Take with Instagram on iphone, using Earlybird filter.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
30 Day Photo Challenge: Self Portrait
I have decided to do one of these blog challenges... we will see how this goes. If you want to play too, you can find the information at 30 day photo challenge.
I hate pictures of me. So, taking a self portrait is somewhat challenging. Here is what we got. I imagine as I learn how to use the software the pictures will get better.
I hate pictures of me. So, taking a self portrait is somewhat challenging. Here is what we got. I imagine as I learn how to use the software the pictures will get better.
True Confessions of a Canine Convict
Here I am in the back of a police car. I do not understand how what I did was such a crime. I am trying to explain the situation to the policeman, but he won't hear any of it. He just slammed the door on my nose and drove me away.My crime you ask? I walked to the corner of my block. It was all of three houses away. When is walking down the street a crime? I see my people do it all the time. Other animals, like rabbits, do it all the time. But, when I try and exercise my legs a bit and see the happenings down the street, I am treated like a common criminal.
I was just being friendly when I barked at that man, you might even say I was downright neighborly. I wanted to notify him about the rabbits that where tunneling under his deck. But did he think I was being helpful? No, he called the coppers on me.
When the police did arrive, I thought I will just tell them my story and I would be on my way. But, no, they weren't listening they just shoved me, not to nicely I might add, into the back of the squad car. At first I thought maybe they were giving me a lift home, but no, they were taking me to jail.
Humans get to make a phone call to their lawyers upon arriving at prision. When I asked for my phone call, did I get it? No siree. My rights were violated. I have to say they could have been nicer when they gave me those shots. No petting and treats like they do at the vet, no they just jammed it in the scruff of my neck. Moving me along like an assembly line. A little bedside manner goes a long way, just sayin'.
Jail isn't so bad, the food was good and these nice volunteers take us out to a pen and play with us. They were pretty nice, but no one wanted to hear my story. I was guilty in their eyes. I tried to tell them that I had been wrongly convicted and if they would just call my family we could straighten this whole thing out. They would hear nothing of it.
There is no due process, no hearing with the judge, nothing. They take the word of that not so neighborly neighbor and determine that I am a problem. I am going to have to take this up the with the rabbits. I am sure they can manage some sort of pox on his house.
Anyway, after what seemed to be a life sentence my people did come and get me. I guess I had done the time. My people seemed happy to see me, but they were angry and me for leaving. I would like to repeat that I just went for a stroll. An evening constitiutional if you will, what is the crime in that?
Now I have been microchipped. I think it is some sort of communist plot to track my movements. A way for Big Brother to monitor my every move. Here I am a senior citizen, who now has a wrap sheet.
This is convict 58-9357 signing off. Next time I want to take a stroll I think will take one the kids with me.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
LUUUUcy
Today's topic for our Thursday blog project is what Disney Character are you most like. The cartoon character I am most like is Lucy from Peanuts. I asked if I could change the topic to include other characters. I got a conditional approval. I have to justify it my change. Here goes the justification: Is there another character that is like Lucy in the Disney stable? See you can't think of one either. So, there you are.
I look a bit like Lucy. Especially when I was small. I had a shoulder length bob and it curled under just like hers does. So there was that.
I act a bit like Lucy. I am not saying I am bossy. I am also not saying I am not bossy. Not willing to cop to that characteristic. I am also the person people come to with their problems. Be it questions about relationships or other interpersonal stuff, or just advice about how to handle the various problems of life, I seem to be the one people ask. I am very good at recognizing patterns and asking the hard questions. There is a group of people that value my direct approach.
I have a little brother who is annoying, just like Lucy. I tend to be a yeller, just like Lucy. I am a little out of touch with reality, just like Lucy as it relates to Schroeder.
My family would send me cards with Lucy on them for birthdays, Valentine's Day, and all other card giving occasions. I was always upset I didn't get Snoopy, but now I understand why I got Lucy.
For my birthday last year, I bought myself a sock yarn kit inspired by Lucy. I haven't made the socks yet, but when I do, they will always be special.
This is Lucy VanPelt's doppelganger, asking you to check out what the other ladies have to say. Momarock, Froggie and Merrylandgirl.
I look a bit like Lucy. Especially when I was small. I had a shoulder length bob and it curled under just like hers does. So there was that.I act a bit like Lucy. I am not saying I am bossy. I am also not saying I am not bossy. Not willing to cop to that characteristic. I am also the person people come to with their problems. Be it questions about relationships or other interpersonal stuff, or just advice about how to handle the various problems of life, I seem to be the one people ask. I am very good at recognizing patterns and asking the hard questions. There is a group of people that value my direct approach.
I have a little brother who is annoying, just like Lucy. I tend to be a yeller, just like Lucy. I am a little out of touch with reality, just like Lucy as it relates to Schroeder.
