Well, if you're going to make it THAT easy on me to make a new post, I guess I'll have to take a turn! Thanks to Tavia and Lisa for giving me a much needed boost. But before I start, I really do want to tell the story of how I locked myself in my room for 3 hours on Sunday night, just to get a break from my ungrateful and wholly irrational family. If anybody wants to hear it.
In the meantime:
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain (I think it was mountain)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa.
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland (who the hell wrote this list, anyway? Why Ireland? Is is just because my HS band couldn't raise enough money to go there so we had to take a tour of Yugoslavia instead?)
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs (and my spices; is that on this list?)
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business (I think you can call it that)
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured an ancient site
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played Dungeons & Dragons for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie (no, but I was on 60 Minutes!)
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently well enough to have a decent conversation
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (in progress)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (but I wish I had!)
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life (well, actually it was Buddy, who rescued one of his dog friends, but I was the one who called 911)
151. Finished a marathon
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
The Busy Lexicon
Doesn't every mother think that her child says the cutest things? Well CMG is no exception. This being the modern world, I have two tools at my disposal to save the evidence of Busy's budding language skills for all eternity. The first, the camcorder, requires that I catch the girl off guard. If she sees me with the camera she'll start (a) hamming it up and (b) clamoring for a view. Of course, if she's on my side of the camera, then what am I taking pictures of? I do not need to record that many images of my messy playroom for all posterity.
So the second tool is, of course, my blog. I am sharing her words today with maybe a dozen people. Wouldn't you rather read about it than be forced to watch my home movies though?
Busy and the Alphabet
The inevitable mixing up of letter sounds: c/k --> t/d, f --> w, l --> y, s/sh--> y, th --> f.
Thus Kiddie Park sounds like titty part, frog and feet sound like wog and wheat, and sandals become yandals.
Busy and Grammar
As ego-centric as most babies are, Busy is taking her sweet time learning about "I" or even "me". She refers to herself as "my" and "mine". She efficiently dispenses with the entire notion of auxiliary verbs. Why say "What are you doing, mommy?" when you could simply ask, "Doing, mommy?"
Busy and the Negative
Of course all toddlers know about "no". It took Busy several months to say the word, however. In the meantime she would simply shake her head while speaking in order to negate her words. In order to say, e.g., "Buddy is not upstairs", Busy would shake her head from side to side and say "Buddy Up Tairs." I am happy to report that she has now learned to say "no" and "not." As in "Not you, Mommy!" "No-o-o! Mommy Top Dat!"
Putting It All Together
One of my favorite Busy-isms (and one that I get to hear a lot, especially thanks to Big's influence at the dinner table): I don't like it --> No my yike it! Another one is: I can't see --> No my yee!
And She Can Count, Too!
One two free five six yeven eight nine ten yeven eight nine ten yeven eight nine ten yeven twelve!
Now to get this child her own talk show.
So the second tool is, of course, my blog. I am sharing her words today with maybe a dozen people. Wouldn't you rather read about it than be forced to watch my home movies though?
Busy and the Alphabet
The inevitable mixing up of letter sounds: c/k --> t/d, f --> w, l --> y, s/sh--> y, th --> f.
Thus Kiddie Park sounds like titty part, frog and feet sound like wog and wheat, and sandals become yandals.
Busy and Grammar
As ego-centric as most babies are, Busy is taking her sweet time learning about "I" or even "me". She refers to herself as "my" and "mine". She efficiently dispenses with the entire notion of auxiliary verbs. Why say "What are you doing, mommy?" when you could simply ask, "Doing, mommy?"
Busy and the Negative
Of course all toddlers know about "no". It took Busy several months to say the word, however. In the meantime she would simply shake her head while speaking in order to negate her words. In order to say, e.g., "Buddy is not upstairs", Busy would shake her head from side to side and say "Buddy Up Tairs." I am happy to report that she has now learned to say "no" and "not." As in "Not you, Mommy!" "No-o-o! Mommy Top Dat!"
Putting It All Together
One of my favorite Busy-isms (and one that I get to hear a lot, especially thanks to Big's influence at the dinner table): I don't like it --> No my yike it! Another one is: I can't see --> No my yee!
And She Can Count, Too!
One two free five six yeven eight nine ten yeven eight nine ten yeven eight nine ten yeven twelve!
Now to get this child her own talk show.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Least Christian church on the planet? Mine.
Gaaah, I am beyond frustrated right now. I have been working my proverbial ASS off at church all summer and have not stopped since the school year began. In fact, knowing that our staff is over-worked right now and that we've been petitioning the congregation for PT volunteer receptionists, I decided that I could offer some time in this manner. You know, some of that free time that I PAY MONEY FOR by sending Busy to MDO two days a week; I volunteered to give 1 morning/week to answer phones. But it seemed like the right thing to do, to send the signal that I support all the ways in which our church is trying to grow. And today I put in an extra couple of hours with Busy in tow, just because I found out there was a need. I could do something about it, so I did.
Under the leadership of our new senior pastor (NSP who's amazing, really!) we started up the Wednesday night dinners early ... usually we take a break through the whole summer. But we kicked them off with 4 weeks of dinners each followed by an open forum/discussion about our church's future. A lot of this was to help NSP learn more about us -- he's not from around here, and he's got a job to do quickly, since he's only here on interim basis. He was stunned last night to learn some statistics about our membership: over 60% is over age 60 (or something like that).
Week 1: Talk about our church's greatest strengths, what could we improve, what things will help us in evangelism.
Week 2: Talk about our community, how it's changing, what are the unspoken truths, what needs aren't being met that our church could address
Week 3: Focus on children and youth -- what are we doing for the young families that we have and how to attract new ones.
Week 4: Focus on adults -- how do we reach the unchurched in our town and bring them into our doors.
Weeks 1-2 went pretty well, Week 3 started to go south (big disconnect between what we say and what we do), but today was Week 4, and the taste in my mouth is so bitter. NSP means well, and he's got so much energy and drive that he puts most of us to shame, especially given that he's twice my age. But NSP started the discussion today by leading the group to give general characteristics of the different generations represented in our adult population. You know, the GI generation (Tom Brokaw called these the "greatest generation"), the Boomers, and Generation X (and Y, I think).
Of course we start at the top. Glowing reports of the 70+ crowd, from themselves and from much of the younger set. GI Generation are frugal, loyal, patriotic, independent, hard-working, etc. Got a little more critical of the Baby Boomers. Boomers are self-centered, time-stressed, over-worked, highly educated, started the dual-career family drive, and they want things NOW. And then, while we are still in the room, the group goes to town on Gen X. Gen X-ers are lazy, selfish, technologically dependent, entitled, open-minded (that one was mine), ready to question the status quo. And then NSP asked us to think about how are we going to talk about things together, given these different characteristics. Answer = focus on what we have in common, and be tolerant and accepting of other adults as they are.
Maybe I missed something later, because at that point I got up and quietly left the room. Seriously, I was actually hurt by what they said about Gen X and was about to cry. There were maybe 80 people in the room at this point, and maybe just 5 of us under 40. Our youth department is big for now, but the elementary age kids (and their parents) just aren't here. Our church recently lost (by transfer) a devoted family w/ 4 kids and another on the way. So many people in this town choose the other big church of the same denomination across town, which has a fabulous children's program. It is so hard to draw new families to our place. Everybody keeps joking with us that we need to have more kids, as if that will solve the problem.
I did come back to the discussion near the end, and then NSP asked a few of us to say a few words to wrap up the 4 weeks of discussion. I know he takes to heart our church's NEED to put our children (and youth) first so that we have a future. And he really is doing what he can to make this happen, not just talk about it. But when brought the mike to me, I took the opportunity to plead to everybody that these aren't just my kids, they are all of our kids, and we need everybody's support and participation. I quoted another pastor I used to know, who told us almost weekly: "The church is never more than one generation away from extinction." And then I took a little bit of satisfaction at hearing them all gasp at my saying it. Maybe I wasn't feeling very Christian then, either.
Under the leadership of our new senior pastor (NSP who's amazing, really!) we started up the Wednesday night dinners early ... usually we take a break through the whole summer. But we kicked them off with 4 weeks of dinners each followed by an open forum/discussion about our church's future. A lot of this was to help NSP learn more about us -- he's not from around here, and he's got a job to do quickly, since he's only here on interim basis. He was stunned last night to learn some statistics about our membership: over 60% is over age 60 (or something like that).
Week 1: Talk about our church's greatest strengths, what could we improve, what things will help us in evangelism.
Week 2: Talk about our community, how it's changing, what are the unspoken truths, what needs aren't being met that our church could address
Week 3: Focus on children and youth -- what are we doing for the young families that we have and how to attract new ones.
Week 4: Focus on adults -- how do we reach the unchurched in our town and bring them into our doors.
Weeks 1-2 went pretty well, Week 3 started to go south (big disconnect between what we say and what we do), but today was Week 4, and the taste in my mouth is so bitter. NSP means well, and he's got so much energy and drive that he puts most of us to shame, especially given that he's twice my age. But NSP started the discussion today by leading the group to give general characteristics of the different generations represented in our adult population. You know, the GI generation (Tom Brokaw called these the "greatest generation"), the Boomers, and Generation X (and Y, I think).
