Merry Christmas to All

It has been a wildly busy month, moreso with my job than with my children, though both kept me hopping between Thanksgiving and now.

A restful, blessed holiday to all.

Has Common Sense Departed Permanently?

In my little corner of the world, there was an Amber Alert issued last evening for a one month old child who had been abducted. The baby has yet to be located as I write this nearly 24 hours after the Amber Alert was first issued, and I pray he's all right. All that's known to the general public is that the baby was Hispanic, his kidnapper African American, & that the infant's mother was foolish enough to leave the baby unattended...in her RUNNING vehicle in the parking lot of the local Post Office!

Am I missing something here? Has this become an acceptable child rearing practice since my youngest was born? (Of course, I know darn well that it certainly has NOT!)

What sort of mental deficiency must one be suffering from to think it's acceptable to leave an infant ALONE in a RUNNING car while they go in to conduct whatever business they have? Granted, the person who snatched the baby is very much in the wrong here; she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law when she is caught (and heaven help her if that child isn't OK when she is!). But there are also laws against child endangerment in our state, which the baby's mother has grievously violated simply by leaving that infant in (I emphasize again) a RUNNING motor vehicle ALONE! It's a wonder to me that the car was still there when she came back out of the Post Office after who knows how long!

The older I get, the more convinced I become that some people should apply for licenses to breed and raise children--because of cases such as this one! I just pray that child is found safe & sound & is placed with sensible, loving parents, because God knows his own mother sure doesn't seem to be that.

Pondering Motherhood Figures

Victor Shepherd writes of Dame Julian of Norwich, "Julian never hesitated to speak of Jesus Christ as "our mother." In this, however, she was not supporting the current feminisation of God. She knew that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- eternally, and that this God dwells in Jesus of Nazareth. (Col. 2:9) In speaking of Christ as "our mother," Julian was merely likening the work of Christ to that of a mother. He gives birth to those who are "born again." Like a mother, He suffers for them before, during and after "delivery." He must patiently nourish, safeguard and instruct those who are born of him. In none, of this, however, was Julian anticipating the contemporary argument that God is "she.""

I must admit it's been some time since I thought of Dame Julian (1342-1416). The last time was probably while I was still living within an hour of Norwich while we were stationed abroad more than two decades ago. (I've never been able to find Carrow--it may be one of those villages that died out as a result of the Black Death or some other pestilence since that time.) She certainly has her wisdom to offer, which is all about God's mercy, fitting nicely into my blog. What I need is to pray on her profound realization of how mother-like Jesus is in his mercy...and to ask Him to rain it down on myself as I strive to resolve a minor health issue & on a family member who has suffered a miscarriage.

"The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month..."

May I express my heartfelt gratitude to every veteran I know (most especially hubby & dad!) for their service to the country. I'm not sure any of my ancestors fought for the USA in WWI (the birth of today's holiday, born as "Armistice Day," hence today's blog title). However, I know I have at least one ancestor who helped win our independence. I also have five great uncles who served in the European theater during WWII. My husband's late stepfather served in the Navy during the Vietnam era, my father was on active duty in the Army immediately post-Korea, & my better half served in the Air Force just as the Cold War was ending & the Berlin Wall was falling.

Thanks to all the veterans & current military members for all your sacrifices made on behalf of the rest of the citizenry!

Personal Mission Statements

I received an e-mail once from a colleague noting that when God takes something from your grasp, He’s not punishing you; he’s merely opening your hands to receive something better. Try as I might, I had a difficult time accepting this concept at first. It’s hard to believe that God ever says “No” to our prayers, though if you think about it, He must do so at times! (Can you imagine getting EVERYTHING you’ve ever prayed for your entire life? Just by the time you’re 20 you’d have an accumulation of baggage that’d desperately need purging for the sake of your own mental health!)

Once upon a long time ago, when I was but a naïve girl, I had notions of becoming a wife and mother, which of course I now have been for more than twenty years. But in my fertile, active imagination, I saw myself wed to an individual I’m still familiar with, though not particularly close to. As the years have waxed and waned, I’m often reminded that allowing God to guide my footsteps has had tremendous rewards in this area as well as any other. This past Sunday the sermon caught me by the throat and shook me into realizing just HOW God had “opened my hands to receive something better!”

Thank you Lord for the gifts of my spouse and our children; gifts that, had you answered my unspoken pleas nearly thirty years ago, I wouldn’t have today. When it comes to my life’s mission statement (explored in our reading of Whitney Kuniholm’s The Essential Jesus), I think the guiding passage in my life (and hubby’s as well) would have to be Mark 10:13-16.

“And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and

His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.” (KJV)

The Satanization of All Hallows Eve

Next Saturday is All Hallows Eve. On a Christian calendar, it's the eve of All Saints Day on November 1. On a Wiccan calendar it's Samhain. On anyone else's calendar, it's Halloween, a word that in the past 30 years has lost much of its former appeal. I suspect someone somewhere will find a way to purge it from the calendar altogether in the next century, though I sincerely hope they don't. It evolved as a festival for dressing up as ghouls & ghosties with the sole purpose of scaring away the evil ones in advance of the next day's celebration of those who have been beatified by the church. Therefore, in my mind it's a somewhat offbeat Christian fete.

Halloween was a big deal when I was a kid. My grandmother helped us plot "theme" costumes so we could dress up as a complementary group. One year my siblings & I dressed as an angel, a devil, & St. Peter, then visited the rectory while out trick or treating. Our priest wasn't in, so we left a note signed by "Gabriel, Beelzebub, & St. Peter." Obviously, in my southern New England hometown, everyone participated. There was no such thing as "don't knock, the porch light isn't on." We ended our trolling for candy with hot chocolate at my grandmother's house. When Halloween was on a weekend, my parents, grandmother, & aunt even got into the fun by dressing up as a Chinese dragon & running around a friend's yard, causing everyone to howl with laughter.

But the creepy started crawling in. Rumors of razor blades in candy led to us tossing all unwrapped goodies upon arrival at home. (So much for apples from the local dentist!) The accidental poisoning of people who took cyanide-laced Tylenol in the '80s led to more rumors that this was applicable to Halloween handouts. People stopped putting jack o'lanterns out & turned off porch lights to avoid the children, rudely dismissing any who ignored these vital clues. Churches & schools began offering "trunk or treats," as well as "autumn," "fall," or "harvest" festivals in an effort to dodge being tarnished by the label of "the Satanic holiday." (Remind me: what ever happened to "When The Saints Come Marching In" the next morning?)

