Birthday Costumes

JBP's little friend HyeongWoo turned one year old yesterday.

Hyeong Woo is adopted from South Korea. JBP has essentially adopted him as his stand-in little brother since before he came home. At least until Mom and Dad get busy and provide one of his own!

When he saw the picture of HyeongWoo in his first birthday hanbok (traditional Korean dress) JBP immediately requested one of his own.

Being the pushover (sometimes) mommy that I am (at least in respect to a love of all things international) I immediately hit e-bay and found him one.

It arrived yesterday, on HyeongWoo's birthday. JBP was so excited. Right up until we realized the size I'd ordered was a touch too big. Not unwearably too big, just a little over large, if you know what I mean.

At that point, JBP turned his back and refused to put it on. He'll change his mind. He can't resist a good costume for long. Besides, I paid for it, he'll wear the danged thing and smile about it at least long enough for me to get a picture of him with HyeongWoo in matching outfits.

Nimitz' Lady

No Home Schooling

Well, today I face the loss of a dream, life plan, whatever, for my son, JBP. I will not be able to home school him. Not unless something changes drastically by this fall.

Starting next week I'm moving to a day shift. We simply can't afford, at this time in our lives, to pay for all day day care for him. And, I was unable to find a qualified tutor who wasn't a family member. (Der Deutscher's request, he feels more comfortable with someone outside the immediate family providing the schooling.)

So, for the next two to three months Grammy (my mother) will watch JBP in the mornings and he'll continue to go to day care in the afternoons. In late May, he'll start attending day camp at the YMCA. Then, in August he'll head to school.

The one upside of this is that by May of '07 JBP should be fluent in Spanish. "Hunh?" you say. We're going to try to get him into the Foreign Language Magnet School. It teaches Spanish. That takes care of my side of the family. Then he'll only have to learn German to take care of Der Deutscher's side of the family.

I'm glad JBP'll get the chance to start learning a foreign language so young, but I'm sad he won't get the homeschooling experience with its academic and life advantages.

Nimitz' Lady

Last Day

This is my last day, night, whatever, on the overnight shift. In 2.75 hours I'll be able to return to the land of the living.

In my three weeks on this shift I've been a zombie and gotten sick twice. What does that tell you about what lack of sleep can do to a body?

Nimitz' Lady

Hispanic Health

I ran across this article from the Associated Press this morning that hit a bit close to home for me. -- Nimitz' Lady

C-D-C detects higher death rate in Puerto Ricans

ATLANTA (AP) - Federal health officials say Puerto Ricans have a higher death rate linked to high blood pressure than blacks, whites or other Hispanic-Americans do.

It's one of the first analyses of specific U-S Hispanic populations.

Health officials say they don't know why and that more study is needed. One expert says it could be related to health care, diet or genetics.

Research into death certificate data shows Puerto Rican-Americans (side note: Puerto Ricans are Americans from birth, they carry American passports, etc. So, this designation as Puerto Rican-Americans confuses me some.) had 154 high blood pressure-related deaths per 100,000 people in 2002. (My paternal, aka Puerto Rican, grandfather died of a heart attack, as best I know, related to high blood pressure. So this really motivates me to eat better and get to the gym more often.)

The rate for Mexican-Americans was 134.5 and 82.5 for Cuban-Americans. The rate was 138 for blacks and 136 for whites.

Of all racial groups, blacks have the highest rate of high blood pressure. The other groups are roughly equal.

The report is in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Readers!

I have regular readers and I've got proof! I've been mentioned in someone else's blog as someone she reads daily. Daily! Wow. It's just made my day, and it's only 3:40 a.m.

Other than offline friends and family I know of only three others who've read me. Erin from Viva La Colombia, Howling Latina and now Kelley from Three Countries, One Family.

Being the neurotic writer type that I am... if there's anyone else out there please let me know!

