%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |  Chaos is that voice at the end of the day that says, "Bet you didn't see that coming." |
|
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** "It turns out that an eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order - and yet, deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order" ~Douglas Hostadter I imagine that chaos and order are like those Russian nesting dolls, and they fit together to some infinitesimally minute level at which we must just give up ever grasping what lies at the core. Still . . . if I had to bet, my money would be on chaos. "Our real discoveries come from chaos, from going to the place that looks wrong and stupid and foolish." ~Chuck Palahniuk I know that place well . . . every wrong, stupid, and foolish acre of it! I used to think it was a dead end, or worse, a complete navigational failure, but sometimes that place was exactly were I needed to be. So what does any of this have to do with me, my blog, or the entries that will follow? I don't know, but pull up a chair. I'll invite some chaos, and we'll see what happens. "It's a cruel and random world, but the chaos is all so beautiful." — Hiromu Arakawa |
| I recently read about a new potential health threat that has me stumped. I frequently use sunscreen that contains micronized zinc oxide and titanium dioxide because it works really well and micronizing the active ingredients makes the sunscreen sheer so I don't have to go around with white crap on my nose. Sunscreen is a pretty big deal for me (being a redhead and all), so I use a lot of the stuff in my ongoing efforts to avoid melanoma. Now the worrisome thing here is that the zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are micronized down to the size of nano particles that are small enough to enter into the body and possibly into cell walls. Some worry that might be a bad thing, but no one really knows for sure. As a general rule, I'm not over reactive to this sort of thing. I've been rolling the dice for years with my Diet Coke addiction. I'll take my chances with the caffeine and calcium leaching phosphoric acid and the artificial sweeteners that have been shown to cause cancer in lab rats in California, but I've watched a lot of the SyFy channel over the years (mostly back when it was still the SciFi channel), and I've got to admit that nanocytes are some scary shit. Do I really want to apply stuff to my skin that has the ability to enter into my cells, potentially hijack my DNA, colonize throughout my body and take control of my mind (Trust me. That's the way it happens on TV). Okay, so maybe it takes a leap to get from nanoparticles to nanocytes, but am I really going to take that chance? Maybe my chain-smoking neighbor, who won't pave her driveway because of the carcinogens, might be on to something. We need to draw the line somewhere. We need to be proactive and limit our vulnerability to the dangers posed by modern technology. Of course, nanocytes have shown great promise in the fight AGAINST cancer. This is probably because nanocytes attack the cancer in an effort to preserve and protect the host-colony. In this case, the enemy of my enemy could be my friend . . . my mind controlling little friend. Thank God I have the media to caution me about all the mind-control threats that are out there. Hopefully Anderson Cooper will tackle the issue soon. If he'd just look at me with those piercing eyes and tell me everything was going to be okay, I'd be able to sleep at night. Sigh. |
| First, a limerick . . . When Kay broke out a pair of hand cuffs folks just assumed she liked the rough stuff Crap, I'm tired. That's all I've got. I might try to finish the thought tomorrow, but feel free to complete the limerick yourselves in the comments below. Really, the handcuffs are my sons though, and it was all quite innocent. Moving on, I think I might be coming down with a cold. Trick-or-treating in the rain might have been my undoing. Tony came back from Indiana with this cold, and as much as I've tried to avoid it, Tony's been determined to share. I told him I didn't want his cold cooties. I mean really, why can't we just pretend that I'm a hooker and kissing isn't allowed? So now we've figured out what I'm going to be for next Halloween . . .  I just hope it doesn't rain again. |
