Your blog entry begins with "Yesterday my dogs killed a racoon under our back porch."
True story.
Yep...not much else to say after that. Thanks, Jeff Foxworthy.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Happy Bathtime Baby...a Mommy's Early Christmas Present
I suppose since the word "family" is in the title of my blog, I should at least occassionally include some pithy stories about them. Here is one...
It really is the little things that make mommies and daddies happy. My child, soon to be 3, has always loved taking a bath. That is, until about two months ago. Then she suddenly decided bathtime was tortue time. And when I say suddenly, I'm not exaggerating. One day we gave her a bath and everything was fine. Next time we gave her a bath there was screaming and shrieking. We were at my grandmother's house at the time and grandma came down the hall thinking the punkin had hurt herself, there was so much screaming.
Thankfully, the screaming didn't last long. We moved from screaming to crying. The punkin would start to cry just from hearing the bath water running. Probably the most pathetic moment was a few days ago when she was leaning against the doorframe, looking skyward, tears running down her cheeks "why, god, why must I take a bath?" I imagined her saying.
Although the crying was an improvement over screaming, it was still frustrating. And I missed the little girl who loved bathtime. It is just a phase, I told myself again and again. She'll grow out of it. Hopefully sooner, rather than later, but she'll grow out of it.
Last night was a step in the right direction. She wasn't happy about getting in the bathtub, but she didn't cry either. And, most exciting of all, she spent some time playing in the tub. Success! It was like an early Christmas present for mommy. Now I just hope it's the beginning of a new phase, and not just a one-time Christmas bath reprieve.
It really is the little things that make mommies and daddies happy. My child, soon to be 3, has always loved taking a bath. That is, until about two months ago. Then she suddenly decided bathtime was tortue time. And when I say suddenly, I'm not exaggerating. One day we gave her a bath and everything was fine. Next time we gave her a bath there was screaming and shrieking. We were at my grandmother's house at the time and grandma came down the hall thinking the punkin had hurt herself, there was so much screaming.
Thankfully, the screaming didn't last long. We moved from screaming to crying. The punkin would start to cry just from hearing the bath water running. Probably the most pathetic moment was a few days ago when she was leaning against the doorframe, looking skyward, tears running down her cheeks "why, god, why must I take a bath?" I imagined her saying.
Although the crying was an improvement over screaming, it was still frustrating. And I missed the little girl who loved bathtime. It is just a phase, I told myself again and again. She'll grow out of it. Hopefully sooner, rather than later, but she'll grow out of it.
Last night was a step in the right direction. She wasn't happy about getting in the bathtub, but she didn't cry either. And, most exciting of all, she spent some time playing in the tub. Success! It was like an early Christmas present for mommy. Now I just hope it's the beginning of a new phase, and not just a one-time Christmas bath reprieve.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
On Bohemian Rhapsody in Stereo
Just made an important (well, not important like cure-for-cancer important) discovery. When I listen to music at work, I like to listen with just one ear bud in so that I can hear the phone ringing, office conversations, etc. This means I only get the benefit of hearing one side of stereo tracks. For most songs, this is not a problem.
For Bohemian Rhapsody, it is.
For Bohemian Rhapsody, it is.
Our Country Needs a Hobby
I read an article this morning headlined "Trading Card Company Upper Deck Says It Stands By Tiger".
Good for them.
I'm sure right now you might be questioning my wisdom, and that's fine if you feel differently, but here's how I feel.
He cheated on his wife. Does that make him an a-hole? Yes. Does that lessen his golfing ability? No. Upper Deck is concerned with his golfing ability, not his marital fidelity.
A coworker asked me, "well, now that he's cheated on his wife, do you really want him selling things to you?"
I'm OK with it, for the most part. Go ahead, Tiger, keep selling cars, razors, golf clubs, whatever else you were hawking before the accident. These things have nothing to do with fidelity. What I don't want to see is Tiger advertising a marriage workshop for First Things First.
I don't care that he cheated on his wife. Well, OK, as a wife myself, I care a little bit, but only out of solidarity with the Mrs. ... But it's really none of my business. It's none of our business. This is something they should work out -- one way or another-- between themselves.
I don't say this for Tiger, I say this for his wife. As embarassing as this might be for him, can you imagine your husband cheating on you, then knowing EVERYONE IN THE COUNTRY KNOWS IT? As much as Tiger doesn't want this played out in the media, do we think his wife likes turning on the television and hearing the latest in Tiger-Gate?
Let's all just grow up and turn off the trash. Let Tiger and his wife work this out...or not. But we don't need to watch it like it's a soap opera. It's not a script written for our enjoyment...it's someone's life.
Next time someone famous cheats on his or her spouse, give it this test -- if (insert famous person's spouse's name here) was a friend of yours, would you be discussing his or her marriage around the water cooler?
Good for them.
I'm sure right now you might be questioning my wisdom, and that's fine if you feel differently, but here's how I feel.
He cheated on his wife. Does that make him an a-hole? Yes. Does that lessen his golfing ability? No. Upper Deck is concerned with his golfing ability, not his marital fidelity.
A coworker asked me, "well, now that he's cheated on his wife, do you really want him selling things to you?"
