Ok, so my plans to post more often during break didn't exactly materialize. So sorry. See I have this problem. When presented with great stretches of empty time I feel compelled to find ways to fill it. So, if I have vacation time I end up being busier than I am during a normal week.
All that is to say, I've been busy, busy, busy.
I'm writing today from Ames, IA. Der Deutscher, JBP and I have made our annual trek to the Home of the Cyclones for some awesome basketball. The ladies won the annual Cyclone Classic tournament in handy style.
But what was supposed to be three games in three days turned out not to be for us. JBP got sick on day two and threw up an hour before game time. Of course, he really only had a mildly upset stomach and never would've thrown up if he hadn't pulled his fake coughing routine (which he pulls anytime he's not getting his way!). The coughing triggered the reflux reaction in the body.
We rushed JBP back to the hotel and popped him into bed, from which he managed to spend the next two hours complaining he couldn't sleep and would I pleeeeeaaaaassseee turn on the teeeee-veeeee. I refused. He eventually fell asleep about a half hour AFTER his normal bedtime. He was NOT that sick. Der Deutscher was furious.
On Sabbath we did get to see lots of old friends at the Ames SDA Church. They all oohed and aahed over how big JBP had grown. Many hadn't seen him since we moved away in 2001! And there were kids for him to play with and a potluck after church during which he could play. JBP was happy.
During the first game, JBP came up with a real doozy of a question. I wish the folks who come up with uniforms could've heard it. "Mama, why do we have to see the cheerleaders' belly buttons?" (his emphasis, not mine).
I could only respond, "I don't know." I mean, how do you condense thousands of years of treating women as chattel and sex objects into a quick, pithy answer that's understandable to a 6 year old who sees no difference between male, female, black, white, cardinal or purple?
Last night, before the game, Der Deutscher was flipping channels and came across a showing of Dances With Wolves. He left the TV there since we weren't going to be around more than another 20 or 30 minutes. It started just before the great buffalo hunts. JBP was fascinated and asked all sorts of questions. So, he had a real nice anthropology/history lesson this weekend.
Well, I need some breakfast and then we've got to pack and head home. Checkout's at 11! So I'll sign off wishing everyone a Happy New Year.
Here's hoping it's at least better than last year.
Nimitz' Lady
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Christmas Wishes
So, once again folks have been asking me that question I hate the most, What do you want for Christmas?
As I've said before, I always feel a bit selfish putting together a wish list, but then I feel selfish not giving folks an answer for an honest question.
So, here's an idea of what I'm oh, so longing for:
*charity donations
*soft, warm, fuzzy pyjamas
*house shoes/slippers
*flannel sheets, queen
*a bread machine
*PERSONAL TRAINING (to help me get back on the fitness track. I'm not doing so great on my own.)
*an elliptical machine or treadmill at home
*the latest cd from Toby Keith, Martina McBride or Carrie Underwood
*house cleaning
*sweaters/sweatshirts
I'm sure there's more stuff, but that's kind of the cream of the crop, so to type.
Hope that helps those who were wondering.
Merry Christmas all. Expect a few more, and more regular, posts once finals are completed this week.
Nimitz' Lady
As I've said before, I always feel a bit selfish putting together a wish list, but then I feel selfish not giving folks an answer for an honest question.
So, here's an idea of what I'm oh, so longing for:
*charity donations
*soft, warm, fuzzy pyjamas
*house shoes/slippers
*flannel sheets, queen
*a bread machine
*PERSONAL TRAINING (to help me get back on the fitness track. I'm not doing so great on my own.)
*an elliptical machine or treadmill at home
*the latest cd from Toby Keith, Martina McBride or Carrie Underwood
*house cleaning
*sweaters/sweatshirts
I'm sure there's more stuff, but that's kind of the cream of the crop, so to type.
Hope that helps those who were wondering.
Merry Christmas all. Expect a few more, and more regular, posts once finals are completed this week.
Nimitz' Lady
Another View
Last night Der Deutscher and I attended the staff Christmas party for my school. I'd heard a few stories, so I was not intellectually surprised by what I saw.