| Alright . . . here are some Halloween pics as promised. There would have been more, but after the second picture, I hit the maximum capacity for my portfolio. I'd like to be able to claim that it's because I'm such a prolific writer, but it's really a bunch of silly pictures that put me over the edge. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** That's my Katiebear with her boyfriend Max, and the fearsome Zackula. This picture was taken pre-rain. It poured for about 10 or 15 minutes during the trick-or-treating. Fortunately we had umbrellas, but we still got soaked. Did I mention the wind? Anyway, Zackula's collar wouldn't stand up after that, and his cape was so soggy and heavy that he was forced to loose the cape. This would have been a good year to go trick-or-treating as deep sea divers. Wet suits would have been just the thing! Fortunately, the rain stopped and everyone had a good time. Max didn't collect any treats, and he didn't wear a costume. Such a party pooper. Even I wore my costume sans the Snuggie. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** The curly tail was my favorite part of the costume.  Happy Halloween everyone! Enjoy your extra hour of sleep tonight. |
| Sorry folks, no pictures yet, just a very important life lesson. If you offer to run home quick for a pair of handcuffs, people will talk. Explaining that "it'll only take a minute. I know exactly where they are," will only make it worse. Everyone in the office will arrive at the same conclusion . . . nightstand. I was a very pink little piggy after all the teasing. Lesson learned.  It was all worth it. The handcuffs helped complete my friends costume and all of us piggies, as a group, won the prize for best costumes! Okay, so there wasn't really a prize, but it's all about the recognition and the bragging rights. What do you call a group of pigs? A herd? I know that geese form gaggles and quails form bevies, but what about pigs? Anyone know? I guess it doesn't matter. I'm feeling a sense of relief tonight. Today was the deadline for submitting the Quality Management plan at work, and it was also the deadline for some other crap that has been weighing on me. In retrospect it is silly to carry that burden and continue to procrastinate until the last minute. Why do I do that to myself? It just seems like all those little day to day things have been taking more effort than usual lately, and more energy than I can muster. I don't know if that is the cause of the procrastination or an effect. In any case, it's not an unusual phenomenon for this time of year, and I know it will pass. In the meantime, I'm gonna keep smiling . . . and blogging.  |
| I bought a pink sweater tonight to wear with my pink piggy ears and pink piggy tail. It's a bit of a stretch since I almost never wear pink. I guess that's not entirely true, but the pink I wear is pretty much limited to under things. I'm just not a pink person. Now I have a fuzzy pink sweater. I also have new jeans. I'm gradually rebuilding my wardrobe since everything from last fall and winter is several sizes too big now. Since buying new clothes can get really expensive, I've been going to visit an old friend, Diane, who runs a high-end thrift store. Of course, I didn't know she had a store until I walked in one day. I hadn't seen Diane in years, but she used to teach preschool and was a favorite teacher for both of my children. She was the catalyst that got me back into writing after many years of being side-lined. My daughter was graduating from Preschool and I wanted to express my appreciation to Diane, so I wrote her a poem. It had been 5 or 6 years since I'd done any type of creative writing. Anyway, she thought it was wonderful, and that one poem rekindled my interest in writing. Anyway, Diane's store is perfect for her . . . very fun and stylish. I had a great time shopping and catching up, and I found a pair of button-fly jeans! I wore Levi 501 button-fly jeans all through college. They were my thing, and I dearly loved my button-fly jeans. I haven't seen them in stores in a very long time though. Now I've finally found a pair. Well, they aren't Levis, they are Abercrombie & Fitch, but they are button-fly and they only cost me $10. Hell, I got 3 pairs of jeans for $24 total. Not to mention a fuzzy pink sweater that will make me look like a pig. I'll try to post pictures of the Halloween parade at work tomorrow, but two of the piggies will be missing. Ironically, one little piggy seems to have come down with the swine flu. Another little piggy had to go to the hospital for pregnancy related issues, and I'm really hoping everything is okay for her and the baby. She's been on my find all day. Now, I'd better post this before midnight. |
