Peaches and Purls

Good Bye

2007-09-29T06:17:00.001-07:00

This blog has meant a great deal to me over the past couple of years. It has been a place to celebrate and a place to seek solace.

As most of you know, I have been going through a painful and long divorce, which has yet to be resolved. Satan, my pet name for my semi-Ex, has apparently been lurking around my site with his bimbo mistress. My private thoughts and words have now become ammunition for him to use as a new way to hurt me. Even though I have never used his or his bimbo's real name, he feels he has the right to throw what I say here on this site at me as evidence of what a terrible person I am. Therefore, I'm closing this blog. This is not an admission that I think he is right. This is my way of taking a tool of pain away from him. I'm in a place where I need to eliminate him from my life as much as I can. I can't totally do that as we have a child, my beloved Monkey Boy, but when and where I can, I will purge him from my world.

I will miss you. You have truly meant so much to me. I will eventually start a new blog and I'll stop by the sites of those who I count as my friends in this funny blogging world and let them know where it is. I'll continue to stop by your sites, but right now, I need to take a break.

Sleep over

2007-09-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

Monkey Boy is having a friend sleep over. I came into the house after walking Marco, the Psychotically Needy Puppy to hear a conversation coming from the Tiki Lounge about girls. My baby boy and his friend, who are both 10, were talking about which girls from their class they would ask out if they could date!

Stuff

2007-09-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

I was driving home from work today, thinking about all the 'stuff' I needed to deal with once I got home. You all know how it is, there is an endless list of fixing dinner, walking the dog, doing laundry, running the vacuum and so on. Then I realized that I've been letting 'stuff' get in the way of my life. Here I was trying to rebuild a life that had been torn down in the previous year and instead of taking the opportunity to define my life in a way that made me happier, I was falling back into the trappings that had defined my previous life. So instead of spending the evening fixing a big meal, I broiled some fish and threw together some hush puppies and called it dinner. Instead of throwing a load of laundry in the washer and then mopping my kitchen floor, I went for a walk on the beach.

And what a walk it was. The setting sun was an amazing shade of peachy pink. Families walked in little clumps; content singles walked their dogs; dear friends walked together with their heads close together intent on their conversation. I walked by myself, stopping to pet the occasional beach puppy and greeted those whom I walked by with a 'hello.' I ran into a dear friend who had just come out from the ocean after a swim and chatted with one of my students that happened to be skimboarding on the water's edge. This is life.

Satan is Leaving the Building

2007-08-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

I know that the saying is, "Elvis has left the building." but I'm paraphrasing to "Satan is leaving the building." Yes, the evil one is finally moving out. Even though I had an idea that he was looking for a house because of the local rumor mill, Satan finally owned up to it today. This is news he felt that he needed to reveal to me at the local home improvement center after luring me there with a question about a new light fixture for Monkey Boy's room. I guess in his mind he thought I would make a drama out of this event so he wanted to pick a public place, but frankly, I'm just relieved. He closes on the house here next Friday and and then has a moving company clearing out the Michigan house (which still hasn't sold) the following week. It is kind of surreal that after months of battling him, he's finally moving out.

He's also been holding up the settlement agreement, and today I found out why. In the draft version of the agreement, we have a morality clause that says we can't have overnight guests when Monkey Boy is with us. He doesn't want to marry his bimbo anytime soon and wants the morality clause removed. Since the original reason I wanted the clause was to shield Monkey Boy from the fact that his father is a man whore, which Monkey Boy has figured out and since Satan has already broken the clause once and since I really don't think that Satan should marry again, I've agreed to removing the morality clause on the condition that it is removed for me as well. I really don't have any plans to have a stud muffin cabana boy move in with me in the near future, but I also don't want to give Satan the ability to try to take Monkey Boy away from me should he deem my personal life "unacceptable" and because I'm not giving him a privilege that I don't have myself. Satan wasn't pleased, but after a moment of whining, agreed to it.

So that's my exciting weekend. How has yours been?

The Wild World of Teaching

2007-08-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

Needless to say, it has been a wild and strange few days. The first days of school have shown me a great deal of new things. So far I've been trying to figure out the stories these kids are trying to tell. They hold their heads a certain way, project body language a certain way, and use words a certain way. What kind of things have these kids had to deal with at the tender age of 12 and 13?

Today I was greeted by several of my kids covering their notebooks with graffiti about a teenager named Fat Head. Fat Head was the street name of a young person named Aaron. He was shot and died last night in the neighborhood where some of my students live. This is the second teenager to be shot to death in our area in the past two months. We are a small Southern town. We have less than 68,000 people in the entire county. You wouldn't expect to have this level of violence in the little backwoods area where we live.

How did these children react to the death of someone they knew? There were no tears. There were no sighs. Just drawing and writing. Frankly, the lack of emotional display bothers me almost as much as the ending of this young life.

Photog Friday - See

2007-08-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Mahatma Gandhi

Coming up for air

2007-08-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to take a moment to come up for air. So far I've been working for 8 days straight and don't really see myself taking a day off in the next week, possibly for 2 weeks. Because of the fact that I've spent most of my past days in meetings, I've had to spend evenings and a good part of the weekend getting my classroom ready for the first day of school on Wednesday.

Tomorrow is another morning of meetings, and then I head over to my school to try to pull together a simple lesson plan for Wednesday. The meetings have hit all parts of the the spectrum as far as their usefulness. At the top of the usefulness index would be the meetings presented by the publisher of our new textbooks. This was informative, to say the least. Going lower down on the scale of usefulness would be the county's presentations. This vacillated between very useful and 'wake me up when we are done.' Finally, at the very bottom, was the presentation by the state representative on standards. Seriously, dental work would have been less painful.

What I have been both delighted by and grateful for is the support being given to me by my colleagues. These are truly wonderful people. Not only do I have the great fortune to have an amazing mentor assigned to me, but our department head and another senior teacher have taken me under their wings.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Monkey Boy spent the week with his dad at the house that will never sell. This gave me the opportunity to put in some long days last week. The downside to this is I'm trying to undo the damage a week on unsupervised time with his dad has wrought. Apparently he only changed his underwear and clothes once last week, took one bath, never cut his nails and watched the entire Season 3 of Southpark, which has added some very inappropriate and colorful phrases to his vocabulary. Top that off with not having misbehavior corrected for the week and you have one surly child. Joy. Oh, and he got to accidentally and briefly see one of Satan's bimbos topless when he was scrolling through the photos on his dad's camera, and according to Monkey Boy, it wasn't Satan's main bimbo (BTW, any of those who know Satan, and you know who you are, don't mention this to him. Monkey Boy told me this in confidence. Thanks.). Yes, my soon-to-be ex is a man slut. Seriously, what kind of idiot doesn't download his home-grown porn off of his digital camera?

Teacher Question

2007-08-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy week. I've been in new teacher orientation and training the past couple of days. Fortunately the soon-to-be ex has helped out by taking Monkey Boy with him to the Michigan House, so I can focus on my work. I have a question for those of you who are teachers: Is being asked to join a school district committee a good thing?

I was wrapping up at orientation this morning and someone asked me what my last name was so I told her. After telling her, the trainer whipped around and asked, "Are you [insert real name here]?" I suspiciously asked, "Why?"

"Human Resources forwarded your resume to me because they were so excited about it. They said that you could do some teacher training and we want you on our technology committee."

You see, I'm not just a geek. I'm their queen. I've written several books and once upon a time, I was a trainer for Microsoft. I was informed by the trainer that my resume has been circulated around the county already. Very scary.

Hmmm, is this request to join a committee a good thing? Seems like a good thing, but I'm such a newbie, I don't know if this is something I should get involved with. Any feedback would be appreciated.

New topic: I'll try to get photos of my room posted this weekend. I'm in a trailer, which they actually call trailers at my school. No pretty names are being used for these things like 'pods' or 'instructional cottages' or 'mobile training units.' Nope, they just call them plain ol' trailers. I have decided that my students and I will not be calling it a trailer. I've renamed mine to the Cabana. I like the sauciness of it. How about you?

Ramblings From a Glass Half Full

2007-08-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

Terri of terri terri quite contrary tagged me for a meme. I'm actually behind on responding to a few memes and figured I would work in reverse order.

Steve Harper of The Ripple Effect tagged me to participate in the Starbucker meme, which was created by Terry Starbucker of Ramblings From a Glass Half Full.
The instructions:

Here’s an opportunity to let your creativity flow.

Tell us:

How full is your glass?
What kind of glass is it?
What’s in the glass?
Reasons for #1, #2 and #3.

My responses:

My glass is half full.
A tall, glass tumbler.
Gin and tonic, heavy on the tonic and lime.
I don't need a reason to drink, you silly bunny! If you want details, the answer to #1 is because I have been known to suck down drinks rather quickly. Don't worry, there's more to drink in the kitchen! #2 because to me is the perfect glass; it can be used for everything from Diet Coke to gin and tonic to ice tea. #3 is my favorite summer drink and seems appropriate since it's summer, literally 100 degrees outside and the humidity is 90%. Besides, it's yummy!

Here is the list of tagged bloggers:

Where are you, PeachPod?

2007-08-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

I'm down on the Mississippi coast visiting Mom and Dad PeachPod. Between the fact that they have a [gasp!] dial-up connection and that I'm trying to take it easy to recover from an exhausting summer, I'm haven't been on the computer much. Look for my return later this weekend and definitely next week when I start the new job!

I need a new world

2007-07-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

I really don't get the world I'm living in right now. I understand things like manners, decency, fairness and honoring your word. These things do not describe my world.