I'm OK with it, for the most part. Go ahead, Tiger, keep selling cars, razors, golf clubs, whatever else you were hawking before the accident. These things have nothing to do with fidelity. What I don't want to see is Tiger advertising a marriage workshop for First Things First.
I don't care that he cheated on his wife. Well, OK, as a wife myself, I care a little bit, but only out of solidarity with the Mrs. ... But it's really none of my business. It's none of our business. This is something they should work out -- one way or another-- between themselves.
I don't say this for Tiger, I say this for his wife. As embarassing as this might be for him, can you imagine your husband cheating on you, then knowing EVERYONE IN THE COUNTRY KNOWS IT? As much as Tiger doesn't want this played out in the media, do we think his wife likes turning on the television and hearing the latest in Tiger-Gate?
Let's all just grow up and turn off the trash. Let Tiger and his wife work this out...or not. But we don't need to watch it like it's a soap opera. It's not a script written for our enjoyment...it's someone's life.
Next time someone famous cheats on his or her spouse, give it this test -- if (insert famous person's spouse's name here) was a friend of yours, would you be discussing his or her marriage around the water cooler?
Saturday, December 5, 2009
The Doctor as Hamlet
Dr. Who? you ask...exactly!
I hope that this gets rebroadcast on BBC America sometime in the near future so that those of us on this side of the pond can see it.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/12/05/tennants-and-stewarts-hamlet-to-air-this-month/
I warned you, I am a dork.
I hope that this gets rebroadcast on BBC America sometime in the near future so that those of us on this side of the pond can see it.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/12/05/tennants-and-stewarts-hamlet-to-air-this-month/
I warned you, I am a dork.
Friday, December 4, 2009
The Mannahatta Project
“Ever wondered what New York looked like before it was a city? Welcome to Mannahatta, 1609.”
That’s the opening to The Mannahatta Project website, found at http://themannahattaproject.org/home/ At this site you can view a digital map of Manhattan and see how the same block looked in 1609, as compared to now. Why 1609? It’s the year Henry Hudson arrived at the land that would eventually become New York.
This website takes some of the most well-known landscapes on earth and shows us in a fairly reliable manner how it may have looked. This is not simply someone sitting and imagining what the landscape must have been liked, but it is, in the truest sense, an educated guess.
I’m not going to go into the full explanation of how they developed the map – you can read that on the website if you’re interested – but it was the result of a decade-long study. There’s also an article, complete with before and after pictures, in the September 2009 issue of National Geographic.
The authors of the study say their goal has “never been to return Manhattan to its primeval state.” Rather, they seek to “discover something new about a place we all know so well, whether we live in New York or see it on television, and, through that discovery, to alter our way of life.”
It is a unique way of looking at sights we all think we know.
That’s the opening to The Mannahatta Project website, found at http://themannahattaproject.org/home/ At this site you can view a digital map of Manhattan and see how the same block looked in 1609, as compared to now. Why 1609? It’s the year Henry Hudson arrived at the land that would eventually become New York.
This website takes some of the most well-known landscapes on earth and shows us in a fairly reliable manner how it may have looked. This is not simply someone sitting and imagining what the landscape must have been liked, but it is, in the truest sense, an educated guess.
I’m not going to go into the full explanation of how they developed the map – you can read that on the website if you’re interested – but it was the result of a decade-long study. There’s also an article, complete with before and after pictures, in the September 2009 issue of National Geographic.
The authors of the study say their goal has “never been to return Manhattan to its primeval state.” Rather, they seek to “discover something new about a place we all know so well, whether we live in New York or see it on television, and, through that discovery, to alter our way of life.”
It is a unique way of looking at sights we all think we know.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
It’s wintertime in Tennessee…at least today it is.
It’s December 1 and it’s beautiful. It is also cold. Well, cold for me and my Southern bones. It was 31 degrees Fahrenheit when I left the house this morning. Anyone reading this who is currently in, oh, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Canada or Alaska for example, is right now giggling and mocking me. But I’ve lived my entire life below the Mason-Dixon line. If it’s below freezing, it’s, well, freezing.
This isn’t to say I don’t like winter. It can be an absolutely beautiful time of year. I just need a little time to adjust to it each year. And this year, it came on pretty sudden.
Yesterday, November 30, was exactly what a fall day should be like. Rainy and cool, the reds and oranges of the leaves were in stark contract to the steely grey sky.
This morning, however, was a different story. Granted, winter won’t officially be here until December 21, but in my mind, as soon as the calendar says December, it’s winter. And Mother Nature apparently agreed: icy blue sky, and cold, dry weather. Winter weather.
This isn’t to say I don’t like winter. It can be an absolutely beautiful time of year. I just need a little time to adjust to it each year. And this year, it came on pretty sudden.
Yesterday, November 30, was exactly what a fall day should be like. Rainy and cool, the reds and oranges of the leaves were in stark contract to the steely grey sky.
This morning, however, was a different story. Granted, winter won’t officially be here until December 21, but in my mind, as soon as the calendar says December, it’s winter. And Mother Nature apparently agreed: icy blue sky, and cold, dry weather. Winter weather.
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