| It seems to me that "We fucked up," should be a sufficient and acceptable explanation. It would certainly save me a lot of time. I do quality management at work, and that means reviewing a lot of incident reports. The reports are reviewed on my level, and then they are reviewed and approved at the regional level. Unfortunately, the people at the regional level are sticklers. When a report is not submitted within the proper time frames, they won't approve it without an explanation of WHY it wasn't submitted within the proper time frames. Of course, by requiring all the additional information and resubmissions, they have effectively bogged the system down to where nothing is ever completed in the required time frames. Today though, I read the following reason for submitting a report late and I had to share it. "The incident report was unintentionally filed late because I noted the deadline by circling the date in my Day timer, but since I use the same system to track my cycle, I mistook the circled date for when I was supposed to get my period. I initially failed to realize my error because I was distracted with trying to figure out how I got pregnant." Eventually folks get fed up with paperwork. That's when the clever ones come up with something that no one has the nerve to question. |
| I seem to have developed some weird form of writer's block that prevents me from blogging for more than three consecutive days. I'm working on it though. I've been "greasing the groove," if you will, with three day spurts of blogging. So far, the refractory period required between spurts seems to getting shorter. And that's progress. Tony came home last night with a nasty cold that he probably picked up on the plane. I don't want his cold, so I've decided to shun him. It isn't working out too well though because today is his birthday.  Tomorrow Tony is heading down to Annapolis for his second interview for the Navy, and he is pretty excited about it. Turns out to be a fitting date for it because October 27th used to be Navy Day (it hasn't been officially observed since 1949). Anyone out there know why October 27th was designated for Navy Day? Anyone care? Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow if I remember to blog again. Now for a public service announcement . . . because I care. But first, a bit of background information that may or may not be relevant to this particular story. Tony gets a lot of magazines. At some point in time, he got involved with some magazine service (he has a difficult time being rude to telemarketers) and he continues to receive all kinds of magazines. He doesn't ever cancel them or take the time to request particular magazines because that would involve calling these people who would then probe him as to his reading habits and interests. That would be bad. Especially for Tony who probably doesn't read any of the magazines (Although the Maxims do seem to migrate to the bathroom). Come to think of it, I have to wonder how powerless he really is to control which magazines he receives. Maybe I'm the most gullible wife ever. Hmmmm . . . It still wouldn't explain the Popular Mechanics or Handyman magazines though. Those always make me laugh since Tony's ineptitude for carpentry, plumbing and electric is that stuff of legends. Seriously, do you remember the huge blackout on the East coast back in the 90s? Do you think it was a coincidence that Tony happened to be installing a GFCI outlet in our bathroom at the time? An outlet that didn't work until I called an electrician three months later? (turns out all he needed to do was hit the re-set button) But I digress. The point is, we get a lot of strange and random magazines, and with a few notable exceptions, I tend to peruse, and occasionally read them all. I mostly read those that are geared toward my own demographic. I particularly like the articles that tell me the stuff I need to talk to my teen about. And here is were that public announcement I promised comes in. Hand Sanitizers are meant to prevent the spread of germs. You should not drink them. Even though they smell like fruit and other edible stuff, and have a 60% alcohol content, they are NOT intended for human consumption! Seriously, I needed to talk to my teen about this since I've been practically cramming the stuff down her throat and I don't want her to be uh . . . cramming the stuff down her throat. Me: "Hey Kate, you know that hand sanitizer I got for you?" Kate: "Yeah?" Me: "You shouldn't drink it." Kate: "Huh?" Me: "This is really important. Don't drink it. Ever." Kate: "What magazine are you reading now?" Me: "Crap. We need to talk about your iPod too. Apparently, I'm supposed to limit the maximum volume so you don't suffer permanent hearing loss." Kate: "Huh?" I guess that ship has sailed. |
| Damn . . . I almost let October pass me by here. I guess I'd better break out the pumpkin decorations. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Today I learned that Zack's latest aspiration is to one day have a building named after him. It isn't that he wants to be rich or famous or ultra-important though. He just wants to haunt the building after he dies. And to think, all these years I've been asking him what he wants to be when he grows up. I never thought to ask about his plans for the after-life. |
