1) Lent - our church often mentions Lent as a side note but this year it is a focal point. I'm looking forward to that.
2) Getting re-acquainted - next week I'm meeting an old friend for lunch. We knew each other as kids and haven't been in contact since. It'll be more like meeting her for the first time than getting re-acquainted because the amount of time that we were together is very small compared to all that has happened to each of us since then. I look forward to 'catching up' with her, but it'll be strange because I really don't know her at all. I think it'll be a fun experience.
3) Birds - we have tried three times to see the White-winged Crossbills at Centennial Park that have been reported there by many people over the past few weeks. We've yet to see them. They're not usually around here so it would be nice if we could see them while they're visiting so close to our house.
4) Charisma - what's with our volleyball team always playing differently when our captain isn't there? It's not that we don't have the talent to play well without him. It's as if we mentally come unglued. We don't feel like a cohesive unit. Maybe it's just me and nobody else feels that way, but I honestly think there's something to it. I wonder what we can do to fix it.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Leave the past in your behind
Andy always makes himself laugh when he says that.
Anyway, this Facebook thing is insane. Or, at least, it's making me go almost insane. I knew that I'd find people on there that I've lost touch with since college and that is really cool. I found a bunch of people from high school, as FB is basically set up to make that happen easily. That's been cool, too.
Today I came into contact with a bunch of people I knew mostly in elementary school and through a bit of middle school.
When I was 7, my mom enrolled me in a once-a-week gymnastics class. I wore my short-sleeved, hot pink leotard and my ringed tube socks, pulled all the way up, as I learned rolls and cartwheels, jumped off the springboard, balanced on the beam and swung on the bars. The parks and rec program I was in had a competitive team for older girls but my teacher said she was going to start a younger team and asked my mom to bring me to the try outs. I remember going through the different skills while different coaches wrote scores and notes on their clipboards. At the end, all of the people who tried out were sitting in a big group on the floor mat while the coach read off the names of the kids who made the team. She listed a bunch of people and I can recall looking over at my mom who was standing in the doorway and she smiled but shook her head a little, like, "Not this time, but oh well." Then I heard my name and both of our faces lit up!
Little did we know that those couple of hours of tryouts were just the beginning of 6 years of countless hours spent in the gym, in the ballet studio and on the road to meets. We practiced 3-4 days a week in the gym, took ballet lessons and had meets on the weekends (not every weekend, but we'd practice when we didn't have a meet.) I went through dozens of leotards, rolls of tape and Ecotrin (ibuprofen wasn't the star of the drug show yet.)
We spent a lot of time with our teammates in the gym and carpooling. We set the bars for each other, rooted each other on, spotted each other, set up the equipment at every practice, cracked each others' backs during warm ups, provided resistance during extra strength and laughed a lot together. Most of us grew up together from being little girls to teenagers.
Tonight on Facebook, I've found a number of the girls - now women - that I spent all those hours with in my youth. It's so bizarre to see them as adults with histories of college classes, friends, roommates, husbands, kids, and countless other experiences that I didn't experience with them and will never know. But I still feel a kinship with them and am excited to find out what's going on in their lives, even if the last time I saw them was 23 years ago.
Anyway, this Facebook thing is insane. Or, at least, it's making me go almost insane. I knew that I'd find people on there that I've lost touch with since college and that is really cool. I found a bunch of people from high school, as FB is basically set up to make that happen easily. That's been cool, too.
Today I came into contact with a bunch of people I knew mostly in elementary school and through a bit of middle school.
When I was 7, my mom enrolled me in a once-a-week gymnastics class. I wore my short-sleeved, hot pink leotard and my ringed tube socks, pulled all the way up, as I learned rolls and cartwheels, jumped off the springboard, balanced on the beam and swung on the bars. The parks and rec program I was in had a competitive team for older girls but my teacher said she was going to start a younger team and asked my mom to bring me to the try outs. I remember going through the different skills while different coaches wrote scores and notes on their clipboards. At the end, all of the people who tried out were sitting in a big group on the floor mat while the coach read off the names of the kids who made the team. She listed a bunch of people and I can recall looking over at my mom who was standing in the doorway and she smiled but shook her head a little, like, "Not this time, but oh well." Then I heard my name and both of our faces lit up!
