Making Other Plans

Catching up

2012-01-25T10:05:00.000-05:00

Well, this is a surprise, huh? I haven't posted in forever but have a bunch of things I wanted to record here -- for posterity if for no other reason or readership.

1. The very thought of Newt Gingrich as a possible candidate for president makes my jaw clench and my sphincter tighten uncontrollably. Seriously, people? Never in a million, no a hundred million years. Ugh.

2. Why is it that all the toilet paper rolls in the house get to the end of the roll and need to be changed on the same day? We have three bathrooms and it has happened frequently that each bathroom's TP needs replacement on the same day. How does that happen?

3. John and I are on a weight loss plan that is paying off nicely in pounds. John has lost 26 pounds in four weeks and I've lost 14. Whoo hooo! My long held hopes of finally getting my weight down (and then the breast reduction) are going to come true this year. Yippee!

4. We're also in the process of buying and renting mobile homes with the intent to get some cash flow coming in. We've also started with a modest stock trade so we're rocking along. It's amazing the difference between learning in a classroom setting and the education you get when you take that learning to the street and start working deals. It's exciting and we're on our way.

So that's why there have been no posts up here in these here parts in the past month or two. I'll try to do better. Honest.

Occupy

2011-11-18T10:31:00.000-05:00

OK, so the Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Rochester and Occupy whatever-other-cities has been going on for several weeks. How does it ever end? Do you wonder if the protesters are sitting there in their little tents week after week saying "Oh crap, how do we get out of this one gracefully? I'm ready to go home to my nice warm bed."

The last time there were widespread protests (that I remember having this much impact) were about civil rights and the Vietnam war. Once those injustices were more or less rectified (I'm not here to debate the efficacy of the rectification, seriously), the protesters packed up and went home.

How does this end? Do the "rich" (those faceless dastardly Richie Richies) trot down to Wall Street, Main Street and other places to display their tax receipts, W-2s and 1040 forms to prove they're paying more tax now? While these protests are not victimless there's no way to resolve the protesters' issues and make them go away.

Someone also posted on Facebook today asking how are these protesters surviving? And where do they get the money to pay for 48 colors of Sharpie markers to make their fancy signs if they're so destitute? Do they work? If they don't work, wouldn't that be a good start (getting a job, I mean) to at least be part of the solution and not a big part of the problem? Hopefully they're reading excellent books such as Think and Grow Rich (by Napoleon Hill) or the myriad other books about how to amass wealth so they too can be the haves rather than the have nots. Somehow I doubt it.

Anyway, I'm interested to see how this eventually resolves itself. I suspect the biting cold weather and upcoming *inter (rhymes with splinter) *now (rhymes with blow) will have a great deal to do with packing them up and sending them home.

Then both sides will claim victory. Huh.

Outta the way!

2011-11-16T06:46:00.000-05:00

Dear Thanksgiving,

The national retailers and I have decided that your season is in our way so we're relegating you to just one day, the last Thursday in November and we're taking over from November 1st until Christmas Day.

I'm sure you won't mind and besides, you don't have any special music and just a few gourds and a lame turkey as symbols. In comparison, I have elves, Christmas trees, my very own music, snow and lots of sparkly lights that everybody loves.

The retailers need my season to make their profits for the year and, after looking at the numbers, we decided we'd just start Christmas early in November and just roll right over you this year.

Hope you don't mind.

Take care,

Santa

What have they done to Kellie?

2011-11-11T11:26:00.000-05:00

Johnnie and I have thought that Kellie Pickler's year (2005) on American Idol was one of the best - but maybe that's because we watched the whole season. Now the show has lost its fascination and there are so many other (better?) things to watch, like Castle, The Good Wife and Modern Family. We tend to record whatever we want to watch and get to it a couple nights later. With the American Idol-format or Biggest Loser type shows, if you fall behind, you're kind of sunk and eventually it's just not worth it to wade back through weeks worth of shows to catch up.

But I digress.

Anyway, we always thought Kellie was just plain fun with her naivete and unabashed youthfulness. Once the season was over, the changes in Kellie began. Probably it all started with the gangbuster boob job (you can hardly miss them in most of her pictures these days). But compare the pictures below and help me figure out what "they" have done to Kellie and why.

Just as a point of reference, she was 19 when she was on American Idol and she's 25 now.

It almost doesn't look like the same girl. The lower picture was taken at the Country Music Awards Wednesday evening (November 9, 2011) -- about 10 years worth of hard living and certainly not attractive (according to me). She sure doesn't look 25. So much cuter in the top picture, even though I think this one is relatively recent too.

Go back to your natural beauty, Kellie. You'll look hard like this naturally soon enough!

Memorable signs and pictures

2011-11-03T10:31:00.000-04:00

We took the family to the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey circus on Saturday evening. It was Lucy's and Emily's first time at the circus. It was a blast and much more fun watching the little girls eyes widen in amazement throughout the event than even watching it ourselves. My only discontent was the outrageous prices of things (cotton candy - $12, programs - $9, twirly things - $22, lanyards - $14). Since it was the first time and the tickets cost the same as the cotton candy (seriously - is that whacked or what?), I caved in and got them cotton candy and the twirly things as souvenirs.

Anyway, it was an awesome night.

Emily with cotton candy in her mouth. She pounded the whole bag herself!

And finally ... I have been trying to get a picture of this local company's truck and the greatest coincidence happened today: I had the camera on the seat next to me and we were stuck in road construction so I got a GREAT picture!

Above and beyond the call

2011-10-18T14:35:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know it's been an eon since I've posted. We've been crazy busy and embarking on a new business venture that (a) gets Johnnie away from driving a school bus permanently and (b) takes me away from writing as I've designated an end date with my primary client. Scary business but one that will prove exciting and lucrative if we maintain our focus. Trust me, we'll maintain our focus!

Anyway, we talked to our friends in Canada last night and the wife of the couple related a story I just had to share. Her father-in-law, Clare, just turned 90 and is in the hospital on palliative (hospice) care. He's so weak that he can't even turn himself onto his side to help the nurses care for him.

Our friend was with Clare yesterday afternoon while her husband went to the office for a short while. Clare is in an isolation room because of susceptibility to infection so everyone is gowned and gloved when they're in with him.

He looked at Pam and said "I hope you're not shy but my testicles are getting pinched and pulled. Can you move them for me?"

Slightly taken aback, Pam paused momentarily and then performed the necessary task for Clare.

As a daughter-in-law, I think she went way above and beyond the call of duty here. That's a task I would not have been interested in performing for anyone other than my husband.