| I have a new dryer! The sales people were pretty excited when I arrived in the appliance department with my air of desperation and a child decked out in the dregs of his wardrobe . . . the sweatpants that fit last year but don't quite make it to his ankles anymore. Anyway, their disappointment was a palpable thing when I bypassed the ruby and sapphire hued, high commission, washer/dryer sets and began searching in vain for the model I'd already researched and selected on-line. "Can we help you find something?" Yeah, as a matter of fact . . . I rattled off the brand and specs of the dryer I wanted. "Oh, those are off here." Yes, my humble dryer was in a different section entirely. A pariah . . . an outcast. But it was an outcast with great ratings and a rock bottom price. I looked it over. Glanced at it really, opening the door for good measure, but I was already sold. "Do you have it in stock? I want it today." "We have two in stock. You'll just need a flat cart." So we were largely ignored for the next twenty minutes as we waited for our dryer, and then when they loaded the box onto our flat cart the stock person looks at me and says "Did they tell you that this model doesn't come with a power cord?" "You'll need to buy the cord separately. Do you know if you need a three-prong or a four-prong?" Good thing Tony was with me because not only did I NOT know how many prongs I needed, I was stunned speechless to learn that the power cord was not included in the price of the dryer.  In any case, I have a new dryer, and it is more efficient than my old one ever dreamed of being, even in its prime. So yesterday I did laundry like a fiend. But prior to that, since I was out shopping anyway, I decided to take the boy-child of the ill-fitting sweatpants to Target so he could pick out a Halloween costume. That boy loves Halloween! We'd been talking about costumes for weeks, and Zack wanted a Hotdog costume. The plan, as he explained, was to wear it along with a cape so that he might become the hereto unknown super hero "Captain Weenie" . . . or at the very least, his less buff, and comically inept sidekick "Weenie boy." But, get this!. . . we went to two stores and they were both SOLD OUT of hotdog costumes! Fortunately, Zack loves any and all costumes and quickly settled on an alternate costume idea. He'll be trick-or-treating as the far more conventional Dracula. He's excited, but I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed. I was looking forward to hearing him explain the "Weenie Boy" shtick to those who dared to ask. My daughter has decided she wants to be a Teddy Bear so it'll be back to the stores today. At least my laundry is all caught up. |
| It is a beautiful holiday weekend in the Poconos. Tomorrow is a Columbus day and the kids and I are both off. It is an extra day to enjoy the spectacular fall colors and to soak up the spectacular Columbus Day sales. Now normally, I'd be bitching about how every national holiday has been shameless exploited in an attempt to pry open the American pocketbook, but since my clothes dryer has arrived at death's doorway and won't run for more than 15 minutes at a clip (making it very difficult to dry a load of jeans and towels), I've changed my tune. This year, I'm embracing the Columbus Day sales ads with an previously unfelt sense of longing and desperation. Of course, getting the ads meant buying the local newspaper. Headlining the local paper was this brilliant piece of journalism http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091011/NEWS/910110331 "I cared more about those cows than I do most people. I loved them when they were here. I love them when they were hauled off in a truck and I love them when I pulled them out of the freezer." Yeah that's right folks. Meat is murder . . . tasty, tasty murder. The area I live in is such a back-ass blend of locals like this colorfully portrayed gent, and the folks moving here from New York and Jersey who sound like a bunch of extras from The Sopranos. (There are also those of us who've lived here for a couple decades and raised are children here, but will never be local. Not in the truest sense. Not in the "I-was-conceived-right-back-on-the-storeroom-floor" sense of the word.) But Walmart is the arena where these two factions of the population meet every weekend to do battle. And it has been an epic battle! It's the kind of thing you usually only get to see in Japanese Anime cartoons where the battle drags out for an entire season of episodes but 90% of the time they're just sneering and talking trash. In other news, Pennsylvania finally passed a state budget! Woohoo! The Department of Public Welfare only took a 1.7% cut which is better than projected, but since a lot of agencies have been borrowing to keep there doors open, they'll have to subtract interest payments right off the top of whatever funds they do receive. Of course, the Conservation Department and the Department of Environmental Protection both took big hits. I'm sure there won't be any downside to that though especially in light of the fact that one of the "new revenue" sources PA is counting on is the expansion of drilling for natural gases on State Game Lands. Expanded drilling and diminished resources for environmental protection? Yeah, what could possibly go wrong? |