Sadly, last year an event occurred that has forever dimmed my vigor for Halloween...NOT a rumor. A schoolmate of my older daughter paused on his way home from a church party last 10/31 with his family to knock on doors in a neighborhood they were familiar with. Tragically, a paranoid individual suffering from a bad trip (allegedly a drug dealer in fear for his life) greeted their knock with gunshots rather than opening his door. The 12 year old was killed almost instantly; the father was hospitalized for treatment of his injuries. One younger brother was unharmed physically, but witnessed this senseless act of violence. My daughters no longer have much heart for trick or treating; in light of that incident, who could blame them?

Sunshine & Frost

Our morning lows have been around freezing, with afternoon highs around 70 degrees plus. To put it succinctly, ideal weather conditions for a flu epidemic because nobody's too sure HOW to dress each morning!

With any luck the cooler temperatures will prevail so winter will feel near soon...I'm sick of mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and other pests. Late yesterday afternoon a small lizard got into my house and I was more concerned about evicting it for its own safety than my own. (We have two cats, one of whom has only three paws & readily demolishes crickets, leaving leaves bits and bobs of them all over the house when she's successfully killed one.)

Colorful leaves next, I hope!

Stewards? Of EVERYTHING? Hmm...

Today was the first day of our church's annual stewardship campaign. Lest you think otherwise, this is NOT my favorite season in the parish year. It usually features parishioners giving homilies from their experiences for several Sundays, besides "homework" of reading related Biblical passages on the topic, in advance of the Sunday when pledge cards are turned in, leading in turn to everyone receiving their annual supply of envelopes.

Sounds pretty simplistic & shallow, doesn't it? I agree; in fact, I challenge anyone to make the annual "shake down" (I've heard it called worse!) more an entertainment than a guilt-ridden exercise in balancing one's budget to include their house of worship.

While en route home from my brief visit with my eldest yesterday, I considered various forms of stewardship--not just in that "Ugh! Tithing time again!" context, but in the context of life in general. "Stewardship" is defined in the New Webster's Dictionary as "management," which pretty much sums up what our so-called "ownership" of all we have really is. Our spouses, our children, our pets, our bodies, our homes, our vehicles, our time, our talents, our treasure--all are to be managed carefully by us. Some do really well in all areas, others not so much in any given area. Some of us do better than others in certain areas. That's where I appreciate hubby, for some of his fiscal caution has rubbed off on me over our 22 years of marriage. I pray that over time I get myself back into the habits of watching my figure & regularly exercising ( "body stewardship," for the purpose of this article!) to the point that I start rubbing off on him in return in the name of improved health & increased longevity.

Beats thinking of stewardship as only the fiscal obligation to the church, doesn't it?

What A Week!

The swim meet last week went very well, and this week I was asked to PLEASE visit by my eldest, so that's where I went as soon as I was able on Friday. I am relieved to note the visit probably reduced his self-induced stress a great deal, though he is still planning to follow a course of action he outlined to me earlier in the week. To her credit, our youngest swimmer went with me and VOLUNTEERED to do some household chores for her big brother!

Meanwhile, my younger son is hosting my older daughter for the weekend at his house and they should be at a local amusement park about now for their annual Halloween festivities.

I'm ready to crash like a rock in the next ten minutes and it's hardly dark out yet!!!

Braces & Glasses & Beaches, oh my!

This week has been busy, between one child going for an eye exam on Saturday, the other child getting braces, and a short-notice trip to the coast for a swim meet with the youngest. (Not that I mind the idea of being at the beach without sharing it with half a million tourists!) While I'm watching the swim meet, I hope also to get some paperless paperwork done, as I'll have PLENTY of time to just craft reports & save them on my laptop. (Come Monday, all I'll have to do is copy them into my employer's database--time consuming, but not as much as composing & copying simultaneously.)

The queen of orthodontia got her hardware installed yesterday morning, so of course she's constantly reminding me constantly that her jaws, teeth, & lips are sore. Her little sister will be picking up her new glasses just in time for the trip to the coast, so maybe now she'll be able to see individual leaves on trees or grains of sand on the beach. So far it appears she won't need prescription goggles for her soggy athletic exploits.

Next post to come after I get the sand out of my shoes!

Testing

Today is Monday (often a trying day!); it began on a note I pray will only improve as the week progresses. Thankfully, it ended with a gathering of good women educating & entertaining each other, which made my later than usual dinner more worth waiting for.

Cats spilling trash cans including wet coffee grounds, teenagers complaining about my assessment of a less-than-well written essay for homework, younger children clamoring for attention, & husbands not even getting home for several hours yet are less of a burden & more of a gift seen through the right lens. I got a good dose of that lens with my fellow students at church (after my youngest child's Girl Scout meeting cancelled itself because only two of seven children showed up, & three of the missing were ill!).

May that lens last the rest of the week so I keep my perspective! And may the temperature remain below 80, with minimal if any humidity! :)

Oink! Flu! How do you do?

I couldn't help co-opting & corrupting the title of a children's book my collegiate sons used to have about a geologic age ago entitled, Oink! Moo! How Do You Do? (I've long since forgotten the author of that toddler-friendly tome.) The (swine?) flu has been making its way through our local community, to the point that a private school in a nearby town has shuttered itself for the rest of the week. This is because nearly 300 of their students AND a number of teachers are (allegedly!) infected with it. If, indeed, it IS the swine flu, then so much for the efficacy of the vaccine that won't be available until NOVEMBER!

Meanwhile, everyone in town is buying hand sanitizer & antibacterial soaps--which don't do much against influenza VIRUSES--& Lysol, which DOES kill germs AND viruses. Right about now I wish we'd get a raging COLD SNAP (say, overnight temperatures in the 20s) that would KILL everything in the air, we might just feel better! Sadly, our overnight lows right now are in the upper 60s; I don't see a frost hitting for at least another month and a half. ("Frost on the pumpkin," common in October north of the Mason-Dixon line, doesn't really apply here before Thanksgiving--if that early!)

Pray the flu in ALL its forms (swine, type A, & otherwise) misses me and mine--I'll do the same for you, dear readers!

Lengthy Hiatus! & I'm Dreaming of...WHAT? WHEN? WHY?!?

It's been quite a while! Forgot my last posting was just as school was reopening...Now I'm back into the routine of running amok behind two school-aged girls (one teen, one tween) & the two college men, who are seldom even home anymore. Therefore, like every other mother on the planet, I've had less time for "me" & my pursuits than I had over the summer.

The weather is cooler, but I'm in no rush for the hustle & bustle of the holiday season. Nevertheless, one of our local big box hardware/home center stores was already putting up Christmas displays (!!!) yesterday; hubby was there to see it firsthand. Try to convince me (if you CAN!) that Christmas isn't overly commercialized when the decorations are going up MORE THAN THREE MONTHS before "the big day!!!"