Now, to honor Kelley for mentioning me I'll respond to the meme she mentioned me in. Enjoy. --Nimitz' Lady

Four Jobs I've Had
1. Fruit picker (age 4! Hey, I started most things young.)
2. Car Hop
3. Janitor
4. TV Journalist

Four Movies I Would Watch Over and Over
1. Un Paseo por Las Nubes (A Walk in the Clouds. Good in English, Incredible in Spanish)
2. Dirty Dancing
3. Rocky I and II
4. The Village

Four Places I Have Lived (Not particularly in this order. In fact most definitely NOT in this order.)
1. Portsmouth, VA
2. Berrien Springs, MI
3. Atoka, OK
4. San Diego, CA

Four TV Shows I Love To Watch (that are currently on air)
1. Commander in Chief
2. Stargate SG1
3. E.R.
4. Gray's Anatomy

Four Places I Have Been On Vacation (again, not in this order)
1. Toledo, Spain
2. Frankfurt, Germany
3. Los Angeles, CA/Tijuana, Mexico
4. Glenwood Springs, CO

Four Websites I Visit Daily (personal favorites, I actually check my entire links list every day)
1. Viva La Colombia
2. Do They Have Salsa In China?
3. Chookooloonks
4. HyeongWoo & Three Countries, One Family (neither updates daily so I figure I can put both of them on this list as one site)

Four Of My Favorite Foods
1. Anything Mexican and spicy!
2. Pad Thai Noodles with Tofu
3. Fudge
4. Anything Indian and spicy! (noticing a trend here?)

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
1. Bed (Hey, it's 4 a.m. by now and I've been at work since midnight!)
2. Anyplace where Spanish is the primary language
3. Torino, Italy (the Olympics, baby!)
4. Beijing, China

So, what about you?

Lost

Just three weeks shy of his sixth birthday, JBP has lost his first tooth. He is sooooo excited he could barely go to sleep last night.

To put this in perspective, about four (or five or six) months ago he watched a TV show with an episode about a little girl who loses her tooth, then literally loses it too and is worried about the Tooth Fairy not visiting her. Of course, it's TV, so everything got solved and the Tooth Fairy left her some change in exchange for her lost tooth.

Ever since then JBP has talked about getting his gift from the Tooth Fairy.

Of course, just like with Santa, JBP is well aware the Tooth Fairy is really Mom and Dad, but that hasn't lessened his excitement one iota.

His tooth has been loose for about three weeks now. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever come out. I've been especially worried since the replacement tooth has already poked through, behind the baby tooth!

There's little doubt he's going to have braces at some point. But I keep praying for a reprieve.

The tooth came out while he was brushing his teeth last night, before going to bed. Perfect timing. It was so small we tucked into an envelope before sticking it under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy.

As I left for work just before midnight I replaced it with an envelope containing a dollar in change. I stuck the tooth in his baby book.

When I was getting the change envelope ready, I remarked to Der Deutscher that given inflation we should give JBP a dollar instead of 50 cents. 50 cents is what I got when I was his age and we won't discuss just how long ago that was!

Nimitz' Lady

P.S. Sorry if I rambled a bit. I'm trying to stay coherent but I've also been awake since 1:00 p.m. yesterday and it's currently almost 6 a.m.! And I've got a good six more hours before I can lay my head down to sleep.

Olympic Dreams

In another recent post on another blog I like to occasionally check on... the author writes about how her Olympic dreams have changed since having kids.

Namely, she used to day dream about *her winning an Olympic medal. Now she dreams about her *kids winning an Olympic medal.

Can't say that's happened to me. I still watch the games and dream about suddenly finding myself forced into an Olympic sport and succeeding beyong my wildest dreams. Pretty much the same dream I've had every two years since the mid-'80s when I first started watching the Olympics.

Besides, I don't need to dream Olympic greatness for my son. JBP's got that taken care of all by his lonesome.

Two years ago, during the Summer Games in Athens, we were watching the end of the Marathon when JBP started recreating the race in our living room, and bedroom, and bathroom, and kitchen.

This year, it's snowboarding, bobsledding and speedskating that have caught his attention. The last couple of days he's been pulling his Race Car wall stickers off the walls of his bedroom, putting both feet on the sticky side of one sticker and using it as his "snowboard". I've had to fight to keep him from "snowboarding" down the stairs on the danged stickers!

He likes the skiing stuff well enough and will put up with hockey, curling and figure skating. But it's the snowboarding in particular that he asks for every time I turn the TV on to the Olympics.

He's so into the Games he's actually started fussing and crying about having to go to bed before the broadcast is over for the night. He's also already promised I can have his gold medal when he wins it.