| I'm dragging ass this week and logging a lot of extra hours at work. I finally managed to set up a series of small-group training to try to teach our caseworkers how to write service outcomes. The training is desperately needed, and all of our previous training efforts have had little effect, so now I'm training only 4 to 6 people at a time, and we are taking a very interactive workshop approach. Unfortunately, I've only made it through one training and I'm already stunned by how time consuming and labor intensive this is turning out to be. I keep telling myself that it will be worth it in the long run. I have to review and approve all the plans, so if they are correctly written the first time, it will make my life easier . . . eventually. On top of the training gauntlet, I am also trying to write a Quality Management Plan for my department. It is due to the state by October 30. The boss-man believed that if we sat back and requested technical assistance, someone would come in and essentially write the damn thing for us. He asked me to make the call. Well, an hour and forty-five minutes later, I was fully briefed on all the information I needed to pull together and write up prior to the on-site technical assistance (now scheduled for Friday). Apparently technical assistance means they review what I've already written and make suggestions. Not a problem really, but I wish I'd known it would shape up this way a month ago when the October 30 deadline wasn't looming so close. Tony got some discouraging news today. Turns out the people at MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) aren't all that interested in my man. It all comes down to the freakin' kidney stone he had back in the spring. I'm not sure exactly what's happening, but apparently there is still hope and the recruiter has appealed it or whatever they do. Kidney stones are not an automatic disqualification and he passed the only one he had so our plans aren't completely sunk yet. Also, the Captain who interviewed him wrote a glowing recommendation. What else can I say? Today marks 100 days that PA is without a budget, and the damn Union at work is making a mess of contract negotiations. The membership is probably going to vote to give up Flag Day and make Black Friday a holiday instead. Apparently shopping trumps patriotism. I think it is just sad, and I'm not sure I can continue to work for an agency that refuses to honor Flag Day by closing the office every June 14th. Why couldn't they give up Columbus Day instead? I mean . . . who cares about Columbus Day? Flag Day is in June! When I bitched to the boss-man he suggested that I do what he plans to do and call off sick every June 14th from now until we die, retire or get fired. Most important though, we made a pact to never, ever let the state office know that we're gonna be open on Flag Day. |
| So Pennsylvania still doesn't have a budget. They are still fighting over revenue sources. Apparently PA does not tax chewing tobacco at all (we're one of the few states that doesn't), and there are many members of the legislature that would like to see that change. But apparently Pennsylvania produces a great deal of chew and folks are afraid that a new tax will hurt sales. Apparently these folks haven't been paying much attention to cigarette sales. Amazingly, the sales figures for cigarettes continue to be strong despite the repeated tax hikes. The Chew Lobby has nothing to fear. And really, isn't that the beauty of selling addictive substances? In other local news, a woman was mauled to death by a 300lb. black bear. A neighbor responding to the cries of distress shot and killed the bear. Turns out the bear was part of the family menagerie that also included the obligatory lions and tigers . . . Oh My! The woman was attacked and killed when she entered the bear's cage to clean it. I can't say the news surprises me. I'm also not surprised to learn that the family had all the necessary licenses and permits required to keep exotic animals. These are the only three things that surprise me about this story: 1. There haven't been any editorials proclaiming that this is a perfect example of why we must safeguard the right to bear arms so that our children and our children's children will be able to protect themselves from danger (but not stupidity). 2. There haven't been any stories about Chinese businessmen trying to buy the dead bear's pancreas for use as an aphrodisiac or the game commissions efforts to crack down on the sales of bear organs. 3. No one in the PA legislature has proposed new taxes or a hike in the licensing fees associated with keeping exotic animals as a way to generate additional revenue for the State. Then again, the story has only been on the front page for three days running so there is still hope. |