Of course we start at the top. Glowing reports of the 70+ crowd, from themselves and from much of the younger set. GI Generation are frugal, loyal, patriotic, independent, hard-working, etc. Got a little more critical of the Baby Boomers. Boomers are self-centered, time-stressed, over-worked, highly educated, started the dual-career family drive, and they want things NOW. And then, while we are still in the room, the group goes to town on Gen X. Gen X-ers are lazy, selfish, technologically dependent, entitled, open-minded (that one was mine), ready to question the status quo. And then NSP asked us to think about how are we going to talk about things together, given these different characteristics. Answer = focus on what we have in common, and be tolerant and accepting of other adults as they are.
Maybe I missed something later, because at that point I got up and quietly left the room. Seriously, I was actually hurt by what they said about Gen X and was about to cry. There were maybe 80 people in the room at this point, and maybe just 5 of us under 40. Our youth department is big for now, but the elementary age kids (and their parents) just aren't here. Our church recently lost (by transfer) a devoted family w/ 4 kids and another on the way. So many people in this town choose the other big church of the same denomination across town, which has a fabulous children's program. It is so hard to draw new families to our place. Everybody keeps joking with us that we need to have more kids, as if that will solve the problem.
I did come back to the discussion near the end, and then NSP asked a few of us to say a few words to wrap up the 4 weeks of discussion. I know he takes to heart our church's NEED to put our children (and youth) first so that we have a future. And he really is doing what he can to make this happen, not just talk about it. But when brought the mike to me, I took the opportunity to plead to everybody that these aren't just my kids, they are all of our kids, and we need everybody's support and participation. I quoted another pastor I used to know, who told us almost weekly: "The church is never more than one generation away from extinction." And then I took a little bit of satisfaction at hearing them all gasp at my saying it. Maybe I wasn't feeling very Christian then, either.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Fine. I'll frickin' post something already.
Yeah, I've been a blog-ignorer lately. But trust me -- everybody's doing it! But my last post is just sitting out there like a giant matzoh ball, so ... time to move on.
What've I been up to? The past eight weeks or so are nothing but a blur. I did finally toss a pair of pants from my GIH's valet stand into the corner. They were bugging me to no end, since they'd been perched up there since BSP's funeral 7 weeks ago! I got fed up.
Church life? Still wearing me out. VBS went well, which is good, considering that I'll be leading it for the next 10 years unless (a) we move away or (b) we manage to attract and keep a few new families to our church (and one of them becomes sucker enough to take this off my hands.)
Bleh - I need to think about something else. Like the big news that I'm happy about these days. My sister is pregnant! Just 9w right now, which puts her due in late March. I am so happy for her. And hoping, just a little bit, that she has a boy. This is likely to be her only child (her hubby has two daughters from his first marriage to the Skank - at least I think that's her name), and since I already have two girls myself, this would give some balance to the family. Schwester's pregnancy has me biting my tongue constantly, not to spew out all the "advice" I'm sitting on. Also has me a wee bit jealous and contemplating adding a 3rd to our family as well. Even though GIH and I agreed, quite a while ago, that having any more kids would likely cause major major damage to our marriage.
Also --- my Busy girl turned two and it is oh so fun! I really mean it, except for the inevitable tantrums. Now that Big has gone to FT school, I have a lot more alone time with Busy. She is such a delightful creature. (I'm telling you this in general terms, rather than providing illustrative examples, because I can't describe anything right now. Only live video feed would let you in on this story. But at least *I'm* getting a kick out of things.)
ONTH, Big started FT school, public pre-K. I am worried because she is not taking to it as well as I thought. I was on the fence for several months about half-day vs full-day, and ended up on this side of the fence because, frankly, full-day worked better for ME. Big is so NOT delightful right now. I'd like to tip my hat to whichever of my friends dubbed this the "fuckface fours." But the school transition has been an abrupt one, and she complains a lot in the few hours that she's home, about wanting to have more fun time with her family. She even said one day that she missed Busy, so you know it's serious.
Today Big became interested in school again b/c I started letting her ride the school bus. Y'all, this is the biggest deal yet. She rides the bus from her school to another elementary, then TRANSFERS to another bus to ride home. At the age of 4-1/2. I've been swearing up and down for six months that I would never let my Big child ride the bus at this age. Yet five days of sitting in the van w/ Busy for 30 minutes, waiting our turn for pick-up, was enough. I decided to take a real leap and put my faith in the city schoolbus system. Which is funny, because another thing that I've always SWORN up and down (why does nobody ever swear left-to-right?) was that my kids would ride the schoolbus b/c I had to, and I thought all those other kids who didn't have to were just spoiled brats. But of course it's just completely different when it's your own precious baby. Gah, I'm just as sappy as all those other moms. Who knew?
What've I been up to? The past eight weeks or so are nothing but a blur. I did finally toss a pair of pants from my GIH's valet stand into the corner. They were bugging me to no end, since they'd been perched up there since BSP's funeral 7 weeks ago! I got fed up.
Church life? Still wearing me out. VBS went well, which is good, considering that I'll be leading it for the next 10 years unless (a) we move away or (b) we manage to attract and keep a few new families to our church (and one of them becomes sucker enough to take this off my hands.)
Bleh - I need to think about something else. Like the big news that I'm happy about these days. My sister is pregnant! Just 9w right now, which puts her due in late March. I am so happy for her. And hoping, just a little bit, that she has a boy. This is likely to be her only child (her hubby has two daughters from his first marriage to the Skank - at least I think that's her name), and since I already have two girls myself, this would give some balance to the family. Schwester's pregnancy has me biting my tongue constantly, not to spew out all the "advice" I'm sitting on. Also has me a wee bit jealous and contemplating adding a 3rd to our family as well. Even though GIH and I agreed, quite a while ago, that having any more kids would likely cause major major damage to our marriage.
Also --- my Busy girl turned two and it is oh so fun! I really mean it, except for the inevitable tantrums. Now that Big has gone to FT school, I have a lot more alone time with Busy. She is such a delightful creature. (I'm telling you this in general terms, rather than providing illustrative examples, because I can't describe anything right now. Only live video feed would let you in on this story. But at least *I'm* getting a kick out of things.)
ONTH, Big started FT school, public pre-K. I am worried because she is not taking to it as well as I thought. I was on the fence for several months about half-day vs full-day, and ended up on this side of the fence because, frankly, full-day worked better for ME. Big is so NOT delightful right now. I'd like to tip my hat to whichever of my friends dubbed this the "fuckface fours." But the school transition has been an abrupt one, and she complains a lot in the few hours that she's home, about wanting to have more fun time with her family. She even said one day that she missed Busy, so you know it's serious.
Today Big became interested in school again b/c I started letting her ride the school bus. Y'all, this is the biggest deal yet. She rides the bus from her school to another elementary, then TRANSFERS to another bus to ride home. At the age of 4-1/2. I've been swearing up and down for six months that I would never let my Big child ride the bus at this age. Yet five days of sitting in the van w/ Busy for 30 minutes, waiting our turn for pick-up, was enough. I decided to take a real leap and put my faith in the city schoolbus system. Which is funny, because another thing that I've always SWORN up and down (why does nobody ever swear left-to-right?) was that my kids would ride the schoolbus b/c I had to, and I thought all those other kids who didn't have to were just spoiled brats. But of course it's just completely different when it's your own precious baby. Gah, I'm just as sappy as all those other moms. Who knew?
Monday, July 17, 2006
My church is trying to kill me!
So, by the by, our Beloved Senior Pastor died. Just a few hours after my committee had held a meeting in his office, at which I was sitting right next to him. That totally sucked. And our previous Associate Pastor came back to lead the memorial service, which was beautiful, but then totally sucked to see her leave again. Our BSP was less than 2 years from retiring, and had recently built his first house ever that was his own and not a parsonage, where he and his wife were going to live out their days in retirement. So sad. And our hearts ache all around.
What have I been up to lately? Here's a copy, more or less, of my report to our Church Council tonight:
1. Interim Pastor coming; he'll start this Sunday (7/23), commuting from south of Tulsa. (Except I already made a special appearance at both services yesterday to announce this, so this part isn't news.) This action only required two meetings and three sets of phone calls. We're offering $X salary, but we're not 100% certain that he'll take it. After all, have you seen the price of gas lately? I move that the Council/charge conference (just what is the difference, anyway?) approve this salary for IP anyway. (Motion carries.)
2. Associate Pastor is leaving. Cat is out of the bag now; this cat's been angry for months. Actually what I said was "The Bishop has contacted us and informed us that AP is to be reappointed elsewhere by the end of the month." Boy was that some spin. ... This part of the report did generate some questions, most of which went unasked. And the ones that did get a voice were met by our fearless District Superintendent rather than my gutless self. To which I give a big AMEN! ... Will have a farewell reception for AP next Sunday (7/30); question of the moment is do we have a simultaneous meet-and-greet with the new IP? Answer is probably yes. Oh wait, who's responsible for planning these receptions? That would be my committee. Thank Heaven for the woman who suggested an ALOHA, meaning hello and goodbye. Someone help me refrain from getting all our ministers lei'd.
