that I'm a grown-up.
13. I love King Arthur stories.
14. I love Southern Gothic literature.
15. My middle name is Rae
16. I hated my middle name growing up and now I really like it.
17. I like being friends with my parents now that I'm an adult.
18. Most of my friends are not the same age as I am.
19. I have nicely shaped feet, but kind of short toes.
20. i love having my head and face massaged. But if you do it without warning, I'll probably hit you.
21. I used to get in a lot of fist fights when I was little.
22. I played softball from the time I was 8 until I was almost 18.
23. I like dispelling the myth that Southerners are stupid.
24. I want to travel the world, and one day I will.
25. I like to roller skate.
26. I've never skied - on water or snow.
27. I like to fish.
28. I hate swimming in water that's murky: the ocean, lakes, big rivers. If I can't see the bottom, it freaks me out.
29. I like to be funny.
30. I'm kind of afraid of picking up Sassafras's hamsters. I really don't want them to bite me.
31. Our dogs always behave much better for me than for James.
32. I used to want to be a paleontologist.
33. I have two sisters.
34. I don't like hugging people by way of saying hello.
35. I'm not detail oriented.
36. I have a Myspace page AND a facebook page and a blog. It's a wonder I don't get tired of myself.
37. I have a hard time pretending to be excited when I hear about a baby's name that I don't like. "Oh! You named your baby Helga! That's...that's interesting..."
38. I was raised Catholic.
39. I like living where I live, for half the year anyway.
40. I wish I could crochet, but I find incredibly boring.
41. I love the show My Name Is Earl.
42. I hate reality TV, unless it has a good purpose and makes people's lives better.
43. I like what I write (and read) to be grammatically correct and properly spelled, but I'm not a stickler for it.
44. If someone hurts my feelings, I don't usually confront them, I just remove myself from the relationship.
45. I love having kids, but I HATE being pregnant.
46. I've had natural childbirth, by choice, 4 times.
47. I had my 3rd child at home with just my husband present. It was amazing.
48. I wanted Hamster to be a girl, so I could have 2 of each, but I'm so grateful that he's a part of our family.
49. Hamster nearly died a week after his birth. We spent part of a week in PICU. So that one really isn't about me, but it shaped me.
50. I grew up in a place where there was at least one Baptist church within every square mile of real estate.
51. I used to get myself un-lost from ATL by looking where the sun was in the sky and traveling in the direction of home.
52. I don't really like hard candy even though I make cinnamon candy every Christmas. Everyone tells me it's awesome, but I don't like it. But I make it anyway. I think it's better then if I made chocolate. No one would get any.
53. I love indoor plumbing. I've used outhouses. They suck.
54. I like guns. Not enough to have a conversation about what's a good gun and what's not, but I think owning one for protection is a good thing.
55. I used to wish I was from somewhere else. I wanted to be exotic. Now I'm glad to be me.
56. I love being an American. Even before Obama was elected and it was cool again.
57. I wish more moms would better educate themselves about things regarding their children. This includes breastfeeding and circumcision, among other things. If those other moms decide to do something counter to my beliefs, as long as they are educated about their choice, then I support them. Otherwise I feel sorry for their kids.
58. I'm highly opinionated about lots of things. But that doesn't mean I want to change your mind. If you don't agree with me, I honestly don't care.
59. #58 may have sounded snotty. Oh well.
60. I hate spiders. I'm not afraid of them. I HATE them.
61. I had a great childhood.
62. I hope my children feel the same way when they are 30.
63. I love being an artist. I love being able to put what's in my head onto canvas.
64. I wish I could sing better. I'm a decent alto in a choir, but I'd like to be able to sing solos.
65. I wish I played a musical instrument. I plan on taking up the cello when I'm done with school.
66. I don't plan on finishing school until I have a marketing/business degree.
67. I never wanted to have a business degree until a couple of years ago.
68. I not only feel incredibly blessed, but lucky as well. Good things happen to me.
69. I should take more pictures.
70. I should exercise more.
71. I love shoes. If I had the money, I would have at least 100 pairs.
72. I love seafood.
73. I hate cantaloupe. I try it every year just to make sure and I still hate it.
74. I'm allergic to mangoes. Actually I think it's just a sensitivity since you can't truly be allergic to anything except a protein, but my lips swell up and I get itchy, so I don't know.
75. I didn't develop a sensitivity to mangoes until I was in my 20's.
76. I'm a B student. Because I don't study enough. Because I procrastinate by doing things like this list.
77. I'm good at accents. I speak Spanish like a 3 year old (all present tense and necessary vocabulary), but I can roll my r's like a native.
78. I like most genres of music, with the exceptions of R&B, modern country, metal, and most pop.
79. I laughed at the movie Sweeney Todd.
80. I cried at Pay It Forward.
81. I wish I had most/better stuff. I know that materialistic, but oh well.
82. I love babies. But I also like to give them back to their moms.
83. I HATE to clean bathrooms. But I do anyway, because I hate dirty bathrooms even more.
84. I wish I realized how pretty I was in high school, but that may have been dangerous then.
85. I think people keep getting more and more attractive. Especially when I see pictures/paintings from times past.
86. My husband still makes me laugh till I cry, and that's very important.
87. I really appreciate people who are funnier than I am.
88. I'm addicted to Coca-cola.
89. I don't buy ice cream very often. I like it, I just don't buy it.
90. I'm slightly jealous of people born with naturally red hair, but only sometimes.
91. I like my ears. They have a nice shape and they don't stick out.
92. I like it when people tell me my children are beautiful and then in the next sentence tell me they look like me.
93. I love it that my husband tells me he loves many many times a day.
94. I also get kind of tired of the fact that he has to touch me every time he goes past me.
95. I love to read, but I don't really have enough time to do it.
96. I love living near big bodies of water.
97. I miss my GrandDad.
98. I want to move back to GA when we're done with school here.
99. I don't get sick very often.
100. This list wasn't really that hard to write. Maybe I'm more self-centered than I thought!
If you read all the way to the bottom of this list and you still like me, awesome!
1. I'm ambidextrous. I can write, play ball, eat, and many other things with both of my hands equally.
2. I don't have a favorite color. When I paint, my palette usually has dark blue, emerald green, rust, and a deep medium yellow, but that's as close as I get to favorites.
3. When I was growing up, I didn't want to get married or have kids. 15 years later, I've been married for almost 11 years and have 4 kids.
4. I hate jello.
5. I love chili chocolate.
6. I would change my kids' middle names if I could go back and use family names instead.
7. I like being alone.
8. I have learned to love spicy things. I have learned this after being married to someone who will eat hot peppers for fun.
