Filed under: family
I had posted the other week about how my parents seldom call me except when someone dies. I know my parents read my blog regularly, so I was sure they would see it. It almost made me not write it, but I did. Well, apparently it made a difference, my dad called me last weekend. After my post, I was forced to ask him whether someone had died or if he was calling me because he read my blog and felt guilty. Happily, it was the latter. Lest you think that I never talk to my parents, I generally do call them every couple of weeks- sometimes more often, sometimes less. They just need to call me sometimes when they don’t have bad news.
Filed under: Uncategorized
For the past couple of years, we’ve gotten the occasional piece of junk mail for a chain store that has opened up in our area. I would just mark not at this address and drop it back into the mailbox. Well, for some reason, today was the last straw. I got a piece of mail for a store that is owned by this same store and also opened up in the past couple of years. It didn’t look like your normal junk mail as it was hand addressed by someone with a local return address. Obviously, somewhere or multiple somewheres, my address is listed with this company. I started an on-line search to try to figure this out and was astonished to find it in several locations on the web. Somehow, I don’t think this is going to easily be rectified. Sigh. But, in doing the search I discovered why this is happening. We used to have 2 phone lines when I worked from home as an independent contractor doing computer work. I disconnected the extra phone line years ago, we’re talking probably 7 years ago. The phone company was kind enough to give this phone number to the new store. Somewhere, my address is still associated with this number. I contacted each place I found it, asking them to please remove my address but until I find the higher place where it’s listed, I’ll probably still keep getting mail for them.
Filed under: Books
So I took the Jane Austen heroine quiz and found out that I am most like Elizabeth. This led me to another quiz about which Jane Austen gentleman is for me. Not that it really matters, they are fictional characters, right? Anyway, I found my dream gentleman.
Mr. Darcy. Pride and Prejudice’s FitzWilliam Darcy is aloof, but he feels deeply. If he loves you, he’s made up his mind for good, though you may not have noticed that that’s how he feels. He is, of course, rather too convinced of his own worth and tends towards snobbery, but he has a good heart and will marry you despite what his relations might think.
Take this quiz!
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I wonder how much the fact that I have only seen 2 movies, Pride and Prejudice and Emma, had on my results. Hmm.
Filed under: homeschool
We have a break from our regularly scheduled schoolwork. The kids are taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and Cognitive Abilities Test. Doodles love this week – she thinks the tests are fun and she is happy to have some shorter school days. Buster likes it too. I don’t like it so much because it stresses me out. There is no reason for me to get stressed. Nobody sees the results unless I share them. There are no requirements with the state for us. Really, no reason for stress at all. Except for the little fact that I have to deal with the fact that my kids don’t know everything on the tests and even if they do know it, they might not be able to recall it in a testing situation. For example, Buster asks me during his social studies test what “climate” means. He has dealt with that word at least once or twice a week this whole school year with regards to our geometry. Nope, he can’t remember what it means. And instead of just sitting there quietly doing his best on the test, he will say the answer out loud followed by “Right, Mom?” I refuse to answer him, remind him that he is to work quietly and do his best. Then, he has to say “I’m just going to make an educated guess,” every time he isn’t sure of the answer. I can’t take the stress, I tell ya. Doodles is better about it; thank goodness. I keep telling myself that I’m going to have someone else administer them next time, but it’s just easier for me to do it myself.
Filed under: Books
Doodles and I have been into Jane Austen lately. I admit that I have never read any of her books and Doodles has only read the Great Illustrated Classic version of Pride and Prejudice. I plan on reading at least one of them this summer – probably Pride and Prejudice since it is sitting on my mantel waiting to be read. What we have been doing is watching the movies and I must say that I love them all so far. We started with the P&P with Keira Knightly in it. Then we watched Emma followed by the movie about Jane Austen, Becoming Jane. Now we are watching P&P with Colin Firth so we can compare it to the other one. I’m not one to watch the same movie more than once, but watching the different version is like watching an entirely different movie for me. I’ve really enjoyed them.
