I See That Adorable Ghost

Looks like Wednesday has snuck up on me once again.  We're having another one of our busy times at work with the kids returning to school.  The afternoons get wacky.  But let's take a break and enjoy some Choose and Defend Wednesday.  I'm afraid that today I am going to have to take something away from you.  The good new is that you get to Choose which thing it is!  Could you more easily live without (for the next five years, let's say) -

Access to the Internet

OR



Your Car

One or the other has to go for the next five years.  Which will it be and why?  Choose and Defend!  Thanks :)

This Musical Message is For Just Give Me the Truth

Everybody In the Room Notices You

Today's Saturday Scavenger Shot word was chosen by me and may well be done by only me.  FINE!  BE LIKE THAT!  Ooooohhhh, I was all yelling there!  Alarming, right?  Well, um, anyway...our word for today is KEY.  That wasn't a yell, that is just the way I always write the Saturday Scavenger Shots word.  Although if you want, we could go old skool Pee Wee Herman and yell every time someone says that word today.  Want to?

Now then, there are a couple of shots I took this morning at the very uncivilized hour of 6:30 am.  On a Saturday.  Um hm.

Handsome Lad had to be at his XC practice bright and early for a five mile training run.  It is good for the kids to run early in the day, before it gets so hot.  It is bad for the parents of the kids who don't drive yet, because it is Saturday morning and mama likes her beauty sleep.  But, training is the KEY to success in any sport!  So, run free Handsome Lad, run free!  Let's see...I worked the word in there, didn't I?  

Yes!  Very good.

This shot looks almost artsy doesn't it?  Here we see my car KEY, a bit chewed looking.  But I enjoy the way this KEY in the ignition makes you think of a beautifully photographed worn, lined face, lovely in it's flaws.  Shut up and stop singing that stupid R. Kelly song about putting your KEY in the ignition!  Let's have some respect for my pretty KEY shot!!!  Thank you.  My goodness, you people.

That is all I have for you today.  I have no more KEYs for you.  I would offer you the KEY to the Kingdom, but it seems there are no takers there :)  Have a great rest of the weekend and make sure to head for high ground if you are in to that sort of thing.

Friday 5 - Sticky

Quiet Friday at work, so how about a little Friday 5 to pass the time?  This week it is about sticky things, which seems appropriate given the sticky way that the air feels today...way too much moisture mucking things up.  So...let's see what sticks -

1. What kind of magnets do you have on your fridge?  Mostly the kind that are like clips to hold packets of paper.  A couple cute ones I've gotten from work or business give aways.  I did not prepare for this day with a photo of my fridge!  Another time, perhaps :-)

2. What’s your preferred type of glue?  Fully depends on what it is for.  For doing crafts with small children or even for my own work, I like the control and ease of glue sticks.  If I'm doing some heavy duty repair job, then Gorilla Glue is the way to go!

3. When is it good to feel sticky?  Never.  Closest thing would be, you know...an after-glow type of situation.  If I'm recalling such a thing correctly.

4. What was the last thing you wrote upon a Post-It?  I just had a phone call from WTG asking me to email something for him and I took notes on a Post-It.  I have various sizes and colors stashed around my desk and use them a LOT.

5. How much pancake syrup do you put on your pancakes?  Oh man...so much.  So very, very much.  I can never have enough syrup on my pancakes.  Mmmmmmm...sticky sweet.

There you go.  That is how I handle the sticky questions.  How about you?  As always, I invite you to join in on your own blog or in comments.  Have a lovely, syrupy sweet weekend!

We'll Be Together All Alone Again...

Since I got all reflective and stuff yesterday I thought I'd follow up today with a similarly themed Choose and Defend Wednesday.  This is not a new thought by any means, but still...it is a thought.  When do you most feel like your "new year" falls?

New Year's Eve / Day

OR

Back to School Time

I mean, for a lot of people the answer may be both.  But if forced (as you are) to Choose one, think about the way in which you most often mark the passage of time and the feeling of a fresh start.  Defend your choice so we can all see it from your side!  Because today is Choose and Defend Wednesday and this is what we do.

