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! ;)