Saturday Sweethearts

Friday Funnies

Thoughts and Thursdays....

Years ago when I worked for the newspaper as a business reporter, I had the opportunity to write business "closeups" for the Monday edition.

The idea was to highlight an area business and get the story behind it. The "hows" and "whys" and other fun stuff that made a business what it was.

One reason I really enjoyed this part of my job was that I got to meet a ton of interesting people and see an insider's view of how hard/easy/painstaking it is to start and run a company.

It gave me some food for thought, let me tell you.

Another reason I enjoyed it was that most of the businesses had the "personality" of the owner/president stamped on them. They "were" the people who ran them because the people running them really believed in them. I felt a personal bond with each of the companies because of this.

My favorite-most question I was asked was if I was planning to print any "dirt" on this one particular business. I was surprised (and a little pleased that he thought I had that much "power" in my pen) by this since I always began the interviews by explaining that these business closeups were "feel-good" stories...merely the story of the business.

I nearly burst out laughing but managed to stay professional by biting my tongue. This certainly wasn't Hollywood...and his business wouldn't have headlined in any of the tabloids.

"No," I said, seriously. "I can only print what you tell me. And even then not everything you tell me will fit into the story."

The business owner nodded, solemnly. "But what if it does?"

"Then just don't tell me, and it won't be a problem," I answered with a reassuring smile.

I couldn't print what I wasn't told, right? I know sometimes journalists use creative licensing in their reporting to grab or even shock readers/viewers. I didn't subscribe to that method. I took what I was told and wrote the story from there. There usually wasn't any reason to "tweak" what was said since there was always an interesting anecdote or two involved.

Which brings me to blogging.

Back when I started to blog, I found myself again chuckling at people who asked how I could write about myself for all the Internet "world" to read. Isn't that embarrassing? Isn't that allowing my privacy to be invaded?

Hmm....

People can only read what I write...and only then if they want to. I get to choose what I write...so it can be as personal (and/or embarrassing) as I want.

No one can invade privacy that hasn't been exposed, right?

Just a thought...

Wordless Wednesday

It's Snow Fun

Okay. Okay. I admit it. I'm a snow grinch. I'm probably one of the biggest ones out there. And I have no reason for it except that I really, really dislike getting snow inside my clothing or shoes. Hate it. Despise it. Abhor it.

Well, I guess there is a reason...

It all started when we lived in the city and had to park along the street. Since people weren't good at actually shoveling more than a few feet around their cars (i.e.: enough space to get the car out), I was forever stepping in the wrong spot next to the sidewalk and getting snow in my shoes. It could have been easily solved with the purchase of some good snowboots...but that only works if you have money for such things.

Anyways...

Putting that problem aside, I also can't stand having the snowy footprints that leave little puddles of brown water around the house. Call me silly, but I always manage to step in them which goes back to my original reason I cannot stand snow: wet feet.

If only we had a "mud room." *Pop!*

Ah, well. Sigh. No one dreamt of those kinds of rooms back in 1919 when our house was built.

Still, it's meant to snow tonight. A good 4-8 inches of snow. My kids are thrilled, exhilarated even...secretly, of course. They know that I cannot stand the stuff.

Yet, I feel bad.

As my daughter pointed out, I got to play in snow all the time as a kid....back when I actually liked it still. (Her emphasis, not mine.)

So I'll make some changes.

I'll like it for them. I'll let them go out and play in it, and I'll dry out the little water puddles that end up on my kitchen floor. I'll pop their wet jackets, socks, gloves, mittens, socks, snow pants, jeans, shirts, hats, scarves, etc., in the dryer while they thaw in a tub of hot water. And I'll make them mugs of hot cocoa to eat with warm cookies.......

Okay. Okay. It's starting to sound a little "June Cleaver-ish" but playing in the snow should be fun.

It should conjure up warm and fuzzy memories that they'll remember when they have children who want to play in the snow and they feel like snow grinches....

Musing, Musing, Musing on Monday

My guys -- big and littlest
Happy Monday to you! The last Monday in January 2009.

No way, right?

Way.

Monday, Monday, Monday. My favorite day of the week. It's the day that everything gets put back in its place...and the schedule starts anew. If I had some sort of failure keeping up with everything last week, then Monday is the day I can catch up and start afresh.

Odd, I know...but it is what it is.

But I like Mondays because they mean another new episode of 24!!!! Yep! You know it! Yippee! We have a few wings left in the freezer and some snicky-snacks to munch on in the tense moments... Last week we left off with Jack.... Ha! No spoilers here. You'll have to watch for yourself to see what happens to Jack.

