Over at the Trees and Flowers and Birds! she tagged all the August Moms with the Honest Scrap Award a bit a go in hopes of that some of the Moms who let their blogs get dusty would dust them off and do something.
“When you get the Honest Scrap award, you are meant to grace your readers with 10 honest things about yourself, and then pass on the award to other blog friends who write honestly and truly about themselves and events in their life."
1. I am an introvert. I even need to be away from Fly Guy once and awhile or I feel overwhelmed. This might be why I like swimming so much because it is like a sensory deprivation chamber I am with my own thoughts and I like that.
2. I rather have loud music, then caffeine to wake me up. I can't stand the early morning swimmers who have coffee on their breath it just makes my stomach flip.
3. I have to really trust someone to be able to share an opinion with them. I rather let someone think I have no opinion than have an argument over points of view. Yes I am very much a wimp when it comes to that.
4. I view myself as a Mainer before I view myself as a US citizen.
5. I don't like my life that much right now. I want a real paying 9 to 5 type job, but I am still needed to help the girls with their learning differences. I have all the time in the world to have that sort of job not much time left to make sure the girls have learned what they need to know about themselves and their differences before they head out in to the world.
6. When I retire I want to either work as a Ferry Boat pilot at Walt Disney World or one of their VIP trip planning people.
7. I am scared that I am going to live a long time like all the women in my family and not have anyone to live it with. Fly Guy's family tend to die young and since I am antisocial and an introvert I have trouble making friends.
8. I have found a bar in Maine I like. I love the older gay men that hang out there. There is one table I really like to sit at when I eat there. It is in the corner so I can see everything that is going on. I really like to people watch, maybe because if I watch people enough I can figure out how to be social. ;-)
9. I really really do not understand British comedy I really just don't get it....I don't laugh, I just look at it really really puzzled.
10. With all the good and bad stuff in my life, I wouldn't change a bit of it.
Showing posts with label Me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Me. Show all posts
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A challenge
A few weeks ago LSM issued me a challenge to state my "thoughts on the joys (or travails) of mothering."
Is it wrong that I had a lot of problems thinking up something to write about it? Then Fly Guy sent me a link to this blog. It is about postpartum depression.
I don't remember History Girl's newborn days that well. I remember wanting to hit my MIL after she asked me if I had bonded with History Girl and would I run in front of a bus to save her. I didn't say anything right away because it was such a far out question typical of my MIL. It just annoyed me. I am not sure when I bonded with History Girl, it didn't happen like it does on TV and in the movies when they hand you the baby and all you feel is love for that baby. I didn't have thoughts of hurting History Girl, just bonding didn't come quickly. I wrote it off as the fact that I had never been around babies. I never took care of babies. History Girl's diapers were the first diapers I ever changed. I never babysat, I made more money lifegaurding so babysitting never made sense to me. So I wrote bonding issues off as being very new to the baby thing and having problems breastfeeding. The bond was something that grew slowly. It was there sometime around the time History Girl was 13 months old when she broke her elbow.
Horse Girl was born when History Girl was 3.5 years old. I didn't expect the bonding to happen right away because it didn't with History Girl. I did expect breastfeeding to be a problem so I was ready for that. Breastfeeding was hard work and we had a lactation consultant come to the house to help and had a nurse come to the house to weigh Horse Girl every other day or so. It finally worked out and I thought since breastfeeding was working out I will bond quicker this time. Well that wasn't the case.
When Horse Girl was about a month or two old. I remember not being able to handle the girls any more. I was a failure as a mother and I had to get out of there. I left the house and went to the garage planning to leave the girls in the house a lone and run away. Once I got to the car I found I had a flat tire. So I couldn't go anywhere. When I look back at that situation, that is when I truly believe that there is some sort of higher power, because if there wasn't a flat tire who knows what I would have done, how long the girls would have been a lone, what I would have done to myself and stuff like that. I ended up going back inside and calling my OB/GYN and telling her what happened. She called in a prescription for an antidepressant. My father picked it up for me and brought it to me. Once I started taking the meds, I remember Horse Girl's smiles and how wonderful they were, I think I bonded with her with in a few weeks after starting the meds. I was on the medication for about 6 months to a year.
I rarely talk about the postpartum depression because that whole time of my life is so foggy to me that I just don't remember it. I think I suffered from postpartum depression on various levels from the time History Girl was born until I was on medication. I wish I had realized what was going on at the time. I feel like I missed History Girl's newborn and toddler years....I am glad I took a lot of photos and notes so I can look back on them.
I don't think this is what LSM was looking for when she issued the challenge, but this is my response. I hope that having another mother come out of the closet when it comes to PPD that it will make it easier for new mothers to realize it happens it is normal and get help.
OK, so I covered the travails, how about a few joys.
I love that at 9 years old Horse Girl still loves cuddles and she tells me that I am a good cuddler.
I love that History Girl feels she can share her private writing with me.
I love that History Girl's friends see me as a cool mom and like hanging out at our house.
I love watching both girls become more grown up every day and seeing glimpses of the adults they will be one day.
I know there are other things I love, but can't think of them right now. :-)
Is it wrong that I had a lot of problems thinking up something to write about it? Then Fly Guy sent me a link to this blog. It is about postpartum depression.
I don't remember History Girl's newborn days that well. I remember wanting to hit my MIL after she asked me if I had bonded with History Girl and would I run in front of a bus to save her. I didn't say anything right away because it was such a far out question typical of my MIL. It just annoyed me. I am not sure when I bonded with History Girl, it didn't happen like it does on TV and in the movies when they hand you the baby and all you feel is love for that baby. I didn't have thoughts of hurting History Girl, just bonding didn't come quickly. I wrote it off as the fact that I had never been around babies. I never took care of babies. History Girl's diapers were the first diapers I ever changed. I never babysat, I made more money lifegaurding so babysitting never made sense to me. So I wrote bonding issues off as being very new to the baby thing and having problems breastfeeding. The bond was something that grew slowly. It was there sometime around the time History Girl was 13 months old when she broke her elbow.
Horse Girl was born when History Girl was 3.5 years old. I didn't expect the bonding to happen right away because it didn't with History Girl. I did expect breastfeeding to be a problem so I was ready for that. Breastfeeding was hard work and we had a lactation consultant come to the house to help and had a nurse come to the house to weigh Horse Girl every other day or so. It finally worked out and I thought since breastfeeding was working out I will bond quicker this time. Well that wasn't the case.
When Horse Girl was about a month or two old. I remember not being able to handle the girls any more. I was a failure as a mother and I had to get out of there. I left the house and went to the garage planning to leave the girls in the house a lone and run away. Once I got to the car I found I had a flat tire. So I couldn't go anywhere. When I look back at that situation, that is when I truly believe that there is some sort of higher power, because if there wasn't a flat tire who knows what I would have done, how long the girls would have been a lone, what I would have done to myself and stuff like that. I ended up going back inside and calling my OB/GYN and telling her what happened. She called in a prescription for an antidepressant. My father picked it up for me and brought it to me. Once I started taking the meds, I remember Horse Girl's smiles and how wonderful they were, I think I bonded with her with in a few weeks after starting the meds. I was on the medication for about 6 months to a year.
I rarely talk about the postpartum depression because that whole time of my life is so foggy to me that I just don't remember it. I think I suffered from postpartum depression on various levels from the time History Girl was born until I was on medication. I wish I had realized what was going on at the time. I feel like I missed History Girl's newborn and toddler years....I am glad I took a lot of photos and notes so I can look back on them.
I don't think this is what LSM was looking for when she issued the challenge, but this is my response. I hope that having another mother come out of the closet when it comes to PPD that it will make it easier for new mothers to realize it happens it is normal and get help.
OK, so I covered the travails, how about a few joys.
I love that at 9 years old Horse Girl still loves cuddles and she tells me that I am a good cuddler.
I love that History Girl feels she can share her private writing with me.
I love that History Girl's friends see me as a cool mom and like hanging out at our house.
I love watching both girls become more grown up every day and seeing glimpses of the adults they will be one day.
