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Happy Birthday Q!
This is Ted and me back in 1988…we had been dating for almost a year, and we were at his Uncle’s wedding. Maya used to say that this is when Ted was the girl, and I was the boy, because his hair is long and mine is so short. 🙂 Today is Ted’s 41st birthday, and I feel so incredibly lucky to have met him, to have convinced him to date me, and to have married him. He’s a great guy…a wondrful husband, an amazing father, an incredible teacher (when he gets the chance), and a great radio personality as well. He genuinely likes people (as long as they don’t…
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Time to Finish High School…
I think it may be time for me to finish my High School reading for English class. Maybe then I’ll stop having those stupid dreams where I have to take a test for a class, and I haven’t been going and can’t really fake it because it’s physics, and I’ve never had physics or anything. I sort of decided that it was time for me to start reading some American Classics a few years ago. Ted’s eldest niece is in college, and she was reading The Grapes of Wrath. I realized that I had never read that, and it seemed kind of dumb for me to have missed out on…
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Pyramid Friends…
Black Belt Mama‘s post about House Parties, got me to thinking. You know, the candle parties, makeup parties, fake purse parties, tupperware parties…whatever. I’m not a fan of the party where I have to buy something so my hostess can get a gift. I have friends who enjoy these parties, and hey, MORE POWER TO YOU, but I probably will find a good excuse to not be there if you hold one. Consider yourself warned. But it also got me thinking about some other experiences I’ve had. Has this ever happened to you? You’re walking along, enjoying the sunshine on your lunch break, getting a little bit of exercise, and…
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Misc. Weekend Thoughts
It’s Sunday evening, downright balmy (almost 90 degrees) here, and we just finished dinner. Ted made cheese tortellini with a tomato sauce, and salad with lettuce, spinach, and pears. Mmmm. So, here’s a sort of weekend wrap up, mixed with a couple of thankfulnesses, and so on. On Friday, we went to our Parent Teacher conference at Maya’s school. The news is that she is a very good student, works hard, no problems. Good at math, good at science, good at reading, good at writing. I’m thankful for that. We know several people whose children have trouble with one subject or another, or many. Or behavioral problems, which Maya also…
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Friday Dog Blogging
I’ve seen some Friday Dog or Friday Cat blogs out there, and this will probably be my only addition to the ouvre. We’ve had a lot of dogs around here lately. First, of course, is OUR dog, the beautiful Genevieve. She is a Keeshonden/Sheltie mix, and we’ve had her for about 3 1/2 years. We got her from a Keeshonden Rescue. She’s a VERY good girl. Good girl, Genevieve, Good Girl! Last weekend, Ted’s parents went to Ashland, Oregon for a mini-vacation, and they left their dog, Nietzsche, with us. Nietzsche is an Australian Shepphard/Border Collie mix, she’s about 13 years old, and they got her from the pound. She’s…
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R.I.P.
Are you old enough, or young enough, to remember the thrill of the mixed tape? When you would pour over your collection of albums (vinyl, cassette, or CD, but vinyl were the best for actual mixing), think about what songs you would choose, what order they would go in, and put them on a tape. You could make different tapes for different moods…I had a tape specifically for breaking up, which was the mushiest crappola you would ever NOT want to hear, I’m telling you. Well, Ted and his brother have both paid their dues as Disc Jockeys, and BIL even had a pirate radio station out of his bedroom…
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Cast Your Votes Now!