| Tony took a road trip down to Andrew's Air Force Base today for his first Navy Reserve interview. Apparently he got a lot of information, but he also had a long day so I'm playing twenty questions trying to pull some of that information out of him. So far, this is what I think I know. His chances of being either activated or deployed are relatively low in the first two years. The first two years are training time. His monthly drill time will most likely be spent either in Harrisburg, or over in Jersey at Ft. Dix, and his annual 2 week duty will most likely be down at Bethesda. The recruiter is working on getting a second interview scheduled, and also scheduling him for MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station). The time frames for all of this coming to fruition are still vague. The weekend went too quickly as always. I feel like I spent the duration running errands, grocery shopping and doing laundry. Not a very exciting way to pass the time! Last week ended on a fun note though. On Friday we got to take a road trip over to our Carbon County office to do a presentation there. Afterward, we took a side jaunt over to the town of Jim Thorpe and had lunch at Molly Maguires Pub. Jim Thorpe is home to the Carbon County Courthouse where seven men were hanged in the 1870s. They were accused of being Molly Maguires, murdering coal management, and damaging mine equipment. Of course being labeled a Mollie alone was practically a hanging offense during that era when coal management was struggling to suppress organized labor throughout the Anthracite region. The Old Jail where the men were hanged in now a museum, and cell number 17 is claimed to bear the hand print of one of the Mollies. Supposedly the bloody hand print has resisted all efforts of removal through cleaning, and repainting. Of course, back in the 1870's, Jim Thorpe was still known as Mauch Chunk. The town did not become Jim Thorpe until 1953 when it changed it's name to honor the extraordinary Native American athlete Jim Thorpe. Interestingly, Jim Thorpe, who distinguished himself in the 1912 Olympics only to be later stripped of his medals, never had any connection to the town until after his death. At the time of Jim Thorpe's death, he was broke. His widow wanted his home state of Oklahoma to assist in honoring his memory, but they were unwilling to oblige. For whatever reason, a deal was struck with the depressed mining town of Mauch Chunk. The name change and the Jim Thorpe memorial rejuvenated the towns trade and tourism. Go figure. I had the spicy, grilled chicken thai salad for lunch by the way. |
| Zack is always full of questions. Tonight's burning question . . . "Mommy? What is testosterone?" "Well honey, it is a hormone." "What are hormones?" "Do you remember when I was telling you about growth spurts and how your body makes chemicals that tell it what to do and when to do it? Well, those chemicals are hormones. Growth hormones make you tall. Testosterone is another hormone that makes men grow beards, and build muscles so that they are all manly and can't change the toilet paper roll." Any other questions? |
| I’ve never liked my name. When I was a child, I remember reading a story about a little girl named Sarah who didn’t like her name. And who can blame her? I mean what kind of weird name is Sarah? Anyway, as the story goes, she finds out that she was named for her Grandmother and that the name Sarah means princess. After that, she is quite happy with her name. Although I thought Sarah, in the story, was a bit lame for getting all bent over such a lovely and normal name, I still liked the story. I liked the happy ending of how she came to appreciate her name. It was certainly worth a try in my case. For starters, I looked in about 20 different baby name books (my name wasn’t in most of them) until I finally found the meaning of my name. Derived from the Latin; meaning war-like. Well, that didn’t seem like a big selling point so I decided to ask my Mom what the hell she’d been thinking when she named me. Turns out that the name was my father’s choice. My father tended to favor names that belonged to people he’d admired. For the most part, they were less common names so that the only person he’d ever known by that name was someone he admired. I was named after a girl he’d been friends with back in high school. I am the youngest of three. With each pregnancy it was decided that if the baby was a girl they’d name her Martina Kay. Unfortunately destiny did not work in my favor. Instead of