Nimitz' Lady

Birthday Parties

A recent post on a blog I read regularly got me to thinking about kid birthday parties.

Ok, given the topic was already on my mind with JBP's big sixth birthday just around the corner next month.

In her post Vindauga makes a good point about kids birthday parties being waaaay overblown these days. In theory I agree. She's even come up with a good compromise with her kids, so only one of the three gets a "real" party each year, cycling through the kids over the years.

Only problem, I've only got one, very social, kid. He' s been "planning" this coming birthday party since about two hours after the last one ended.

This year, JBP has decided he wants a Basketball Party at the YMCA. This means he has to limit the number of kids to just 10. Not a problem in the sense that's the number that usually ends up showing up. A problem in the sense that we have about a 40% attendance to invitation ratio. Raising the question, how many to invite.

Oh well, after work I'll be heading to the Y to plunk down my $85 to reserve the party. And I'll be buying all the little favors, etc, that make modern kids birthday parties such a pain in the a*&. If I didn't my poor little socialite of a son would be devestated and I just couldn't handle that.

Not on his birthday.

Nimitz' Lady

Book Dreams

It's been awhile since I've done this, so here's my latest list of books I wish to (or have) read. As always, I haven't read most of them so I take no responsibility for their quality. They just look interesting to me based on what I've read about them. --Nimitz' Lady
-------------------
"What Do Lutherans Believe" by Walter Snyder

"Dr. Bessie: The Life Story and Romance of a Pioneer Lady Doctor on Our Western and the Canadian Frontier " by Bessie Lee (Efner) Rehwinkel and her husband, the Rev. Dr. Alfred M. Rehwinkel

"e." by Matt Beaumont

***"The Dance of Time" by Eric Flint & David Drake

"Engaging the Enemy" by Elizabeth Moon (March 2006)

"1634: The Ram Rebellion" by Eric Flint (April 25, 2006)

"In Fury Born" by David Weber (April 2006)

"Girl Meets God" by Lauren F. Winner

"Real Sex" by Lauren F. Winner

"All Your Worth : The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan" by Elizabeth Warren

"The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke" by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi

"Are You in the Mood?" by Stephanie Lehmann

"Call Me Madame President" by Sue Pyatt

"It's a Boy" by Andrea Buchanan

"God's Secretaries : The Making of the King James Bible" by Adam Nicolson

*** I've actually read this one.

Pooped

Hey, I've complained about being tired for so long I figured I'd better find a new way to say it.

Exhausted, fatigued, weary, all in, depleted, sapped, enervated, deblitated, bushed, dead-beat, done in, played out, ready to drop, fagged, dog tired, spent, tuckered out, washed out, worn out, prostrated, bedraggled, haggard... I could keep going here, but I think you get the idea.

Anyway, this is just a giant way to apologize for the lack of posts. And to those who signed up for e-mails alerting you to recent posts, I apologize as well. Even when I could remember what I wanted to say long enough to get the computer turned on and warmed up I couldn't remember to hit the *other website to send the alerts.

Hopefully things will improve next week when I'm back on a day shift. Or a night shift. Still trying to figure out the day care issues. We'll see.

Nimitz' Lady

Pride & Falls

Everyone's acting so disappointed by Team USA's performance in Torino. Before the Games began you could often catch commercials touting this as America's Strongest Team Ever, so on and so forth.

We all remember the old saw, pride goeth before a fall.


Well Team USA has more than it's share of falls this Olympics. Along with disqualifications and just plain under-performances.

While U.S. athletes have, at last count, a total of eight medals, five of them gold, that doesn't seem to be enough for the public.

Maybe if we spent more time concentrating on stories about athletes who've overcome the odds just to get to the Olympics, athletes who celebrate simply competing, etc, we could get back to the reason for the season.


Promoting peace through sports and celebrating success (of any source) against the odds. Or not.

Nimitz' Lady

Budweiser

No, not the beer, the Clydesdales.

Tonight I saw the cutest new commercial featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales.

A colt wants to pull the wagon like his sire. He walks into the rigging and starts slowly walking forward, pulling with all his might.

Then a different angle shot and you see two adult clydesdales slowly pushing it forward from behind.

The camera then cuts to a shot of the stablemaster and his dog sitting there watching. The stablemaster says, "I won't tell if you don't."

