tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-122359322024-03-23T11:05:17.123-07:00WifeBearThoughts, opinions, rants, and not much inclination to post as often as I used to. Married, mother of two, funny, lifetime friend, contrary, sarcastic, honest, optimistic, willing to learn, always to listen.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.comBlogger310125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-34613333459180828742014-04-27T10:14:00.001-07:002014-04-27T10:14:41.943-07:00I haven't posted in years. I have a lot of work to do to make Wifebear current. Somebody I know started a new blog today and it made me come to mine. I miss the days of so many of us blogging and commenting on each other's blogs. I guess Facebook has taken over. Still, I would love to blog again.<br /><br />My computer is almost out of power, so for now I will just wish anybody who visits a very happy Sunday.<br />
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I will come back soon, perhaps later today to update my page.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
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NancyNancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-63757267069938965312010-12-03T14:34:00.000-08:002010-12-03T14:34:17.482-08:00Lessons LearnedThere are so many things in life that we learn as youngsters and use later in life that have absolutely no connection. For me, one is playing jump rope, especially double dutches. It reminds me of how to merge onto the freeway. Just the right timing to jump in, speed to go and maintain traffic conditions, which is so much like jumping rope. Two people hold the ends, turn the rope and you have to decide when to jump in, when to jump again and how to time it just right....<br />
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On the other hand. There are things I was taught that didn't benefit me well. You know, when I look back at all the crap I learned in high school. Yes, it is a song! Spanish class for me should have been taught differently. Some people may have done well with the monologues we had to memorize. To this day if I need a word, I have to refer back to a monologues to find the word. Same holds true for learning numbers in Spanish, where I still have to say the numbers in order to remember that siete means seven. Same goes for the alphabet. I have to sing the song until I reach the letter I am looking for when alphabetizing!<br />
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Growing up playing cards, Pinochle and Spades mostly and of course playing dominoes and Yahtzee have made me an addition whiz. I am quick to add numbers in my head and I remember numbers better than most people I know. This is one reason I don't use speed or memory dial. Use it or lose it I say when it comes to remembering phone numbers!Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-56628831456613922292010-11-15T17:16:00.000-08:002010-11-15T17:16:08.349-08:00Bullying and Team MomA funny thing happened on the way to "It's not the school's problem."<br />
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Last summer after being bullied for several months, my daughter said she hadn't told me earlier because I would get angry with the bully, but also that she wanted to handle it herself. <br />
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The bully in question had dated the boy who was my then daughter's boyfriend. My daughter had never met or spoken to this girl. Bully girl did some hateful things to others, such as ordering a lot of pizzas to be delivered to a certain boy, papered his home with tampons and put his personal information on more than one adult web sites. She used Facebook as her means of attack on my daughter. She called her names like caterpillar, because my daughter has to die for eyebrows! She doesn't look like a caterpillar at all, but bully girl was trying to wound my daughter who just happened to be self conscious about her eyebrows. Bully girl said lots of nasty things about my daughter and her boyfriend for all to read. I do have to admit that bully girl did get the nickname skankwhore out of this. However, we at Team Mommy told my daughter and her friends not to use that any longer and try to ignore her.<br />
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Eventually the bully girl started picking on another girl who had an eating disorder and wore heavy makeup. This girl was a year younger than my daughter and by this time, my daughter and another friend had taken all they could. They went to see a counselor about what bully girl was doing to eating disorder girl. At this time, my daughter also mentioned the bullying she had endured in silence, at least to any adults. The counselor requested copies of the facebook taunts and comments and was very upset after she read them. She told the girls to talk to the ASB teacher in charge because bully girl was a class president. This teacher took it very personally and said it would not be tolerated. Gone from Facebook were the bully girl and her so called friends. That did not stop bully girl from being mean to eating disorder girl at school though.<br />
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Finally, it was told to the vice principal who said, "This is not a school issue." The eating disorder girl asked if it was a school issue when she went to take the SAT and bully girl and followers were there taunting her before the test. Nothing was done from that point, that I know of, until tonight, prompting me to blog for the first time in many months. <br />
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Now the funny part. Via robocall the VP called to say there will be two guest speakers tomorrow and one has to do with cyber bullying and how to handle it...Hmm. Guess with all the headlines lately, knowledge is power. <br />
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This leads me to Team Mommy. It is a name I coined one day while talking with another mom. My daughter is a senior and still a girl scout. The same troop and girls are still together since first grade. These are not wallflower type girls, but gorgeous, smart, talented, loving young women who have tons of friends even outside their troop of eight. We moms know each other and our girls quite well. Most of the girls call all of us moms mommy. While talking to this mom one day, she told me something that will never be repeated, but we moms need to know. I said Team Mommy vs Angry Teenager, Team Mommy ALWAYS wins!<br />
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So, most of these lovely women don't know what I call them, which I will get around to at some point, but do yourselves a favor and take care of other kids and make your own club of Team Mommy. It costs nothing and is invaluable, especially for other opinions or advice. And who has a teenager who doesn't need this from time to time?Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-68220367767670541202010-05-20T18:51:00.000-07:002010-05-20T18:51:56.254-07:00American Idol and Sap for Success StoriesFirst of all, let me say the only reason I am blogging right now is that a friend is starting a new one and wondered how to do it. Keeping the page open, just in case she needs help, I am watching last night's American Idol....<br />