being the younger sister of a girl who shared the name of a lesbian tennis pro, I became the girl who shared the name of a lesbian tennis pro. My mother went on to explain that by the time she got pregnant with me, she was really favoring a different name. She wanted to name me Katie, but my father was still partial to Martina Kay, and would not be swayed. So, unlike Sarah of the story, I did not learn to appreciate my name. Instead, I became stuck on the idea that Katie was a much better name and that if life were even remotely fair I would have been a little red-headed kid named Katie - which would have been apt and fitting in a way my name will never be. Long before I met my husband, I decided I was going to name my daughter Katie. Fortunately, Tony did not object and my daughter has always loved her name. This year my daughter is taking German. On the first day of class, they were given a list of German names and had to pick a name to use in class for the school year. And my daughter picked Martina. I couldn’t freakin’ believe it! |
| Have I mentioned lately that Pennsylvania STILL hasn't passed a budget? It isn't looking like it will happen any time soon either. The Republicans, who would really like to get into the governor's mansion, have decided that we're wasting a lot of money on social services, and if we start cutting back, everyone will just figure out a way to do more with less and the system will adapt without hardly missing a beat. There are several problems with this thinking, and they are old problems. For years, the formulas for distributing funds in PA have heavily favored Philadelphia and Allegheny counties as well as more urban areas like Scranton. The thing is, those areas are losing population which means their per capita funding has grown disproportionately. Areas, like mine, that are experiencing rapid growth have been playing the "do more with less" game for a long time. Unlike the allocation of funding, cuts are always made with absolute parity. We are stretched very thin. Our administrative overhead is a very lean 4%. There is nothing to cut except direct services to the most vulnerable portions of our population . . . the children, the elderly, the disabled, the chronically mentally ill. Since the Boss-man is on vacation this week, and I've had to sit in on many meetings and committees in his absence. The single topic on everyone's agenda is the budget impasse. When will a budget be passed? How long can we hold out? Who's going to tap out first? |
| I'm going to start a melatonin experiment. I've heard it has been very effective in helping autistic children regulate their sleep. Since this has always been an issue for Zack, I'm anxious to see if it works. And . . . since I've had my share of sleep issues, I'm going to take some too. One of the commonly reported side-effects is especially vivid dreams. I can only hope they'll involve sex. PS - I don't know how to cross-stitch, so don't hold your breath waiting for those pillows. |
| I've finally done it! No one is going to give a shit about this little achievement, but I'm just so damn impressed with myself that I can hardly stand it and so I'm writing it. Okay, so seven months ago when I decided to become a healthier, stronger person, I wrote down some goals because my husband told me to. He's bossy like that, and I'm nothing is not a meek and compliant wife. So anyway, I made a list of goals, but truthfully, I wasn't ticking much off that list. Don't get me wrong. I'd definitely gotten stronger and healthier, I just wasn't seeing progress toward my specific goals because they were specific, and my approach was not. So, I changed things up, and now I'm seeing progress. To give you an example, one of the goals I wrote down was that I wanted to be able to do at least one pull up. Why a pull up? Well, I needed goals, and I had this vague idea about improving my upper body strength, but Tony said the goal had to be specific and measurable. I figure I've never been able to do a pull up, so that seemed like a good (but likely impossible) goal. Well, we have one of those doorway pull up bars, and about a week ago I started doing "jumping pull ups." I would jump up, hold for a few seconds at the top, and then come down very slow and controlled to a hang. I didn't ever do more than a couple at a time, but I'd do them several times a day . . . whenever I walked by the bar. Tony referred to this process as "greasing the groove." "What are you doing back there dear?" "I'm just greasing the groove. I'll be done in a few minutes." Seems like a lot of exercise related terminology is vaguely or, in this case, overtly obscene. Anyway, the term "greasing the groove" refers to practicing a skill or approximation of the skill in order to develop and strengthen the neuro-muscular pathway blahdy-blah-blah. Well, after