But anyway, I came across this quiz and had to take it since we have been watching the movies.
You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.
I can’t say I disagree with it much, except for that prejudgement thing. <grin>
Filed under: family
I’m not talking about when they call for birthdays – I expect calls from them on those days. And once in a while, my mom will call when she is out shopping but immediately asks her question about what size the kids are or if we have use for something or other. It’s those other days when they call out of the blue that give me that sinking feeling in my chest. I’ll tell you why, it’s because they generally only call me when there is bad news of some sort, never just to chat. Last night was one of those nights. It was after 8:00 when my cell phone rang. It was my dad. He didn’t get to the point right away so I was forced to ask him what was going on. He fessed up that there was a reason for his call – my Great-Aunt Arline had died at the age of 87. I can’t believe I’m nearly out of great-aunts now. I’m really glad that I got to see her last year, even though it was very brief.
Filed under: family
I can’t believe that my younger child is now in the double digits. Buster turned 10 today. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get over that until October when Doodles turns 13. It’s going to be a tough year. Tougher than last year when I turned 40. Oh, but this isn’t about me, it’s about Buster, my big 10 year old boy. He isn’t really that big though and since he still wears a size 8, can’t I say that he’s only 8? I see how that could work against me in the future though, so maybe not.
See, look how skinny he is.
He had his part on Sunday at a nearby indoor pool. It’s the first party he’s had since he turned 7. He’s generally happy to have me hand over $50 instead of having a party. We actually had to make him have a party this year. We probably won’t have that problem again when so many of his friends gave him cash for a present – he’s realized that he can get a lot more than $50 by having a party. Darn it.
This morning, he got up before 8am for some odd reason. Doodles wanted to give him her present right away so they could play with it. She bought him a Playmobil castle to go with the other castle sets they already have. It’s now set up in our hearth room along with the other sets. They played with it for a while before deciding they had to get on the internet to play Runescape.
For lunch, he wanted to go to a greasy pizza joint that has a buffet. It’s nasty pizza, but it’s his day, so we went. It was followed by a quick trip to Target so he could spend a gift card, along with some cash, to get a new Wii game. Had we not given him the gift from Boxman and me before we left, he might have felt compelled to buy a new Nintendo DS instead. It could have saved me $130, but I was still feeling guilty over destroying his old DS trying to put a new shell on it. He’s thrilled to have a DS again and the fact that it’s the blue and black one is even better. He’s been going back and forth between the Wii and the DS since we’ve been home.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I was driving Doodles and two of her dance friends home today – we carpool and I always have to drive home during rush on on Thursdays. Not a good time to hit an intersection near our house. I have been known to try to avoid it in several different ways, but none of them seem very good. Well, I was in the left lane, knowing that I was going to have to make a right turn, but usually I have plenty of time to switch lanes. It was backed up pretty far today and I didn’t have that chance. So, I turned right into a parking lot and just cut through it to make my left turn. Yes, I know you aren’t supposed to do that, but I was stuck in the other lane. Well, today they happened to have 5, yes 5, motorcycle police officers monitoring for that very situation and I was snagged. Yes, I know it broke the “cutting corners” law as the officer explained to me and I will pay the fine. It’s just frustrating to me as I am one of the most law abiding drivers you’ve seen. I come to an absolute, complete stop at a stop sign. I do not speed in residential areas, near schools, etc. Okay, so I might go 5 over the speed limit on the highway. I have never passed a car illegally. Everyone in my vehicle is always buckled up, and Buster at nearly 10 is even still in a booster seat. I don’t run red lights. I’m probably one of those people that everyone else gets annoyed with because I follow the law. But I get a ticket. Yes, I know, I earned it, but how come everyone else always gets away with so much and I get stopped? Even Boxman manages to get off with just warnings, except one time. Life’s so unfair (said in my best whining voice).