My family would send me cards with Lucy on them for birthdays, Valentine's Day, and all other card giving occasions. I was always upset I didn't get Snoopy, but now I understand why I got Lucy.
For my birthday last year, I bought myself a sock yarn kit inspired by Lucy. I haven't made the socks yet, but when I do, they will always be special.
This is Lucy VanPelt's doppelganger, asking you to check out what the other ladies have to say. Momarock, Froggie and Merrylandgirl.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
I wouldn't do that...
Very rarely do I comment on the news in this space. But I have something to say about the tragic events in New York this week. I have an 8 year old Jewish boy. I guess I feel for the parents.
I let my kids walk home from school by themselves. I let them go to the drugstore to get candy by themselves. I let them ride their bikes around the block alone. My kids are outside, alone. Even the 5 year old. You might think I am a bad parent. That is your choice. I am trying to teach my kids to be smart and make good choices, to be confident in their abilities to navigate the world without me. I hope and pray that they are alright when they do this.
The reality is that something could happen to them. Someone could snatch my kids while they are playing in front of my house. I think the odds of that happening are low, but it could happen. If that does happen, is the entire world going to say to me: "Well, I wouldn't let my 8 year old do that. I would make the sacrifices necessary to keep him/her safe. I would protect my child." (not sure where the question mark goes here.. but it is a question.)
It pisses me off to no end to hear people say that they would keep their child safe. Hello folks, not possible. You can put your kid in a bubble, latch them to your body, and they are still not safe. The world is not a safe place. Period. That is the way that it is.
It is not fair to the family to play Monday morning quarterback and tell them what they should have done. My Dad was famous for telling people, don't you should on me. Let's not should on strangers in their moment of horror.
I feel like I can say with 100% certainty that the parents in this situation would not have let him walk home if they believed that it was really unsafe. He clearly felt confident and comfortable enough to ask for help. To bad he picked a guy on a psychotic break. But, what happened was just an unfortunate situation, it was not because his parents were negligent in anyway. I am sure that they will be burdened with the guilt of "if only" for the rest of their lives. We don't need to help with that.
I realize we say, I would not do that, to comfort ourselves. To make us feel like this couldn't happen to us. Reality check here, it could happen to you. That could have been you. This is not to say that we should lock our children in the house. So, in the honor of that poor boy, lets remind our kids about strangers. Take an extra second to make sure that they have the information that the need, and then send them out in the world. Perhaps add an extra hug in there. But still send them out in the world. Chances are they will be OK and come back stronger, better and more able.
Interesting statistic, there are not more child abductions than there were when we were kids. We just know more about them. Don't let fear keep you from letting your kids live their lives. Don't let this freak situation make you scared and by the transitive property, your children scared of the world. Teach them how to navigate through the world.
Be careful out there. Isn't that what they said at the end of CHiPs? Or as the fire fighters say, be safe, be prepared and have a plan.
I let my kids walk home from school by themselves. I let them go to the drugstore to get candy by themselves. I let them ride their bikes around the block alone. My kids are outside, alone. Even the 5 year old. You might think I am a bad parent. That is your choice. I am trying to teach my kids to be smart and make good choices, to be confident in their abilities to navigate the world without me. I hope and pray that they are alright when they do this.
The reality is that something could happen to them. Someone could snatch my kids while they are playing in front of my house. I think the odds of that happening are low, but it could happen. If that does happen, is the entire world going to say to me: "Well, I wouldn't let my 8 year old do that. I would make the sacrifices necessary to keep him/her safe. I would protect my child." (not sure where the question mark goes here.. but it is a question.)
It pisses me off to no end to hear people say that they would keep their child safe. Hello folks, not possible. You can put your kid in a bubble, latch them to your body, and they are still not safe. The world is not a safe place. Period. That is the way that it is.
It is not fair to the family to play Monday morning quarterback and tell them what they should have done. My Dad was famous for telling people, don't you should on me. Let's not should on strangers in their moment of horror.
I feel like I can say with 100% certainty that the parents in this situation would not have let him walk home if they believed that it was really unsafe. He clearly felt confident and comfortable enough to ask for help. To bad he picked a guy on a psychotic break. But, what happened was just an unfortunate situation, it was not because his parents were negligent in anyway. I am sure that they will be burdened with the guilt of "if only" for the rest of their lives. We don't need to help with that.
I realize we say, I would not do that, to comfort ourselves. To make us feel like this couldn't happen to us. Reality check here, it could happen to you. That could have been you. This is not to say that we should lock our children in the house. So, in the honor of that poor boy, lets remind our kids about strangers. Take an extra second to make sure that they have the information that the need, and then send them out in the world. Perhaps add an extra hug in there. But still send them out in the world. Chances are they will be OK and come back stronger, better and more able.