The kids are still growing. I wish they'd stop that sometimes...or at least slow it down a little. I really am struggling to keep up. Ethan is the most noticeable in his growth, of course, being a "little" guy and all. (He's actually huge...gi-normus. I call him "gargantuan baby," and he laughs. So easy to please at this age. *wink-grin*)

I was singing some jingles from a few cat food commercials from days-gone-by. (What? You don't randomly break out into old cat food songs?) See how many you remember and which food they advertised. "January...cha-chow, chow, chow. February...cha-chow, chow, chow...." And "Beef, tuna, liver, chicken. Meow, meow, meow, meow. Meow, meow, meow, meow. Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow...." I saved feverishly for the calendar from the first cat food jingle. It was always such a treat. I was very sad when they stopped making them.

I hit the blogging world in late February/early March almost 3 years ago...and a week ago I took on a new challenge. I'm blogging for a local forum -- run by our local newspaper -- called http://www.berksparents.com/. I borrowed back the title from the homeschooling blog I first started with -- Planting Children -- and am using it for my blog on the forum. Take a gander over that way sometime and let me know what you think. It'll be challenging to keep up with it all, but at least it's keeping me writing, right?

With that and the need to cook some dinner before dance class, I bid you adieu. Ciao for now!

Sweet Sunday

I was humming this song this morning, thinking about how we are called to be "lights" to our world. No matter what. Not so easy sometimes, huh? But I rest in this: God is in control. No matter what!

Enjoy! And have a sweet Sunday filled with God's light!

Saturday Sweetheart

Friday Funnies

An "oldie but goodie" in honor of Jack and Tony rekindling their relationship in this season of 24.

Enjoy! And have a funny Friday!

Say What?

We love to play games in our house. Computer games, PS2 games, board games, word games. Any kind of game will do. We just find them fun.

For Christmas, we "gave" ourselves the electronic version of the game, "Catch Phrase." Despite the annoying (and aggitating) beeping that goes along with each round, we have found it to be really, really enjoyable.

Last week, we decided to play adults against the kids...and the kids were really good! They nearly beat us! *wink-grin*

But what we found funny was the clues they gave to each other, trying to get the other to guess the word(s) on the screen. That's when age/experience came into play.

Emily had the words "rainy day" so she used the expression "save it for a rainy day" as a clue.

"Save it for?" she said, signaling for him to fill in the blank.

Edward looked at her blankly and said, "The bank? College?"

Hmm... He'd never heard the real expression.

Then he was trying to get her to say "bullfrog." He's doing a report on toads so he used that to give a hint for the "frog" part and then said, "A boy cow."

For some reason, Emily wasn't on the same wave length -- maybe not even in the same spectrum -- and said, "Frog oxen?"

We got a good giggle out of that and thus ended the round.

Wordless Wednesday

Old and New

[Scratch...drag...squeak...thump.]

Stepping up on my soapbox.

Ahem...

It's a new year and as the saying goes, "Out with old, in with the new."

I've purposely stayed away from writing about politics on this blog because 1.) I think they're private and 2.) They can be divisive and 3.) I don't often "muse" about them anyway.

But today begs to have a post about it -- if merely because of its significance.

Democracy is alive and well, and today is a perfect example of that, given the fact that one President is leaving office and another is taking his place. The election held in November brought forth a new administration for our country. Democracy at its best...and its worst.

So all that is finished, and yet...

I'm curious why people find it necessary to use their "freedom of speech" to be offensive and insulting...instead of "agreeing to disagree." I'm bothered by the fact that people cannot simply wish someone leaving a happy life and leave it at that. It's disturbing to me that not one of the people (including the new president) has ever walked in the shoes of the past President. Wow! A big eye-opening is about to happen. As it says in Proverbs, "Pride comes before a fall...."

So, while my blog is small and insignificant to anyone else but myself and a few loved ones and friends, I am publicly thanking President Bush for a job WELL DONE!

Thank you for protecting me and my family, especially my little ones. Thank you for standing up for what is RIGHT...and GOOD. Thank you for trying to do your best in all circumstances and serving in your position with pride of nation yet humility of self. Thank you for taking the "heat" for all sorts of things that you didn't have any control over...no thanks to Congress. Thank you most especially for your deep love for GOD and all that He is.

History will vindicate you. It will show what a GREAT president you were and what a GREAT man you are.

My heart pounds quickly in my chest as I know our new president doesn't follow the same guide, that he has a different moral compass. But I will pray for him.

And since I know that God doesn't allow anything to happen outside of His plan, I know we will remain safe and strong, despite anything our government tries to do.