It just really tugged at my mother's heartstrings.

Nimitz' Lady

Too Tired

Sorry I haven't posted much in the last few days. I'm just too tired to think of anything interesting to say.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a dozen fascinating things have happened to me in that time. I just can't remember them.

On the switching shifts front things aren't looking good for me finding a dayside care situation for JBP.

Of the two ladies at church who are certified teachers homeschooling their kids one has gone back to work at the local church school and the other can't do it. She's been following her husband to jobs out of state for three and four weeks at a time. Wouldn't be very useful to someone who needs full-time care.

Unless I can pull something out of my nether regions soon it looks like I'll be back on the evening shift in a couple of weeks.

On the basketball front, Der Deutscher and I have decided to bite the bullet and head back to Ames for Senior Night. We just couldn't be not be there for Brittany's last home game. It's bad enough we'll have to miss the tournament this year.

Nimitz' Lady

Replay

I got a pleasant surprise at work this morning.

I've been mourning the fact I can't watch all the Olympic coverage in the evenings, because I have to get some sleep at some point in the day.

Well, this morning I rediscovered a long forgotten fact, NBC re-airs, in its entirety, it's Prime Time coverage during the overnight hours.

So, I get to see all the Olympic action I missed while snoozing. Yeah me!

Now, if only I could just avoid those danged AP News Alerts letting me know who's won what hours before the coverage airs. Flippin' time difference!

Nimitz' Lady

America-centric

As I've watched the Olympics over the years, I've come more and more with each Games to agree with Der Deutscher about U.S. coverage. It's very America-centric.

Meaning, NBC will concentrate on the performance of American athletes and ignore all other stories, no matter how good.

Case in point, last night we were watching the 5000m speedskating finals. In the third to last match-up (they can only run two guys at a time, so they just go by who has the fastest time to determine the winners) the American skater posted the best time.

Great story, former inline skater who saw a former colleague who'd switched to speedskating medal in Salt Lake City and thus decided to give speedskating a try himself.

But not the only great story.

In the last match-up came an Italian skater with a chance to win Italy's first medal, of any color, in long distance speedskating.

Halfway through the race it was obvious the American had locked in the Gold Medal. The only question left, would Frabris, the Italian, medal too? He did, grabbing the Bronze and celebrating like it was Gold.

Unfortunately, we never got to see any of his celebrations. The second he crossed the finish line the cameras switched to a sportscaster standing with the American medalist for an interview.

Not that I didn't want to hear what he had to say but I'd also have liked to see (and maybe even hear from) the Italian skater too. His celebration of a Bronze medal is what the Olympics is really all about, IMHO.

America-centric.

Nimitz' Lady

Bored

I'm bored. With a capital B.

I've been done with my newscast since before noon. I've now had time to re-write one piddly-dink little 25 second voice/over (aka VO) about five times now. And my show isn't for another hour.

Calgon, take me away! (I just dated myself, didn't I?)

Nimtz' Lady

Ups and Downs

This has certainly been a weekend full of ups and downs.

Down: I mis-remembered the dates for the KSU vs ISU women's basketball game. Basically, I thought it was next weekend when it was actually this weekend. Luckily Der Deutscher had the dates right, so we didn't miss the game. But since I mis-remembered I didn't request the press passes in time. So, no seats on the baseline, no great close-up pictures and no video.

Up: Great game! We (Cyclones) were down by eight points at the half, came back after half-time, took the lead and stormed our way to victory. As Der Deutscher says, "un-necessarily interesting".

Down: This was our last game of the season (that my family will see in person) and thus the last time we'll get to meet and greet our adopted player, Brittany Wilkins, #51. This is her senior year. It was a very sad parting after the game.

Up: After four years of following Brittany's career we finally got a picture of the entire family with her and a hug each. I promise to post the picture later, after Der Deutscher gets it downloaded off his camera.

Down: Brittany asked us if we'd be able to make Senior Night (the team's last home game of the regular season, her last game at Hilton Coliseum, etc) and we had to tell her no. Of course, ever since then my mind's been working on ways to get us there. But so far I haven't found any feasible solutions.