I live in a world where the man I married, the man who was my husband for 23 years can go out and sleep with other women and have no real penalty for the betrayal.

I live in a world that doesn't even really judge him harshly for this. He is and will continue to be accepted by 'polite' society. He'll be asked into the homes of people I know and who know what he has done.

I live in a world that has this man go about his life without any real remorse for what he has done. Why would he have remorse for something that apparently there is no punishment for?

I live in a world that this man still feels empowered to negotiate with me and try to wear me down so that I'll give in and give him what he wants. Laws and society have empowered him in this way.

Why hasn't the law and society empowered me? Why do I constantly have to battle by myself for myself? (I know that my friends and family are there for me emotionally, but they can't fight the battle for me.)

I'm tired of crying. I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of not feeling in control of my own future. I'm just tired.

I feel as though I've been running a marathon. I just wish I could see the finish line a little bit clearer.

Photog Friday - Regrets

2007-07-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."

- John Barrymore

Wow! What a week!

2007-07-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

Wow! There's no other word to use. I'm still reeling from the whole 'I got a job' thing. I've checked out my classroom. I'm in one of those lovely trailers that seem to pop up around schools like mushrooms. I'm not being placed in a trailer because I'm the new kid. It's just the classroom of the person I'm replacing. I actually like it. At least I won't have to deal with hallway noise, plus think of all the fun we'll have once hurricane season is in full swing! I've picked up my textbook and got my 'Sonny Dollars,' so named because the governor of our great state, Sonny Perdue, supported allocating $100 for each teacher in our state to buy classroom supplies.

So here I am, contemplating what I'm doing. I'll be teaching math to 114 kids. That in itself is a little scary. Add to this parents, administrators and surprise evaluations and it adds up to very scary. I hope I don't screw this up.

I'm a Teacher!

2007-07-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

I just got a phone call with the offer. I'll be teaching 7th grade math!!

Photog Friday - Think or Feel

2007-07-20T00:18:00.000-07:00

"Life is a comedy for those who think... and a tragedy for those who feel." -Horace Walpole

We've been Simpsonized!

2007-07-18T19:29:00.001-07:00

Burger King is offering this cool site where you can upload a photo of yourself and have it 'Simpsonized.' Monkey Boy and I had a blast doing this and we think they did a pretty good job of making us residents of Springfield!

Simpsonize yourself!

Being in love

2007-07-18T11:57:00.001-07:00

I just saw the movie, Waitress. This is an independent film that has made it to the big time. I honestly went to see it because of delicious Nathan Fillion, who plays the doctor in this film. It is a lovely little film. However, by the end of the film I found myself crying. I wasn't crying because of what happened in the film but because the movie made me think of my own life. You see, I try to avoid the whole thinking of my life thing. I know that if you've read this blog for awhile, you might have a hard time believing that, but it's true. Reflecting on my life is difficult right now. If I do it, I cry and I don't like to cry on the off chance that Monkey Boy will see me.

But back to what the movie made me think about. In this movie the main character, played by Kerri Russell, is stuck in a marriage to a man that she is not in love with. It made me think about how much I miss being in love. [Prepare for brutal honesty.] I have not been in love for years and years. Yes, I left my husband at the end of last year, but I haven't been in love for a very, very long time. Those of you whose life experiences equate marriage to being in love, please realize how lucky you are. We don't all get that. I loved my husband. I cared about and for my husband, but I didn't feel in love with him. Too much had happened for that. Too much betrayal. Too much disillusion. Too much of too many things.

I miss the feeling of being in love. I miss being excited to see someone. I miss being giddy when I hear a certain voice on the phone. I miss dizzying anticipation and tingles. I miss someone who can make me both excited and content at the same time. And I'm afraid. I'm afraid I won't feel that again.

Update on my life

2007-07-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

Today's updates:

Made plane reservations to visit Mom and Dad PeachPod in Mississippi.
Got my first interview for my teaching position this Friday!

Wahoo!

Dog Days of Summer

2007-07-16T08:29:00.001-07:00

I like being outside. Outside is my happy place. If you visit my home, you'll be greeted by a courtyard garden. I have all kinds of my favorite plants out there: ferns, hydrangeas, roses, jasmine, palms and so on. I have several seating areas, two eating areas, a hammock chair and a covered porch swing out there, plus candles and other little happy things. I also have my beloved porch off of my master. This is the spot to be on a cool night.

But these places are to be avoided right now during the dog days of summer. Here in the Coastal South, temps are averaging 95 degrees F. The 70% to 100% humidity makes it feel more like 110 degrees. Breezes have become a rarity. The afternoon shower we seem to get every day lately doesn't cool off the area, it just provides steam. Add in mosquitoes, fleas and gnats and you have one of Dante's Rings of Hell.

This makes for a very cranky Me. I can't enjoy a meal outside without suffering bug bites and ending up with flies in my food. Sipping hot coffee on my front steps when it's 97 degrees is not soothing. I feel like a rat in a controlled environment, moving from one air conditioned area to another. This affects my attitude and my creativity.

This heat and humidity will last into August. We don't really have Autumn here. The temps will cool down to the manageable 80s through December, when it will go down the 70s and 60s. I am ready for any temperature below 90.

Marco de Coconut says, "I don't know why they call them the 'dog days of summer.' Dogs don't like this heat, either!"

Update on the Death of the English Language

2007-07-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

While driving around my little island, I saw a sign a "Ginormous Yard Sale" today. It's so nice to know that our little community makes an effort to be current in the language department.

P.S. I ran spell check on this post and apparently Blogger has added ginormous to it's dictionary.

Photog Friday - Creativity

2007-07-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Taken at Painted Moon Gallery, Darien, GA

"I think the creative process is not about creating something else; it's about the process itself creating who I am." - Mayumi Oda, Artist and Writer

Giving Yourself Permission

2007-07-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a book called 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMefkin. If you are someone who wishes to expand their creative self or need to give yourself permission to explore that side of your personality, I really recommend this book. It is broken down into a variety of chapters and has exercises for you to try that give you some interesting insights about your creative self.

This book made me think of a friend of mine that is leaving the corporate world, at least for a little while. I think that part of the reason she is leaving is due to her health. Frankly, this job is killing her. I cannot tell you how much her health has deteriorated from the stress of her job. Which leads me to another reason she is leaving: I think she finally got tired of the crap she had to put up with, being a woman in a small Southern town trying to run a non-profit. Every issue was a political battle. Every meeting was either a war or an attempt to undermine her since she was a woman doing a job that had always been done by a man. I am so glad she has left this place. They didn't deserve her.

She is a highly creative person. She is a published author and an artist. I'm hoping she'll take some time to enjoy her talents. We spoke the other day about her transition and I told her the hardest part will be allowing herself to value herself. By this I mean that she has to realize that preparing dinner, being at PTA meetings, planning a birthday party and so on are things of value. This will be hard for her. I know this. But she'll get so much from this. She'll get to know her daughter as she enters her teen years. She'll get to know the community and the people who live there. And she'll get to know herself, something that she's put on the back shelf for far too long.

In this book, the author shares a quote from a book published in 1938 by Brenda Ueland, called If You Want to Write: A book About Art, Independence, and Spirit:

"Inspiration comes very slowly and quietly. Say that you want to write. Well, not much will come to you the first day. Perhaps nothing at all. You will sit before your typewriter or paper and look out of the window and begin to brush your hair absent-mindedly for an hour or two. Never mind. That is all right. This is as it should be, though you might sit before your typewriter just the same and know, in this dreamy time, that you are going to write, to tell something on paper, sooner or later.

And you must also know that you are going to sit here tomorrow for a while, and the next day and so on, forever and ever."

Here's to the the gift of time and to sitting still, lost in a dream.

Blast from the Past Meme

2007-07-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

I got tagged by the divine Ms. Liv:

1. Who was your best friend? Karen and Carol. We traveled as a pack.

2. What sports did you play? I dabbled in cross country.

3. What kind of car did you drive? Silver Ford Granada

4. It’s Friday night, where were you? At movies or at the arcade or hanging out at the Mr. Ghetti's parking lot.

5. Were you a party animal? Not really. The one thing we did do is drive up to Athens sometimes to sneak into bars where the B-52s used to play.

6. Were you considered a flirt? Definitely. But I was harmless.

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? choir, in jr. high.

8. Were you a nerd? Totally, I took classes like Physics and Polar Geometry in high school. And played D&D with my friends.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Never. I couldn't even tell you what the inside of the principle's office looked like.

10. Can you sing the fight song? No way. I do remember it being lame. I do know the fight song from college.

11. Who was your favorite teacher? Mr. Wiley, he gave me my love of writing.

12. School mascot? Raiders.

13. Did you go to Prom? Just my senior year.

14. If you could go back and do it over, would you? OMG, no.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? I remember the ceremony. I remember the gown, the stained glass windows in the church, getting my picture taken after the ceremony.

16. Where were you on senior skip day? I don't remember having one.

17. Did you have a job your senior year? Since I was 16. I worked in the JCPenney Outlet in Forest Park. I worked in the store in the Drapery and Fabric department. I got the job because I could do math! During the summers, I would work days in the un-air conditioned warehouse taking clothes off of wire hangers and putting them on plastic hangers. Then I would go home, shower and pack to the store to work some more.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? We had a group that sat at a regular table.

19. Have you gained weight since then? I am the Queen of Up and Down Weight. Up high school junior year, down senior year, up and down in college, up and down the rest of my friggin' life. I am sorry to admit that I did hit my heaviest during this fun time of divorce. So far I'm down 13 and still going.