Little did we know that those couple of hours of tryouts were just the beginning of 6 years of countless hours spent in the gym, in the ballet studio and on the road to meets. We practiced 3-4 days a week in the gym, took ballet lessons and had meets on the weekends (not every weekend, but we'd practice when we didn't have a meet.) I went through dozens of leotards, rolls of tape and Ecotrin (ibuprofen wasn't the star of the drug show yet.)
We spent a lot of time with our teammates in the gym and carpooling. We set the bars for each other, rooted each other on, spotted each other, set up the equipment at every practice, cracked each others' backs during warm ups, provided resistance during extra strength and laughed a lot together. Most of us grew up together from being little girls to teenagers.
Tonight on Facebook, I've found a number of the girls - now women - that I spent all those hours with in my youth. It's so bizarre to see them as adults with histories of college classes, friends, roommates, husbands, kids, and countless other experiences that I didn't experience with them and will never know. But I still feel a kinship with them and am excited to find out what's going on in their lives, even if the last time I saw them was 23 years ago.
Monday, February 02, 2009
What are you doing right now?
That's the question that Facebook posts to me every minute of every day. And I must confess, I love Facebook.
That's what has been keeping me from my blog for the past couple of months. But Facebook is not a blog and doesn't allow me a reasonable (to me) way to write the lengthier things I sometimes like to write. I don't write so much for my 'audience,' as there isn't a big one out there and at this point, I believe all except maybe one person from my known audience is on Facebook and can keep track of me there.
Most of the time, writing something in my blog allows me to ponder it, question it, mull it over and dig deep into it - sometimes before, sometimes during and sometimes after writing it.
So, anyway, to start myself back up on this blog, I'll post a conversation (some of my favorite posts to re-read after the fact are conversations) from last night.
Me: Andy, I'm about to fall asleep but I don't want to miss the end of the game! Make sure I don't lean over on you or I'll surely fall asleep.
Andy: And I'd want you awake why?
That's what has been keeping me from my blog for the past couple of months. But Facebook is not a blog and doesn't allow me a reasonable (to me) way to write the lengthier things I sometimes like to write. I don't write so much for my 'audience,' as there isn't a big one out there and at this point, I believe all except maybe one person from my known audience is on Facebook and can keep track of me there.
Most of the time, writing something in my blog allows me to ponder it, question it, mull it over and dig deep into it - sometimes before, sometimes during and sometimes after writing it.
So, anyway, to start myself back up on this blog, I'll post a conversation (some of my favorite posts to re-read after the fact are conversations) from last night.
Me: Andy, I'm about to fall asleep but I don't want to miss the end of the game! Make sure I don't lean over on you or I'll surely fall asleep.
Andy: And I'd want you awake why?
Monday, December 15, 2008
Christina
Our brother-in-law visited Maryland with his youngest daughter, Christina, last week. This is Christina sleeping on her grandmother's lap.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Chore help
This is what happens when you don't feel like taking the compost garbage to the compost pile and you leave it on the porch to get to it later.
The wildlife comes and takes care of it for you!
The wildlife comes and takes care of it for you!
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Life lives on
My grandmother - the one who is 104 years old - had a stroke in her upper-90's and moved out of her apartment into an assisted living suite in her community. That meant her furniture and other belongings needed to be distributed amongst the family and one of the things I got was her "Christmas cactus" plant. I am usually pretty good at taking care of plants but this one didn't like living in our house no matter what I tried to do to it (or stop doing to it.) It lost leaf after leaf and eventually branch after branch. I read that I could root cuttings so before it completely died on me, I took a few cuttings and put them in water. It worked! I planted the babies in a set of small pots in a matching tray and let them go, hoping that at least one would survive.