You?

The seasons in flowers and sounds

2011-07-27T12:20:00.001-04:00

So we started back in late April with forsythia and a few crocuses here and there then moved directly into lilacs, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips -- some of my favorites. Next came the peonies, bobbing their heavy heads on too-weak stems until the inevitable heavy rain drags them to the ground. After that we move swiftly into roses, daisies, rhododendrons, flowering trees and flowers of all types celebrating the warm weather. In went the Impatiens, fuschia, petunias and geraniums to add more color and scents to the warm breezes.

Now we're into Roses of Sharon, hydrangea bloom and, while I haven't looked, I fear that chrysanthemums won't be too far off. Even when the Roses of Sharon start to bloom I start feeling mild tinges of regret because it won't be long before everything goes dormant again and we're stuck with nine months of blah.

The summer is going so darned fast - how can it be nearly August 1st already? Sob.

I had a blog post all ready back in May some time to talk about the sounds of the seasons. We hear the muted deep rumble of the trash trucks all year round but the school bus sounds only arrive in September and (finally) depart in late June. When the snow falls, there's the self-satisfied sound of snowblowers and the scraping of snowplow blades on the front of pickup trucks. It's wonderful to wake in the middle of the night and hear the town/city/county DPW scraping the roads off, then snuggle back down into the covers.

When we open the windows so anxiously in the spring -- just let it get above 40 degrees and I'm there, at least for a little while -- I'm hungry for the sounds of the birds, squirrels and chipmunks going about their daily business.

During the summer, you can mark the difference between weekdays and weekends in our neighborhood by the sounds of lawnmowers and chain saws. Apparently a couple of our neighbors have a lot of stuff to cut down or cut up so their chain saws are going for hours at a time every Saturday and Sunday.(I picture them looking out the window all winter long plotting their chain saw massacres for the first weekends in April and they never disappoint.)

Right now there is a harmony of cicadas in the ravine behind us that are singing their homage to the warm sunshine. Such a lovely sound. Every little while a car motors by on the side street next to us (we live on a corner). Very mellow and pastoral despite the fact that we're plop in the middle of a relatively large subdivision.Every once in a while an ice cream truck rolls by but not more than once a week or so.

As we morph into the fall in the next month or so, these same neighbors happily swap the chain saws for leaf blowers that stir up a cacaphony of noise that is so much worse than the leaves they're attempting to corral into organized piles.

Have I mentioned recently how much I hate winter? I know it's coming but I just can't let go of this beautiful time of year.

Today I revolt

2011-07-15T05:45:00.000-04:00

I know the science behind ceiling fans: warm air rises.You have the blades scoop up the cool air in the summertime and fan it out across the ceiling, dispelling the warm air that hangs up near the ceiling to create more coolness in the room. In the chilly months, change the blade direction and force the warm air down.

Our bedroom is on the medium size but is also populated by two 98.6 degree bodies and two canines who clock in at about 101 degrees apiece. We keep the bedroom door open year 'round and the a/c is on or the windows are wide open all summer (shades down, thanks). So it can get close and very still in there overnight.

When we're in summertime-blade mode, the air moves but the feeling on your skin is barely discernible. In cold-month-blade mode, the air movement is much more active and there's a wonderful riffle of air that sweeps your skin all night long. Even in the cold months when the windows aren't open, the fan is usually on overnight to circulate the air so it doesn't feel so stifling.

We go through this low level tug-of-war every year. Johnnie gets it in his head at some point in the spring to switch the blades from cold-month to summertime configuration. Maybe the fan works more efficiently (according to science) but the breeze all but stops. Then when I've had enough of no riffling breeze, I change the blade direction.

Today we have arrived officially at this point for summertime 2011. I've slept probably two hours all night -- and those were in another bedroom where the blade direction hasn't been changed.

Welcome back, cool breezes! Anyone else experience this?

The sounds of

2011-07-07T14:20:00.000-04:00

Vacation. Wish I could say silence instead.

Decibel level of "The Right Stuff" playing on the TV in the other room: ~75. Check.
The snoring from Johnnie lying next to me: ~20 on and off. Check.

Glad I have ear plugs? Absolutely.

It doesn't get any better than this!

Learn something new every day

2011-06-29T11:50:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned before my Indian friends (dot, not the feather) with whom I work, editing their butchered English for American audiences. They provide me with immense opportunities for private giggles while I'm working when I stumble across some of their unintentional language gaffes.

Some of the most recent word goodies from India:

sample over-baked pizzas
and soft lightening and background music
easy to read and comprehend, concise in concepts and clear in apprehension
Keeping backyard chickens is easy with our kits that include handle and wheels for easy maneuverability
Workers compensation insurance covers injuries and occupational diseases picked up at work
In order to overcome numerous challenges to attain the intended results, the business scenario has changed to a larger extent.
As per the requirements any evolving business needs and to match its services to the specified requirements, these professionals have the required ability.
Exotic shades along with ecstatic reflection of jewelry
and a continental dinner served the next morning
obtain financial support for a variety of unexpected problems that may come snooping around
you can also opt for throw pillows and lumber pillows (should be lumbar)
and the facilities of a 5-start hotel

However, within the past week, among their gaffes were two English words that I did not know. Both of which were used correctly in context. I have a fairly large vocabulary and, while I'm not conceited about it, believe that there are not all that many words that crop up in the English language with which I'm not familiar.

The words are

cynosure |ˈsīnəˌ sh oŏr; ˈsin-|
noun [in sing. ]
a person or thing that is the center of attention or admiration : the Queen was the cynosure of all eyes.

apposite |ˈapəzit|
adjective
apt in the circumstances or in relation to something : an apposite quotation | the observations are apposite to the discussion. Also appositely (adverb) and appositeness (noun)

As I said, they were both used correctly but I changed them anyway since I figured if I didn't know them, the average American reader would probably not know them either.

This is just to give credit where it is due -- not all the writing that comes from my Indian friends is bad. And any time you want to sample some over-baked pizza (I think they meant oven-baked) or get some lumber pillows for your room at the 5-start hotel, I can hook you up.

Happy birthday Joycie

2011-06-28T06:39:00.000-04:00

If she were still alive, my sister would be 78 today. She passed away three years ago after a difficult life, topped off with a short, painful end. Joyce was my half sister and I didn't even know I had a sister until I was about 12. I was thrilled when I learned that I wasn't an "only" child.

Her upbringing and mine couldn't have been more different and that was the genesis of her tough life. Needless to say, our relationship once I was an adult (while we were dealing with our mother's decline) was rocky as well.