I know there are other things I love, but can't think of them right now. :-)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Facebook Meme
I stole this from Trees and flowers and birds!
Guidelines:
1. Put your iTunes or Windows Media Player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your next answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how outrageous it sounds!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the note from.
IF SOMEONE SAYS, “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
“Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” by The Doors I have no idea what that would mean. :-)
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
“Sugar Magnolia” by Greateful Dead “She pays my ticket when I speed.” I could be like Sugar Magnolia, a good partner in a relationship paying speeding tickets, dancing a Cajan rhythm, and discovering the wonders of nature. I have no idea. :-)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
“Mack the Knife” by Ella Fitzgerald I know what that means....I like a person who can think on their feet and that really discribes Fly Guy. In this version Ella forgets the words to the song and like any good jazz singer she makes it up without losing a beat and that is why I love her as a singer. Fly Guy always is able to think on his feet in a way that I can and I admire him when it comes to that.
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
“Five Feet High and Rising” by Johnny Cash Life’s Purpose....well maybe get out of a tough spot and help other people out. I have no idea...I am reaching. :-)
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
“Sychronicity II” by The Police Well The Police have been my favorate band since about 1981 or 1982. But I do believe that there is a synchronicity and something just are ment to happen in they way the do. There is just a synchronicity in how and when events happen and you might now know why at the time but sooner or later it will all become clear and that it happened for a reason.
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
“Space Oddity” by David Bowie I am not sure how I feel about that ...either they think I am odd or that I am a depressed astronaut. hmmm...not sure how to take that :-)
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN?
(“Darlin’) You Know I Love You” by Tina Turner I do think about Fly Guy often and he would be the only person in my life I would think about calling “Darlin’” and it is unlikely I would even call him that.
WHAT IS 2+2?
“Mama Kin” by Aerosmith If anyone has something to connect these please tell me.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
“The Figure 11” by The Mother Hips I have no idea with this one either.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
“Beer for My Horses” by Willie Nelson Fly Guy has a stong sence of right and wrong and he will fight to the end to get what is right. The people that stand by him and support him he treats well giving Wiskey to his men and beer to their horses...well figurtivly I think Horse Girl would be upset if he gave horses beer.
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
“Green Suede Shoes” by Black 47 I have no idea what this has to do with my life story except it is fun to play very loud and dance around the kitchen to. :-) The song is more or less about a Hard Irish Rock band making it through the US. ...that is the watered down version. :-)
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
“Tempted” by Squeeze Hmmmm....I think I am going to just leave this one be.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
“Come Together” by Peanut Butter Disco Hmmm...I will leave that one be also.
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
“Sad and Deep As You” by Traffic Not even close to the song we danced to at our wedding, but we did listen to a lot of Traffic and Blind Faith (the two bands share two musicians) when we first were dating. We requested that “Can’t Find My Way Home” by Blind Fairth be played at our wedding, but they wouldn’t do it during the dancing part only the eating.
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
“If I Ever Leave this World Alive” by Flogging Molly Accually I have always figured this is a song that will be played at Fly Guys wake. A lot Irish beer and wiskey flowing and some hard Irish Music.
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
“Living in The Past” by Jethro Tull Well this is just too good. Being a person who loves reading History books...so in a way my hobby is living in the past.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
“What A Wonderful World” by Joey Romone That my friends make my life a wonderful world, but in order to be my friend they have to be a little different so that is why it is Joey Romone rather then Louis Armstong. :-)
WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
“Empty Bed Blues” by Beasie Smith Well that says a lot....something happening to Fly Guy and him not being around is one of the worst thing that could happen, but I won’t say it is the worst thing that could happen because the worst thing is always something you didn’t think of.
HOW WILL YOU DIE?
“House Burning Down” by The Jimi Hendrix Experince The last two have been too freaky.
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
“The Big Race” by Mark Isham The fact I didn’t swim in enough big swim meets when I was growing up? Your guess is as good as mine.
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
“”Permanent Waves” by The Kinks Well the thought of my hair curly is a bit of a laugh plus the lyrics to many Kniks songs are so funny.
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
“Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel Well I guess in a way it does I once had a good friend who loved Peter Gabriel, so all Peter Gabriel’s songs remind me of her and the thought of a friendship dieing is sad.
WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
“I’d Wait a Million Years” by The Grass Roots If I wasn’t already married this would be the perfect answer.
WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
“Hot Rich Girls Dropped in a Grange (Gwen Stefani vs Snoop Dogg vs ZZ Top) by Torero (This is a mashup that is when someone takes a bunch of songs and take them apart and put them together in a new way that is suprisingly good a lot of times.)
If I knew how Hot Rich Girls are being dropped in a Grange it would scare me.
DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
“Beach Party Vietnam” by The Dead Milkmen Hmm...that is interesting I have a whole beach party that likes me.
Guidelines:
1. Put your iTunes or Windows Media Player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your next answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how outrageous it sounds!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the note from.
IF SOMEONE SAYS, “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
“Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” by The Doors I have no idea what that would mean. :-)
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
“Sugar Magnolia” by Greateful Dead “She pays my ticket when I speed.” I could be like Sugar Magnolia, a good partner in a relationship paying speeding tickets, dancing a Cajan rhythm, and discovering the wonders of nature. I have no idea. :-)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
“Mack the Knife” by Ella Fitzgerald I know what that means....I like a person who can think on their feet and that really discribes Fly Guy. In this version Ella forgets the words to the song and like any good jazz singer she makes it up without losing a beat and that is why I love her as a singer. Fly Guy always is able to think on his feet in a way that I can and I admire him when it comes to that.
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
“Five Feet High and Rising” by Johnny Cash Life’s Purpose....well maybe get out of a tough spot and help other people out. I have no idea...I am reaching. :-)
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
“Sychronicity II” by The Police Well The Police have been my favorate band since about 1981 or 1982. But I do believe that there is a synchronicity and something just are ment to happen in they way the do. There is just a synchronicity in how and when events happen and you might now know why at the time but sooner or later it will all become clear and that it happened for a reason.
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
“Space Oddity” by David Bowie I am not sure how I feel about that ...either they think I am odd or that I am a depressed astronaut. hmmm...not sure how to take that :-)
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN?
(“Darlin’) You Know I Love You” by Tina Turner I do think about Fly Guy often and he would be the only person in my life I would think about calling “Darlin’” and it is unlikely I would even call him that.
WHAT IS 2+2?
“Mama Kin” by Aerosmith If anyone has something to connect these please tell me.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
“The Figure 11” by The Mother Hips I have no idea with this one either.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
“Beer for My Horses” by Willie Nelson Fly Guy has a stong sence of right and wrong and he will fight to the end to get what is right. The people that stand by him and support him he treats well giving Wiskey to his men and beer to their horses...well figurtivly I think Horse Girl would be upset if he gave horses beer.
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
“Green Suede Shoes” by Black 47 I have no idea what this has to do with my life story except it is fun to play very loud and dance around the kitchen to. :-) The song is more or less about a Hard Irish Rock band making it through the US. ...that is the watered down version. :-)
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
“Tempted” by Squeeze Hmmmm....I think I am going to just leave this one be.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
“Come Together” by Peanut Butter Disco Hmmm...I will leave that one be also.
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
“Sad and Deep As You” by Traffic Not even close to the song we danced to at our wedding, but we did listen to a lot of Traffic and Blind Faith (the two bands share two musicians) when we first were dating. We requested that “Can’t Find My Way Home” by Blind Fairth be played at our wedding, but they wouldn’t do it during the dancing part only the eating.
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
“If I Ever Leave this World Alive” by Flogging Molly Accually I have always figured this is a song that will be played at Fly Guys wake. A lot Irish beer and wiskey flowing and some hard Irish Music.
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
“Living in The Past” by Jethro Tull Well this is just too good. Being a person who loves reading History books...so in a way my hobby is living in the past.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
“What A Wonderful World” by Joey Romone That my friends make my life a wonderful world, but in order to be my friend they have to be a little different so that is why it is Joey Romone rather then Louis Armstong. :-)
WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
“Empty Bed Blues” by Beasie Smith Well that says a lot....something happening to Fly Guy and him not being around is one of the worst thing that could happen, but I won’t say it is the worst thing that could happen because the worst thing is always something you didn’t think of.
