The nice people at The State do not seem to understand that they have thrown my entire day off balance. I got up. I started a load of laundry, which is more than I usually do. I let the dog out, fed the cat. It's newspaper time.
BUT NO PAPER. ARGH! So, now I've had to call my friend to complain ('cause that helped), fire up the computer to find the non-delivery phone number, call the nice people because the non-delivery form on the website didn't find my account info, and talk to a very nice man who was sincerely apologetic and helpful, thereby negating the previously justified cussing I had done about the printed news industry in general.
Good news: They're bringing me a paper. I guess it must have been in Arkansas that they stopped doing re-delivers (which, you'll note, is a misnomer as the paper was not delivered, and therefore could not be RE-delivered) and started crediting accounts. I had built myself all up for nothing.
Bad news: Now I've been distracted by facebook, this blog, and a hundred other things. My Sunday paper time is MY time - it's early, the light is dim, and there is no noise about except for the occasional stompity-stomp of not-so-little feet in the playroom. I touch every page - except sports (blagh) - sort my circulars according to interest level, saving the best (TARGET, of course) for last. I proceed to coupon time and the joy it brings to match coupons and store sales to maximize the benefit and minimize the cost (thegrocerygame.com). THEN and only then can I get on with my day.
So, I suppose I should be grateful for the muse brought on by the non-delivery, but I'm not. I'm just off kilter and edgy until my crack arrives.
Great. The washer just stopped. Now I feel compelled to start another load. Rats. Looks like I might accomplish something after all today.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Mom Jeans
Alright, I know I am not a fashionista (I'm more of a "fashionleasta" as they called Michael Feldman on "What Do You Know" today...) but get this: (warning, I get a little judgy, which I'm sure you'll find not at all surprising.)
Today I went downtown to the University bookstore to get my books for this semester's class. It was SO evident that I was twice as old as most of the folks there - I only had four employees approach me in their red "I Can Help You" shirts (seriously, that's what the shirts said), each of whom appeared genuinely disappointed that I was able to figure out the system all by my old lonesome. As I returned down the street to my car, some little adolescent punk stoner sophomore hung his nappy long haired self out of his friend's passenger window, looked at me and said "Moooooooommmmm Jeeeeeaaaannnnnns!" Y'all know I am usually pretty quick with nice little zingers, but I was at a loss. All I could initially think was, "WHAT? These are not designer but they are by no means Mom Jeans!" So, I smirked and chuckled, said nothing, and went on about my business of getting to the car and heading to the grocery stores with my coupons! (How MOM!)
I know that ultimately the best response was no response, but I WISH I had been able to chase the little hookah-sucking Gamecock down to share with him a thing or two about my "Mom Jeans" and how I totally rock them.
First, I'd ask if he had ever actually seen the SNL sketch to which he was referring. Clearly not, as despite any weight I now carry in my midsection, my low-rise flares hardly qualify them as Mom Jeans and the trunkload of junk I carry back there is many things, but not flat.
Then I'd share with him the glories of being a mom and how fine a compliment it was for him to recognize my status as such. I'm fully twice his age. I pay my own tuition. I maintain a 4.0. I buy my own alcohol. I don't have to catch a ride to the Wendy's with my friend in his used car. People respect me. People depend on me. I am salaried and I have benefits. I do my own laundry in a machine that does not take quarters. I can sit at my house and watch any of a number of channels on one of my flat-screens and not have to worry about my roommate bringing home some skank or eating my food. Best of all, unlike my adolescent friend with the tremendous wit, I can "get some" whenever I want with no alcohol involved.
These jeans are evidence that I have been young once, and that I am as young as I feel, but I have overcome much of the self-righteous ignorance of that youth. I can be myself without worrying about what some hosehead thinks of my appearance. There is nothing more important to me than the people who gave me these hips and their needs.
Much like, I suspect, his own mom. I bet he turns to her for money, for comfort, for advice, for food, for laundry service. I imagine he's more than once lied to her, and I hope he's regretted it. I'm sure she loves him despite his low GPA, his "habit" (yeah, I'm assuming), his struggle to realize that he is not the center of the universe. I am certain that, while he probably THINKS he does, he has no idea what the words "sacrifice" and "love" mean - at least not yet. Unless his mom is dead, I am willing to bet that he fully takes her for granted.