20. What did you do after graduation? Worked before I graduated, married before I graduated college, worked after college, started my own company, worked more. Now I'm hoping to start a new career, teaching, this fall.

21. Who was your Senior prom date? I went with a friend named Bill. His mother was my typing teacher and was so thrilled that he had a date, she gave me an A in her class. We had prom in downtown Atlanta, ate at the Abbey and finished up at the Krispy Kreme doughnuts on Ponce.

[Am I the only one noticing that there isn't a #22 here?]

23. Are you going / did you go to your 10 year reunion? No and no. No to 15. No to 20.

24. Who was your home room teacher? Ms. Scott. She was strange.

25. Who will repost this after you? I'm hoping Terri does. She said that she likes memes, but she may have been kidding. Sarcasm can be hard to detect in print. Any and all are welcome to repost.

The Death of the English Language

2007-07-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

Today, friends, we must mourn the passing of the English language. I love language. I love the nuances that a word can present. I love playing with words to see which one fits best in a sentence. I love that words can trigger emotions. However, as of this year, the keeper of our language, Merriam-Webster, added a word that has, to me, the effect of crumbling the foundation of our language heritage: ginormous.

Ginormous is a baby word. Toddlers use words like ginormous, not adults. What are they adding next year, gazillion? Oh wait, I checked online and they've already added that to the dictionary. Here are the words added this year:

1. agnolotti
2. Bollywood
3. chaebol
4. crunk
5. DVR
6. flex-cuff
7. ginormous
8. gray literature
9. hardscape
10. IED
11. microgreen
12. nocebo
13. perfect storm
14. RPG
15. smackdown
16. snowboardcross
17. speed dating
18. sudoku
19. telenovela
20. viewshed

Coconut vs. Marco

2007-07-09T18:16:00.001-07:00

Liv and her sister decided that Marco should be renamed Coconut. They even refuse to call him anything other than Coconut. What do you think? (BTW, Monkey Boy and I still call him Marco!)

My Corner of the World

2007-07-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

Just thought that I would give you a glimpse of the little corner of my world that I use to reach you in your corner of the world.

To give you a further glimpse into my world, let me set the scene for you. I'm sitting with the lamp on next to me (I hate overhead lights.) The door to the porch off my bedroom is opened slightly and I can hear the crickets and the tree frogs as they fill the night with their songs. Marco the Psychotically Needy Puppy (whom Liv and her sister are trying to rename to Coconut) is alternating between sitting on the porch and coming in for the occasional back scratch. It's a good place to be.

A new level has been set

2007-07-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

I’ve set a new level for myself to meet. I have been so inspired by my two blogging heroes, Liv and Ellie Bee, who I got to meet this weekend.

Liv is open, smart, beautiful and so very alive. To be this together at such a young age is amazing to me. From her, I’m inspired to live larger and to treat myself with the nurturing I tend to bestow on others. Seriously, the diet needs to kick into high gear and a wardrobe makeover is in order if I’m going to hang out with this amazing chick.

From Ellie Bee, I’ve been inspired by her grace. When I first saw her, she was coming up a boat ramp wearing the perfect island vacation white dress, followed by her beautiful children. She projects an air of tranquil elegance. She inspired me to work at carrying myself with more grace.

Thanks both of you for sharing a bit of your inspiring selves with me.

This Weekend: Word Associations

2007-07-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

Rain
Ocean
Oysters
Old Friends
New Friends
Sun
Beer
Restlessness
Talking
Laughter
Fireworks
Contemplation

Photog Friday - Exploration

2007-07-06T06:01:00.000-07:00

" In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration. " -Ansel Adams

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

Did you have a nice 4th of July? We did! Every year we have a bunch of our friends over. We live a block from the pier where they shoot the fireworks off, so we have a prime location. We don't even bother walking down to the village. We just sit on our front porch and watch them.

Basically we spend the evening eating, drinking and hanging out watching the firework show. It's the perfect way to spend this summer holiday. I went with a classic menu this year: hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and baked beans. For dessert we had chocolate chip cookies decorated with 4th of July sprinkles (I sent a bag of these home with everyone.), turtle cookie bars and Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding. This is one of Paula Deen's recipes. If you haven't made this before, make it tomorrow. Don't hesitate. Just do it and then thank me for making you do it! I sent everyone home with some of the leftover banana pudding, too, so that I wouldn't be able to eat it!

Check out this cute photo of Monkey Boy and some of his friends. Aren't they a slice of Americana?!

We wrapped up the evening by parking ourselves on the big, comfy couch and watching the New York fireworks on the big screen TV. Life is good.

What I love about the USA

2007-07-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

Rick came up with a list of things he loved about America and inspired me to do the same. These are listed in no particular order:

The feeling you get living in a small town in this country.
The color of the Fall leaves in north Georgia and the Carolinas.
Grilling in the backyard.
The amazing access to information we have. Having traveled to other countries all over the world, I know that information can be limited by a government. I'm not saying that the information we get is always accurate, but we have the ability to sort through basically any information that we can get to on the entire planet. This is a gift.
Our love for the red, white and blue.
The respect shown for those who serve our country in uniform, whether they are military, fire or police. Those who do not show respect for these people should frankly be ashamed of themselves.
Thanksgiving: Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie!
New York City, truly the greatest city in the world and one that I consider to be my second home.
Accessibility of education. We all have things we would change about the education provided in our local community, but I thank God that we have an education system that is available to all, regardless of sex, religion, income or ethnic background.
The beaches of the Southeast and the Gulf coast. These are the beaches of my youth. My memories are filled with riding rafts on the gentle waves, finding seashells, and building sandcastles.
The giving nature of our people. If there is a natural disaster, we are the first to want to help. If a neighbor loses a family member, we are there with a smile, a prayer and a casserole. We take money from our pockets to support research, non-profits, our church and/or the arts.
Fried chicken, watermelon and corn on the cob: the perfect summer dinner and uniquely American.
The library system. It is truly a gift to us that in just about every town in America, there is a library of some kind.
The coast of Washington and Oregon. The wild beauty here takes my breath away.
Our music. Americans have a passion for all kinds of music -- rock, country, classical, pop and so on.
I know this sounds strange but I love our highway system. If you've been to a 2nd or 3rd world country, you know that good roads are a gift. And welcome centers and rest areas are the icing on the cake.
Sunsets in Texas.
Peanut butter, one of my favorite American icons. Did you know it is estimated that peanut butter is found in 75% of American homes?
Regionalism. I love that we embrace what makes our part of the country unique -- accents, foods, customs, stories.
The Smokey Mountains. Beautiful.
I love that as a woman in this country, I have most of the same opportunities that a man would have. You can argue that more needs to be done, but, again, having traveled the world, I know that I have freedoms and options that simply are not available to women in some countries. I can go to school. I can work outside the home. I can walk down the street without covering my face. I don't have to worry about being stoned for something I am accused of. I can own personal property. I don't have to walk several steps behind my husband. I am valued.
Farmer markets. I love farmer markets. I love bargaining for the best tomatoes, finding the sweetest watermelon, getting a jar of honey with the honeycomb in it, scoring a deal on apples and picking the freshest corn.
Fireworks!
Availability of a huge assortment of food. If you've ever been to another country, you know that being able to get milk and M&Ms at the corner market is a huge deal. Top that up with the fact that you can get about a hundred different kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables in typical grocery store. Talk to anyone who has recently visited or moved to the US from another country. One of the things that they will mention are our grocery stores.
The Smithsonian. I love this complex of museums. I can't wait to take Monkey Boy there.
State and county fairs. How can you not love rides, corn dogs, funnel cakes, and livestock? Monkey Boy is already talking about going to our county fair and it isn't until October!

Exit, Stage Right

2007-07-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

I have got to stop volunteering. Is there a 12 step program for this? In a moment of weakness I agreed to become the stage manager for Monkey Boy's play. What does this mean? It means I have to keep 43 (I'm not exaggerating) children in the right place at the right time and I have to keep them quiet. I just finished doing this for 2 and 1/2 hours and I'm exhausted.

So far I've learned that if I know their name already, they get my attention way too much by talking and acting up. I have learned about 10 names so far. Tonight's highlights:

Peter Pan lost her cool when she realized that her zipper was down while on stage.
Tinker Bell had a mild crisis when her necklace broke.
Mermaids were very silly and talkative.
The flying scene did not go well.
Some of the older kids tried to put a smaller kid in the electrical box because they thought he would fit.

It's Raining

2007-07-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

Liv notified that it was raining in her town, which meant we would get rain a couple of hours later. And it's here. It's one of those gentle summer rains that smell so good. Here's a photo of the view of the rain from my master balcony:

An Idea

2007-07-02T07:04:00.000-07:00

I had an idea and wanted to throw it out for comment since it would apply to y'all. Have you ever heard of a swap? I'm not talking about a flea market swap; I'm talking about the concept of swapping a themed package. They are big in the crafting Internet world. People may swap yarn or scrapbook stuff or handmade items. I saw one the other day for knitters that was based on tea. They swapped yarn, tea, cookies, candy and treats. I thought it was a really neat idea. We could do something like it but drop the yarn part.

One of the things that I really liked about this swap is that they had to include at least one local item. That's what makes this appealing; it allows us to share our little corner of the world. As a matter of fact, if you don't like the tea theme, we can just make it a local theme swap and send each other things that our made in our hometown or state or providence. We could set a limit of $20 or $25USD.

So give me your feedback. What do you think? I want to hear from the guys out there, too. If no body's interested, that's fine. I'd be willing to do this if we could get at least 6 people interested.