HOW WILL YOU DIE?
“House Burning Down” by The Jimi Hendrix Experince The last two have been too freaky.
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
“The Big Race” by Mark Isham The fact I didn’t swim in enough big swim meets when I was growing up? Your guess is as good as mine.
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
“”Permanent Waves” by The Kinks Well the thought of my hair curly is a bit of a laugh plus the lyrics to many Kniks songs are so funny.
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
“Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel Well I guess in a way it does I once had a good friend who loved Peter Gabriel, so all Peter Gabriel’s songs remind me of her and the thought of a friendship dieing is sad.
WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
“I’d Wait a Million Years” by The Grass Roots If I wasn’t already married this would be the perfect answer.
WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
“Hot Rich Girls Dropped in a Grange (Gwen Stefani vs Snoop Dogg vs ZZ Top) by Torero (This is a mashup that is when someone takes a bunch of songs and take them apart and put them together in a new way that is suprisingly good a lot of times.)
If I knew how Hot Rich Girls are being dropped in a Grange it would scare me.
DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
“Beach Party Vietnam” by The Dead Milkmen Hmm...that is interesting I have a whole beach party that likes me.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
What's your word
Your Word is "Peace" |
 You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of. Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you. While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life. You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway. |
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Have You Ever?
Have You Ever?
I stole this from Trees and flowers and birds!
1. Have you ever been on TV? Yes several times.
Once to talk about the pressure society puts on women to breastfeed. Since History Girl wasn’t able to breastfeed and even LLL members said there was a reason bottles were invented. Then Horse Girl breastfeed forever. I was viewed as a person who could see both sides.
Once about the importance of giving blood.
Once just before I did a polar bear dip on January 1st. They wanted to know what causes a seemingly normal person to jump in the ocean in the middle of a Maine Winter. The answer is it was there, it looked interesting and I am not one to back away from trying something just because it is odd.
2. Have you ever sung in public? Only when they made me in school.
3. Have you ever dyed your hair blond? A blond streak to make putting non-natural colors in my hair easier, but never 100% blond.
4. Have you ever eaten frogs’ legs? Nope never.
5. Have you ever received a present that you really hated? Yes. I had a friend who thought of herself as creative and she was in many different ways. She would make me gifts and well she was never able to made something in a style I liked. So every time she gave me a gift I was torn because I was pleased she cared about me enough to make me a gift, but it never seemed that she cared to make something I would like, just she was making that sort of thing at the time and she would just do one more and give it to me as a gift. After awhile the emotional struggle I had with every gift she made me just got so huge I hated all the gifts she made me. That might make me a bad person because I really disliked her handmade gifts....but anyone who knows me knows a pink batik of a cat framed in a acrylic box frame just isn’t me and she just didn’t care to get it.
6. Have you ever walked into a lamp post? No. Rode my bike in to a fence and flipped over the fence yes. :-)
7. Have you ever cooked a meal by yourself for more than 15 people? No, never by myself. Fly Guy is a much better cook then I am so I leave the big meals for him to do and I just help.
8. Have you ever fallen or stumbled in front of others? Does the day end in a y, if it does I most likely did it today.
9. Have you ever done volunteer work? Yes. Sexual Assault Response Services, Toy Fund, and in the girls school
I stole this from Trees and flowers and birds!
1. Have you ever been on TV? Yes several times.
Once to talk about the pressure society puts on women to breastfeed. Since History Girl wasn’t able to breastfeed and even LLL members said there was a reason bottles were invented. Then Horse Girl breastfeed forever. I was viewed as a person who could see both sides.
Once about the importance of giving blood.
Once just before I did a polar bear dip on January 1st. They wanted to know what causes a seemingly normal person to jump in the ocean in the middle of a Maine Winter. The answer is it was there, it looked interesting and I am not one to back away from trying something just because it is odd.
2. Have you ever sung in public? Only when they made me in school.
3. Have you ever dyed your hair blond? A blond streak to make putting non-natural colors in my hair easier, but never 100% blond.
4. Have you ever eaten frogs’ legs? Nope never.
5. Have you ever received a present that you really hated? Yes. I had a friend who thought of herself as creative and she was in many different ways. She would make me gifts and well she was never able to made something in a style I liked. So every time she gave me a gift I was torn because I was pleased she cared about me enough to make me a gift, but it never seemed that she cared to make something I would like, just she was making that sort of thing at the time and she would just do one more and give it to me as a gift. After awhile the emotional struggle I had with every gift she made me just got so huge I hated all the gifts she made me. That might make me a bad person because I really disliked her handmade gifts....but anyone who knows me knows a pink batik of a cat framed in a acrylic box frame just isn’t me and she just didn’t care to get it.
6. Have you ever walked into a lamp post? No. Rode my bike in to a fence and flipped over the fence yes. :-)
7. Have you ever cooked a meal by yourself for more than 15 people? No, never by myself. Fly Guy is a much better cook then I am so I leave the big meals for him to do and I just help.
8. Have you ever fallen or stumbled in front of others? Does the day end in a y, if it does I most likely did it today.
9. Have you ever done volunteer work? Yes. Sexual Assault Response Services, Toy Fund, and in the girls school
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Finally the cliff hanger is over
I have posted about the Red Panda before. The last episode on May 17, 2008, left a huge cliff hanger....well today was the first episode of the season. My whole family was up and listening to it by 8am. :-) I could said it was worth the wait. ;-) Just in case someone else cares here is the link to the episode and here is the link to Decoder Ring Theatre. Their shows are well worth it.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
another quiz
I stole this quiz from Trees and Flowers and Birds...she got the same result....maybe that is why we get along so well. :-)
Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...
NFPC - The Artist
Nature, Foreground, Big Picture, and Color
You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on what’s in front of you (the foreground) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to deal directly with whatever comes your way without dealing with speculating possibilities or outcomes you can’t control. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Drums
Horse Girl told me this morning during our driving around this morning that she wants to take up drums. This isn't the first time she has asked to do this. My response has always been the same. The school offers drum lessons in 6th grade so she could take lessons then. Then she said to me she was going to have Pop-Pop (Fly Guy's Stepfather) buy her a set of drums because he promised her a First Communion gift the next time they saw each other. My mind started whirling with thoughts.
You see I love drums...when I listen to music I hear the drums and everything else is extra. One of the reasons I love The Police is because Stewart Copeland has no equal when it comes to playing drums.
I took drum lessons in school, but my parents being who they are and not knowing what they doing with regards to helping their LD kid get what she needed in school...listened to the music teacher who said that I couldn't possibly play drums because of my LD. I kept fighting them on it and a year later then all my peers started drum lessons at school. I had no support at home. My parents would only pay for my sticks...I didn't even have a practice pad I had to fake it with a Frisbee. I had to push myself to practice...with my brother they had him sit down 30-45 mins everyday at the piano and they watched over his practice. My drum instructor clearly didn't think I would make it...plus I was older then the other kids in the lesson so I got pulled out of a different part of class rather then quiet study time...I got pulled out of math and when they did word problems I got a D- because a dyslexic and word problems just sucks and I wasn't in the class for them. So my parents said I had to give up drumming because clearly it was affecting my school work. Ever since then I have wanted to take up drumming again and get a teacher who doesn't give a damn about my LD or even better doesn't even know I have it.
So the idea of Horse Girl getting a set of drums just makes my heart sing. It would be a step closer to what I would like to do. Horse Girl said that maybe she could get Pop-Pop buy a whole set of drums. I told her you only really need one drum to start with and that way you can get a better quality drum and slowly build up a drum kit. She said that makes sense, but she would want a cymbal also. I told her we might be able to work that out. :-)
Horse Girl and I were stuck in traffic with me and I put on some Police and she air drummed with me. I will have to see about lessons for her. She has the benefit of a mom who knows what she is going through and knows the words to say to tell the doubters to just shut-up. So maybe she will go farther with drums then I did. That would make me happy.
