I was just thinking...

Name:

I've become addicted to "A"s (I've gone back to college), love eating and cooking everything but goat cheese, I always try to please everyone and laugh without wetting myself or snorting. I love reading and keeping up with current events, I value my friends. And most especially, I'm a proud mother of four and an excessively proud grandmother of five.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

about Boo Jr.'s first lost tooth...

Just read Rabbit Ramblings and saw the photos of his son's first lost tooth. Well, my #2 daughter, Meeghan, was here this past month, and lost her last baby tooth at age 37! It is a very expensive tooth...it cost the "Tooth Fairy" $10.00 (TEN)...due to inflation and interest. It is going to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 or more (I will correct this figure after I call Meeghan in the morning--my bad memory, you know) for the dentist to put in an implant. She never lost the baby tooth, and lately it has been sensitive to ice cream and hot coffee. So Boo, if you read this...if your son hasn't lost all his teeth by the time he's supposed to, you might want to knock the rest out yourself. Speaking of tooth fairies, Ariel, my granddaughter #2 actually accused ME of being her tooth fairy. That's not exactly true...what she said is, "Grandma, why don't you just admit that you are my tooth fairy?!" And I answered, "Why the heck would I do that? Do I look like I have wings? I can't even get my butt up off the sofa without help!" She's a pretty sharp kid, and very, very suspicious...she doesn't believe in Santa or the Easter Bunny, but has had ongoing communications in the form of letters she leaves under the pillow with her teeth, and letters & money left under the pillow from her tooth fairy.

Crazy Ariel on left, Sarah on right. with their creations.

Our home...four kids, 80 teeth. Big bucks, great memories.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

...from my mouth to God's ears...NOT!

Well, yesterday my cookies were burning about a lot of things--one of which was the prohibition against the Iraqi Olympic team participating in China. However, I am pleased to announce that in today's paper, an article by Amit R. Paley from the Washington Post, informs us that TWO of the SEVEN Iraqi athletes who had wanted to participate in the Olympics will be permitted. The article went on to explain the political bull-dukey stuff -- that Nouri al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq had "compromised the independence of the national Olympic committee" (????? I'm still scratching my head)...blah blah blah..."negotiations"...blah blah blah..."the government agreed to reestablish an independent committee and hold transparent elections for it by NOVEMBER"(**NEWSFLASH...the Olympics start NEXT WEEK...duh). An added bonus...FIVE GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES have permission to attend the Olympic games as observers (not that I thought they would go as participants))(yet rolling my eyes now...a nice little perk). I'm sure they'll enjoy watching their remaining two athletes participate. (If they recognize them with their little face masks on...they were showing the air pollution in Beijing yesterday; so bad that athletes may have to wear filtered masks so they don't croak or something.) I'm sure the athletes who have been training their asses off while dodging suicide bombers and probably not even having access to a shower, air conditioning, and a cold beer afterward, are thrilled to hear about that.
The article goes on to say that this decision, of course, "...comes too late for five members of the team because the registration deadline for their sports "...
ha(d) already passed.

...WARNING SIGNS...

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

...I just need to simmer down...

...but then I find something else that pisses me off.

Again, same date, same newspaper, same page, same Editorial Editor (Dennis Hartig). This article is from the Washington Post. No author's name is given, but I so agree, and am so disgusted. I am sure you will concur.

"Banished"

"When Iraq's Olympic team paraded at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, the head of the country's Olympic Committee was Uday Hussein, the notoriously sadistic son of dictator, Saddam Hussein.
Uday made Baghdad's Olympic facilities the headquarters for his own epic feats of rape, torture and murder. ...His may have been the foulest abuse of a national Olympic movement in history. Yet the International Olympic Committee found a way to live with Uday, just as it has tolerated the manipulations of sports teams by totalitarian governments around the world -- including this year's host, China.
Funny, then, that the IOC would have decided to ban Iraq's seven-member Olympic team from this year's Games -- a punishment that in recent decades has been imposed only on apartheid South Africa and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The reason cited by the Lausanne-based agency: "political interference in the Olympic movement," an offense that the IOC did not detect in Iraq when Saddam Hussein's son was in charge."