Weekend update

2007-07-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy weekend here. That is until it came to a grinding halt.

Busy times:

Friday - cleaning the house, went to see the new Die Hard movie, visiting with family, eating fried chicken at the campground, talking with family.
Saturday - scoring some new clothes at Talbot's sale, visiting with family, shopping with them in our village, going to art show, going out to dinner with family (This was my big challenge. The family part was fine. Not to be unkind but dining with soon-to-be ex and his almost deaf father who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's was excruciatingly painful. Between dealing with soon-to-be ex's horrendously pathetic attempts at being witty, which only ended up coming off as mean-spirited and pissing everyone off, and his father asking me the same questions five or six times, I was about to lose it.).
Sunday - Went to church, planned menu for 4th of July party and for Motown concert that night, went grocery shopping, updated website for Monkey Boy's theater production company.

Grinding halt:

The rain came and put an end to the busy part of the weekend. Of course the rain came AFTER I bought groceries, so I have a fridge full of food and no one to eat it tonight. The Motown concert was an outdoor activity that was rained out. So I picked up my knitting and finished a kitchen washcloth I was working on. Such is life.

Ode to a Friend

2007-06-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

I got a phone call today from my dear friend, Dick. Do you have friends that you may not speak with for months, even a year or more, but after one phone call it's as if you had spoken all the time? Dick is one of those people for me. I met Dick when I was 18 years old. He was the sweet, handsome, suave manager in our department that all the girls had a crush on. Dick and I clicked immediately and would banter back and forth during the work day. He became a good friend to me and I knew he'd always be there for me if I needed him. That was over 25 years ago. Every once in a while, as he did today, he checks on me to make sure I'm OK. I truly appreciate and cherish him.

Memories of the Ice Cream Truck

2007-06-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

I was reading Crazy Aunt Purl's blog entry about her arch nemesis - the ice cream truck. This brought to mind summer memories of going insane as a child when you heard that horrible tinkling music coming down the street. "Please, Mom, can we have some money for the ice cream truck!?" (Sometimes my mom would beat us to the truck!)

We grew up without air conditioning in the hot and humid South and the ice cream truck was like a shining beacon of all things cold. My childhood's summer nights were filled with being restless while trying to find a way to be cool. I remember having a box fan at the foot of my bed and sleeping upside down to be as close to it as I could. I would flip the pillow over and over again until I fell asleep so that I could have a few moments of coolness on my face. I know it's hard to believe in this age of air conditioning, but there were things that I loved about those summer nights. Outside my open window was a beautiful crepe myrtle tree that I could, and would, spend hours looking at, loving how it swayed in the soft breeze. I loved the smell of the night air and the sounds that filled it -- crickets, cicadas and frogs.

But I digress, let's get back to the ice cream truck. My favorite treat was the Cannonball. It was served in a plastic cone and filled with orange sherbet. At the bottom of the plastic cone was a gumball, hence the name Cannonball (which I have come to find out is now called a Screwball). And, if I wanted to break out of my Cannonball rut, I would either get a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich or Firecracker Popsicle. Firecracker Popsicles had stripes of red, white and blue and made a total mess! I also liked Push-ups, another orange sherbet treat. Remember how hard it was to get those things started? We would push the stick on the bottom against the kitchen counter or on the front steps to force the ice cream out. Occasionally I would get a Drumstick. This was a concoction made up of vanilla ice cream in a sugar cone topped with chocolate and nuts. This would melt so fast in the summer heat would end up licking ice cream off of your hand. Such good times!

We don't have an ice cream truck that comes through out neighborhood, but don't feel too sorry for us. We can walk to 3 different place to get ice cream or walk to the jiffy mart to get something yummy out of the freezer case. Of course, after writing this, I've decided that I have to take Monkey Boy out for ice cream today!

What was your favorite frozen treat?

Photog Friday - Yes and No

2007-06-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

"Yes and no are very powerful words. Mean them when you say them. Respect them when you hear them." - Michael Josephson

Note from Monkey Boy

2007-06-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

You've may have picked up on the fact that Monkey Boy is a unique and creative child. To give you an example, I present the note. When my friend, Sexy, and her family were here this past weekend, we adult types were up late talking. Around 1:00am, this bear came bopping down the stairs from the 3rd floor loft, where Monkey Boy and his friend were 'sleeping':

I've heard of tying a note to a rock or brick and throwing it. We've all seen movies where they tied a note to a pigeon's leg or to an arrow, but I bet you've never had a note delivered to you via flying bear!

Here's the note:

If you can't read it, it says, "Mom, we can't sleep ... Can we do something?" In case you were wondering, the answer was No!

We are family!

2007-06-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

Reggie and Gigi will be here Friday. Wahoo!!! Monkey Boy and I are so excited that you would think that Christmas was here. The rest of the herd will be here on Saturday. This is the time of year for our version of a family reunion at Jekyll Island. These folks may be my soon-to-be ex's relatives, but in my heart I've claimed them as my own people. In honor of their visit, I thought that I would share photos of previous years with you.

This is how we hang out at the beach. We truly suffer, don't we?! I know that Gigi really appreciates her tush being displayed in this manner!

Cousins playing together.

The annual Motown Concert. Yes, that's the ocean you see behind us.

Uncle 'Wedgy' and Monkey Boy hanging out by the camper.

Monkey Boy and Big Al playing horseshoes.

My Words, Your Book

2007-06-27T18:43:00.001-07:00

I was just on Amazon searching my name to see which of my books are still for sale. You may know that I was once an author. Technically, I'm still an author, but I haven't had anything new published in about 5 years. So anyway, there I was looking at my books on the computer screen when I saw my name displayed in association with a book I didn't write. Amazon has this new, cool feature that allows you to search for terms in some of the books they sell. There was an excerpt attributed to me in another author's book. It was a book about how to get started in computer consulting. In one of my previous lives, I was a major computer consultant for Microsoft earning the big bucks (so not me now! Now I am Mom.) Anyway, this other writer quoted me. I don't think that I've ever met this person and I don't remember being interviewed for a book, but the book is almost 10 years old so I may have forgotten. According to the bio provided, she worked for CompuServe (this was one of the major Internet access providers in the olden days.) and I think she lifted my comments from an online forum. This isn't illegal since she identified me by my name and gave me credit for the quote, but it has me weirded out. How strange is it to think that you are out there somewhere in print and not even know it?

Southern Things

2007-06-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

South of the Gnat Line had an entry that originated at the the Whistlestop Cafe Cooking spot where she added some of her favorite things/quirks about being Southern. I'm going to add a few of my own:

Here in the South during the summer, we determine whether you got a good parking space by how shady it is, not by how close it is to the location you are going.
Properly raised children in the South may refer to an adult by their first name if they prefix it with Miss or Mr. For example, "Miss Terri, may I have a Coke?" or "Mr. Reggie, can I pet your dog?"
We consider the state bird to be the mosquito.
We believe a business conversation should be eased into. We don't jump into the main topic until we've discussed the weather and/or fishing and/or hunting and/or how your mama is doing.
We have an unabashed love for the veggie (vegetable) plate. I didn't know this was a regional thing until I tried to order a plate full of veggies in Chicago and they made fun of me. The items on a veggie plate are really any kind of sides, including starchy ones. An example of a veggie plate would be mashed potatoes, fried okra, mac & cheese and green beans with a roll, biscuit or cornbread. Yummy!
You may be asked, "Who are your people?" We are trying to figure out much of an outsider you are.
We say 'thank you' . . . a lot! We will do something for you and then thank you after we are done.
Southern males have a uniform: polo shirts and khakis. A variant of this is the button down shirt and khakis. They can wear this uniform anywhere: work, church, weddings, football games, etc.

I bet Reggie could add a few more of his own!

This is just sad

2007-06-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

What does this mean? Your computer geekiness is: Step aside Bill Gates, Linus Torvalds, and Steve Jobs... You are by far the SUPREME COMPUTER GOD!!!

Is this sad or what?

The Inheritance

2007-06-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my friend, Sexy, today and we were discussing the sub-human known as her ex-husband. We were talking about what he has done for her son other than, as she puts it, donate sperm. She asked me to come up with one other thing. After a long moment of silence, she triumphantly declared her point made. I then managed to come through at the last moment: her son's inheritance. What is he to inherit? Moon property! Yes, you heard right, her ex-husband has invested in real estate on the moon. Imagine that reading of a will: To my son, I bequeath my real estate holdings on the barren rock known as the Moon.

Unusual Sleeping Spot

2007-06-25T20:00:00.001-07:00

Something I never expected to see: Someone sleeping in a Starbucks. It just seems bizarre to see someone sleeping in a place the air is thick with caffeine! And we're not talking about closing your eyes to rest. This guy was snoring and snorting up a storm!

I've been doubled tagged!