My beloved, the best insulter I have ever known, suggested that I should have made a comment about his parts belonging to a boy, and despite the potential for imprisonment that could have brought on, I'm glad that didn't come to me. I hope, instead, that he might hear his mom's voice in his head as he goes to bed tonight, and that he realizes how much better he could have done if he wanted to impress his buddies by insulting a middle-aged woman. I'm sure they thought it was hysterical, and I hope their moms' voices creep into their deepest sleep, as well, if not tonight, but one of these years when they are married to a mom and some little twerp shows his immaturity on a Sunday afternoon with such a clever shot.
Now that I think of it, I should have said something...
"THANK YOU!!!"
(Here's the link to the SNL commercial parody - there are a ton of equally entertaining videos on Youtube, too!)
http://www.hulu.com/watch/10333/saturday-night-live-mom-jeans
Today I went downtown to the University bookstore to get my books for this semester's class. It was SO evident that I was twice as old as most of the folks there - I only had four employees approach me in their red "I Can Help You" shirts (seriously, that's what the shirts said), each of whom appeared genuinely disappointed that I was able to figure out the system all by my old lonesome. As I returned down the street to my car, some little adolescent punk stoner sophomore hung his nappy long haired self out of his friend's passenger window, looked at me and said "Moooooooommmmm Jeeeeeaaaannnnnns!" Y'all know I am usually pretty quick with nice little zingers, but I was at a loss. All I could initially think was, "WHAT? These are not designer but they are by no means Mom Jeans!" So, I smirked and chuckled, said nothing, and went on about my business of getting to the car and heading to the grocery stores with my coupons! (How MOM!)
I know that ultimately the best response was no response, but I WISH I had been able to chase the little hookah-sucking Gamecock down to share with him a thing or two about my "Mom Jeans" and how I totally rock them.
First, I'd ask if he had ever actually seen the SNL sketch to which he was referring. Clearly not, as despite any weight I now carry in my midsection, my low-rise flares hardly qualify them as Mom Jeans and the trunkload of junk I carry back there is many things, but not flat.
Then I'd share with him the glories of being a mom and how fine a compliment it was for him to recognize my status as such. I'm fully twice his age. I pay my own tuition. I maintain a 4.0. I buy my own alcohol. I don't have to catch a ride to the Wendy's with my friend in his used car. People respect me. People depend on me. I am salaried and I have benefits. I do my own laundry in a machine that does not take quarters. I can sit at my house and watch any of a number of channels on one of my flat-screens and not have to worry about my roommate bringing home some skank or eating my food. Best of all, unlike my adolescent friend with the tremendous wit, I can "get some" whenever I want with no alcohol involved.
These jeans are evidence that I have been young once, and that I am as young as I feel, but I have overcome much of the self-righteous ignorance of that youth. I can be myself without worrying about what some hosehead thinks of my appearance. There is nothing more important to me than the people who gave me these hips and their needs.
Much like, I suspect, his own mom. I bet he turns to her for money, for comfort, for advice, for food, for laundry service. I imagine he's more than once lied to her, and I hope he's regretted it. I'm sure she loves him despite his low GPA, his "habit" (yeah, I'm assuming), his struggle to realize that he is not the center of the universe. I am certain that, while he probably THINKS he does, he has no idea what the words "sacrifice" and "love" mean - at least not yet. Unless his mom is dead, I am willing to bet that he fully takes her for granted.
My beloved, the best insulter I have ever known, suggested that I should have made a comment about his parts belonging to a boy, and despite the potential for imprisonment that could have brought on, I'm glad that didn't come to me. I hope, instead, that he might hear his mom's voice in his head as he goes to bed tonight, and that he realizes how much better he could have done if he wanted to impress his buddies by insulting a middle-aged woman. I'm sure they thought it was hysterical, and I hope their moms' voices creep into their deepest sleep, as well, if not tonight, but one of these years when they are married to a mom and some little twerp shows his immaturity on a Sunday afternoon with such a clever shot.