9. I love having blue eyes.
10. I love it that my daughter has brown eyes.
11. I look like my dad more than my mom.
12. I like having pets less now that I'm a grown-up.
13. I love King Arthur stories.
14. I love Southern Gothic literature.
15. My middle name is Rae
16. I hated my middle name growing up and now I really like it.
17. I like being friends with my parents now that I'm an adult.
18. Most of my friends are not the same age as I am.
19. I have nicely shaped feet, but kind of short toes.
20. i love having my head and face massaged. But if you do it without warning, I'll probably hit you.
21. I used to get in a lot of fist fights when I was little.
22. I played softball from the time I was 8 until I was almost 18.
23. I like dispelling the myth that Southerners are stupid.
24. I want to travel the world, and one day I will.
25. I like to roller skate.
26. I've never skied - on water or snow.
27. I like to fish.
28. I hate swimming in water that's murky: the ocean, lakes, big rivers. If I can't see the bottom, it freaks me out.
29. I like to be funny.
30. I'm kind of afraid of picking up Sassafras's hamsters. I really don't want them to bite me.
31. Our dogs always behave much better for me than for James.
32. I used to want to be a paleontologist.
33. I have two sisters.
34. I don't like hugging people by way of saying hello.
35. I'm not detail oriented.
36. I have a Myspace page AND a facebook page and a blog. It's a wonder I don't get tired of myself.
37. I have a hard time pretending to be excited when I hear about a baby's name that I don't like. "Oh! You named your baby Helga! That's...that's interesting..."
38. I was raised Catholic.
39. I like living where I live, for half the year anyway.
40. I wish I could crochet, but I find incredibly boring.
41. I love the show My Name Is Earl.
42. I hate reality TV, unless it has a good purpose and makes people's lives better.
43. I like what I write (and read) to be grammatically correct and properly spelled, but I'm not a stickler for it.
44. If someone hurts my feelings, I don't usually confront them, I just remove myself from the relationship.
45. I love having kids, but I HATE being pregnant.
46. I've had natural childbirth, by choice, 4 times.
47. I had my 3rd child at home with just my husband present. It was amazing.
48. I wanted Hamster to be a girl, so I could have 2 of each, but I'm so grateful that he's a part of our family.
49. Hamster nearly died a week after his birth. We spent part of a week in PICU. So that one really isn't about me, but it shaped me.
50. I grew up in a place where there was at least one Baptist church within every square mile of real estate.
51. I used to get myself un-lost from ATL by looking where the sun was in the sky and traveling in the direction of home.
52. I don't really like hard candy even though I make cinnamon candy every Christmas. Everyone tells me it's awesome, but I don't like it. But I make it anyway. I think it's better then if I made chocolate. No one would get any.
53. I love indoor plumbing. I've used outhouses. They suck.
54. I like guns. Not enough to have a conversation about what's a good gun and what's not, but I think owning one for protection is a good thing.
55. I used to wish I was from somewhere else. I wanted to be exotic. Now I'm glad to be me.
56. I love being an American. Even before Obama was elected and it was cool again.
57. I wish more moms would better educate themselves about things regarding their children. This includes breastfeeding and circumcision, among other things. If those other moms decide to do something counter to my beliefs, as long as they are educated about their choice, then I support them. Otherwise I feel sorry for their kids.
58. I'm highly opinionated about lots of things. But that doesn't mean I want to change your mind. If you don't agree with me, I honestly don't care.
59. #58 may have sounded snotty. Oh well.
60. I hate spiders. I'm not afraid of them. I HATE them.
61. I had a great childhood.
62. I hope my children feel the same way when they are 30.
63. I love being an artist. I love being able to put what's in my head onto canvas.
64. I wish I could sing better. I'm a decent alto in a choir, but I'd like to be able to sing solos.
65. I wish I played a musical instrument. I plan on taking up the cello when I'm done with school.
66. I don't plan on finishing school until I have a marketing/business degree.
67. I never wanted to have a business degree until a couple of years ago.
68. I not only feel incredibly blessed, but lucky as well. Good things happen to me.
69. I should take more pictures.
70. I should exercise more.
71. I love shoes. If I had the money, I would have at least 100 pairs.
72. I love seafood.
73. I hate cantaloupe. I try it every year just to make sure and I still hate it.
74. I'm allergic to mangoes. Actually I think it's just a sensitivity since you can't truly be allergic to anything except a protein, but my lips swell up and I get itchy, so I don't know.
75. I didn't develop a sensitivity to mangoes until I was in my 20's.
76. I'm a B student. Because I don't study enough. Because I procrastinate by doing things like this list.
77. I'm good at accents. I speak Spanish like a 3 year old (all present tense and necessary vocabulary), but I can roll my r's like a native.
78. I like most genres of music, with the exceptions of R&B, modern country, metal, and most pop.
79. I laughed at the movie Sweeney Todd.
80. I cried at Pay It Forward.
81. I wish I had most/better stuff. I know that materialistic, but oh well.
82. I love babies. But I also like to give them back to their moms.
83. I HATE to clean bathrooms. But I do anyway, because I hate dirty bathrooms even more.
84. I wish I realized how pretty I was in high school, but that may have been dangerous then.
85. I think people keep getting more and more attractive. Especially when I see pictures/paintings from times past.
86. My husband still makes me laugh till I cry, and that's very important.
87. I really appreciate people who are funnier than I am.
88. I'm addicted to Coca-cola.
89. I don't buy ice cream very often. I like it, I just don't buy it.
90. I'm slightly jealous of people born with naturally red hair, but only sometimes.
91. I like my ears. They have a nice shape and they don't stick out.
92. I like it when people tell me my children are beautiful and then in the next sentence tell me they look like me.
93. I love it that my husband tells me he loves many many times a day.
94. I also get kind of tired of the fact that he has to touch me every time he goes past me.
95. I love to read, but I don't really have enough time to do it.
96. I love living near big bodies of water.
97. I miss my GrandDad.
98. I want to move back to GA when we're done with school here.
99. I don't get sick very often.
100. This list wasn't really that hard to write. Maybe I'm more self-centered than I thought!
If you read all the way to the bottom of this list and you still like me, awesome!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
I have a secret. Well, it won't be a secret now, obviously.
My secret is that I love fashion. This may come as a surprise to some of you (OK most of you), since my style is usually "Whatever's Clean" chic. I envy people like my sister Shannon who can wear anything in her closet and look amazing. This may very well have to do with the fact that she's 5' 9.5" and about 140 lb.
