Archive for September, 2009

A funny thing happened on my way to this blog.

September 30, 2009 · Filed under books, Daily Updates · Tagged , , , , ,

Seated man reading a book

Image by National Media Museum via Flickr

When I started this blog I jumped right in with both feet. There was no trial period of writing unpublished posts for a week or two. There was no planning of subject matter. Much thought went into finding a blog name that was just right, but after that it has all been off the cuff. I’ve been flying by the seat of my pant here, folks, in case you hadn’t figured that out yet. So far, I’m still holding my head above water. At least I think so.

That is not to say that I have been flying blind. This is not my first foray into writing. Even if you don’t spend any time writing for fun – fun or need or passion –  four years of college will lay a foundation of the need to research. If you do spend any personal time writing you will know that research is inherent in the ability to put your thoughts coherently on paper.

The majority of my time researching for this blog has been spent on the internet. I have talked to various people about the blogs they read and what types of blogs interest them. But mostly I surfed. I love (love, LOVE) the tag surfer feature of WordPress. This allows me to read the most current entry of any WordPress blog where the author has used the same tags I have used on my posts. This is a great first dip into many different blogs without having to read in depth on each one. On the other hand, when a post strikes me with the author’s humor or writing style or content I am able to go directly to their blog and read more. Inevitably, blogs that I enjoy and put in my feed reader lead to other blogs to enjoy. You have to check out who the people you are reading are reading.

One side benefit that has happened through finding all these new blogs by people who write about the same things I write about is I have found websites that cater to my interests I did not know about before. Through my blog reading and research I have found Toasted-Cheese.com (you can count on more on this one later) and LibraryThing.com. I have not had time to list my entire book collection on LibraryThing.com yet. Well, I’ve had time, but I’ve been using it to write. One of the first things I did make the time for was to join their Early Reviewers group. Publishers use members of the LTER (Library Thing Early Reviewers) group to read soon to be released books and post reviews of them on the internet to drum up interest in their upcoming books. How exciting for a bookie like me! Hey, get your mind out of the gutter. I’m not gambling here. I read. You know like people who are way into food are foodies? Cut me some slack here. I already told you this is off the cuff.

Want to know what is even cooler than finding the LTER? I was selected to review one of the books listed for August! I received it a couple weeks ago. Since I’m a one book at a time kind of girl I had to wait until I finished my current read to start it. But, I’ve finished it now and I’ll be posting my review later this week.

I’m showing my true geek colors now, I know, but I’m just so danged excited about winning this book to review.

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Moving up in the ranks.

September 28, 2009 · Filed under Daily Updates · Tagged , , , ,

The wind of freedom

What a fantastic weekend we have just had! Fall is not my favorite season. Summer gets that win. And I typically like spring better than fall as it leads to summer where fall only leads to the bitter cold and shoveling of snow in winter. I have to say, though, that if all fall weekends were like this one I might have to change my tune.

Friday dawned dark, gloomy and raining. Cats and dogs raining. Ugh, that didn’t bode well for the football games scheduled for Friday night. Trust me, the last thing this supportive mother wants to do is sit in the stands in the rain for four hours worth of high school football. Mother Nature was on my side this week. The rain stopped around noon. The clouds broke and the sun started drying up the wet left by the downpour. The temperature climbed. The day ended with perfect, in my opinion, football weather. I brought a sweatshirt and a blanket to cover my flip-flop adorned toes and I was good to go.

Saturday was cool and cloudy. Princess Girl had plans to spend the night with her grandparents. I dropped her at her grandmother’s shop and stopped by my friend Candice’s house for a quick visit. After Candice’s I headed straight home where I immediately got back into my jammies. As if scheduled just for me the Syfy channel was playing a Children of the Corn marathon – ending with the remake of the original that was filmed near here. We were just talking at lunch Friday about our favorite horror movies. Children of the Corn was mentioned more than once. I spent the remainder of my day and evening crocheting and watching scary movies. I finished a WIP (work in progress) that has been hanging around since last spring! But I fell asleep with ten minutes to go at the end of the new version of CotC. Figures.