Now that I think of it, I should have said something...
"THANK YOU!!!"
(Here's the link to the SNL commercial parody - there are a ton of equally entertaining videos on Youtube, too!)
http://www.hulu.com/watch/10333/saturday-night-live-mom-jeans
Sunday, December 14, 2008
25 Random Things
My beloved tagged me in his facebook note to play this little game. Y'all know me - I'll have a hard time keeping it to just 25, as I am so painfully random and tend to share entirely too much about myself as it is. SO, I'll try to throw in a couple of zingers that you might not actually know.
In no particular order of entertainment level...
1. There are several movies that suck me in every time I come across them on TV: "A League of Their Own," "The Shawshank Redemption," "Forrest Gump," "When Harry Met Sally" are just a few. I don't know if it's because they are just timeless and so well-made, or if its pure sentiment, or if it's just my tendency to procrastinate and/or divert attention...
2. I am a dog person. I don't really understand how people can love little tiny dogs, though. Any dog that weighs short of 30 pounds is a waste of fur.
3. I killed a kitten accidentally when I was a little girl. I had it riding on my shoulder on my big wheel, it fell off my shoulder, and I ran right over it. Still haunts me, obviously.
4. My parents haunt me, too. Particularly at church. I can literally hear my momma's voice singing certain hymns and anthems. It's troubling, on one level, but remarkably comforting at the same time.
5. I can't type. Not the way you're supposed to, at least... I have my own system and can type pretty quickly, but I have to look at the keys. I never took typing. Home Row means nothing to me.
6. I never took Driver's Ed, either. I was too young to take it while I lived at home, then my nerd school didn't offer it, so I just waited until my sophomore year of college when I turned 18 and got a permit without it.
7. I skipped a grade. Took 7th and 8th in the same year.
8. I went to nerd school. Left home when I was barely 15, and don't regret it one bit. That's truly the best thing that ever happened to me as far as achieving independence goes...
9. I was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow - doesn't mean much, except that I got to go to school for free to learn to do what I always wanted to do. Not that you learn much about teaching in undergrad - most of it comes in the field and through personal inquiry.
10. I truly think you're either born equipped to be a teacher or not. Just like I could never play pro basketball, some people just don't need to be in the classroom.
11. I love my job. I love the kids, I love the school supplies, I love everything about it EXCEPT for grading the kids, dealing with morons, and arrogant parents.
12. My husband is the funniest person I know. He makes me laugh when I least feel like laughing and says so many things I wish I had come up with.
13. I am a serious procrastinator and perfectionist. I don't know if that's a chicken or egg situation.
14. The hardest thing I ever did was put my baby in daycare. I wish I never had. I totally wish for every mom who wants to be home with their babies that they could. I get that some folks are better moms for NOT being at-homers, but I am SO not one of them.
15. I love my little man more than life. I could snuggle with him and listen to him and play with him all the time if I didn't have any other responsibilities. I pray he knows that.
16. My little girl is the most amazing and annoying thing ever. She is so much like me - I like to think that I was just like her when I was little, except she's a little more unbridled. It's going to be a long hard adolescence.
17. I had a hysterectomy this summer (for my not-so-regular readers) and I wish I had done it years ago. Periods are seriously overrated - not that most folks rate them very high, anyway - and I wish evolution would pick up the pace and figure out that we don't need one every month from the time we're twelve in order to produce an offspring or two.
18. I like to touch every page of the Sunday paper, whether I read it or not. Sports section excluded - I could so give a rat's behind about sports as a rule. Yeah, I'll do a yippee dance when the Tar Heels win, but truly, I could go the rest of my life without ever watching a single sporting event and I'd be just fine.
19. I was in a car wreck 8 years ago and broke my right wrist, third carpal, and a metacarpal - and it still hurts pretty frequently. Never finished the occupational therapy because we moved and I am a lazy daisy.
20. I am a mountain person, but I am becoming a beach person. Having grown up at the beach, I never understood why people would take an entire week of their lives to go there for vacation. Now I get it.