I guess I look at the fashion sites, like The Sartorialist or Asian Cajuns among others, hoping to understand how to pull off a clean polished look with a little flair. I think I used to be more fashionable. In high school I would scour thrift stores to find a perfect piece that would fit my hippie inspired look. The more children I had, however, the less I looked cool and the more I looked "mom". Not blue-jean jumper, white keds mom look. More like jeans and a relatively clean t-shirt look. Usually tie-dye since that hid any leakage from breastfeeding.
There's not so much in the way of fashionable clothes for overweight mamas. Unless I want something in a hideous flower print or embroidered denim button downs. OK, so there IS more than that but I like to make my point using ridiculous exaggeration. I'm currently working on losing weight. I'm tired of being heavy (not in a cool beatnik way). I also get to be in my sister's wedding in May and I don't want to be the fat bridesmaid. So there's plenty of incentive. I'm setting a goal for myself. It's a reward system. I'm going to get myself a subscription to a fashion mag, like 10 or A4 when I'm 10 lb. down from where I am now. I think I'm going to keep doing little things like this for myself. Like go get my hair colored and styled at a big-girl salon at 20 lb. down. Or a day at the spa for 30 or something.
This is kind of hard to write about. I'm a pretty private person when it comes to my emotions. But I know I can trust you, dear reader, whoever you are.
My secret is that I love fashion. This may come as a surprise to some of you (OK most of you), since my style is usually "Whatever's Clean" chic. I envy people like my sister Shannon who can wear anything in her closet and look amazing. This may very well have to do with the fact that she's 5' 9.5" and about 140 lb.
I guess I look at the fashion sites, like The Sartorialist or Asian Cajuns among others, hoping to understand how to pull off a clean polished look with a little flair. I think I used to be more fashionable. In high school I would scour thrift stores to find a perfect piece that would fit my hippie inspired look. The more children I had, however, the less I looked cool and the more I looked "mom". Not blue-jean jumper, white keds mom look. More like jeans and a relatively clean t-shirt look. Usually tie-dye since that hid any leakage from breastfeeding.
There's not so much in the way of fashionable clothes for overweight mamas. Unless I want something in a hideous flower print or embroidered denim button downs. OK, so there IS more than that but I like to make my point using ridiculous exaggeration. I'm currently working on losing weight. I'm tired of being heavy (not in a cool beatnik way). I also get to be in my sister's wedding in May and I don't want to be the fat bridesmaid. So there's plenty of incentive. I'm setting a goal for myself. It's a reward system. I'm going to get myself a subscription to a fashion mag, like 10 or A4 when I'm 10 lb. down from where I am now. I think I'm going to keep doing little things like this for myself. Like go get my hair colored and styled at a big-girl salon at 20 lb. down. Or a day at the spa for 30 or something.
This is kind of hard to write about. I'm a pretty private person when it comes to my emotions. But I know I can trust you, dear reader, whoever you are.
When it's too cold to do anything else, my kids argue. I think it must be their favorite pasttime. After the Wii of course, but since they're restricted for the day (what was I thinking?), they're playing dress-up instead.
Bud: No, Hamster. You can't wear that ninja turtle costume.
Hamster: I' NOT Yous!
Bud: Yeah it is!
Me: No Bud, when you put it in the garbage and I fished it out and washed it, you gave up all rights to it.
Bud: I don't know what you just said but that costume is mine.
Me: No it's not.
Bud: Then I'm going to make a club and Hamster can't be in it.
Pickles: You can't have a club with just one person.
Me: Sure you can.
Bud: Hey Jake (friend)! Wanna be in my club? I have lots of food in my club!
Jake: yeah!
Bud: Ok, but we have to go find lots of food first.
Bud: No, Hamster. You can't wear that ninja turtle costume.
Hamster: I' NOT Yous!
Bud: Yeah it is!
Me: No Bud, when you put it in the garbage and I fished it out and washed it, you gave up all rights to it.
Bud: I don't know what you just said but that costume is mine.
Me: No it's not.
Bud: Then I'm going to make a club and Hamster can't be in it.
Pickles: You can't have a club with just one person.
Me: Sure you can.
Bud: Hey Jake (friend)! Wanna be in my club? I have lots of food in my club!
Jake: yeah!
Bud: Ok, but we have to go find lots of food first.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Here's the cool news I tried to post yesterday.
Go here to see truly amazing photos of the earth. They are breathtaking.
Also, many many kudos to the pilot who successfully crash-landed that plane in the Hudson yesterday. What a hero!
Take a look at this
Can you imagine the possibilities? How about an entire knit body? That has removable knit organs? Very cool.
Scientists have also come up with a way to create plastics using wood pulp. Or hemp, which I would prefer. Hemp is an extremely cost effective alternative to wood, but that's a whole other post. The plastics though, would NOT be made from crude oil as they are now, but rather renewable non-toxic materials.
and one more quick note. I plan on getting photos up in the next week so you can all bask in the cuteness that is my kids.
Go here to see truly amazing photos of the earth. They are breathtaking.
Also, many many kudos to the pilot who successfully crash-landed that plane in the Hudson yesterday. What a hero!
Take a look at this
Can you imagine the possibilities? How about an entire knit body? That has removable knit organs? Very cool.
Scientists have also come up with a way to create plastics using wood pulp. Or hemp, which I would prefer. Hemp is an extremely cost effective alternative to wood, but that's a whole other post. The plastics though, would NOT be made from crude oil as they are now, but rather renewable non-toxic materials.
and one more quick note. I plan on getting photos up in the next week so you can all bask in the cuteness that is my kids.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
More cool stuff
MORE because I had a very cool post with 3 other things that made my heart fill with blood and stupid blogspot deleted it. It can't possibly be my fault, so it had to be something else. If I get around to finding the links again, I promise I'll repost those awesome, awesome things.
Watch out for flying poop!
If you happen to be in the Tampa Bay Area, you need to watch out for a loose monkey who likes to throw poop. Be careful. I'm just sayin'.
PSA alert. Do NOT stick your tongue to a frozen pole. Or to a door handle (Mom). Didn't this kid learn anything from The Christmas Story? I MAKE my kids watch it for its educational value. It's got multi-culturalism (the dinner scene and Fra-gee-lay). It's got nature (the neighbor's dogs). AND it's got the triumph of good over evil (the Black Bart daydream). I mean, it's got it all!
MORE because I had a very cool post with 3 other things that made my heart fill with blood and stupid blogspot deleted it. It can't possibly be my fault, so it had to be something else. If I get around to finding the links again, I promise I'll repost those awesome, awesome things.
Watch out for flying poop!