Midweek Notes

Some housekeeping.  First, let me throw a word out there for Saturday Scavenger Shots - KEY.  There you go.
Second, I have just come back to work today and my co-workers did fulfill my request for a "welcome back" poster...more or less :-) 

I found this taped to my computer monitor!  They did fine work, considering I'm the one who usually creates the posters for the dept.  

No one has done an impression of me.  Yet.

Made me feel good to be back to work.

Back to School

The first day back to school has, of course, always been a very big deal in my house.  Some of you have watched me document it here for the past 6 years or so in one way or another.  Back when my kids were small the day was so celebratory.  Everyone would be photographed and after those in school had been taken there and guided to their new classrooms, the rest of us would go out together for a nice breakfast.  My mom and sister and I had that tradition from the time my oldest son went to Kindergarten over 20 years ago.

 This is a back to school picture from, I think, 1996.  Secret Agent Man would be entering 4th grade, Social Animal 2nd, and Kick Back Dude 5th.  Girlie Girl was just 3 and Handsome Lad wouldn't join us for another almost 9 months! 

Now, back to school still feels exciting, but it has definitely changed as the kids have grown.  Now Kick Back Dude takes his own kids to school.  Secret Agent Man is a single man and most days just mean it's time to go to work.  Social Animal and Girlie Girl are community college students working around the whims of their own schedules. 

Now, Handsome Lad is the only kid going back to school!  Here he is, ready for his first day of high school.  I picked him up this morning from his dad's house and dropped him off...and recalled once again how much I hate drop offs and pick ups at the high school :-)

He's excited about high school and I'm excited for him.  He's had his challenges as a student, but he's been running around with older kids for so long that I think he finally feels he's caught up and is in his proper element.   So, there is a lot of happiness.  But it is a very different sort of day than it once was.  My mom didn't take today off or go in late, because she was out yesterday with a dental appointment.  My sister never wants to do anything with me anymore.  So it was just me and I came on home after dropping him off.  No more first day of school breakfasts...at least not this year.  

But things always change.  There is still much to look forward to.  It is just different now and I don't think anyone could help but be reflective on a day like today.  So I will take this last day off work and put my feet up, ponder the past a bit, and congratulate myself on having helped to get everyone to this point in time, happy and healthy and full of potential.

This Musical Message is For There Was Hope Here

F is For Friends Who Do Stuff Together

Well into Saturday here and I've finally set aside a moment in my frantic schedule to post my Saturday Scavenger Shots!  (By the way, totally being sarcastic there...which doesn't "type" well.)  I'm not really busy.  I am having a rather slothful "back to school" vacation.  I feel lucky that the lovely Tara, scribe over at Eclectic Spaghetti, choose such an easy and inspiring word for this week's Saturday Scavenger Shots!  Thanks Tara :-)  Today's word is FUN.  Yay! 

Here is a brief photographic representation of the FUN in my life:

My kids, in one of the few recent-ish photos I have of them en masse.  The have kept things FUN for the past 26 years of my life!

What could be more FUN than a few little grandbabies?  The answer is nothing!  Nothing is more FUN.  And nothing is cuter.  So there.

Couldn't leave DR (shown here in Mountain Man mode) out of the FUN.  He still make life FUN for me, even from a distance.  But I will need him to shave. A lot.  :-D  FUN!!!

I hope that you all are having a weekend that is full of the kinds of FUN you most enjoy.  Thanks for stopping by to share in my FUN.  Blogging friends make all FUN more FUN.

For My Own Amusement

This is the note I emailed my coworkers right before I left for my vacation.  I hoped it would make them laugh...at least I made my own self laugh :)

Oh Feel It

My last couple of Choose and Defend Wednesdays have been rather harsh.  This week, we're going to take it easy and have ourselves a spa day!  Doesn't that sound relaxing?  All you need to do is lie back and Choose which of these spa activities you enjoy the most.  Then you just need to lie back some more and Defend your choice with enthusiasm.  Relaxed enthusiasm. 