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First, I love Casey. He is quiet in a Jason Castro way. I think he probably got voted off last night, but it has all I could do to now watch, read or hear anything about last night's show.<br />
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As I am watching the show, he went back to his home town and I am just crying like a baby at the crowd of well wishers, fans. He is astounded which makes it all the better. Then he goes to the hospital where he was after a bad accident and signs autographs and says thank you. He is a class act.<br />
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I want Crystal to win because she just plain rocks! But, it's up to the voters, ultimately. I can't belive Seacrest is talking to Perez Hilton. I really can't believe that he said Lee's Hallelujah is better than JT's! Wrong...Justin Timberlate's performance with Matt Morris was the most moving rendention I have EVER heard! So, WRONG Perez!!!!!<br />
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That's my rant for today...Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-12229259473805066732010-03-21T19:07:00.000-07:002010-03-21T19:07:18.346-07:00Gotta check out this very popular owl!I am blogging for the first time in a couple months. I know, I should be ashamed of myself. Lightfeather, are you on Facebook? Lightfeather sent me a note to post something. So, for now, I will post this.<br />
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This is an owl who is nesting. One of the owlets hatched today. It is a box in San Marcos, San Diego County, CA and it's on a couple's property. There is a 24 hour camera and it has become quite popular. Awesome to see wildlife so up close and personal. The mommy owl is name Molly. Her humans just finished talking about their trials with the video feeds, etc. They are a very sweet couple who have already named the owlet, Max. Max won't open it's eyes for two weeks. I don't know how they know it's a boy, or if they do. Max has 17 bones in it's neck, which is why it hangs there. The human said, "Don't be alarmed, Molly is cleaning, not eating her young. The baby daddy should be coming back soon. He comes home at night.<br />
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Do yourself a favor and check out this very cool video which just surpassed one million views today. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Li">://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Li</a><a href="http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Live_Owl_Nest_Box_Cam.html">Live Owl Nest Box Cam</a>Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-31741850377999661882010-01-10T05:40:00.000-08:002010-01-10T09:36:27.823-08:00A True Progressive Dinner<font face="georgia"><font style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">When I was a kid, my parents both worked and I learned how to cook. By the time I was eight, I was making full course family dinners. My mother worked for a bank, an hours drive from home and she was home less, so it kind of fell to my dad to teach me.<br />
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One of the first things he taught me to make was biscuits. Self rising flour and canned milk. Delicious, but I haven't made them in eons.<br />
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I was taught to make food go longer with leftovers, if there were any! Hence, a true progressive dinner...<br />
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We would get a ham. Cooked in the oven and sliced for dinner. Usually with fried potatoes and corn was the veggie of choice. After about two days of ham sandwiches and leftovers for dinner, we would move on to Pinto Beans. The ham bone would be used as stock for the beans. I learned how to use a Pressure Cooker, which was much faster and simply better than slow cooking beans for hours. The beans were out of this world. We <span style="font-style: italic;">always</span> had fried potatoes with beans. We also used white bread to put under the beans to sop up the juice. If we were lucky, the white bread would be substituted with corn bread. Once I got married and learned how to cook steamed rice (the easiest thing in the world) we very rarely had fried potatoes again. After about two days of beans, next came chili. Everything in the fridge kind of chili with newly added browned burger. Leftover Beans, Shelby's chili kit, in the little paper bag, a can of beer, salsa, steak sauce, velveeta (yes, velveeta, don't do that anymore either) other random ingredients and pickle juice. To this day I buy dill pickles for the juice to go in chili made a couple times a year. Never eat the pickles.<br />
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So, from ham, to beans and ham, to chili, it could last a good week and nothing would go to unused. We sometimes had veggies, but they were limited, corn, okra, tomatoes, cucumber and green beans. I don't know if it had to do with little knowledge about vegetables on my parents part, or money that kept us from having yummy broccoli, artichokes and asparagus. I never tried any of these until after I moved out.<br />
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David told me last night he liked the progression of the ham to chili dinner. The beans and rice were delicious, if I do say so myself!<br />
</span></font></font>Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-55447707249756999582009-01-23T17:29:00.000-08:002009-01-23T18:39:12.914-08:00Facebook or not?All the rage is facebook and I still don't have one. I have enough trouble posting here consistently. My daughters have facebook pages. My husband has one too. The girls are not thrilled about that to say the least. More and more, friends of mine are on facebook. They tell me to get a page. Not that I don't want to see their pages, but I am not sure I want to do it. My girls think it's for teenagers only and I had to tell Katharine today, the adults are there too. No stopping it.<br /><br />My girlfriend called me last week to ask if I knew that David (GOM) had photos of me on his facebook. One of me SLEEPING...I asked him to remove them. He said he thought they were cute. I thought I should have been asked. My friend said she was not sure she should have told me and I said she absolutely did the right thing. <br /><br />My friend has a ranch with six horses, four dogs, a cat, and now a pig. She was telling me how funny the six week old pig is. I already know what a hoot her two little Brussels Griffins are. One slides down the hill backwards which is very funny. She always has funny animal stories, but the pig story with the dog jumping in its pen was so funny I told her she needs to video tape the pig at least. A six week old pig is much cuter than the five hundred pounds it will grow to. She called this afternoon and her daughter had video'd the pig and it is on her facebook, of course! I can go in to her facebook to look at it since I have her password. She didn't have a problem with me having the password. I helped her set up online banking and have that password too. Anyhow, should I get a facebook or not?Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-54004460516148244382008-11-06T21:06:00.001-08:002008-11-06T21:27:59.441-08:00Too Much Time Has PassedI cannot believe the last time I wrote on my blog was in March...I miss it. I miss all the friends I have made here. I still hear from some of you and am amazed you still remember me! I just saw the article Sarah wrote, which was great. I got an email from another person who read it as well. I have no idea what is going on in her life these days. I am hoping she is doing so much better than the last time I was in contact with her, via blog or email. I do keep in touch, albeit seldom, with a couple people. People who take the time to email me. Not like me at all. I appreciate the effort it takes stay in touch with old online friends and would like to be more like them!<br /><br />Last time I posted was around Easter and here we are on the heels of Thanksgiving. Unreal! The time is flying by way too fast. Zoe is a senior this year with a full load, because she wanted to, not because she had to. She is applying to colleges and will be gone this time next year. She missed the big year for voting by one year! Zoe is again the editor in chief of the high school paper and loves it. She is one smart cookie and I am very proud of her! Katharine is a sophomore and is in her first high school play. Midsummer Night's Dream as Puck. Opens next weekend. She has been rehearsing since school started, almost nightly. She loves it. She is also learning to drive with me as her teacher. A bit scary, I have to admit, but she is doing a great job. She will be ready to get her license in Feb on her 16th birthday.<br /><br />David has had a couple cancer scares and some surgery this year. He is doing great though and I am very happy about that! He and Zoe are going to NY this weekend to visit a couple colleges in upstate. They are staying with his sister Phoebe in NYC. Hmm, I wonder if she knows that yet...She will if she reads this. Maybe he clued her in. I am working with David at his office now. I love it. I didn't think it was a good idea, but we seem to work well together. I say I work with David because I don't want him to think he is my boss! I do love the office work and am learning a fair amount about working in a law firm. <br /><br />I had a birthday last month. Turned 49. Sooo close to 50. I am looking forward to my fifties. <br /><br />Off to bed. Hi to all my old online friends. I promise to do some blog hopping very soon!Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-75758736005474148312008-03-04T08:34:00.001-08:002008-03-04T08:34:41.520-08:00I HAVE PARVO!Strange right? First I thought my back ached from loading cases of Girl Scout cookies into the car. As the day went on my back was not the only thing hurting. My neck began to hurt as well as my head, legs, arms and even my wrists. I went to the booth sale with all the cookies and thought I would turn around and just come home. I stayed for an hour and a half because I felt bad that our leader Sheri was thinking she had a post surgery hernia. How could I leave her there when all I had were aches and pains?<br /><br />The longer I stood there watching the girls sell and giggle, the worse I felt. Sheri kept telling me to leave but I wanted to stay until another mom arrived. I finally thought I was getting the flu about the same time the other mom arrived. Sheri insisted I go, especially since I had chills with two layers of sweaters on.<br /><br />When I got home, I took my temperature and it was 103 plus. I thought I definitely had the flu. I went to bed under three layers of down and a flannel sheet covering me. The heat was turned way up and I was still shaking. A couple hours of sleep later I managed to come upstairs. My temp was still 103 with Advil in my system. Body aches made it uncomfortable to sleep so I was up until the wee hours while my temperature climbed to 104. My temp and body aches lasted well into the next night.<br /><br />Saturday night I noticed my leg around my ankle was red. Zoe mentioned I probably had them crossed. My leg was on fire and it didn't go away. I placed a wet cloth on the area with the fan going to try to cool it down, to no avail. In fact, it was spreading. Quietly freaking out, I thought I had figured out what I had. A spider bite. I had a bite a couple days ago right where the redness started so it had to be. By Sunday it had spread even more to my foot and my upper calf. I decided not to go to doc in the box because I had heard several stories about the doctor there who was notorious for misdiagnosing ailments. <br /><br />Yesterday I went to our doctor. He seemed puzzled at first, saw it as a challenge and looked excited. Not by my leg but the challenge of diagnosing it. Finally he told me I had Parvo virus. I was shocked. "Did I get this from my dog, does my dog have Parvo too?" He said dogs get B12. I said, "This comes from B12? I take B12!" He laughed at my graying, not blond self and said, "No, dogs have Parvo B12 and you didn't get it from your dog." He was quite self satisfied that he had figured it out, much to my disbelief. He told me he could prove it with a blood test. He really wanted to prove it! I asked if he was going to draw my blood or if I had to go to a lab miles away. He said I would have to go to the lab. Like a six year old I said, "I don't want to go to the lab!" and I didn't! He told me it was a virus and the rash would go away in due time, maybe weeks. <br /><br />On the way home I called my friend Pat and she looked it up and told me it is also called Fifth Disease. Now that I have heard of in humans. I was a little miffed that he didn't tell me that. When I got home I looked it up online of course. Found out it is called Parvo Virus B19. It is usually found in children and nasty when adults get it, like chicken pox is. The doctor told me that a lot of people get it but don't notice a rash, which usually appears on the face of kids. They call it the slapped cheek disease because that is what it looks like. I think both the girls had it when they were little. We also think David may have had it a couple weeks ago when he had similar flu like symptom with a high fever.<br /><br />Apparently contagious before the rash appears, which would have been at the booth sale. I called a few people to let them know. My friend Amy told me that her daughter Devin had it and she looked really pretty! Well, my leg is not pretty and it is still hot, swollen and red. My fever is gone though, so things are on the mend.