If you happen to be in the Tampa Bay Area, you need to watch out for a loose monkey who likes to throw poop. Be careful. I'm just sayin'.
PSA alert. Do NOT stick your tongue to a frozen pole. Or to a door handle (Mom). Didn't this kid learn anything from The Christmas Story? I MAKE my kids watch it for its educational value. It's got multi-culturalism (the dinner scene and Fra-gee-lay). It's got nature (the neighbor's dogs). AND it's got the triumph of good over evil (the Black Bart daydream). I mean, it's got it all!
Things you should know about real winter before you move to the Midwest:
1. Your nostrils will freeze if the high temp for the day stays sub zero.
2. Sometimes 2 or more pairs of gloves are necessary.
3. Sometimes 2 or more pairs of PANTS are necessary.
4. Sometimes it's warmer in the basement than the rest of the house.
5. If you're making a cake, and it needs to be cool to be iced 1.5 hrs. before a boyscout meeting, you can flash-cool it outside in 15 minutes or less.
6. Less gas, less brakes.
7. You're always told not to eat yellow snow. Don't eat blue de-iced snow either.
8. Don't touch de-icer with your very cold bare hands. It WILL give you a chemical burn that makes you cry and say bad words for at least 10 minutes.
9. I've already told you that you can put cardboard on your windshield if snow is predicted. Cardboard is also good for putting between your grill and your radiator. The grill in your car, not your personal grill.
10. Don't move here. There are warmer places. Live there instead.
1. Your nostrils will freeze if the high temp for the day stays sub zero.
2. Sometimes 2 or more pairs of gloves are necessary.
3. Sometimes 2 or more pairs of PANTS are necessary.
4. Sometimes it's warmer in the basement than the rest of the house.
5. If you're making a cake, and it needs to be cool to be iced 1.5 hrs. before a boyscout meeting, you can flash-cool it outside in 15 minutes or less.
6. Less gas, less brakes.
7. You're always told not to eat yellow snow. Don't eat blue de-iced snow either.
8. Don't touch de-icer with your very cold bare hands. It WILL give you a chemical burn that makes you cry and say bad words for at least 10 minutes.
9. I've already told you that you can put cardboard on your windshield if snow is predicted. Cardboard is also good for putting between your grill and your radiator. The grill in your car, not your personal grill.
10. Don't move here. There are warmer places. Live there instead.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A few thoughts, unconnected.
Hamster is 3. Freshly 3 as a matter of fact. And he told his preschool teacher the other day that she had Percy eyes and he had Thomas eyes. For the uninitiated, Percy and Thomas are characters in the Thomas the Train series. Percy is green and Thomas is blue. I just thought it was pretty cool that my little guy could develop a simile between his love of trains and his teacher's eyes. Very poetic I think.
Sassafras asked me today if ishkabobbing waas a word. I asked where she got that from and she said she made it up. I told her no, but SHISHkabob was a word. "Oh", she said, "That must be where I got it." And then I felt a little bad for squashing her word coinage. And after feeling bad, we started making up other words, like fishkabobbing, and squishkabobbing, and so on. After I said Annabeth Gishkabobbing, she didn't think I was funny anymore and asked me to please stop. Me being silly and her asking me to stop seems to be a theme around here.
I wish that people drove better in the winter here. I understand that not everyone can be an amazing driver like myself, but c'mon! People that were raised here don't stop at stop signs in the snow. I'm OK with that. But look to make sure other people aren't coming at you first! You will still be at fault in a wreck. Not wanting to get stuck in snow is NOT an appropriate defense for failing to yield.
Even so...
there is a favorite past time at the school I go to. It involves a one-way street and a very steep hill. There is sky walk (love sky walks!) over this street. When we get copious amounts of snow during school hours, there are crowds of people standing in the sky walk watching cars try to make it up this hill. Shut up! I KNOW we don't have enough to do here.
Hamster is 3. Freshly 3 as a matter of fact. And he told his preschool teacher the other day that she had Percy eyes and he had Thomas eyes. For the uninitiated, Percy and Thomas are characters in the Thomas the Train series. Percy is green and Thomas is blue. I just thought it was pretty cool that my little guy could develop a simile between his love of trains and his teacher's eyes. Very poetic I think.
Sassafras asked me today if ishkabobbing waas a word. I asked where she got that from and she said she made it up. I told her no, but SHISHkabob was a word. "Oh", she said, "That must be where I got it." And then I felt a little bad for squashing her word coinage. And after feeling bad, we started making up other words, like fishkabobbing, and squishkabobbing, and so on. After I said Annabeth Gishkabobbing, she didn't think I was funny anymore and asked me to please stop. Me being silly and her asking me to stop seems to be a theme around here.
I wish that people drove better in the winter here. I understand that not everyone can be an amazing driver like myself, but c'mon! People that were raised here don't stop at stop signs in the snow. I'm OK with that. But look to make sure other people aren't coming at you first! You will still be at fault in a wreck. Not wanting to get stuck in snow is NOT an appropriate defense for failing to yield.
Even so...
there is a favorite past time at the school I go to. It involves a one-way street and a very steep hill. There is sky walk (love sky walks!) over this street. When we get copious amounts of snow during school hours, there are crowds of people standing in the sky walk watching cars try to make it up this hill. Shut up! I KNOW we don't have enough to do here.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
I've been a little blogstipated the last couple of days. I'm just not feeling it I think. But it's a good exercise, whenever you can't think creatively, to fake it till you make it. I apologize in advance if it's less value than what you paid for. Did I just end that in a preposition?
Here's a little email my mom sent me recently:
A couple from Georgia and a couple from the East Coast were seated side by side on an airplane. The girl from Georgia, being friendly and all, said, "So where y'all from?" The East Coast girl said, "From a place where they know better than to use a preposition at the end of a sentence." The girl from Georgia sat quietly for a few moments and then replied: "So, where y'all from, bitch?"
When southerners say East Coast, they mean anywhere on the coast north of the Mason Dixon line. I know that sounds funny that anyone besides a history major even knows where that is. But southerners know because there is a different flavor.
There, that's all I can muster right now. Be back tomorrow...
Here's a little email my mom sent me recently:
A couple from Georgia and a couple from the East Coast were seated side by side on an airplane. The girl from Georgia, being friendly and all, said, "So where y'all from?" The East Coast girl said, "From a place where they know better than to use a preposition at the end of a sentence." The girl from Georgia sat quietly for a few moments and then replied: "So, where y'all from, bitch?"
When southerners say East Coast, they mean anywhere on the coast north of the Mason Dixon line. I know that sounds funny that anyone besides a history major even knows where that is. But southerners know because there is a different flavor.