Seems like the folks at Monopoly are making yet another edition of their game…I don’t know if it will replace the Atlantic City version we all grew up with, or if it’s just another added version to add to your collection, next to your Simpson’s version, your Star Wars version, your Spongebob version, and your Lord of the Rings version. But the real estate will be from all around the country, and you can vote for your favorite landmark in your favorite city. For example, for San Francisco, they have the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Lombard Street. Whichever one gets the most votes will be on the upcoming…
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My Shotgun…
OK, drinks were offered…well, one drink, but I’ll take it. So now I’ll tell you the tale of my shotgun. Go ahead, sit a spell. Now, I may be a card carrying liberal…I drink Chardonnay, give money to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, I believe in gay marriage and a decent living for migrant workers. I’m a secular christian, meaning I don’t really think there’s a god above, but I love Christmas and Easter and Hannukah and all of that (I know, Hannukah isn’t Christian, but maybe Jesus had a dreidel? You think? I don’t know tech stuff.(quick, what’s that movie reference? The tech stuff one?) ) But I have…
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My Fabulous Fur Coat
The world has gotten a lot more complicated in the last 50 years, I think. What I mean by that is that people (most, at least) used to feel no guilt about having diamonds and wanting fur coats. And if they DID feel guilt, it was for being too materialistic. Nowadays, however, we not only know how many little minks go into a fur coat, we also know how much suffering and corruption goes into a diamond ring, and it gives us pause. My Grandma is getting older, as we all are, and is starting to give away some of her more prized possessions. This is partly because she’s getting…
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Lyrics…
Did you listen to music in high school, lay on the floor with your frinds in the dark and really LISTEN to the lyrics, let them wash over you, think about what they mean to you, to the artist, to the world in general? I know you did, Wendy, because, as you say, in some ways we were seperated at birth, but others…I don’t know. I did. I analyzed the lyrics to my favorite music, analyzed the tone of voice that the singer used…I loved it. Loved music with such a passion…it was an amazing time. I rarely listen to music that way anymore, and I’m not sure if it’s…
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Happy Birthday Mom!
Today is my Mom’s birthday…You may think you have a good mom, but my mom will trump her in almost any category…and since today is her birthday, we’ll just take out the ‘almost’ and say, Any Category. She rocks. She was a single mom, who somehow managed to take care of two young children, go to school (Berkeley), and work to support us. She moved us up to Alaska when she was but 27 years old, still single, living out in the woods on a homestead with no running water and no telephone. She worked so hard to get us whatever we needed when we were growing up…I’m not talking…
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No Thought Here…
I’ve read some pretty thoughtful blogs today…mostly Here and Here. I thought about writing a post about meeting my father when I was 21, what that was like…or the dangers of global warming…I don’t know. Instead, I’ll tell you that our garden looks nice after our Earth Day treatment yesterday, that we went to the farmer’s market this morning and bought purple cauliflower for $7 (I hope it’s good!), that I’m going to go downstairs in a minute and start a leg of lamb for dinner, which we will enjoy with the purple veggie, and that I’m gonna help Maya with her math. And, today is my beloved mom’s birthday.…
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Happy Earth Day!
Happy Day to our Mother Earth, who supports us and gives us life in all of its many forms. How will you celebrate? I know someone who is going to clean out the gutters in her neighborhood, and someone else who’s thinking of killing a rodent. Me? Not sure…I’m thinking maybe I’ll go get some flowers and plant them, and do some cleanup in our postcard sized yards. 🙂 But first I have to get dressed and walk the dog, so she doesn’t poop in the house. So get outside, say thanks to the Mother, and enjoy!
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Work/Life Balance
I was reading here about a discussion on the “Mommy Wars”, and newer “Daddy Wars” (It’s a good blog post, you truly should go check it out! Now! But come back, ok?) and it reminded me of an issue at an old job, which was who was going to put in the million hours of OT, and who wasn’t. The argument went that the parents of small children couldn’t be expected to work late, because they had to pick up their kids at daycare, they had to get to a soccer game or a ballet recital, they had to tuck their kids in at bedtime. These are very valid arguments,…
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Thankful Thursday 13
I’ve never done a ‘Thursday Thirteen’ before, and I’m totally NOT clear on the premise, so instead of trying to figure out the rules and make sure I do it correctly, I’ll just jump in and bungle it, ok? OK. The way I see it, forgiveness will come easily and quickly if I talk about things for which I am thankful, like I promised to do awhile ago. So, here we go: 13 Things for which I am Thankful 1. I’m thankful that my husband is easy going, and even though he wanted to go out for a nice dinner last night, went along with my desire to see a…