(Hold that thought. Please come back and ask me what I'm doing with the rest of my day on 7/30.)
3. Remember that AP has been standing in as our youth director since our YD departed in February. Not to worry! Newcomer to our staff, current director of children's/youth music, who (by the way) recently assumed the responsibilities of Children's Ministries. will now be our (you guessed it) IYD, interim youth director. Comment from the crowd to IYD: Young lady, you've got a lot on your plate. Yes, I know! We're on it! I don't want any of our staff to be overworked, either. But an IYD on the staff is better than 2 YD out in the bush. Ah, proverbs.
4. This one's a bit anti-climactic at this point, but just for the record: On Sunday 7/23, this Sunday, when we start with our new IP after 3 weeks of stand-ins since our BSP died, we also start with a new organist!!! In fact, hiring him was the last action taken by my committee before BSP died. For reasons that aren't known by me at all (honest!) our fabulous gay organist decided to move to Connecticut. By my book, he was great, and the new guy will also be great, and our music will continue to be great, so really, it's all good. I mean great.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Gosh, I'm sorry, was I still speaking? That's got to be all. This is surely as much as one SAHM being driven insane by her Big and Busy children in the 100-degree heat could handle, right?
Let's get back to the question: CMG, what are you doing with the rest of your day on 7/30?
Kicking off Vacation Bible School, of course. Because the CMG would be the perfect candidate to lead VBS in our ailing church. You know, because she's not doing much these days. F*ucking slacker.
signed,
this is a stickup - hand over all your Prozac!
What have I been up to lately? Here's a copy, more or less, of my report to our Church Council tonight:
1. Interim Pastor coming; he'll start this Sunday (7/23), commuting from south of Tulsa. (Except I already made a special appearance at both services yesterday to announce this, so this part isn't news.) This action only required two meetings and three sets of phone calls. We're offering $X salary, but we're not 100% certain that he'll take it. After all, have you seen the price of gas lately? I move that the Council/charge conference (just what is the difference, anyway?) approve this salary for IP anyway. (Motion carries.)
2. Associate Pastor is leaving. Cat is out of the bag now; this cat's been angry for months. Actually what I said was "The Bishop has contacted us and informed us that AP is to be reappointed elsewhere by the end of the month." Boy was that some spin. ... This part of the report did generate some questions, most of which went unasked. And the ones that did get a voice were met by our fearless District Superintendent rather than my gutless self. To which I give a big AMEN! ... Will have a farewell reception for AP next Sunday (7/30); question of the moment is do we have a simultaneous meet-and-greet with the new IP? Answer is probably yes. Oh wait, who's responsible for planning these receptions? That would be my committee. Thank Heaven for the woman who suggested an ALOHA, meaning hello and goodbye. Someone help me refrain from getting all our ministers lei'd.
(Hold that thought. Please come back and ask me what I'm doing with the rest of my day on 7/30.)
3. Remember that AP has been standing in as our youth director since our YD departed in February. Not to worry! Newcomer to our staff, current director of children's/youth music, who (by the way) recently assumed the responsibilities of Children's Ministries. will now be our (you guessed it) IYD, interim youth director. Comment from the crowd to IYD: Young lady, you've got a lot on your plate. Yes, I know! We're on it! I don't want any of our staff to be overworked, either. But an IYD on the staff is better than 2 YD out in the bush. Ah, proverbs.
4. This one's a bit anti-climactic at this point, but just for the record: On Sunday 7/23, this Sunday, when we start with our new IP after 3 weeks of stand-ins since our BSP died, we also start with a new organist!!! In fact, hiring him was the last action taken by my committee before BSP died. For reasons that aren't known by me at all (honest!) our fabulous gay organist decided to move to Connecticut. By my book, he was great, and the new guy will also be great, and our music will continue to be great, so really, it's all good. I mean great.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Gosh, I'm sorry, was I still speaking? That's got to be all. This is surely as much as one SAHM being driven insane by her Big and Busy children in the 100-degree heat could handle, right?
Let's get back to the question: CMG, what are you doing with the rest of your day on 7/30?
Kicking off Vacation Bible School, of course. Because the CMG would be the perfect candidate to lead VBS in our ailing church. You know, because she's not doing much these days. F*ucking slacker.
signed,
this is a stickup - hand over all your Prozac!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Happy Anniversary to Us!
I was about to say "to Me" but then remembered there are two of us in this marriage. And since we're actually getting along OK lately, best to allow for the SDG's role.
So, seven years as of Sunday, June 11. No itch here, as far as I can detect. We talk regularly, hang out like couch potatoes together every night. Working pretty well as co-parents. Things could be a little (OK, a lot) more spicy in the bedroom, but I feel too tired and uninterested in that most of the time anyway. And maybe that's a part of the problem. We own this book but haven't pulled it out of the drawer in years. Just no drive. Seems kind of sad. OTOH, I've just learned that my RL friend with 4 children, the youngest of whom is exactly Big's age, is now expecting #5. She was about to have all 4 kids in school FT, a year earlier than she'd anticipated thanks to the booming full-day pre-K programs in town, and prayed to God for a sign about what she should do next. Bam (pun intended), she gets pregnant. Her husband now says she needs to be a little more specific with her prayers. Bottom line is, sex may be over-rated. That's all I'm saying about that.
Went on vacation recently and knew beforehand that timing would be tight if I wanted to get SDG a nice anniversary gift. So before our trip I looked up the traditional anniversary gift for the 7th year, found it was copper, and decided I'd make a trip to Target after we got home to find something nice from their Smith&Hawken items. Actually did make that trip on Thursday (3 days in advance), picked out a really nice Cu mailbox. Decided it would not be an extravagance since SDG has been working really hard at improving our house's curb appeal. Also wanted to make dinner reservations for here but they don't operate on Sundays. Ended up settling for the tres-cliche Olive Garden when our second choice restaurant also turned out to be closed.
So yeah, we did go out. Hired a babysitter for the first time in ages. Went to Tulsa and saw Prairie Home Companion. Thought it was f*ucking hysterical. Seriously, I loved it a lot. Never laughed about the penguin joke so hard in my life. And have been feeling bad ever since then because that joke reminded me so strongly of my ex-boyfriend b/c he loved it so much. And I never found it funny until now. And I'm feeling the crazy urge to e-mail the schmuck and tell him how much I'm laughing over his penguins this week. Probably wrong that it comes up on my wedding anniversary, though.
And then the thoughts peter out and CMG goes to bed.
So, seven years as of Sunday, June 11. No itch here, as far as I can detect. We talk regularly, hang out like couch potatoes together every night. Working pretty well as co-parents. Things could be a little (OK, a lot) more spicy in the bedroom, but I feel too tired and uninterested in that most of the time anyway. And maybe that's a part of the problem. We own this book but haven't pulled it out of the drawer in years. Just no drive. Seems kind of sad. OTOH, I've just learned that my RL friend with 4 children, the youngest of whom is exactly Big's age, is now expecting #5. She was about to have all 4 kids in school FT, a year earlier than she'd anticipated thanks to the booming full-day pre-K programs in town, and prayed to God for a sign about what she should do next. Bam (pun intended), she gets pregnant. Her husband now says she needs to be a little more specific with her prayers. Bottom line is, sex may be over-rated. That's all I'm saying about that.
Went on vacation recently and knew beforehand that timing would be tight if I wanted to get SDG a nice anniversary gift. So before our trip I looked up the traditional anniversary gift for the 7th year, found it was copper, and decided I'd make a trip to Target after we got home to find something nice from their Smith&Hawken items. Actually did make that trip on Thursday (3 days in advance), picked out a really nice Cu mailbox. Decided it would not be an extravagance since SDG has been working really hard at improving our house's curb appeal. Also wanted to make dinner reservations for here but they don't operate on Sundays. Ended up settling for the tres-cliche Olive Garden when our second choice restaurant also turned out to be closed.
So yeah, we did go out. Hired a babysitter for the first time in ages. Went to Tulsa and saw Prairie Home Companion. Thought it was f*ucking hysterical. Seriously, I loved it a lot. Never laughed about the penguin joke so hard in my life. And have been feeling bad ever since then because that joke reminded me so strongly of my ex-boyfriend b/c he loved it so much. And I never found it funny until now. And I'm feeling the crazy urge to e-mail the schmuck and tell him how much I'm laughing over his penguins this week. Probably wrong that it comes up on my wedding anniversary, though.
And then the thoughts peter out and CMG goes to bed.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Blogging from the vault, Part 1:
Thought I'd dig out some of my abandoned posts from the drafts file. Didn't realize that they would be time-stamped with the original date. So here's the link to the first installment, titled "Meet my dad, the chick."
Monday, May 08, 2006
Just a place-holder
Seems to be a theme amongst bloggers I know. I am not dead. Just wishing, at this particular moment, that I were. For no particular reason, either.
SInce I have no time to write about the real things on my mind, and since I have nothing to contribute in the way of wit and insight, I'll just dig into the archive of my brain and tell a random tidbit about my dad. Someday he will be gone and I will be sorry if I never got this non-story into the official record.