There, that's all I can muster right now. Be back tomorrow...
Friday, January 09, 2009
A little bit of not much
Have you ever typed in blogpsot.com instead of blogspot.com? If that's who hosts your blog anyway. You get a MEGA-Bible site by accident. Interesting.
I was talking to a friend last night. We were discussing how we say things are retarded way too often. It isn't nice much less PC to call things retarded. Well, Sassafras heard me call something retarded the other day and asked a very good question. "If something is REtarded, then does that mean it was tarded before?"
Have you ever heard a 3-year-old sing The Killers? It's awesome.
I've stopped drinking sodas again. It always makes me feel so much better. Why can't I remember that and just not drink them at all? Partly because I was raised where Coca-cola and sweet tea runs freely.
James gave me The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus for Christmas. The kids love to hear about Brer Rabbit's hijinks. And I love to type the word hijinks.
The counselors at my kids' school have been teaching them something called a Ha-Ha warm-up. It's where you start laughing to make yourself feel better until you are laughing for real. Try it, it works. Nothing is funnier than a Suburban full of children ha-ha-ing until they collapse into a heap of belly giggles.
One thing about real winter I didn't realize: It's actually warmer when there is snow on the ground than when there is just ice everywhere. The snow seems to act like an insulator while ice acts like, well, ice.
Another thing about winters here: I miss the winter wildlife I'm used to. All I see round these parts are squirrels and the occasional cardinal.
I'm done now. I don't want to make a little bit of not much into a lottle bit of too much.
Have you ever typed in blogpsot.com instead of blogspot.com? If that's who hosts your blog anyway. You get a MEGA-Bible site by accident. Interesting.
I was talking to a friend last night. We were discussing how we say things are retarded way too often. It isn't nice much less PC to call things retarded. Well, Sassafras heard me call something retarded the other day and asked a very good question. "If something is REtarded, then does that mean it was tarded before?"
Have you ever heard a 3-year-old sing The Killers? It's awesome.
I've stopped drinking sodas again. It always makes me feel so much better. Why can't I remember that and just not drink them at all? Partly because I was raised where Coca-cola and sweet tea runs freely.
James gave me The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus for Christmas. The kids love to hear about Brer Rabbit's hijinks. And I love to type the word hijinks.
The counselors at my kids' school have been teaching them something called a Ha-Ha warm-up. It's where you start laughing to make yourself feel better until you are laughing for real. Try it, it works. Nothing is funnier than a Suburban full of children ha-ha-ing until they collapse into a heap of belly giggles.
One thing about real winter I didn't realize: It's actually warmer when there is snow on the ground than when there is just ice everywhere. The snow seems to act like an insulator while ice acts like, well, ice.
Another thing about winters here: I miss the winter wildlife I'm used to. All I see round these parts are squirrels and the occasional cardinal.
I'm done now. I don't want to make a little bit of not much into a lottle bit of too much.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
This post is about me (that's what blogging is all about anyway) and stuff I know. Or don't know.
Astrophysics for example...
I find myself to be an intelligent person. This observation is based upon such things as making good grades on assignments and tests while putting in minimum amounts of work. OK, I didn't say I was an extremely motivated person, just smart. It also comes from the fact that I know at least something about many many things. I can hold a conversation based on a plethora of subjects and sound like I know what I'm talking about.
In addition to being intelligent, I'm also an accomplished bullshitter, but that's an entirely different post. Or maybe all my posts, I don't know.
There are a few things however, that make me feel pretty stupid. Like my freshman level bookkeeping class. Being the artistic/big idea kind of person that I am, I find it difficult to pay the amount of attention to detail required to get the right answer the first time. Now, I can do simple equations as fast as a calculator in my head. Division takes a fraction longer than addition, subtraction, or multiplication takes me, but I can figure out to the penny how much tip to leave a waitress in a second. Anyway, book keeping is different. I have to make sure I input the data without making mistakes. It is very difficult to do this when my brain is going not only in different directions, but different planes and dimensions as well.
There are a few things that make me feel REALLY stupid. Like astrophysics. I love astronomy. I usually know what planets are out in the sky at any particular time. I know many of the different constellations and the stories behind them. I like to learn about new star "discoveries" and novas and when lunar eclipses are due to happen.
But. I can't wrap my mind around the physics part of the universe. It eludes me. It makes me feel like I'm starring in Flowers for Algernon, only in the sad second half of the book. I'd like to have an exciting discussion about what dark matter could be. I'd like to be able to wax poetic about black holes. But instead I read science magazine articles about giant particle splitters in Europe and wish I understood the science part of it better.
But Michelle, why don't you just devote time to learning about it? If you are as intelligent as you think you are, I'm sure with enough time and effort you could totally write a book on it! (Thanks for the rhetorical question and encouragement self)
I said I was smart, not patient.
So I will continue, for now, to wish I was smarter. At least about astrophysics.
Astrophysics for example...
I find myself to be an intelligent person. This observation is based upon such things as making good grades on assignments and tests while putting in minimum amounts of work. OK, I didn't say I was an extremely motivated person, just smart. It also comes from the fact that I know at least something about many many things. I can hold a conversation based on a plethora of subjects and sound like I know what I'm talking about.
In addition to being intelligent, I'm also an accomplished bullshitter, but that's an entirely different post. Or maybe all my posts, I don't know.
There are a few things however, that make me feel pretty stupid. Like my freshman level bookkeeping class. Being the artistic/big idea kind of person that I am, I find it difficult to pay the amount of attention to detail required to get the right answer the first time. Now, I can do simple equations as fast as a calculator in my head. Division takes a fraction longer than addition, subtraction, or multiplication takes me, but I can figure out to the penny how much tip to leave a waitress in a second. Anyway, book keeping is different. I have to make sure I input the data without making mistakes. It is very difficult to do this when my brain is going not only in different directions, but different planes and dimensions as well.
There are a few things that make me feel REALLY stupid. Like astrophysics. I love astronomy. I usually know what planets are out in the sky at any particular time. I know many of the different constellations and the stories behind them. I like to learn about new star "discoveries" and novas and when lunar eclipses are due to happen.
But. I can't wrap my mind around the physics part of the universe. It eludes me. It makes me feel like I'm starring in Flowers for Algernon, only in the sad second half of the book. I'd like to have an exciting discussion about what dark matter could be. I'd like to be able to wax poetic about black holes. But instead I read science magazine articles about giant particle splitters in Europe and wish I understood the science part of it better.
But Michelle, why don't you just devote time to learning about it? If you are as intelligent as you think you are, I'm sure with enough time and effort you could totally write a book on it! (Thanks for the rhetorical question and encouragement self)
I said I was smart, not patient.