2007-06-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a few days since I've posted. I had company over and was a tiny bit worn out. Reggie even called to check on me, assuming something was wrong since I hadn't posted! During this hiatus, I was tagged by two wonderful ladies, liv at Madness, Madness I Say and Terri at Terri, Terri Quite Contrary, for the following prestigious award:

I am so excited about this. I first want to thank liv for writing one of the nicest things ever about me. I actually cried, but in a good way. And then Terri tags me and writes more wonderful things about me! I'm so blessed. Thank you both so much. Of course this means that two of my favorite bloggers have already been tagged. However, I am going to share five more with you. These talented ladies in turn get to tag 5 female rockin' bloggers:

Crazy Aunt Purl: This lady is so down to Earth that you just know you would hang with her if she lived in your hometown. She's a Southern girl who was transplanted to L.A. She's survived a divorce, creepy guys on the bus hitting on her and embarrassing moments at yoga class with her wit and humor and soon will be a published author. I've pre-ordered her book.
Idiosyncrasies of a Gemini Mind: I heart Ali. She is such a stitch. She's feisty, sensitive, funny, smart, sentimental, and everything a chick should be.
Mason-Dixon Knitting: This is actually a blog shared by two ladies, Kay and Ann. One is from the North and the other is from the South. They are now successful authors and through their blog take you on the fun ride that is their life.
What Now?: Ellie Bee is who I want to be when I grow up. She's a warm, caring person who nurtures all that she comes in contact with. She is a doctor, a mother and an amazing person. She shares her thoughts and her heart with honesty and openness.
South of the Gnat Line: I love this lovely lady's unabashed love for the South.

I also want to encourage you to visit my nominators' blogs. If I could pick a sister, I'd want her to be like Liv. She's a roar, not a whisper. And then there's Terri. Terri has become such an important part of my day. She shares so much of her life with us in the blogging world that it's like she's that friend you talk with on the phone 2 or 3 times a day. Thanks guys!

Photog Friday - Pretenses

2007-06-22T05:41:00.000-07:00

“When your soul quits taking refuge in the pretenses and stops being a fugitive from Spirit, it will catch on fire and serve as a beacon lighting the way to your calling, your destiny, to being completely and entirely you.” - John Renesch

Tiki Lounge, pt. 2

2007-06-21T23:50:00.000-07:00

Here's the final installment about the Tiki Lounge. This the bedroom/den area, which is connected to the bathroom I showed you in my earlier post. This really has turned out to be a perfect place for kids to hang out. Monkey Boy and his friend K-man have already thoroughly enjoyed it. It has everything a boy needs: video games, a tent, plenty of places to sit or lounge, Legos and more. Let's start with the scary 'before' picture. This was being used as attic storage.

And now for the after. Look at the spiffy daybed cover I found. I added lots of pillows. Check out the back one. It's actually an inflatable raft!. It's one of those that feels like fabric bonded with rubber. If I had to buy a pillow that large it would have cost a mint but I got this for $9! And I figure it gives the kids back support and another thing to lay on the floor and can be used when building pillow forts. I also recovered the chair in a blue nautical map fabric Monkey Boy picked out. And, of course, what boys' hang out space would be complete without a tent! I found a bulletin board shaped like a surf board (which Monkey Boy has personalized with his graffiti) and added some more of the art pieces that I bought the other day. I also hung a clock that looks like a crab and added one of those goofy novelty lamps that looks like an aquarium.

We also have a zone for Legos. I brought these out of Monkey Boy's room, where they had be residing on the floor. All areas of the room have been inspected, utilized and praised by the boys.

I'm doing better

2007-06-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you know that I'm doing better. After curling up in the fetal position for a while yesterday I shook my mood off and got back to cleaning for my company that's coming in tonight. Of course I'm a little behind but I should have it done before they get here. I only have one more room to vacuum and dust. Before I finish that room, I have a Monkey Boy story to share:

I had Monkey Boy helping clean the kitchen this morning when he asked me why we were cleaning. I explained to him that when you have company coming over, you clean the house. He asked why and I asked him if he would like to visit a dirty house.

"I guess not." he said. "But do you think they are going to buy this?"

"Buy what?" I asked.

"Buy that our house is always this clean!"

Wretched child!

Darkness

2007-06-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

I hate soon-to-be ex. I hate that he still has the power to hurt me and send me to a dark place with just one word. What was the word? His bimbo's name. He called me by his bimbo's name. Me, the one who gave birth to his son, the one who was married to him for 23 years. How can he make a mistake like that?

Tiki Lounge, pt. 1

2007-06-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

I wrote about the arduous task of cleaning up and redecorating the third floor bedroom/loft a couple of days ago. I'm making it into a kids guest room/den with a tiki/surf/beach kind of motif. We built this space out years ago and really haven't used it to it's potential. We had been using this mostly for storage and I finally got motivated to make it more usable.

Since Rick asked for pictures, I'm sharing some now, including the scary 'before' picture which illustrates the nightmare of me going through boxes to decide what to keep and what to give to Goodwill (on a side note, my mother has informed me that she's changed her last name to Goodwill). Don't judge me people. Remember that I'm a woman in the middle of a divorce who is dieting. I will turn mean on you!

I got the bathroom finished last night! Now it is a very cute, beachy spa-like bathroom:

My challenge has been how to add art to this area, as it's built into the eaves and has short walls. On the only tall wall I put a collection of three items, staying with the surf theme. I really wanted to add more color to the room so I let Monkey Boy pick out a skimboard he liked and used it as art over the tub. We have a big whirlpool tub in the bathroom and no shower because of the short walls. I figure even if this gets wet, no big deal, the board is designed to play with in the surf!

I picked up this little painting at a local gallery and hung it in the bathroom. I think it's so cute!

Happy Birthday, Reg!

2007-06-19T17:47:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow, June 20, is Reggie's birthday. I knew all of his blog sibs would want to visit his site and wish him a happy birthday.

Martha Stewart Gene

2007-06-18T12:01:00.001-07:00

I have been accused of having the Martha Stewart gene. I cook. I decorate. I do my own small home repairs. I garden. This gene seems to have gone into dormancy in the past couple of years but is now showing itself again. I'm turning the attic bedroom into a kids guest room which we have dubbed The Tiki Lounge. It's going to have a tropical/tiki/surf motif. I dragged Monkey Boy to the fabric store to get fabric to recover the cushions on one of the chairs in the Tiki Lounge. Surprisingly, he wasn't enthused about the outing but when I explained that left unsupervised I would pick out a girly print, he decided to go with me. After threats of making him go to dress AND shoe stores with me if he didn't stop whining, we finally agreed on a fabric with a blue mariner map print. I'm feeling very Martha right now!

The "Date"

2007-06-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

Monkey Boy cracks me up. A few days ago I scheduled a play date for him and his friend and her cousin to play putt-putt. We have a course about a block and a half from our house. I told him, "I made a date with Miss Alex to play putt-putt Thursday." Cool, no problem.

Later, when we were walking over to Alex's house to pick up the girls, Monkey Boy asked in a very quiet, concerned voice, "This isn't a real date, is it?"

"No, baby. Mom was just teasing you."

"Good. I'm not ready to date yet."

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this kid?

Final Report of the weekend

2007-06-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

All in all I've had a pretty decent weekend. Here's how the remainder went:

Went to church. I walked rather than drove. It was a great morning for walking.
Walked by the Subway after church and picked up my favorite sandwich. Ate sandwich on front porch.
Worked on attic bedroom. Took 10 boxes of stuff I didn't need to Goodwill. (I'm in a big purging mode right now.)
Took a break and went over to the storytelling festival (Sea Island Heritage Festival). They had some awesome food booths there and I got yummy fresh lemonade and fresh sweet potato bread.
Worked more on attic bedroom.
Made Philly cheese steaks for dinner.
Watched Terminator 3 on TV.

Soon to be ex is gone again for a couple of weeks. Wahoo! I'm pretty proud of myself for staying busy and having a good weekend.

The weekend so far

2007-06-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

Notified soon-to-be ex that he has to start acting like a parent when he has Monkey Boy for the weekend. After a somewhat rocky start, I managed to take control of my day. Here's the exciting play by play:

Slept late in spite of the person who called the house 4 frickin' times this morning and hung up. These types of calls seem to only happen when you know who is in the garage apartment. Coincidence, I think not.
Went to see the movie, Knocked Up, with friends. I didn't care for it. I thought the dialog was unimaginative and the premise unbelievable. It felt like a straight guy tried to write a chick flick.
Got lunch out.
Hung out at Starbucks and started knitting a cap to send to the Dulaan Project.
Ran to the grocery store to get a couple of things for dinner. Ran into a friend and caught up on local gossip.
Got home, unloaded groceries and walked on the beach.
Fed and walked Marco, the psychotically needy puppy.
Made vegetarian chili for dinner. Yum!
Watched Sleepless in Seattle on TV. I love this film.
Sat on front porch and finished hat.
Caught up on reading blogs and downloaded a couple of new tunes for my iPod.
Time for bed!

Rules

2007-06-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Next weekend, my friend, Sexy (I keep linking to her site thinking that she will be shamed into writing more often!), is coming to visit me. She travels as a package deal so this visit includes her husband and 4 kids. Monkey Boy and I are way beyond excited about seeing them again. However, I'm thinking with that many kids in the house I should set some rules. Here's my first draft:

Do not play anywhere near the big screen TV. Throwing/slinging things at or near the big screen TV or generally being too near to the big screen TV will result in a time-out in the penalty box otherwise known as the ugly uncomfortable couch.
No fires.
No actions that could result in bleeding or broken bones.
Pants must be worn in the common areas. No nads on my furniture!
If you have a problem with someone, deal with it yourself and without inflicting pain. This is a tattletale free zone.
DO NOT take my last diet Coke.

I think that pretty much covers it!

Photog Friday - Life

2007-06-15T01:41:00.000-07:00

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." - Joseph Campbell

What should I do this weekend?

2007-06-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

One of the [many] disadvantages of having the soon-to-be ex use the garage apartment during his visitations with Monkey Boy is that it allows him to be a total slacker. He kind does dad stuff at his own convenience. I need this to end. I need a break. So I have to have a 'come to Jesus' meeting with him and let him know in no uncertain terms that he's in charge of Monkey Boy when he's here on the weekends. This means getting him up, getting him dressed, feeding him and generally entertaining him.