[Thump...thump.]

Okay...stepping down now. *grin*

Methodical Monday Musings

Happy Monday to you! (According to Jadie over at Webmylia this particular Monday is known as "Blue Monday." I love what she suggests in her post.)

Well, it's only the third Monday in January, and I'm finally getting back into blogging regularly. Wow! There is hope!

The holidays were a blur, but we're still digging out financially and routine-wise. And I haven't given up on sending out our "holiday" cards. *wink-grin* (There are LOTS of holidays during the year...so I'm bound to hit one of them, right?)

Still, the year is already whizzing by as per usual. The kids grow alarmingly fast these days. It makes me wonder what kind of "Miracle-Gro" additives we might have in our foods to make them grow up so quickly. I followed Emily down the stairs the other day, and when I got to the bottom, we stepped down and were looking almost eye-to-eye... Yikes!

Today is a school holiday, being Martin Luther King Jr. Day and all, so the kids are busy playing in Edward's room. They get to clean out their rooms later on so I thought they might enjoy some free time first. Isn't that like eating dessert before dinner? Note to self: ....eat more dessert.

Tonight is Episode 5 of 24's newest Season 7. Yippeeeee! Oh, I wonder what's in store for our hero, Jack Bauer. Stuart is away so we'll watch it "together" via the phone. You have to love modern technology. Once, when Stuart was away, we watched it online together. That was challenging since our connections were running at different speeds, and we could hear each other's soundtracks through the phone. Still, we couldn't have done that a decade ago. But that's a whole 'nother post. *wink-grin*

Anyways...I'm off to enjoy the day! Hope you do the same.

Go, Steelers!

Anyone who knows me knows I am not an American football fan. Give me real football or baseball or even rugby or volleyball, and I'm happy as a clam. But I've never been a great fan of the sport with the pigskin ball.

Regardless, I decided to get our "Tiny" his first official football T-shirt since the members of my extended family are HUGE fans of one of the championship teams.

And Ethan seems pleased, huh?

Maybe this will be "his" team, too? *grin*

Saturday Sweetheart

Emily at age 2 -- ever the sweetheart!

Friday Funnies

A silly Friday funny in the spirit of Monday's inauguration. (Parental warning: Since it's definitely of adult nature, it will be a bit crude for younger ears.) But for all women who've "been there, done that," it's an oldie but goodie!

Enjoy! And have a very fun Friday! (Don't forget to pause/stop the sidebar music player.)

"Milano" Go Shopping

"We used to build civilizations. Now we build shopping malls."
~ Bill Bryson, Neither Here Nor There

Stuart has the possibility of going to Milan, Italy, the week before Edward's birthday next month.

I teased that it would be fun to go along, knowing that's not a possibility due to the costs and logistics.

Edward got excited and said he could do his "birthday adventure" there. Then he paused and looked more serious as he said, "But I wanted to do it [birthday adventure] at King of Prussia Mall."

Hmm....

King of Prussia Mall. Milan. King of Prussia Mall. Milan.

I guess in terms of stores and things that interest boys turning 8, the mall wins out. But still...

Wordless (mostly) Wednesday

Our new 4-month-old!

On Parenting, Murphy's Law, and 24

After posting the glowing review of my favorite-most television program, I failed to give some background on our viewing of the show.

I've been waiting approximately 18 months for my favorite show to return. The writers' strike last year along with Southern California fires and Kiefer's incarceration for DUI worked together to bring about this looooong delay. Still, Kiefer did his time, the fires were put out, the filming resumed, and all was back on schedule, delayed by just a year...only 12 months...a mere 365 days...sigh.

Okay. Okay. I'm an adult. I'm mature. I can wait patiently for something fun and important to me to come back, right?

Of course...(snort...huff...sigh...)

Rewind to last Sunday night.

7:30 p.m. -- I'm scurrying around, setting up the VCR, vacuuming the rugs, preparing the coffee machine and snacks, doing whatever is necessary to be ready for a comfortable viewing of our favorite show, the show we've anticipated for sooo loooong.

7:40 p.m. -- Emily calls down that she's not feeling good.

7:42 p.m. -- I resume breathing after suggesting she sit on the toilet. (It's not unusual for her to get a little "put out" that she can't be a part of fun things like this so she fakes illness or does something to get some attention.)

7:45 p.m. -- I'm looking at my watch, wondering where my sister and brother-in-law are...and hoping that they won't show up minutes before the show.

7:50 p.m. -- I lock the dog in his crate to prevent him from "puddling" due to his intense love of my sister.