Charlie Brown was right to scold Snoopy for his crassly commercialized doghouse decorations, but at least they didn't go up in SEPTEMBER!!!

Heartache

Today I want only to extend my sincerest condolences to the family of my eldest son's classmate, the young man who drowned yesterday while swimming at a lake near the Clemson University campus. He was a very intelligent, hard working, vibrant young man and he will be missed by both his fellow Sumter HS alumni of the class of '06 and his Clemson family.

May God's peace be with the Jones family in the coming days.

Etta Kett ;-)

Over my 20 years of living far removed from our native Northeast, we've learned that, though Emily Post is deemed to reign supreme in matters of taste and decorum, she's seldom obeyed in this little corner of the Sandhills. Come to think of it, I'm not sure many folks in these parts even know who she is, much less care what she'd advise people to do in matters of social graces. "Who's Grace and what social disease has she got?" is the most likely response from far, FAR too many of the folks I associate with on a daily basis.

A childhood friend from our hometown made a similar observation on a recent visit, and the topic of conversation meandered to the evident differences in Yankee and Dixie breeding as exemplified by so very many of the people we three have met down here. No, I do NOT wish to generalize, for I know there ARE still people on BOTH sides of the Mason-Dixon line who are gracious, charming, and imbued with every social grace Miss Post would find amenable; we know and love many of them! Having thus clarified, I refer to the general populace; everyday people whose children happen to attend school with or participate in the same extracurricular activities (e.g. sports teams, Scout troops) as our children.

For example: I knew literally hundreds of people up north who honored and obeyed the directive of the infamous four letters on any invitation: RSVP (we're not just talking about wedding invitations here!). The letters are a French abbreviation for “repondez, s’il vous plait,” literally, “respond, please!” Up north, I'd generally get calls from people indicating whether or not they'd attend a given event, barring weather-related issues that prevented their participation at the last moment (as with one party I hosted during college at my home the night of a worse-than-originally-forecast snow squall).

Having noted this, I must also note that the overwhelming majority of my negative experiences with this issue have been for CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAY PARTIES. What sort of message does it send to your kids if you can't even be bothered to tell your friends the child will or won't attend a cake & ice cream gathering?

Our most recent experience of this was at the end of the school term, when our child was one of some 25-30 invited to a CLASS party, a Saturday afternoon barbecue at a local park, hosted by the parents of one schoolmate of our youngest child. Like anyone in this situation, they were stymied as to how many they should prepare for, having invited EVERY CHILD in the girls’ class but gotten only FOUR firm responses (three affirmatives!) by the day of the party. Unlike us, they are local natives, which negated my long-held private theory that such invites extended by me were ignored because I’m a DAMN YANKEE! In an odd way, it reinforced my faith in humanity—the decent, etiquette-abiding portion of it. (Since living in the south, hubby has also heard the excuse, “We don’t go to church with them,” as if this somehow exempts the invitee from being Christian enough to make a phone call and say whether or not their child will participate?!)

The other thing we all observed was the tendency of some Southerners (again, not generalizing, but this is a rather dominant experience) to be MORE guarded and private than the average apartment dwelling New Yorker (and we--including myself; I was one as a young child & my maternal grandparents were all of my first 22 years--are legendary for not letting “just anyone” get near us, emotionally or otherwise!). As gracious and polite as these individuals will present while you’re before them (e.g. “Yes, ma’am,” “No, sir,” “I’d love to do so-and-so with y’all!”), the instant your back is turned, these rather catty individuals will gossip about every little thing about you from your “fur’n” accent to your weight to whether you’re wearing the proper attire for the season (e.g. “How DARE he wear a seersucker suit this late in September?” without regard for the 85+ degree temperature or the 95%+ humidity lingering well past Labor Day).

All this phony baloney "etiquette" is sufficient to send THIS native New Yorker--who also LOVES Gone With the Wind, by the way-- running for the smelling salts like Aunt Pittypat Hamilton! :P

Adventures in Tween Parenting

How do you cope with learning a so-called “friend” has only been using you? That's hard enough to deal with as an adult, but over the past week it's become a major life lesson for my youngest, who isn't quite a teenager at this point. While it’s been painful for her, she also knows she’ll be more cautious about the company she keeps in the future. And yet, I still caught her last evening trying to join a networking site even though she isn't even close to their minimum age for membership (she fudged her year of birth and the moment I caught her, I e-mailed them that she's the age she REALLY is, which ended that immediately). So I guess there'll be some testing of the waters by this wiser than she ought to be tweener--in addition to, regrettably, some fiscal repercussions for us.

This is child #4, and I remind you that my day job is working with other children, so my take is simply this: She’s learned a painful lesson, she’s learned it well, she’s angry at herself for maintaining this friendly connection as long as she has, and she now feels foolish. But there's no doubt she has learned that it always pays to question the dubious actions of your peers, particularly when they entreat you to lie, cheat, or steal on their behalf.

We’ve tried not to be too hard on her, yet we've firmly reinforced some things to make her understand she has some responsibility in the matter, mostly for allowing this peer to have what seems to have been unfettered access to such items as the phone and the computer; to the point we're considering docking her minimal allowance until the excess is paid off. Not sure we'll DO that, but the thought has crossed our minds.

Ah...parenthood! :P "What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive..."

Baking...

...without benefit of an enclosed oven, that is! My little corner of creation has been hot, humid, and yet without any relief in the form of thunderstorms for about a week. This afternoon when I returned to work after lunch, the local heat index was shown on line as being 110!

When I feel like I need to be basted, it's time for Mother Nature to provide some relief. Thank heaven for the inventor of air conditioning!

Unrequited Anything Stinks

Unrequited love is the thing most people think of automatically, but there are other emotions it can apply to as well: affection, friendship, respect (that's a biggie in the universe!) being only three of the others. The best way to address the first of them (and, likely, the others as well) is a good dose of reality about whatever adored person, place, or thing isn't returning the sentiment.

Dwell for a bit on some negative aspects of the noun in question, and in a little while the reality should come into focus like the subject of a photograph in the lens of a camera. I should know; I've been doing this exercise regarding an individual I'm familiar with for the past month or more. Trust me, it helps to bring peace! I

Sun, Sand, Surf...

...and of course that fourth "s" for the fair-skinned semi redheads among us: SUNBURN! Fortunately, the one I got today while playing in the surf and strolling the strand isn't TOO bad, though I plan to sleep with aloe applied to my now gently cleansed of salt & sand body to help it heal quickly. And I got this burn despite several liberal applications of 15 sunblock throughout the day.

