Week Eleven (1/19-25)

I was in my car waiting in line at my son's elementary school to pick him up. There really isn't much to do except waste gas and wait your turn to pull off the street into the loading zone. In front of me this day was a bright yellow Pontiac Aztek. On the back window was a quote:

 

 

 

Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing. Optimus Prime

 

 

 

While the quote was...nice? At the time I couldn't help but be a bit scared that an adult...who by the way is raising at least one child to be a productive member of society...thought so much of the Transformers movies that he ordered a "Bumblebee" colored SUV and then thought "NO! That's not enough! I want a quote by Optimus Prime on the back window!".

 

 

 

I had wondered if when this family gets in the car, did the parents say:

Transform and roll out!

 

 

 

It bothered me that someone had come to the conclusion that a movie quote was so awe inspiring that it belonged on their car. Not just as a bumper sticker, but meticulously placed in lettering at the bottom of the back window? I had to admit I was curious about what their house was like. Of course they'd have the full collection of the movies, but did they have a room devoted to Transformers?

 

 

 

I have my favorite quotes. I've mentioned before the Shirley MacLaine quote:

 

 

The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.

 

 

 

I like Teddy Roosevelt's quote:

 

 

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

 

 

 

I also follow the Dalai Lama on Twitter. One I really liked recently was:

 

 

It is vital that when educating our children’s brains that we do not neglect to educate their hearts.

 

 

 

I think these are all wonderful quotes. But, you know, the important word I finally realized that I needed to focus on in that sentence is 'I'. The world is made up of individuals. That's a good thing! Yes, I didn't get it. It seemed kind of 'youthful' for a parent, but I'm an older parent ! There's a good chance those Transformer parents could be young enough to be MY child! Yikes!

 

 

 

Plus I can't say I haven't been influenced by a movie or song. I tried to teach myself Italian after seeing "Only You", and there was a time not so long ago that I felt a song by Dusty Springfield named "Wishin' and Hopin'" was a good way to win a man. I felt by being what I thought he wanted me to be and only focus on his likes and dislikes instead of who I really was I could "win" his attention:

 

 

...Show him that you care, just for him. Do the things that he likes to do. Wear your hair just for him, 'Cause you won't get him Thinkin' and a prayin',Wishin' and a hopin'...

 

 

What I learned this week can be summed up in another old quote:

 

 

 

Whatever floats your boat.

Week Ten 1/12-18

I'm a little late with this week's words. Busy, busy, busy. I've been helping out a friend and it has been time consuming. The friend is Sheila and I always love getting a chance to spend time with her. Life just seems to get in the way of a lot of the time for both of us, as it often does, but no matter how much time passes we have the ability to pick right up where we left off and enjoy each other's company.



I do love Sheila! She is my girl and so much fun to be around and talk to. We have been friends now for around twenty-five years I guess. She is one of those people who has Lived. I have told her often she needs to write a book of her adventures. I know it would be a best seller. She has hitchhiked across the country back when you could without worry, she has sold flowers on street corners in Arizona, went to concerts in her hippy days...I asked her if she went to Woodstock and she said no, at the time she heard about it she had decided it sounded boring, but you have to think how it sounded: 'Hey, wanna drive for thousands of miles to go to a concert in New York state in a cow pasture?'



When I asked her about the free love at concerts back then she answered it like this: "If you have a loaf of bread, and you meet a guy with a jar of peanut butter, hey, you got together."



Before you get an image in your head, she is not one of those people who never left the 60's or 70's. She does not live in a dome house out in the middle of the woods growing her own foods. She lives in a duplex.



I remember Stephen King talked about people who quit growing mentally and emotionally at a certain period in their lives: The man who still slicks his hair back and wears his high school letter man jacket even though he's old and retired. Or the woman who still rats her hair like she did in high school 40 years ago... They reached a high in their lives and don't want to leave that time, so they refuse to acknowledge life has marched on. But life is about change. Change is good most of the time. It's like the people who won't try a new food. I don't get that! I love finding something new. It's how you experience life. My life would be so sad if I had never tried GOOD balsamic vinegar, or wasabi, or Greek yogurt, or Kobe beef...mmmmm. I think everyone should try new foods when the chance presents itself. You may say, oh, yea? Would you eat chocolate covered grasshoppers? My answer is yes I would! I've never had the opportunity, but I would! I expect my son to try new foods, and I must lead by example. My experience had been 80% good, but even if it was 50% I'd continue. I love that moment when you take that first bite of something new and awesome and your eyes roll back in your head and it is almost orgasmic! Never want to give that up!

Lessons learned?

1. To live in the now and grow in all the ways I can. The past is over, learn from it. The future is yet to come, so worry won't help you. Enjoy today! It's all we've got!

