I didn’t keep my December resolution…obviously. I haven’t had a working computer for two weeks now, and I HATE trying to type on my tablet. My new computer should be here in the next few days, and I will be able to unleash the torrent of posts that have been backing up. hahahahaha I am looking forward to digging into Mr. M’s latest issue. We are getting some similar pressure around these parts too, and I am resisting it. So are several of our wily veterans. This one really fries my bacon. More tonight, when I can hijack the boy’s computer. Before I get back to work, I just have to share the post that was supposed to happen on Christmas Eve. We were hanging out at my parents with one of my brothers and his family on Christmas Eve, and my dad puled out a sheet of Christmas-carol-themed Wacky Wordies. And we started shouting out answers, trying to be the first to solve each one. About halfway down the list was a picture of what looked like a “wise man” with a puzzled expression looking at a child in a manger. There was a big question mark. “What Child
Read more »
“The contents of this blog are top secret. We must use the Cone of Silence.” “But the Cone of Silence never works.” “Regulations specifically state that in top-secret situations we must use the Cone of Silence.” “Sigh. If you must…” “Why isn’t it called the Domes of Silence?” “What?” My eleven (and a half) year old still believes in Santa. Really. My cranky old self has to be careful. I heard him defending his belief to one of his friends the other day. “Last Christmas, I got a Lego Mindstorm from Santa, and I KNOW my parents would NEVER buy me something that expensive for Christmas, so…AND there’s a government agency (NORAD) that tracks his progress every year. They wouldn’t do that for a fictional character!” His homie had no answer for that one. We put out carrots in the front yard for the reindeer. We left crackers, cookies, cider and a thank you note. After he and his mom had written their messages of thanks to Santa, he brought it over to me to sign, while he attended to the snacks (counting out carrots–3 mini-carrots per reindeer). When he came back for the note, he was appalled. “Mom! Looked what Dad
Read more »
I’m on my 16 day weekend. Sixteen glorious days of sleeping in. They say you can’t bank sleep. “They” are wrong. I do it every weekend and vacation, and draw from the bank during the 183 days of working. I go from getting up at 4:30 AM to about 9:30. For me, that’s the best part of vacations. This year the weather gods are not smiling on us. We have gone from 80 degree days a mere week and a half ago to five straight days of rain. Twelve inches of rain and lakes in my back yard. I haven’t missed four days in a row of skating in YEARS. You call this vacation? I couldn’t imagine living in places where they get real weather on a regular basis. Anyway, before I go into hibernation and start hitting you with reruns (“If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you!”), I have a few stories for you. Some of them are even Christmas related, a couple are even mine. (Actually, I started this post last Friday, but…) I usually try to stick with the routine during the last week before vacation every year. Usually on the last Friday, it’s raining, and
Read more »
One of the reasons I’ve been lagging on posting this past week is that I was getting ready for our town’s annual Christmas parade. My boy and I have been rolling with the local bike posse in the parade every year since he was 2 (he’s 10 now). I used to tow a modified kid trailer with a drum set on it, and he would pound away as we rolled through our quaint downtown amid a steady stream of screams of “MISSSTERRRR COWWWWWARRRRDDDDD!” from the sidelines. But for the past couple of years, he’s been playing the trumpet in the school band, so I switched the trailer to more of a throne/rickshaw setup, and we roll with him riffing on “Jingle Bells” and “Old Saint Nick” from the rolling lawnchair. Well, they used footage of us from last year’s parade in the local commercial advertising this year’s parade. So for this whole past week, I’ve been getting the “I SAW you,” line from all sides. We were talking about it in one class on Friday (the parade was that night) and one boy suddenly (finally) picked up on the fact that I had a son. “You’re a parent?!” He was
Read more »
Random Featured Post
We had an open mouth quiz on chapter 8 today. One class has several boys who have a new phrase they’re trying out. Personally, I sort of like it. 4) On p127, we get an example of what seems to be foreshadowing. What is it? a) When Two-Bit says that Darry will kill him if Pony’s really sick. b) When Two-Bit says Darry could be a Soc. c) When Pony says he has a helpless feeling. d) When Two-Bit calls Pony chicken. e) When Pony says he’ll be well by tonight. “OK, number four. What’s foreshadowing?” The class takes care of that one for me. Most of them laugh, and one says, “I was wrong.” (Pony’s line at the end of chapter three, and a beauty example for them of foreshadowing.) “Oh yeah. Ok, so it’s C, right?” “True that.” “Number six. Darry, I mean Dally (they always mix up those names), right?” “True that.” (me, doing some “refocusing” of a gentleman off to the side) “‘Clark,’ could you focus your comments on the questions? Open mouth only applies if that mouth is talking about the questions.” “True that.” “And I think we’re done with that line, for today at [...]
more -->
That reminds me of those great SNL skits about the Sofa King. You know, how the prices are "Sofa King" low, the deals are "Sofa King" great, etc. (You obviously have to say those phrases out loud to get the joke.)