BTW a couple weeks ago my mother told me she was sorry that she didn't stick up for me in school more or in a better way. She said she always wanted to believe what the teachers told her and she just followed along. She sees me question the Horse Girl's teachers all the time and check to see how Horse Girl is doing, so she feels like she didn't do as good a job as she could have. I told her she didn't know any better, she was doing what seemed right at the time, just as I am doing what seems right at this time. I am not sure what I would do if I didn't have the Internet and could research things deeply at home. I don't have time to spend a lot of time at a library doing research. Plus I have the benefit that my mother never had, I have traveled this road that Horse Girl has traveled and I know the words that made me feel better when I was discouraged and I can talk to Horse Girl about how it took me forever to read and now I am reading all the time. So that is a major thing my mother just never had and never will have, so my relationship with Horse Girl, her school and her teachers will always be different then my mother's relationship with me, my school and my teachers.
You see I love drums...when I listen to music I hear the drums and everything else is extra. One of the reasons I love The Police is because Stewart Copeland has no equal when it comes to playing drums.
I took drum lessons in school, but my parents being who they are and not knowing what they doing with regards to helping their LD kid get what she needed in school...listened to the music teacher who said that I couldn't possibly play drums because of my LD. I kept fighting them on it and a year later then all my peers started drum lessons at school. I had no support at home. My parents would only pay for my sticks...I didn't even have a practice pad I had to fake it with a Frisbee. I had to push myself to practice...with my brother they had him sit down 30-45 mins everyday at the piano and they watched over his practice. My drum instructor clearly didn't think I would make it...plus I was older then the other kids in the lesson so I got pulled out of a different part of class rather then quiet study time...I got pulled out of math and when they did word problems I got a D- because a dyslexic and word problems just sucks and I wasn't in the class for them. So my parents said I had to give up drumming because clearly it was affecting my school work. Ever since then I have wanted to take up drumming again and get a teacher who doesn't give a damn about my LD or even better doesn't even know I have it.
So the idea of Horse Girl getting a set of drums just makes my heart sing. It would be a step closer to what I would like to do. Horse Girl said that maybe she could get Pop-Pop buy a whole set of drums. I told her you only really need one drum to start with and that way you can get a better quality drum and slowly build up a drum kit. She said that makes sense, but she would want a cymbal also. I told her we might be able to work that out. :-)
Horse Girl and I were stuck in traffic with me and I put on some Police and she air drummed with me. I will have to see about lessons for her. She has the benefit of a mom who knows what she is going through and knows the words to say to tell the doubters to just shut-up. So maybe she will go farther with drums then I did. That would make me happy.
BTW a couple weeks ago my mother told me she was sorry that she didn't stick up for me in school more or in a better way. She said she always wanted to believe what the teachers told her and she just followed along. She sees me question the Horse Girl's teachers all the time and check to see how Horse Girl is doing, so she feels like she didn't do as good a job as she could have. I told her she didn't know any better, she was doing what seemed right at the time, just as I am doing what seems right at this time. I am not sure what I would do if I didn't have the Internet and could research things deeply at home. I don't have time to spend a lot of time at a library doing research. Plus I have the benefit that my mother never had, I have traveled this road that Horse Girl has traveled and I know the words that made me feel better when I was discouraged and I can talk to Horse Girl about how it took me forever to read and now I am reading all the time. So that is a major thing my mother just never had and never will have, so my relationship with Horse Girl, her school and her teachers will always be different then my mother's relationship with me, my school and my teachers.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Musings
I have talked about how dyslexics look at the world differently and think about things differently and I was thinking about something while driving Horse Girl around which made me stop and think...wonder how many people actually think about these things as they go about their day to day lives.
Before I share what I was thinking about driving around I want to share a couple other times my different ways of thinking about stuff helped solve a problem.
First thing was when we moved into this house the previous owners left a old concrete column laying on the ground by the back stairs of the deck. I hated that thing and talked about getting rid of it. Everyone one I talked to talked about how heavy it was and how hard it would be to cart it away. Well I thought about it for a bit and came up with an idea. I dug a hole beside the column and under it a bit and rolled it into the hole buried it and covered it with sod. Nobody can tell that it was ever there. It was lucky I figured it out because a month later Horse Girl fell off those steps and her head would have landed on that column
Second thing was we were refinishing our living room floor. We pulled up the old carpet and there was something stuck on the floor. It wouldn't sand off, it would slowly chisel off, but vary slowly and risked damaging the floor. Once again I thought about it a bit and decided to heat up the area with an iron and then try to remove it. It came up with no problem at all and no damage to the floor.
Ok...now we are at the point about what I was thinking about when driving Horse Girl around this morning. Well I got to thinking about teleportation and the invention of it.
I thought about how people are mostly space and it is the electro-magnetic forces that cause us to feel solid...well not just people everything. If we were able to stop the electro-magnetic forces then we would be reduced to the size of a pinhead, but if we did that the pin would be affected also so it would be smaller also. So I kept thinking about all this and trying to figure out if this had any value with regard to teleportation. Then I got side tracked and started thinking about dimensions.
First I wondered why is time viewed as the forth dimension? Shouldn't it be a 0th dimension, you can really only naturally go in one direction, you can't back up, so it seems to me that it would be a zero dimension....a dimension, but with less directions the the others so zero. Then I got to thinking about the other dimensions.
Ok......1st dimension is a line. Then the 2nd dimension is a square. Then the 3rd dimension is a cube. Then the 4th dimension if it isn't time would be another shape, that we can't understand because of our 3D thought process.
There could be 4D objects all around us, but we can't tell because we see things as 3D. Because if you are 3D world and you look at a ball you would see a sphere. If you were in a 2D world you would look at a ball and see a circle. If you were in a 1D world you would see a line. So in our 3D world we might be looking at 4 dimensions (or more) and only seeing them as 3D because that is all we can see it as.
Then I dropped off Horse Girl so train of thought was lost again. Then started thinking about how freaky it is when you really think about all the space between the electrons, neutrons and protons....to look at things that look and feel solid and know there is a ton of space there. Then I got home and had to get the laundry started and so my mind went elsewhere again. :-)
With all this does it surprise you when "crazy" ideas I tell them it might be true, but we don't know now. Like Horse Girl was talking to me about how horses talk to each other in horse language. I know most parents would say that the horses communicate, but don't have a language. How do we know that 100%? Are you a horse...has any human been a horse? So we don't know 100% horses may have a language with words that we just can't see, hear or understand. Who knows maybe Horse Girl will break that code.
I just know in High School biology the teacher kept saying that all living things are carbon based. I kept asking was he 100% sure. Couldn't there be living things on another planet based off a different element? There is a whole bunch of elements with the same bonding capabilities as carbon....Star Trek took the idea of silicon life form and ran with it for one episode. Then there is the argument that there is only so many planets in the world that they think can support life because of tempture and water variations. Who says life has to be just like us...maybe there is a life form that doesn't need water but liquid nitrogen and likes it very very cold. This could be why my biology teacher was pleased when I stopped taking biology courses in favor of physics and chemistry. :-)
Closing one's mind to other off the wall possibilities could easily prevent people seeing stuff that is right in front of their face.
So that is all I mean about thinking about things differently and why I think a good number of scientist and inventors are dyslexic. They just have a different way of looking at things.
Before I share what I was thinking about driving around I want to share a couple other times my different ways of thinking about stuff helped solve a problem.
First thing was when we moved into this house the previous owners left a old concrete column laying on the ground by the back stairs of the deck. I hated that thing and talked about getting rid of it. Everyone one I talked to talked about how heavy it was and how hard it would be to cart it away. Well I thought about it for a bit and came up with an idea. I dug a hole beside the column and under it a bit and rolled it into the hole buried it and covered it with sod. Nobody can tell that it was ever there. It was lucky I figured it out because a month later Horse Girl fell off those steps and her head would have landed on that column
Second thing was we were refinishing our living room floor. We pulled up the old carpet and there was something stuck on the floor. It wouldn't sand off, it would slowly chisel off, but vary slowly and risked damaging the floor. Once again I thought about it a bit and decided to heat up the area with an iron and then try to remove it. It came up with no problem at all and no damage to the floor.