Sundays are always busy at our house. Princess Girl has tumbling in the morning and a three hour cheer practice for her All-Star team in the afternoon. Then we rush home and get caught up on laundry, football and groceries. This week was slightly different. The JV cheerleaders were planning a stunting practice at one of the girls’ house. After the issues last week with the not-a-cheerleader girl I wanted to make sure PG attended to give the other girls confidence in her abilities. So instead of rushing home to laundry and football (I was already skipping groceries this week), we rushed to another cheer practice. I stayed at the practice and helped supervise their activities. I helped Princess Girl explain two new stunts to the girls – she’s completely incoherent when she gets excited. Overall they had a great session. They filmed their new stunts and plan to show the video to their cheer coach. With a bit of luck, this will show the coach they are capable of stunting without killing themselves. She’s just a little tentative in regards to stunting. You know, like I have a little fondness for the color green. The girls were so excited and proud of what they accomplished. I really hope she doesn’t shut them down and dash their enthusiasm.

We rounded out the weekend with pizza and football on Sunday evening. Look at all we accomplished and enjoyed in these two short days. Fall’s not such a bad season after all.

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High school drama

September 25, 2009 · Filed under Daily Updates · Tagged , , ,

Princess Girl

Princess Girl

I am feeling stressed and intolerant at work. My job is full of peaks and valleys. This goes for work load, system issues and daily user interaction. I am currently on a peak, and I’m feeling every bit of it. I need a vacation. The problem is I don’t have a vacation scheduled. Tuesday after work, though, I had the perfect substitute of a brownie and the Beatles One on CD going. I could feel myself relaxing. The tension in my shoulders was easing with each passing minute. Until Princess Girl informed me of the high school drama she was subjected to at school that day.

What is it with high school that drama is such an inherent piece of day to day activity? I won’t go into the double standard I see from coaches. Not simply toward Princess Girl but on all levels and all sports. Ok, maybe I will go into it… My child has a passion for your sport. She has made an extra effort and I have spent plenty of money for her to practice and perform on a team outside of school. In other sports that is favored. They like to see the athletes that have extra experience. You on the other hand continually make snide comments about the fact that you are a ‘rural’ squad. You don’t do things the same way as competitive squads do them. I watch you not give her the opportunities that you are giving the other girls. And I am subjected to her frustration every night when she comes home knowing that you are treating her differently. She is 14 after all. Who do you think gets the brunt of her frustration?

As irritating as that is, it is not even what set off my mama-bear radar that night. What really set me off was the story Princess Girl told me about how her day started. She has first hour P.E. (don’t forget to not call it gym – that’s 5 points off). In P.E. that morning she was confronted with the story that if she had injured her ankle so badly that she is icing it twice a day at school she should not be flying during cheerleading. I’m very proud of my Princess Girl. She answered with the facts. She does not have an injury. She has iced one time at school. No activity she performs will affect her ankle one way or the other. Of course this girl, faced with these facts, could only retaliate with “Yeah well all the other cheerleaders agree with me”. The bell rang and they went their separate directions.

Now I feel Princess Girl handled herself very well in this situation. So I’m sure you are asking what the problem is. What set me off if she handled it well? Well let me tell you. There are two details in this whole scenario that have pushed my buttons.

First there is the question of where this confrontational girl got her information. Princess Girl did get ice for her ankle one day last week. One of the other girls, Informant Girl, on the football cheerleading squad happened to be working in the office at that time. Informant Girl has then shared the exaggerated story with Confrontation Girl. Apparently Informant Girl has not heard of HIPAA or other privacy laws. I mean really. The school will not provide me with a list of parent names so I can recruit workers to help in the concession stand during football games. I’m pretty sure we should not be talking about what happens to students in the office to other students.

Second, and this one is good, is the simple fact that Confrontation Girl is… Are you ready for this? Wait for it… Confrontation Girl is not even on the football cheer squad. Thud. That’s me falling over in disbelief. Confrontation Girl only cheers for basketball. She will not be on an active squad for three months. Even better, Princess Girl does not plan to be on the basketball cheer squad. She plays basketball. These two girls will never be on a squad together. So how about we mind our own business? Yeah, not in high school.

I think I need another brownie.