Week Nine (1/5-11)

It seems like the Universe is testing me by making sure I don't have the time alone to think and work on my blog. This week Paul hurt his back and might have a herniated disc.  I'm so sorry on so many levels that he's hurt: I don't like to see him in pain, I don't like knowing he's going to be home, I don't like knowing I'm going to be driving him to so many doctors appointments... No!

I promised you and myself I wouldn't whine... Trust me when I say I could EASILY pull something off the shelf if I did want to whine! Did you know there are a lot of words for whine: pule, whimper, complain, grouch, grump, crab, gripe, grouse, kick, beef, bellyache, and bitch. Kick and beef surprise me. Kick is an action... 'I could just kick myself'. Action. But there's also 'Man! What a kick!' Isn't that good? Even: 'That was a kick in the pants!' That could go either way if you ask me, good or whine. And 'beef'? Only thing that comes to mind is 'So what's your beef?' I think if someone said it to me I'd think I was in an old black and white Humphrey Bogart movie. 'Pule' is an odd word, but even though I've never heard it before it makes a whinny sound when you say it aloud, and it actually goes with whimper, which is using sounds rather than words to let others know you're all bummed out, so I'll accept it. I can't stand when someone pules either! It's annoying.

On a good note I love the coated tongs Paul got me for Christmas! I can't believe how happy they make me. You see cooks on TV using them all the time, but it had never sunk in that I needed a pair. L-o-v-e them! Highly recommend them to everyone who cooks anything.

What I learned this week:

Some new words I hope you never use to describe me.

Week Eight (12/29-1/4)

Happy New Year. 2012. Woo Hoo. Guess that covers that.

I've had a house full of sickos all through the holidays. First it was the flu. Somehow I avoided it. Now it's a stomach virus, and so far I'm okay. I've started a regiment of taking one of those fizzy anti sick seltzers anytime someone is down and will continue daily until they're both better. So far so good! I recently learned zinc is the magic. I had already known when I had laryngitis all I had to do was suck on a REAL zinc pill and my voice would return a lot faster than if I didn't. Now I've discovered those fizzy drinks and it's so much tastier. With my asthma getting sick is a big deal. I think I'll be better when everyone is back where they're supposed to be: OUT OF THE HOUSE! First Damien was out of school from Dec 23-Jan 2nd, but then the stomach flu kept him home an extra day. THEN Paul got the stomach flu from Damien and he's home. I'm trying not to scream at the top of my lungs out of frustration, and it's hard. I may be a mother, but I've never claimed to be Motherly! This morning after I took Damien to school I sat in the car for about ten minutes, car off, radio off, just listened to the quiet until I felt able to face hopefully the last day of the sick house. I'll take it where I can get it!

I get annoyed when Paul starts blathering that he thinks he has a fever. I know what he wants, and if I try to ignore him he'll keep it up until I give in and get up and feel his forehead. Almost every time he's never even warm. If I try to just hand him the thermometer he'll say he can't read it on his own so I still have to get off my butt. I've had to stop myself from flicking him in the forehead for bothering me more than once. I really ought to start that. Every time I have to stop what I'm doing to feel his forehead and he's NOT at least moderately warm, I'm going to flick him in the forehead! If I have to pour the Pepto Bismol into the cup for him because he's 'too weak' or too dizzy to stand up and do it himself I'm going to flick him in the forehead! If I have to run to the store because he wants something he knows we don't have I'm tipping myself from his pants pocket...and flicking him in the forehead! Paul's a Leo. He expects to be petted and mollycoddled... I'm just not a coddler at all. I'm a Scorpio and I don't even coddle myself.

Damien on the other hand is also a Scorpio. He hates to be coddled or loved on now that he's older. When he was younger he liked to cuddle on the couch, but he's no longer a little boy. When he's sick he'll put up with a quick hand on the forehead, but after that leave him alone. He's just fine. Give him a little Sprite and chicken soup and leave. He does get lazy and will sit on his bed and yell "Mom!" expecting me to come to him to see a commercial he thinks is funny or has something he wants to own, but never when he's sick. I think part is, like I said, he's a Scorpio, but also I decided when he was born not to treat him like a piece of crystal. I had read an article about a study that said the reason girls were girlie was because they were handled more gently when babies, while boys are handled more...not rough...but less gentle. Adults/parents think a baby boy can 'handle it'. It went on to say that baby boys who were handled like they would break stood a much bigger chance of being more sissy-like. I'm not saying gay! That's how you're born no matter what. I'm just saying they cry when they fall, or just can't handled hard play with other kids. They're just less tough. It's the same with girls. The baby girls who aren't treated like they're made of eggshell will be the tomboys who can keep up with the boys. They grow up to climb mountains or race cars or join roller derby teams.

What I learned?

My bank has a checking account for those 50 and older. Free checking, free checks, interest on money, no minimum amount, discount on safety deposit boxes. First good thing of being 50! ...Yea, I know it has nothing to do with what I wrote above, but I had to get that in! lol