That was at least 5 years ago and lookie what we have here. My first ever blooms! Yeehah!
Creative Play
When Kevin asked to play with some of my kitchen utensils while I made dinner one night, I assumed he'd pretend to make dinner himself.
Nope. The whisk became Wonder Woman's jail and a lock on the cabinet in which all of the other bad guys were staying (I don't know why WW was a bad guy.)
The potato masher served as an elevator.
Nope. The whisk became Wonder Woman's jail and a lock on the cabinet in which all of the other bad guys were staying (I don't know why WW was a bad guy.)
The potato masher served as an elevator.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Look who came to dinner
This guy/gal stopped by our yard shortly before sundown, sitting on the shepherd's hook that holds our finch feeders. The finches were mighty perturbed at having their dinner time stock up thwarted by the big beast and they were all around the area making a ruckus. Within 5 seconds after the hawk flew away, the finch feeders were covered with finches again.
Life
I'm reading a novel ("Killer Material" by Dan Barton) about a stand-up comic and it's written by a stand-up comedian so I trust that most of the stuff that happens at the shows is close to real. His main character says:
Emphasis mine.
That begs the question - What is "life" to you? What is better than anything else? What do you wait the rest of your life for?
There is no wrong answer.
The connection you could feel with a crowd that was engaged in your performance could be... better than anything. Reality paled in comparison. It made addicts out of people. Life was on the stage. The rest was waiting.
Emphasis mine.
That begs the question - What is "life" to you? What is better than anything else? What do you wait the rest of your life for?
There is no wrong answer.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Lone red leaf
At the edge of our property there is a line of Bradford Pear trees. They're the last leaves to change color and fall off in autumn. This leaf decided to be bold and change early.
It's the only leaf in a row of trees that isn't green.
It's the only leaf in a row of trees that isn't green.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Microsoft Security at its finest
From the Microsoft Developers Network website:
Emphasis mine.
To view all the hidden objects, right-click the Navigation Pane (but do not right-click an object), select Navigation Options, and then select the Show Hidden Objects check box. The hidden objects appear but they are partially transparent. Casual and intermediate users generally will not stumble on this, so your objects are protected.
Emphasis mine.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Kevin is still sleeping
Shhh... I know it's already 7:15 but Kevin is still sleeping! He hasn't slept this late in months.
Yesterday was the 2nd Annual Turkey Trot at his school. It was actually on the track at the high school. The main event was a 30-minute period in which we walked, ran, skipped, whatever, around the track. Each lap was marked on a card and if you finished at least 4 laps in a 1/2 hour, you received a "charm" for your school charm necklace. I finished 5 laps wearing my boot.
Kevin ran more this year than last and completed 2 miles! I also forced the family (both guys grumbled) to walk to and from the event, so that was maybe another half mile of walking.
Then we had a couple of Kevin's friends over to play for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
After dinner, when it was still only 6:30, Kevin laid down in his sleeping bag on the dining room floor and listened to a book on CD. For an hour! Just laying there! With only a stuffed animal to keep him company!
After that rest, he went to bed. And he's still sleeping.
Kevin would never run or walk that much on his own or at just my behest - so can we have a Turkey Trot every few days? Or at least every weekend? This sleeping in thing is kinda nice.
Yesterday was the 2nd Annual Turkey Trot at his school. It was actually on the track at the high school. The main event was a 30-minute period in which we walked, ran, skipped, whatever, around the track. Each lap was marked on a card and if you finished at least 4 laps in a 1/2 hour, you received a "charm" for your school charm necklace. I finished 5 laps wearing my boot.
Kevin ran more this year than last and completed 2 miles! I also forced the family (both guys grumbled) to walk to and from the event, so that was maybe another half mile of walking.
Then we had a couple of Kevin's friends over to play for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
After dinner, when it was still only 6:30, Kevin laid down in his sleeping bag on the dining room floor and listened to a book on CD. For an hour! Just laying there! With only a stuffed animal to keep him company!