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-8999538336322193682007-12-25T10:49:00.000-08:002007-12-25T11:06:36.892-08:00Merry ChristmasI have been bad about blogging for well over two months now. I think about doing it, but never got to it until today. All the shopping done, presents wrapped, cards, well, I still have half to go! I had the best of intentions and bought cards with a photo of the girls. Costco, what a great place, cards are so reasonable there. Upload from home and pick up the next day. LOVE IT. Anyhow, armed with cards and stamps I was ready to get 'er done. I could not find my eighteen year old phone book and it was essential to this task. I had some addresses on my computer address book, but not many. I remembered some addresses from memory after so many years. Others I looked up via google with names or phone numbers and then I was DONE. Of course that is when I found my address book. It was in the "fire" box. Those are boxes we all prepared in case of fire. This one had important papers, etc., ready to grab a moment's notice. Today is another one of those critical fire or red flag days. Winds whipping and stirring up soot from the fires a month or so ago. It is very warm, in the seventies. I know those of you in the snow might prefer the warmer weather, but it's Christmas! I envy you who get a cool or white Christmas.<br /><br />We did have a lovely morning though and we are all very blessed.<br /><br />Anyhow, as you can tell, I could go on and on, but I need to get a turkey in the oven. I think of all my blog friends often and really love that some of you still come by when I haven't posted in so long. I will try to make that a priority so I can keep up with you! <br /><br />Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everybody. I wish you fun times and memories with your families and friends.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-45123860799169460592007-09-15T20:48:00.000-07:002007-09-15T21:58:45.110-07:00NO GPS FOR NEW DRIVERS!We all know how things have changed since we were kids, if you are over 30 at least. Kids cannot play outside after dark even in their own neighborhoods without a parent around. Parents walk or drive their kids to school and back or meet the bus. These sorts of things show drastic changes from the days of my youth.<br /><br />Years ago I refused to use speed calling and still do. I like to remember the numbers. I knew I would lose the ability to recall them if I stopped practicing them. Same thing is happening with GPS. More and more of us have one in our car. We plug in the address and a voice tells us where and when to turn or we can just follow in silence using the map on the dashboard. <br /><br />When I turned 16, the very day, I got my license. Those days we had driver's ed in school. My daughter turned 16 yesterday and wants to drive too, but she needs to still get her permit and we need to make arrangements with a driving school to teach her. What a pain in the ass for kids today. It should still be a class!<br /><br />Anyhow, since kids cannot run around like we did, they don't learn their own neighborhoods, let alone the city or county where they live. Part of the fun of learning to drive is discovering new areas. Areas the kids of today will not know how to get back to without their talking maps. I think they should be advised to use no GPS systems until they have been driving for two years so they can establish roots!<br /><br />A new California law was just signed prohibiting teen drivers from using their cell phones while driving. And that includes talking and texting! We should all abide by that rule.<br /><br />Happy Sweet Sixteen to my Zoe!Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-83626321563353428662007-08-01T15:15:00.000-07:002007-08-01T16:05:11.127-07:00ImportsI just read that our country is buying more imported cars than domestic, for the first time ever. I say let's make it cool to buy American made cars again. We can make a difference. Shaming people who buy foreign cars won't be so hard. We did it with smokers, fur owners, SUV owners all for the greater good. Why not do it for our country? Why is it that American cars are for the most part, ugly? Not all, but many models are just matronly looking. Missing some blinds in the back window is all! For the record, I don't smoke any more and haven't for seventeen months. I don't have any furs, once had a sweater with a fur collar that I really liked though. I drive an American SUV. I would like my next car to be an American hybrid. Now, if only there is one I like.<br /><br />We have hit the one trillion dollar mark for spending for this war. I have nothing nice to say so I won't.<br /><br />On a lighter note, an old woman in a Camry (foreign!) pulled out in front of me yesterday. She had to be ninety. My first thought, after I honked at her, as did the person behind me, was that she really shouldn't be driving any longer. I honked at her not because she pulled out in front of me, but because she was going zero mph! Seriously. No gas. She was looking at a house under construction as she was going nowhere. There were four unhappy people in cars behind me. The elderly woman rounded the corner and when she could manage the wheel with one hand, she flipped me off!!! I started laughing so damn hard. She could see me laughing too. I didn't flip her off, I just laughed. As we rounded the next corner, she turned onto the first street and honked as if to tell me "Screw You" and I followed her. I was turning as well. I am sure when I turned she thought I was a woman with road rage and maybe she shouldn't have flipped me off. I stopped to drop my daughter off at her friend's and the woman drove on. Still, how funny that this elderly woman flipped me off. I suppose if I am lucky enough to make it to that age, I would do the very same thing.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-9364224118408460492007-07-26T12:32:00.000-07:002007-07-26T13:18:33.726-07:00New Research About Fat PeopleAs if being fat isn't enough of a self esteem killer, now this. New research says that if you are fat, you will make those around you fat. If you have a fat friend, you are likely to be fat too. Nothing to do with genes this time, no, this is contagious and caught by just being near a fat person! <br /><br />It is already to the point of making fat people feel worse than they already do. Similar to how our society got the word out about the bad people who smoked. Yes, it is bad for us, so let's shame them into not smoking when we see them. Same thing now with obesity. It really makes me sick to think that nobody plays with the fat kid now. What happens next, the kids say they cannot play with the fat kid because they don't want to catch it? (Say that with a British accent for a little added effect)<br /><br />Yes, we know what to eat. We know we are supposed to exercise. We know it could be years before we can look like we are supposed to look and that right there is the unbelievably hard part. It is such a daunting task for some that we go back to our old patterns. Some fatties actually have reasons other than they are not eating enough veggies and fruits. Should the lucky thinner people be able to treat us like lepers now that the new research says it is contagious? If we are to be banished to our own island, I already have mine picked out. <br /><br />Where is the research that says that having thin friends makes chubby people lose weight? Maybe helps them learn how choose the right foods by example? Maybe the thinnies can choose a chubby buddy to exercise with? I would like to see somebody do that kind of research and then come back and announce to the world that being thin is contagious. <br /><br />Who funds this stuff anyhow? Live and let live damn it!Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-49257070164876989602007-07-08T08:11:00.000-07:002007-07-08T09:16:23.052-07:00Driving Lesson, etc.Yesterday the girls and I did a little shopping, inland. I dropped Katharine off at rehearsal in the canyon on the way back to town. Traffic is a nightmare since the annual festivals opened. Pageant of the Masters too. All right in our little canyon, the main artery in and out of town. <br /><br />Coming up the hill, I asked Zoe if she would like a driving lesson at an empty parking lot. She was not too keen on the idea, but agreed, I think. We switched seats. I explained the pedals and what they do. Taught her how the steering wheel doesn't need to be touched much to turn. I boast about my car's steering ability often, it is simply the best steering vehicle I have ever had. Turns on a dime, does U-turns better than little cars! Anyhow, Zoe was very brave. She was understandably nervous, being her first time ever. I told her to push the button that moves the brake and gas pedal up and down. She moved it up to be more comfortable. Then it was go time. I had her put it in third to start. She asked how she would know how much to turn the steering wheel to get around the curbed corner. I told her I could not tell her that, she would have to go slowly and get a feel of how it is done. She got the hang of it quickly. She did several laps around the parking lot, turned, straightened out the car, stopped, signaled, parked, backed up, looked for cars coming (humoring me) around corners, the whole nine yards. I figured it was best to get my pet peeves from loser drivers out of the way on the first day. I hate when people don't signal. I am a good driver, we will see how good I am at teaching. When I wanted her to step on the brake, I didn't want to say it, so I made so strange, eeeeeeeeh sound. As if she had decided to stop on her own. In the end, she did great and did stop and go on her own. I suppose it wound not be as daunting if I had a smaller vehicle, but if she can drive my Navigator, she can drive a small car easily. Next, using the gas pedal a little more. <br /><br />One of the reasons I am teaching Zoe to drive before letting a driving school intervene is simple...My niece was taken the very first day she drove with an instructor, onto a very busy road and then the freaking freeway! Zoe will have some experience before she goes out on the roads. This is beneficial and a must for us and for anybody else on the road. I wish they still had driver training in schools. Nope, now we have to pay for a special school. It would be helpful if she could use the simulators we had back in the seventies. Those were cool. Kind of like the video games of today, I guess. Zoe will be sixteen in September and she does need to learn to drive, but she doesn't have to get her license on her birthday. I did, but I needed a car a lot more than she does at this point. We have a great little bus system here. Up and down the hill, all over town and all for free right now. David took it to work last week and liked it very much. He can do that on days when he stays in town. <br /><br />The Fourth of July was unspectacular. Instead of watching fireworks from our deck, or from our normal vantage point, where new homes have been erected, we went somewhere new. We ended up on the back field of the middle school Katharine just graduated eighth grade from. We were right on the canyon, watching the goats do weed abatement for us. They leave it looking like Lebanon, but it helps keep the parameter of town in better shape in case of a fire. With less than two inches of rain this past winter, that is a real threat. Anyhow, the goats of all different shapes, sizes and colors were fun to watch until the fireworks began. Then the poor things were scared and huddled together in some trees. The booms echoed throughout the canyon from various locations of colorful explosions in the sky. It was nice for us, scary for the goats and all over in about fifteen minutes. Seemingly fast to us and probably and eternity for the goats. Probably a lot like the first driving lesson for Zoe, from her mother.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-73321520408532076872007-06-22T10:39:00.000-07:002007-06-22T11:02:18.394-07:00School's OUTToday is the last day of school for my girls. Poor Zoe the tenth grader has two last finals today. That is no way for a last day to end! She has worked very hard this year and I am happy she will not be doing hours of homework every night. High school is different from when I was there. We didn't spend all our time studying and thinking about what we needed to do to get into college. It is insane that they can't just be students and have some fun as well. I hope she has a good summer and does lots of stuff with her friends. I am so proud of the young women she is. She is sooo smart, works super hard and is beautiful inside and out. <br /><br />Today is also Katharine's last day of eighth grade. She graduates this afternoon and doesn't have to be at school until then. She is still sleeping. It will be a tissue day for sure during graduation. I remember getting all choked up when Zoe graduated eighth grade, and of course I will do the same with Katharine. Difference is this year, all of the girls who have been in Katharine's girl scout troop since first grade will graduate too, among other close friends. It feels like they are "our" girls too. All of the troop moms feel this way. We all look at this group of smart, lovely and talented girls as "ours" and will absolutely need tissue! I am very proud of Katharine too. She is also smart and has energy to burn, especially if it has to do singing or acting! In fact, she begins rehearsals for the next play on Monday.