The four food groups, according to Bob (before he went and improved his diet a few years ago, thus ruining a perfectly good anecdote):
1. The salty snacks group (consists of Fritos, pretzel rods, etc. Also Snickers ice cream bars, because they don't fit anywhere else.)
2. The garlic bread group
3. The really good deli meats group
4. Brussels sprouts
Seriously -- that 4th one is the only vegetable he eats.
SInce I have no time to write about the real things on my mind, and since I have nothing to contribute in the way of wit and insight, I'll just dig into the archive of my brain and tell a random tidbit about my dad. Someday he will be gone and I will be sorry if I never got this non-story into the official record.
The four food groups, according to Bob (before he went and improved his diet a few years ago, thus ruining a perfectly good anecdote):
1. The salty snacks group (consists of Fritos, pretzel rods, etc. Also Snickers ice cream bars, because they don't fit anywhere else.)
2. The garlic bread group
3. The really good deli meats group
4. Brussels sprouts
Seriously -- that 4th one is the only vegetable he eats.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Lookit me, I'm SOOOOOOOO doped up!
OK this is going to be much fonnier for those who know me if I leave the ypos in. Which is going to be hard for me b/c I usually edit them out so quickly. OK maybe I will be the only one ammused. See, I'm laughing already.
The CMG is sufering from hayfever-gone=wild. (more giggles) I mean seriously, my nose needs its own ZIP code. I could glue the Taj Mahal together with all the snot I've exhaled in teh past 24 hours.
But I ahve been serosly craving the vino this week. An d my Black Cat bar taht I got with my last coffe purchase thanks tot he JENQ discount. I mean, seriously, why send me a delicious chocolat bar unsless youre going to provide the wine with it, right? (whoa, apologies to those who followed the link and found they were out of stock right now. But it's not like I'm offering to share mine with you. Sorry Gretechen but my love only goes so far.)
So toinight I am on: one loratidien (generic claritin) + 2 cglasses ymmy wiene (yes that's supposed to say wine) + 1/2 bag of pepper jack Doritos. AND I just watched LOST which always makes one say WTF sot that's been coming out of my mouth a lot lately along with teh giggles.
For the record, I only gave the baby one dose of Deimetapp for her (proabable?:) allergies. It knocked her out cold fr an early afternoon nap which was just as well because she's been awake a lot at night lately. WHich means taht I am been too.
I hpe I don't pass out before the husband Bryan comes home from his latest travails. So far so good, I think he's due in a few minutes. And If I stay awake i'll be able to have more of my chocolate bar. oh yeah, I ujust remembered why I cam up stairs to get on the Internet. Iwanted to know why Mike Davis is leaving Indiana. That first link is teh one that I thought would hav the answer. But this one is the true one, apparetnly: here
What's really bugging me more now is that the OU coach is replacing him . World is too small for shit like thsi to happen. (And what toes tat meean, anyway?)_ But I'm also bothered bthat the coahc's name is Kelvin Sampson. That is just not the name of areal person in the 21st century, I'm sorry. If I'm not carefl I'll start calling the guy Lord Kelvin or smthing. And I am too doped to link that last one for you, and besides my hubby is home, so you're going to have to find your own amusement tonight.
The CMG is sufering from hayfever-gone=wild. (more giggles) I mean seriously, my nose needs its own ZIP code. I could glue the Taj Mahal together with all the snot I've exhaled in teh past 24 hours.
But I ahve been serosly craving the vino this week. An d my Black Cat bar taht I got with my last coffe purchase thanks tot he JENQ discount. I mean, seriously, why send me a delicious chocolat bar unsless youre going to provide the wine with it, right? (whoa, apologies to those who followed the link and found they were out of stock right now. But it's not like I'm offering to share mine with you. Sorry Gretechen but my love only goes so far.)
So toinight I am on: one loratidien (generic claritin) + 2 cglasses ymmy wiene (yes that's supposed to say wine) + 1/2 bag of pepper jack Doritos. AND I just watched LOST which always makes one say WTF sot that's been coming out of my mouth a lot lately along with teh giggles.
For the record, I only gave the baby one dose of Deimetapp for her (proabable?:) allergies. It knocked her out cold fr an early afternoon nap which was just as well because she's been awake a lot at night lately. WHich means taht I am been too.
I hpe I don't pass out before the husband Bryan comes home from his latest travails. So far so good, I think he's due in a few minutes. And If I stay awake i'll be able to have more of my chocolate bar. oh yeah, I ujust remembered why I cam up stairs to get on the Internet. Iwanted to know why Mike Davis is leaving Indiana. That first link is teh one that I thought would hav the answer. But this one is the true one, apparetnly: here
What's really bugging me more now is that the OU coach is replacing him . World is too small for shit like thsi to happen. (And what toes tat meean, anyway?)_ But I'm also bothered bthat the coahc's name is Kelvin Sampson. That is just not the name of areal person in the 21st century, I'm sorry. If I'm not carefl I'll start calling the guy Lord Kelvin or smthing. And I am too doped to link that last one for you, and besides my hubby is home, so you're going to have to find your own amusement tonight.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Blogging from the vault: 3/15/06 Meet my dad, the chick
I've got several posts saved in here as drafts. Trying to clear them out, but some will take some editing/expanding. This one is OK as minimally is. It's a hoot b/c before my dad was retired from the Army (and divorced a second time) he used to live by a simple dressing philosophy: he picks the wife, the wife picks the clothes.
bcurrey@utep.edu says:
knock2
Jo Ann says:
hello?
bc says:
me here -- watching tv
Jo Ann says:
we're rating movies on Netflix
bc says:
ummm? what movies?
Jo Ann says:
all kinds of movies
bc says:
i haven't seen one since glory road
Jo Ann says:
you mean in a theater?
bc says:
yup -- haven't rented a dvd in ages.
Jo Ann says:
hmm
bc says:
phone calls from marketers -- hate them
bc says:
not sure i like this im thing
Jo Ann says:
thought that was why you had caller id
Jo Ann says:
(response to the first part)
Jo Ann says:
really? i like it
bc says:
caller id is ok, but i normally don't check it, i just pick up the phone
Jo Ann says:
hey, have you tried any of your tastefully simple stuff?
bc says:
im is kinda distracting, i find i dont pay enuf attention, and the lag between comment and response sometimes is confusing
Jo Ann says:
hey, have you tried any of your tastefully simple stuff?
bc says:
just the pretzels -- believe it or not I haven't cooked/entertained this year. and the friggin ind blew by gas bbq off the back deck
Jo Ann says:
oh, that sucks.
Jo Ann says:
but try the Simply Salsa, at least, for yourself.
bc says:
actually it turned in the wind and rolled over the edge of the steps, and then broke all to hell
Jo Ann says:
sorry.
bc says:
flying to brownsville tomorrow, back fri
Jo Ann says:
bry's going on the road this week too
bc says:
bought h&b matching pink sun dresses, will bring them next week
Jo Ann says:
sounds cute
bc says:
took me less than 5 minutes in the gap kids
Jo Ann says:
you shop quick!
bc says:
i hate it -- i really need to re-up my wardrobe, but would like a female around to help me
Jo Ann says:
i'm not much of one to ask, but we can talk about it later, if you want
Jo Ann says:
but now i need to go downstairs
Jo Ann says:
good night!
bc says:
ok, i'm pretty sure what i need -- slacks, better than dockers/chinos but not the $100 kind -- grey, navy, black, green, khaki/lt brown, taupe -- to go with a variety of sport coats. then a couple or three very nice tees. lastly some shirts.
bcurrey@utep.edu says:
knock2
Jo Ann says:
hello?
bc says:
me here -- watching tv
Jo Ann says:
we're rating movies on Netflix
bc says:
ummm? what movies?
Jo Ann says:
all kinds of movies
bc says:
i haven't seen one since glory road
Jo Ann says:
you mean in a theater?
bc says:
yup -- haven't rented a dvd in ages.
Jo Ann says:
hmm
bc says:
phone calls from marketers -- hate them
bc says:
not sure i like this im thing
Jo Ann says:
thought that was why you had caller id
Jo Ann says:
(response to the first part)
Jo Ann says:
really? i like it
bc says:
caller id is ok, but i normally don't check it, i just pick up the phone
Jo Ann says:
hey, have you tried any of your tastefully simple stuff?
bc says:
im is kinda distracting, i find i dont pay enuf attention, and the lag between comment and response sometimes is confusing
Jo Ann says:
hey, have you tried any of your tastefully simple stuff?
bc says:
just the pretzels -- believe it or not I haven't cooked/entertained this year. and the friggin ind blew by gas bbq off the back deck
Jo Ann says:
oh, that sucks.
Jo Ann says:
but try the Simply Salsa, at least, for yourself.
bc says:
actually it turned in the wind and rolled over the edge of the steps, and then broke all to hell
Jo Ann says:
sorry.
bc says:
flying to brownsville tomorrow, back fri
Jo Ann says:
bry's going on the road this week too
bc says:
bought h&b matching pink sun dresses, will bring them next week
Jo Ann says:
sounds cute
bc says:
took me less than 5 minutes in the gap kids
Jo Ann says:
you shop quick!
bc says:
i hate it -- i really need to re-up my wardrobe, but would like a female around to help me
Jo Ann says:
i'm not much of one to ask, but we can talk about it later, if you want
Jo Ann says:
but now i need to go downstairs
Jo Ann says:
good night!
bc says:
ok, i'm pretty sure what i need -- slacks, better than dockers/chinos but not the $100 kind -- grey, navy, black, green, khaki/lt brown, taupe -- to go with a variety of sport coats. then a couple or three very nice tees. lastly some shirts.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Who's been reading The DaVinci Code to my daughter?!