Anyway, I really miss her and wish often that I could pick up the phone and listen to her laugh. She was a great sister.

Joyce, me and our cousin Molly

at Erin and Mike's wedding

Goofing around

Joyce hated having her picture taken so it is miraculous and unusual that she sat still without making funny faces on three different occasions.

Powerful words

2011-06-23T15:24:00.000-04:00

I received an email this morning from a client with whom I am working very closely to write a book. He has all the ideas and information and I'm doing the writing. It's an interesting partnership and he's such an incredible manager (and human being) that it's really a treat to work with him. I want to make him succeed.

Anyway, I received this email (as part of a several email exchange) and all it said was

"I believe in you."

How frickin powerful is that? Such a simple message and such an incredibly powerful one. It puts lots of responsibility on me but it also conveys his trust in our relationship.

Such an impact from four small words. Try it on someone you believe in today.

One for the bucket list

2011-06-20T14:50:00.000-04:00

Johnnie has always been fascinated by the Segway, those two wheel stand up vehicles you saw in Paul Blart, Mall Cop and, if you live in California (or other warm states), you might see them in malls, on trails or on the sidewalks. Anyway, I was thrilled when a month ago I saw a Groupon advertising Segway tours in our area. I missed the Groupon deal but decided to sign us up for a tour for Father's Day.

We went on our tour on Saturday and it was a blast. I never told Johnnie what we were doing and had him completely mystified. I told him this was one for the bucket list -- probably not at the top of the list but on there nonetheless. He was blown away when we pulled into the parking lot where we were meeting the UpstateSegTour.com person (Joe) who would lead our tour.

We started with a few minutes of safety discussion and individual lessons getting on, off and learning to drive it. It's all done with foot pressure and the upright is merely there as something for you to hold onto -- there are no controls in the handle at all. Lean forward, you go forward. Lean back on your heels, you are in reverse. Move the handle to one side or the other and you turn. Zero turning radius. Way cool. Silent operation.You wear a bicycle helmet (they provided although we brought our own) and reasonable footwear -- no flipflops.

I have pictures of Johnnie that I'll post as soon as I remember where I put the camera.

It was a beautiful day for this -- about 80 degrees, sunny and no breeze. Just delightful. We went on the Genesee Riverway -- a hiking/biking path and about half a mile of it is suspended above a marshy area where we saw turtles, swans and cignets (baby swans), ducks and geese. On the paths, the top speed (governed) is eight miles per hour but the Segway ungoverned will get up to 12 miles per hour. Eight miles an hour was plenty fast for us.

There were six of us, three couples, in the group and everyone did really well. It's a mix of balancing like you do on a bicycle -- there are no brakes -- and the balancing of water skiing. The more you lean forward on the balls of your foot, the faster you go. When you balance flat on your feet, you stand more or less still.

The worst part, I think, was standing still on our legs - they got sore after a while and Joe recommended we not stand stiff-legged but unlock our knees a bit to take bumps better and relax our legs. That worked but both Johnnie's and my legs still got tired.

Unfortunately, being the klutz that I am, when we stopped on an uphill incline, I got flustered when my Segway started rolling backwards and I forgot to shift my weight forward to stop the thing. I ended up running into the woman behind me -- in reverse -- and I fell off the Segway. Duh. She fell as well but she didn't hurt herself. Me? I landed on my right elbow and scraped the skin off an inch-long by 1/4 inch wide area directly over my elbow bone. And of course collected a few new black and blue marks. I'm very lucky I didn't break my elbow. Incredibly, the Segway never tipped over - they're incredibly stable.

Joe came to the rescue with gauze pads and tape so we could continue. I was shaken up but didn't want to go back. It was way too fun. When we got home, I soaked my elbow in epsom salts to clean it out then doused it with peroxide and ultimately slathered itNeosporin and gauze pads wrapped in paper tape.

Fairly sore even two days later because of where the cut/scrape is and it's difficult to pad it sufficiently to make it comfortable. Anyway, enough about my injuries.

It was a real blast and it is rare for someone to fall. Unless they're me. Then it's just a matter of time. However, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything, even the cut and road rash isn't a big deal.

If you get a chance to go on a Segway tour, do it. It's such fun. If you want more information, just let me know. Awesome!

You just know

2011-05-31T15:03:00.000-04:00

that whoever owns this car (a) has a great sense of humor (b) or maybe doesn't have one at all and (c) gets called this frequently by the car behind them regardless of their driving habits.

We saw this license plate on a car in a handicapped spot at the grocery store and at first I thought, "Aw, how sweet, both of their names." Then I said it to myself and thought "Moe ron."

Haa haa haa. Seriously, you really can't make stuff like this up. Someone paid extra money to call themselves morons on their own license plate. Yeow.

If this was my choice for a vanity plate, I'd rather go with whatever the state gave me.

What other vanity plates have you seen that were just wrong, clever or funny?

Phrases I love to hate

2011-05-20T10:32:00.000-04:00

Phrases come and go from the American lexicon and there are a few at the moment that just make my skin crawl. Luckily I can avoid two out of three of them pretty easily.

Baby bump - this is perpetrated by the media/paparazzi in particular when stalking some poor female celebrity who may or may not be pregnant at the time. Instead of saying "hey, look at her belly getting bigger with child" or something of that nature, they get all cutesy and use arrows and circles (a la poor Katie Holmes (Cruise) this week on the cover of some gossip mag) to point out exactly where on a woman's anatomy a baby's prenatal growth pokes out. It's just an inelegant and cutesy phrase not worthy of the media or the celebrities about whom they are writing. It will be a great day when this phrase gets retired in favor of something more mature and respectful.

Mommy/Daddy likey - this is usually accompanied by real (or implied) waggling eyebrows and sly winks to connote something that smacks of sexiness. It's gross, people, just gross. Especially the mommy or daddy part. I'm certainly not a prude but -- just gross. I hope this one dies a quick death but it probably won't.

24/7/365 - this is of course the 21st Century shorthand for saying "around the clock" or "we're always at your service" or something of that nature. While I hate the phrase, in my writing work, I tend to use it or the 24/7 variation because it's quick and easily comprehended by any adult audience reading marketing literature or Web copy, my two biggest areas of writing these days. So while I really do hate it, it has earned a grudging respect from me and it helps me pay some of the bills.

How 'bout you -- what phrases have you heard recently that make your blood boil or your skin crawl? Jump in!