So I will continue, for now, to wish I was smarter. At least about astrophysics.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
How do I know my kids have been playing the new Christmas Wii way too much?
1. They've started saving their money so they buy more games.
2. Hamster cries for 20 minutes because he couldn't play and instead had to read a book with Mommy.
3. They have been asking their friends for their Wii numbers so they can "hook-up".
4. They can now discuss the differences and merits of all the Super Mario Bros. games.
5. Sassafras sings Hamster to sleep by doo-wapping the theme song to Mario Kart.
Did I ever tell you I'm jealous of parents who tell their kids to go to bed and they actually do it? Well, I am. The other night, after threatening to spank my kids if I heard them ONE MORE TIME, I heard Pickles and Bud upstairs. Sneaking upstairs so they wouldn't hear me and so I could gauge how severe my reaction to their disobedience should be, I found Pickles (he's 7) doing a load of laundry. Bud (age 5) was sitting in his tiny boxer shorts (only) on the edge of the sink. They were discussing roller coasters and how much one might cost. After I eavesdropped for another minute, I kissed them and sent them back to bed. I couldn't be mad that Pickles had gotten out of bed because he had forgotten to do one of his chores and Bud was just there to keep him company. So while I have children who refuse to go to bed the first 37 times I tell them to, I also have a 7 year-old who knows how to separate lights from darks. I'll take my spunky laundry-doers any day.
1. They've started saving their money so they buy more games.
2. Hamster cries for 20 minutes because he couldn't play and instead had to read a book with Mommy.
3. They have been asking their friends for their Wii numbers so they can "hook-up".
4. They can now discuss the differences and merits of all the Super Mario Bros. games.
5. Sassafras sings Hamster to sleep by doo-wapping the theme song to Mario Kart.
Did I ever tell you I'm jealous of parents who tell their kids to go to bed and they actually do it? Well, I am. The other night, after threatening to spank my kids if I heard them ONE MORE TIME, I heard Pickles and Bud upstairs. Sneaking upstairs so they wouldn't hear me and so I could gauge how severe my reaction to their disobedience should be, I found Pickles (he's 7) doing a load of laundry. Bud (age 5) was sitting in his tiny boxer shorts (only) on the edge of the sink. They were discussing roller coasters and how much one might cost. After I eavesdropped for another minute, I kissed them and sent them back to bed. I couldn't be mad that Pickles had gotten out of bed because he had forgotten to do one of his chores and Bud was just there to keep him company. So while I have children who refuse to go to bed the first 37 times I tell them to, I also have a 7 year-old who knows how to separate lights from darks. I'll take my spunky laundry-doers any day.
2 grits for being mushy
This is a love letter. It's to Eve, but you can read it too if you want.
Dear Eve,
You are awesome. I don't really understand how you can make everyone feel like they are your best friend. And be sincere about it. Except to your family. Then you are Aunt Meanie.
I think your art is amazing. I also find it fascinating that our artistic styles are so similar. I miss painting for several hours at a time with you.
Thanks for letting us crash at your house and never apologizing if there is a diaper on the floor or dishes in the sink. EVERYone's house looks like that when they work at least 2 jobs and have 2 kids.
I think your kids have very cool names. And personalities. And they are very cute too. And you know I would tell you if they weren't really.
I'm jealous that you can sing so well. And that you taught yourself to play the guitar. And that it was easy. But I'm glad you did, because the songs you write are good.
I think you're awesome for lots of other reasons too, but I have to go study.
I miss you. And I'm glad that I really am one of your best friends. Woo-hoo! for Eve!
love,
Michelle
This is a love letter. It's to Eve, but you can read it too if you want.
Dear Eve,
You are awesome. I don't really understand how you can make everyone feel like they are your best friend. And be sincere about it. Except to your family. Then you are Aunt Meanie.
I think your art is amazing. I also find it fascinating that our artistic styles are so similar. I miss painting for several hours at a time with you.
Thanks for letting us crash at your house and never apologizing if there is a diaper on the floor or dishes in the sink. EVERYone's house looks like that when they work at least 2 jobs and have 2 kids.
I think your kids have very cool names. And personalities. And they are very cute too. And you know I would tell you if they weren't really.
I'm jealous that you can sing so well. And that you taught yourself to play the guitar. And that it was easy. But I'm glad you did, because the songs you write are good.
I think you're awesome for lots of other reasons too, but I have to go study.
I miss you. And I'm glad that I really am one of your best friends. Woo-hoo! for Eve!
love,
Michelle
Sneaky emotions
*depressing post warning*
Why does sadness hit you when you're not looking? When you have way too much homework to do, your kids are being naughty (mostly because you're ignoring them), your house is a wreck, and your husband has twice as much school work as you and is never home. Is that a chicken/egg question? Was I sad already? Maybe the last two weeks were a perfect storm for a mild depression. I really wish I could just hide under my covers for the next little while. It sucks to come back from break and have everyone ask how my Christmas was. Because I have to tell them my grandfather passed away. I guess I don't HAVE to, but I'm a little too honest to say it was fine when it so wasn't. I probably shouldn't be blogging past 1 AM, huh? Especially since I have to be up in a little over 4 hours. Sorry if this is depressing, but I DID warn you. I can't always be freakin PollyAnna. Probably only my mom will want to read this one. Love you Mom.
*depressing post warning*
Why does sadness hit you when you're not looking? When you have way too much homework to do, your kids are being naughty (mostly because you're ignoring them), your house is a wreck, and your husband has twice as much school work as you and is never home. Is that a chicken/egg question? Was I sad already? Maybe the last two weeks were a perfect storm for a mild depression. I really wish I could just hide under my covers for the next little while. It sucks to come back from break and have everyone ask how my Christmas was. Because I have to tell them my grandfather passed away. I guess I don't HAVE to, but I'm a little too honest to say it was fine when it so wasn't. I probably shouldn't be blogging past 1 AM, huh? Especially since I have to be up in a little over 4 hours. Sorry if this is depressing, but I DID warn you. I can't always be freakin PollyAnna. Probably only my mom will want to read this one. Love you Mom.
Monday, January 05, 2009
5 more grits for your reading pleasure
Lest anyone think I'm a Republican...
a few stupid Bush quotes
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." —LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
"Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" —Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
It must be pretty depressing to have your term as president defined by slips of the tongue. But I guess it's better than having your presidency, a la Bill Clinton, defined by slips of the... well you know. It also must be depressing to declare a war on terror that can't ever be won. That's like declaring a war on stupidity, which is also dangerous to the people it's being perpetrated upon. Why didn't he declare a war on Al Queda? Or Hamas? Something with a definition. Something with an end. Something that could've been won.