Seriously. I wanna know. Is her preschool showing The Last Temptation of Christ, and I just don't know it yet?
Big's been a faithful Sunday school student for many weeks. She's brought home several valuable lessons that we've re-enacted at home, including: how to be a shepherd (like Abraham and Lot), how to be a sheep, how to play Jacob's Ladder, how to catch 153 fish (like the disciples). In the past month or so, there have been a couple of lessons about Jesus visiting Mary and Martha. The first was the story of Martha resenting her sister for sitting at Jesus' feet to hear him speak, rather than getting up off her holier-than-thou a*ss to help prepare the meal. This week's lesson was called "Mary shows love" and it's the story of Mary washing Jesus' feet with perfume and drying them with her hair(I think Big was trying to call it scented oil, but it came out sounding like Sentsus. Or maybe Sentences. I don't remember. Not the point.)
No problem so far. But yesterday she started putting two and two together and announced that someday Mary and Jesus can get married and have their own babies. Just like in Dan Brown's book, The DaVinci Code. OK, so he wrote about Mary Magdalene and I don't think that's the one Big is talking about. And if my 4yo can come up with the idea on her own, it can't be that far out there.
On other Jesus themes, Big is still really fuzzy on the concept of death. A couple of weeks ago she was asking me about her friend Kenzie's daddy. (Kenzie doesn't have a daddy at home; she was adopted by a single woman.) Big asked me if K's daddy died on the cross, like Jesus. And even though I said No to that one, she informed me that if he did, then he would come back and be alive on Easter, just like Jesus.
Pastor Jen, if you're out there, please assure me that Big's not going to be struck down for blasphemy.
Big's been a faithful Sunday school student for many weeks. She's brought home several valuable lessons that we've re-enacted at home, including: how to be a shepherd (like Abraham and Lot), how to be a sheep, how to play Jacob's Ladder, how to catch 153 fish (like the disciples). In the past month or so, there have been a couple of lessons about Jesus visiting Mary and Martha. The first was the story of Martha resenting her sister for sitting at Jesus' feet to hear him speak, rather than getting up off her holier-than-thou a*ss to help prepare the meal. This week's lesson was called "Mary shows love" and it's the story of Mary washing Jesus' feet with perfume and drying them with her hair(I think Big was trying to call it scented oil, but it came out sounding like Sentsus. Or maybe Sentences. I don't remember. Not the point.)
No problem so far. But yesterday she started putting two and two together and announced that someday Mary and Jesus can get married and have their own babies. Just like in Dan Brown's book, The DaVinci Code. OK, so he wrote about Mary Magdalene and I don't think that's the one Big is talking about. And if my 4yo can come up with the idea on her own, it can't be that far out there.
On other Jesus themes, Big is still really fuzzy on the concept of death. A couple of weeks ago she was asking me about her friend Kenzie's daddy. (Kenzie doesn't have a daddy at home; she was adopted by a single woman.) Big asked me if K's daddy died on the cross, like Jesus. And even though I said No to that one, she informed me that if he did, then he would come back and be alive on Easter, just like Jesus.
Pastor Jen, if you're out there, please assure me that Big's not going to be struck down for blasphemy.
Monday, February 27, 2006
And in the "Holy Hell, That Hurts!" Category ...
... Burns.
Burns are, by nature, painful. That is why reasonable people take steps to avoid them. I am, ordinarily, such a reasonable person. But not today.
This evening, while my husband sulked in the playroom (which was my fault for speaking meanly to him, BTW, and had nothing to do with him being a thin-skinned lazy ass) watching the kids cavort;while mother naively twiddled her thumbs and came to share the miniscule news of the day; while Big and Busy reached Olympic heights of auditory assault; while I was holding it all together and making a kick-ass Non-Cream-of-X-Soup-Casserole using leftover pork chops, frozen peas, and the wondrous Tastefully Simple Monterey Cheese Sauce ...
... I picked up the saute pan, fresh out of the 425degF oven, with my non-gloved hand. Do you think it bears mentioning that it was FUCKING HOT?!!
After the immediate shock wore off we did the usual hemming and hawing over whether it warranted a trip to the ER. Let me tell you how glad I am that the Ask-a-Nurse didn't think it was. Our home lab recently changed to Aetna's new "cost saver" plan offered through GIH's compnay. Yeah, we see a little more in each paycheck, but after both girls' annual ped visits with beaucoup vaccinations AND last month's ER trip for Big AND me being a damfool and going for three months of the Nuvaring ... our FSA is nearly wiped out. And it's not even March.
Back to the point. No hospital trip for CMG. (That's supposed to be me; did I get those initials right?) Just an evening of my hand wrapped in a damp towel and the GIH cursing me for keeping that saute pan around, b/c you know everyone has burned themselves on it but himself. That's almost a direct quote. It was almost endearing, the way he went out of his way to be angry at Calphalon rather than at me. We've decided to sue them for millions of dollars for inadequate labeling.
Onthe plus side, I'm told that Big said a nice prayer for Mommy's hand at bedtime. And all these years of motherhood have enabled me to attempt, even accomplish, far more with my left hand than I ever would have dreamed of as a nulliparous woman. I should get a gold medal just for tonight's stellarly sinister teeth-brushing. But Holy Hell ... my right hand hurts!
Burns are, by nature, painful. That is why reasonable people take steps to avoid them. I am, ordinarily, such a reasonable person. But not today.
This evening, while my husband sulked in the playroom (which was my fault for speaking meanly to him, BTW, and had nothing to do with him being a thin-skinned lazy ass) watching the kids cavort;while mother naively twiddled her thumbs and came to share the miniscule news of the day; while Big and Busy reached Olympic heights of auditory assault; while I was holding it all together and making a kick-ass Non-Cream-of-X-Soup-Casserole using leftover pork chops, frozen peas, and the wondrous Tastefully Simple Monterey Cheese Sauce ...
... I picked up the saute pan, fresh out of the 425degF oven, with my non-gloved hand. Do you think it bears mentioning that it was FUCKING HOT?!!
After the immediate shock wore off we did the usual hemming and hawing over whether it warranted a trip to the ER. Let me tell you how glad I am that the Ask-a-Nurse didn't think it was. Our home lab recently changed to Aetna's new "cost saver" plan offered through GIH's compnay. Yeah, we see a little more in each paycheck, but after both girls' annual ped visits with beaucoup vaccinations AND last month's ER trip for Big AND me being a damfool and going for three months of the Nuvaring ... our FSA is nearly wiped out. And it's not even March.
Back to the point. No hospital trip for CMG. (That's supposed to be me; did I get those initials right?) Just an evening of my hand wrapped in a damp towel and the GIH cursing me for keeping that saute pan around, b/c you know everyone has burned themselves on it but himself. That's almost a direct quote. It was almost endearing, the way he went out of his way to be angry at Calphalon rather than at me. We've decided to sue them for millions of dollars for inadequate labeling.
Onthe plus side, I'm told that Big said a nice prayer for Mommy's hand at bedtime. And all these years of motherhood have enabled me to attempt, even accomplish, far more with my left hand than I ever would have dreamed of as a nulliparous woman. I should get a gold medal just for tonight's stellarly sinister teeth-brushing. But Holy Hell ... my right hand hurts!
Monday, February 06, 2006
Sleeping is hard work!
That must be why it so rarely happens for me. It's now 2am. My husband and I turned in around 11pm. During the first hour, I think I dozed a bit before I got up twice to shush the barking dog. Then I dozed a bit more before Busy woke up and fussed. I've become a horrible Ferber parent, preferring to step in early for a brief comforting intervention ... this means I commit the cardinal parenting sin of PICKING MY CHILD UP. (GIH: But I thought we weren't supposed to pick her up?! CMG: Shut it! -- This is the quickest way for me to get back to sleep.) Except that tonight it's not. Fingers are crossed that the latest rocking and cuddling worked -- but NO! I hear the cries again. Why why why why why? (ooh, that word is pretty easy to type repeatedly. Let's try it again: why why why why why?)
With my luck, if and when I ever DO get back to sleep, that will be when Big has a nightmare and cries out for Mommy. (Ah, now Busy cries in earnest. Teething again? Still suffering from the latest cold?) I used to stick to the Ferber plan, except when child was known to be in physical distress. Now I can't tell anymore. What to do, what to do. Putting her down at naptime and bedtime is never a problem. And she doesn't wake up every night. Sometimes she's only fine from 8pm-5am, but most nights (when healthy) she sleeps until nearly 7am.
