Almost 10 and all Grown Up

Julia seems to be growing up so quickly lately that I'm beginning to get whiplash. For instance, she finally read "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret" this summer. Took her less than 3 days and she proclaimed that she "didn't ever want it to end".

So I had to quickly hop on the "Margaret" wagon and give it a quick read to make sure I hadn't forgotten something important that we may need to talk about. Luckily this was a quick read for me (less than a day) and , "whew" - nothing too crazy.

Shortly following this read I was in Wal-Mart buying socks for Legare and Julia showed some interest in buying training bras. So of course, I obliged. 3 cute little tank (sport style) bras. Size 32.

Then Mom, aka Granny, found some precious little bras complete with smaller, adjustable straps and a single hook and eye on the back (size M). Oh, hurt my heart. This is happening fast. One good thing - you'll notice there are no cup sizes in these sizes I've listed. There's still time for that.

Now mind you, she doesn't wear a bra every day, but I'll forget she has these and as she's getting ready for a shower, off comes the shirt, and down drops my heart whey I see the cute little purple bra.

And then last night, I get word from her fourth grade teacher that she "adores" Julia and is "inspired" by her. WOW.

Today she's also going with her Daddy to get fitted for contacts. For him and for her. She's so excited (and so am I). Though she is so cute in her girly, pink glasses, I miss that cute, unencumbered face. I hope they have her prescription and size in stock.

But she's so grown up that if there aren't any of her size contacts in stock, I know she'll not be too disappointed. She'll be patiently waiting for them to come in and she'll get started when they're here. See what I mean, growing up so fast!

What Would I Miss Most?

What would you do if you were told you needed surgery to save your life but the surgery would render you completely deaf? I am currently watching the news about a woman named Jessica who has had to face just that.

She learned she needed surgery to remove a brain tumor but deafness would be a consequence. After her decision was made to have it she found herself with only 30 more days to spend time with the sounds she loved: songs on her ipod (her favorite song "All We Are" by Matt Nathanson), the ocean and all of the things that come with being there, her dog digging, the laughter of her family and her bongos, to name a few. She attended one last concert as a hearing woman to see her favorite artist sing her favorite song. She even got to meet him after the concert.

She seems to be happy and adjusting well to life after surgery. And she has recently been told that she is a candidate for an ocular implant, so she may in fact get to hear again.

But all of this left me wondering - what are the sounds I would miss most?
My children laughing and saying "I love you". My husband doing the same. My cats' meows and "meeps", the birds chirping as they protect their nests or teach their babies to fledge, and the thump of the dog's tail as it wags and beats the floor (maybe I could feel that one). I would definitely miss people calling me by my name or nick names. I think Fannie, Fannie Butt, Annie B, Sis, and Momma would be the ones I would miss most. Just thinking about this is bringing a lump to my throat.

Of course I would miss songs on the ipod or radio. I would even miss Tiger Rag (which I never realize I miss until football season rolls around and I start hearing it from my husband's computer and on ESPN commercials).

I tend to have a very acute sense of hearing (and smelling too - but that's a post for another day). So I'm thinking little things like hearing car doors close as family and friends arrive for a visit and even more subtle things like the sounds of the a/c cycling on and off, the cycles of the dishwasher, the click of the refrigerator cooling or the click when the dryer finishes my clothes would be missed too. And what about the HBO logo where the screen goes to "snow" (technical broadcasting term learned from my Dad) and there's the low, slow rise of chords (couldn't find it on youtube, but you know the one, right before something like The Soprano's" or "Arrested Development" comes on). I'd miss that too.

So I'm taking today to try and take note of all of those little noises that I love to hear but didn't realize. I say you should too, and then we should all say a little prayer of Thanks that we are able to enjoy these wonderful pieces of life.