Interesting statistic, there are not more child abductions than there were when we were kids. We just know more about them. Don't let fear keep you from letting your kids live their lives. Don't let this freak situation make you scared and by the transitive property, your children scared of the world. Teach them how to navigate through the world.
Be careful out there. Isn't that what they said at the end of CHiPs? Or as the fire fighters say, be safe, be prepared and have a plan.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Enough
The next entry in our Thursday blog project will have us discussing the one thing we would like to eliminate from the world. It poses an interesting question, because there are so many things to eliminate. Mosquitoes come to mind.
When I read the question my first thought was war. I would want to eliminate war. But as the week progressed, I began to consider other options. There is hunger/famine, child abuse, environmental destruction, violence, terrorism and of course mosquitoes. There are just so many things that are negative. How could I pick just one?
I thought, fine, I will just stick with my first mind and go with war. No more war. But as I thought about it more, a lot of issues in our world are caused by scarcity. The bulk of the wars fought are over scarce resources. The whole situation in the middle east is about oil. The American Revolution was fought over control over the resources and money. Let's face Mother England wanted to cash in on the resources here in the New World. Taking the concept a step further, the ability to control scarce resources leads to power.
Hunger and famine, scarcity causes those two things to exist. Not enough food, means some folks go hungry.
Gang violence is all about controlling scarce resources. Gang bangers want their piece of the pie, their territory. They are trying to keep other people from having what is theirs.
If we eliminated scarcity, so that there was enough fuel, food, power, etc. to go around, my theory is that would eliminate war, violence and hunger/famine. So, if we eliminate scarcity (my one thing to eliminate) we would get the end result of getting rid of a lot of other nasty things. I like that. It is like tricking the system.
A world where everyone has enough is somewhat inconceivable. It is actually the underlying premise of Marxism and Communism. Everyone has enough and everyone is equal. You can see how well that has worked out in practice.
What is enough? My kids have more toys, gadgets and things than I ever did. They have attention, love, plenty to eat and a good education. Still, it isn't enough. They still fight over the one airplane with Bugs Bunny in it, or the Little People school bus, which we have two of. There is enough for everyone, but they still want more.
It is impossible for everyone to have enough. Hence it is impossible for everyone to get along. It is part of the human condition to want more.
Want to see what everyone else has to say on the topic? Check out Froggie, Momarock and Merrylandgirl.
When I read the question my first thought was war. I would want to eliminate war. But as the week progressed, I began to consider other options. There is hunger/famine, child abuse, environmental destruction, violence, terrorism and of course mosquitoes. There are just so many things that are negative. How could I pick just one?
I thought, fine, I will just stick with my first mind and go with war. No more war. But as I thought about it more, a lot of issues in our world are caused by scarcity. The bulk of the wars fought are over scarce resources. The whole situation in the middle east is about oil. The American Revolution was fought over control over the resources and money. Let's face Mother England wanted to cash in on the resources here in the New World. Taking the concept a step further, the ability to control scarce resources leads to power.
Hunger and famine, scarcity causes those two things to exist. Not enough food, means some folks go hungry.
Gang violence is all about controlling scarce resources. Gang bangers want their piece of the pie, their territory. They are trying to keep other people from having what is theirs.
If we eliminated scarcity, so that there was enough fuel, food, power, etc. to go around, my theory is that would eliminate war, violence and hunger/famine. So, if we eliminate scarcity (my one thing to eliminate) we would get the end result of getting rid of a lot of other nasty things. I like that. It is like tricking the system.
A world where everyone has enough is somewhat inconceivable. It is actually the underlying premise of Marxism and Communism. Everyone has enough and everyone is equal. You can see how well that has worked out in practice.
What is enough? My kids have more toys, gadgets and things than I ever did. They have attention, love, plenty to eat and a good education. Still, it isn't enough. They still fight over the one airplane with Bugs Bunny in it, or the Little People school bus, which we have two of. There is enough for everyone, but they still want more.
It is impossible for everyone to have enough. Hence it is impossible for everyone to get along. It is part of the human condition to want more.
Want to see what everyone else has to say on the topic? Check out Froggie, Momarock and Merrylandgirl.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Camp photos
There is all this ruff on Facebook about posting new pictures from camp. The more experienced parents are telling those of us less experienced parents to stop complaining about how long it has been since pictures have been posted. Some of them in a not so nice way.
There seems to be some belief that if you see your kid smiling in a picture you know that they are ok. Alright, but I would like to point out that the best picture I have of Mac is one taken when he was an itty bitty baby and he had spent the entire photo session crying. I finally handed him his blanket and the rubbed it on his face. The photo was snapped the minute he pulled it down from his face, smiled and then proceeded to cry again. We got the smile. Just because Mac is smiling in a photo does not mean he isn't tantruming in the next second or that he wasn't five minutes before.