Some of you divorced moms understand how hard it is let go of these tasks. More often than not you get a child back on Sunday night that is dressed in the same clothes he was wearing Friday night when he left, who has not bathed, is hopped up on sugar and insane from lack of sleep. But I know I have to let go, for my own mental health.

So I need to plan activities for myself for the weekend. Of course, I'll be going to see the new Fantastic Four movie. I think I'll wait to see the Nancy Drew movie until next week. Monkey Boy has hinted that he wants to see it but can't publicly admit that he wants to see it because he's a 10 year old boy. So he needs me there to say that I made him go in case he runs into friends. Here are the other options:

shop: I need to pick up a couple of twin mattresses for the new kids guest room I'm making out of the 3rd floor. Of course my shopping will not be limited to mattresses.
read: I have a pile of books about 3 1/2 feet tall to work through. I would read at Starbucks to be near to a source of caffeine and to avoid soon-to-be ex.
knit: I want to finish the blanket I'm making for Monkey Boy so that I can start a new project. Again, I would do this at Starbucks for reasons listed above.
go to beach: I could work on my tan, read and check out the boy toys.
2007 Annual Georgia Sea Islands Festival: featuring storytellers, singers, exhibitions, displays, arts & crafts, musical groups and traditional coastal cuisine & desserts. This one is actually a must-do on my list.
drag some friends to Mudcat Charlie's: seafood and boats. What more could you want?
go to library and work on portfolio for teacher interviews: I want to be ready with lesson plans and stuff during my interviews.
drive down to Daytona for day to check out the big flea market there: I love flea markets and this one is supposed to be huge.
hide at a friend's house: This is my backup plan.

What do you think? I'm open to suggestions.

This is NOT my House

2007-06-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

I just want to say that the picture shown is NOT of my house. It is of a house a few homes down from mine. We had the tragedy of having a neighbor's house burn literally to the ground.

Monkey Boy and I were watching a movie on the Disney Channel when we saw some flashing lights and heard sirens. We looked out of the front door and our entire street was lined with firetrucks. I didn't even know we had that many trucks in the county!

After walking down the street to see what was going on (an activity that about 100 other people engaged in as well), I realized who's house was on fire. It belongs to a gentleman who owns a local restaurant. His wife was out of town and he was at the restaurant. This fire was major. The entire 3 stories of the house was engulfed in flames. I know these poor people lost everything.

I yelled to a fireman that the house next to the one in flames had full-timers (on this island we have two kinds of people, full-timers who live here year around and part-timers who are only here a few weeks out of the year) and that the couple who lived there were elderly and would need help getting out so they went to go get them. Monkey Boy and I ran over to another neighbor's house two doors away from the fire and got her and her baby to evacuate. Then we just watched the whole process.

I couldn't get over the amount of fire and that the whole structure was covered in flames. Later we checked on the people that were renting a historical home for vacation that backed up to the house that was on fire. One of the other neighbors had already taken them in for the night. Even now, almost 2 hours later, blue and red lights from the fire department and police are flashing outside my window. Poor Monkey Boy is totally stressed out and has asked to sleep in my room.

Something like this really makes you think, doesn't it?

Dulaan Delivery

2007-06-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I knit. I budget a couple of months a year to knitting for charity. Most of my charity work goes to the Dulaan project. The goal of the Dulaan project is to seek to inspire the generous spirit of the knitting community to help meet the urgent needs of Mongolia’s impoverished people. I have knitted for this project for 3 years now. This year I have 2 hats and 7 scarves to send. Check out some of these Dulaan photos. After seeing these kids, I may try to knit a couple of more hats really quick to include in my package before I actually send my stuff at the end of the month. Definitely scroll down and see the photos. They are pretty amazing.

My Friends are Bored Looking at my Photos?

2007-06-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of geotagging your photos? I hadn't and thought that it was an interesting concept. Check out the article about it in the NY Times (You may have to sign up to view it, but it's free):

Snapshots That Do More Than Bore Friends

Monkey Boy's New World

2007-06-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

Monkey Boy's world has changed since yesterday's whine fest. Changes to his world include not being allowed to use electrical entertainment interfaces (Game Boy, video game consoles, TV, the computer) before 11:00am and having to have the following chores completed before 11:00am:

Water palm trees by front doors
Fill up water fountain
Water pots by front gate
Fill dog's drinking bowl
Make bed (he was supposed to be already doing this but I was slack about enforcing it.)

I'm thinking that I'll be adding to this list before the end of summer. I think he needs an afternoon set of chores, too. (Can you hear my evil mommy laugh?) The outdoor stuff has the side advantage of getting him dressed before noon. This morning went fine. I wonder how long it will be before the whining starts again? By the way, I've decided that whine = more changes to Monkey Boy's world. Let's see how long the behavior reconditioning takes. (More evil mommy laughter.)

27 Skills for your kid

2007-06-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

I thought that this was an interesting article for parents:
27 Skills Your Child Needs to Know That She’s Not Getting In School

A child growl

2007-06-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

Here's my growl about children:

What is with them doing anything to help around the house? No matter how small the task, they act like you've just request that they begin a quest to the Holy Land and return with the Grail. It either turns into a negotiation for some privilege or item they want or it becomes a hissy fit or they pretend not to have heard you or some other tactic. And yet, they wouldn't hesitate to ask you to do something for them: drive them to the mall, have one of their annoying friends over for the weekend, take them to a movie that you need to self-medicate to be able to sit through, buy them stuff, etc.

Growl.

Rude Food

2007-06-09T19:11:00.001-07:00

I've seemed to have become fixated on food this week as this is my second post on the topic. Check out this website: Rude Food. It has a collection of foods that are funny due to their poor choice of names. It reminded me of the time I followed a Bimbo bread truck through rural Mexico for 2 hours, giggling the whole time!

File under "What was I thinking?"

2007-06-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

This morning a friend of mine who is landscaping his yard asked me to show him where a local nursery was that I like to go to. His wife had to go to a client's house (she's a decorator) and evil soon-to-be ex didn't show up for visitation this week so between us we had 3 male children to deal with. The morning started out fine until the topic of breakfast came up. I'm used to going out with girlfriends who if they haven't eaten by 9:30 skip breakfast and have an early lunch. Apparently males cannot do this. All 4 men folks started whining that they were hungry. Fine. I'm thinking McDonald's drive-thru for biscuits. Quick, cheap, minimal hassle. Wrong! The men folk decided they had to go to a buffet (which they find amusing to mispronounce in the way you would Jimmy Buffett's last name.). Not just any buffet, but the Golden Corral. If you haven't been 'blessed' to go to one of these places, I can only described it as what a buffet would be if Walmart managed it. Arrgh!

After the kids were through filling up on bananas, bacon, eggs and ice cream, we finally got to the nursery. This place is amazing. It's about 4 acres of wall to wall vegetation. Their quality and prices are awesome. So I told the kids to run around and count how many kitties they could find (this place is crawling with kitties) thinking this would entertain them for at least half an hour. 5 minutes later the whining began: "It's hot.", "I have to go the bathroom.", "I'm sweaty.", "Is it time to leave yet?" So my friend drives the kids to the jiffy mart to let them use the bathroom (there were ants in the port-o-potties and the young males freaked out) and they come back with candy, slushes, toys and more whining. I stayed at the nursery so I had my clump of plants picked out. My friend gets the 2 trees he had been looking for. Have I mentioned that at this point it's high noon and 96 degrees with a heat index of 105 degrees? Joy. We load the truck with the help of the whiny tribe and finally get out of there.

Seriously, what was I thinking?

Photog Friday - Beauty

2007-06-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

"Beauty puts a face on God. When we gaze at nature, at a loved one, at a work of art, our soul immediately recognizes and is drawn to the face of God."
-Margaret Brownley

You may blog too much if ...

2007-06-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

... your child is in the shower and sees a flash from the next room, he panics and thinks that you are trying to sneak a photo for your blog! (I was actually seeing if I could a take a decent photo of myself like Crazy Aunt Purl does all the time.)

Summer Boy

2007-06-07T09:27:00.001-07:00

Sea Turtles

2007-06-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

My travel plans have been greatly curtailed this summer due to the fact that Monkey Boy is in the summer production of Peter Pan. Original summer travel plans:

One or two weeks at Michigan house
Few days in Tampa at Busch Gardens
Visit Mom and Dad PeachPod in Mississippi
Go to Charlotte for a week
Go to Atlanta a couple of weekends

Travel plans now:

Go to either Atlanta or Tampa for a weekend
Visit Mom and Dad PeachPod in Mississippi

So plan B is some 'mini' vacations in the area. A couple of weekends ago the new Georgia Sea Turtle Center had a preview opening and Monkey Boy I went over and checked it out. Our coast is one of the nesting grounds for sea turtles. Sometimes the turtles get injured by boat props and this center nurses them back to health so that they can be released again. This place is great! I'm not going to try to convince you that this is comparable to the Smithsonian, but for a small town in South Georgia, they've done a really good job. They have a small interactive learning center that does a good job presenting information about turtles and their environment. Behind the learning center is the turtle hospital which is a barn with a lot of large tanks. Monkey Boy both really enjoyed this outing. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour do this museum, depending on your level of ADD.