So, which is your favorite?

Hot Tub Soak

OR

Massage

 Aaaahhhhh!  Don't you feel better already?  I know I do!  I am on vacation...or off work at least.  So what if my main reason is to get Handsome Lad back to school?  It is still a vacation!  So start it off great for me, if you please....Choose and Defend!

Here's That Whine You Ordered!

Had one of those really mixed bag weekends.  Saturday was very busy with Love Bug and Little Prince's birthday party.  It was at a park, there was a water pad, and they served pizza and snow cones.  There was really no way it could go wrong.  The kids had a great time.

 Here are my three (Little Prince, Love Bug, and Miss Personality) in the middle, with their cousins. 

The day was more difficult than it should have been, due to WTG's usual pre-party insanity, but once the actual event was underway it was very nice.  And thanks to some good coaching, I managed to get the kids much desired gifts.

The next day, Sunday, was one of those too quiet days.  I was so solitary.  But look what Girlie Girl managed to come home with -

Yes, indeed.  Her dad took her to get this tattoo she's been wanting.  That is the top of her foot, in case you can't tell.  Now three of my five children have at least one tattoo.  I'm so proud doesn't seem quite right...but I've got nothing against tattoos....lucky for me I guess!

Anyway, she was busy all day.  Then Handsome Lad returned from Cross Country camp, but he wanted to go right to his dad's because he'd fixed up his room there in his absense.  So I was a bit pouty I think.  Not to the kids, just privately.  I did have long talk with DR.  But as much as I get out of our time spent talking, I am somewhat unsettled and definitely feeling like it is not enough as we head into this second year.  And still, hoping it will be resolved soon.  *sigh*

So, that was my weekend.  Some family fun, some feeling lonesome.  Hope yours was all fun and no lonesome.

This Musical Message is For Locked and Loaded

Come Save Me From the Awful Sound of Nothing

Welcome to a nice QUIET Saturday Scavenger Shot post.  Actually, I am not expecting today to be particularly QUIET..  I will be attending a birthday party for Love Bug and Little Prince in a few hours.  She turned 4 on the 10th and he'll be 3 on the 29th.  My babies are not quite babies anymore!  *QUIET sobs*

But I'm not here to cry about my babies growing up!  No, no...I am here to just show you something QUIET.

I work in an environment that many people reasonably consider to be a QUIET place.  And at certain hours of the day it is.  This picture of the Children's Services Desk was taken before the library opened in the morning and it was very QUIET.  But if you want QUIET, don't come around here anytime between 3 and 6pm during the school year.  Or virtually any hour during the month of July.  Kids be loud and we be where they be and it be kinda loud sometimes.  We try to maintain a bit of QUIET, but being a shushing librarian is just not the current model :-)

It has been pretty QUIET for me at home this week.  Handsome Lad has been off all week in Mammoth at Cross Country Training Camp.  So, he's running and also, apparently, starring as Dan the Eggplant Man - Half Eggplant, Half Man, All Dan.  I bet it is not QUIET there :-D  This tickles me quite a bit, by the way.

This concludes my Saturday Scavenger Shots post.  I hope that the rest of your weekend is just as QUIET at you want it to be....or just as loud! 

Friday 5 - Evidence

I haven't done a Friday 5 in awhile and I found myself missing them.  So here is a great Friday 5 all about evidence :-)  Nothing like getting proof!  I hope that you will participate on your own blog or in comments here...present the evidence!

1.What could serve as physical evidence that you sometimes lose focus?  I am not a person who is always starting different projects and leaving them halfway through.  I tend to follow through quite well for the most part.  *patting my own back*  However, I guess the best physical evidence that I sometimes lose focus can be found in my five kids.  They'll tell you!  haha!