An old boyfriend used to tease about the idea of us going skinny dipping. Though I certainly had the figure for it, at the time I was too embarrassed to tell him I thought it a doubly bad idea because (aside from the embarrassment of exposing things I was then unready to expose to ANYONE!) I feared the sun burning parts of me that otherwise would've been clad. My husband DOES know this, & having lived with me for more than two decades, realizes the legitimacy of this concern for reasons beyond embarrassment (I'm a 45 y.o. mom of 4 & not as trim as I was at 17!) or pain--there's a history of skin cancer in my family & I'd rather NOT tread that primrose path, thankyouverymuch!

Next time I hit the beach, time for the 45 sunblock--at a minimum!

Hmph. Tuesday

Long day driving around in the heat. At least by the time I leave the office tomorrow, I'll be done for the week & will have met with half of my charges for the month already. :) I'll be glad when I'm done for tomorrow so I can veg, possibly on the beach, for several days without worrying about the job.

On that note, everyone enjoy what's left of the summer. There's only about six more weeks until autumn, changing leaves, cooler temperatures (and that long slow slide into winter if you live north of Virginia!). Don't thank me; that's what I'm here for...to remind you that it'll be back!

I'm Dreaming of a Drop Top Car...

It's been an interesting day...you know what they say about leading an interesting life being a Chinese curse! ;) Mercifully, I will be working only three days this week. My five day long weekend will likely include a jaunt to the coast so I can play in the surf a bit before the kids return to school in two weeks' time. Can't wait.

After arriving late at church & enduring a longer-than-usual homily I personally found less than entertaining OR educational, we had lunch out & did some grocery shopping. After that & my workout, hubby & I took a little tour of several car lots without the kids along to get ideas for "the next vehicle." I've already told him my wishes as noted in the title. (After all, I'm 45 with two kids at least halfway through college, & I've NEVER owned a brand new car!) I'm still not looking for a brand new one, as I find them excessively pricey, but a decent USED convertible would be nice! (I'm starting my second childhood, perhaps?)

I can see myself tooling north for summertime visits with the top down, lots of goodies packed to minimize stopping for fast food, the CD player blasting, & the weather cooperating (as it didn't while we were looking--we got DRENCHED!).

I'll let you know when (if) I finally get the fun wheels...

Stretching Money

Spent this noontime on a (dreaded!) shopping excursion with my daughters at my preferred discount department store. The 10 year old is the harder to fit, due to her rapidly morphing body from little girl into teenager, so finding pants that are comfortable in the waist AND not too long can be something of an ordeal. (She wore a juniors size 3 pair of jeans on this outing, but scored two new pairs of girls' size 14 jeans as well as a pair of basketball shorts & several inexpensive tee shirts hearkening to the 40th anniversary of Woodstock.) The 14 year old was relatively easy--she's budget conscious already, so she found the "five for $10" sorts of things & selected her needed garments with an eye toward both her tastes & my wallet.

Then came the challenge (again, due to the younger one) of selecting composition notebooks & folders with clamps, which she's required to have for school. We already have filler paper, single subject spiral bound notebooks, pens, & pencils left over from last year, so we can round out the remainder of the necessary items at our local dollar store. Miss 14 grabbed one 5 subject notebook & a package of pens, plus an extra pack of pens for her younger sister, and pronounced herself ready to start high school with only that. The 10 year old's school is a tad obsessive about the kids getting COMPOSITION notebooks instead of the spiral ones (to the tune of AT LEAST 5 of them!), & they're the one thing we didn't have in storage at home, so I HAD to get them. I hadn't thought there'd be much room for differences in them, but today we also found marbled ones in (besides the old standard black & white) PURPLE & white, ORANGE & white, BLUE & white, GREEN & white, PLUS some with Internet conversational abbreviations on solid pink or solid black covers (e.g. LOL, TTYL--natch, more expensive than their marble-covered cousins)! Predictably, Miss 10 had to get TWO "coolio!" (her adjective, & nothing I say convinces her that Coolio is a rapper!) composition notebooks.

Long story short, I'm glad I got out of there with my checking account still intact & tried to impart some lessons in thrift to Miss 10 (who probably won't internalize them until about, oh, 2020!).

Consider this...

According to an e-mail I recently received, Fox News radio & TV personality Glenn Beck is said to have received a letter from a fed-up 53 year old woman who’s had it up to the eyeballs & above with BOTH major (& the various minor) political parties. To be honest, I have, too, as I think I vented pretty bluntly in my blog entry of a few weeks ago when I asked whether the Republicans are a political party or a megachurch. I suspect I shared the alleged Glenn Beck item with most of my own readership (at least, those of you who’ve commented & I know personally!) yesterday, so you know whereof I speak.

To put it succinctly for those who may not have gotten this thing, basically this woman sounds off about how she was a lifelong registered Democrat until “the last Presidential election,” at which time she switched party allegiances. NOW she’s dropped BOTH parties, stating her impression that NEITHER represents either her own nor the interests of ANY American Citizen. She tasks those sitting in the marble halls of Washington to get off their collective duffs & do ANYTHING to show their support of those who ELECTED them & to heed OUR voices when they vote on matters of national importance, rather than lining their pockets, pushing legislation through that may or may not be such a hot idea, listening only to special interests, ad infinitum. In summation, she concluded with a line to the effect that if they DON’T do this, We The People are coming to get them OUT of the offices WE put them into in the first place—because We The People sure as hell aren’t impressed or pleased with anything coming out of D.C.

I have two things to add here:

1) DO AWAY WITH PRESSING “1” FOR ENGLISH, DAMN IT! If you COME here, YOU NEED TO LEARN ENGLISH! I promise you, nobody took pity on my mother’s grandparents when they arrived from Hungary around the beginning of World War I, changing street signs over to Hungarian for them any more than business was conducted in Gaelic when the Irish influx hit after the potato famine or Italian/German/Polish became the languages du jour during WWII. Along with closing the immigration loophole, make English the official language of the USA already. I didn't take Spanish in high school--with good reason (it's called, "I wasn't interested" and took French instead!).

2) Time for a state by state assessment of a similar nature. After all, I live in the state that was abandoned by its governor for most of two weeks, not even leaving the lieutenant governor in charge. I am of the opinion that, if the lieutenant governor is considered to be MORE inept than the fool who left us hanging with NO chief executive in charge while he went gallivanting off to “the Argentine end of” the Appalachian Trail (as if!), it’s time to fire ‘em both & start all over again. (I couldn't care LESS about Mark Sanford’s extramarital affair--let Jenny Sanford deal with that, though I feel that if I were in her position, I’d leash him in the future!). I do, however, believe he should think with the head on his shoulders and vacate Columbia’s corridors of power to someone with better discretion.