What are the sounds you would miss most? And I want to hear about those subtle sounds, the ones that aren't so obvious.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Last week's rain almost overflowed my pool. Or was that rain from earlier this week?
Anywhooo - I had to open the drain and let some out because is was crazy deep. I usually gently open it so that I can keep an eye on it and do it slowly. Glad I did because this time I TOTALLY FORGOT about it.

I was going to let it run for about 30 minutes, check it, and go for another 15 to 30 minutes. Check it again and tweak the times until I got the level right.

Well.

I left at 11:30 to get the children at noon dismissal from their first day of school. I then took them to eat lunch and on to have a celebratory ice cream at the Marble Slab. I then took a quick jaunt to Wal-Mart to get some locker magnets for Julia's new locker and some bigger socks for Legare (we hadn't worn them all summer to know they were getting tight), stopped by the pharmacy to get my "gotta go right now" medice and then finally came home. As I was entering the house it dawned on me that I had left the water flowing out of the pool this whole time.

Well I caught it just before the water went below the skimmer opening. Had this happened, I could have blown up my pump. Egads.

I hate when I have to put the hose in the pool and turn on the city water to get the pool level back up. So knowing that tropical storm Fran was possibly on the way I decided to keep a close watch on the level (evaporation can be tricky this time of year) and try to wait it out.

Well I'm glad I did. Looks like by the end of the day I may be draining water out again.
Hopefully this time I'll remember to keep a better eye on it.

Something Was Missing

Thank you guys so much for stroking my ego on the last post. I'll be sure to return the favor.

On to the next post topic: Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen.

My husband and I were able to see The Boss in concert last Saturday night. Clients and their wives were being entertained by the legal team (and because of this I was included) and a good time was had by all. We were treated to a chauffeured limo ride to and from the concert. I highly recommend this mode of transportation to concerts. You get to usurp the traffic and head straight to the limo drop off and then your ride is waiting for you front and center outside when you're finished. Again moving straight to the front of the traffic upon departure.

I will have to admit - I enjoy Bruce Springsteen songs but have never given a second thought about seeing him in concert. The Dancing in the Dark video with short haired Courtney Cox was the thing that was all the rage when I was an early teenager; even then I still only kind of liked him. I certainly didn't wig out like I did for Duran Duran (who I saw in concert as a Freshman in High School - good times!!).

I also don't like him like I do U2. Knowing all of the words, crying at the start of the concert, crying intermittently as various songs are sung, etc., etc. And all of that crying was done by me as an adult and parent; you'd think I'd be past the crying at concerts stage.

The Boss was very impressive though. He sounded great and he had a ton of audience interaction. One cool thing he did was take posters from the fans in the pit - each with a song written on it - and take requests from the pile he made. He would sift through them and choose one, show it to the crowd (on the big screens for those of us not in the front row), and then play. He even signed one and gave it back to the fan who claimed on the poster that it was her birthday.

He chatted with the fans seated behind the stage, he pulled up a cute little kid from the audience to sing with him, and he dangled his legs off the side of the stage on several occasions while he was seated and singing. All in all, a great concert that I truly enjoyed. The most impressive thing was that he sang for almost 3 1/2 hours straight. No breaks! I swear I felt sweaty for him. Except that I was actually a bit chilly. Lucky for him they had the coliseum cooled down A LOT. It was an "Are you sure we weren't not at a hockey game?" kind of cold.

It was even a thrill seeing Stevie Van Zandt . You probably know him as Silvio on "The Sopranos", but he is also a member of the "E Street Band". And has been since the 70's. Because I don't know much about Bruce or his E Street Band I didn't know this until I saw Stevie on stage and thought to myself - "Self, I think I know that guy".

But the thing that really left me feeling like I had been cheated a bit... Left me wanting more... Made me feel like there was an elephant hiding in the room... Was the GLARING omission of "Born in the USA". Doesn't everyone who goes to see Bruce want to hear this song? Is it not the song that EVERYONE knows? I thought so too.