Ok...now we are at the point about what I was thinking about when driving Horse Girl around this morning. Well I got to thinking about teleportation and the invention of it.
I thought about how people are mostly space and it is the electro-magnetic forces that cause us to feel solid...well not just people everything. If we were able to stop the electro-magnetic forces then we would be reduced to the size of a pinhead, but if we did that the pin would be affected also so it would be smaller also. So I kept thinking about all this and trying to figure out if this had any value with regard to teleportation. Then I got side tracked and started thinking about dimensions.
First I wondered why is time viewed as the forth dimension? Shouldn't it be a 0th dimension, you can really only naturally go in one direction, you can't back up, so it seems to me that it would be a zero dimension....a dimension, but with less directions the the others so zero. Then I got to thinking about the other dimensions.
Ok......1st dimension is a line. Then the 2nd dimension is a square. Then the 3rd dimension is a cube. Then the 4th dimension if it isn't time would be another shape, that we can't understand because of our 3D thought process.
There could be 4D objects all around us, but we can't tell because we see things as 3D. Because if you are 3D world and you look at a ball you would see a sphere. If you were in a 2D world you would look at a ball and see a circle. If you were in a 1D world you would see a line. So in our 3D world we might be looking at 4 dimensions (or more) and only seeing them as 3D because that is all we can see it as.
Then I dropped off Horse Girl so train of thought was lost again. Then started thinking about how freaky it is when you really think about all the space between the electrons, neutrons and protons....to look at things that look and feel solid and know there is a ton of space there. Then I got home and had to get the laundry started and so my mind went elsewhere again. :-)
With all this does it surprise you when "crazy" ideas I tell them it might be true, but we don't know now. Like Horse Girl was talking to me about how horses talk to each other in horse language. I know most parents would say that the horses communicate, but don't have a language. How do we know that 100%? Are you a horse...has any human been a horse? So we don't know 100% horses may have a language with words that we just can't see, hear or understand. Who knows maybe Horse Girl will break that code.
I just know in High School biology the teacher kept saying that all living things are carbon based. I kept asking was he 100% sure. Couldn't there be living things on another planet based off a different element? There is a whole bunch of elements with the same bonding capabilities as carbon....Star Trek took the idea of silicon life form and ran with it for one episode. Then there is the argument that there is only so many planets in the world that they think can support life because of tempture and water variations. Who says life has to be just like us...maybe there is a life form that doesn't need water but liquid nitrogen and likes it very very cold. This could be why my biology teacher was pleased when I stopped taking biology courses in favor of physics and chemistry. :-)
Closing one's mind to other off the wall possibilities could easily prevent people seeing stuff that is right in front of their face.
So that is all I mean about thinking about things differently and why I think a good number of scientist and inventors are dyslexic. They just have a different way of looking at things.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Dream Vacation
I was thinking after doing the Flickr Mosaic about what would my dream vacation. There are vacations that I love doing like going to Disney World, but there is one major once in a lifetime vacation that is my dream vacation.
I would love to fly to Alaska and visit Sitka, Alaska. Visit the The Russian Bishop's House, which is one of the oldest intact Russian buildings in North America. Also I would have to go see the New Archangel Dancers. Also while in Alaska visit Kodiak, Alaska and see the Baranov Museum which has some great exibits on the collonial Russia period in Alaska. I would also have to visit Juneau, but most of the Russian heritage has been lost there. Except St Nicholas's Church, here is a better photo of it.
Currently there is no easy way to go between Alaska and Vladivostok so most likely I would need to fly, but there has been talks of a bridge between Russia and Alaska or a ferry. So if it takes forever for me to take this trip then who knows how I will get between the two places.
Then I would cross over to Russia and take the trans-Siberian railroad from Vladivostok to Moscow. Currently there is one company major company that deals with Trans-Siberian railroad tours....that I trust. Most of their tours go West to East, but I know I don't want to go West to East, I want to go East to West. Their only East to West tour starts in Bejing, but I would want to start in Vladivostok which is a different spur of the Trans-Siberian railroad, it is the origanal rail.
So start in Vladivostok then head to Lake Baikal, maybe have day at the lake and hanging out at the beach. Then head on to Irkutsk visit some of the museums and historical landmarks there. During both the Decemberists Revolt and the civil war after Bolshevik Revolution had major battles in Irkutsk, so plenty of Historic sights.
Then on to Yekaterinburg, a place I have always wanted to visit. It is the city the Last Tsar and his family were executed. The house they were executed in was torn down by order of Yeltsin. It is also where Gary Powers was shot down on May 1, 1960, to it played a major part in both the Revolution and the Cold War, it is a must see during this dream vacation.
Then off to Moscow....there are so many things I want to see again in Moscow, that I wouldn't know where to start listing them. I love Moscow it is clearly a city built up around a fortress. If you look at a map of Moscow, you see the Kremlin in the center of circular roads. I am not going to bother to retype the history of the Kremlin go see it here if you are interested. So Moscow grew like a tree adding more circular roads as it grew.
Then I need to see the Moscow Metro again....when I saw it in 1986, it was amazing. it was clean and wasn't like any subway I have ever seen before or since. It had carvings on the walls, paintings on the ceilings, and chandeliers. It also has these very very steep very fast esculators. I need to see how the Metro has handled these really rough decade or two.
I have to go see St. Basil's again, it looks amazing in photos, but in person it is awe inspiring. Then there is Cathedral Square with all the other amazing Cathedrals, it is where all the major events happened during the Tsarist period until Peter the Great moved the capital to St. Petersburg.
There is enough stuff in Moscow that I would loved to do that I could spend months there without a problem, but then I sill need to make it to St. Petersburg. To me there is only one way to get from Moscow to St. Petersburg and that is one of the daily night trains. I would pick the Red Arrow because that is the most famous one of the bunch....plus it was the one I rode when I was there 22 years ago. I remember being way too late it leaves around midnight and catching the train and getting into Leningrad the next morning and it was well run and my first train experance so there is a soft spot in my heart for it.
Now with going to St. Petersburg the timing needs to be just right. I want to be there during the white nights. I need time to visit Tarskoye Selo.......hmm..I just realized that I can't narrow my list down to just a few places I want to visit there. Check out this virtual tour if you want to see why I can't narrow it down. I have to say Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, is my favorate city in the world. It is amazing. It is beautiful in a way most cities aren't...it is historical in a way I love. The major problem is coming to grips with the number of people who died while building the city for Peter the Great. About 300,000 people died building the city do to illness and lack of food and other things. So sometimes it is hard to balance the beauty with the horror. Also there is the amazing WWII history around St. Petersburg.
Oh one of the things I need to take a long time exploring is The Hermitage...I only had a day to see it last time and I didn't even make a small dent in it. I think at least a week would cover a good amount.
After all that I will fly home to Maine and take a long rest.
I would love to fly to Alaska and visit Sitka, Alaska. Visit the The Russian Bishop's House, which is one of the oldest intact Russian buildings in North America. Also I would have to go see the New Archangel Dancers. Also while in Alaska visit Kodiak, Alaska and see the Baranov Museum which has some great exibits on the collonial Russia period in Alaska. I would also have to visit Juneau, but most of the Russian heritage has been lost there. Except St Nicholas's Church, here is a better photo of it.
Currently there is no easy way to go between Alaska and Vladivostok so most likely I would need to fly, but there has been talks of a bridge between Russia and Alaska or a ferry. So if it takes forever for me to take this trip then who knows how I will get between the two places.
Then I would cross over to Russia and take the trans-Siberian railroad from Vladivostok to Moscow. Currently there is one company major company that deals with Trans-Siberian railroad tours....that I trust. Most of their tours go West to East, but I know I don't want to go West to East, I want to go East to West. Their only East to West tour starts in Bejing, but I would want to start in Vladivostok which is a different spur of the Trans-Siberian railroad, it is the origanal rail.
So start in Vladivostok then head to Lake Baikal, maybe have day at the lake and hanging out at the beach. Then head on to Irkutsk visit some of the museums and historical landmarks there. During both the Decemberists Revolt and the civil war after Bolshevik Revolution had major battles in Irkutsk, so plenty of Historic sights.
