Tag Archives: random

toe socks, growth spurts, and sunburn to beat the band

Posted on by

**   What’s up with the toe socks?  You know, the ones that look like gloves for your feet?  Bear is obsessed with these, has apparently been dying to own a pair, and doesn’t show any sign of letting up on that.  But here’s what I don’t get.  Why on earth does Bear want a pair of these so badly when all she does is b*tch about fitting her pinkies into gloves?

**  There are no words for the shock of looking out onto the basketball court and realizing your daughter’s teammate is a head and a half shorter than she is.  Damn, that’s tall.  And she was only ten.

**  Speaking of which, wouldn’t it be great if we could time these growth spurts for sales?

**  It’s been a couple of years now since T-man transitioned from boys’ to men’s shoes and I’m still not over the sticker shock.  Good grief, what are they making these shoes out of, corinthian leather?!

**  I was sidelined by necessity at Myrtle this week.  Long sleeves, parked under an umbrella, limited time at the pool and no time on the beach, but I figured we could make it work.  Right up until the last day when I left my kids to their own devices and they forgot to apply sunscreen.  At all.  The entire freaking day.  I believe they’re sincerely stunned at how much a sunburn hurts.  Shoot, maybe that’ll help them remember to put on the blessed sunscreen regardless of whether I’m chasing them around with the tube or not.

Share Your World 6/19/17 (plus one)

Posted on by

Running a day late this week, but better late than never! 

What is something that people are obsessed with but you just don’t get the point of?

Fidget spinners.  Lord help me, but I cannot understand how these things have become so freaking prevalent.  I get they’d be useful for kids dealing with hyperactivity, but these things are everywhere.  I know several kids who own three, four, or five of them.  Then there are those youngsters whipping out the stopwatch to time their spinners so they can post their results on social media.  I mean, everyone sees these are just things spinning in a circle, right?

What quirky things do people do where you are from?

The “driving in the neighborhood” wave: four fingers peeled off the steering wheel for a passing car, hand lifted in greeting for neighbors in a yard.

Make sweet tea with enough sugar to keep a kid spinning for days.

Monogram anything that stands still long enough to be tagged.  Hats, shirts, car decals, pet sweaters, organizers, tote bags, travel cups – if it can fit three letters, you’ll find that super flowery script on it around here.

What are some things you wish you could unlearn? 

That wolf spiders carry up to 100 babies on their back, and if you step on them the spiders will scatter everywhere.  That spiders and ticks can climb vertical surfaces.  And that dead skin cells make up some crazy percentage of the dust in my house.  Eww.

Who is someone that you miss having in your life?

My mom.

Optional Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week Bear had a great time at basketball camp and T-man enjoyed kicking back for his first official week of summer.  We let them have friends over on Friday night, and I’m grateful for the sound of riotous laughter coming from the back of the car on the way to and from the movies.  Nothing beats that kind of laughter.

This week hasn’t had the smoothest start, but I’m hopeful this antibiotic will clear my infection without making me feel too puny in the meantime.  I’m looking forward to getting away with the family for a few days and seeing friends I don’t see nearly enough.

Visit Cee’s blog for her weekly Share Your World post.

What’s happening in your world today?

odds and ends 6/15/17

Posted on by

1.  BrightSide and I watched a fascinating 60 Minutes segment on Sunday about technology.  I expected it to be another look at what tech does to the brain, but instead it discussed how companies are using what they’ve learned about the brain to tweak their coding.  For instance:

  • why Twitter and Instagram use a scroll feed
  • the chemical effect “likes” have on our brains
  • the possibility that a random experiment may have linked our accounts to an algorithm for feedback timing

2.  I’m not sure whether to be impressed or terrified.

3.  I did, however, manage not to tweet about it.

Continue reading →

odds and ends 6/1/17

Posted on by

1.  The car rider pick up line in North Carolina is a special hell for environmentalists right now.  Idling for 30 minutes = bad for the environment.  Overheated, dizzy driver = bad for the cars.  What to do, what to do…

2.  Why can’t they get bird sounds onto white noise machines?  They make a lovely blend of sound coming from the trees, but coming from the speaker it’s like I’m back in the Tiki Room at Disney World. Continue reading →

Forever Family: odds and ends #1

Posted on by

Ever had one of those weeks when your brain’s all jumbled?  When thoughts are bouncing around like a box of ping pong balls dropped down a flight of stairs?  Yeah,  it’s been like that around here.  For me, anyway.

Which makes writing for Fridays a little difficult since, by their nature, Forever Family posts require focus.  After two failed attempts I’ve realized I’m trying to shove a square peg in a round hole, and I’ve given that up for Lent.

Continue reading →

the Power of Firsts

Posted on by

Life is filled with firsts, and they usually pack a wallop.

First kiss.  Oh, boy, that first kiss is a doozy.  So much uncertainty and confusion wrapped up in an explosion of feelings and fireworks.  So much opportunity for bumping noses and awkward misses.  So much anxiety about bad breath and whether they like you back and if you’re any good at kissing at all.  It’s one of those rites of passage…there’s nothing quite like the first first kiss.

Continue reading →

my 20 givens

Posted on by

“Al’s father is 45.  He is 15 years older than twice Al’s age.  How old is Al?”

Let’s say Al’s age = x.  We also know that 45 is 15 more than twice Al’s age, so we need to transfer each part into math speak.  

Al’s age is x, so twice Al’s age is 2x, and 15 more than twice Al’s age is 15 + 2x.

Oh, finagle.  Check it out here if you’re interested.

Here are some of my givens in life, ones of the non-word problem sort.

Continue reading →