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Thousand Word Thursday

September 24, 2009 · Filed under Daily Updates, Thousand Word Thursday · Tagged ,

Guinness Draught in "Tulip" shaped glass

Image via Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Breaking the silence.

September 23, 2009 · Filed under Daily Updates, writing · Tagged , , , ,

"Storm Clouds" 1964

Image via Wikipedia

She was 15. Her sophomore year was in full swing. She had great friends. She had great grades. She had a crush on a great guy. He was tall, dark and handsome. He was two years older. She knew he liked her too. He talked to her at school. He invited her haunting housing with him. She knew soon he would ask her to be his girlfriend. She would wear his class ring proudly.

One afternoon he showed up unannounced at her house. Her parents were not home and she knew the rules so she met him in the yard and they talked. After a while he convinced her that her parents’ rule was stupid. He had to go to the bathroom. Besides, they could watch TV inside. What would it hurt?

So they went inside. They were watching TV and he kissed her! She was thrilled. Then he kissed her again and touched her in a way in which she was not comfortable. She broke off the kiss. But he kissed her again. And this time he continued to touch her. She told him no. She said she was not ready for this. He did not listen. He pushed on, even further. She said no. She said it hurt, but he continued on. She tried to push him away. He was stronger than she was and he resisted her efforts. Her continued protests fell on deaf ears. In the end she fell silent, trying to endure by pretending to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

Eventually he was finished. He got up and adjusted his clothes silently. He did not say a word as he left the house. He did not say anything to her at school the next day. He never spoke to her again.

She was silent too. She held her pain and anger inside. She did not tell her parents what had happened. She knew they would focus on the wrong thing and simply punish her for letting him in the house in the first place. She did not tell any other adult either. She knew they could never give her back what he had stolen from her.

It was years before she could begin to move past what had happened to her on that day. Her self esteem was shattered. Her self image was completely changed. She was no longer the person she had known when she looked in the mirror that morning before school. She had to learn to like the stranger that now looked back at her when she brushed her teeth.

A lifetime later she had a daughter of her own in high school. The daughter was much like the mother was at her age. She had the friends. She had the grades. She even had a crush on a tall, dark and handsome boy. A boy who was two years older. He invited her to sit with him at lunch. He had come over to play basketball in the drive. And now he had offered to give her a ride home from school in his new car.

The girl who was now a mother was terrified.

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There’s nothing like a guilt trip on a Saturday morning.

September 21, 2009 · Filed under Daily Updates · Tagged , , , ,

Okay, I Had to Shoot This Picture

Image by cindy47452 via Flickr

If you ask them, I’m betting my neighbors would tell you they rue the day I purchased my house. And really, I don’t blame them. My yard is a mess most of the time.

I haven’t mowed my grass in three weeks. Now before you all gasp in horror, we haven’t had any rain in the last three weeks either. The only three week dry spell all summer. What this means is the grass really didn’t need mowed until last weekend. I didn’t have time to mow it last weekend. And you have seen what my schedule this past week looked like. So the grass really needs mowed.

And we’ve already discussed my Buckwheat bushes.

I noticed one day last week while I was opening windows in the sunroom that I have a six foot weed-bush growing along the side of my house that needs to be cut down. Of course it is the side of my house that faces the road so everyone sees it. And I know that EVERYONE sees it. In fact, I was asked last night at the football game how I liked living on the main corner of town where everyone knows all my business.

With Princess Girl’s surgery and everything else that has gone on this summer I have not been able to bring myself to care all that much about the state of my yard. That was until today. This morning I got up and, in my pjs, drove Princess Girl to the cheerleading clinic her squad is putting on for the elementary kids today. I came back home and played on Facebook for a while. I swept the house. I watered the plants. I got back on the computer. That’s when I heard it. That’s when I heard the unmistakable sound of an electric weed eater. That annoying whine sounded awfully close to my open window.

I finished my game of Majong and looked out the back window. I could not see the neighbor in his back yard. I looked toward his front yard. I didn’t see him there either. But, out of the corner of my eye, I could see little green clippings very, very, near my side of the driveway. I scampered quickly to a window closer to the front of the house. Yes indeed, the neighbor is weed-eating the weeds on my side of the drive. Ho boy.