Why not support these seven athletes who have found a way to practice for whatever events they were hoping to participate in, in spite, somehow, of the dangers in the disaster we have precipitated upon their country? Let them be proud of being Iraqi. Let them carry their flag, and show the world that Iraq is not a nation of terrorists or religious fanatics. This would help raise the morale of Iraqi citizens who have been due some good news for way, way too long. The Iraq Olympic Team deserves an opportunity to play in the Games. It is certainly not their fault that they were living under the Hussein regime.

I really need a strong glass of chocolate milk.

Newsflash from Mike & Linda in Tampa, FL...

Viagra now comes in a nasal spray...

...It's for Dickheads.

...at this point my mother would send me to my room, saying, "...AND STAY THERE UNTIL YOUR ATTITUDE IMPROVES!"

I'm feeling very cranky right now. I have a build-up of excessive irritation. It is hard to be miserable alone, so I will share another item with you. Again, this was NOT my own writing, but I TOTALLY agree with the author. I contacted Dennis Hartig, Editorial Page Editor of the Virginian-Pilot to get permission to quote from this as long as I give credit where it is due. From the editorial page (page 6) of the July 29, 2008 issue of the Va-Pilot...under the column entitled "punditry".

"McCain's Gaffes"...by Bob Herbert.
"...[W]hat we've learned over the years is that [John} McCain is one of those guys who never has to pay much of a price for his missteps and foul-ups and bad behavior. Can you imagine the firestorm of outrage and criticism that would have descended on [Barack] Obama if he had made the kind of factual mistakes that John McCain has repeatedly made in this campaign?
(Or if Obama had had the temerity to even remotely suggest that John McCain would consider being disloyal to his country for political reasons?)
We have a monumental double standard here. McCain has had trouble in his public comments distinguishing Sunnis from Shiites and had to be corrected in one stunningly embarrassing moment by his good friend Joe Lieberman. He has referred to an Iraq-Pakistan border when the two countries do not share a border."

It isn't just those stupid things he said above. Didn't he say something earlier in the primaries about not understanding anything about the economy? And duh, isn't that a serious problem right now? Oh, wait, I forgot, there's no problem...his good buddy and advisor, Senator Phil Gramm (YOU check my spelling, I'm too tired) says we're just a bunch of whiners. Well, when the cost of everything is rising more than twice as fast as our paychecks, I think that just might be something worth whining about. I guess it's hard to relate when you don't have to borrow from Peter to pay Paul. Perhaps when someone has been rich for too long, it becomes difficult to relate to the "common folk". And you might want to watch this U-Tube story from Keith Olbermann's program, "John McCain's Connection to Big Oil & The Enron Loophole" by going to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdRbuUQNcxw -- I don't know how to do a link from here to there, but you can copy and paste it and watch it for yourself. Further, he bee-otched about Obama not going to the Middle East. Now that he has, McCain is complaining about that too. First, someone's got some "'splenning" to do. Second, stick to the issues.

I'm going to go to my room until I straighten up.

...why does "perpetual virgin" trump REAL news?

Don't stop me now, I'm on a roll..."I am sick to death of the nastiness of our political system. Fox News is driving me insane, especially Sean Hannity. But it's not just Fox...in flipping through the channels, I see more commentary and less news on all channels than ever before. My poor dad, who inspired me to become a news junkie, is probably rolling over in his grave. Growing up, I was "forced" by virtue of the fact that we had only one TV when I was little, to watch "Meet the Press" and every other news program on CBS, NBC, or ABC. I got to read "U.S. News and World Report" and "Time" magazines when I got tired of my kid books. So when did the fair and unbiased reporting of news get replaced with chit chat and opinions? When did THE news turn into half-truths? I sit here flipping through channels trying to get an idea of what really IS the news. I count on the BBC to show foreign stuff, but even that seems to be slanted toward Americans. And what the frig is "Red Eye?" One of the most hideous faux-news shows ever created. I felt like spitting up a little in my throat when I tried to give it a chance. That lasted only five minutes before I felt too gag-ish to continue.