My mom

2011-05-09T08:04:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been feeling chronically a day late and a dollar short. I usually send birthday cards and holiday cards to everyone and my promptness has fallen off precipitously in the past couple months. Part of it is I'm just busier than usual and part of it is an overwhelming feeling of apathy. I'm going to call the doctor today about the apathy and see what might be its origin. But I completely digress. Except to say that this is a Mother's Day post -- a day late. Dunno about the dollar short part although money is always tight, right?

My mom passed away in January 2001 at 87. Her last 10 years or so were spent in a nursing home, completely skewing the odds of that occurring. Truthfully, she was not a really nice person when she was younger and we had many, many moments of discord between us over the years. I loved her but she was a tough person to love at times.

She mellowed considerably as her body failed, starting with an aneurysm that she survived, over the last 10 years of her life. Yet there would be moments of the "old Nana" when the feisty Nana would appear in her eyes. I used to look forward to those moments, even if they just reminded me of what a witch she could be.

Anyway, I was thinking about her a lot over the weekend with Mother's Day on the horizon. I even changed my Facebook picture to one with my mom for a few days in honor of her.

I pulled a few pictures from Johnnie's computer of my mom and I wanted to post them here just to commemorate her. She looks kindly in these pictures but don't you believe it for one second.

Things people write

2011-04-25T12:11:00.000-04:00

One of the clients that I do a fair amount of work for is a firm that employs Indian writers (not as in Native Americans, the other Indians) to create Website copy. Then they send the copy to me so I can make it intelligible to American readers. This makes some type of economic sense to them and I don't fight it. In fact, sometimes it is downright funny to see what they write as English sentences. I keep a list of the amusing sentences, with the clients well camouflaged.

Here are a few gems and yes, these were serious attempts that somehow made it over to me to fix:

Keeping backyard chickens is easy with our kits that include handle and wheels for easy maneuverability
easy to read and comprehend, concise in concepts and clear in apprehension
simply outstand in the crowd
immaculacy of work
water related activities like Water Boarding, Waterskiing, Fishing, Inner Tubing (this one is my absolute, all time favorite)
Inflammable Life Jackets (vs inflatable)
If you have a good command over the language English
It is common for shoppers to be enticed toward the fast-track choice to conclude the deal, means buying from first supplier stumbled across or the cheaper supplier found. You should keep in mind that inexpensive is not cheerful always and expensive does not mean plush always.
You drive the vehicle of creativity and give physical appearance to your thoughts and imaginations.

Who says I don't have fun with my job??

Happy

2011-04-24T13:50:00.000-04:00

Easter!

An open letter to Chicago Public Schools

2011-04-18T13:58:00.000-04:00

Just read the announcement that Jean-Claude Brizard has been selected as the next head of the Chicago Public Schools. Brizard has been the head of the Rochester (NY) City School District since 2008. While we don't live in the city of Rochester and have no children attending school in any school district, we're sorry, Chicago. Brizard looks good on paper and even (sorta) talks a good game but I don't think he'll be of much help to you.

I don't know what he told your board of education but his performance and fiscal responsibility here hasn't been good. The graduation rate for city high schoolers is still below 30 percent. He still makes more than $200k a year while the school district is bankrupt. He's ruffled lots of feathers -- to the point that the teachers' union voted No Confidence in him just a couple months ago. Sorry, guys.

However, I don't think there will be a lot of tears shed at his departure from Rochester. Personally, there's just something that's not quite right about his position on things and how he has performed his position. It just doesn't ring true. Hopefully he'll do a better job for you Chicagoans than he has done here in Rochester. We can only hope.

This just in ...

2011-03-31T13:01:00.000-04:00

Thank goodness March is leaving us today. It came in like a lion and is exiting that way too. A mixture of *now (rhymes with blow), rain and sleet this morning. Nice. So I went to the indoor running/walking track to get in my road work, that's what I have been call my 5K training.

Anyway, we're decorating for spring and Easter around here.

We have blowup lawn decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. So we decided why should spring and Easter go unloved? The bunny is yet unnamed as we're figuring our two granddaughters will have a say in that.

I do love me some frogs. We have several that live in the myrtle patch you see underneath the bunny in the picture above. While I'm not really into collecting them, we've seen some really adorable ones and have impetuously snapped them up. Johnnie surprised me this past week with this one. His head area is big enough to use as a seat or maybe you're supposed to put a plant on it. Either way, he's pretty cute too.

I keep telling myself this is just a sticker, just a sticker. And I'm much too ~~old~~ grown up to get excited about being awarded a sticker. Right? Apparently not. I received this sticker last night when I went to my 5K group running practice for attending some number of group runs (I missed three while we were on vacation). I'm so darned proud of doing this and my body hasn't yet forbade me from continuing. Sure, it complains now and then but it hasn't put a stop to my crazy desire to be able to run.

And the incentive to receive awards as we go along makes it all that much sweeter. Even a sticker. So I went right out and put it on the car last night. The drops of water are what's left of the morning precipitation mixture. We get a technical jacket from New Balance if we make 17 practices (out of 24). Who says adults aren't swayed by a little reward?

This weekend I'm trying a 2.5 mile fun run to see how I'm progressing before our May 1st graduation run with the 300 people in it from our training sessions. I know I'm not fast but by golly, I'm doing it. My main goal this week is to make it over the finish line. Heck, that may be my always goal!

A conversational moment with Lucy

2011-03-29T10:31:00.000-04:00

Lucy is now at that age, about 3 3/4s, where some of the things that come out of her mouth are priceless -- artless and without affectation in any way.

Lucy and I were at BJs (NO we don't have a Costco here. Do I seem testy about that??! Why Yes I am, thank you) Wholesale Club yesterday while Erin was visiting Emily's classroom for an hour or so. She was sitting in the basket part of the cart, not the kids' seats, and goofing around, talking silly baby talk (she's well past that but loves to be silly with it). John called after his lunch break to check in. I was wheeling the cart along, talking to Johnnie and Lucy was babbling. In the midst of her babbling, Lucy sticks her right thumb in her mouth like a baby and begins sucking on it seriously, eyeing me with her typical mischievous sparkle and smirk around the thumb.

I was really surprised so I said, with a fair amount of emphasis, "Lucy, what are you doing? Take your thumb OUT of your MOUTH!"

She took her thumb out, looked at me and broke down into piteous sobs, curling into a heap on the bottom of the basket. This isn't my first rodeo at this, nor is it Lucy's so I knew most of it was an act. That and she hates having her feelings hurt and I had obviously hurt her feelings by hopping on her so vehemently.