Then on to Yekaterinburg, a place I have always wanted to visit. It is the city the Last Tsar and his family were executed. The house they were executed in was torn down by order of Yeltsin. It is also where Gary Powers was shot down on May 1, 1960, to it played a major part in both the Revolution and the Cold War, it is a must see during this dream vacation.
Then off to Moscow....there are so many things I want to see again in Moscow, that I wouldn't know where to start listing them. I love Moscow it is clearly a city built up around a fortress. If you look at a map of Moscow, you see the Kremlin in the center of circular roads. I am not going to bother to retype the history of the Kremlin go see it here if you are interested. So Moscow grew like a tree adding more circular roads as it grew.
Then I need to see the Moscow Metro again....when I saw it in 1986, it was amazing. it was clean and wasn't like any subway I have ever seen before or since. It had carvings on the walls, paintings on the ceilings, and chandeliers. It also has these very very steep very fast esculators. I need to see how the Metro has handled these really rough decade or two.
I have to go see St. Basil's again, it looks amazing in photos, but in person it is awe inspiring. Then there is Cathedral Square with all the other amazing Cathedrals, it is where all the major events happened during the Tsarist period until Peter the Great moved the capital to St. Petersburg.
There is enough stuff in Moscow that I would loved to do that I could spend months there without a problem, but then I sill need to make it to St. Petersburg. To me there is only one way to get from Moscow to St. Petersburg and that is one of the daily night trains. I would pick the Red Arrow because that is the most famous one of the bunch....plus it was the one I rode when I was there 22 years ago. I remember being way too late it leaves around midnight and catching the train and getting into Leningrad the next morning and it was well run and my first train experance so there is a soft spot in my heart for it.
Now with going to St. Petersburg the timing needs to be just right. I want to be there during the white nights. I need time to visit Tarskoye Selo.......hmm..I just realized that I can't narrow my list down to just a few places I want to visit there. Check out this virtual tour if you want to see why I can't narrow it down. I have to say Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, is my favorate city in the world. It is amazing. It is beautiful in a way most cities aren't...it is historical in a way I love. The major problem is coming to grips with the number of people who died while building the city for Peter the Great. About 300,000 people died building the city do to illness and lack of food and other things. So sometimes it is hard to balance the beauty with the horror. Also there is the amazing WWII history around St. Petersburg.
Oh one of the things I need to take a long time exploring is The Hermitage...I only had a day to see it last time and I didn't even make a small dent in it. I think at least a week would cover a good amount.
After all that I will fly home to Maine and take a long rest.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Flickr Mosaic
I had to copy this from One Feather Tail who copied it from Are We There Yet.
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? right now?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.
1. Horcruxes para Squibs, 2. Happy Kiwi, 3. 2007 Lobster Bake 30.jpg, 4. The Photographer, 5. drew barrymore [for becca], 6. Ice music, a winter xylophone, 7. Girl on the Platform, 8. 57/366, 9. ST. BASIL CATHEDRAL, Moscow, Russia, 10. duck to duck to duck..., 11. Got milk?, 12. My First Computer
Sunday, June 8, 2008
The ABCs and XYZs of me
Stolen from my August Mom friends
The ABCs and XYZs of me
Accent: Some sort of Maine accent...but not Downeast Maine or northern Maine. I have to remember to not put an R sound at the end of idea and that parka doesn’t have an R sound in the end and fork does have an R sound in it.
Bra size: 36A a size that is hard to find
Chore I hate: Cleaning
Dad’s name: Thomas
Essential make-up: Green tinted mostorizer with sunscreen
Favorite perfume: Victoria
Gold or Silver: Silver
Hometown: Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Interesting fact:
Job title:stay at home mom/lunch aide/a little bit of everything
Kids: two kids
Living arrangements: Married with kids
Mom’s Birthplace: Portland, ME
Number of apples eaten in last week: 5 or so
Overnight hospital stays: I was in the hospital for about 10 days when I was 10 years old because of a car accident. My Dr. told my parent’s I nearly died, but I never felt that way. I have to say this event has had major effect on the rest of my life. It caused me to start swimming so I could build up my lungs again. I wonder why I lived all the time. There have been other events that made me wonder why I lived. Then I was in the hospital for the birth of both girls. In the hospital over night for another car accident. Overnight for a bladder infection during one of the pregancies because it was causing preterm contractions.
Phobia: Spiders
Question you ask yourself a lot: Why am I here? What the heck am I doing? Am I insane?
Religious affiliation: Marian Catholic
Siblings: one brother
Time I wake up: 5am when I am swimming in the morning and around 6:30am when I am not
Unnatural hair color: my natural hair color is brown. Currently I have a blonde streak just for fun...I have had a red streak, but that that fades quickly in the Summer sun.
Vegetable I refuse to eat: brussel sprouts
Worst habit: the fact I am a bit of a slob...there are so many wonderful things to do in this world why waste it cleaning
X-rays: More then I can count. Mostly to check to see how my lungs are doing, some to check for bone injuries
Yummy food I make: Linguine with white clam sauce
Zodiac sign: Aquarius
The ABCs and XYZs of me
Accent: Some sort of Maine accent...but not Downeast Maine or northern Maine. I have to remember to not put an R sound at the end of idea and that parka doesn’t have an R sound in the end and fork does have an R sound in it.
Bra size: 36A a size that is hard to find
Chore I hate: Cleaning
Dad’s name: Thomas
Essential make-up: Green tinted mostorizer with sunscreen
Favorite perfume: Victoria
Gold or Silver: Silver
Hometown: Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Interesting fact:
Job title:stay at home mom/lunch aide/a little bit of everything
Kids: two kids
Living arrangements: Married with kids
Mom’s Birthplace: Portland, ME
Number of apples eaten in last week: 5 or so
Overnight hospital stays: I was in the hospital for about 10 days when I was 10 years old because of a car accident. My Dr. told my parent’s I nearly died, but I never felt that way. I have to say this event has had major effect on the rest of my life. It caused me to start swimming so I could build up my lungs again. I wonder why I lived all the time. There have been other events that made me wonder why I lived. Then I was in the hospital for the birth of both girls. In the hospital over night for another car accident. Overnight for a bladder infection during one of the pregancies because it was causing preterm contractions.
Phobia: Spiders
Question you ask yourself a lot: Why am I here? What the heck am I doing? Am I insane?
Religious affiliation: Marian Catholic
Siblings: one brother
Time I wake up: 5am when I am swimming in the morning and around 6:30am when I am not
Unnatural hair color: my natural hair color is brown. Currently I have a blonde streak just for fun...I have had a red streak, but that that fades quickly in the Summer sun.
Vegetable I refuse to eat: brussel sprouts
Worst habit: the fact I am a bit of a slob...there are so many wonderful things to do in this world why waste it cleaning
X-rays: More then I can count. Mostly to check to see how my lungs are doing, some to check for bone injuries
Yummy food I make: Linguine with white clam sauce
Zodiac sign: Aquarius
Monday, April 7, 2008
Looking for Fluff
I am going on vacation in a week or so and I was just thinking I need to bring a book or two to read. I don't do fluff books often. I think the last major fluff book I read was "The Secret Life of Bees" and that was 2 years ago I think......hmmm....that isn't totally true. I re-read the Wizard of 4th Street series by Simon Hawke less then a year ago. For the most part the books I read are biographies or historical in some way. Currently I am reading "Buried by the Times: The Holocaust and America's Most Important Newspaper" it is a good book, but I am finding I can't read it before bed. Since I can't seem to read it before bed it doesn't seem like it would be a good vacation book.
Fly Guy just gave me four great books....none of them vacation type books. Fly Guy has the ability to find some great books, but they are never fluffy books. He got me "The Russian Revolution & the Soviet State 1917 - 1921 Documents"(I can't find a link of this book on the Internet to link to so I can show it.), "Daily Life in Russia Under the Last Tsar", "All Stalin's Men" and "The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin From the interrogations of Hitler's closest personal aides". As you can see none of the four are fluffy vacation books. Fly Guy doesn't understand vacation books.
