Necessity and Invention

This is what happens when one MUST play his video game, but his mother will not turn on the heat.

Yes, I do still consider myself a blogger

It's just a little discouraging to get to Friday and realize that the week-end will be just as busy as the week has been.  But ... it will be sunny and hot, so I'll be fine.

*This week, pettiness in my little social/volunteer circles has been abundant.  Why do people insist on being the center of attention or having things go their way??

*Transitioning away from pettiness now, my niece recently was talking about RON Paul.  I misunderstood and thought she was talking about RUE Paul.  You might imagine my confusion as the conversation continued to move forward and she talked about his children and grandchildren.

*For three years, this typically well-behaved Lab mix has consistently done two things she shouldn't.  She tries to get on our bed and she indulges in anything in the trashcan.  We shoo.  We lock the trashcan.  We holler.  We put the trashcan up on the counter, and still, when we look the other way, Miss Pepper is at it again.  She owns us and she knows it.

P.S. Pepper isn't really a ghost.  That's just the paper camera app on my phone ... AND that is our bed that she is posing on.

*Did you know that early cathedrals were constructed, in part, to show the poor, illiterate peasants a brief glimpse of what Heaven will be like?  I find that fascinating and logical. There is much to be said for a beautiful sanctuary and liturgy.

*If you are not like my youngest boy who says that he is pretty much beyond the reading stage now, I recommend The Language of Flowers.  It's a haunting and beautiful-written story of a girl who turns 18 and emancipates from the foster care program.  A long time ago I had a student who had just emancipated.  She ended up in our state because someone she had just met was moving here.  "Where else would I go?" she asked me.

*Checkered and I have been talking about what careers we would choose if we were doing it all over.  He thinks he might like to work for the Department of Natural Resources.  If I were to choose teaching again, I might work in Special Education.  Then again, maybe I would just drive a train.  I'll have to keep thinking about this one. How about you?  In a do-over, what job would you choose?

Now that I'm thinking about it, I would like to be the car horn czar.  Use your horn a little too liberally?  Bam!  It would be silenced.

Have a wonderful week-end.

Seriously? Caution's blogging!

**Most every day I think about writing a blog post, and then decide that I don't have much to write about.  I'm trying to expand my little world so that I'm more interesting. For example, this morning I am attending a health team fair for our elementary school.  WHOA!!!  Now you can be sure that the excitement index on this blog will explode !!

**Have you heard  the song, "Teenage Daughters" ??  There are a couple of perfect lines in it :

"My baby's growin' up, she thinks she's fallin' all in love, and that I hate her."

and

"She rolls her eyes when I'm funny, but she's sweet when she wants money and her freedom."

**I sooo very much love these chairs.

  I want two for my front porch, but my porch is littered with the cast-offs of my other chair dreams.  Of course, when I buy these I will turn them right side up.  That's where Blogger and differ.

**The newish governor of Michigan has done some good things for our state, but he now wants to have our children's BMI numbers recorded at the state level.  No. No!  NO!!  Leave that between my family and our doctor!

**We will soon be leaving a truck as our main vehicle and the only sad family member is Checkered.  Perhaps that is because he doesn't have to travel like this:

**See this memo?  So did everyone else who walked by the mailboxes at work.

**I just finished the slightly enigmatic , somewhat trite, and fairly sweet novel, Lost and Found by Jacqueline Sheehan. Next on the list is The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  The Nook is charging even as I type. 

Speaking of electronic readers, children in my sons' classes are now bringing them to school to use during free reading time.  Since I would like to own mine a little longer than a minute, I think my boys will continue to take paperbacks.

My new parenting/teacher philosophy:

All the world's a fragmented thought...

After weeks of lackluster and intermittent blogging, I have returned to Friday Fragments - only to learn from Blogger's new interface that I have not earned one penny from this blog.  That is only slightly more than I earn at my jobs.

• Greatly related to the previous sentence: the school year has begun and all is temporarily well.  On the first day of Spanish class, a student was bragging to my daughter that she already knew one Spanish word.  The word was aloha.

• Have you tried this mint water?  I think I like it.  There is also a chocolate mint version, but it is ALWAYS sold out at my Kroger store. 

• I've been listening to all the news warnings that unoccupied cars will be towed in certain areas in an attempt to thwart a terrorist attack.  Being the driver who must tow those suspicious cars is a job I would not want.

• In another international warning, don't play Kelli Norgaard in Words with Friends.  She just played an 85 point word against me.  I am intimidated by all you smart people!!  Don't I have any dumb-ish friends who want to play?

• Aren't you delighted that it's Friday?  I am, but I do wish I had looked down before I left the house this morning.

• See you all on Monday!!

Happy Friday

I don't know where my blog went yesterday, but I do know I felt completely bereft when I saw that notice. Trying to find a missing blog isn't as easy as one may think.  There are four "simple" steps, but many times (as in my case) the link for step 2 is missing.  Ironically enough, I was cited for excessive posting!!  How my blog returned is a mystery, but I am SO HAPPY TO BE BACK!!

We are about to embark on our last "normal" week-end of summer break.  I suppose that means I will take a break from nagging the boys to go outside or call a friend.  All summer, I've determined that if they don't want to be outside, then they will be kept busy inside.  They've learned to cut the grass, to clean the house, and to fix some things.  If you need some screens repaired, give them a call!

Anyone know what these are?

 I do know I saw them in a catalog. I do know that I ordered them.  I do know I planted them.  But I can't remember what they are!

My middle boy took his sister to "Take a friend to karate night."  He deemed her chosen outfit unsuitable and made her wear bigger clothing!  There's a lot to be said for the wisdom of younger brothers.

Last week-end I decided to surprise my husband by painting the biggest wall in our kitchen.  The first color looked only faintly yellow.  Not good.  The second color looked fantastic at Lowes and then perfectly glaring once I painted (the picture fails to show the harshness.)  I will not repaint until I finish redoing the cabinets and counter tops.  I guess that means we will have to live with that color for a few years!

Now I'm off to laugh as my youngest son makes fun of Stevie Nicks, to listen to my middle boy as he attempts to teach himself some Russian phrases, to help my oldest boy pack for his first Order of the Arrow Ordeal, and to let my daughter practice her driving.  May the Lord be with us all.

After fighting to get my blog back, I won't complain too much that I can't get Mrs. 4444's widget to work.

I probably should learn from this

His dad and older brother returned home from a couple of days of hiking.  They hobbled about comically and talked of aches and pains and counted their mosquito bites.  We listened and shared our own adventures.

Then the teen-aged daughter left to spend time with a friend she hasn't seen in a ....week!

The middle boy headed off to try to sneak in a video game even though they are banned on Sundays.

I began to think about dinner and the start of the semester.

But what about the youngest boy?

What did he do?

He rubbed his daddy's feet.