I trust that they will call me and tell me if there is a problem. I know that this is true, because they have already called me. He had an axiety attack in the first 24 hours. I am so proud. But at least we got that out of the way. It had to happen. I told the unit head to call if he needed anything, but that I hoped he didn't need to call. I spend my days hoping for no communication. No news is good news in my world. Hoping for no communication is a comfortable place for me. I do send the kid to school regularly, and I regularly hope that there is no communication from the teachers.
If he isn't having fun in kid paradise, well then, who's problem is that? Sure as heck not mine. If you can not have fun some place where there is nothing to do but have fun, then you aren't trying hard enough. Really, this place looks so awesome that I want to go. The camp I went to and loved looks like an outhouse in comparison. They get to go sailing, water skiing, rock climbing, hiking, they get to video tape the skits the create, the can play tennis, soccer, go swimming, sing songs... I am stopping only because the list is so long. This a snowflake on the iceburg of their activities.
I am not worried that my kid isn't having fun. I don't care if he is homesick. Those are all things that are in the realm that HE controls, not me. I have done everything I can to make sure that he has a good time. Now, I get to sit back and see what happens.
I was totally honest with the camp about what to expect. I didn't candy coat things. If they are surprised by him, they they weren't listening to me. Again, not my problem. Things only become my problem if I have to get him early. But think that unlikely.
So seeing pictures about what he is doing, is not really important to me in terms of my anxiety. I am not anxious about what is happening at camp. Curious? Yeah. I think that is normal. It is important to his brother and sister. It is important to me because they are now excited to go to camp. Sam, who firmly said he would not go to Jew Camp, now is considering it as a possibility because of the pictures. I want them to be excited about it on the off chance that Mac hates it and does not want to do it again. I don't want Mac's negativity to turn them off. I think the opposite is likely, but I like to hedge my bets.
If they didn't have pictures, we would be ok. But, because we have them, then I want to see them. I am excited, the other kids are excited. Don't get angry at us because we want to be part of the party. You are the ones that invited us in the first place.
There seems to be some belief that if you see your kid smiling in a picture you know that they are ok. Alright, but I would like to point out that the best picture I have of Mac is one taken when he was an itty bitty baby and he had spent the entire photo session crying. I finally handed him his blanket and the rubbed it on his face. The photo was snapped the minute he pulled it down from his face, smiled and then proceeded to cry again. We got the smile. Just because Mac is smiling in a photo does not mean he isn't tantruming in the next second or that he wasn't five minutes before.
I trust that they will call me and tell me if there is a problem. I know that this is true, because they have already called me. He had an axiety attack in the first 24 hours. I am so proud. But at least we got that out of the way. It had to happen. I told the unit head to call if he needed anything, but that I hoped he didn't need to call. I spend my days hoping for no communication. No news is good news in my world. Hoping for no communication is a comfortable place for me. I do send the kid to school regularly, and I regularly hope that there is no communication from the teachers.
If he isn't having fun in kid paradise, well then, who's problem is that? Sure as heck not mine. If you can not have fun some place where there is nothing to do but have fun, then you aren't trying hard enough. Really, this place looks so awesome that I want to go. The camp I went to and loved looks like an outhouse in comparison. They get to go sailing, water skiing, rock climbing, hiking, they get to video tape the skits the create, the can play tennis, soccer, go swimming, sing songs... I am stopping only because the list is so long. This a snowflake on the iceburg of their activities.
I am not worried that my kid isn't having fun. I don't care if he is homesick. Those are all things that are in the realm that HE controls, not me. I have done everything I can to make sure that he has a good time. Now, I get to sit back and see what happens.
I was totally honest with the camp about what to expect. I didn't candy coat things. If they are surprised by him, they they weren't listening to me. Again, not my problem. Things only become my problem if I have to get him early. But think that unlikely.
So seeing pictures about what he is doing, is not really important to me in terms of my anxiety. I am not anxious about what is happening at camp. Curious? Yeah. I think that is normal. It is important to his brother and sister. It is important to me because they are now excited to go to camp. Sam, who firmly said he would not go to Jew Camp, now is considering it as a possibility because of the pictures. I want them to be excited about it on the off chance that Mac hates it and does not want to do it again. I don't want Mac's negativity to turn them off. I think the opposite is likely, but I like to hedge my bets.
If they didn't have pictures, we would be ok. But, because we have them, then I want to see them. I am excited, the other kids are excited. Don't get angry at us because we want to be part of the party. You are the ones that invited us in the first place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)