<br /><br />Cheers to a very happy summer! :)Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-61427258256066282182007-06-21T06:12:00.000-07:002007-06-21T07:25:27.126-07:00The Longest Day of the YearHappy summer. Today is the first day of summer. I always remember this day on the calendar. Thirty-two years ago I was in a horribly run hospital recovering from giving birth to a baby boy the day before. I always remember the date of June 20, 1975, too. It is his birthday. I was fifteen. I remember it all, as if it were yesterday. No meds for the pain because they didn't want to harm the baby who was about twelve pounds. I had no prenatal care. I hid the pregnancy for nine months. I was in a profound sense of denial. <br /><br />Yesterday I caught part of an Oprah show about a girl who gave birth in her bathroom and then went down to dinner. She did the unthinkable with her baby. She went beyond leaving a baby in a basket. She is in prison for killing her baby. She was scared and hid the pregnancy too. Although, her baby daddy knew too and was the one who disposed of the baby. To most people this is the most unbelievable thing anybody could do. To me, it could have been my reality.<br /><br />I have sympathy for girls or women who get rid of their babies. I am sure most hope somebody will discover their baby and give him or her a good home. Unfortunately, it doesn't always turn out that way. I know the fear of getting caught being pregnant at such a young age. It was enough to force me to hide my pregnancy until three days before I had him, and then my mother asked me if I was pregnant. I didn't offer up the info. She saved me from being the girl who gave birth in her bedroom and hid the baby or put the baby somewhere so I wouldn't get caught. She saved me from possibly dying during childbirth from blood loss or any number of complications. She saved my baby too. Who knows what I would have done in a couple more days. I was not a terrible person. I was a scared child having a child! <br /><br />You may wonder how somebody could hide a pregnancy for nine months. You may wonder how my mother or father could not tell I was pregnant. Why my friends didn't know. Why my brothers didn't know. Perhaps my parents were in denial, I don't know. I do know I was excellent at concealing the bump. I wore smocks or sweatshirts. Yes, it was coming up on summer and quite warm, but I managed. <br /><br />Still, I know the fear these girls face and am thankful for the safe haven laws that let newborns be brought to churches or hospitals, no questions asked. I would like to think I would have chosen this path. I was lucky. Somebody noticed and took action before the birth. I gave my baby boy up for adoption. He turned thirty-two yesterday and I hope he is a happy man with a good life. I hope he has great parents and wonderful childhood memories.<br /><br />Lying in the hospital the day after having my baby, it was June 21st. I was not in the maternity ward because I was giving my baby up for adoption. I was moved into the general population area. In those days they didn't release you within twelve hours of giving birth. I had to live through the longest day of the year, the first day of summer in the hospital with my family telling everybody I had an appendectomy. Things have changed a lot. I was one of the lucky ones. The hospital is being replaced by a new modern hospital and the old one sits next to it, for now. One day soon, when I pass by, I will not be reminded of that horrible place.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-77717655810508759292007-06-10T23:07:00.000-07:002007-06-10T23:27:57.349-07:00Sopranos FinaleWhen the finale ended tonight, I thought it sucked. After thinking and talking about it, I decided it was an okay ending. Instead of killing everybody David Chase left it up to our imagination.<br /><br />The family seems to have come out alive. Meadow will become a mouthpiece with a starting salary of $170,000, Carmella and Tony were thrilled. AJ went, hook line and sinker for the entertainment industry and got himself a nice BMW M3 and told his friend how great the gas mileage was. This after he wanted to save the planet. Carm had her house to fix up that she got at an estate sale. Tony survived, or so I imagine. Pauly was fine, not so happy being a skipper again, but walking around fine. Creepy Janice hit up Uncle Jun to get his money. Tony was very emotional seeing Junior not remember anything or anybody. <br /><br />We got to see Tony take a therapy session about AJ and make it about himself, while Carmella had daggers in her eyes. Makes me think he has a new shrink, if he wants one.<br /><br />The cat staring at Christopher's photograph and annoying the hell out of Pauly was hilarious. Nine lives, reincarnation of Chris? Who didn't love Anthony and his sarcasm about Pauly seeing the Virgin Mary at the Bing?<br /><br />I have to admit, the scene in which Phil was shot was pretty funny. Normally I would not laugh as an SUV rolled over somebody's head, but for some reason it was his appropriate comeuppance. <br /><br />So, I was not upset with the ending. I actually liked it.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-81080946511731322452007-06-10T09:16:00.000-07:002007-06-10T09:24:02.154-07:00Anaheim DucksWell, how about that? The Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup. Yes, the ANAHEIM Ducks. No need for the city of Los Angeles to be connected to the title. Amazing. First Disneyland was good enough to be in Anaheim and then the Ducks. So, why the need to put LA into the name of the Angels of Anaheim? More recognition? I think not!Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-89708400300948026142007-06-04T13:41:00.000-07:002007-06-04T14:43:38.181-07:00The Sopranos Next to Last EpisodeI was disappointed in the Sopranos last night. I was left asking if that was it? It was as if they were using the hour to set up the final bloodbath, I mean episode. It's okay to use the show in that way, of course, but there were so many things out of character, which didn't add up for me.<br /><br />The Sopranos are portrayed as a strong family. At any given meal or at the Bing, there are plenty of them. I realize some have been killed off, but did the rest leave when Christopher died? Last night, only four or five and all alone. Why was Tony alone without a body guard until the end? They were walking around without taking precautions. They knew before the FBI dude told him, that the hit was on. Why didn't Tony and Bobby get Carm and the kids and creepy Janice and her baby and step kids (God help those kids with Bobby gone) and move them to safety immediately? Why wait until Phil and his family had time to plan? And why did they all go to one location so they can just exterminate them all at once. Only a cockroach can survive that kind of thing. That doesn't seem so smart to me. Plus, the first thing Tony does when he gets to the safe house is go to sleep! No planning? Even Paris Hilton planned her entrance to jail with minimum paparazzi present....<br /><br />I wonder what supersonic aircraft the Italians took to get to Jersey so quickly. It took us about 17 hours to get to Italy. The beauty of TV. But, this is HBO and this is supposed to be quality programming. <br /><br />Bobby was alone, buying trains when he knew of the hit? How freaking lame is that? I know his phone was in the car with his coat, so he was not told to shake up his routine. That was a given and I would think if he wasn't thinking about moving his family, the least he could have done, was keep the phone with him as one of Tony's captains.