Dammit, I've been online now for over an hour, and I've exhausted all my interests at this hour. There's nothing going on on the Internet and I just want to go to sleep! Here's what will happen if I go try to wait this out in bed: I'll toss and turn, trying to get comfortable while not allowing GIH to breathe on my face. I have never been able to tolerate anybody breathing on my face, even if I'm not trying to fall asleep. Also, last time I was in there he had an ELBOW on my side of the bed. Yeouch. My feet are cold inside my socks right now and I really want my slippers but I'm not sure where I left them.
This time when I went in to Busy's room, I was "strong" and didn't pick her up. She tried to climb out of the crib into my arms, though. I hugged her, patted her, talked to her gently, made two attempts to lay her down, covered her with a blanket, and left. Now I think she cried for a few minutes (fewer than 5) and has now been mostly quiet again. The baby monitor is lighting up, but that's in response to the music that's playing in the crib (remnants of the mobile.) The real test will come when the 15 minutes of music are up. Meanwhile, I'm so awake right now that I'm going to need another 10 minutes of shut-down time. My crossword puzzles are now all downstairs, and if I go down at this time of night, I will set the dog to barking again.
See what I mean? Sleeping is hard!
With my luck, if and when I ever DO get back to sleep, that will be when Big has a nightmare and cries out for Mommy. (Ah, now Busy cries in earnest. Teething again? Still suffering from the latest cold?) I used to stick to the Ferber plan, except when child was known to be in physical distress. Now I can't tell anymore. What to do, what to do. Putting her down at naptime and bedtime is never a problem. And she doesn't wake up every night. Sometimes she's only fine from 8pm-5am, but most nights (when healthy) she sleeps until nearly 7am.
Dammit, I've been online now for over an hour, and I've exhausted all my interests at this hour. There's nothing going on on the Internet and I just want to go to sleep! Here's what will happen if I go try to wait this out in bed: I'll toss and turn, trying to get comfortable while not allowing GIH to breathe on my face. I have never been able to tolerate anybody breathing on my face, even if I'm not trying to fall asleep. Also, last time I was in there he had an ELBOW on my side of the bed. Yeouch. My feet are cold inside my socks right now and I really want my slippers but I'm not sure where I left them.
This time when I went in to Busy's room, I was "strong" and didn't pick her up. She tried to climb out of the crib into my arms, though. I hugged her, patted her, talked to her gently, made two attempts to lay her down, covered her with a blanket, and left. Now I think she cried for a few minutes (fewer than 5) and has now been mostly quiet again. The baby monitor is lighting up, but that's in response to the music that's playing in the crib (remnants of the mobile.) The real test will come when the 15 minutes of music are up. Meanwhile, I'm so awake right now that I'm going to need another 10 minutes of shut-down time. My crossword puzzles are now all downstairs, and if I go down at this time of night, I will set the dog to barking again.
See what I mean? Sleeping is hard!
Friday, February 03, 2006
Life is complicated. Example:
Last night I got one piece of news that upset me on three different levels. How is that possible? Guess it's all part of being a grown-up.
The news: Friends of mine from church (our youth minister JP and his wife MP, the director of children's music) just accepted positions as counselors at a church camp elsewhere in the state. They'll be leaving by the end of the month.
Level 1: We're losing our friends! I took my one and only Bible class with this couple. They are sweet, kind and giving people, and they bring so much life and energy to our church! MP leads all the children's choirs and Big just adores her. Also she teaches the Kindermusik class that Busy and I are in. Busy just learned to say the name of their 2yo son. We will all miss them a bunch. (Not to mention, MP was going to help me with VBS this summer.)
Level 2: I am chair of our church's staff-parish relations committee. I should have heard this news from official channels, specifically from our senior pastor. Not sure why I didn't. Need to call him today.
Level 3: It's MY committee's responsibility to fill these positions! Ack! So much for having a nice quiet year.
***************************
Further discussion and thought reveals:
Level 4: My GIH reacted to the news by trying to be "helpful" regarding our church's employment policies. You know, because he's such a STELLAR businessman.
The news: Friends of mine from church (our youth minister JP and his wife MP, the director of children's music) just accepted positions as counselors at a church camp elsewhere in the state. They'll be leaving by the end of the month.
Level 1: We're losing our friends! I took my one and only Bible class with this couple. They are sweet, kind and giving people, and they bring so much life and energy to our church! MP leads all the children's choirs and Big just adores her. Also she teaches the Kindermusik class that Busy and I are in. Busy just learned to say the name of their 2yo son. We will all miss them a bunch. (Not to mention, MP was going to help me with VBS this summer.)
Level 2: I am chair of our church's staff-parish relations committee. I should have heard this news from official channels, specifically from our senior pastor. Not sure why I didn't. Need to call him today.
Level 3: It's MY committee's responsibility to fill these positions! Ack! So much for having a nice quiet year.
***************************
Further discussion and thought reveals:
Level 4: My GIH reacted to the news by trying to be "helpful" regarding our church's employment policies. You know, because he's such a STELLAR businessman.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Tagged: Meme-o-the-Day
Kelley tagged me in retaliation for the Kelliloo crack. Here goes:
Four jobs I've had in my life:
1. Stay-at-home Mom
2. Assistant Professor of Chemistry
3. Grad-school lab grunt
4. Ice cream shop clerk (best job ever!)
Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Pretty Woman
2. The Hunt for Red October
3. Parenthood
4. The Wizard of Oz
Four places I have lived:
1. Bloomington, IN (my spiritual home)
2. Fort Riley/Manhattan, KS
3. Stuttgart, Germany
4. West Point, NY
Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Lost
2. The West Wing
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Survivor
Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Liechtenstein
2. Seattle, WA
3. St. Petersburg, FL
4. Cape Cod, MA
Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Lasagne
2. BBQ ribs with Shiner
3. almost anything from Ben & Jerry's
4. menu item #9 from the Snow Lion in Bloomington, IN
Four websites I visit daily:
1. Delphi
2. Tastefully Simple
3. The Blog of Death
4. Hicktown Diva
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. in my own bed in a far-off dark tower (asleep)
2. dog park in Bloomington, IN (maybe I should check the weather first)
3. Washington, DC (as a tourist)
4. in my own bed with my husband (not asleep)
Four bloggers I'm tagging:
1. AK (always been good to me)
2. Lisa (maybe she'll play along this time)
3. Gretchen (bringing her into the fold)
4. Donovan el Curioso
Four jobs I've had in my life:
1. Stay-at-home Mom
2. Assistant Professor of Chemistry
3. Grad-school lab grunt
4. Ice cream shop clerk (best job ever!)
Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Pretty Woman
2. The Hunt for Red October
3. Parenthood
4. The Wizard of Oz
Four places I have lived:
1. Bloomington, IN (my spiritual home)
2. Fort Riley/Manhattan, KS
3. Stuttgart, Germany
4. West Point, NY
Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Lost
2. The West Wing
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Survivor
Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Liechtenstein
2. Seattle, WA
3. St. Petersburg, FL
4. Cape Cod, MA
Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Lasagne
2. BBQ ribs with Shiner
3. almost anything from Ben & Jerry's
4. menu item #9 from the Snow Lion in Bloomington, IN
Four websites I visit daily:
1. Delphi
2. Tastefully Simple
3. The Blog of Death
4. Hicktown Diva
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. in my own bed in a far-off dark tower (asleep)
2. dog park in Bloomington, IN (maybe I should check the weather first)
3. Washington, DC (as a tourist)
4. in my own bed with my husband (not asleep)
Four bloggers I'm tagging:
1. AK (always been good to me)
2. Lisa (maybe she'll play along this time)
3. Gretchen (bringing her into the fold)
4. Donovan el Curioso
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Well, that was no fun.
Does anybody else remember that old old episode of ER, back in the young Mark Green days, when the ER was super backed-up, and there was a kid with a severerly cut finger(?) whose mom kept asking "when are they going to see my son?!" and of course everyone in the ER was cranky and out of sorts, and by the time the kid finally did see the doctor, it was about 6 hours after the injury had occurred, so protocol wouldn't even allow Mark to suture it, so that entire wait had been a waste of time, and MG was so upset by this that he gathered his team and they triaged the waiting room armed with nothing but their stethoscopes and ballpoint pens?
I was so afraid this was going to be us Friday night.
Yes, my Big Girl suffered a fall in the bathroom and cut the back of her head, probably on the archaic door handles on the cabinets. This happened while mi esposo and I were at a church leaders' banquet in the basement of our church -- read, no cell phone reception! By the time I got the message(s) from my mother what had happened, it was nearly an hour after her fall, and we were on our way home anyway. She was doing fine by then, but Mom still had concerns that the cut needed to be looked at.
(So many things to kick ourselves over in the meantime: Why didn't I make Big put the stool back into the bathroom, or do it myself? Why did we think it was OK to take the car with the carseats and leave my mom with no safe way to get the kids to the hospital herself, should it be necessary? Why didn't I leave Mom with more emergency numbers? Why didn't I know that the church phone would ring downstairs if somebody called?)
At home, both parents looked at the cut, consulted the guidebook from the ped's office, and determined that it really did need professional attention. Decided that mom should come with me to answer questions. By the time we got in the car it was probably 9pm. (Hooray, that new road to the hospital sure came in handy!)