Up: I was able to get up early enough Sabbath to bake cookies for the team and they seemed to appreciate them. Abby and Amanda insisted on giving me hugs in exchange. (Wow, after four years of following the team on the road, I finally get my first hugs - three in one afternoon. Der Deutscher, the rat, rode my cookie-coattails to a hug from Amanda too!)

Down: I specifically made those cookies for Brittany's last game (with us to watch) and I don't think she got any. She rode home with her father and roomate, rather than on the bus with the team.)

Up: The Olympics are on and JBP is just as fascinated with them as I am. His first words this morning to me were, "Mommy, are the Olympics on?"

Down: I had to work today, due to our efforts to win viewers during the Olympics. We're an NBC affiliate.

Up: I only have to produce the 5pm and I had it basically finished by 11:30 am. Hey, it's not like there's much "news" happening in the midwest on the weekend.

Down: I still have to stay and booth the 5pm newscast. Then I have to be back at midnight to begin my regular Monday shift.

Up: The U.S. has already won at least one gold medal (actually two, but the second one hasn't aired yet on NBC so I'm embargoed from telling you. You'll have to go look it up yourself.) in speedskating.

Down: Michelle Kwan has called it quits after suffering a second groin pull during yesterday's practice session. This was supposed to be her last Olympics. I'm pulling for her to return in 2010. Hey, 28 is NOT old! I don't care what those sportscasters keep saying.

That's my rollercoaster weekend. How was yours?

Nimitz' Lady

Wow

I just noticed I've posted 250 times (this is 251) since I started blogging last August.

Maybe this means I've actually got something to say. Hard as that may be to believe.

Or maybe it's just, to sorta quote the Bard, a lot of of wind and fury, signifying nothing.

Nimitz' Lady

Ice Cold

Der Deutscher and I took JBP to Cold Stone Creamery for some yummy ice cream for dessert this evening.

After eating about half of his serving of mint ice cream with marshmallows mixed in, JBP decided he was done because he was too cold. He then proceeded to climb into my lap and curl up into a ball.

True proof this child really is mine (as if there were ever any doubts).

The one thing I've been teased for (by everyone!) over the years is that it can be 110 degrees out and if I eat a single scoop of ice cream, I'm freezing.

Nimitz' Lady

C-C-C-Cold!

The thing I hate most about this new shift is just when I get nice and comfy warm in bed and start to drift off to sleep... the danged alarm goes off and it's time to drag my butt out of the nice warm bedroom into a frigid (to me) living room to get dressed and head off to work.

How's that for a run on sentence? What can I say? I'm too cold to type periods!

Nimitz' Lady

What to do

Well, after talking and then talking some more about this new schedule shift Der Deutscher and I have decided we'll tell my boss we'd rather I stay on the day shift, but it'll completely depend on whether we can get child care arranged.

If I can't find an affordable situation for JBP by the end of the month, I'll have to go back to the night shift. The concept of that just makes me sick to my stomach.

I'll just have to console myself with the fact I'm looking for another job sompelace else and this stint on the night shift should be temporary.

Although Der Deutscher reminded me, I may not find anything else. Like I really needed that. Men!

Nimitz' Lady

Racism

Unless you're a visibly (or audibly) obvious minority in this country you don't get obvious examples of racism on a daily basis. For the most part racist actions are very subtle and slip under the radar.

This evening, I witnessed about as blatant an act of racism as I've seen in a long time.

We were leaving Sam's Club. At the exit they always check your receipt. They're supposed to compare what it says to what's in the cart. They rarely, if ever, even look in the cart.

This time, we were right behind a white, possibly hispanic, woman and her african american consort. They had two, stacked to the rafters flatbed carts. The checker at the exit proceeded to physically hand count every single item in the carts.

Der Deutscher says that's what they're actually supposed to do. But I can't say that I've ever before seen them do it.

Then, we, a white (appearing) couple, exit next. The exit checker gave JBP a smiley face on his hand then checked off our receipt. She never even looked at our cart.

Again, Der Deutscher said it was obvious we only had two items in our cart. I say she couldn't know that, she never looked at our cart. If she even peeked, she had no way to know we had nothing hidden underneath the giant bag of dog food because, again, she never looked.

Racism. Alive and Well right in here in the middle of the United States of America.

Nimitz' Lady

E-mail Troubles

Ever since the new company took over my TV station I've had no access to my work e-mail account.