I hung up on Johnnie and tried to reason with Lucy. Yeah, no success, just more sobs. So we proceeded to the dog food and treat aisle where I loaded up on dog treats first, then went for the 44 pound bag of dog food. With Lucy in the basket part of the cart, I figured I would put the bag on the bottom tray. Easy peasy, right? Not so much. Remember, it's 44 pounds. Ugh.

I was struggling to move the dead floppy weight of the dog food bag onto the cart with my foot wedged behind the front wheel to keep the cart from scooting backwards. This continued for a couple minutes: tugging, lifting, hefting, scooching and so forth. Lucy was just above where all this activity was occurring and she became interested in what I was doing. I was completely ignoring her (not the first rodeo, yeah).

After watching me for a little bit, she said, in a completely normal voice, "Here, Gwamma, get me out and I'll help you." The tears, the sobs, the entire event was turned off like magic.

I lifted her out and she proceeded to try to tug the bag onto the shelf. Yeah, little girlfriend, not gonna happen. So I sent her to the back of the cart to hold the handle and just keep the cart from moving backwards as I shoved the bag onto the shelf. She was too small and maybe didn't understand what I was saying because the cart sailed backwards as though nothing and no one was preventing its backward movement. After more tugging and shoving, it was finally far enough on the shelf so it wouldn't drag on the floor so I loaded Lucy back in and off we went.

As we rounded the corner to head towards the fruit and meat area, I said, "Lucy, I'm really sorry I hurt your feelings. I was just so surprised that you were sucking your thumb!"

She replied in complete seriousness, "That's OK, Gwamma. You just bwoke my heart."

St. Patrick's Day hodge podge

2011-03-17T13:40:00.000-04:00

From India to America back to India to America (rinse and repeat)
How much sense does this make? Here I am, an American, reviewing, correcting and editing Web page copy written by someone in India about a proofreading service based here in the United States that proofs papers and whatever for students and academics to guarantee that the English used is appropriate and accurate. Meaning that the service does a lot of proofing for non-native English speakers. This seems kinda goofy and a bit circuitous to me. On the other hand, it might be an interesting business for me to investigate as another client. I'm betting most of it is done over the Internet anyhow.

Checked it out: - the jobs are by bid, they take a 12% bite off the top and use PayPal to pay so there's another 3% nibble. Saw lots of available reviewers and no projects -- more supply than demand.

Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Green Jeans
I don't remember how we got on the subject yesterday at breakfast but John and I were reminiscing about really early TV shows - circa 1955 and later. I remember watching Captain Kangaroo and being really irritated with him (even as a child) that he'd announce the time as "it's 20 minutes after the hour..." or "it's 15 minutes before the hour..." and I thought that was really dumb. And irritating because I was learning to tell time and knowing the hour would have been really helpful. I didn't figure it out until much later that it was because he was live across different time zones so he couldn't say it was 20 minutes after 9 or 15 minutes before 10. Still, I was ticked about it and just found him useless to watch as a result. John pointed out that that was a rather poor reason for me not to have watched Captain Kangaroo. Whatever. The doofus (Captain Kangaroo, not John) annoyed me enough that I didn't watch.

Geese! Ducks! Goldfinches!
We are finally starting to see some signs of spring in our area. Yeay! Bridget and I were walking last week and saw hundreds of geese and ducks returning to the area. There have been goldfinches (which stay here in cold weather but lose their gold coloring) with gold feathers at the feeders. Thank goodness!

Week 7 of 5K Training
I've been doing my training for the May1st 5K I'll (hopefully) be running. I'm up to three minute runs interspersed with three minutes of walking. Amazingly, I am recovering my breath faster and feeling much less winded. The organizers just keep telling us to trust them that we'll be able to run the whole 5K (3.1 miles) by May 1st. I'm just not worrying about it and will put my trust in their hands.

We have had the most rotten weather on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings in which to do our group workouts -- all together there are about 300 of us crazies out there for the group runs. Last Wednesday (a week ago) it was pouring rain. Last night there was a very sharp wind that kept the 40 degree temperatures from feeling moderate. We've had everything: wind, rain, ice, *now (the white stuff whose name rhymes with blow). They made it perfectly clear at the beginning that we go out regardless of the weather.

For my other two training runs/walks, I've loaded up my iPod with some great music and just do the neighborhood streets. It's beautiful out today and I ***should*** do my work out today but I suspect it will be postponed until tomorrow and more crappy weather. Ah well. They have definitely taught me that weather shouldn't be an issue regardless of what it's doing outside. Just go.

I have dropped a couple pounds in the process but more I can tell the difference in the tightness of my legs and my endurance. Luckily the plantar fasciitis and knee/hip issues haven't been a lasting problem. I'm hoping that I can keep any physical problems at bay so I can do this. While I don't really feel like an athlete yet, I'm starting to think I could be one. And I'm really loving the running parts of all this.

What we did over the Presidents' Day break

2011-03-14T20:00:00.001-04:00

We went on a cruise (Carnival Valor - Western Caribbean including Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Honduras) and took all the kids! It was months in the planning and it came off mostly without a hitch. That is, if you could waiting at the airport in Miami for more than an hour at 10pm one night waiting for the hotel shuttle. And if you could the airlines losing Holly's bag so that she had an entirely new wardrobe for the cruise courtesy of Target Boutique and Marshall's. She looked lovely and no one would have been the wiser. Oh yeah, and Emily had pneumonia for the first three days of the trip.Other than that, it was fantastic!

Anyway, we had a blast. Here's the official picture proof! More later!

Top row: Holly & Mike, Mike

Robins!

2011-02-15T17:58:00.001-05:00

I met Erin, Lucy and Emily yesterday at our local Applebee's for a quick Valentine's Day lunch together. As we were getting ready to leave, I noticed a woman standing at a table near the windows, aiming her cell phone camera at the barren tree just outside the window.

Puzzled, I followed her line of sight and saw birds in the tree. Not just any birds. Robins! The robins are back! Yes, we'll still have many more weeks of crappy cold and white fluffy stuff coming down but the robins have faith that the weather will get better. If they believe, I'll believe.

Here's photographic proof that they are really back. I drove past this Applebee's again today and saw two or three plump robins on the ground so it wasn't just a fluke that we saw them yesterday. You have to kinda squint to actually see the red breast but the shape is distinctively robin.

Seeing the robins made my whole day yesterday. Valentine's Day was wonderful all by itself but seeing the robins just made it all that much better.

Hello, my deer

2011-02-11T17:07:00.000-05:00

There's a deep ravine behind and beside our house -- we live on a corner. For living in a suburban area with relatively high density of homes, we have an amazingly private lot. During the summer, we can only see three neighbor's homes. In the cold months when the leaves are off the trees, we can see across the ravine but the homes are 400 to 500 feet away. Still pretty private.

