thought you might enjoy a little fun - since it is Friday and all. . .
please visit this link http://balldroppings.com/js/ - make sure you're volume is turned up a bit and go crazy and draw some lines. . . i love this site and no matter how much of a grump when i start drawing - well, i'm a lot less of a grump when i walk away. . .
Friday, February 26, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
the parent of an adult
my son came home from a 7 day road trip to and from California last Tuesday.
(SIDE ROAD - he recently moved back with dave and i for a short term. let's be honest here - the son has California written all over him - i can see where this is all going so i know that each day he is here with us now is a gift worth treasuring. but he had to go back to finish up some work and then enjoy the weather and the friends - hence the road trip.)
he is almost a foot taller than i am and i can't use "boy" as an adjective anymore - just a term of endearment. but when he walked through the door this week sicker than a dog, well, i was hit with by a force so strong, that it sucked the air right outta of my lungs.
(SIDE ROAD - i have been laid low with a sinus infection that recruited my lungs, throat, and well, the rest of me to stage a sit-down strike. it would have been a lay-down strike but i had so much congestion that any time my head hit a pillow, i started to suffocate. . . so i spent waking and sleeping hours in a recliner for the most part. so the "sucked the air right outta of my lungs" while seemingly a gross exaggeration was in fact partly due to there not being a whole lot of air in my lungs to begin with.)
i was heart sick looking at him. so i did what mothers have done for time and all eternity - i lovingly force-fed tea, otc drugs, and popsicles down his throat with a strong showing of maternal nagging thrown in for good measure.
he is a grown man and i treated him like he was four. ok, maybe five.
I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF!!!!!!!!!
i would like to believe that my weakened physical condition led to a greater sensitivity to the realm of sentimentality - but let's face it. . . even though i broke myself of the spit on kleenex/wipe the kid's face habit years ago, i am a mom. a mom who has willingly and purposefully laid her super hero costume and her powers in moth balls. . . but in a moment of weakness, i gave into the POWER OF BEING NEEDED.
(SIDE ROAD - you moms-of-adult-children know what i mean - any time you go out in public and end up over-hearing the conversation between a child and his parent - your "kiddie lie detector" flips on and you catch yourself in "mommy law enforcement" mode. a lost and crying child and you're back there in less than a blink. siblings doing the rivalry thing, the dropping of a cherished stuffed toy, small, strident, high pitched whining for any reason and it is all she wrote. and AFTER feeling that surge of power, you smile to yourself realizing that small bender and breaker of rules and hearts is some else's responsibility today!)
although i meant well in my attempts at the art of healing, it wasn't until doctor who also meant well AND could back it up by writing him a prescription for antibiotics that he started feeling better.
well, this isn't the first time a doctor and i have joined forces on a case. . . and it probably won't be the last. but next time, i will behave myself.
ok, i will try to behave myself.
ok, i will promise to try to behave myself.
ok, this is useless. . .
i will just start praying that nobody in our family gets sick ever again. yeah, that should work. no temptation - no giving into temptation. . .
and um, to my family, i'm very sorry for past neurotic behavior. . . although you should all probably pray for good health as well. . . just in case. . .
(SIDE ROAD - he recently moved back with dave and i for a short term. let's be honest here - the son has California written all over him - i can see where this is all going so i know that each day he is here with us now is a gift worth treasuring. but he had to go back to finish up some work and then enjoy the weather and the friends - hence the road trip.)
he is almost a foot taller than i am and i can't use "boy" as an adjective anymore - just a term of endearment. but when he walked through the door this week sicker than a dog, well, i was hit with by a force so strong, that it sucked the air right outta of my lungs.
(SIDE ROAD - i have been laid low with a sinus infection that recruited my lungs, throat, and well, the rest of me to stage a sit-down strike. it would have been a lay-down strike but i had so much congestion that any time my head hit a pillow, i started to suffocate. . . so i spent waking and sleeping hours in a recliner for the most part. so the "sucked the air right outta of my lungs" while seemingly a gross exaggeration was in fact partly due to there not being a whole lot of air in my lungs to begin with.)
i was heart sick looking at him. so i did what mothers have done for time and all eternity - i lovingly force-fed tea, otc drugs, and popsicles down his throat with a strong showing of maternal nagging thrown in for good measure.
he is a grown man and i treated him like he was four. ok, maybe five.
I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF!!!!!!!!!
i would like to believe that my weakened physical condition led to a greater sensitivity to the realm of sentimentality - but let's face it. . . even though i broke myself of the spit on kleenex/wipe the kid's face habit years ago, i am a mom. a mom who has willingly and purposefully laid her super hero costume and her powers in moth balls. . . but in a moment of weakness, i gave into the POWER OF BEING NEEDED.