I'm going off on a tangent here, but I need to get this off my chest before I go on.
I read the newspaper every day, but this past Sunday wondered what the frig was going on...on the FRONT PAGE was an article (continued on page 7) about a young woman who committed her life to Christ, and intends to remain a virgin for all eternity or something like that. Good for her! But not exactly what I think is front page material. I am not kidding. She is "...the first consecrated virgin in Richmond diocese's 188-year history." What the frig?!!! Front page! Holy crapola...I guess virginity trumps the news that "Iran Claims It Has Added Enrichment Capability" which is on page 6. Is news of the possibility that Iran may be a step closer to being able to develop nuclear weapons of less importance than the news that someone is not engaging in sexual relations? WHAT? AND, the "consecrated virgin" article from page one (continued on page 7) in ALL CAPS states "ONLY 500 SUCH VIRGINS WORLDWIDE". Well, this is so frigging earthshaking, that I wonder why it is not "Breaking News" on cable.

And, the last page of the front section of world and national news...two newsworthy (to me) articles: "Second day, second city is blasted by series of bombs" (referring to suicide bombings in India), and "Hamas cracks down on rival Fatah group after deadly blast" (Gaza Strip). Both articles on the back page, while Bernadette S's photo graces the front page "...she was 19 when she decided to become a perpetual virgin." Gag me with a rosary, for G-d's sake.

...about a life well-lived...

Some time ago, I heard about Professor Randy Pausch, from Carnegie-Mellon University (my dad's alma mater). You may have heard of him, and of his last lecture. I know that many people confront the grim news of a medical death sentence every day, and Professor Pausch was just another cancer victim. But several things drew my attention to him.

-He was young, with children who will grow up with only the faintest, fuzzy memories of him.
-Youth is relative--I remember when 47 seemed so old, and now that it is behind me, it seems so young.
-Pancreatic cancer takes its victims so soon--one scarcely has time to absorb the diagnosis, let alone get affairs in order before getting down to the business of suffering.
-He accepted the diagnosis and lived his life gracefully.
-My Uncle Louie and his daughter Mary Helen out in Tucson both died of pancreatic cancer, as did the mother of my oldest and dearest friend back in Chicago, Donna. A hellish way to go.
-He challenged people to reflect on their lives and live each day as though it was going to be his or her last.

None of us (except those who commit suicide) know what day will be our last, and I believe that we often forget that as we get on with the rush of our daily activities. We take for granted that we will be able to complete tomorrow, or next week, or next month, what we didn't finish today.

Last summer, we gathered to bury my dad's ashes next to my mom's in a small cemetery in Tubac, Arizona. I had to write his obituary, and felt inadequate to sum up 91 years of a life well-lived, in something that would fit into a newspaper.

I wanted to write about Randy Pausch, but I didn't feel that I had the right to make comments about someone I never met, but his lecture reminded me that my life is passing by all too quickly, and I haven't accomplished all that I've wanted to do. And time is going to pass regardless of how I live my life. I feel a new sense of urgency.

When I read the editorial section of our local newspaper this morning, I found a beautiful tribute to Randy Pausch. My own words didn't seem sufficient to explain how inspiring Professor Pausch truly was. I wrote to the Virginian-Pilot, and asked for permission to write the full text of the editorial. I want to give full credit to the author. I am not sure who that is, so I am writing down the names of Dennis Hartig, Editorial Page Editor, who kindly responded to my letter of inquiry, and Dave Word, Director of News Operations. I DID NOT WRITE THIS AND AM NOT TAKING CREDIT FOR IT. I am simply sharing a beautifully written tribute with my friends who do not have access to it. I am leaving out parts of it because of the length.

"...an appreciation"
"PAUSCH SEIZED THE DAY"


"Had Randy Pausch not been dying, the computer scientist likely would have been known for developing a virtual reality technology that allows people to create 3-D animations."
"But the 47-year-old Carnegie Mellon professor had incurable pancreatic cancer, and he became known instead for inspiring millions of people to live well, fully and happily."
"Pausch died Friday in Chespeake, less than a year after delivering "The Last Lecture." In it he encouraged people to pursue childhood dreams with vigor, to celebrate little moments with loved ones and generally to rejoice in life."
...(He) "embodied carpe diem." "In this year's commencement speech at Carnegie Mellon, he told students that what mattered was looking back and saying, "Pretty much any time I got a chance to do something cool, I tried to grab for it.""
"Pausch, who spent the past year intentionally making memories with his wife and three young children, urged parents to allow their children to paint on their bedroom walls. With a sense of wonder and humor, he brought together artists and engineers. He helped people discover and fulfill their dreams. Ultimately, he noted, that's even more fun than achieving your own."
"Pausch's gift was reminding us that if we put relationships first, discover and pursue passions and appreciate the good in others, karma takes care of itself."

