Did I miss it?
Just kidding! :) We're all done with it here. Supper was marvelous and there's just enough prime rib left for some awesome sandwiches tomorrow.
Wishing all of you a lovely Whateveritisyoucelebrate.
It so funny (not haha funny) how people forget or ignore your clearly and politely stated memo that you will be unavailable during vacation.
And then, they send you no less than a dozen emails with that little fucking "urgent" flag on it. So, you feel guilty (because you have a problem with guilt) for sending them a little note saying, "I'm on vacation right now. I'll address your issue when I return on Jan. 4."
And the guilt eats at you ... for another 5 nanoseconds.
Just a quick note to say that the upgrade to OS 5.0 on my BlackBerry is not "exciting" and "innovative." It rather sucks, actually, because it required me to re-set every. single. app. on. the. fucking. BB.
Also, the little print is so teeny-tiny that I can hardly read the date anymore, and I definitely can't tell when I have a data connection or if I have to re-set that little FUCKER again, too -- which I did have to do more than once already.
All in all, not a very pleasant RIM job.
I am not offended by the following statements:
1. Merry Christmas!
2. Let's say grace.... Amen.
3. God bless you.
4. God be with you.
So many people are getting their panties in a twist over things like this. I think it's pissing in the "Spirit of the Season" soup. Generally, people seem to be sincere when uttering the above. Here is why I don't find any of it offensive.1. I love Christmas stuff, including Merry Christmas. I may find the co-opting of pagan symbols by Christians to be ironic, and some people's insistence that it is all about Jesus' birthday to be woefully misinformed, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with wishing someone well at this time of year.
2. I was just at a large business luncheon where this occurred. Everyone bowed their heads respectfully and many echoed the "Amen." And, you know what? So did I. It doesn't make me cringe to have a moment of respectful silence in my day. What I may be reflecting upon may have nothing to do with what the person imparting the prayer may have in mind, but I can participate just the same. The fact that I'm typing this right now proves that being in the same room with a Christian prayer didn't cause me to spontaneously combust.
3. What the heck else do you say when someone sneezes? Gesundheit? Perhaps if you're in the Mennonite town, but it's a rare one outside of there who uses that. Even I say "bless you."
4. I hear this frequently because I live in an area where it is a common phrase of departure. I consider it the equivalent of leaving a Circle and saying "Merry part." It is meant with love and sincerity. I accept it as such, and give the appropriate "and also with you" reply. And, I mean it.
After all, if we can't call a truce at Solstice, we've got some serious problems.
It was cheese!
That is what nearly broke my tenuous grasp on sanity. This haunting, garbage-y smell that wouldn't leave the fridge. Well, actually, it would leave the fridge if you aired it out and scrubbed it down to within an inch of its little fucking plastic and chrome life inside and out and over and under, but then it was back! Again! And again!
Yes... I was nearly felled by a cheese. A smelly, gassy cheese. From Quebec, no less. When I thought about it, yes... it actually did remind me of Montreal.
Events have my mind on a certain Jewish friend and her family, especially her brother, the Rabbi who just underwent heart surgery.
In our homeschool, T is studying the Ancient Israelites. For an assignment, we learned a bit about Hannukah, which brought back memories of attending services at the little Temple by the university with my aforementioned friend and her mom and dad.
I made latkes for the first time ever. They were incredibly easy to make and so tasty that they are going in the regular repertoire.
Anyway... I don't pretend to understand all that goes with this particular holiday, but my heart is going out tonight.
Happy Hannukah!
Yeah. I don't have any.
I know my kid is a pretty great kid. He's bright, kind and sometimes wise beyond his years. I don't know how he got that way, and I'm not really sure I should take too much credit for it.
Some people think L and I are nuts, weirdos, flakes.... and they might be right (from their perspective, at least). I admit I'm not some kind of paragon of virtue, no ethical saint, no genius of intellect, no wise sage. I think I'm a regular mom, and that we're a regular family. But, then again, that's all in the perspective, too.
I think we've given T some advantages that play to his personal strengths, though. We homeschool him, which allows him to learn at his own pace -- quicker than average in some areas, not as quick in others. We haven't enrolled him in 101 activities, only those he's specifically requested, which are few, but of great quality (I can't praise 4-H highly enough for it's quality). We have a lot of land, which appeals to his outdoorsy and explorative nature. We never tell him he can't go outside, even if it's 40-below. He's smart enough to figure out what too cold, or too rainy is. Or at least, we assume he is.
