Thursday, March 30, 2006

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Concerts Carolyn has seen



I saw this list on another blog and it finally made me try Thursday 13...

1. Barry Manilow
2. Duran Duran
3. John Denver
4. Gloria Estefan
5. Miami Sound Machine
6. Bon Jovi
7. Pink Floyd
8. Michael Jackson ("Bad" Tour)
9. Neil Diamond
10. Julio Iglacias
11. Part Time Party Time Band
12. Riverdance
13. Some punk bad in Munich that my brother ACTUALLY recognized!



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Tuesday, March 28, 2006

A whole week?

Eeek, i'm sorry! It's been a busy one. Charles' bipolar has been bad this week, and the church musical and cub scouts this week... I'll write more soon. I'm here, just slammed!

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

IQ?

I found this on Courtney's blog. It made me feel a little smart...

Your IQ Is 125
Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average
Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius
Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius
Your General Knowledge is Above Average

Monday, March 20, 2006

Busy Weekend

We had a busy day on Saturday. Connor's best friend from pre-school, Adam, turned five on Friday and we were invited to his birthday party. Us and half the county I think, but a marvelous time was had by all. Adam's dad Mike made a great host, and my kids played HARD for 2.5 hours. Here's a picture of the cake moment:
Sunday the preschool choir sang at the 10:30 service. I think all of them are actually in this picture somewhere! They did really well. We made the kids play in the backyard Sunday afternoon. I'm glad now we did; it sleeted some today. What a way to bring in spring huh? We sat as a family and watched Dr. Who (the new show on Sci-Fi) -- Charles saw it Friday and he showed it to Duncan who liked it. Both kids were asleep by 7:15 pm last night!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

The Tooth Fairy Cometh....

for Connor! He lost his first tooth today and he is so stinkin' proud. I will have a picture up tomorrow, I promise. With church tonite it just didn't get done. We are down two people tomorrow at work and I've just been so busy this week.

Hope everyone else had a good Ides of March. I'll post more later this week.

Monday, March 13, 2006

My Weekend


I don't know where to start to catch up my faithful audience on my busy weekend. The theme was "cub scouts etc"! Friday night Duncan had his long awaited sleepover at SciWorks. He and Charles went, had to be there at 6:00 p.m. They had a space theme planned for Duncan's age group -- they made a pinhole planetarium, saw a show in the real planetarium there, did balloon rockets and a bunch of other stuff. Late that evening Comfort's dad helped Charles and Duncan fix the wheels on Duncan's pinewood derby car. Why you ask? Because at 9am Saturday (the sleepover ended at 8am) the District Pinewood Derby race opened for checkin! Duncan & Comfort both wanted to go, so I met them w/Duncan at the race. We checked in, and then hung out til race time. They had 45 racers -- each got to run 8 heats, with 3 cars in each heat. After Duncan's car being horribly slow at our pack race, I was quite thrilled to see him running around 3.15 seconds each heat. He placed 2nd in most of his heats. While we didn't win any speed trophies, I was quite proud that he was 28 out of 45. Two of our pack won speed trophies, Caleb in 2nd, Ben in 7th. Then came the surprise... they boys all voted on the car they thought had the best design. They gave away 7 prizes (trophies) without designating order -- and Duncan won one!!! You can see the picture of all of Pack 752's winners on my photo blog!

Saturday afternoon we tried to go watch Comfort's brother race BMX, but they gave us the wrong time so we didn't make it. Sunday we went to Hanging Rock State Park for a picnic. I'm so tired!

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Ha!

You Are Miss Piggy
A total princess and diva, you're totally in charge - even if people don't know it.You want to be loved, adored, and worshiped. And you won't settle for anything less.You're going to be a total star, and you won't let any of the "little people" get in your way.Just remember, piggy, never eat more than you can lift!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Blog Nonsense -- Blame Courtney

You Are 18% Evil

You are good. So good, that you make evil people squirm.
Just remember, you may need to turn to the dark side to get what you want!

Monday, March 06, 2006

Monday

Back to work after 6 days off with either sick kids or sick me... over 1000 emails to wade through. Fortunately 495 could be deleted without reading, but it's been a LONG day.

I give a big CHEER and HUG to my friend Stacy, who gave up her weekend to come push me through some household repairs. We got a TON done, and I give her major "props" for motivation. I was so tired last night I went to bed at 7:30.

Connor is a popular party boy -- he's been invited to another party next Saturday. We really like this family so I'm looking forward to it. Adam is his big buddy at preschool, and will be turning 5.

Duncan & Connor are both responding well to "responsibility charts" Stacy and I acquired and hung for them. Each day they meet their items they get a positive mark on their chart. Both kids are busting to get "stars". At the end of this week I'll take a picture of each kid with his chart.

It's going to be a busy month for us... tomorrow is cub scouts, and kindergarten registration, and a psychiatrist visit for Duncan. Wednesday is a dental visit for me and speech for Connor, then two choir rehearsals for Duncan and one for Connor. Nothing Thursday, but then Friday night is the cub scout sleepover at the local children's science museum. Whew. I'm tired already!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Blog Nonsense - Blame Melissa



You are an Animated Inventor.
About You
You are an Inventor

Your imagination, self-reliance, openness to new things, and appreciation for utility combine to make you an INVENTOR.