Such sweet words to live by. Now go out and live your lives.


Friday, July 25, 2008

The other day I wrote that you can live in Phoenix, Arizona where...

1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away because you found shade. Boy, was I wrong, and I have been corrected:

Below is an Arizona native's take--she says (regarding the above statement) that:

Never happens! By the time you walk three blocks on blacktop and/or concrete you'd be a sweaty mess, nope you aim for the closest space to the door, try to have the sun to your back, put thermal windshield cover up, crack open your windows just a tad to let 140 degree air escape (vehicle windows have been known to crack due to extreme heat), never wear shorts if you have vinyl seat covers (most AZ vehicles will have leather or fabric seats), and when you do return to your vehicle never just grab the steering wheel, because that sucker is gonna be hot!

I wrote:
2. You've experienced condensation on your butt from the hot water in the toilet bowl. I am wrong again...

Arizona native's take: Never happens, but trying to get a cool glass of water from the faucet is a no go. The water directly under the house is as cool as it gets, after that all tap water is very warm.

3. You can drive for 4 hours in one direction and never leave town. EEEEH....I am corrected...

Arizona native's take: Nope, driving four hours gets you out of town, you can reach Flagstaff or Tucson in under four hours. Now a two hour drive in any direction from central Phoenix will keep you in the Valley.

4. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food. Strike FOUR!!!

Arizona native's take: Mexicans don't do recipes, you do it the way your mother did it, and she did it the way her mother-in-law did it, and so on. Now if your not Mexican and someone gives you a recipe and one of the ingredients is "ketchup" and/or "powdered chili" throw it out it ain't genuine.

And I agree...however, my "recipes" for Mexican food (i.e. tortillas, tamales--green chili & cheese and meat, flautas, enchiladas, calavacitas, pico de gallo, and frijoles refritos) have been handed down to me from my mom and aunts who learned them from their mom, who learned from her mom, etc.. We call them "recipes" even though they are learned through participation, and not from a cookbook.

5. You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door. ONE RIGHT!!!

Arizona native's take: Well, yeah she got that one right!

6. The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!

Arizona native's take: Nope!
Fall = Beautiful;
Winter = Beautiful;
Spring = Beautiful; and
Summer = May-June, Beautiful (hot and dry); July and August, Nasty (hot and humid)

As the daughter/granddaughter/great-granddaughter of Arizona natives, I agree and disagree. Arizona is beautiful when the cactus are blooming, when the snow is on top of the San Francisco Peaks, after a rainfall in the desert, at sunrise over the Santa Rita Mountains, at sunset in Monument Valley, etc. But hot is hot. When I visit my family in Tucson/Tubac in summer, my body feels like bacon...the fat should be sizzling and melting away from my body. However, I will take an Arizona hot day ANY DAY over a Virginia Beach hot day. In Virginia Beach, outdoors is like a steam room. You sweat and the clothes never dry. They may mildew right on your body. At least in Arizona, the breeze blows up your dress, and your sweat evaporates right off your body. I hate heat. Give me a Chicago winter over any summer day anywhere(except maybe Oak Creek Canyon or San Diego).

Thursday, July 24, 2008

...ya might like a little joke...

The Boss was in a quandary.

He had to downsize the office and narrowed it down to one of two people:
Debra or Jack. It was an impossible decision -- they were both super
workers. Rather than flip a coin, he decided he would fire the first one
who used the water cooler the next morning.

Debra came in the next morning with a horrible hangover after partying all
night. She went straight to the cooler to take an aspirin.

The Boss approached her and said: 'Debra, I've never done this before, but
I have to lay you or Jack off.'

'Could you jack off?', she said. 'I feel like shit this morning.'

Thursday, July 17, 2008

...a little Chicago humor for youse...

Subject: Fw: Cubs and Sox

One foggy night, a Cubs fan was heading south, and a White Sox fan was
driving north. While crossing a narrow bridge, they hit each other
head-on, mangling both cars.

The Sox fan manages to climb out of his car and survey the damage. He
looks at his twisted car and says, 'Man, I'm lucky to be alive!'