<br /><br />I thought it abrupt and unnecessary for Dr. Melfi to fire Tony last night too. Are you telling me that she read that he would be worse with talky therapy last night, for the first time in seven years? I think some continuing education would have served her well if that is the case. Good thing she was at that dinner party with all her shrink friends, or she would have never known it was time to fire him. <br /><br />Maybe she will take him back when the movie comes out. That is of course if Tony survives. At the rate they are going it doesn't look good for him. I heard they filmed three different endings. It has to be tragic, so I would think at least one Soprano has to die. Maybe AJ as he wants to die anyhow. I hope they leave Carmella alone. It could also be Meadow too, cuz she is with her boyfriend as if nobody will know to look there for her. As of last night, did anybody tell her not to go home to get a home cooked meal from Carm? I really hope they are not going to have Tony stay in the room and flashback on the last seven years and then shoot it out. Lots of loose ends left untied. Hopefully we will be rewarded with a well written finale, but at this point, I am skeptical...Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-69712236776793732532007-06-02T07:10:00.000-07:002007-06-02T07:59:19.614-07:00I forgot my password!~It has been so long since my last post that I FORGOT my damn password! That is just crazy. Why have a blog at all if I am not going to post exciting, funny stuff?<br /><br />Truth be told, (I never use that expression in real life) I haven't blogged lately because I just don't have anything much to say. I am not feeling particularly funny either. I prefer funny posts to the mundane crap of the daily hustle and bustle. But, I have to work with what I've got, or I will forget my password again.<br /><br />Yesterday, I went to Costco. I don't go as often as I used to for several reasons, but mainly, I don't really need to buy five pounds of muscles. But, I did. David said, "I can't eat this many." Of course he could if he froze some for a later date or ate some today too. Nobody really likes to mess with seafood though. Eat it as soon as it arrives or it is suspect. Once suspect, it will sit in the freezer for a year. But, they were soooo cheap!<br /><br />I do like buying meat there. Excellent prices for meat that freezes well. And bread. My youngest enjoys the miniature loaves of bread. Six to a bag. I put them in the freezer and she takes one out the night before and has it for breakfast the next morning. Just like it came from the bakery. It is worth the time it takes to freeze things. Much cheaper than the grocery store, especially in this town. <br /><br />On to vitamins. Holy moly, it takes me forever to choose vitamins. I bought some vitamin E and some fish oil, which I was okay with, because I liked what I bought a few months ago. Some has more omega 3 and some has more fish oil, but the decision was made and I wrote down the name. It saves time and angst. However, it happened again when I needed a new bottle of multivitamins. <br /><br />If you put the "supplemental facts" next to each other, they are different in quantity of various vitamins. Easy enough right? Not exactly. The bottle I replaced was MEGAVITAMINS. One a Day don't even come close to the numbers of the mega doses. But, do I need 5333% of my daily value in Thiamin? 4706% Riboflavin, 1333% B12? Maybe I do, but I am betting 100% is okay too. So, no more megavitamins for the next few months while I finish the One a Day tablets.<br /><br />I just realized why they do those frustrating math word problems in school. If a train is going 100 mph and you left the station at 3:00, how long would it take a duck to fly the same distance, with a wounded wing? I just realized those MEGAVITAMINS said to TAKE 2 a day. At least One a Day is obvious....Right?Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-32141375684533829062007-05-13T07:26:00.000-07:002007-05-13T08:16:33.969-07:00Happy Mother's Day 2007I am very blessed to have two wonderful daughters. Both healthy. Both smart. Both beautiful. Both loving. Both funny. Both sarcastic, one a bit more than the other...They each have very bright futures. I have no doubt they will each become whomever they want to become, unless some loser guy leads them astray! Joking....hopefully.<br /><br />Everybody is still asleep. I hear the chirping of Tivo downstairs, so I think the hub is up. The girls wanted to make breakfast in bed for me, but I get up at five and they get up around ten. I can eat at the table with them. Just being with them is the best. <br /><br />I don't know if it's hormones or depression, but these past couple of weeks have been hard on me. I have been letting things build up inside me until I finally exploded the other day. I felt horrible after and went to bed. Had a good cry, apologized for snapping. I felt like the worst mother in the world. I know I am not the best, by any stretch, but I felt horrible. I know mothers are not perfect. We do the best we can and hope they find a good therapist when they grow up. Or sooner, as it is more socially acceptable now days.<br /><br />It is difficult to let them make their own mistakes when we know what to do. We must let them make their own mistakes though. These are important lessons. Yesterday, while in the car with the girls and a friend, I mentioned that they cannot get away with anything. Their grades and attendance are posted online and checked by the hub often. Not because he is concerned they did anything wrong, but because he is proud and curious. I used to steal the cut notices out of the Saturday mail every week! My parents didn't have a clue. I told the girls it was too bad they cannot get away with anything. They asked why, as they don't want to get in trouble. I told them it is just sort of a right of passage. I learned a lot growing up the way I did. It showed me another side to things. I think it makes me more rounded (no pun here) as a person and especially as a mom.<br /><br />My mother died eight years ago and I miss her. She died to soon. Alzheimer's. Horrible horrible disease.<br /><br />Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful Moms.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-25645473566237700492007-05-06T06:51:00.000-07:002007-05-06T08:04:58.618-07:00For nothing to say, this is long...Between not having much to say, nor the inclination to blog on a regular basis these days, my blog is quite boring. I can write about my busy schedule, my family, funny things that happen, silly things that make me laugh, how bad I feel that I don't blog more often, how much I miss going to all the blogs I love for a daily read, what drives me nuts, who drives me crazy, confess to being bipolar opposite and being sad that the days are so long and a hot dry summer is upon us again....See, I just wrote a whole paragraph about nothing!