You have the confidence to make your visions into reality, and you are willing to consider many alternatives to get that done.

The full spectrum of possibilities in the world intrigues you—you're not limited by pre-conceived notions of how things should be.

Problem-solving is a specialty of yours, owing to your persistence, curiosity, and understanding of how things work.

Your vision allows you to identify what's missing from a given situation, and your creativity allows you to fill in the gaps.

Your awareness of how things function gives you the ability to come up with new uses for common objects.

It is more interesting for you to pursue excitement than it is to get caught up in a routine.

Although understanding details is not difficult for you, you specialize in seeing the bigger picture and don't get caught up in specifics.

You tend to more proactive than reactive—you don't just wait for things to come to you.

You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well.

You do your own thing when it comes to clothing, guided more by practical concerns than by other people's notions of style.

Generally, you believe that you control your life, and that external forces only play a limited role in determining what happens to you.


If you want to be different:

Try applying your creativity to more artistic arenas, and letting your imagination take less practical forms.


How You Relate to Others
You are Animated

You are outgoing, comfortable with others, and up for anything, which makes you ANIMATED.

Some people find crowds and parties exhausting, but not you! You are energized by spending time with others, and are able to be yourself in many situations.

Sometimes it is hard for you to understand why others feel the way they do, but that doesn't stop you from trusting them or having faith that they are good people.

You know the world is complicated and that there is often more than one side to a story, so you are careful not to make judgments about others too hastily.

You would rather experience the world than sit back and observe it—you are not one to sit on the sidelines.

You are an independent thinker and don't get too worried about how others might perceive you—you are not self-conscious about being the active, engaged person that you are.

Although you have a keen understanding of different people's life circumstances, you occasionally have trouble seeing why people get so upset and emotional about things—they should just lighten up and have fun!

In addition to having faith in the world, you have faith in the people around you—you trust others to do the right thing and to be honest.


If you want to be different:

Those who are as outgoing as you are often need to remind themselves that time alone can be just as fulfilling—take some time for yourself and you might find that there are many things in your inner world that are just as compelling as the world outside your window.

Your open-mindedness about the world gives you a great perspective on things, but your lack of trust in others limits how close you can get with them. Try opening up to others a bit more without losing your healthy skepticism.

Still here, still sick

I'm still running a fever, just like Duncan. The only positive note is coughing today seems to be productive. I'm sweating and tired. Connor is on day 2 back at school, and it has helped. We have very quiet mornings without both of them here. They actually started a physical fight yesterday afternoon -- Duncan shoved Connor away from the computer and Connor responded by throwing a punch -- UGH.

On the subject of lent, not that I've ever made a practice of giving something up, but this year I thought I'd give up "raising my voice" for lent. What do you think? *I* think I've captured the spirit of the season...

Monday, February 27, 2006

Another Day In the life of Typhoid Mary

My nose is running and I don't feel like chasing it. I think Connor is going back to school tomorrow, we'll see about Duncan. We shovelled Duncan's room today -- got four bags of trash out of it, and he now gets to earn back his yu-gi-oh cards 5 per day that his room stays neat. Charles took his bedframe out of his room so he can't stuff things under it anymore.

Sigh...

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Sick Kids

Shoot me -- both kids have been SOOO sick. Connor starting coughing again Thursday, after his croup had cleared up, and then spiked a fever late Thursday afternoon. By Friday morning he had an ear infection AND bronchitis. He was miserable sick Friday and alot of Saturday. Then today, Duncan woke up with a 102 degree fever. But his is the flu -- UGH. So he's on tamiflu and hopefully we caught it early.

My whole house is contagious!

Friday, February 24, 2006

The Quick and Painless Enneagram Test

Yep, this is me to a T.

the Adventurer
Test finished!
you chose AX - your Enneagram type is SEVEN.

"I am happy and open to new things"

Adventurers are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

How to Get Along with Me

  • Give me companionship, affection, and freedom.
  • Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.
  • Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.
  • Don't try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.
  • Be responsible for youself. I dislike clingy or needy people.
  • Don't tell me what to do.

What I Like About Being a Seven

  • being optimistic and not letting life's troubles get me down
  • being spontaneous and free-spirited
  • being outspoken and outrageous. It's part of the fun.
  • being generous and trying to make the world a better place
  • having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures
  • having such varied interests and abilities

What's Hard About Being a Seven

  • not having enough time to do all the things I want
  • not completing things I start
  • not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career
  • having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies
  • feeling confined when I'm in a one-to-one relationship

Sevens as Children Often

  • are action oriented and adventuresome
  • drum up excitement
  • prefer being with other children to being alone
  • finesse their way around adults
  • dream of the freedom they'll have when they grow up

Sevens as Parents

  • are often enthusiastic and generous
  • want their children to be exposed to many adventures in life
  • may be too busy with their own activities to be attentive

Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele

The Enneagram Made Easy
Discover the 9 Types of People
HarperSanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages


You are not completely happy with the result?!
You chose AX

Would you rather have chosen:

  • BX (NINE)
  • CX (TWO)
  • AY (EIGHT)
  • AZ (THREE)



  • Link: felk on The Quick and Painless ENNEAGRAM Test written by Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

    Thursday, February 23, 2006

    A Tale of Adoption

    Easter a few years back was a very sad time at my work. One of the managers at work, Blaine, was just the nicest guy. He had two teenage boys, was active in his church.... We came to work on Easter Monday to find out Blaine's boys, Wes & Andy, had been out with their two best friends Friday night, and three of the four boys had been killed in a car accident that was caused by the driving of the fourth. Blaine & his wife lost their only children to a moment of teenage carelessness. It's one of the reasons I get so incensed at the teenage idiots in my neighborhood -- I've seen what can happen!

    For a long while, Blaine was just... hollow. He gradually seemed more "normal", but still a shadow of sadness. Fastforward to Mother's Day 2005. Charles & the kids and I saw Blaine come into Mayberry's with his wife, whose arm was in a sling (she'd had a fall at church that morning). Long story short, as I was talking to them, Blaine shared they were working on adopting a little girl from China. (I'm getting to the point of the story soon, I PROMISE.) It really uplifted alot of us to know they were adopting -- Blaine has said he wasn't done being a parent. They are #2 in line to go, and hope to go to China in May... I had lunch with Blaine one day and we were talking about adoption... he was sharing some of the obnoxious comments he's gotten on it... "Why do you have to go to China to get a child?!" I loved Blaine's answer to this one "Because that's where she is!" I am always really stunned by people who get negative reactions when they adopt. I was reading a friend's blog today and this story came to mind because someone was asking her about her youngest who was adopted from China. Another lady at work came home in November with a son from Guatemala. Other friends from work just celebrated their adopted daughter's 6th birthday -- they got her when she was 2 days old -- their son is 12 I think. When Lisa got her daughter, she commented to me about how supportive I'd been through their process, and how few people were. It just surprises me. I always think people who adopt are like "extra special" parents!

    The Energizer Bunny

    Know who Mahalia Jackson is? I just downloaded a song by her for my MP3 player… “Walk in Jerusalem” (from the Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood soundtrack). Good stuff! I also picked up “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban, “Lady Marmalade” by Patti LaBelle, and “Misled” by Kool and the Gang. Cynthia, are you reading? Add Kool and the Gang to your disco list!

    Do you ever look back and realize you’ve really changed from who you used to be? Does it bug you like it bugs me? I know some changes are inevitable, driven by the choices we’ve made. Getting an MP3 player for Valentine’s has made me realize how much I’ve missed “my” music. Charles and I have VERY different tastes. Somehow I’ve just stopped listening like I used to. I guess with all the “noise” of a family I couldn’t handle more.

    I have some great friends. One of my very handy friends is coming up in a week or two, and we’re going to toss all three boys out and get some badly needed home repairs (like recaulking my bathtub & weather-stripping the doors)… I feel so… energized this morning. There’s a technical term for when databases on computers get locked up by conflicting requests – they can have deadly embraces or simply an enqueue. I think that’s where Charles and I are in our relationship at the moment – we just can’t seem to get forward motion. Maybe this outside influence, someone to energize me (by home repairs of all things) will be good for us?

    Wednesday, February 22, 2006

    Awesome Quote

    You gotta go read it, it's great. Find it here! For those of you too lazy, here it is:

    “If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned" ^Epictetus^

    Read Your Phone Bills!

    Mine was higher than normal this month, so I went out to read it... and there is a $14.95 charge (plus tax & some 5 cent fee) for "internet services" from ILD Telecom. I've filed a complaint with the phone company already, but I looked it up on the web and this is a company with MANY complaints to the FCC. Great... now I gotta figure out how to get them out of my life. UGH!!!

    Tuesday, February 21, 2006

    Updates...

    The crop on Saturday was GREAT! I got 23 pages done, and had a lovely time. Of course I was wrecked alot on Sunday and Monday, but I really enjoyed it.

    My Scrappin' Survivor team lost immunity Saturday, but I survived the vote. I've already gotten another 5 pages done and submitted them, including my favorite which is posted over on the photo blog. Our challenge for this week is to scrap about things/people that have happened in the last year -- kind of wrecks my momentum on old stuff, but I'd like to get more pages done before this challenge is up. The other team has someone on exile island, so I'm hoping we make it harder for her to escape exile.

    Connor came down with croup -- he sounded horrible this morning. They put him on steroids at the doctor's office, and we have already seen a remarkable improvement. Charles had a counseling appointment today -- she doesn't see him again for a month. I really have struggled lately -- Charles and I are having differences, and while I think his current mindframe (re: Bipolar Disease) is better, I don't feel like we are where we need to be. I just struggle with the next steps.

    Tonite I'm going to be a TV junkie -- flipping between American Idol and the Olympics. Last thought for the day (I saw this on Amy's blog) -- even if you don't have anything tremendous to say, drop me a "Hello" in the comments once in a while so I know you were here, ok?