a week of greasing the groove, I didn't go blind, but I noticed that I didn't have to jump nearly as high as when I started. So, I decided to try without the momentum of a jump. I started on two stacked risers and curled myself up using a reverse grip (because it is easiest). I was shocked when it worked. I was more shocked when the next day I was able to do a chin up with just one riser. Then today, I was able to do a chin up from the floor. I still need to get the grip turned around and progress to a pull up from a dead hang, but hell, I'm making progress. I think I need to take the "greasing the groove" approach to more of the challenges I face in life. I'm far too quick to throw my hands up in the air and say "It's too hard. I can't do it." Nothing is too hard if you take the time to grease the groove.  I wonder if I can have that made into a motivational poster to hang in my office? Maybe I'll just cross-stitch it on a pillow or something. |
| After two weeks of school, my son can recite all 50 states plus the District of Columbia in alphabetical order in less than 60 seconds. Go ahead. Try to top that! In other news, the last vacancy at work has been filled. I tell myself it is a good thing, but it is always a bit of a let down because the hiring process is infinitely entertaining. The highlight of this round was the woman who offered us a writing sample. It included the following unembellished gem: "My family tells me I think too much. I think not!" It went on to describe at length a crappy childhood and a disjointed history of personal growth and self discovery that culminated in a burning desire to help others overcome their emotional pain. Of course, the thing that shined through it all was the absolute lack of personal boundaries. So, a tip for job seekers . . . Go easy on the self disclosure. |
Since Chewie Kittie   was so generous as to gift me an upgraded membership, I suppose I should post an entry in my newly unlocked blog. The kids are back in school, and things seem to be going well right now, but by the third day of the school Zack didn't want to go to school. He was upset, and unable to tell us why. He said it was too hard and too complicated. Well, predictably, I fired off a flurry of email demanding to know what the hell they were doing to my child. Zack doesn't deal well with change, and in moving from 4th to 5th grade he went from having one teacher for most of the day to having a different teacher for each subject. Adding to the confusion of that, he has a teacher who is having a baby in another two weeks, and a second teacher who is out on maternity leave and not due back until November. Well, I went a few rounds with the guidance counselor who was worthless, and then got a call from his caseworker. The caseworker at least made it a point to meet Zack and talk to him before she called me back. I explained to her that I thought the number of teachers and the number of transitions in the day were simply overwhelming to Zack. Her response? "Ohhhh . . . the poor baby. Isn't it terrible what they do to these kids! It's awful. As a parent and a grandparent myself, sometimes it just breaks my heart." What. The. Fuck. (I can say that now cuz my blog is now GC rated damn it!) So then she continued . . . "Do you know what you should do? You should advocate for him." I didn't know whether to laugh or scream, but at the end of the day I hurried home to see my kids. "How was your day Zack?" "Perfect." "Really? Perfect?" "Yep." Zack glanced away from the TV momentarily. "Oh . . . Do you know why I was upset this morning?" "No. Why?" "It was because I couldn't open my locker, but today I learned the trick to it." "Good for you." So on the fourth day, I sent the school another email saying "About yesterday . . . never mind." In other news, Tony is away until Sunday night. He left for Philly last night, so predictably the raccoons raided the garbage during the night and the toilet backed up. I can't wait to see what the weekend will bring! Next Friday he is going down to Harrisburg to meet up with his Navy recruiter who is going to drive him down to Bethesda Naval Hospital for an interview with the head of Psychology. He has now completed all the initial paperwork, and clearances, gathered the necessary transcripts and other documentation and recommendations, and submitted all of the above. One of these days, something might actually come of all this. Unfortunately, I need to wrap this up, post, and go to bed. I've been practicing this whole "early to bed, early to rise" routine. I seem to be settling in to the new bus-time-mandated schedule rather well, but it does cut down on my on-line time. There is too much competition for the computer between 4 and 10PM. I will try to return to the blog rounds soon though. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