Anyway. On Tuesday morning, I was opening the shades and saw several deer down by the creek that runs through the ravine. We see lots of wildlife down there including wild turkeys, rabbits, foxes, owls and run-of-the-mill animals like squirrels and chipmunks. Luckily we don't seem to have any skunks. So the deer were just awakening and getting up from their overnight slumber behind the house. So I grabbed the camera, opened the bedroom window on the second floor (temps were in the single digits) and tried to get a few shots. The deer heard me and were a bit skittish watching me. I went to the first floor and opened another window where I could get some better shots of them.

This is what I was able to shoot.

Pretty amazing resolution (I don't pretend for a second that it's my expertise) from a point-and-shoot, huh?

The curse of early adopter-ing

2011-02-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

We (my then-husband and I) had one of the first microwave ovens and an automatic ice maker in our refrig in the early 70s.
I had an Osborne (cpm-operating system) portable computer (if you called 30+ pounds portable) in the mid-80s.
John bought a Saturn in 1991, the first year they were made.
John's had a cell phone since 1990 when the brick phone was the only thing available.
John bought Google TV as it was announced. Ditto with Roku.
We bought a Prius in 2005 -- yeah, we were kinda late on that one.

In addition, there is all manner of electronics that we have acquired before they really became popular such as digital cameras, the Kindle, electronic picture frames, HDTV, BlueTooth/handsfree attachments for driving and talking -- pretty much, if you name it, we probably had it earlier than most people. It's just what we seem to do.

It's no big deal, I guess and there's really no main point to this post, I just realized. Early adopting of technology just seems to come naturally to both of us. Anyway, I mention it because John, who gets up at 4:45 am every weekday morning for work, set the alarm on February 3rd so he could get up at 2:30 am and order his Verizon iPhone 4 at the earliest possible moment, 3 am. He wanted to be the earliest of early adopters on that one. He didn't hear the alarm so I urged him to awaken and then went back to sleep immediately. He was considerately very quiet, bless him.

His middle of the night excursion turned out positively, because he received his iPhone on Monday the 7th, three full days before they were available in stores. He's very tickled to have it. Me? Seriously, I couldn't care any less about having one. I'm happy with my two-function phone and don't even want his now abandoned iTouch. I can't figure what I would do with it.

When Holly and Mike were here for Christmas over Thanksgiving, she had an iPad and I was quite taken with it. Maybe if I can find a compelling reason someday, I'd get one of those. But in the meantime, I'll just stay comfortably in the middle of the pack on this one.

Pride goeth before the fall...

2011-02-07T08:37:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday I went to Fleet Feet to sign up for my 12 weeks of running/5K lessons. Lucy was with me and I was trying to act relatively competent and somewhat athletic with the 20-something kid who was helping me. Somewhere in our conversation I slipped in that I had walked two half marathons and a 5K and walked lots, blah blah blah, just so I didn't look like a 60 year old kinda overweight marathon wannabe (oh wait ....).

So I was looking at running shoes and the kid was helping me. I took off my jacket so I could walk on the treadmill, he could check my foot placement and make the best recommendations. Nothing unusual there -- standard practice.

I was seated, bending over to tie the shoes the kid was recommending. Lucy was sitting on the bench next to me and she said,

"Gwanma, I wike youh undewpants." Very clearly.

It gave me pause for a second. The kid chuckled and said, "they really will say anything, won't they?"

Not sure how you keep (or retrieve) your dignity after a comment like that.

I think I can, I think I can...

2011-02-01T16:26:00.001-05:00

Just like the Little Engine That Could, I'm hoping I can.

John and I did a half marathon -- walking -- in January 2006 for the Leukemia Foundation Team In Training. Mostly, I wanted the training they'd give us and was hoping for amazing weight loss. The training WAS awesome. The weight loss didn't exactly happen but that's not the training's fault. But I felt very empowered and much like an athlete as we trained and for quite a while afterwards. We subsequently did another half marathon on our own with Bridget and Erin in 2009. No hoopla at the finish line -- heck, there was no finish line -- but we did it, just the same.

Johnnie (r) and me (l) at the Phoenix PF Chang Rock N Roll Marathon, January 15, 2006

While my/our athletic activity level has been somewhat uneven since then -- we did a 12-week boot camp in the spring of 2006 but not a lot since then except walking with Bridget for 3-5 miles lots of early mornings -- I still (sometimes) feel like an athlete and really want to do more athletically. I've awakened to this whole exercise and athleticism thing really late in my life but I'm not ready to give up yet. I'm not competitive with anyone except myself in these things -- I'm just not young enough and speedy enough to consider it.

Anyway, our local Fleet Feet franchise is sponsoring a 12-week training for people who have never run or need to learn how to run, culminating in a 5K on May 1st. I've had trouble running in the past (tried to while we were training for the first half marathon in 2006) but my knees start acting up, there are bursitis shots involved and it's not a lot of fun. Add that to the continuing plantar fasciitis issues and my advancing age (shush) and, well, I don't look like a great candidate for running a 5K. Ever.

But, sniff, sniff, I wanna. I really wanna. During our 2006 training, I remember breaking away from Johnnie one day as we were walking and running ahead for a couple minutes. I think I felt the elusive runner's high that all runners talk about -- the euphoria of being apart from yourself, feeling free and completely exhilarated. Even though it didn't last very long, I crave that feeling at least once more.

So. I am going to sign up for the 12-week 5K training and see how it goes. They promise lots of coaching and mentoring for the newbies and I'll need plenty of it. I was encouraged at the information session last night that there were several other people who looked to be in my same age group who were interested in trying this too. Misery loves company, right? John is concerned about how my knees will react and, truthfully, I'm not sure either. In any case, I can always walk the 5K but I really want to give running one last try with the proper coaching and training.

I'll never know unless I give this a concerted try and, frankly, if I don't try soon, I'll definitely be too old to start.

Wish me luck -- I'll keep you posted!

100-word challenge: harmless

2011-01-25T14:45:00.000-05:00

"Do you know why I called you here, Mrs. Sweeney?"

"Nope, can't say I do," she answered Principal Hanford absently, checking her iPhone for messages.

"We've heard from several of Cameron's classmates that he's bullying them, taking their lunches - that sort of thing."

"Not my Cameron," Mirabelle Sweeney stated flatly. "They were probably just goofing around."

"We don't tolerate bullies, Mrs. Sweeney. Since Cameron just started here, we wanted you to know."