2.What could serve as physical evidence that you are loved? Tough one...physical evidence of love.  Um...maybe how much the little battery indicator on my phone has gone down after a long talk with DR?  I don't think either one of us are big phone talkers by nature, but the fact that we can talk for a good couple of hours at a stretch must mean love!

 

3.What could serve as physical evidence that you’re from wherever you’re from?  I don't have any of my own physical characteristics that are particularly Western United States-ian.  But I have the pictures to prove it!  Yearbooks?  Stuff like that...yeah.

4.What could serve as physical evidence that you went anywhere this past week?  Haven't gone many places...but I guess there is the food in the cupboards to prove I went for groceries.  A paycheck next week to prove I worked?  Oh, a movie ticket stub from Sunday!  Crazy, Stupid, Love :-)

5.What could serve as physical evidence that you recently caved in to temptation? What remains of the half gallon of mint n chip ice cream in my freezer.  Cold, delicious evidence.

Now, gather up your evidence and have a wonderful weekend!  Remember to stop in tomorrow to check out the QUIET.  Ssshhhhhh.....

There Ain't Nowhere Else To Be

Oh, I am in a mood today.  The second I walked in the door someone said - You look like I feel.  Now, you know that is never a positive comment...like, I feel good and you look great!  I was basically told I looked like crap.  So thanks.  And now I will take it out on you in my Choose and Defend Wednesday question!  Hopefully you won't mind too much.  I am stranding you. Again.  This time, you have a choice of locations.  Would you rather be stranded in the middle of....
The Desert

OR

The Ocean

Choose your location and tell us why.  That is the Choose and Defend for this torn down, beaten up Wednesday :-)  Thanks!

This Musical Message is For My Whole World

And They Don't Want Me

Today's Saturday Scavenger Shot post is brought to you by the word PROBLEMS.  The word PROBLEMS is brought to us by Silly Rabbit.  So, of course, we need to think of our PROBLEMS.  My PROBLEMS?  What are they?  My only true and constant slightly nagging issue is...

Money.  Mo' money, mo' PROBLEMS?  I don't know about that.  I mean, I get it...

but a lack of cash causes big PROBLEMS too.  Fo sho.

When you're down to your last dollar you can either spend it or make it into a peacock.  I guess my PROBLEMS haven't gotten severe enough that I've had to spend my peacock.  So there's that.

I hope your PROBLEMS are all manageable and I hope your weekend is free of any sorts of PROBLEMS at all.  Give them some time off.  Thanks for being here!  

The word for next week is QUIET.  Can you handle it?  Of course you can!

Happy Birthday To My Trial Run

Just wanted to put up a brief post today wishing my wonderful Audie Kick Back Dude a very happy 26th *gulp* birthday!  26!  Keep in mind I was very young when I had him!  Okay...not THAT young.  Not, like, Teen Mom young.  But still!  I was inexperienced and he was my trial run :-)  Now that he is grown and a father himself, I feel like I did a fine job in spite of my lack of credentials and the many distractions that came with having four more children after him.  Or maybe....maybe I just got lucky.  He's a stellar guy in every regard. 

Tomorrow night I'm going to cook us all up a fun family dinner and we'll celebrate.  Can't wait.  That's right...can't wait to celebrate!  And rhyme!  Because it is just that time.  Oh blime..y.  Happy Birthday Kick Back Dude!!! 

Make a Fortune Turning Sand to Silicon

It is Wednesday and as usual I am dragging ass through the week.  I'm in a slump.  But I do always look forward to Choose and Defend Wednesday.  This week's question is a kind of standard "this or that" question, but it is one that certainly makes me think!  I'm interested in how you will answer.  Okay...If you had to be stuck on a deserted island for a year would you rather...

Be Alone

OR

Be With Four People You REALLY Dislike

All that is left to do now is make a choice...Choose.  Then, please elaborate about why you would make that choice...Defend.  And that is how we play Choose and Defend Wednesday!  Thank you for making my week :-)

No Cheese, No Crackers, Therefore....

Sparing you a post I just wrote and deleted.  It was way whiny.  You're welcome!