ER pretty busy. We waited a couple of hours to see the triage nurse. During this time, Big kept herself pretty entertained with the books I had on hand, the crayons and worksheets from the ER liaison, etc. But she dropped a crayon under the table and then BUMPED her head again coming up, which reopened the wound and got a bit more blood everywhere. Yeah, won't be telling the husband that little fact! After triage, we sat in a different waiting room, where there were a few other kids. They all had fun being goofy with each other, which helped pass the time. (A little baby next to us, same age as Busy but several pounds lighter, was sick with a nasty unbreathable cold; Big kept getting concerned and asking why the baby was crying. Kinda sweet.) Oh, and during this time, Big told the "real" story about her fall. Something about dancing around on the counter pretending an episode of Blue's Clues. Totally believable about her. I think I'll start sewing bubble wrap into her clothes and hats tomorrow.
Finally around 1am we got to an exam room, saw a doc, etc. I asked her if we were too late for treatment since it had now been almost 6 hours since the injury occurred, but she assured me we were OK. Verdict = needs 2-3 staples. Yeah, we could numb that, but (a) we'd have to shave the area, keep us there longer, and (b) would hurt just as much as the staples themselves. Knowing how much Big HATES having shots (she just suffered 4 booster shots earlier this month), decided to skip that step. The choice of a bad mom? Geese, I hope not. Had my doubts when Staple#2 wouldn't stay in and it took the doc 3 attempts; Big's face was a horrifying mix of pain and shock. The process leads me to realize that staples as a medical tool really skeeve me. Especially when applied to the skull of my precious girl. It just turns my stomach to look at them.
The anticlimax: Home by 1:30am. Put sleeping Big to bed, cursed when the inevitable commotion woke up Busy, sat with her a few minutes, then turned in myself. I was starving by this point, since I hadn't eaten my usual 2-3 desserts during the hospital time. And HEY, only six more hours until we had to be back at the church for a f*ucking "coaching conference" for church leaders. My buddies at the table only had to enforce my long-standing "don't wake me unless I'm actually snoring" rule once; thank God nobody turned out the lights!
Not much to report from Saturday morning. Got a small earful from GIH over whether we LIED to the hospital staff by stating that Big had no LOC, rather than the probably-more-truthful I-dunno. Fretted a while, wondering whether she would wake up OK. But she did, and that's about it. We go back in 7 days to have the stitches out.
ADDENDUM: Cursing myself again over the latest discovery, after I finally got Big into the bathtub and rinsed her hair. (The ER nurse told us to put her in the shower right away when we got home, but since it was so late and she was already sleeping, we bagged it. Another eyebrow raised by the GIH, but I don't really care. He'd been asleep since 9:30pm on this particular night, and has no right to criticize the choices of the sleep-deprived women who had been dealing with the matter for 6 hours.) Oh, but the discovery is that Big has a MASSIVE bump on the back of her head, a few inches away from the wound that was treated. So she slipped off the counter, cut her head on the cabinet handles, then landed on the tile floor. I'm nervous now. Keeping my eye on the bump and will probably call her doctor about it Monday. So far, nobody else in my family has noticed, and Big's not complaining about it herself, so maybe it's just nothing. A bump could be nothing, right? Right?
I was so afraid this was going to be us Friday night.
Yes, my Big Girl suffered a fall in the bathroom and cut the back of her head, probably on the archaic door handles on the cabinets. This happened while mi esposo and I were at a church leaders' banquet in the basement of our church -- read, no cell phone reception! By the time I got the message(s) from my mother what had happened, it was nearly an hour after her fall, and we were on our way home anyway. She was doing fine by then, but Mom still had concerns that the cut needed to be looked at.
(So many things to kick ourselves over in the meantime: Why didn't I make Big put the stool back into the bathroom, or do it myself? Why did we think it was OK to take the car with the carseats and leave my mom with no safe way to get the kids to the hospital herself, should it be necessary? Why didn't I leave Mom with more emergency numbers? Why didn't I know that the church phone would ring downstairs if somebody called?)
At home, both parents looked at the cut, consulted the guidebook from the ped's office, and determined that it really did need professional attention. Decided that mom should come with me to answer questions. By the time we got in the car it was probably 9pm. (Hooray, that new road to the hospital sure came in handy!)
ER pretty busy. We waited a couple of hours to see the triage nurse. During this time, Big kept herself pretty entertained with the books I had on hand, the crayons and worksheets from the ER liaison, etc. But she dropped a crayon under the table and then BUMPED her head again coming up, which reopened the wound and got a bit more blood everywhere. Yeah, won't be telling the husband that little fact! After triage, we sat in a different waiting room, where there were a few other kids. They all had fun being goofy with each other, which helped pass the time. (A little baby next to us, same age as Busy but several pounds lighter, was sick with a nasty unbreathable cold; Big kept getting concerned and asking why the baby was crying. Kinda sweet.) Oh, and during this time, Big told the "real" story about her fall. Something about dancing around on the counter pretending an episode of Blue's Clues. Totally believable about her. I think I'll start sewing bubble wrap into her clothes and hats tomorrow.
Finally around 1am we got to an exam room, saw a doc, etc. I asked her if we were too late for treatment since it had now been almost 6 hours since the injury occurred, but she assured me we were OK. Verdict = needs 2-3 staples. Yeah, we could numb that, but (a) we'd have to shave the area, keep us there longer, and (b) would hurt just as much as the staples themselves. Knowing how much Big HATES having shots (she just suffered 4 booster shots earlier this month), decided to skip that step. The choice of a bad mom? Geese, I hope not. Had my doubts when Staple#2 wouldn't stay in and it took the doc 3 attempts; Big's face was a horrifying mix of pain and shock. The process leads me to realize that staples as a medical tool really skeeve me. Especially when applied to the skull of my precious girl. It just turns my stomach to look at them.
The anticlimax: Home by 1:30am. Put sleeping Big to bed, cursed when the inevitable commotion woke up Busy, sat with her a few minutes, then turned in myself. I was starving by this point, since I hadn't eaten my usual 2-3 desserts during the hospital time. And HEY, only six more hours until we had to be back at the church for a f*ucking "coaching conference" for church leaders. My buddies at the table only had to enforce my long-standing "don't wake me unless I'm actually snoring" rule once; thank God nobody turned out the lights!
Not much to report from Saturday morning. Got a small earful from GIH over whether we LIED to the hospital staff by stating that Big had no LOC, rather than the probably-more-truthful I-dunno. Fretted a while, wondering whether she would wake up OK. But she did, and that's about it. We go back in 7 days to have the stitches out.
ADDENDUM: Cursing myself again over the latest discovery, after I finally got Big into the bathtub and rinsed her hair. (The ER nurse told us to put her in the shower right away when we got home, but since it was so late and she was already sleeping, we bagged it. Another eyebrow raised by the GIH, but I don't really care. He'd been asleep since 9:30pm on this particular night, and has no right to criticize the choices of the sleep-deprived women who had been dealing with the matter for 6 hours.) Oh, but the discovery is that Big has a MASSIVE bump on the back of her head, a few inches away from the wound that was treated. So she slipped off the counter, cut her head on the cabinet handles, then landed on the tile floor. I'm nervous now. Keeping my eye on the bump and will probably call her doctor about it Monday. So far, nobody else in my family has noticed, and Big's not complaining about it herself, so maybe it's just nothing. A bump could be nothing, right? Right?
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Top Ten: Things I do that piss my husband off
1. I buy milk at Braum’s rather than the grocery store. The milk from Braum’s is cheaper (currently $2.49/gallon) than milk from the other stores, tastes better, and is better for you (concentrated, to give more protein and fat per fluid ounce.) However, this is WRONG because (a) it requires extra errands to buy milk (Braum's quit selling groceries at the drive-through window about a year ago) and (b) Braum's milk jugs have an extra seal on them that requires disposal in the trash -- sometimes I don't throw it in the trash right away, thereby creating extra work for my husband.
2. I subscribe to the local newspaper. Yes, I pay good money for yesterday's news and for the privilege of leaving newspaper sections all over the house for GIH to discard.
3. I play with my children. A LOT. During the day I sit and read with them, play pretend games, and supervise various craft projects. After dinner I play chase with them and let them crawl all over me. I DO let them watch TV and videos, but sometimes instead of "getting stuff done" during that time, I use it for internet time. And then the kids pester other adults (read, GIH) to play with them. too.
4. I pick my toenails rather than clip them. Maybe this is gross. Apparently it is. But farting is not. Go figure!
5. I burn myself on the oven rack or toaster occasionally. Especially the latter, lately, because my little bamboo tongs that are supposed to help me remove things from the toaster have been misplaced. More specifically, they have been misplaced by the person in our house whose job it is to put away the dishes. Hint ... that's not the ChemMom!
6. I have established places for kitchen items to go. Like the spreaders, cookie scoops, and various small gadgets, which all reside in the drawer next to the refrigerator. And the ice cream scoop ... but NOT the corkscrew or the chip clips. These live in the second drawer down, next to the dishwasher. And in the main dinner utensil drawer, I have TWO separate compartments for spoons and two for forks (sorted by size.) And the knife block has a specific slot for each knife, and they're all supposed to go in with the blade facing to the right. (Actually, I'm not sure he even knows that last part, but he'd be pissed if he did.)