With my guilt laden heart did I go out and offer to help? No. Did I go out and thank him? No. What I did folks, while listening to the sounds of my neighbor working hard to voluntarily make my yard not look like quite such a shambles, is write this blog post.

And now it’s time to shower and go watch the cheerleading performance. I really hope he’s done before I have to drive by him on my way to the high school. Do I have any really dark sunglasses to wear as a disguise?

Really, I am grateful. It is one less thing I’ll have to do when I finally get around to doing the yard work this week. I will thank him later, when I have more time.

When he’s done and won’t expect me to help.

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I may sleep through the entire weekend.

September 18, 2009 · Filed under Daily Updates · Tagged , , , ,

Two women seated on bench, interior

Image by George Eastman House via Flickr

Shew! It has been an eventful week. I’m exhausted.

On Monday Princess Girl tried her hand at working on the stage crew for the high school fall musical. She worked hard and had a great time. The time commitment they are asking for is just too much. There are two sessions per night two hours each. The director would prefer you attend both. There is a half an hour between sessions allotted for dinner in the next room. The veteran crew told her they occasionally work until 11pm when the performance gets close. Even she knew this was not something she could handle with her other activities. In the mean time I picked her up from cheer, went home, cooked dinner and took her back for her one session; then picked her back up again, of course.

Tuesday morning dawned with a trip to the dentist. I did indeed have a chip in my tooth. The dental assistant asked how I chipped it. The dentist asked me how the hell I chipped the side of a front tooth. I had no answer for either of them. Thankfully it was a small chip. No Novocain and a tiny fill. I was in and out of the office in 15 minutes. Tuesday evening we attended an informational meeting held by the local Girl Scout council regarding a 2011, 16 day, European trip. What a fantastic opportunity. They have an awesome itinerary planned. Too bad it would cost just short of ten thousand dollars for the two of us to attend. To rule out the trip even further, they are only taking one tour bus worth of girls/chaperones.  We could not guarantee we would both make the list. I have promised her I would research a trip for just the two of us. Maybe we’ll go for her graduation.

Wednesday, about 11:30 am I realized this was the third Wednesday of the month. This means Princess Girl has tumbling on one end of the county and I have the school Booster Club meeting at the other end of the county at the same time. Normally not a big deal; I hope PG’s grandparents have remembered they are scheduled to pick her up. A quick call revealed they too had forgotten. We’re good to go after the call. I just had to take her early so I could get back for my meeting in time. What a long day.

Ahhh, Thursday. Our one day with nothing scheduled this week. I thought I might even be able to fit a blog post in my day! Would you believe Princess Girl asked if she could go to stage crew tonight since she did not have any homework? Of course you would. She’s 14. She can’t help it. By the time she had designed her locker signs to her satisfaction it was too late to go. Darn. This made the reminder that she was not participating in this event a little easier for her to swallow.

Friday brings Friday night football. I know Princess Girl will cheer her heart out tonight. I can’t wait to attend the game. Wish it wasn’t an hour away.

OH!! I almost forgot. I came home from work on Tuesday to this:

Weeping pine is gone!

Weeping pine is gone!

The poor weeping evergreen has been put out of its misery.

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Thousand Word Thursday

September 17, 2009 · Filed under Daily Updates, Thousand Word Thursday · Tagged , , , ,

Candle birthday cakes.

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Who are you?

September 16, 2009 · Filed under Daily Updates · Tagged , , , , , ,

PG_on_phone_at_DisneyI love Princess Girl’s name. I should, I chose it. Well, my Mom gets the credit for thinking of it, but really, I do love it. I mean what’s not to love? It suits her. It is uncommon, but not made up. It flows nicely when you use all three parts. And it’s green. For those that know me, you know that right there is the bee’s knees of any name that could be chosen.

So why don’t I use it? Her name that is. I have come to realize that unless I am talking about her to someone else, I rarely, if ever, use her given name. The one I chose. Instead, I use one of approximately 10 nicknames, or some derivative of a nickname.

Do other people have lots and lots of nicknames that stick? My step-dad has two. He’s been Red or Tater for longer than I have been around. My Mom used to call me Bo-Bo, but hasn’t in at least 30 years. My sister’s nickname didn’t stick past her first year. My kid has about 10. Is this a reflection on me? On my name choosing?