(SIDE ROAD - you moms-of-adult-children know what i mean - any time you go out in public and end up over-hearing the conversation between a child and his parent - your "kiddie lie detector" flips on and you catch yourself in "mommy law enforcement" mode. a lost and crying child and you're back there in less than a blink. siblings doing the rivalry thing, the dropping of a cherished stuffed toy, small, strident, high pitched whining for any reason and it is all she wrote. and AFTER feeling that surge of power, you smile to yourself realizing that small bender and breaker of rules and hearts is some else's responsibility today!)
although i meant well in my attempts at the art of healing, it wasn't until doctor who also meant well AND could back it up by writing him a prescription for antibiotics that he started feeling better.
well, this isn't the first time a doctor and i have joined forces on a case. . . and it probably won't be the last. but next time, i will behave myself.
ok, i will try to behave myself.
ok, i will promise to try to behave myself.
ok, this is useless. . .
i will just start praying that nobody in our family gets sick ever again. yeah, that should work. no temptation - no giving into temptation. . .
and um, to my family, i'm very sorry for past neurotic behavior. . . although you should all probably pray for good health as well. . . just in case. . .
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Christmas Eve
at one of my jobs i have made it a habit to make sure i wish everyone a "Happy ________ " - filling in the blank with whatever day of the week it happens to be. so Happy Monday! Happy Tuesday! Happy Wednesday!. . . you get the point.
there are a couple of people, i think the same ones who despise the "good morning" ritual as being presumptuous (it IS morning. . . really to early to tell whether it is good or not), who have mentioned that "Happy Monday!" is a lie straight from the pit of Hell. there is nothing happy about having to be back at work. "Happy Friday!" is the exclamation point at the end of long, dry sentence. "Happy Monday!" is nothing more than a painful reminder of an entire workweek to come.
so i have borrowed from Christmas Eve's wonderment to help ease us into the next day. i now wait until after 1:00pm on the offending Monday so that i may wish a heart-felt "Happy Tuesday's Eve!" (this is also quite useful in tiresome weeks where Friday seems to be playing hide and seek. . . there is nothing like an entire Thursday afternoon of "Happy Friday's Eve!" to encourage all that Friday is inevitably on its way and SOON!"
i say all that to say this. . .
it is Christmas Eve today. for me, a small "catch your breath" moment before the big showy arrival of a people-packed, gift-giving, feast-laden Christmas day. i love attending the quieter, reflective 11:00pm church service. a group of people come together to welcome the Christ child with new candles and old songs and really old scripture - all speaking to our hearts about God's love come down at Christmas - technically, tomorrow.
so i wish you a very merry, Happy Christmas Eve!
p.s. tomorrow is FRIDAY AND CHRISTMAS!!!
there are a couple of people, i think the same ones who despise the "good morning" ritual as being presumptuous (it IS morning. . . really to early to tell whether it is good or not), who have mentioned that "Happy Monday!" is a lie straight from the pit of Hell. there is nothing happy about having to be back at work. "Happy Friday!" is the exclamation point at the end of long, dry sentence. "Happy Monday!" is nothing more than a painful reminder of an entire workweek to come.
so i have borrowed from Christmas Eve's wonderment to help ease us into the next day. i now wait until after 1:00pm on the offending Monday so that i may wish a heart-felt "Happy Tuesday's Eve!" (this is also quite useful in tiresome weeks where Friday seems to be playing hide and seek. . . there is nothing like an entire Thursday afternoon of "Happy Friday's Eve!" to encourage all that Friday is inevitably on its way and SOON!"
i say all that to say this. . .
it is Christmas Eve today. for me, a small "catch your breath" moment before the big showy arrival of a people-packed, gift-giving, feast-laden Christmas day. i love attending the quieter, reflective 11:00pm church service. a group of people come together to welcome the Christ child with new candles and old songs and really old scripture - all speaking to our hearts about God's love come down at Christmas - technically, tomorrow.
so i wish you a very merry, Happy Christmas Eve!
p.s. tomorrow is FRIDAY AND CHRISTMAS!!!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The Invisible Woman
at this time of year - especially - just wanted to remind us all who we work for. . .
Monday, December 21, 2009
Christmas in January
maybe my circle of influence has an inordinate amount of scrooges as members or maybe i just caught everyone on a bad day- scratch that - a bad WEEK or maybe this is a small indicator that Christmas this year is not a Christmassy as years past. that there are a lot more people having to work at getting into the yuletide spirit than those who are just basking in it. . .
i think this downward trend in the economics of merriment can be attributed to an over-saturation of the market place strategy to bring Americans the opportunity to buy all the trappings of Christmas earlier in the calendar year.
in other words. . .