"It's just his harmless way of making friends," she responded airily. "By the way, you do know we're donating the new lights for the athletic field, right?

Go to Velvet Verbosity's site and play along or just read the awesome entries that are submitted each week.

Slow burn

2011-01-21T12:02:00.000-05:00

One of the toughest and most frustrating things I've found in doing free lance writing for the past nine years is not knowing when someone is flaky and just not worth doing business with. You have to learn their flakiness all by yourself every time you work with someone new. When you're in a corporation or any size organization, you pick up the scuttlebutt, expressions, nuances of body language and other signals so you can prepare yourself mentally for flakiness before it happens to you.

Case in point: I was supposed to meet a guy about doing some writing work for him this morning at 10am. We set the appointment up the first week in January and it has been postponed (his request) twice for legitimate reasons.

First mistake: I didn't send him a follow up message earlier this week to confirm our meeting.

Second mistake: In setting the meeting, I never specifically asked if his office was the appropriate location to meet. His Website lists an address and I knew where it was located. So I figured we were all set.

I dutifully wrote down his address and phone number and set off in plenty of time this morning to get there. Dressed in business attire and with complete portfolio in hand.

His street address was a UPS Store. In a one story building so there's clearly not offices above it. Called him 15 minutes before our appointed time asking, essentially, WTF. Got voice mail and left a message.

Killed time getting coffee and taking care of a couple errands. No call. Went home and sent him an email message but refused to say "sorry we didn't get together." Hell, I'm not sorry - he's the dingo who didn't let me know where we should meet.

Received a message about an hour and a quarter later from him saying "sorry for the confusion." Confusion, hecky darn, my left quadrant. So we have set up another meeting for Monday at 11am. At a location that has now been named. Yeay.

I dunno if he's really flaky or too busy or just doesn't pay attention to details. My flaky meter is starting to tick (well, that started after the first postponement) more insistently but I'm hoping for a better reaction in person on Monday. Since getting his two mail notes to set up the Monday meeting I've been getting more aggravated about this and that's why I'm writing. I need to get it off my chest so I can get back to the business at hand.

If any of you have any suggestions for culling and assessing flakiness early in a business relationship, I'd sure love to hear them. This gets so tiring and in the meantime, time is winging away and I'm not making money as a result. Sigh.

I'm goin' in

2011-01-19T14:49:00.000-05:00

Johnnie has taught me to be a bit compulsive about saving paperwork for just about everything. That's just peachy but after a while, we run out of room. Our office has a four drawer and a five drawer filing cabinet devoted to paperwork. There's also a two-drawer cabinet but it's loaded with computer cables and Lord only knows what else of an electronic nature so it doesn't count.

Last year I weeded out the five drawer cabinet and organized all the manuals for everything we've ever bought (lawn mowers, televisions, can openers, you name it) and all the receipts for those things as well. Big job. Never wanna do it again. However, the satisfaction factor was huge when it was done.

Now it's time to tackle the four drawer cabinet that houses all the monthly receipts for payments and everything else. I haven't filed in that cabinet since July, 2010 because there's no more room. Take a look.

See what I mean? I'm not sure that the pictures really convey the stuffedness of the drawers. As I'm writing, I'm beginning the purge which is the first step to finishing the 2010 filing. I'm finding receipts from 1997 in there. Anything before 2003 is getting destroyed; everything between 2003 and 2009 is going downstairs for storage until I get down there to purge those shelves.

Anyway, I'm goin' in and if I'm not out in three days, send for help. Seriously, I do love tossing stuff away an' I'm just the girl to do it!

Unjust discrimination

2011-01-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

We went to church last evening and I was one of the two lectors. In reading through the prayers of the faithful, one item mentioned blessing all those who stand up against unjust discrimination and honor the work and life of Martin Luther King, Junior.

So ... is there any discrimination that is just? The phrase unjust discrimination seems redundant to me. But I suppose just discrimination would include not admitting a man to an all-women's club or not allowing a girl to enroll at an all boy's school.

Interestingly, I just Googled "unjust discrimination" and it returned 420,000 results. Googling "just discrimination" netted 109,000,000 results. Wow. In skimming some of these latter results, it focuses mostly on the necessary discrimination of placing children for adoption with suitable parents and there is a lot of writing about discriminating between heterosexual versus homosexual people for marriage. I'm not interested in a debate of that nature although I do believe in same sex marriage personally. It was merely the words that gave me pause.

John and I both have a love of words and how they're used. Such as business names that make you wonder: Superior Painters -- would you really want Mediocre Painters to work for you? or Economical Plumbers -- again, would you hire a company that called itself Expensive Plumbers? It was in this context that I read and reread the words "unjust discrimination" and wondered about them. So many commercials and ads string words together in an attempt to persuade people to do something or buy something. Yet if you think critically about the words they use, they don't really make sense. Such as "a savings of up to 20% off." That's a double-worded statement. You either have a savings of up to 20% or the thing is 20% off.

Was MLK Jr. only about abolishing unjust discrimination or did he fight against discrimination of every kind. I believe he was against any type of discrimination.

Invincible, She and Danny's got the car tonight

2011-01-14T10:48:00.001-05:00

I've toyed with doing these challenges sponsored by Velvet Verbosity many times but just haven't. In my current State of Funk, today is the day. As always, I can only control my reaction to my SoF, not precisely what is causing it. Whatever.

The word for this week's challenge is Invincible.

Title: Invincible, She

Pulling herself along the wooden handrails along the corridor walls and paddling with her feet, Anna shuffled slowly down the noisy hall toward the dining room. As she inched forward, her thoughts focused on an earlier time when she had run hurdles and track in high school and college. She passed other residents slumped and asleep in their wheelchairs without seeming to notice them at all.

She smiled to herself in satisfaction as she crossed the threshold on the dot of noon and steered herself to her favorite table by the window. She had come in first once again.

Updated on Saturday, January 15th.

A second entry that couldn't be contained any longer.

Title: Danny's got the car tonight

"Aw, man!" Jared's longish hair swung with outrage, his hands clenched into fists.

"I said NO and that's it." I continued washing dishes to cover my shaking hands and avoided looking at him.

"Aw, Mom..." He knew arguing was futile.

"You know how those boys are, Jared. Going with them will only get you into trouble." I tried reasoning with my preciously 16-year-old, as if that was even possible."

"Maybe not tonight but it will happen, you mark my words."

He stomped away, furious.

"You're not invincible at 16, y'know!" I called as the slamming door rattled the house.

This is a second entry to Velvet Verbosity's 100 Word Challenge on the word invincible.