He’s only the latest—he’s by no means the first, the last, or the only governor to screw up during his current term of office (remember Jim McGreevey in New Jersey being replaced unceremoniously by Jon Corzine or Elliot Spitzer’s epic screwup in Albany, New York leading to David Patterson?). And WHAT is Sarah Palin thinking, vacating office only halfway through her FIRST term?! That makes no sense whatsoever to me. Buh-bye, Sarah--you shan't be missed.

It's been said that "Power corrupts…absolute power corrupts absolutely!" Shakespeare was correct when (in 1594) he wrote: "The first thing we do is get rid of the lawyers" in Henry VI, Part II (Act 4, Scene 2). How did many of these pols get where they are now? You guessed it; via a law school! Time for them all to go back & bone up on the basic freedoms guaranteed to ALL American citizens in the Constitution ("secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves & our posterity" is more than a Schoolhouse Rock lyric!).

In closing, let me cite Alexander Hamilton: “The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original foundation of all legitimate authority.”

Stuff & catching up

I'm so glad to FINALLY have a weekend to just lie around with my feet up (I'm avoiding the "eating bonbons" part as I've finally lost a few pounds & want to continue THAT momentum!) for a little while. Hubby dearest is painting the garage floor to minimize dust out there; the laundry room is next, & I hope to get to the Y for my mile walk on the treadmill this afternoon.

Last weekend saw us running amok between a (3 hrs one way on the Interstate!) trip to Pickens for a swim championship, younger son's 20th birthday celebration at my mother-in-law's house (thanks, Mom!), & hubby doing more substantial than anticipated automotive repairs to both boys' vehicles. Yes, it was a pain for him to do an oil change, replace an entire cooling system, & change front end brake pads in the parking lot of an apartment complex--but in the long run we're relieved, because now we know the cars are again mechanically as safe as possible for our offspring.

The past week was relatively quiet at work, though I was still busy between catching up all the mandatory paperwork & taking a client to an appointment in order to "git'r done" before school resumes around 8/20. (Yes, ALREADY!!!) Today I skipped my religious choral obligation in favor of sleeping in, making waffles from scratch for the girls & myself, & helping to clear out the laundry room so hubby can perhaps paint (at least part of) that floor later today. (Hubby fed himself & was sweeping the garage floor by the time I considered waffling.)

What does the future hold? One never knows, but I know ours holds a mortgage burning celebration (likely around Christmas) and exploring an eventual move from Sweltering Ovenville in the next decade. Stay tuned for further developments in the continuing story (no, we're not quacks who've gone to the dogs!!!). ;)

Pumping Iron (quietly!)

Since earlier this year (March or so, I think!) I've been trying to take care of ME first, for a big change. (As the mother of 4, you might imagine--correctly--that this hasn't always been my priority.) Through my participation in Mobile Fit at the local Y, I've started doing some Nautilus & free weight work--NOT something I ever thought I'd do, but here we are. I've also been taking a Core Crush class 2 nights every week with my 10 year old.

I'll never rival Gov. Schwarzenegger, but hey, I can pump iron too! (To quote Bill Bixby in The Incredible Hulk, "Don't make me angry...you wouldn't like me when I'm angry!" Though I certainly don't transform into a green Lou Ferrigno, either, I AM improving in my ability to kick butt & take names!)

Look out, a new resource!

I grew up in a family of, shall I politely say, independent women. Women's Lib meant little to me other than Title IX forcing co-ed gym classes & a Helen Reddy song when I was growing up simply because the exemplars were right there in my daily life. One great grandmother was resourceful in her day (roughly the first quarter of the 20th century) despite societal restrictions on employment of married women at the time; she made her living as a seamstress (working from her home) who sewed everything from clothing to curtains for Broadway theaters.

My father practically invented the term "frequent flyer" due to his business travels during my youth. As a result, if the lawn needed mowing, the garden needed weeding, fruit trees needed pruning, or the driveway had to be cleared in the dead of winter, it was almost certain that the job would be done by my mother, myself, my sister, my aunt, or my grandmother. (It all depended on what the job was & at whose home!) I remember once he returned from Europe (where he'd been for three months of training) to find a completely remodeled house. In his absence, my mother had repainted every room, wallpapered & tiled kitchen backsplashes, rearranged the furniture in the living room & all the bedrooms to best catch summer breezes (what's air conditioning in southern New England?), & created a lush floral oasis full of begonias, Dusty Millers, marigolds, coleus, etc. in front of the back porch (for which I think Dad broke ground just before his departure). I'm not sure whether the shock or the jet lag was harder for him to recover from!

With that in mind, it should come as NO surprise whatsoever that my aunt has steered me to a really cool site called eHow.com. It can tell you how to do pretty much ANYTHING you may not know how to do, from rewiring lamps to budget conscious remodels of your kitchen or bath to interesting new recipes. I highly recommend it for any head scratching dilemmas you may have!

Why CAN'T we be friends? (to borrow an old War lyric)

Or, "Can't we all just get along?" What ever happened to, "Blessed are the peacemakers?"

I’m quite tardy remarking on this, but my day job has been extremely busy recently and I wanted to be as succinct as possible when I did comment. This excerpt from Arsalan Iftikhar’s article from (I think!) CNN's website quoting our President from his recent speech in Cairo sharply veers from the blithering idiocy that’s been American foreign policy for at least the past eight years (and probably much longer):

“President Obama concluded his remarkable Cairo address by highlighting the individual mandates for peace in each of the major Abrahamic religions.

He said that, "The Holy Koran tells us, 'O mankind! We have...made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.' The Talmud tells us: 'The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace.' The Holy Bible tells us, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.'

The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Now, that must be our work here on Earth."

Would it EVER occur to one of our politicos who’s spent far too long inside the Beltway (OR their less than benevolent “Christian” spiritual leaders!) to quote the Torah, let alone the Koran, to emphasize EVERYONE'S similarities? It's about time someone reminded the Middle East that not only are we all in this together, but we're all descended from Father Abraham, no matter what name we call God by.

I find that speech quite consistent with traditional American values; the Establishment Clause prohibiting the Federal government from preferential treatment of one religious group over another AND the Free Exercise Clause guaranteeing EVERYONE's right to worship as THEY see fit, are both covered as "Freedom of Religion" in the first article of the Constitution of the United States. Therefore, I marvel that anyone could feel our country was slighted in any way by that speech.

Unlike the character of Commander Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation, I do NOT ask that we "Please continue the petty bickering." Time to knock it off for the sake of our own next generations.

Tired of MJ

Enough already--the man has been deceased for more than a week, & here we are JUST laying him to rest!!!