Likewise the Cubs fan gets out of his car uninjured, he too feeling
fortunate to have survived. The Cubs fan walks over to the Sox fan and
says, 'Hey man, I think this is a sign that we should put away our
differences and live as friends instead of rivals.'

The Sox fan thinks for a moment and says, 'You know, you're absolutely
right! We should be friends. In fact, I'm going to see if something else
survived the wreck.' The Sox fan pops open his trunk and removes a full,
undamaged bottle of Jack Daniels. He says to the Cubs fan, 'I think this
is another sign. We should toast to our newfound friendship.'

The Cubs fan agrees and grabs the bottle. After sucking down half the
bottle, he hands it back to the Sox fan and says, 'Your turn!'

The Sox fan calmly twists the cap back on the bottle, throws the bottle
over the bridge into the river, and says, 'Nah, I think I'll just wait
for the cops to show up.'

...how negligent I've been...


But let me explain. So much has happened over the past few months that I've been unable to sit down and write my blog:
1. New grandson, Michael Grant Matthias, courtesy of our 20-year-old son, Matthew "Knucklehead", and his former girlfriend, Katrina. Our little "Noodleneck" will be four months old on July 22nd. Although Matthew and Katrina's relationship lasted only last summer, they will be forever involved with each other because of our little bobblehead baby boy.
2. Desktop computer has been on the blink since right after the spring semester ended...along with a problem with our Internet provider. My #2 daughter was able to somehow "borrow" our neighbor's wireless signal to be able to use the laptop computer. This was my birthday present last December from my thoughtful husband, Scott. This was to use for school, however, he bought the largest screen laptop that Dell makes, and it not only weighs too much to want to carry it to my classes, it is also bigger than the desk tops in the classroom. No place for my books. So it has been sitting idle until:
3. Daughter #2 (Meeghan) came to visit...she and our three granddaughters and (step-)grandson arrived one month ago, and just left to return to Florida this morning. Meeghan has been doing a genealogical search of our family for the past three years, and has managed to trace my mom's side of the family back to England, Scotland, and France in the 1500s. This was an incredible feat; unraveling our family's history began based solely on about three sentences my mom told me when I was a kid...that her grandmother's name was Sarah Lathrop who lived in northern California, after traveling by covered wagon from back "East." The two-inch thick stack of research traces the family and uncovered surprising (for us) ancestors...after hearing Meeghan's research, I feel that our family really dummied down over the last few generations, and I feel especially self-critical. Ancestors include my third cousin, I think, Ulysses S. Grant (from where grandson Michael's middle name is chosen), and the founders of a couple of universities. Captain Hope Lathrop, my seventh (I think) great-grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War, and was a legislator from the state (colony) of Connecticut. Because of our connection to him, Meeghan applied for, and was accepted for membership in the "Daughters of the American Revolution." Ancestors included abolitionists, Utah pioneers, founders of a couple of towns in Massachusetts and Connecticut. She is now going to work on tracing the family back to the Mayflower. We were simply amazed that none of my eight aunts and uncles nor any of my hundreds of cousins, second cousins and other relatives knew anything of the family history. Meeghan is thinking of giving up her job as a nurse and concentrate on becoming a genealogist. If you would like your family tree traced, she is on a roll and would jump at the chance to practice and use some of the search sites she is paying for. It has become an addiction. The other day I was feeding the baby a bottle, and she was sitting across the room watching episode 8 of season one of Prison Break. She blurted out, "give me a name, any name..." And I gave her the name of my lifelong friend Donna. Before the baby finished his bottle, she had traced Donna's dad's family back to Ohio and West Virginia to the mid-1700s. So, my friends, give me a couple of family names, and whatever information you have, and feed my daughter's addiction. Who knows, maybe we are related!
4. We have replaced our air conditioner/furnace, wash machine, and hot water heater, had a huge dead pine tree cut down, and had both our truck and car repaired since March. We are feeling stressed from all of the $$$$$$$$$$$$ spent. And we are reluctant to even imagine what else can go wrong, for fear of tempting fate.
5. Michael has been keeping us busy, but at this time he is napping on half of my lap, and I'm balancing the computer on my other thigh. He's starting to squirm, so I'm going to close for now. I have some comments to make about some of our legislators, which will have to wait for another day. Thanks for not giving up on me.