7. I buy and read parenting books. This is a triple sin because (a) it is throwing money away, (b) it's indulging what I want without asking for approval, and (c) it's taking the word of some "expert" and forcing it into our household routine.
8. I come from a dysfunctional family. Yes, the precious daughters of the GIH share the curse of my mother's genes. They are destined to repeat Item#5 over and over again! They might even grow up and ask their husbands to attend couples' therapy. The genes from IL are, of course, perfect.
9. Because of the childhood influences of #8, I tend to throw, hit, or kick things when I am angry. In the past few years, that has meant doors and walls rather than children. Yes, I did kick a hole in a door in 2003. I'm not proud of it. See #10.
10. I apply my photographic memory to almost anything rather than financial planning. I remember enough about who said/did what to not be blamed for all holes in all doors. Our current house has a broken door to the master bedroom. It's been that way since before we moved in; I remember noticing it when the realtor first showed us the house. A few months ago I committed the heresy of not admitting that I broke the door in a fit of rage.
God, I'm an evil bitch.
2. I subscribe to the local newspaper. Yes, I pay good money for yesterday's news and for the privilege of leaving newspaper sections all over the house for GIH to discard.
3. I play with my children. A LOT. During the day I sit and read with them, play pretend games, and supervise various craft projects. After dinner I play chase with them and let them crawl all over me. I DO let them watch TV and videos, but sometimes instead of "getting stuff done" during that time, I use it for internet time. And then the kids pester other adults (read, GIH) to play with them. too.
4. I pick my toenails rather than clip them. Maybe this is gross. Apparently it is. But farting is not. Go figure!
5. I burn myself on the oven rack or toaster occasionally. Especially the latter, lately, because my little bamboo tongs that are supposed to help me remove things from the toaster have been misplaced. More specifically, they have been misplaced by the person in our house whose job it is to put away the dishes. Hint ... that's not the ChemMom!
6. I have established places for kitchen items to go. Like the spreaders, cookie scoops, and various small gadgets, which all reside in the drawer next to the refrigerator. And the ice cream scoop ... but NOT the corkscrew or the chip clips. These live in the second drawer down, next to the dishwasher. And in the main dinner utensil drawer, I have TWO separate compartments for spoons and two for forks (sorted by size.) And the knife block has a specific slot for each knife, and they're all supposed to go in with the blade facing to the right. (Actually, I'm not sure he even knows that last part, but he'd be pissed if he did.)
7. I buy and read parenting books. This is a triple sin because (a) it is throwing money away, (b) it's indulging what I want without asking for approval, and (c) it's taking the word of some "expert" and forcing it into our household routine.
8. I come from a dysfunctional family. Yes, the precious daughters of the GIH share the curse of my mother's genes. They are destined to repeat Item#5 over and over again! They might even grow up and ask their husbands to attend couples' therapy. The genes from IL are, of course, perfect.
9. Because of the childhood influences of #8, I tend to throw, hit, or kick things when I am angry. In the past few years, that has meant doors and walls rather than children. Yes, I did kick a hole in a door in 2003. I'm not proud of it. See #10.
10. I apply my photographic memory to almost anything rather than financial planning. I remember enough about who said/did what to not be blamed for all holes in all doors. Our current house has a broken door to the master bedroom. It's been that way since before we moved in; I remember noticing it when the realtor first showed us the house. A few months ago I committed the heresy of not admitting that I broke the door in a fit of rage.
God, I'm an evil bitch.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Caution! Thoughts in progress
Blech, my mind is a mess right now. My heart is really hurting over how much I've yelled at my kids in the past few days. And sworn and given time-outs and then been enraged when said time-outs were met with cheerful resistance. Maybe the hormones really are messing me up. But why did it have to be THIS WEEK, of all weeks, that my friend Slacker would post about her IUD experience? I think I'm destined to rely on abstinence for the rest of my fertile years.
Along with friends, I'm in a parenting class right now. Approaching life from a paradigm of Love and Logic shouldn't be so hard, right? But I am drowning in ineptitude here. Nothing is working. Nobody is taking me seriously. I am antsy and irritated all the time from having my husband and mother watching me curiously to see what I'll do, trying to take cues from me. Plus feeling monstrously guilty for all the shouting and huffing and puffing I did when they weren't home. All I've managed to do is scare Big and take half her toys away. I understand the concepts, but putting them into practice is all Greek to me. JenH, if you're reading this, please send me pointers! Having to deal with two kids at once, at these particular ages (that's 4 and 1.5, for those not keeping track) is just killing me. And our relationship.
Blech. Just a suck-mom kind of week. KDK, please skip over this post in favor of the next one. I really DO love my kids.
Along with friends, I'm in a parenting class right now. Approaching life from a paradigm of Love and Logic shouldn't be so hard, right? But I am drowning in ineptitude here. Nothing is working. Nobody is taking me seriously. I am antsy and irritated all the time from having my husband and mother watching me curiously to see what I'll do, trying to take cues from me. Plus feeling monstrously guilty for all the shouting and huffing and puffing I did when they weren't home. All I've managed to do is scare Big and take half her toys away. I understand the concepts, but putting them into practice is all Greek to me. JenH, if you're reading this, please send me pointers! Having to deal with two kids at once, at these particular ages (that's 4 and 1.5, for those not keeping track) is just killing me. And our relationship.
Blech. Just a suck-mom kind of week. KDK, please skip over this post in favor of the next one. I really DO love my kids.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Ack! Another tag?!
Sorry to the Nuclear Mom, who tagged me four days ago and it took me this long to find out.
For those who don't know WTF I'm talking about, read this: "The first player of this game starts with the topic "five weird habits I have" and people who get tagged then write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don't forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says you have been tagged? (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours."
So this is about "Five Weird Habits I Have." I'm starting to believe that the word "meme" must really be pronounced "ME! ME!" I keep intending to post about something more interesting/insightful than my own life, which is my belated excuse for the lack of a recent update, but it just ain't happenin'. So here we go. But I should admit up front that I'm having a hard time identifying anything in my perfect little world as actually WEIRD. Y'all who do things differently than I do are the freaks, you know.
1. I still get a kick out of using symbols and abbreviations that I learned in high school calculus. My particular favorites are IFF (if and only if) and wrt (with respect to - yes, as in take the derivative with respect to x.)
2. I absolutely must have the last word. This is a fact that I am slow to realize about myself. I'm not sure which statement makes me weirder. But it finally dawned on me as I was tucking Big into bed one night, and found myself responding to every single comment she made, trying to prolong the bedtime.
3. I notice patterns in numbers, constantly. Some are easy to spot, like my MIL's birthday (4/11/44). Others are more obscure, like the similarity between my ZIP code back in Indiana (47401) and my first ZIP code in Oklahoma (74017). See? They're both made from the same digits!!
4. I would rather spend 20 minutes making my hair look "just perfect" in the morning than spend 15 minutes on the hair and 5 minutes to put on makeup, even though the latter routine would probably give me a better look, overall.
5. Just to prove that my brain doesn't have two left halves: I helped Big create her first riddle: Where does Po come from? From Po-land! And we giggle about this wildly. Hey, what can I say? She's 4!
OK, that was pretty lame. But I'll tag some other people and make that their problem:
Gretchen, Lisa R, Nance, Coleen (got a blog out there?) and Kelley (whom I still think of as Kelli-Loo, even though she'll kill me for that!)
For those who don't know WTF I'm talking about, read this: "The first player of this game starts with the topic "five weird habits I have" and people who get tagged then write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don't forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says you have been tagged? (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours."
So this is about "Five Weird Habits I Have." I'm starting to believe that the word "meme" must really be pronounced "ME! ME!" I keep intending to post about something more interesting/insightful than my own life, which is my belated excuse for the lack of a recent update, but it just ain't happenin'. So here we go. But I should admit up front that I'm having a hard time identifying anything in my perfect little world as actually WEIRD. Y'all who do things differently than I do are the freaks, you know.
1. I still get a kick out of using symbols and abbreviations that I learned in high school calculus. My particular favorites are IFF (if and only if) and wrt (with respect to - yes, as in take the derivative with respect to x.)
2. I absolutely must have the last word. This is a fact that I am slow to realize about myself. I'm not sure which statement makes me weirder. But it finally dawned on me as I was tucking Big into bed one night, and found myself responding to every single comment she made, trying to prolong the bedtime.
3. I notice patterns in numbers, constantly. Some are easy to spot, like my MIL's birthday (4/11/44). Others are more obscure, like the similarity between my ZIP code back in Indiana (47401) and my first ZIP code in Oklahoma (74017). See? They're both made from the same digits!!
4. I would rather spend 20 minutes making my hair look "just perfect" in the morning than spend 15 minutes on the hair and 5 minutes to put on makeup, even though the latter routine would probably give me a better look, overall.
5. Just to prove that my brain doesn't have two left halves: I helped Big create her first riddle: Where does Po come from? From Po-land! And we giggle about this wildly. Hey, what can I say? She's 4!
OK, that was pretty lame. But I'll tag some other people and make that their problem:
Gretchen, Lisa R, Nance, Coleen (got a blog out there?) and Kelley (whom I still think of as Kelli-Loo, even though she'll kill me for that!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