21. When I was little my momma used to say that if the world was shaped like a hot dog, that I'd eat it. Now, she had no idea how vile that sounded... but it's almost true - I love hot dogs and once I ate six of them on a campout. no kidding. I must have weighed all of 50 pounds at the time. If you're wondering: ketchup, mustard, chili. Cheese, on occasion. NEVER relish. Now I really want to go to Fuddrucker's for lunch.
22. I am a language nerd. I have taken Spanish (I was almost fluent at one point), Italian (one semester to raise my GPA), Russian (2 semesters to boost my GPA - see a pattern?), Esperanto (just a week at nerd school with the BEST linguist I ever knew), and Hebrew (a couple of weeks just for fun). I'd love to have the chance to live abroad and become seriously fluent in any language! Okay, not French. French is weird. But any of the other Romance or Slavic languages would be awesome.
23. If I had the guts and if I hadn't already spent my whole life digging Jesus, I'd probably convert to Judaism. All the liturgy and tradition, a whole lot less of the bullcrap. I say that, but all organized religion has its share of bullcrap, but the grass looks significantly greener...
24. I cuss like a sailor. If any of my students come across this, they'll probably laugh and say, "I knew it!" I put on a good act, but I think there are two kinds of people - those who cuss and those who use words that aren't cuss words (darn, crap, etc.) because they WANT to cuss, but they are too much better than the rest of us to do it. I guess there are three kinds - those who don't even say the substitute words - but most people either cuss or wish they did.
25. I love to write and if I am willing to bet that one day I'll publish something. It might just be a Master's Thesis, but mark my word...
So there's my 25 Random Things. Play along, comment away, or just have a good laugh at my expense.
In no particular order of entertainment level...
1. There are several movies that suck me in every time I come across them on TV: "A League of Their Own," "The Shawshank Redemption," "Forrest Gump," "When Harry Met Sally" are just a few. I don't know if it's because they are just timeless and so well-made, or if its pure sentiment, or if it's just my tendency to procrastinate and/or divert attention...
2. I am a dog person. I don't really understand how people can love little tiny dogs, though. Any dog that weighs short of 30 pounds is a waste of fur.
3. I killed a kitten accidentally when I was a little girl. I had it riding on my shoulder on my big wheel, it fell off my shoulder, and I ran right over it. Still haunts me, obviously.
4. My parents haunt me, too. Particularly at church. I can literally hear my momma's voice singing certain hymns and anthems. It's troubling, on one level, but remarkably comforting at the same time.
5. I can't type. Not the way you're supposed to, at least... I have my own system and can type pretty quickly, but I have to look at the keys. I never took typing. Home Row means nothing to me.
6. I never took Driver's Ed, either. I was too young to take it while I lived at home, then my nerd school didn't offer it, so I just waited until my sophomore year of college when I turned 18 and got a permit without it.
7. I skipped a grade. Took 7th and 8th in the same year.
8. I went to nerd school. Left home when I was barely 15, and don't regret it one bit. That's truly the best thing that ever happened to me as far as achieving independence goes...
9. I was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow - doesn't mean much, except that I got to go to school for free to learn to do what I always wanted to do. Not that you learn much about teaching in undergrad - most of it comes in the field and through personal inquiry.
10. I truly think you're either born equipped to be a teacher or not. Just like I could never play pro basketball, some people just don't need to be in the classroom.
11. I love my job. I love the kids, I love the school supplies, I love everything about it EXCEPT for grading the kids, dealing with morons, and arrogant parents.
12. My husband is the funniest person I know. He makes me laugh when I least feel like laughing and says so many things I wish I had come up with.
13. I am a serious procrastinator and perfectionist. I don't know if that's a chicken or egg situation.
14. The hardest thing I ever did was put my baby in daycare. I wish I never had. I totally wish for every mom who wants to be home with their babies that they could. I get that some folks are better moms for NOT being at-homers, but I am SO not one of them.
15. I love my little man more than life. I could snuggle with him and listen to him and play with him all the time if I didn't have any other responsibilities. I pray he knows that.
16. My little girl is the most amazing and annoying thing ever. She is so much like me - I like to think that I was just like her when I was little, except she's a little more unbridled. It's going to be a long hard adolescence.