So anyway I Googled it, as I always do, and got a little insight on the Wikipedia website. In short - this song was not written to be a patriotic song - it was written from the point of view of a Vietnam Veteran returning home having some hardships. In the near past Bruce has sung melancholy acoustic versions and has even sung re-tooled versions that many people haven't even recognized as "Born in the USA". So he may have sung it and I (we) just didn't catch it. Hhmmpphh

Oh well - I still wanted to hear the 1980's version of Born in the USA - pretending like it was all patriotic in this Olympic summer (Phelps got his 8th gold Saturday night). Even though I feel cheated I can understand him omitting it until semi-fans like me understand the proper meaning behind this song. I certainly had never really listened to the words to know that it was not about us all being proud of being "Born in the USA". Did you? Oh sad, I'm slow on the uptake again.

Egos, Posts and Comments

Part One

(I promise this is will go somewhere)
When I was a bit younger, my husband got a kick out me saying that so in so “was an ego trip” instead of that they were “on an ego trip”. I’m one for using my words to try to exaggerate and I told him that I knew that “was an ego trip” wasn’t correct, but that I felt like it did a good job of explaining, exaggerating, the extent to which I thought said person had a case of ego mania.

(starting to head of track)
I also enjoyed using the phrase “over exaggerate”. To which my husband (then just a boyfriend) replied that exaggerate was already exaggerated and he didn’t think that “over exaggerate” was a proper combination of words. Well, my reply was much the same as the reply to the “was an ego trip” thing.

Doesn’t “over exaggerate” really put the amount of exaggerating into perspective? If you’re over exaggerating you are exaggerating A LOT! Probably more than needed. I enjoy using this phrase – correct or not. And I probably always will. Except now that I’m writing about it I will become more aware of it and it will most likely quietly go away.

(going farther off track here)
Same thing happened to my hugs. I got picked on (very lovingly) about the frequency of my hugs. I was hugging every time I saw people. If I saw you at lunch time, I hugged you, even if I had just seen you and hugged you at breakfast 3 hours ago. Now I don't hug as much anymore. I don’t think this is what my friend intended, but it’s just what happened.

(on the same “farther off” track)
I also used to love using the sound/word “aanywhoooo”. You know how it’s used … “So and so did something totally stupid. - insert anywho here because now we need to change the subject - ”. Didn’t this actually come from Seinfeld? I know I didn’t create it; I just copied it because it really gets the point across. Aanywhooo – someone commented on not liking the sound of it and now it is rarely, if ever, brought out of the word vault. My husband actually used it the other day and it reminded me that I used to use it. Of course all I could think of was that someone close to me thinks this is red neck. But if it came from Seinfeld (or Friends) it’s really just Yankee.

(same track – “off”)
And lately, I have realized that I use the word “Bazillion” way too often. But that’s another word that is really great at “over exaggerating”, don’t you think? Because you know what a bazillion is, right? Well it’s actually in the online dictionaries. It is slang for an unspecified large number. And so is a squillion. Maybe I’ll start using squillion because I’m starting to get self conscious about using “bazillion”. Which means it’s sure to begin quietly going away soon.


Part Two

(back on track – whew)
But back to my first thought regarding ego trips. The whole reason for bringing those up was to let you know that I think I am an ego trip. Or maybe I am just on one. And here’s why I think it, it has to do with these blog posts.

I visit and read other blogs and sometimes comment. I am often blown away by the sheer number of commenters/readers on some of these blogs. The authors of some of these blogs are writers by trade, with their blogs out there for all to read, so there is a good reason why their comment numbers sometimes reach the 100+ mark.

Then there’s me. I post. And I post. And I’ve gotten more regular about it now that I don’t feel the need for pictures all of the time. Pics are a pain sometimes. But I keep posting even though I often get no comments. And I think this must mean that I am and am also on an ego trip. I post and come back and read my own stuff, often enjoying it. I even make my poor husband listen as I read some of my posts to him (‘cause otherwise he doesn’t visit to know what I’ve written about). And I do all of this with no commenter or reader in sight.