STOP HARKING CHRISTMAS WARES IN OCTOBER - right after the going-back-to-school sales!
PUT CHRISTMAS BACK WHERE IT BELONGS - right after the non-commericalized "Turkey Day" and right before the much needed "Bring on the new year."
we could all deal with the roughly 4 weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas. it was crunch time - we all knew it and were committed to cramming as many parties, brunches, services, and get-togethers as we could squeeze around those LIMITED number of shopping days.
with a limited number of shopping days - there were real-time expectations of what one could and could not accomplish (please exclude that suzy snowflake in your circle of friends who now raises her own ginger in her year-round indoor aero-garden for her exquisitely designed and crafted gingerbread houses and men, and women, and children, and all the inhabitants of the North Pole, and all the creatures and animals in the last Narnia movie whether they could talk or not. she is an anomaly and cannot be included in our calculations to determine average level of festive expectation).
LIMITED number of shopping days = LIMITED amount of expectations.
i only have X amount of money to spend on Christmas. especially in this economy, i have to practice economy. giving me more days to spend my money and thus the opportunity to blow the whole shabang early in the game only leads to me having more time to brood over what i have already spent and get miserly with what i have left. . . and leading to unrealistic expectations that the retailers should lower their prices yet again and again and again as the holiday d-day approaches.
i admit, i am stressed out. i shouldn't be. over the last few years, we have down-scaled our merry-making, cookie baking, gift giving, card sending Christmas - trying to remind ourselves what is important - focusing on the real reason of the season. but this year i have found myself getting caught up in the negativity instead of the nativity. and that's nobody's fault but mine. so i am not going to read, watch or listen to the daily news (the federal deficit doesn't need my attention or approval to continue to "deficit"). instead i am going to surround myself with friends and family who don't mind my protective killer dust bunnies under the couch or the lack of this year's hottest decorations. . .
on the other hand. . . this week a friend told me that with all the stress of planning an awesome celebration and everyone's hectic schedules and tight budgets, her work is having The Holiday Party in January so everyone can enjoy it. . .
i think this downward trend in the economics of merriment can be attributed to an over-saturation of the market place strategy to bring Americans the opportunity to buy all the trappings of Christmas earlier in the calendar year.
in other words. . .
STOP HARKING CHRISTMAS WARES IN OCTOBER - right after the going-back-to-school sales!
PUT CHRISTMAS BACK WHERE IT BELONGS - right after the non-commericalized "Turkey Day" and right before the much needed "Bring on the new year."
we could all deal with the roughly 4 weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas. it was crunch time - we all knew it and were committed to cramming as many parties, brunches, services, and get-togethers as we could squeeze around those LIMITED number of shopping days.
with a limited number of shopping days - there were real-time expectations of what one could and could not accomplish (please exclude that suzy snowflake in your circle of friends who now raises her own ginger in her year-round indoor aero-garden for her exquisitely designed and crafted gingerbread houses and men, and women, and children, and all the inhabitants of the North Pole, and all the creatures and animals in the last Narnia movie whether they could talk or not. she is an anomaly and cannot be included in our calculations to determine average level of festive expectation).
LIMITED number of shopping days = LIMITED amount of expectations.
i only have X amount of money to spend on Christmas. especially in this economy, i have to practice economy. giving me more days to spend my money and thus the opportunity to blow the whole shabang early in the game only leads to me having more time to brood over what i have already spent and get miserly with what i have left. . . and leading to unrealistic expectations that the retailers should lower their prices yet again and again and again as the holiday d-day approaches.
i admit, i am stressed out. i shouldn't be. over the last few years, we have down-scaled our merry-making, cookie baking, gift giving, card sending Christmas - trying to remind ourselves what is important - focusing on the real reason of the season. but this year i have found myself getting caught up in the negativity instead of the nativity. and that's nobody's fault but mine. so i am not going to read, watch or listen to the daily news (the federal deficit doesn't need my attention or approval to continue to "deficit"). instead i am going to surround myself with friends and family who don't mind my protective killer dust bunnies under the couch or the lack of this year's hottest decorations. . .
on the other hand. . . this week a friend told me that with all the stress of planning an awesome celebration and everyone's hectic schedules and tight budgets, her work is having The Holiday Party in January so everyone can enjoy it. . .
Friday, December 18, 2009
Silent Monks Singing Halleluia
wow! silient monks and the Halleluia Chorus. . . just goes to prove if you wanna do something bad enough - you will figure out a way. . .
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