Some of these I take the blame/credit for. When she was born she was small, like a peanut. She then became my Little Peanut (1) or Peanut Girl (1a) or Peanut Butter (1b) or even Peanut Butter Girl (1c).  One day at the store I was trying to get her attention and out came Fred (2). Don’t ask me, I don’t know why. She answered to it. And that one stuck, too. It was entertaining to see the reaction of strangers when I would call “FRED!” in public and this cute blond girl in pigtails would answer. Yes, you might have a boy called Sue, but I have a girl called Fred. Like all good names, Fred developed nicknames as well. Fred became Frederica (2a) and occasionally Fred-a-deada (2b). Around this same time she became very interested in princesses and fairies. She loved playing dress-up. Of course I called her my Princess Girl (3)

Some of her nicknames came from friends or family. My Dad started calling her Iverson (4) from the very beginning. When she became sporty, everyone thought she chose it to be like Allen Iverson. Nope, she was Iverson first, well sort of. Anyway that one stuck. At her first day care they called her Ivy Doodle Bug (5). It was cute. Then it morphed into Ivy Doodle (5a), Ivy Doodle Scooter (5b) and Ivy-Do (5c). Like Scooby-Do only different. I recall one time yelling out the front door “Ivy Doodle Princess, time for lunch”! Really? What must the neighbors have thought of us? These, unfortunately – I’m sure you are thinking, also stuck. In fact, she has several sport T-shirts with Iverson and Ivy Doodle on the back. Her young cousin used to call her “I”. Just “I”. And one of her day care buddies called her Hy-vee. Thank goodness these two did not stick.

When asked which is her favorite even she chooses more than one. She thinks Iverson and Ivy Doodle Bug are her top two. Although I really like the sassiness of Fred, here on my blog, she is and will always be Princess Girl.

I hope she doesn’t end up like Sybil.

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How did I manage this one?

September 14, 2009 · Filed under Daily Updates · Tagged , , , ,

1:9

Image by pattyanne:made via Flickr

Ewww. What is that? Is that a giant piece of food stuck in my teeth? This is my thought yesterday as I look in the bathroom mirror while washing my hands. I open the medicine cabinet and grab the dental floss. I unwind six or eight inches of floss and wrap one end around my right index finger. A quick swipe of the floss between the two teeth in question does not remove the offending blemish.

Well, while I’ve got the minty string ready to go I may as well floss the rest. My teeth always feel so happy after I floss. I really should do it more often. That would surely make my dental hygienist’s day. She wouldn’t have to perform quite so much torture to clean between my pearly whites if I did.

With my teeth successfully flossed, I investigate this strange mark on my tooth further. Scraping with my fingernail, I can feel something is there. I tilt my head to the left. Scrape, scrape, scrape. Still not sure what it is. I tilt my head a little further to the left. Now I can’t even see in the mirror. I tilt back to the right; just a hair. Back to where I started. I angle my chin slightly higher. Scrape, scrape, scrape. Tilt, angle, scrape.

Oh my god. Is that I chip in my tooth? Or is it some sort of nasty plaque? Tilt, angle, scrape. Crap. Now I can’t see in the mirror again. I think it is a chip. No, it’s plaque. This internal dialogue and head dance continues for several minutes before my frustration mounts and I realize I am not accomplishing anything.

I step out of the bathroom. “Princess Girl, when you are done eating I need you to get the flashlight and look in my mouth.

Princess Girl does a perplexed look really well.

“I think there is something wrong with my tooth. Might be food or something, but it might be a chip.”

Dinner is finished. Laundry is changed over. She even asks for, and gets, ten minutes of computer time. Finally I can wait no longer.

“Get the flashlight.”

I turn my head to the left waiting for her to shine the four inch diameter light right into my eye. Amazingly she doesn’t. She tilts the light. She tilts my chin. The light. My chin.

“There is something there… Or it might be a chip.”

Again the light. Again my chin.

“There is definitely a chip… Or it might just be some food thing.”

Again the light. Again my chin.

“You know, I think it’s a chip with something in it.”

Not the compromise I was looking for. 

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