While on the treadmill earlier I happened to catch part of a news broadcast during which the parents of a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan the same day Michael Jackson died. They were more than slightly miffed that their son had received almost NO recognition for his sacrifice on the altar of Service To The Country--as the wife & daughter of two veterans of our nation's armed forces, I have to agree this is grossly unfair, particularly with the country STILL entrenched in a war in two countries.

Will Michael Jackson be missed? Surely. His musical talent was & remains unquestioned. However, the pedophilia & other weirdness that tainted his life for the past 15 years or thereabouts I WILL NOT miss seeing profiled in the media, & I'm sure neither will the vast majority of other people (one hopes this certainly includes members of his own family, who should be sickest of all about how he's portrayed in the media!).

Irrelevant? You decide

The more I watch the implosion of numerous politicians' careers, the more I marvel that politicians whom WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES elected seem clueless about how life runs outside the Beltway--or outside of their state capital buildings, in the case of our numerous wayward state governors.

When I initially registered to vote ate age 18, I actually registered AS a Republican, though as time has gone by I've been less committed to party lines and more committed to common sense. Since I left home in the mid to late '80s, I've observed the GOP veer further and further onto its present trajectory, a path on which it caters without question to the whims of ONE religious sect--with no regard for party faithful of differing faiths. What is this; a political party or a megachurch?

The Democratic party is by no means a flawless creation, either, between the business in Illinois over the "sale" of now-President Obama's vacated Senate seat, or the fervent belief of some Democrats that all Republicans are like our last President (anyone else remember the bumper sticker that reads, "Yee Haw is NOT a foreign policy!"?).

How the mighty have been falling in droves over the past few years: New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and now Alaska's governor voluntarily deciding against finishing up her term of office (for God only knows what reason, though I suspect the investigation into her husband earlier this year may have been a factor).

While I hesitate to wonder what's next, I also remember an adage of my grandmother, who would now be nearly 105 years old were she still with us: "There's nothing new under the sun." My father quietly foresees another American Revolution, in which the sitting politicians find out the hard way how they've disappointed the rest of us, we who elected them in the first place. All we can do now is what King Arthur said he'd do in Monty Python & the Holy Grail: watch and pray!

A Grateful Heart

This morning's gospel in church was about the woman with the issue of blood. While this isn't one of my favorite tales, the emphasis placed on it by our rector was the need to thank God for all of his gifts given to us, as healing was given to the woman in the story.

My mind was wandering that particular mental corridor this week. My younger son lost a dear friend, mentor, & coach Wednesday night. On Thursday hubby & I visited with the man's family to pay our respects. We & several other parents of his former swimmers remembered with fond laughter events he was a huge part of. There was brief, comical speculation on his meeting with St. Peter, followed by much laughter at memories shared of travels to swim meets, daily life contacts, & all the other sorts of "ordinary" things that comprise a life. The mother of the deceased was very composed & proud of the fact that so many young people came by, their lives touched and in some way changed by their contact with her son; "you can't ask for better than that from your children," she told me (rightly!).

Looking back on my nearly 20 year old son's life, swimming has admittedly been the lion's share of it. Had he not begun swimming lessons in first grade & been recommended by his instructor to try the team, I cannot imagine how his life would be different, but I can say with absolute certainty that it would not be as satisfying for him as it has become. As a direct result of the influence of the recently deceased coach, he is pursuing a career in education which will include coaching the next generation of swimmers & which has limitless potential as he matures to either become a school administrator or a collegiate level coach.

Thank you God for the gift of Don Haas (1953-2009).

Dazed, amazed, but unfazed

What a week this has been! Not the ideal time to admit which Carolina I live in, perhaps, but my readers generally know anyhow. :P

The Columbia civic circus chorale starring our AWOL governor & featuring his beleagured & clueless staff (to whom he lied as to his whereabouts) has been quite the topic here in the near vicinity of Cola Town--and not only between state employees (among whom I count myself). Sanford's dereliction of his gubernatorial duties without dispensing same to his lieutenant governor is of vastly greater concern than the marital infidelity (which is & should remain a private matter, not be tried in the national press!). I firmly believe this whole charade of "hiking the Appalachian trail" will eventually lead to his downfall. (Time to rehearse saying, "Governor Bauer," much to the shock and dismay of many who believed Sanford would be the next GOP presidential candidate!)

In other news, yes, three prominent celebrities passed on this week--as did my younger son's first swimming coach. All of the above (particularly the latter around my family!) will be sorely missed, but I suspect that the governor's trials are going to be back to the forefront as the new week dawns.

Stay tuned for (as The Muppet Show used to describe 'Veterinarian's Hospital') "the continuing story of a quack who's gone to the dogs!"

Ch-ch-ch Changes (to quote David Bowie!)

Back to the blog! I've been a "single" parent for the past week while my other half has been away at Boy Scout camp. As a result, I have more respect than ever for women who successfully raise children without the help of another parent--that's a LOT of work to not be able to divide!!! Thankfully, my teenaged daughter is pretty self-sufficient re: household chores, etc., so the only one I really had to follow behind is my youngest.

I'm engaging in some wise behavior by being online this afternoon; the heat index in my little corner of Utopia is about 104 degrees (the actual mercury is hovering around 96-97 degrees)! And, mercifully, my air conditioner works well, so being at the computer is almost a blissful thing.

I feel I'm on the verge of some major changes in my daily routine, between blogging early in the morning while it's hot to getting into the gym daily, to taking the two dogs for strolls around the block more often (again, during the cooler hours). I'm also hoping for a really big one within the next year, in that my oldest is getting close to completing his BS degree & I personally hope he'll graduate around, oh, next Mother's Day if all goes well.

Anybody else feel the energy surging?

Wii headaches

I am currently sitting about 50 feet across the house from where my youngest is Guitar Hero-ing to her heart's content (school's already out for summer, after all, so what's bedtime?). Glad I'm on here, because she's loud enough with the Wii microphone & the guitar to wake neighbors across the street if we had windows open! The dog is actually looking at me with squinty eyes & yawning her head off; if she spoke English I'm sure she'd ask why I haven't sent Kiddo to bed yet because SHE (pooch) is pooped!

Adulthood vs Adolescence

I had an e-mail chat with an old friend about a Bud Light ad on YouTube in which a dude is buying a dirty magazine & winds up in a weird hostage situation. This led to a brief sharing of embarrassing "first time occurrence" moments in our pasts. Anyone else 35+ remember those awful incidental transitions from teenager to adult? The first time you could buy booze legally was probably fun & involved a birthday celebration. But others of those "firsts" were immeasurably more embarrassing (I won't go into detail; I'm sure you can recall a few of your own!).

Thank God I'm beyond the point where I blush redder than a freshly boiled lobster when making certain personal purchases (even if they have to call for a price check!). Both maturity & parenthood will do this, but in my case parenthood profoundly hastened it. (Just raise opposite gender children--you'll see!)