Dear Diary

2011-01-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

I started this post more than a week ago and just haven't gotten anywhere with it. There are two good reasons why:

1. Unfortunately, I looked at my sitemeter statistics and it seems as though nobody's out there reading. Sigh. So this is probably more of a diary entry than a blog. That shouldn't bother me but it does, kinda. I do write this for me but it's nice to think someone else might be out there somewhere too. (Ear craning to hear the resounding echoes of silence.)

2. My motivation is at an all time low to do much of anything. It's cold, there's tons of white fluffy stuff on the ground, it's January and I don't have ~~much~~ any steady writing work coming in. I've been monitoring ads (mostly on Craigslist) for additional writing work and part-time administrative assistant positions but haven't had any serious nibbles yet. There's one thing in the works but it's another week out before there's any progress on that. Double sigh.

Anyway, thanks for listening to me bellyache, dear Diary. Erin's dad would tell me to get off the WAAAAAAmbulance. He's right. No one can change these things except me. I'm so much more effective and productive when I'm busy. And I like myself much better then too.

There are plenty of projects and things I can do around the house to improve our home and stay busy but the less I do, the less I do. I need to find some new ways to trick myself into finding motivation and ambition. If you have any ideas, please let me know!

On to ~~bigger and~~ maybe more interesting topics.

I was perusing the shelves at Target last week looking for Static Guard, which seems to be a hot commodity in this land of cold, dry weather and fleece for all. Both Wegmans were sold out. Target did have three lonely cans on the shelves so I scored one. However, while I was looking for the Static Guard, I saw Clorox washer cleaner. Say whaaaaa? Why would you have to wash your washer? All you do is wash stuff in there, right? Unless you accidentally washed the cat one day or attempted to degrime an automobile engine in it. Then perhaps a washer cleaner would be called for. Anyway, it strikes me as an unnecessary product looking for a market. I'm sure it'll sell like hotcakes among the OCD crowd.

Erin has flattered me no end with her belief that I can get stains out of virtually any of the girls' clothing. When she's tried and failed, the stained article of little girl wear travels to our house so I can take a crack at getting the stains out. Most of the time I'm successful but there have been a few failures along the way. Anyway, I'm really flattered that she finds me the stain-getter-outer-wizard.

At the beginning of 2010, my New Year's resolution was to get in 10,000 steps a day. Every day. It didn't happen with the perseverance I had hoped to instill in myself but then again, I didn't do so badly. It looks as though I made 10,000+ (or the equivalent in biking or swimming) steps on at least 94 days out of 365. That's about 25 percent. I also took off about 13 pounds and have only put back on about 5 of those. Working on getting those back off, of course. Another sigh.

My biggest resolution for 2011 is to not procrastinate on things that need to be done along with shedding the remaining weight I want to lose. I don't procrastinate professionally but I'll do it in my/our personal life and I haven't ever figured out why. Here are some examples.

I need to call the plow guy to arrange plowing while we're gone on vacation. It will stay on a note for days or even weeks before I get around to calling him.
We did our major Christmas at Thanksgiving weekend with our kids but I still didn't get thank you notes written until last week. What have I been waiting for?
I resigned from a volunteer board on which I was our church's representative. The church appointed a new representative in October and I was supposed to get in touch with her and transition all my stuff to her. The next meeting was in December. When did I finally call her? Two days before the December meeting. Again, why put this off when it was only to my benefit to be rid of the responsibilities. I don't understand myself sometimes.

Idle musings

2010-12-28T14:35:00.000-05:00

Usually we see commercials with the mute button on, if we see them at all. Most of our television watching is done after the program has aired because we tape virtually everything and then can skip through the commercials completely. However, I've watched the current Charmin commercials with the bears smiling through their crazy escapades with wimpy toilet paper in complete fascination. Now there's even a website, www.enjoythego.com, dedicated to folks who are (a) without a life at all or (2) scatalogically obsessed.

Seriously? Enjoy.the.go? Yeow. And they even have contests for their faithful followers. Just how do you win a contest about going number 2? How could you even enter a contest of that nature with any seriousness or credibility at all? Is there objective judging? Are pictures involved? It just fascinates me and repulses me at the same time.

Not for the first time, my wonderful husband has reminded me that I'm a tad on the impatient side lately. This was after a driver in a Suburban cut me off completely while switching lanes on the way back from Cleveland. I said no bad words -- and that in and of itself is a huge leap forward. But what I did say was accompanied by much horn honking, yelling at the top of my lungs and arm waving (I'm not Italian but I can certainly wave my arms like one) as I was slamming on the brakes to avoid a collision. The doofus never saw me at all or pretended not to. I guess the passenger in the front seat was comatose because she didn't react either.

I don't know why I'm more impatient lately than usual. I can blame all the usual reasons: my weight is creeping back up, I worry about money, I'm not getting enough exercise because it's bloody @#$ cold outside. The real reason is I don't know. I just am. Certain people strike me as immensely dense, clueless or slow witted. So I react. Guess I have my first resolution for the new year.

Ho Ho

2010-12-24T10:25:00.001-05:00

Ho.

Merry Christmas Happy Holidays to one and all.

Thank you for the present of you!

Vietnam

2010-12-13T17:37:00.002-05:00

I grew up in the era when high school boys got their draft numbers upon their 18th birthdays and were expected to go into the service to fight in Vietnam shortly after graduation. That is, if they didn't get college deferments, become conscientious objectors or take off for Canada (we lived in Detroit at that time, right across the river from Canada so it was a viable choice). Of course, that war or whatever you call it now is long over. I have no biases against the Vietnamese people; I just don't have any desire to go there.

Our daughter and son-in-law, Holly and Mike,who were here for Christmas and Thanksgiving a couple weeks ago, are now in Vietnam. At her level with DreamWorks, she's on hiatus after finishing MegaMind and they get an extended vacation after the completion of a movie. She moves on to Madagascar III when she gets back to work in mid-January.

They had wanted to go to Argentina but discovered that the timing wasn't conducive for them to have sufficient time to see the country as they wanted to. They need five or six weeks and with the Christmas holidays in the middle, it just didn't work. So they went to Vietnam on the recommendation of someone Holly works with.

Good for them -- I really do applaud their traveling inquisitiveness. It's just I can't get over the weird feelings of knowing they're in Vietnam a country America fought with for so long and with so much bloodshed. They're also taking a side trip to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, a temple from the early 12th Century honoring the Hindu god Vishnu.

I'm just going to be on motherly pins and needles until I know they're back in this country. That's all.