This has created all sorts of problems in my doing my job. Especially since I'm not around during the day to pester the IT guy into getting it fixed.

This morning I came in to find a note taped to my computer with instructions for how to access my work e-mail through a jury rigged set-up. Ok. I can deal with that.

But it also included some snide comments about all the pictures I have in my profile and how I need to do a better job keeping it cleaned out. This, after I've e-mailed this guy before that when I erase pictures from my profile they come right back the next time I log on. NOT what I needed to deal with at 12:00 a.m.!

I tried to keep my true feelings out of my response to him and just remind him that I'd previously complained about this problem.

Then, I check my backlog of e-mails and find a note from my boss dated last week that I'll be staying late to get the noon show started on Monday, Feb. 13th. No one ever asked me if I could or wanted to. (Normally, I'm among the first to offer to help.)

By then I was fuming so hard I simply refused to respond to it. I might get myself fired. All in all, not the best of mornings.

Nimitz' Lady

More Changes

Ok, so just as I'm starting, mind you just starting, to settle into the new schedule the boss asks me to call him sometime today when I'm not sleeping.

When I get ahold of him, he tells me one of the other producers has had a family situation come up that has necessitated her requesting to work the morning shift.

Now, they want to move me to the 6pm newscast (an 8:30am to 6:30pm shift). He's trying to be flexible and has offered to let me work it as a swing shift instead, 1:30pm to 9:30pm, and act as a manager for the 10pm after I'm done with the 6pm. He actually prefers that.

The problem is, the one thing I liked about the morning shift was being able to be with my husband in the morning, cook supper for my family and be there to eat it with them in the evening. I've literally been reveling in that this last week or so.

I feel like I'm finally part of a family again, not just a boarder/babysitter who occasionally sleeps with her landlord.

If I say I want to do the standard 8:30 to 6:30 shift, he'll accept that. He already knows I'm only temporary anyway. As soon as I find something else, I'm out of there.

But, the standard shift would involve new childcare issues for JBP. I WILL NOT put him into school at this age and finding a day care that will take him all day is not only next to impossible it's financially unfeasible at this time. There are a couple ladies at church who are certified elementary teachers who are homeschooling their own children. I'm going to check with them and see if one will add JBP to their classes for the same price I've been paying for daycare.

I have until the end of February to figure out how to work this. Hopefully I can find a way to preserve my evenings with my family. They've suddenly become all important to me. In the meantime, I guess I'll just wear my knees out praying God will lead me to a better job. Maybe even better pay? =)

Nimitz' Lady

Wet Morning

Nothing like waking up just to have your cat wet all over you! In your bed!

Sabbath morning, Nimitz had been trying to yowl me awake for an hour or so. It wasn't working 'cause I didn't get to sleep until after 2 a.m. (My body hasn't figured out when it's supposed to sleep but it has figured out when it isn't supposed to sleep. Danged body!)

I'm not sure if Nimitz was mad at me because I hadn't gotten up to feed him yet, if he'd been yowling because he needed to go outside and go potty (for which he has a litter box in the basement!) or if he was just mad at us because Chicken Cat has been spending so much time cuddling up to us and sleeping in the big bed with us.

Usually she sleeps and cuddles my mom (Grammy). But, with Grammy out of the country, Chicken Cat has transferred her affections to Der Deutscher and I.

Anyway, once JBP alerted me to what Nimitz was up to (I hadn't noticed, thank goodness, due to the thick blanket between me and his wet.) I tossed him off the bed, then Der Deutscher and I chased him down, cornered him and banished him to the outdoors for two days.

Every time we open the door for one of the other animals he tries to get in. Then glares at us in confusion when we won't let him in.

What gets me is this is my perfect little boy. Out of all the males, kids and animals in this house Nimitz is the one I can count on to always do the correct thing. To be my good boy. To never mess up.

So what does he do? He messes up big time! I just don't get it.

Nimitz' Lady

Free Books

Due to free tickets from my station, Der Deutscher, JBP and I have been attending the local college's women's basketball games.

Sooner or later this necessitates the use of the public restroom at the arena. There I discovered an internet treasure.

Do I have you hooked yet?

See, it's this whole program where you leave books in public places for people to pick up, read and pass on. The idea is books want to be free!