3 year old Artist

2007-06-06T11:13:00.001-07:00

You have to go and watch this video. It's amazing!
http://presurfer.blogspot.com/2007/06/3-year-old-finger-painter.html

What the World Eats

2007-06-06T07:54:00.001-07:00

Rick posted a link to this cool photo article on what the world eats. It fascinated me. First, it really points out how much more industrial countries pay just to have their food wrapped in plastic. The Japanese, Americans and Europeans seem to have this need to have their food presented in a brightly colored plastic packaging that adds tremendously to their food costs.

This got me thinking. When you see the food of the Japanese family, almost every piece of it is wrapped. What does Japan do with all this trash? They're just a small island. How do they deal with this stuff?

Also check out how much the German family spends a week. How much do they pay these people?

Missing Someone I Never Knew

2007-06-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine asked me to make a scrapbook for her husband as a birthday present for him. His father recently passed away and he has emails, photos, cards, etc. that friends and family have sent him illustrating the wonderful life of his father. These are what I am using to make the scrapbook.

As I've read these notes I've constructed an image of this person. He was kind, thoughtful, and extremely generous with both his time and spirit. He was a character with funny little quirks. He made a point of letting people know he was thinking of them. He sent people flowers for every occasion.

I have come to mourn the passing of this man, this person I've never met. After getting to know him through this correspondence, I truly wish I had know him in life.

Loving the Tan

2007-06-05T18:33:00.001-07:00

My tan has hit my favorite stage - the almost no makeup stage! This is to say that foundation, powder and blush is gone until Fall. Wahoo! Now my complete makeup routine is to put on some moisturizer with SPF, add a little eye shadow, draw a quick line with the eye pencil and finish off with mascara. This takes all of 3 minutes. Life is good!

Four Things

2007-06-02T09:23:00.000-07:00

The fabulous liv has tagged me for a meme. Here it goes:

Four Things

Four Jobs I’ve Had

Professional Writer
Corporate Trainer
New Technologies Manager at United Airlines
Manager of Systems at Hyatt International Hotels

Four Movies I Can Watch Over & Over

You've Got Mail
Music & Lyrics
Where the Heart Is
Sense and Sensibility

Four Places I’ve Lived

Riverdale, GA
Irvine, CA
Plano, TX
Arlington Heights, IL (There's more!)

Four Places I’ve Vacationed

New York City (one of my favorite places in the world)
Hong Kong (another favorite city)
St. Petersburg, Russia
Helsinki, Finland (There's lots more! I truly love to travel.)

Four of My Favorite Dishes

Nachos!
A really good baked potato
Fresh, hot sourdough bread
The house salad at Outback

Four Sites I Visit Daily (I'm not listing blogs because there are so many of them)

MyYahoo
During the school year I visit Monkey Boy's school site to check out announcements and the lunch menu.
Savage Chickens' cartoon site
Weather.com

For Places I Would Rather Be Right Now

In Atlanta, sitting on the patio at El Azteca on Ponce de Leon Ave. with friends.
In London, shopping at Harrod's with my friend, Joe.
In New York, checking out a street market (preferably in the Village or Chinatown) and then going to see Spamalot again.
In bed, napping.

I am tagging Ali, Terri, Rick and Reggie.

Stormy Saturday

2007-06-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

For the first time in literally months, it is just pouring down rain. Wahoo! We've been at record lows for rain this year so we really need it. And Monkey Boy and I have missed singing our traditional rain song:

It's raining, it's pouring;

The old man is snoring.

He went to bed,and bumped his head

And he couldn't get up in the morning.

Yes, this lively little ditty will be heard all day at Casa de PeachPod.

The rain is supposed to be out of here by tonight, just in time for our beachy Sunday. After church tomorrow Monkey Boy, myself and some of our friends are heading to the surf for the Annual skimboard competition. At noon, they are giving free lessons, which Monkey Boy is looking forward to and at 1:00 is the competition. The competitors have been streaming in this week and practicing. I've enjoyed meeting them when I take my walk in the mornings and they are a very talkative bunch (this is the part where we pretend me, the old lady, didn't notice that the teens and 20 somethings I was talking to looked like bronzed gods!). They told me that the youngest competitor is just 7 years old and that there is a 9 year old who did back flips on his board. One of my friends has offered to bring sandwiches (she and her husband own a sub shop) and a cooler full of margaritas. Sounds like a good time to me!

15 step program

2007-06-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

My friend, Sexy in Suburbia, emailed this and I thought that not only was is hilarious, but dead on. For those of you who haven't been blessed with children, you'll wonder why we would ever put ourselves through this, but the truth is, even knowing this stuff, most of us would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thinking of Having Kids? Do this 15 step program first

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2.Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel....
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds,with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.(Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag,until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive).
10. Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. and wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hangout.
Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6
You may think the work is basically done when your child starts school. Here's the fun you'll enjoy then:
1. Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and a jar of paint, turn it into an alligator.
2. Now take the tube from a roll of toilet paper. Using only Scotch tape and a piece of aluminum foil, turn it into an attractive Christmas candle.
3. Last, take a milk carton, a ping-pong ball, and an empty packet of Cocoa Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Lesson 7
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 8
1. Get ready to go out.
2. Sit on the floor of your bathroom reading picture books for half an hour.
3. Go out the front door.
4. Come in again. Go out.
5. Come back in.
6. Go out again.
7. Walk down the front path.
8. Walk back up it.
9.Walk down it again.
10.Walk very slowly down the sidewalk for five minutes.
11. Stop, inspect minutely, and ask at least 6 questions about every cigarette butt, piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue, and dead insect along the way.
12. Retrace your steps.
13. Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbors come out and stare at you.
14. Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

Lesson 9
Repeat everything you have learned at least (if not more than) five times.

Lesson 10
1. Go to the local grocery store.
2. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is excellent). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat.
3. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight.
4. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 11
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine-month old baby.

Lesson 12
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney,the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking;What's "Noggin"?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 13
Move to the tropics. Find or make a compost pile. Dig down about halfway and stick your nose in it. Do this 3-5 times a day for at least two years.

Lesson 14
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying "mommy" repeatedly.(Important: no more than a four second delay between each "mommy"; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 15
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt-sleeve, or elbow while playing the "mommy" tape made from Lesson 14 above.You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Photog Friday - Doubt

2007-06-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

"Doubt whom you will, but never yourself."
- Christine Bovee

Parenting Moment

2007-05-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

Shhhh. Don't tell him that I'm telling you this, but Monkey Boy is cleaning the house. I didn't ask him to do this. This is totally his own idea. Earlier today he got in trouble for not getting off of his computer when I told him to and then lying about it. He has lost his computer for the weekend (I've put it away in my room). He is now trying to do anything he can think of, including cleaning the house, to soften me up and get his computer back. I did not suggest this, but hey, who am I to stop him?!

Visiting

2007-05-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

Do you visit with your blog, coming to see it even when you don't have anything to post? I do. It has become a dynamic, living scrapbook of my life. I come and visit the photos I upload. I come to visit posts I've made. I visit with the comments that have been added. It has become a very key part of my life and I cherish its contents. Do you feel the same way about your blog?

Photog Friday - Achievement

2007-05-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

"Men are born to succeed, not to fail."
-Henry David Thoreau

Today's quote honors Monkey Boy, who was on this year's All A's honor roll and placed 3rd in a writing competition. He is shown here in the middle of two of his friends.

Lost . . . One Porch

2007-05-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when I posted pictures of my porch right after I had cleaned it and hung the Chinese lanterns? Those were the good old days when I could call that porch 'my porch.' We are talking about a porch that is off of MY master bedroom. I no longer hold claim to it; my two critters, Monkey Boy and Marco the Psychotically Needy Puppy, have stolen it from me. Here's the evidence:

Presenting . . . Monkey Boy

2007-05-22T18:37:00.001-07:00

Monkey Boy auditioned for our local production of Peter Pan. Guess what? He got a principle role as John Darling! This was the first time he's ever auditioned for anything and there were 86 people auditioning for the different parts. He's so excited. I'll try to post photos as the play progresses.

Jazz by the Lighthouse

2007-05-22T08:06:00.001-07:00

This is a post for Reg: Y'all need to come on down for the weekend in that fancy new camper. The first jazz concert by the lighthouse is this Sunday! You bring the wine and I'll bring the food!

Village Life

2007-05-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned how close I live to our little village? I'm less than a block from the main street. We are a resort town and you know what that means -- bars with bands! Monkey Boy and I have gotten in the habit of opening the door to the porch off my master bedroom and listening to music at night. Right now we're listening to what sounds like a middle-age white man sing his interpretation of Prince's classic song "Kiss." Interesting.

Grassroots Movement

2007-05-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

Here is my own attempt at a grassroots movement. I have recently been acquainted with an organization called Equality Now. Equality Now works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world through the mobilization of public pressure. This is important. I'm asking bloggers to include the button you will find in my sidebar as part of their blog page to increase awareness of this organization and their initiatives. I'm not asking you to make a financial contribution (of course, you can if you want). I'm just asking you to include this button in the hope that people will check them out. I have gotten their permission to do this.