17. I had a hysterectomy this summer (for my not-so-regular readers) and I wish I had done it years ago. Periods are seriously overrated - not that most folks rate them very high, anyway - and I wish evolution would pick up the pace and figure out that we don't need one every month from the time we're twelve in order to produce an offspring or two.
18. I like to touch every page of the Sunday paper, whether I read it or not. Sports section excluded - I could so give a rat's behind about sports as a rule. Yeah, I'll do a yippee dance when the Tar Heels win, but truly, I could go the rest of my life without ever watching a single sporting event and I'd be just fine.
19. I was in a car wreck 8 years ago and broke my right wrist, third carpal, and a metacarpal - and it still hurts pretty frequently. Never finished the occupational therapy because we moved and I am a lazy daisy.
20. I am a mountain person, but I am becoming a beach person. Having grown up at the beach, I never understood why people would take an entire week of their lives to go there for vacation. Now I get it.
21. When I was little my momma used to say that if the world was shaped like a hot dog, that I'd eat it. Now, she had no idea how vile that sounded... but it's almost true - I love hot dogs and once I ate six of them on a campout. no kidding. I must have weighed all of 50 pounds at the time. If you're wondering: ketchup, mustard, chili. Cheese, on occasion. NEVER relish. Now I really want to go to Fuddrucker's for lunch.
22. I am a language nerd. I have taken Spanish (I was almost fluent at one point), Italian (one semester to raise my GPA), Russian (2 semesters to boost my GPA - see a pattern?), Esperanto (just a week at nerd school with the BEST linguist I ever knew), and Hebrew (a couple of weeks just for fun). I'd love to have the chance to live abroad and become seriously fluent in any language! Okay, not French. French is weird. But any of the other Romance or Slavic languages would be awesome.
23. If I had the guts and if I hadn't already spent my whole life digging Jesus, I'd probably convert to Judaism. All the liturgy and tradition, a whole lot less of the bullcrap. I say that, but all organized religion has its share of bullcrap, but the grass looks significantly greener...
24. I cuss like a sailor. If any of my students come across this, they'll probably laugh and say, "I knew it!" I put on a good act, but I think there are two kinds of people - those who cuss and those who use words that aren't cuss words (darn, crap, etc.) because they WANT to cuss, but they are too much better than the rest of us to do it. I guess there are three kinds - those who don't even say the substitute words - but most people either cuss or wish they did.
25. I love to write and if I am willing to bet that one day I'll publish something. It might just be a Master's Thesis, but mark my word...
So there's my 25 Random Things. Play along, comment away, or just have a good laugh at my expense.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
How could I forget Lolly?
Don't know how I left this one off. Oops. Meet...
Lolly: When we got the first batch of fish, we bought this one to eat the poo and other debris that our messy little brood would generate. The kids named it Lolly, like a lollipop, since it is a little sucker. Now the line in the previous post about Pop being Lolly's counterpart makes sense, right? Anyway, the thing has doubled in size already. Mercy. Very cool catfish.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
The rest of the fish
Promised I'd share the second batch of fish with you, so here they are!
Chick: Yellow like a chicken, and a little shy, too. Chick has a cool black line along the top of his or her dorsal fin and has faint yellow and white vertical stripes. Really good-looking fish. Also the smallest in the tank, but seems to be sufficiently defensive.
Daphne: I think Kori made some connection between "Daphne"and "dolphin" - can't recall why - maybe the Fishy Business guy said this was a dolphin-spotted cichlid or something like that? I don't know...
Rocky: We couldn't bring ourselves to name this little orange guy "Clem" for Clemson, so we named him "Rocky" for "Rocky Top" - Tennessee, that is. No, he's not a fighter - he's actually one of the more passive fish in the tank.
Tiger: Cleverly named for the stripes, Tiger is almost as big as Sid and Morrison, and MY is he (or she) fast! I took a ton a shots of this one, and the best I could get was this - he was moving so fast that the camera thought it needed to focus on the algae.