So what I would like people to do for me is in the comments here list some of your most favorite Fluff/Vacation book and tell me why you like it.
thanks :-)
Fly Guy just gave me four great books....none of them vacation type books. Fly Guy has the ability to find some great books, but they are never fluffy books. He got me "The Russian Revolution & the Soviet State 1917 - 1921 Documents"(I can't find a link of this book on the Internet to link to so I can show it.), "Daily Life in Russia Under the Last Tsar", "All Stalin's Men" and "The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin From the interrogations of Hitler's closest personal aides". As you can see none of the four are fluffy vacation books. Fly Guy doesn't understand vacation books.
So what I would like people to do for me is in the comments here list some of your most favorite Fluff/Vacation book and tell me why you like it.
thanks :-)
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sentance Meme
I Am… who I am and nothing more.
I Want… peace on earth and good will toward fellow humans, but if I can’t have that solar panels for my house would be cool. :-)
I Have… a wonderful husband who supports me in everything I want to do.
I Wish… I could read faster.
I Hate… cooking.
I Fear… drowning....isn’t that a funny thing for a swimmer to be fearful of? The idea of drowning either while in water or in my own fluids with lung failure just makes my skin crawl and causes me to panic.
I Hear… Horse Girl watching TV since she is home sick from school.
I Search... for anything and everything. I love doing research. I search for random things on the Web because I want something to read or do.
I Wonder… why I have survived.
I Regret… nothing. Every choice I have made has caused me to be where I am in my life and I like where I am. That doesn’t mean I want my kids to make the same choices I have made.
I Love… my family.
I Ache… in my heart. Days that I am dealing with my chronic depression my heart physically hurts and I wish I could just reach in a pull it out.
I Always… try to view things in a positive light.
I Usually… smell like chlorine.
I Dance… with my girls in the kitchen.
I Sing… in the car at the top of my lungs with my girls.
I Never… have gone to a topless beach.
I Rarely… understand the IRS.
I Cry… rarely. People think that a person who deals with depression would cry all the time. I don’t.
I Am Not… like everyone else....to quote The Kinks.
I Lose… my mind on a regular basis.
I’m Confused… about how to spell most words.
I Need…. a new swimsuit.
I Should be… doing laundry, cleaning the house and all the other drudgery that I hate.
I Want… peace on earth and good will toward fellow humans, but if I can’t have that solar panels for my house would be cool. :-)
I Have… a wonderful husband who supports me in everything I want to do.
I Wish… I could read faster.
I Hate… cooking.
I Fear… drowning....isn’t that a funny thing for a swimmer to be fearful of? The idea of drowning either while in water or in my own fluids with lung failure just makes my skin crawl and causes me to panic.
I Hear… Horse Girl watching TV since she is home sick from school.
I Search... for anything and everything. I love doing research. I search for random things on the Web because I want something to read or do.
I Wonder… why I have survived.
I Regret… nothing. Every choice I have made has caused me to be where I am in my life and I like where I am. That doesn’t mean I want my kids to make the same choices I have made.
I Love… my family.
I Ache… in my heart. Days that I am dealing with my chronic depression my heart physically hurts and I wish I could just reach in a pull it out.
I Always… try to view things in a positive light.
I Usually… smell like chlorine.
I Dance… with my girls in the kitchen.
I Sing… in the car at the top of my lungs with my girls.
I Never… have gone to a topless beach.
I Rarely… understand the IRS.
I Cry… rarely. People think that a person who deals with depression would cry all the time. I don’t.
I Am Not… like everyone else....to quote The Kinks.
I Lose… my mind on a regular basis.
I’m Confused… about how to spell most words.
I Need…. a new swimsuit.
I Should be… doing laundry, cleaning the house and all the other drudgery that I hate.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Gifted and Talented and Learning Disabled
I have been reading a lot lately about what some people call twice-exceptional people. People with learning disablities and are gifted. Reading some of these research papers and journal articles about this subject is just freaky for me. It is like looking into some sort of mirror. I read about the typical traits for twice-exceptional people (I have trouble with term, but it could be from my self-critical part of me..which is a personally trait that is talked about a lot) and they hit my major personally traits right on. Then to read about how people who are both gifted and learning disabled and how they tend to deal with depression and be prone to suicide. I have always concidered my depression and suicidal thoughts to be a seprate issue then my learning disablity. Maybe that isn't the case. Since I have been having an emotionally down period the last couple of weeks reading these articles have caused me to think a little differently about my depression. I don't think it will cause me to change anything I do for my depression it just is making me think about it differently.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
First things first wrapping up Movie Meme
I am not a big person on hints so to me either you know it or you don't. That is my basis on arguing for extended time on standerized testing for people who have learning difference so I can't change my view just for this Movie Meme. I gave people extended time now time for the answers. :-)
1. Dreyfus once wrote from Devil's Island that he would see the most glorious birds. Many years later in Brittany he realized they had only been seagulls... For me they will always be - *glorious* birds.
Is from "Harold and Maude" it is an amzing movie and it defined a large part of my high school years. Maude said this quote.
2. Johnny Damon, you got the sweetest ass in the league!
Is from "Fever Pitch" which is the best Red Soc movie ever made, plus it has Drew Barrymore in it need I say more? Viv says this...she is one of the people that Ben has made friends with because her season tickets are next to his.
3. Yes, and I'm the bastard son of a peasant. What does that have to do with anything?
Is from "Ever After" which is a Cinderella story with a twist, the fairy Godmother is Leonardo da Vinci. It is just a a refreshing look at the Cinderella story and it has Drew Barrymore in it. (yes I have a crush on Drew Barrymore. :-) ) This quote is said by Leonardo da Vinci.
4. Rambling Mom got this one correct. Arsenic and Old Lace.
5. He was their friend, and he betrayed them. He was their *friend*! I hope he finds me! Cause when he does, I'm gonna be ready. When he does, I'm gonna kill him!
Doc Thelma knew this one but couldn't say because she had already given one answer. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"
6. Doc Thelma got this one. "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" I just love this Star Trek movie I know it is not most people's favorate when it comes to the Star Trek movies, but it is mine.
7. A souvenir. I thought it'd be a good idea to have a duplicate, turns out I was right. I actually had to pay for the souvenir *and* the real one, so you owe me $35, plus tax.
This is from "National Treasure" my whole family loves this movie. I think it might be History Girl's favorate movie. I enjoy it and think it is well done, I am worried that they are going to ruin it with sequls though. This quote was said by Benjamin Franklin Gates.
8. Nicole got this one. It is from the "Wedding Singer" once again a Drew Barrymore movie....yes I do have a crush on Drew Barrymore, have you seen her Covergirl TV ads? :-) Almost enough for me to buy Covergirl make-up. ;-)
9. addittothelist got this one it is from "The Big Chill" I have always loved the music from this movie.
10. You see, their young enter through the ears and wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex. This has the effect of rendering the victim extremely susceptible to suggestion. Later as they grow follows madness and death.
Doc Thelma also knew this one but couldn't say "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" just the clasic Star Trek movie, no lover of Star Trek can make a list of movies without this one on it. :-)
I have to say I left off one of my most favorate movie quote ever. I will leave it here and see if anyone can figure it out.
"Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud."
good luck. ;-)
1. Dreyfus once wrote from Devil's Island that he would see the most glorious birds. Many years later in Brittany he realized they had only been seagulls... For me they will always be - *glorious* birds.
Is from "Harold and Maude" it is an amzing movie and it defined a large part of my high school years. Maude said this quote.
2. Johnny Damon, you got the sweetest ass in the league!
Is from "Fever Pitch" which is the best Red Soc movie ever made, plus it has Drew Barrymore in it need I say more? Viv says this...she is one of the people that Ben has made friends with because her season tickets are next to his.
3. Yes, and I'm the bastard son of a peasant. What does that have to do with anything?
Is from "Ever After" which is a Cinderella story with a twist, the fairy Godmother is Leonardo da Vinci. It is just a a refreshing look at the Cinderella story and it has Drew Barrymore in it. (yes I have a crush on Drew Barrymore. :-) ) This quote is said by Leonardo da Vinci.