Please save the image on your own photo server or service. If you need the HTML I used to set it up, just let me know and I'll send it to you. Also, if you could ask other blogger friends to do this, I would really appreciate it. Let's take the world by storm and take a stand, one blog at a time. Here's the information from the 'About' page at Equality Now:

Equality Now was founded in 1992 to work for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women around the world. Working with national human rights organizations and individual activists, Equality Now documents violence and discrimination against women and mobilizes international action to support their efforts to stop these human rights abuses. Through its Women’s Action Network of concerned groups and individuals around the world, Equality Now:

distributes information about human rights violations
takes action to protest these violations
brings public attention to human rights violations against women

The Women’s Action Network is committed to voicing a worldwide call for justice and equality for women. Issues of urgent concern to Equality Now include rape, domestic violence, reproductive rights, trafficking of women, female genital mutilation, and the denial of equal access to economic opportunity and political participation.
Human rights violations against women have historically been denied the attention and concern of international organizations, national governments, traditional human rights groups and the media. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of girls and women around the globe continue to endure debilitating and often fatal human rights abuses.
India: A 10-year-old girl is rescued by a flight attendant who notices her crying. Her father has sold her to the 60-year-old Saudi Arabian man sitting next to her for the equivalent of US$240.
Kenya: At a boarding school, 300 boys attack the girls' dormitory. Seventy-one girls are raped. Nineteen are trampled to death in the stampede to escape. The school's vice principal remarks, "The boys never meant any harm against the girls. They just wanted to rape."
Brazil: A man who confessed to stabbing his wife and her lover to death is for the second time acquitted of murder by an all-male jury. The acquittal is based on the argument that he acted in legitimate defense of his wronged honor.
United States: A 51-year-old woman is stabbed 19 times and killed by her former boyfriend as she waits inside a courthouse to extend an order of protection. Twice before he had been charged with harassment. Both times the charges were dropped.These are only a few instances of abuses which occur every single day.

Human rights violations against women must be documented, publicized--and stopped. We need Equality Now.

Did you know that Peter Pan was a drama?

2007-05-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

I didn't. I thought it was a light children's musical, that is until I sat through the hell of watching children audition for the local summer production for 4 and a half hours! There were three classes of 'actors': the truly sucky, the average (Monkey Boy was in this group) and the "why are you here instead of Broadway?" They sang, they danced and they read lines. If parents made any noise we were greeted with a loud "ssshhhhhhhhhhhh" by some teenage intern that was far more disruptive that anything we could have been doing. If I had popcorn, I would have thrown it at them.

I found it interesting how many stereotypes were represented in the crowd of 'actors.' There was the drama queen. She cried and fluttered around whining that she couldn't possibly sing as she didn't prepare her vocal chords. Many of us, yes that includes me, just rolled our eyes. Then there was the drama brat. Drama brat pushed other kids out of his way to get in better light, snatched lyric sheets out of the hands of small children and huffed if someone else messed up a line. There also were a couple of what I would call drama cheerleaders that had been doing the summer production for years and were so cheerful that you were pretty sure that they had eaten way too much sugar and knocked back a couple of large lattes. Of course some were simply charming, including my Monkey Boy! Can't say that he's ready for American Idol in the singing department or will win any dance contests, but he did a really nice job of reading lines. He read for the part of John and kind of had a very proper Harry Potter sound to his interpretation of the part.

After all this, I came home and medicated myself with tequila. I'll let you know on Tuesday which part Monkey Boy will be playing.

Talk to Me

2007-05-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

I've missed you! For a couple of days I wasn't getting comments. So sad. But then the ever so wise liv told me that she had a problem posting comments and I checked and for some reason a few of my posts had been set to "don't allow comments." Yipes! It's been fixed now and I eagerly look forward to my blog sibs visiting and commenting again.

Pattern

2007-05-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

I have noticed a pattern in my life. When Satan (for newer readers, this is my pet name for my soon-to-be ex) is around I don't breath deeply. I also don't smile much and my laugh, as infrequent as it may be, is high pitch and has a cartoon quality to it. But when he's gone, my breathing is deep, my smile constant and my laughter has a fullness to it.

My friend Ellen says this is a good thing, that it means I am well on my way in the healing process. She says it means I'm over him. Well, I am. I've never understood those people we've all heard about that are still having sex even though they are in the middle of a divorce. What is that about? I don't even want to be in the same room as this person, never mind in the same bed! (However, if Nathan Fillion, Ben Browder, Hugh Grant or George Clooney want to stop by, I'd be OK with it!)

Disturbing

2007-05-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that I'm not making this up. On my Yahoo Mail Home tab, I saw the following ad:

Is it just me or does this ad imply that one of the symptoms of an enlarging prostate is that you start looking like a woman? !

Photog Friday - Small Changes

2007-05-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

"I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people who are convinced they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference after another. "

- Ellen Goodman

Tagged

2007-05-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by the brave and bold Stick. The Rules:

Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.

At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names.

Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here I go:

I'm half English. My mom is from Yorkshire.

I have loved coffee since I could walk. My mom told me that even as a toddler I would drink coffee if I could get to it. We had a family joke about the old wives tale that coffee stunted your growth. We would say that it was a good thing it did as I'm 5'9"!

I've written 4 computer books and have contributed to 8 others.

I was born on St. Patrick's Day.

My favorite constellation is Orion.

I prefer good bread over chocolate.

I cry really easily at sad movies, tv shows, and even commercials.

Harrison Ford once told me that I was lovely.

Here are my tagged bloggers: Reggie, Sexy, Terri, Liv, Lu, Rick, Tim, and Gigi. There were more that I would have liked to tag but I know some of the people on this list will tag them for me.

Smoke Gets In My Eyes

2007-05-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

It is nasty here on my little island in south Georgia. Wildfires have been burning for weeks to the west and south of us. We haven't been affected by the fires much, but because the winds have calmed, we are being covered with ash and smoke. I swear the entire island smells like a barbeque restaurant!

Additions to Porch de PeachPod

2007-05-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

[Please say the following with a voice that is absolutely dripping with a Southern accent.]

I just thought that I would share with y'all some additions we've made to the veranda. Monkey Boy is shown here using the new polka dot quilt and coordinating pillow sham. The ocean breezes make it ever so slightly cool here in the evenings.

[You may now resume your regular accent.]

Between Us

2007-05-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Want to meet for coffee? No problem, let me find a place that's between us using this cool website called A Place Between Us. You just type in your address and your friend's address and select what kind of place you want to go to. How cool is this?

The blue marker represents you. The red marker is your friend and the green marker is the halfway point. You can even drag the green marker to a different location to get new meeting places. I knew I had to share this geeky goodness with you!

I grew up?

2007-05-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

Will Wheaton shared a list in his blog of some of the things he loved as a kid. I came up with a list of my own:

The sound of an ice cream truck
Sparklers
Cap guns
Coke in a glass bottle
Candy necklaces
Having a ladybug land on you
Running through a sprinkler
Balsa wood gliders
Jolly Rancher candies
Looking for shapes in the clouds
The smell of freshly cut grass
Looking for a 4-leaf clover
Coloring with crayons (I can even remember the way they smell!)
Cutting out and dressing paper dolls
Zotz candies
Colorforms
Gum wrapper chains

Share your list with me.

Why does this bother me?

2007-05-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

I was in the local bookstore a couple of days ago and I noticed a section titled 'Summer Reading Lists.' Hmm, I wonder if Monkey Boy has a summer reading list that he conveniently forgot to tell me about, which wouldn't be a huge surprise. I'm told that next year, as a 5th grader, Monkey Boy will have to read 20 novels. This isn't a huge deal as he read 26 novels during this school year. Wouldn't it make sense for them to get a jump on this over the summer? I fired off an email to his teacher asking if they had a reading list. Here is the response I got:

Good morning, thanks for asking about a reading list. At this time, we don't have one and probably if we did the books wouldn't be at a high enough level for him. My suggestion would be to join the summer library reading program and have him choose books on his level. He will be taking the STAR test today, so I will have a new level for him coming home in his folder. The important thing is for him to continue to read on his level throughout the summer. Thanks for all of your support. Monkey Boy is a bright, cooperative boy. Thanks, Ms. I'm Retiring This Year and It Shows

Why does this bother me? I know part of it is that they don't have a reading list and I'm one of those Nazi parents who feel that children should do something other than play videos and sleep during the summer. I'll make him read anyway because I am a Nazi, but why isn't the school district behind this concept? The other thing that is bothering me is the statement that implied if they had a list, it would basically be useless to him. WTF? I know that several other kids, like Monkey Boy, are reading at high school level. Am I being told there is no possibility of 2 or 3 different reading lists to fit multiple reading levels? I realize that I'm not a teacher yet and I don't know the teaching world, but this seems like commonsense to me.

Why am I letting this bother me so much? Is it because it's an example of why our state's education system is ranked as one of the lowest in the nation? Is it because it is an illustration of the inflexible nature of our education system? Or is it just my anal retentive/ADD/Type A personality flaring up?

Summer is Almost Here!!!

2007-05-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

Do the 'Summer is Almost Here Happy Dance' with me! I was talking to Gigi today and we both are already getting excited about our annual 4th of July visit. Here on our little island, the 4th of July is actually busier and bigger than Christmas. We have the Sunshine Festival then, which includes a carnival with rides, the world's best lemonade made by this cool looking Native American guy, an art show, concerts and, of course, fireworks! Monkey Boy and his friend usually have a stand set up to sell sodas to the tourists. One year they made over $70!

I live about 300 feet from where they shoot the fireworks, the largest show in the southeast, so everyone comes to my house and parties. As a matter of fact, one year I wasn't here on the 4th and everyone came to my house anyway. Hmm, maybe I need a better class of friends.

Anyway, a large clump of family camps at one of the nearby islands and we do stuff like eat, talk, go to the beach, ride our bikes, eat, talk, shop, see the sights, golf, eat, talk (did you pick up on the fact that there's a lot of eating and talking?!) Gigi and I were trying to decide if we would run up to Savannah for a day trip. And Reggie and I have been talking about the outdoor Motown concert by the lighthouse we love to go to. Here's a little collage I put together of past 4th of Julys for your viewing pleasure:

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-13T08:53:00.000-07:00