You know it's too busy when...

...when Mobile Fit e-mails you because you haven't been to the gym in over a week (that IT'S aware of, anyway!).

...when you have many pictures in the digital camera of other people's children graduating from high school (and many of your own child graduating from 8th grade!).

...when, in the past ten days, you've seen people you haven't seen since often in the past three years (since your oldest graduated) more than you've seen that oldest child.

...when the day job, usually chaotic, is quieter than the social round with hubby!

...WHEN I DON'T HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO EVEN BLOG!!! (That's the worst!)

Must be the end of the school year. Around here the six weeks between May 1st & June 15th include end of the term for both my teacher husband AND all the local school district end of term activities (many of which he attends as a member of our local school board). Icing on the cake, our older daughter's birthday also falls during that time!

It should (I hope?!) be calmer now that all the local graduations are over!

Parties & Ponderings

"You can't go home again." How well I know that, having lived hundreds of miles from my native region of the country for two decades. Every time I visit "home," I'm reminded of the positives of where I live now; this, though I'm constantly griping about the negatives (90 degrees and 85% humidity, anyone?) when I'm here. One of my goals has always been to write so well that I sell billions of copies & earn enough to outright buy a farm somewhere in southern New Jersey (marginally milder winters than where I grew up, yet close enough to hit NYC as the mood strikes me). Reality check--that's not going to happen! :(

On to what's happening now...a rousing contest of Guitar Hero on the Wii between my 13 y.o. and her friends gathered to celebrate her 14th birthday a couple of weeks early (because many of these teens will be away on their summer vacations by the time of the actual birthday). Several of the 13 or so kids she invited have already left, but the party officially breaks up momentarily, so by 11:00 I hope to have my house back.

Who knows, if she DOES succeed as a fashioista & eventually make NYC her permanent home, maybe she wouldn't mind having me nearby! ;)

Wholly worn out by the "holy city"

I accompanied my youngest on her fourth grade class field trip to Charleston today, where the mercury was approaching 90 and the humidity not-too-awful as long as you weren't in a rush (as I was briefly when I left the group to get more batteries for my camera). There was a nice breeze coming off the ocean, which is "created" there by the Cooper & Ashley Rivers. Also got some insight into the South of Broad crowd & reminded how odd is the place Rhett Butler hailed from in Gone With The Wind. At any rate, my daughter has finally seen Rainbow Row & the Battery firsthand, as well as noticed Fort Sumter out in the harbor and perused the wares in the market.

Incidentally, the nickname "the holy city" alludes to the HUGE numbers of religious buildings in Charleston proper--about one every block throughout the city, though the two most obvious steeples are those of St. Philip's & St. Michael's Episcopal Churches. St. Michael's is the white one that's been not quite vertical since the earthquake of 1886; St. Philip's is the darker one.

Am I the only adult in the United States who thinks after-school television (except on PBS!) is grossly inappropriate for children? (And, at the same time, who thinks talking vegetables are idiotic?) God, I certainly hope not! When I was in school, barring Presidential news conferences or some crisis warranting news coverage, I could pretty reliably crash after class & fold my laundry in front Looney Tunes, or Tom & Jerry, or Scooby Doo, or He-Man & the Masters of the Universe. (My youngest sibling is seven years my junior; he was still into cartoons when I was 21).

My youngest child is 10. When my now-21 year old was that age, I was leery of letting him watch any after-school TV fare. Thankfully my four all gravitate toward the PBS stuff when they're home at that hour! (Swim team practice starts at 3:00 for the youngest & runs until 6:30 for the older one, so the girls are seldom near a TV at that time.)

Maybe I'm a disco-era relic, but I don't understand how (nor why!) such ADULT twaddle as family squabbles about "baby daddies," divorce court hearings, & various judges' public hearings of other people airing dirty laundry found its way from prime time to the pre-news broadcast hour. Given my day job working with emotionally disturbed children whose families are perpetually in crisis, I don't find such fare entertaining, much less appropriate viewing for a child!

While I'm on the subject, as fond as I am of Jeopardy! and other quiz shows, what ever happened to 7:30 p.m. broadcasts of The Muppet Show? I can't count how many family suppers gravitated from the table to the living room so we could watch The Great Gonzo blow himself up (again!), or watch Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem on stage with some guest human entertainer, or laugh at Veterinarian's Hospital, "the story of a quack who's gone to the dogs!"

BRING THE CHILDREN'S HOUR BACK!!!

Editing (written and otherwise)

Wardrobe editing for my children is a task I've always fervently despised and tried my best to avoid, though every so often it is a necessary evil. My major project for Memorial Day was an overhaul of my youngest child's clothes. I'd set the task over a month ago, dreading the sheer magnitude of the job.

My girls have had an excellent problem, which is that they've owned far more clothing than either will ever wear, thanks in part to hand-me-downs passed to us years ago by a friend with many sons but only one daughter (her oldest child, now in her 20s). These items of course made their way to my 10 year old via her 13 year old sister. The downside to this is that there was SO MUCH stuff clogging the dressers and closets that the girl was too overwhelmed to assemble outfits from any source except the basket of clean laundry! Hence, I spent Friday evening weeding out one of her two dressers. This, as I'd suspected, was the easier task, and was filled mostly with items she can still wear.

Yesterday was the day I tackled the remainder (WORST!) of the mission (after she left town for an overnight camping trip with her dad): her bedroom! This included gutting a second crammed-full dresser and TWO closets to sort everything into three piles: 1) too small (to be passed along), 2) too big (to be reserved for when--IF--she attains these junior sizes!), and 3) ruined (into either the trash or the rag bag). With my teenager's help I also disposed of THREE feather boas (all moulting their purple, hot pink, black, and red feathers), emptied a plastic trash bag full of clothes we found in one of the closets--which, by the way, contained items belonging to hubby and myself--and vacuumed both closets as well as the room. Two substantial boxes will be posted to my sister-in-law. The rags are in the garage. Some "hand painted" tees found their way to the trash because they were either unwearable (sticking to themselves in the drawer didn't make them inviting attire!) or incomplete, as her shirt made with my Brownie troop's co-leader last May. That shirt had a "face" painted on it for each member of the troop plus the two leaders created with flesh-tone paint applied with a potato; each child was to paint a "self portrait" onto a potato "face" (very clever and cute, BUT about seven girls weren't present for the project that day & so their "self portraits" were never added!). Since one of those girls has since moved to Cali, it's a given that the shirt never will be completed. Rather than keep the incomplete project, it was respectfully buried (along with my own incomplete shirt!).

