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| moving onI have long dreamed of having a library. In my head it would be full of books and globes and maps, it would contain souvenirs of my travels and have a spiral stair case leading to the mezzanine ala My Fair Lady. I would spend hours in it......ensconced in my deep leather chairs, sipping tea and reading. ahhhhh........ According to the WSJ and Oprah, home libraries are now all the rage,and even though reading rates are down they are being built into McMansions and manors alike. My current library, is actually a linen closet at the end of the hall. It has been my library for about 10 years now. The shelves are stacked double rows to overflowing. Our collection contains classics and paperback romances. There are books from my childhood and my children's as well. There are books I have read and those waiting to be consumed. It is always an adventure to open the doors. The Library has actually out grown its current confines. I have boxes of books on the attic, and piles in scattered about the house, I have stacks at work and in my car. It really is time for a bigger space. That brings up another subject. I had naively believed that when the nest was empty, Wu and I would be free to turn the empty spaces into anything we pleased. It really hasn't worked out that way. We still continue to refer to empty bedroom #1 as the boys room, never mind that one of the boys has been married 2 years and has a child of his own........ I have been taking an informal poll. When is the appropriate time to take over the kids rooms? Movies would have us believe that we can come home 10, 15, 20 years later and our child hood space is exactly the way we left it. I personally shudder to imagine this, as youngest' room is a terrible mess. Do we really want or expect to visit home and sleep among our pretty ponies and soccer trophies? It might be a bit creepy. I know a few moms that converted the space as soon as the kids are out the door.... literally.... like the next weekend. That seems a little soon, I think it would be a little disconcerting to return home over your first Thanksgiving break only to spend the night on an air mattress in Moms new yoga/meditation space or Dads man cave. It would seem that there are no simple answers, and that the emotional distress may have more to do with my own sense of nostalgia than my children's feelings. They haven't really weighed in on the subject yet, although Sir Snarky seems to pack yet another piece of his youth out with him on every visit. My Own Grandparents moved around a bit, so I was never really given the opportunity to sleep in my mom or dads childhood room or visit their childhood home for that matter. My own parent moved a few years after Wu and I married, so this home has always been their own. Each room used for the assigned purpose that they choose, no ghosts hidden in now empty rooms..... I wonder if that makes it easier or harder? I will probably begin the process of adding shelves to the boys room this year. I wont take down the posters yet, but I will begin adding my own little mark upon the space. Book by book | | |
| Friday newsSo apparently Roald Dahl ......you know of James and the Giant Peach fame...... was a spy during WWII This hasn't broken the news yet, but I have my sources. Not only was he a spy, but he was a British spy stationed in Washington DC to spy on us...... Really it's true. First Julie now Roald, it kind of makes you want to take a closer look at all those nostalgic, childhood memories. Who's next...Captain Kangaroo. Will we find out that the State Department was right and the Beatles really were a risk to national security. lol. Who will be outed next. Don't be offended it I look at you a little suspiciously next time we meet | | |
| I find that I am enamored with the South. For some time now I have found myself reading books about southern women and looking for southern cook books and Y'all already know about my obsessive hunt for a Mint Julep Cup. I think I would have loved to be born in the south, really.... can't you picture me as Scarlet O'Hara I just love everything about the South.... well maybe not everything.... certainly not the mosquitos the size of bluejays. I don't really fancy the idea of Hurricanes or tornado's much either. I probably wouldn't like Alligators or swamps in general. I certainly wouldn't like the heat and humidity. I know that in the South, big hair is always in fashion, but the humidity I mentioned would probably give me hair the size of Texas. definitely not on the love list. I would like to say I love the food , but that might be a stretch too. They eat a lot of PARTS in the south and while I'm sure they'll tell you it's all good smothered in gravy, I'm not that adventurous. Okra makes me cringe and don't even get me started on crawdads or chitlins....... . I think I'd like to live in an Ol Plantation on the Mississippi., but to tell the truth I don't really get the whole "south will rise again" thing. It confuses me, the War is over, Slavery was/is bad and Racism is even worse. What's more, while I will watch and even cheer for an occasional highschool football game, I do not plan my life around Alumni events. GO DNHS... Hmmm, so all in all I guess I am really just enamored with an idea of the South, where everyday is Fat Tuesday and My SQ's and I could sit on a big front porch sippin our Juleps. I like the Steel Magnolia / YaYa / Sweet Potato Queen version of the South. A place where the world moves a little slower, and where big hats, white gloves and manners are occasionally in fashion | | |
| Friday JokeJust received this email from SQ BFFD. She received it from her daughter Kgirl. Even though it is obviously an exaggeration (lol) and its re printing here in no way implies that the editor of this post agrees..... it's still pretty funny 25 REASONS I OWE MY MOTHER
1.My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.