*rudeness warning for any Mormon mamas reading this*
I think one of the biggest reasons I don't identify with Republicans, besides the fact that they ALSO tax the hell out us - they're just nicer about it, is that they don't have any guts. Or balls. Or whatever it is that Dems have that keeps people from confronting them. Republicans just bend over and take it. Over and over and over. I'll bet you $20 Franken takes that race. Because the Republicans will give up. Just a bunch of yaller-bellies. That's a generalization of course, but it applies to most of the political moves I've observed in my adult life.
So my suggestion is to be as informed as possible. Vote for whatever reason you want, but be able to defend your decision. And don't back down.
Anyway, I'm just feeling a little irritable. Can you tell?
Lest anyone think I'm a Republican...
a few stupid Bush quotes
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." —LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
"Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" —Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
It must be pretty depressing to have your term as president defined by slips of the tongue. But I guess it's better than having your presidency, a la Bill Clinton, defined by slips of the... well you know. It also must be depressing to declare a war on terror that can't ever be won. That's like declaring a war on stupidity, which is also dangerous to the people it's being perpetrated upon. Why didn't he declare a war on Al Queda? Or Hamas? Something with a definition. Something with an end. Something that could've been won.
*rudeness warning for any Mormon mamas reading this*
I think one of the biggest reasons I don't identify with Republicans, besides the fact that they ALSO tax the hell out us - they're just nicer about it, is that they don't have any guts. Or balls. Or whatever it is that Dems have that keeps people from confronting them. Republicans just bend over and take it. Over and over and over. I'll bet you $20 Franken takes that race. Because the Republicans will give up. Just a bunch of yaller-bellies. That's a generalization of course, but it applies to most of the political moves I've observed in my adult life.
So my suggestion is to be as informed as possible. Vote for whatever reason you want, but be able to defend your decision. And don't back down.
Anyway, I'm just feeling a little irritable. Can you tell?
post level 5 grits, go get your tin foil hat - I'll wait...
some Dem outrages for the day
Al Franken, you know, Stuart Smalley from SNL? has stolen a Senate seat. Since the elections, 2 months ago, which Franken lost btw, Franken has "discovered" enough votes to now win the election. He has done this through a series of recounts, of finding lost votes, and throwing out votes for his competitor. They are now planning on seating this thief. Can you imagine the outrage if a candidate who's favorite color wasn't blue tried this garbage? Where is the media on this? Why are only online and talk radio talking about this? Because news media is biased. This is the kind of thing that makes me feel impotent as a voter. How can my vote possibly count if the candidates can spin the results in whatever direction they choose? Granted this is in Minnesota and maybe their brains are frozen from the cold weather, but I don't think so. Don't the voters in this district care that their votes don't matter? Maybe they don't. After all, Franken is good enough, he's smart enough, and gosh darn it...
You want another one? Oh c'mon, you know you do. What's Obama's view on the fighting in Gaza? What? You don't know either? Maybe he's just busy moving to D.C. He'll get around to it. People have been fighting in that region for at least 2000 years, it's not like it's that urgent. Just more people getting killed and whatnot. Even though historically Israel is an ally. And we stick our nose in every where else in the world. And we declared war on terror. No never mind. Let's decide what sector of private business to bail out next! How about toys? We can't function as a nation if our children don't have enough toys. Think of the children!
ehhhhhh.........
some Dem outrages for the day
Al Franken, you know, Stuart Smalley from SNL? has stolen a Senate seat. Since the elections, 2 months ago, which Franken lost btw, Franken has "discovered" enough votes to now win the election. He has done this through a series of recounts, of finding lost votes, and throwing out votes for his competitor. They are now planning on seating this thief. Can you imagine the outrage if a candidate who's favorite color wasn't blue tried this garbage? Where is the media on this? Why are only online and talk radio talking about this? Because news media is biased. This is the kind of thing that makes me feel impotent as a voter. How can my vote possibly count if the candidates can spin the results in whatever direction they choose? Granted this is in Minnesota and maybe their brains are frozen from the cold weather, but I don't think so. Don't the voters in this district care that their votes don't matter? Maybe they don't. After all, Franken is good enough, he's smart enough, and gosh darn it...
You want another one? Oh c'mon, you know you do. What's Obama's view on the fighting in Gaza? What? You don't know either? Maybe he's just busy moving to D.C. He'll get around to it. People have been fighting in that region for at least 2000 years, it's not like it's that urgent. Just more people getting killed and whatnot. Even though historically Israel is an ally. And we stick our nose in every where else in the world. And we declared war on terror. No never mind. Let's decide what sector of private business to bail out next! How about toys? We can't function as a nation if our children don't have enough toys. Think of the children!
ehhhhhh.........
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Funeral report
Sorry if this post bores you. Actually I don't care if it does, this is more for peeps that know or are family. But if you like it, well that's good too.
I'd like to say that Granddad's funeral was as nice as a funeral could be. The funeral home in PA was compassionate and accommodating. The director didn't bat an eye about GrandDad having teabags and poppy seeds under his pillow. He also didn't mind GrandDad having a piece of juicy fruit gum in his hands, or that there was an alligator sticker on his lapel, or even that there was a alligator tucked in his sleeve. I'm pretty sure there was a couple other little things that were tucked away in the coffin too, but this weekend was a little blurry and I just can't remember it all. My aunt L**d* and my mom put together photo boards of GrandDad surrounded by all his "louved ones".
I got to spend time with lots of family. That can be good and bad. It was mostly good. I reconnected with my littler cousins. They are intelligent, well-rounded, and very cool. Good job Aunt L**r* and Uncle J***. I spent time with my cousin R*** and his wife. He's very into Star Trek, which I think is awesome. Don't tell D**** that or she won't invite me over again. He has his own room to hold his Star Trek stuff and she's afraid it will spill out into the rest of the house. He's into other things too, so don't assume he speaks Vulcan or anything. Although he may possibly...
There was a pretty large number of people who came. What I mean is that he died in FL. He hadn't lived in PA for a long time. Lots of my Grandma's family is still in the area though. And everyone had dearly loved him.
All 4 of GrandNorma's kids came too. I appreciate them coming and I'm sure Mom did too. And they are awesome at bowling :)
I'm glad to be back home. Did I just call the Midwest home? I've gone NATIVE! Well, home is where your family is, so wherever James and the kids are, that's my home. I would rather have in a house in the South though. 2 more years... 2 more years... 2 more years...