As a result of my efforts, I'm happy to note that my daughter now has sufficient room in her closets and dressers for everything to have some breathing room! Now if we could just get her to stop growing so doggone quickly...

Thought forToday (especially for the ladies)

Women of America: We do not have "figure flaws," despite what many of the magazines tell us. Each of us is simply shaped differently. It's called diversity. We appreciate it in flowers. Why not in people?

With that in mind, I guess I'm built more like a peony than, say, a lupine or lavender! ;) They're all pretty, they all smell nice, but they're definitely not trying to look like each other! Or am I a long stemmed rose without visible thorns?

Whatever you are, bloom where you're planted!

Tra la, it's May...

Busyness rules my world at times. The lusty month of May (to quote a song from Camelot) is probably the busiest around here, as it's the winding down of the academic year. As a result, I haven't blogged lately because, frankly, between work, children's schools, & hubby's political obligations (not to mention my precious gym time!), I've been a tad BUSY!

The day job saw me log a bit less than 450 miles round trip today in the interest of moving a youngster. I was happy to come home after work, paperwork, & my workout to find the daughters had at least begun to cook supper! woo hoo! (They're going to be cool adults...eventually!)

Hope everyone has a lovely three day weekend this week (in the event I'm too busy to blog again before it begins!).

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Ah, so true...and I'm so glad that I was reminded of that old saw this morning!

I've ventured much in my 45 years, but at times the preparation & looking before leaping has been paralyzing (or more correctly, the fears that came up while doing same!). So here I go again, seeking a new avenue for myself. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Or is is the acoustics? :P

Hope everyone who is one had a lovely Mother's day yesterday. Mine was pleasant save for the incessant moodiness of my daughters (the 10 year old is ALREADY moody--SO unfair!). Elder son left Friday for the midwest, so I was given my gift from him (a DVD of a favorite movie featuring Sean Connery & Harrison Ford) on Friday. Yesterday we visited our younger son at his new home (an off-campus rental--he's not even 20 yet!) & I was given a lovely bouquet of flowers & a woeful tale of his frustrations with Wal-Mart, all having to do with his obtaining same. (My moral of the story: NEVER shop at Wally World. How hard is this?)

In the course of varied outings this weekend, which included a wedding,a swim meet, a trip to the gas station & the drug store, and a lunch date with the three younger children, I again experienced frustration with something I believe I've vented about before: cellular phone use etiquette (or, more precisely, the glaring lack thereof) in our far-too-busy society. Yet again, I was in (of all tasteless, awful places!) a public restroom stall when some fool answered their ringing cell phone. Does it not occur that perhaps doing so is in POOR taste (to say the very least)? Most ladies are present in such settings to complete bodily functions best left private; being violated by some idiot yammering on a cell phone while I'm attending to same is beyond reprehensible. Why don't you just podcast it to the entire establishment? No? Not crass enough for you? Then hang up the damn phone & have the decency to just NOT answer it while you're in a bathroom!

A friend has a greeting on her cell's voice mail that lists possible reasons why she's not answering personally, while leaving much to the imagination: "I'm either at work, asleep, driving, or otherwise unable to answer my phone." I think that'll find its way to my own phone, in light of how many meetings, court hearings, etc. I attend for work in the average month. It should really fall to the voice mails of those brainless idiots who think a public lavatory is THE place for a conversation!

Cinco de Mayo (or is that Hold the Mayo?)

Well, the day was a good one until our late afternoon appointment with the veterinarian, when we learned our "10 pound wonder mutt" has heartworm. :( It took quite a bit of convincing of my 10 year old that the dog will likely be fine soon with appropriate care, but she was allowed some grieving time while I met with a work child after leaving the dog in our vet's capable hands.

The rest of the day was good--uneventful during the work day, and I arrived home to find my eldest had made supper in advance of he and I going to the Y for a workout. Naturally I had also bought more heartworm preventative meds for his dog, so he dosed her immediately upon my arrival at home.

Please keep my Tex-Mex mutt in your thoughts!

Family Flurry of Activities

It's been a busy MONTH--hopefully I won't have another that keeps me from blogging!

Son #2 was home Friday evening to remove some of his furniture to the rental he & two roommates are assuming for the summer. This was after being up the first time that day at about, oh, 2:00 a.m. :P

Hubby took his Scout troop to the beach to camp on Friday morning; the girls, "tiny but mighty" mutt, and I joined them after daughter #1 participated in a middle school track meet Saturday morning. While she was busy with her teammates, I was at home running the vacuum & the dishwasher & taking out trash so I wouldn't come home to a disaster created by the cats. It was heavenly to finally get into a bathing suit & salt water for the first time since I can't recall when! Strolling the Grand Strand enjoying the salty air & the sand between my toes for a little while was great; icing on the cake, we got to witness a wedding on the beach while we were there.

Tomorrow son #1 is coming home for the week to work on his car before he travels with a friend to Oklahoma City next weekend & returns to Clemson for the summer semester. With any luck, this time next year I'll be anticipating an imminent graduation with a BS! ;)

Sensible Diet Tips (that I need to follow!)

My humblest apologies for not noting in my e-mail to myself the first name of the Mr. Pollan who offered these tips so I could fully credit him for this information. He's very wise in my opinion. These tips are practical & doable:

1. Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. "When you...eat something with 15 ingredients you can't pronounce, ask yourself, "What are those things doing there?" My tip added to his: READ LABELS to see what oddball ingredients are in things you buy, e.g. WHEAT (in cake icing that is homemade out of butter, confectioner's sugar, food coloring, & some sort of extract for flavoring?). After reading this stuff, you no longer wonder why people have food allergies cropping up!

2. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, nor with any ingredients you can't pronounce. (Benza-WHAT?)

3. Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store. Real food tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced with fresh foods when it goes bad. (In other words, avoid cookies, candy, "queso de squeezo" as one of my sons' former girlfriends called canned cheese spread, sodas, chips, etc.)

4. Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot. "There are exceptions -- honey -- but as a rule, things like Twinkies (or, my all-time favorite, Wonder Bread!) that never go bad aren't food."

5. It’s not just what you eat but how you eat. "Always leave the table a little hungry. Many cultures have rules that you stop eating before you are full. In Japan, they say eat until you are four-fifths full. Islamic culture has a similar rule, and in German culture they say, 'Tie off the sack before it's full.'"

6. Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not a TV, at regular meal times. It's a good tradition. Enjoy meals with the people you love. "Remember when eating between meals felt wrong?" (I do! Since our sons left for college we've become slack in this arena but recognize the need to get back to it.)

7. Don't buy food where you buy your gasoline. In the U.S., 20% of food is eaten in the car. (Nor should you buy what you eat from the store where you buy your bait, but that’s a tale for another blog entry…)