Maybe that's another thing... we assume he's bright enough to figure things out for himself. While we are always there to help explain, we often say "can you figure that out?" or, "what do you think?"
Yeah.... there's another thing... we ask him what he thinks. We ask him what he thinks about his lessons, about the farm, about his Legos, about his projects, about animals, about his feelings, about his community, about the world, about his friends, about shows on tv, about books he's read, about books we've read, about news stories on the radio (which is on all the time -- tuned to CBC, naturally), about news stories he reads online or in the papers.
We talk a lot. No. We converse a lot, about all the things mentioned above and then some. We include T like he is a person who has something to offer. I see some people with kids his age or younger, or older, who talk to their kids like... I don't know... not like people... more like pets, I guess.
Other than that, T has a wonderful male role model in L, who, while he may look like a very manly kind of man, is not the manly kind of man who feels like he has to throw macho bullshit around. Ever. Right now, he's making chicken parmiagiana for supper. He does that a lot. And laundry. And fixing everything in the house and around the farm. Really... if I list it all, you'd wonder what the hell I ever do around here. Plus, L is a very kind man and he models that shamelessly.
All in all... it's just a lot of luck and coincidence that T is the great kid he is. I like to tell him that he's a great kid. He likes to tell me I'm the greatest mommy in the universe. Well, kiddo... guess you got lucky, too. :)
Just came back from the 4-H xmas party. Much fun was had by all. I found out that T has discovered girls somewhat.
They had a Secret Santa swap and T had pulled the name of a girl a bit older than him (I think she's 14). We had gone shopping yesterday at the boutique in town and T picked a cute little silver necklace with a butterfly charm and pink coloured stones on it.
So, today at the swap, he was watching the girl to see if she liked it, which she really, really did. When time came to find your Secret Santa, T was right there asking if she really liked it. (She really, really did!) And I overheard him say. "I saw you wearing butterfly earrings at our last meeting. Butterflies are pretty on you.... but you're just pretty on your own, too."
Girl blushed and gushed thanks and gave him a hug. Later he said, "Mom, did you know girls will hug you if you tell them they're pretty? It's like... does no one tell them they're pretty or what?"
"I don't know," I said, "some girls might not hear that often. It's always nice when someone tells you that, though."
"Yeah," he says, with a shrug of modest nonchalance, "I guess I'm the kind of guy who will tell a girl."
Long pause.... "the hug was awesome!!"
T told his dad about it, when he got home. They had this little manly talk where L told T it's always good to be sweet to girls, but remember to be honest because they can always tell if you're lying to them about the pretty thing. To which T replied that wasn't a problem. Apparently all girls look pretty, but it's kind of funny how he hadn't noticed that when he was little.
oh... *sigh* I think he's doing that growing up thing I dreaded. Still... he's so darn cute. But, I guess I'll have to resist pinching his cheeks in public from now on.
I've been feeling on the edge of a panic attack the last several days. The thing is... I have no work unattended, no important anything left undone, no money troubles to speak of, no personal problems to speak of. Only 2 things -- an unidentifiable and proving next to impossible to rid fridge smell, and an old, very un-nimble cat with what appears to be an impossible to treat bowel problem -- are picking away at me.
Why do smell issues drive me over the edge? Why are they always so hard to control? Why do I always have to be in control?
I'm trying to let it go.... let it gooooooooooooooooo...
It's only just December, yet the holiday malaise -- the whatevers, the get-to-it-when-we-get-to-its, the put-yet-another-thing-on-the-back-burners -- has set in already.
The biggest thing getting shoved aside is school work. T was sick all last week and we didn't do anything. Now, we can't seem to pull back in to a routine. Monday -- a wishy, washy rehash of material leftover from the week before T was sick. Tuesday -- nada, but L was in charge that day, so at least I can pass the buck there. Today -- ah, who knows, who cares.
It snowed 5 cm. over that past 2 days, which just pisses me off, but I'll get over it. I must keep my eye on the naked snow-bank diving potential. Then, I'll be fine. But, in the meantime, it does mean that travel is a bitch, and I have to travel today for work. I'm feeling so blah, I want to skiv off that, too.
Meh... whatever.