After that rest, he went to bed. And he's still sleeping.
Kevin would never run or walk that much on his own or at just my behest - so can we have a Turkey Trot every few days? Or at least every weekend? This sleeping in thing is kinda nice.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
I'm back in the boot
I have new information regarding my ankle pain. When I researched it online after going to an orthopedic surgeon who gave me two different diagnoses, I determined that I might have os trigonum syndrome. Turns out I was right.
I have this extra/accessory bone (os trigonum) in my ankle that is in the way of my joint and causes pinching which causes inflammation which causes pain. Most people don't have that bone but some people do, so it's not as if I'm an anatomical anomaly (at least, not because of just this.)
The only way to get rid of the problem for good is to surgically remove the os trigonum. We are first going to try other methods. I had a cortisone injection where the troublesome bone is and I'm to wear the walking boot for 3 weeks. Then I'm to resume walking on it for 3 weeks and then, slowly, add athletic activities back into the mix. If at any point the pain gets worse or if after all the rest it isn't better, I then have the choice of living with the pain or having the bone surgically removed (and going through that recovery.) The recovery from the surgery would be 100% barring any complications, but it is still surgery and is not trivial.
I'm back in the boot for now and am not to play any sports. At least there are lots of leaves in our yard to rake, even if it's not as many as we had before the tree fell down this summer when I had the boot on last time.
I have this extra/accessory bone (os trigonum) in my ankle that is in the way of my joint and causes pinching which causes inflammation which causes pain. Most people don't have that bone but some people do, so it's not as if I'm an anatomical anomaly (at least, not because of just this.)
The only way to get rid of the problem for good is to surgically remove the os trigonum. We are first going to try other methods. I had a cortisone injection where the troublesome bone is and I'm to wear the walking boot for 3 weeks. Then I'm to resume walking on it for 3 weeks and then, slowly, add athletic activities back into the mix. If at any point the pain gets worse or if after all the rest it isn't better, I then have the choice of living with the pain or having the bone surgically removed (and going through that recovery.) The recovery from the surgery would be 100% barring any complications, but it is still surgery and is not trivial.
I'm back in the boot for now and am not to play any sports. At least there are lots of leaves in our yard to rake, even if it's not as many as we had before the tree fell down this summer when I had the boot on last time.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Pumpkin carving
"Son, first you need to listen to the pumpkin. Discover what it longs to be."
"Who needs a store-bought set of plastic pumpkin carving tools? Not us!"
This is as close as Kevin would get to the pumpkin guts.
Andy: "What we need is..."
Kevin: "What we need is more pouf," as he sticks the feathers in Andy's face.
Kevin's creation; he drew the design on the pumpkin all by himself.
What a team.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Don't tell him I posted this
Kevin told me not to send this picture to anyone. I said, "Not even Grandma and Grandpa? Or Mrs. Labanz?" He decided that would be ok as long as I told them not to laugh at it. So maybe it's ok that the rest of you are seeing it, too, as long as you don't laugh.
You can't help but smile though, can you?
You can't help but smile though, can you?
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
School Picture
I pledge that next year I will, before the morning of the day school pictures will be taken, make sure Kevin has a suitable shirt that is a good color for him to wear in his portrait.
The photographer made Kevin say, "I love girls" to get that grin and a hint of neck scrunch.
The photographer made Kevin say, "I love girls" to get that grin and a hint of neck scrunch.
Monday, October 27, 2008
The bird kind
Kevin and I played Rush Hour, Jr. before dinner and we are missing one of the cars so I substituted a different one of the same size in its place. Kevin said, "Yeah, you just need another 'two-bee' to use instead. Haha, 'two-bee,' 'blue-bee,' 'boo-bee.' You need boobies!" I wasn't sure if he's heard that word used at school before so I just kept my mouth shut to see how he reacted. After my pause he said, "You know, boobies!" I said, "Like Blue-footed Boobies?" He said, "Yeah, like those." Nary a giggle from the kid. Still safe, for now.
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