Pop: And speaking of algae, this guy, Lolly's counterpart, had better get busy eating some of it! A little algae is desirable, but we bought this algae-eater sucker to keep the place clean for us. Within the first 24 hours, he had eaten all of the brown algae, but now that we have a new light, we are getting more green algae than he can keep up with. He likes to hide out on this giant fake branchy thing we have in the tank.
Okay, those are our fish for now. The guys at the store think we could probably safely introduce a few more eventually, but I have a hard enough time keeping track of them all as it is. Maybe one day we'll learn to identify their genders and buy some pairs to see if we can get them to breed - they are mouth brooders (cool!) - but for now, we'll just do our best to remember to do their partial water changes and such.
One of these days we'll videotape them eating - we all enjoy feeding time so much, but they are especially prone to overeating, so we are working really hard to make sure we don't kill them - and I'll be sure to post it here for your amusement.
Chick: Yellow like a chicken, and a little shy, too. Chick has a cool black line along the top of his or her dorsal fin and has faint yellow and white vertical stripes. Really good-looking fish. Also the smallest in the tank, but seems to be sufficiently defensive.
Daphne: I think Kori made some connection between "Daphne"and "dolphin" - can't recall why - maybe the Fishy Business guy said this was a dolphin-spotted cichlid or something like that? I don't know...
Rocky: We couldn't bring ourselves to name this little orange guy "Clem" for Clemson, so we named him "Rocky" for "Rocky Top" - Tennessee, that is. No, he's not a fighter - he's actually one of the more passive fish in the tank.
Tiger: Cleverly named for the stripes, Tiger is almost as big as Sid and Morrison, and MY is he (or she) fast! I took a ton a shots of this one, and the best I could get was this - he was moving so fast that the camera thought it needed to focus on the algae.
Pop: And speaking of algae, this guy, Lolly's counterpart, had better get busy eating some of it! A little algae is desirable, but we bought this algae-eater sucker to keep the place clean for us. Within the first 24 hours, he had eaten all of the brown algae, but now that we have a new light, we are getting more green algae than he can keep up with. He likes to hide out on this giant fake branchy thing we have in the tank.
Okay, those are our fish for now. The guys at the store think we could probably safely introduce a few more eventually, but I have a hard enough time keeping track of them all as it is. Maybe one day we'll learn to identify their genders and buy some pairs to see if we can get them to breed - they are mouth brooders (cool!) - but for now, we'll just do our best to remember to do their partial water changes and such.
One of these days we'll videotape them eating - we all enjoy feeding time so much, but they are especially prone to overeating, so we are working really hard to make sure we don't kill them - and I'll be sure to post it here for your amusement.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Fishy Fishy
Because I have nothing else to do, I spent countless precious minutes yesterday attempting to photograph the fishy residents here at 203. Then, I managed to find a few more minutes to waste and posted shots of each to the facebook profile. Seriously. I am such the queen of procrastination - AKA reverse prioritizing.
But, as some of you readers are too mature, too busy, too cool for facebook, I figure I'll post them here, as well.
And, if I may point out the obvious, if you find yourself reading this post (yes, I started it at 1:00 AM, but only AFTER I finished my paper for tomorrow's class), then you are also guilty of reverse prioritizing. :)
So, we have a 55 gallon tank of African cichlids of various yet-to-be-determined species. We like cichlids because they have great little aggressive personalities and generally vibrant colors that often rival marine fish. We started with the original six plus a catfish, then lost one (Oh, yeah, that one dude in questionable health did die a day or two after the post that said he was still kicking. Alas.), then added an algae eater and four more. So now there are nine cichlids and two waste management guys (good math, Meesh!) for us to enjoy. Allow me to introduce the first batch...
Poop: Yeah, Poop's the name, and it's also a traditional fish name for us. This one was fitting because for the first two days, the only thing we saw this one eat was, well...
But, as some of you readers are too mature, too busy, too cool for facebook, I figure I'll post them here, as well.