All you have to do is go to Book Crossings on the internet, register your book, label it and then "release" it somewhere public.

If you find one of these books you can leave it for the next person, read it and release it or keep it. This is much the way original libraries were designed, until money got involved.

The site has 478,000 members worldwide with more than 2.7 million books registered. Imagine all those books just floating around, waiting to be found and read?

I think that's just soooooo cool. I can't wait to start releasing books of my own, all over the place. I've already become a member. Now I just need to collect some of my excess books at home, and Lord knows I've got plenty of those!, and register and rlease them. I can't wait.

Nimitz' Lady

Small Blessings

In an effort not to get too depressed by my lack of sleep and general dissatisfaction with this new shift (that was a mouthful, good thing I'm typing it and not saying it! =) I've decided to write down all the good things about it.

1) More family time. I've probably quadrupled the amount of time I get to spend with Der Deutscher and JBP. And, with my mother (Grammy) out of town I'm seeing even more of them. It's been idyllic, or at least would be if I could wake up completely to enjoy it.

2) Daycare. This shift lets me keep JBP in his same daycare under his same hours. This wouldn't have been the case if I'd been shifted to a day shift.

3) No Sabbath work. For me Sabbath is sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. This is my holy day, a day of rest. I don't think it was wrong to work on Friday nights. I categorize my work as public service. Just one example, we're in the middle of tornado alley and can get tornadoes at any time of day, any time of the year with little to no warning. So, someone needs to always be on shift. I just didn't enjoy being the one who had to work Friday nights. And now I don't have to.

4) Less gas consumption. Since I don't get a meal hour on this shift (thus it's only an eight hour shift instead of the industry standard nine hour shift) I'm not driving home to eat everyday. That's cut my fuel consumption nearly in half.

5) I'm not bored. As a manager there just wasn't enough for me to do. We had too many managers for the amount of managerial work. That's not the case in producing a two hour morning newscast.

6) No more taping. I don't have to worry about trying to remember when to tape the TV shows I like to watch and then finding the time to watch them when JBP's not around/awake. Now I can pretty much watch my TV shows when they actually air.

7) Worship time. With the new schedule I've actually managed to find a reliable time for a daily, morning worship. This is something I've struggled with since my baptism. With my old schedule I'd wake up when JBP came in to wake me up. Then I'd spend all morning with him, leaving no time for worship. And by the time I got home from work I went straight to bed. Again, no time for worship. Now I've got the time.

There you have it, the small blessings I've found in the morning shift.

Nimitz' Lady

Tired and Getting Sick

Well I'm three days into my first week on the graveyard shift. The show's going well enough, I suppose. Although I can't really work up much enthusiasm for it.

I, however, am not doing so well. I'm exhausted to the bone. As in if I sit still for five minutes I start falling alseep.

It wouldn't be so bad if I could go to bed as soon as I got home from work. But, I have to stay awake with JBP until he goes to daycare at 12:30pm.

I could move him to morning daycare but then I would have fewer total hours for sleep. So, I'm hoping to avoid that. I'm hoping once I get fully adjusted to the new sleep schedule I'll be able to handle things better.

In the meantime, I think I'm getting a cold. I was sneezing up a storm this morning and have a stuffed up nose. Hopefully that's as far as it'll go. But if the first part of this winter is any evidence I'm in for a lot worse.

Nimitz' Lady

Monkey Girl

Last night we took JBP to a local college women's basketball game (no Cyclones). At one point he started sliding down the bannister next to our seats.

I made the comment, "Be careful, I'd like grandchildren some day!"

A few minutes later JBP came to me and said, "I'm going to adopt a little girl and name her Tasha."

A minute or so later he added, "I'm going adopt a black one," meaning a black baby.

Then, as he was wrapping himself in pretzels around the bannister he said, "And when Tasha starts climbing around I'll call her Monkey Girl cause she'll be acting like a monkey."

I then had to explain to him that you never, ever refer to a black (african american, negro, colored, whatever description is currently politically correct) as a 'monkey' for any reason.

He still didn't really get it but promised me he wouldn't say it anyway. He's such a good boy.

I mean really, how do you explain centuries of prejudice and abuse to a 5 year old?

Nimitz' Lady