4. Rambling Mom got this one correct. Arsenic and Old Lace.
5. He was their friend, and he betrayed them. He was their *friend*! I hope he finds me! Cause when he does, I'm gonna be ready. When he does, I'm gonna kill him!
Doc Thelma knew this one but couldn't say because she had already given one answer. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"
6. Doc Thelma got this one. "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" I just love this Star Trek movie I know it is not most people's favorate when it comes to the Star Trek movies, but it is mine.
7. A souvenir. I thought it'd be a good idea to have a duplicate, turns out I was right. I actually had to pay for the souvenir *and* the real one, so you owe me $35, plus tax.
This is from "National Treasure" my whole family loves this movie. I think it might be History Girl's favorate movie. I enjoy it and think it is well done, I am worried that they are going to ruin it with sequls though. This quote was said by Benjamin Franklin Gates.
8. Nicole got this one. It is from the "Wedding Singer" once again a Drew Barrymore movie....yes I do have a crush on Drew Barrymore, have you seen her Covergirl TV ads? :-) Almost enough for me to buy Covergirl make-up. ;-)
9. addittothelist got this one it is from "The Big Chill" I have always loved the music from this movie.
10. You see, their young enter through the ears and wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex. This has the effect of rendering the victim extremely susceptible to suggestion. Later as they grow follows madness and death.
Doc Thelma also knew this one but couldn't say "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" just the clasic Star Trek movie, no lover of Star Trek can make a list of movies without this one on it. :-)
I have to say I left off one of my most favorate movie quote ever. I will leave it here and see if anyone can figure it out.
"Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud."
good luck. ;-)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Reading time with Horse Girl
Every night before bedtime I read to Horse Girl. Tonight we read one chapter out of "Little Town on the Prarie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder and then we read "Thank You, Mr. Falker" by Patricia Polacco.
After I was done with "Thank You, Mr. Falker" Horse Girl told me she likes that book a lot because it is like her. I told her I like it a lot too, but it makes me cry every time I read it. She asked me why. I told her that Mr. Falker is a lot like a teacher I had and the story reminds me of me and that teacher. She understood.
"Thank You, Mr. Falker" is about a little girl's journey though the school system with kids teasing her because she can't read and feeling dumb because she can't read. She starts hating school because of all this. Then she meets Mr. Falker when she enters 5th grade. Mr. Falker sees her as the bright kid she is. Asks the kids who teased her which one of them is so perfect that they can tease someone else. Mr. Falker ends up helping the little girl to read in the end.
Yes it could be a corny feel-good story, but the thing is the little girl in the story is Patricia Polacco who grows up to write these wonderful children's books. So it is really a very moving true story.
I like it also because it shows how important good teachers are for kids. I believe people have a calling to be teachers. You can tell the ones who are following their calling as soon as you walk into their classroom. Everyone has a teacher they know that they can say that about. To me if being a teacher is a calling, being a special ed teacher is something even more. It is something that a person really needs to be born to do. Yes you can study it and learn about it, but working one on one with this gentle soul who may already be hurting because they can't do what their peers can, takes a very special person. I had three special ed teachers growing up. Each and everyone of them would have done anything to help me become the best student I could be. I owe everything to them. When I see Horse Girl's special ed teacher I see the same traits in her as I did in my special ed teachers. I know because of what this teacher does for Horse Girl, that Horse Girl will remember her for the rest of her life.
I once tried to tell Horse Girl's special ed teacher about how highly I value special ed teachers and she started to tear up, so I stopped. I am not suprised because I know I tear up when I think about her and how she helps Horse Girl and when I think of the teachers who helped me.
Thank you, all the teachers who really make a difference.
After I was done with "Thank You, Mr. Falker" Horse Girl told me she likes that book a lot because it is like her. I told her I like it a lot too, but it makes me cry every time I read it. She asked me why. I told her that Mr. Falker is a lot like a teacher I had and the story reminds me of me and that teacher. She understood.
"Thank You, Mr. Falker" is about a little girl's journey though the school system with kids teasing her because she can't read and feeling dumb because she can't read. She starts hating school because of all this. Then she meets Mr. Falker when she enters 5th grade. Mr. Falker sees her as the bright kid she is. Asks the kids who teased her which one of them is so perfect that they can tease someone else. Mr. Falker ends up helping the little girl to read in the end.
Yes it could be a corny feel-good story, but the thing is the little girl in the story is Patricia Polacco who grows up to write these wonderful children's books. So it is really a very moving true story.
I like it also because it shows how important good teachers are for kids. I believe people have a calling to be teachers. You can tell the ones who are following their calling as soon as you walk into their classroom. Everyone has a teacher they know that they can say that about. To me if being a teacher is a calling, being a special ed teacher is something even more. It is something that a person really needs to be born to do. Yes you can study it and learn about it, but working one on one with this gentle soul who may already be hurting because they can't do what their peers can, takes a very special person. I had three special ed teachers growing up. Each and everyone of them would have done anything to help me become the best student I could be. I owe everything to them. When I see Horse Girl's special ed teacher I see the same traits in her as I did in my special ed teachers. I know because of what this teacher does for Horse Girl, that Horse Girl will remember her for the rest of her life.
I once tried to tell Horse Girl's special ed teacher about how highly I value special ed teachers and she started to tear up, so I stopped. I am not suprised because I know I tear up when I think about her and how she helps Horse Girl and when I think of the teachers who helped me.
Thank you, all the teachers who really make a difference.
Grande Finale Tickets
I was able to get ticket's to The Police grand finale in NY on August 4th. I was able to get them within 10 minutes of them going on sale. My girls knew not to talk to mom until I said ok. :-) *happy dance*
Monday, February 18, 2008
Feburary Vacation
Well today is the first day of Feburary vacation. Horse Girl is on her back with the flu. It seems that she can't even keep down her own spit...so she is vomiting often. I have just given her some flat ginger ale and that seems to be helping.
Horse Girl just had her first sleep over this weekend, it was to celebrate her 8th birthday. Then last night we went to my parent's to celebrate her birthday. She was doing fine. So hearing her vomit in her bed this morning was the first time that we had a clue she wasn't feeling well.
Feburary is normally a good month for us. Both my birthday and horse girl's birthday is in Feburary. Swimming is going in full swing so my depression is normally dormant. Most importantly we are over the hump when it comes to winter....we only have March and April left. (April only if it is a really hard winter......I am betting we will have snow in April this winter because of how hard this winter has been.)
Yay...Horse Girl just sate up without vomiting.....that is a very good thing. :-)
Horse Girl just had her first sleep over this weekend, it was to celebrate her 8th birthday. Then last night we went to my parent's to celebrate her birthday. She was doing fine. So hearing her vomit in her bed this morning was the first time that we had a clue she wasn't feeling well.
Feburary is normally a good month for us. Both my birthday and horse girl's birthday is in Feburary. Swimming is going in full swing so my depression is normally dormant. Most importantly we are over the hump when it comes to winter....we only have March and April left. (April only if it is a really hard winter......I am betting we will have snow in April this winter because of how hard this winter has been.)
Yay...Horse Girl just sate up without vomiting.....that is a very good thing. :-)
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Police are coming around again
The Police announced yesturday that their Grande Finale Concert will be August 4, 2008 in Wantagh, NY. I just got the concert listings today. They have that Grande Finale concert. They also have a concert in Boston (which would be cheaper and easier to get to) and they have one concert by Fly Guy's mother (so we could have her watch the girls rather then my parents.)
So the major question is where to go.....where to go.
It would be cool to go to the grande finale, but would it be worth the extra cash. Fly Guy and I had a blast seeing The Police in Boston last year, so why not do it there again. Or we could tie in a trip to see my in-laws and see them there.
Choices choices........
So the major question is where to go.....where to go.
It would be cool to go to the grande finale, but would it be worth the extra cash. Fly Guy and I had a blast seeing The Police in Boston last year, so why not do it there again. Or we could tie in a trip to see my in-laws and see them there.
Choices choices........
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