2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet.
3.My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
" Because I said so, that's why.
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me.
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident.
7.My mother taught me IRONY
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about.
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper.
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone.
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times.
Don't exaggerate!"
13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!"
15. My mother taught me about ENVY .
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do.
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home.
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .
"You are going to get it when you get home!"
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way.
19. My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me.
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up.
22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father.
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you.
Do you think you were born in a barn?"
24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand.
25.And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you | | |
| Gossip GirlI heard a nasty rumor over the weekend, and I must confess I am guilty of spreading it on with out verifying the subject. My source was very sure of herself and her information, as most of us are when we gossip, and in my shock at the news I took the ball and ran with it. I feel very bad about this and apologize for any distress I may have caused. What has caused such distress, you ask? Well, I hesitate to bring it up, but I do feel the need to set the record straight. I don't want to be gossiping, but I did my homework so I feel that I can post this.......... I was told that The Cookie Monster had changed his name to the Fruit Monster, cause cookies are only for sometimes........ I can hear your gasps........I feel your pain......... I couldn't believe it myself when I heard it, but then again in today's uber PC, social agenda society, I thought....... Well, it could be true. The more I thought about it the more it upset me, who would do such a thing, I mean really...... didn't we all GET Cookie Monster, I don't believe that anyone ever thought his behavior was something to be imitated. He was an example of something not to do, the first compulsive eater on TV. That made the change even more confusing...If Eating too many cookies was bad behavior and we all knew that...was somebody trying to tell us that eating fruit is bad....... Just as the Sesame Street of my youth showed CM with a tummy ache after to much consumption, was the SS of today showing kids running to the bathroom with fruit cramps. hmmmm...Who was pushing this agenda, who was behind this change? The California Raisens... maybe those California Cows. I don't know what it was about this issue that just set me off. I went on a rant....I bet you're not surprised. Was Oscar the Grouch next, was he to become Oscar the guy who's having a bad day....or worse were we going to make excuses for his bad behavior. Oscar the depression sufferer who takes medication.... Were we going to call Big Bird Big, or would that make us sizests. And don't even bring up the fact that Snuffy is his imaginary friend....... I am just so sick of this PC c$*&. We are trying to engineer how people think instead of letting them reason it out. Personally I would rather have had my kids learn to reason...even if their end view differs from mine than to grow up only parroting the party line. But enough about the rant..... the bottom line is.... it isn't true. Well sort of.... Cookie has been curbing his cookie consumption, publicly choosing healthier things so as not to be a bad influence, but he will remain the Cookie Monster. He was interviewed on NPR and then the Colbert Report. Apparently Stephen Colbert asked about why he was dropping his pro cookie agenda.... This was before he tried to eat his Peabody award, which is suspiciously cookie shaped. Anyway, I learned my lesson. Always check your facts before spreading rumors, wait... no.... thats wrong. Don't spread rumors. Thinks about what you heard, and what your agenda is for repeating it. I was just trying to be funny, but I repeated this to Nephew N. Now he informed me," that he is way past Sesame Street," but who knows, I may have upset him..... I feel really bad..... This may have ruined gossip for me forever. | | |
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