<br /><br />My mother had this place on her mouth, that when touched, she would get the hiccups. My brother and I knew this and used her less known secret for our own amusement. We would rub it to show our friends and to make ourselves laugh. She didn't mind. She didn't get the hiccups for long. Well, now my daughter thinks it is fun to make me laugh to the point of tears streaming down my face. I can't blame her, they love it when I laugh. Obviously, I don't do it enough, as this seems to be a phenomenon. I love the kind of laughing that is out of control and infectious to all around us. Even if what I said is silly.<br /><br />We were on the freeway coming back from LA and there was mucho traffico as usual. Bumper to bumper. We were in the car pool lane and still crawling along. The motorcycles weren't though. They ride in an unsafe manner between the lanes and at one point I noticed that not all of them should be doing this...Not for the reason you might think. Of course a car can switch lanes at any time or somebody could open a door and swat the motorcyclist like a fly. But it was this person's ass that got me laughing...I then blurted out, "Yer motorcycle might fit, but your ass duddunt!" It made me crack up. I said it every time a motorcycle went by. Then my daughter repeated it to get me going all over again. It worked, it still works. I spelled duddunt for her too. DUDD-UN-T. Not u n, but un. Anyhow, it is probably one of those had to be there things, but that's okay. The laughing has been cathartic.<br /><br />We went to the Excellence Awards at the High School and Zoe got Outstanding Student in Honors World History and fitness. She really has no childhood. She spends all her time in school, doing homework and lately she has taken some practice tests for the SAT. These are set up by college board and are very much like the real thing. She took one yesterday for literature and said it was easy. Listen to her schedule next year, as a Junior, she will be taking Spanish 2, Honors Pre-Calc, Physics, AP English, US History, Mock Trial and Journalism. I asked her why she is doing Journalism again, after not enjoying it this year, and she said, because she doesn't want the paper to die. Nobody will be back next year and it will be a new teacher. She will be senior student on the paper next year. I did mention that the paper had been published for seventy years, but she wants to make sure it keeps going. Admirable, I think. What a great young women. I am very proud of her.<br /><br />Katharine got to miss school on Friday for a film shoot. It was all fun. We left the house before six a.m. to get there on time. She really loves this stuff. Who can blame her? The crew asks repeatedly if she wants anything and then they say it's a wrap and all the crew applauds. It really could give anybody the acting bug...except me. <br /><br />Happy Sunday....Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-6152926366661841902007-04-19T07:09:00.000-07:002007-04-19T07:27:03.628-07:00DepressedI am very depressed because of the shootings at VTech. I didn't know anybody there. I don't know anybody who knows anybody, that I know of. I believe I watched too much coverage the first two days and it knocked the wind out of me. I remember people telling me they felt this way after Columbine. I understand better now. It is especially hard now that the media is playing the videos of this mad man. I will not watch any more of his rants. I wished him dead after listening to him. He is already dead. I wish everybody with the amount of hate this man had, would all go away and take their troubled minds and souls with them and let the rest of us be. Don't take us with you when you go. You are dead. There is no glory in having your name repeated over and over on the news. We tune you out, apparently just like we did while you were alive, at least in your own head. If you feel the need to be on the news, climb a tree and rescue a cat. Have a friend video tape it and put it on youtube or myspace. On a slow news day, you are sure to get picked up.<br /><br />My heart goes out to all the families and friends of the victims, and those of us who grieve from the residual effects of this despicable act. It also goes out to the rest of us who worry about our children going off into this crazy world. And I do mean crazy. <br /><br />Love and Peace. How hard is that?Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-85661493037297245182007-04-07T08:06:00.000-07:002007-04-07T10:03:40.843-07:00Happy Over Commercialized Religious HolidazeI received an email this morning from an online shopping site that said, "We miss you." I thought, sheesh if they miss me, it has been way too long since my last post! This is me, making the time to write about nothing really. <br /><br />The stores have had Easter candy out since Valentine's Day. The Valentine's Day candy was the day after Christmas. It is all too commercialized. At least prepackaged egg dye is cheap. Even teenagers still want to dye eggs. Have you dyed your eggs today or have you had a nice chunk of Gefilte fish with some matza? All on sale this time of year, of course, so enjoy.<br /><br />We are all fine. Girls are excited that next week is Spring Break. Who wouldn't be? Remembering that "ski week" was only two months ago, it seems to me they get a whole lot more time off than I did as a kid. However, they get much more homework than I did. The amount of homework astonishes me. The class is not long enough, so they send home what doesn't get done? Or is the class long enough and not being managed properly? Other classes watch films on days they have substitutes. Why don't the students just do a study hall for that period? Even better, why doesn't the teacher have a class plan so the substitute can follow it? How hard is that? <br /><br />These kids are much more stressed than I was at their age. Eighth grade GATE classes don't seem so tough. Homework load seems pretty light actually. Tenth grade honors classes are much tougher. Then there is all the stress of what college to choose and what to do to get in one. We are being besieged college paraphernalia. Some are from colleges we have never heard of. Being a sophomore, we still have time to choose, but not much. It really screws up being a kid to have to deal with all this instead of just enjoying their high school years. Sucks really.<br /><br />Anyhow, happy spring break to everybody and safe travels for all who get to go somewhere for vacation. Hopefully, none were on a cruise ship in Greece. We are staying put this year. Happy Passover and/or Easter too.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12235932.post-63719522580166728012007-03-19T11:50:00.000-07:002007-03-19T11:57:16.026-07:00True Confessions????Does anybody believe any of these confessions that are so plentiful right now? The latest being a detainee at Gitmo who confessed to plotting the bombings of the USS Cole and two embassies in Africa. Everything tied up into a nice little package complete with a bow. I sure wish I believed it!Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821132616271533261noreply@blogger.com4