And, if I may point out the obvious, if you find yourself reading this post (yes, I started it at 1:00 AM, but only AFTER I finished my paper for tomorrow's class), then you are also guilty of reverse prioritizing. :)
So, we have a 55 gallon tank of African cichlids of various yet-to-be-determined species. We like cichlids because they have great little aggressive personalities and generally vibrant colors that often rival marine fish. We started with the original six plus a catfish, then lost one (Oh, yeah, that one dude in questionable health did die a day or two after the post that said he was still kicking. Alas.), then added an algae eater and four more. So now there are nine cichlids and two waste management guys (good math, Meesh!) for us to enjoy. Allow me to introduce the first batch...
Morrison: This is our biggest fish - named after the dorm Jimmy and I met in back in the day because he is Carolina Blue (of course!). This fish is such a camera hog. Really. Kept following me around and showing off.
Sid: Cool fish - about as big as Morrison, and pretty aggressive, too. Getting prettier every week. Not sure if he's named after Sid Vicious or not, but I'll pretend he is.
Peach: This one loves to eat from our hands. Really - you hold a pinch of food pellets at the surface of the water, and Peach comes up and gets nibbling. We had a "Peach" in our last tank that we left with friends in Arkansas, but this one is named more for the Mario character, I think.
Poop: Yeah, Poop's the name, and it's also a traditional fish name for us. This one was fitting because for the first two days, the only thing we saw this one eat was, well...
Samus: Pretty little yellow fellow named after some character the kids know from TV or video games - don't ask me, I don't pay attention to the things they do! - I keep wanting to call him Seamus, but they correct me. Fast little booger, too.
I want to show you the rest of our fishy family but I seriously need to go to bed. So, I'll give this virtual tank time to cycle and I'll introduce the rest of the gang to you soon. Promise. It's way lower priority than all the other stuff I need to do, so you know I'll get to it immediately!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Giving Thanks
Holy Lord, it's November already - and halfway through, at that!
I don't have anything brilliant to add today, but I am so in the mood for the holidays and feeling like giving thanks. Plus, I really want to get back in the practice of writing, whether there's an audience or not.
It's also helpful sometimes to count my many blessings - keeps me from swimming in my own pool of misery and woe-is-me. Also, list-making is easy writing, as a rule, and as taxed as my brain is feeling lately, I'll feel pleased with myself for a few bullets.
Actually, I could just write my acceptance speech for the Nobel or the Academy Award or even Mrs. America (right!)... nah. I'll stick with the list.
To Casey, my mutt, for the sweet head in my lap that helps me to always know that love is meant to be unconditional...
To Austin, my baby boy, for not being too cool to hold his momma's hand in public, even if only for a few minutes...
To Kori, my mini-me, for still wanting me to check on her every night...
To my beloved husband who really does want to learn to do the laundry the "right" (read: "my") way...
To the parents who send their babies to me every day for trusting me to care for their hearts and minds and to help them grow...
To the little people I teach for giving me purpose every day...
To my friends, old and new, for accepting me and my odd little ways and for chats that keep me laughing and crying and feeling like me...
To our nation for electing a man who, I pray, will be an instrument of peace...
... Thank you.
I don't have anything brilliant to add today, but I am so in the mood for the holidays and feeling like giving thanks. Plus, I really want to get back in the practice of writing, whether there's an audience or not.
It's also helpful sometimes to count my many blessings - keeps me from swimming in my own pool of misery and woe-is-me. Also, list-making is easy writing, as a rule, and as taxed as my brain is feeling lately, I'll feel pleased with myself for a few bullets.
Actually, I could just write my acceptance speech for the Nobel or the Academy Award or even Mrs. America (right!)... nah. I'll stick with the list.
To Casey, my mutt, for the sweet head in my lap that helps me to always know that love is meant to be unconditional...
To Austin, my baby boy, for not being too cool to hold his momma's hand in public, even if only for a few minutes...
To Kori, my mini-me, for still wanting me to check on her every night...
To my beloved husband who really does want to learn to do the laundry the "right" (read: "my") way...
To the parents who send their babies to me every day for trusting me to care for their hearts and minds and to help them grow...
To the little people I teach for giving me purpose every day...
To my friends, old and new, for accepting me and my odd little ways and for chats that keep me laughing and crying and feeling like me...
To our nation for electing a man who, I pray, will be an instrument of peace...
... Thank you.
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