A fine example that I must be doing this for me, not for my (lack of) readers, is my recent post about my female issues. I have actually had several people comment to me on “why in the world would I ever blog about that?” Hey, didn’t even know you were a reader.

Well, there’s two reasons:

1) It’s my blog.

And 2) the fact that I rarely have comments leaves me to believe that only I (and maybe my Mom and Aunt - who I would normally talk to about these things anyway) would be reading my blog. And I certainly don’t have any male readers. Besides, I gave LOTS of notice, lots, about the content of that post. I tried to use as many words as possible in the title and the first two paragraphs to let you know about the nature of that post.

But as it turns out, crazy as it sounds, I do have at least one male reader (Hi, D.C. ;0)). I had no clue. I didn’t even know his wife and her sister were readers. And you know why I didn’t know? Because they don’t comment. Which is fine. But me and my ego would love to have people leaving comments every now and then.

What is the etiquette for leaving comments anyway? I frequent blogs that I have found simply by virtue of clicking links on my blog to get to the next, and so on, and so on, and so on. I have also found some because Blogger lists “Blogs of Note” periodically. (That’s where I came across Farm Girl Fare.)

Some of these bloggers don’t know me. Will they be scared if I comment – because, you know, they don’t know me. Or, will these bloggers be excited that there’s a new commenter? So sometimes I comment, sometimes I don’t. But I’m nervous about it all the same.

But if these were my blog – I would like the comments. Except for when I click your link to see who you are and the post that comes up is all about the kind of knives you’ll be wearing on your hands when you come to “get” me, the reader of your post. I will delete your comment every time. EVERYTIME!

So this very long, two part post is simply to say – I WELCOME YOUR COMMENTS. I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW YOU’RE READING. And you don’t have to have an account, when you post you can simply choose to include your name. Blogger will ask for your website, but you don’t have to fill in that blank.

Help feed my ego. Or I will continue to post about my female things. Maybe even without warning next time.

I Need to Grow Up!

I have a hatred for....
...no, I have a strong dislike for the fame created for teeny boppers by Disney.
Let me give a for instance - something about Hannah Montana drives me nuts.
I can't stand her character on the show and her real persona (Miley Cyrus - who I've seen in interviews) just rubs me the wrong way.

So - when my daughter started talking about the Jonas Brothers and how they were going to be in the Disney Movie, "Camp Rock", I gave her the "eh whatever" thought in my head. If Disney was cranking out another group of teeny bopper, Prima Donna's I didn't care.

Then I started enjoying this song on the radio one day. Julia laughed and asked if I liked it. I sure did. And I was bowled over when she let me in on the fact that it was the Jonas Brothers. Well there was no way that I could like them - I don't like "Disney" bands, remember.

Then I had to admit to my husband that I thought I liked the Jonas Brothers. And of course we Googled and IMDB'd them. And I was pleasantly suprised to find that they weren't created by Disney. They already were when Disney grabbed a hold of them. They sometimes collaborate with others to write their songs, but they write their own songs. They also know how to play guitar, base, piano and drums. And they play them on stage - sometimes more than one per Brother per performace.

So, it's official, I'm a Jonas Brother's fan. I even know some of the words to some of their songs. And because of this I officially need to grow up. Cause people get in trouble all around the world for liking "youngins". However - Joe's birthday is on Friday and he'll be 19. That's o.k. right? And Kevins going to be 21 this year.

Maybe it's not o.k. that I know this birthday information. But it is o.k. for me to have a tiny little crush on Joe now that we know he's going to be 19. I only know when his birthday is because I heard them talk about it as we tuned into Live with Regis and Kelley this morning to see them. Well, so that my children could watch them of course.

And poor Nick - he either has a cold, or his voice is changing.