Sorry if this post bores you. Actually I don't care if it does, this is more for peeps that know or are family. But if you like it, well that's good too.
I'd like to say that Granddad's funeral was as nice as a funeral could be. The funeral home in PA was compassionate and accommodating. The director didn't bat an eye about GrandDad having teabags and poppy seeds under his pillow. He also didn't mind GrandDad having a piece of juicy fruit gum in his hands, or that there was an alligator sticker on his lapel, or even that there was a alligator tucked in his sleeve. I'm pretty sure there was a couple other little things that were tucked away in the coffin too, but this weekend was a little blurry and I just can't remember it all. My aunt L**d* and my mom put together photo boards of GrandDad surrounded by all his "louved ones".
I got to spend time with lots of family. That can be good and bad. It was mostly good. I reconnected with my littler cousins. They are intelligent, well-rounded, and very cool. Good job Aunt L**r* and Uncle J***. I spent time with my cousin R*** and his wife. He's very into Star Trek, which I think is awesome. Don't tell D**** that or she won't invite me over again. He has his own room to hold his Star Trek stuff and she's afraid it will spill out into the rest of the house. He's into other things too, so don't assume he speaks Vulcan or anything. Although he may possibly...
There was a pretty large number of people who came. What I mean is that he died in FL. He hadn't lived in PA for a long time. Lots of my Grandma's family is still in the area though. And everyone had dearly loved him.
All 4 of GrandNorma's kids came too. I appreciate them coming and I'm sure Mom did too. And they are awesome at bowling :)
I'm glad to be back home. Did I just call the Midwest home? I've gone NATIVE! Well, home is where your family is, so wherever James and the kids are, that's my home. I would rather have in a house in the South though. 2 more years... 2 more years... 2 more years...
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Hey everybody!
Get plenty of sleep and drink lots of fluids, because I'll probably be keeping y'all up with all the blogs I'm gonna write in the next few days. Fair warning? Game on.
Let's start with today and go backwards from there. It will make it more interesting. I know it's hard to believe, but even I can get a little irritable after 2 weeks in GA for Christmas and then a funeral in PA for my beloved GrandDad.
So I woke up in PA after a whirlwind funeral slash mini family reunion. I spent the middle part of the day in Detroit on a layover. They had to go through my bag. And STEAL my lotion. It's body butter. I know I'm supposed to have everything in a quart bag. And I had everything else that was liquid in said quart size bag. But, they wanted my brand new shea butter anyway. I'm very suspicious looking in case you didn't realize. Kudos to the TSA in Detroit. They're busy saving the world. One white girl with lotion at a time.
I'm an expert packer. I got 2 suitcases worth into one duffel. It took me 30 minutes of luggage tetris to do it. So when Captain Baldy of TSA undid EVERYthing in my bag, I wasn't happy. I wasn't very nice about telling him I would repack it. I also really wanted to spit in my confiscated lotion too but I thought James and also my mom would appreciate it if I didn't get arrested at the airport. Moms ALWAYS appreciate you not getting arrested. Moms also appreciate it when you don't cuss at TSA guys, but you can't always get what you want.
I did get to eat lunch all by myself. And I was able to read a magazine front to back without being interrupted. That's some golden time when you have 4 kids. I bought a science mag. Cause I'm a geek like that. I couldn't justify spending $5 on a mag that wouldn't teach me something useful.
Like how I probably could build some type of explosive and get it on an airplane. OK, so the mag I bought didn't really have instructions for that. But it did get the science part of my brain working. Hopefully this doesn't red flag my blog in some kind of Big Brother database of mommy blogs that also discuss bomb making. It's not like I really know how to build a bomb. And I'm certainly not advocating bomb making, but it wouldn't really be that hard to get something past those brilliant TSA officials. (that was sarcasm - I don't really think they're brilliant)
I could fill a small shampoo bottle with explosive and wire my cell phone to set it off. I'd just have to call my shampoo and BOOM! Or you could even shape plastique to look like sticks of gum. Or two little bottles of chemicals disguised as hygiene products that release a noxious gas when mixed together. You know, I should divert my efforts into something more productive... There are so many ways I could daydream. It's pretty hard to think about not blowing things up when you have dry hands though.
Get plenty of sleep and drink lots of fluids, because I'll probably be keeping y'all up with all the blogs I'm gonna write in the next few days. Fair warning? Game on.
Let's start with today and go backwards from there. It will make it more interesting. I know it's hard to believe, but even I can get a little irritable after 2 weeks in GA for Christmas and then a funeral in PA for my beloved GrandDad.
So I woke up in PA after a whirlwind funeral slash mini family reunion. I spent the middle part of the day in Detroit on a layover. They had to go through my bag. And STEAL my lotion. It's body butter. I know I'm supposed to have everything in a quart bag. And I had everything else that was liquid in said quart size bag. But, they wanted my brand new shea butter anyway. I'm very suspicious looking in case you didn't realize. Kudos to the TSA in Detroit. They're busy saving the world. One white girl with lotion at a time.
I'm an expert packer. I got 2 suitcases worth into one duffel. It took me 30 minutes of luggage tetris to do it. So when Captain Baldy of TSA undid EVERYthing in my bag, I wasn't happy. I wasn't very nice about telling him I would repack it. I also really wanted to spit in my confiscated lotion too but I thought James and also my mom would appreciate it if I didn't get arrested at the airport. Moms ALWAYS appreciate you not getting arrested. Moms also appreciate it when you don't cuss at TSA guys, but you can't always get what you want.
I did get to eat lunch all by myself. And I was able to read a magazine front to back without being interrupted. That's some golden time when you have 4 kids. I bought a science mag. Cause I'm a geek like that. I couldn't justify spending $5 on a mag that wouldn't teach me something useful.
Like how I probably could build some type of explosive and get it on an airplane. OK, so the mag I bought didn't really have instructions for that. But it did get the science part of my brain working. Hopefully this doesn't red flag my blog in some kind of Big Brother database of mommy blogs that also discuss bomb making. It's not like I really know how to build a bomb. And I'm certainly not advocating bomb making, but it wouldn't really be that hard to get something past those brilliant TSA officials. (that was sarcasm - I don't really think they're brilliant)
I could fill a small shampoo bottle with explosive and wire my cell phone to set it off. I'd just have to call my shampoo and BOOM! Or you could even shape plastique to look like sticks of gum. Or two little bottles of chemicals disguised as hygiene products that release a noxious gas when mixed together. You know, I should divert my efforts into something more productive... There are so many ways I could daydream. It's pretty hard to think about not blowing things up when you have dry hands though.
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