7:55 p.m. -- Emily announces -- with lots of tears -- that's she's thrown up in the toilet.

7:56 p.m. -- I resume breathing after shouting that "she had to be kidding." Sadly, she wasn't. Happily, I married the most wonderful man in the entire universe, and he went to help her. (Bad Mommy! Bad, bad, bad!! *wink*)

7:59 p.m. -- My sister and brother-in-law show up, just in time for the end credits of The Simpsons.

8:00 p.m. -- We all sit down to watch the first episode of 24 Season 7...snacks and drinks will have to wait for the first commercial break.


Fast-forward to the next night.

There's not so much excitement around the second night of the shows. We all sit comfortably in our own homes. The kids are ready for bed and reading in said-place...no tummy troubles to speak of.

7:38 p.m. -- Stuart drifts off to sleep, promising to take "just a short nap."

7:40 p.m. -- I laugh and tell myself that I don't need to sleep. I might be tired, but it's too close to the actual show to..........

8:00 p.m. -- The Christmas carol clock begins to "sing," waking us both with a complete shock. We scramble to find the TV controllers. I knock over my cup of coffee and smack Stuart with a controller in an effort to start the VCR in time. He's on the floor, trying to mop up the spilt coffee.

8:01 p.m. -- All is "calm" again, and we both sit to watch "Part 2" of the premiere, our hearts still pounding in our chests as we realize we nearly slept right through it all.

* * *

To quote a passage from Robert Burns' poem, "To a Mouse:"

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men/Gang aft agley." (Which roughly translates to "The best-laid plans of mice and men/often go awry.")

Indeed.

Sigh.

24 Hours and Counting...

When I was in high school, there was a cheer that was popular (still might be... I'm out of the loop on that). It went like this: "A-W-E...S-O-M-E! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome are we!" (There's nothing quite so self-promoting as a cheer, huh? *wink*)

Anyways, lest my blog become a solid wall of Ethan-ness in various stages, outfits, and expressions...I thought I'd post a comment or two about the newest season of my favorite show. (Caution: Spoilers may follow.)

After waiting 18 months for the next season...and viewing the first four episodes...I have to say:

1. It was a-w-e...s-o-m-e!
2. It was phenomenal(ly awesome)!
3. Only one week to go until the next (awesome) episode!!!!

(Did I mention that it was AWESOME? You cheering with me yet?)

I'm probably not the most unbiased judge of the show since I've liked every season/episode/blooper reel/anything 24 they've made to date.

I think Kiefer's done a brilliant job of building up the emotions in Jack's character over the seasons. And the action/energy of the show is a perfect match to the drama. I think it's all well and good to have motions in a series, but it needs to be coupled with emotions to bring some depth to the show. Otherwise, it's just a weekly James Bond flick. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. The latest installment of that series was excellent! A true bite-your-nails, edge-of-your-seat kind of movie.)

So I might be a little psyched...pumped...ecstatic for the next episode which is only 6 days, 21 hours, and 59 minutes away...

Okay. Okay. Just a tad excited...

Saturday Sweetheart

Friday Funnies

In honor of Sunday's 24 - Season 7 premiere...an "oldie but goodie."

Thoughtful Thursday

Once upon a time...in a galaxy...oops, I mean, not so long ago...I was a single lady, living in my single apartment with my single rabbit, hamster, and rat, going to my single job at the newspaper, and staying up until all hours without a single care in the world...

...and if I listened...I heard silence.

* * *

Hmm... Life is so different now...

I'm married with three kids.

I live in a house with nine rabbits, one dog, one cat, and a hamster.

I teach the two older kids at home and have been doing so for the past 7 years.

I have a new baby boy...something I haven't had for nearly 8 years.

My daughter dances and my older son plays soccer.

I drive a minivan. [Insert smirky smile here.]

I teach journalism to homeschoolers.

I belong to the Berks County 4-H Rabbit and Cavy Club.

I get excited about new words.

I see the Nutcracker every year.

I know the names and numbers of several different kinds of fighter jets.

I'm nearly 40.

*Sigh*

And I feel so blessed!

I have three wonderful kids, an equally (or more) wonderful hubby, and live in a warm, (mostly) dry house with plenty of chocolate food.

And if I close my eyes and listen, I hear: explosions of silliness...fits of giggles/laughter...arguments between siblings...and it feels good to know I'm exactly where I should be...

...and exactly where I want to be.

Momentous Moment in Time

An historic snapshot!

Wordless Wednesday

Saturday Sweetheart

Happy New Year!

What a difference a year can make! Our family is also enjoying a brandnew year in the life of someone special.

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