(pre post edit)
I just shared this post with my daughter. Earlier I stated that I "know the words to several of their songs". And she started laughing. She said, "Several of their songs??!!!!??" And then asked which songs I knew besides "Burnin' Up" - as she continued to laugh. So I changed it to read "some of the words to some of their songs" - even though I know ALL of the words to Burnin' Up. But I do know some words to others - I really do. I just can't tell you what they are.

And here - you enjoy this song from the cute Jonas Brothers. They even show they have a cute sense of humor in this video. Very likable guys. Oh, Joe's the one in the white pants who dons the fake mustache. (Nick is the one in the red boat and Kevin is the martial arts guy. Just in case you needed to know. Scary that I do.)

Happy Birthday
Legare!

I can't believe that you are now 8 years old.
What an incredible young man you are turning into.

Enjoy your day and enjoy your Skating party tomorrow.

Daddy, Sissy and I love you VERY much!!!

(this picture is from the 1st day of school last year - it's rare we are all together)

Post Post: As I showed Legare this post I realized that I was posting this at the time he was born. Exactly.

Happy Birthday, Eliza!

We love you!

Aunt Annie, Uncle Brianny,
Yiyah and Bee

Vacation: Relaxing and Terrifying

Wonderfully relaxing.
Days in the surf. Children old enough for you to be able to read books and let them play in the sand and surf with only the occasional glance up from the pages. Afternoon bike rides with the whole family (11 of you). Early evening thunderstorms forcing you to stay inside and play lots of Mexican Train dominoes. Just all around relaxation.

To add to it all, you have a great brother in law who brings his restaurant sized soft serve ice cream machine for making lots and lots of cones. He kicks in the "chocolate dip" so that we can all have Dairy Queen style, chocolate dipped, ice cream desserts. They're really great after breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. And also after dessert. Also fine between beers.

This same brother in law also brings his movie theater sized popcorn machine. He make yummy plain pop corn and the most fabulous caramel corn ever. We ate too much.

We also had lots of nature encounters. Still relaxing. Seeing baby sea turtles trying to make it into the surf without getting toppled warms your heart like nothing you can imagine. Seeing large alligators in the ponds next to bike trials - very cool. Also viewing the snakes and possums at the Nature Center at Night Heron park were still relaxing...they were behind glass.

Terrifying could have kicked in many places. Alligators could have run toward us instead of toward the ponds. Lightning could have struck the house or trees. A snake could have gotten loose from it's aquarium. But the odds of those things happening are pretty small.

And as my husband told one of the guys that works with him last week. "Tell your wife not to be afraid of getting out of the boat to walk to the beach. I am almost 40 years old and in all my life I've never known anyone to get stung by a stingray. The odds of that happening are almost impossible." Sounds like good advice to me.

Well, as of Friday, my husband is now the guy he knows who has suffered the sting of a ray. And did I say suffer. I meant SUFFER. I suffered just watching him suffer. It was awful.

He stepped on it in the surf as we were trying to recover my brother in law's sunglasses that had been stripped off of his head in a wave. We had all been doing the stingray shuffle all up and down the surf feeling for the glasses. Bryan stepped once and POW. Right in the foot.

Lots of blood. Lots of pain. Immediate swelling. Immediate scary.

Did you know (cause I didn't) that VERY HOT water is the anecdote? None of us did either. So now you know. Keep that in your knowledge vault for the next time you need it. Something about heat neutralizing the protein in the venom. And it really works. The doctor's office kept his foot in water that came straight from the coffee maker. As long as he was in the heat of the water- he was good. When he was out, he wanted more heat. Approximately 5 hours after the initial sting he was finally able to keep his foot out the water. The stinging had subsided.

There were no pieces of the barb left inside the puncture wound. Luckily.
The wound required no stitches and currently there is just a gracious amount of swelling and bruising. And some minor aching. I don't think he can get his foot into a shoe, so tomorrow he may go to work with one foot in a sock and a Teva and the other in his dress shoe. Otherwise they'll have to take him barefooted.

Overall - a very relaxing vacation though. Glad the stingray thing was on our last day.