However, emotionally was a whole 'nother story.
Growing up you always think of your teachers as sober, responsible, did I say sober?, adults!
Last night what I saw was a gathering of humans who'd apparently never matured past adolscence. From the fuss made over one secretary's ability to free jello shots from their containers to the constant swiping of alcoholic white elephant gifts during the gift exchange, I couldn't really see any difference between this batch of teachers and the kids they're supposed to guide to adulthood.
Oh, and did I mention one teacher brought as his white elephant gift a contraption his grandfather had that's used to light farts on fire?
Children teaching children!
Don't get me wrong, adolescent hijinks weren't the only things going on at the party. They're just what stuck in my head. We didn't get home until after midnight and had a lot of fun. What can I say, there's still a bit of adolescent left in Der Deutscher and I as well.
Nimitz' Lady
However, emotionally was a whole 'nother story.
Growing up you always think of your teachers as sober, responsible, did I say sober?, adults!
Last night what I saw was a gathering of humans who'd apparently never matured past adolscence. From the fuss made over one secretary's ability to free jello shots from their containers to the constant swiping of alcoholic white elephant gifts during the gift exchange, I couldn't really see any difference between this batch of teachers and the kids they're supposed to guide to adulthood.
Oh, and did I mention one teacher brought as his white elephant gift a contraption his grandfather had that's used to light farts on fire?
Children teaching children!
Don't get me wrong, adolescent hijinks weren't the only things going on at the party. They're just what stuck in my head. We didn't get home until after midnight and had a lot of fun. What can I say, there's still a bit of adolescent left in Der Deutscher and I as well.
Nimitz' Lady
Sunday, December 10, 2006
I want...
JBP just told his dad he wants and XBox 360. He doesn't even know what it is!
Der Deutscher asked me if it would be wrong to compare our son to Jessica Simpson. "I totally don't know what that is, but I want it!"
Nimitz' Lady
Der Deutscher asked me if it would be wrong to compare our son to Jessica Simpson. "I totally don't know what that is, but I want it!"
Nimitz' Lady
One Nation, Under God
Every Friday, my school district says the Pledge of Allegiance. I choose to say the Pledge as it was originally written, without the words "Under God".
I hold very strong Separation of Church and State beliefs. And saying the Pledge the way the Knights of Columbus changed it in the 50s violates many of them. So, rather than not say it at all, I say it the way it was originally intended.
This last Friday, JBP came home with a sheet that had the Pledge written out on it. He's also obviously been learning it in his class as he can now recite the entire Pledge, ad nauseum, without referring to the sheet.
At that point I felt I needed to sit down with him and try to explain WHY I choose not to say two little words in the Pledge. I explained it was a personally choice and there's nothing wrong with saying the words, Under God. In fact there are some good reasons a person might choose to do so. But, my personal beliefs preclude my doing so. Now, he'll have to make his own choice.
I'm not sure what he'll decide. Or if what he decides will be his permanent choice. (Yes, you grammarians out there, I know I just wrote in a fragment. It's called being conversational.) But, I am now sure he'll at least be aware of making the choice, rather than just blindly repeating what others teach him.
Nimitz' Lady
P.S. JBP has been "reading" over my shoulder as I write this (that means he's been making me read it to him as I write) and says he'll be saying it my way. We'll see if that decision holds up to peer pressure.
I hold very strong Separation of Church and State beliefs. And saying the Pledge the way the Knights of Columbus changed it in the 50s violates many of them. So, rather than not say it at all, I say it the way it was originally intended.
This last Friday, JBP came home with a sheet that had the Pledge written out on it. He's also obviously been learning it in his class as he can now recite the entire Pledge, ad nauseum, without referring to the sheet.
At that point I felt I needed to sit down with him and try to explain WHY I choose not to say two little words in the Pledge. I explained it was a personally choice and there's nothing wrong with saying the words, Under God. In fact there are some good reasons a person might choose to do so. But, my personal beliefs preclude my doing so. Now, he'll have to make his own choice.
I'm not sure what he'll decide. Or if what he decides will be his permanent choice. (Yes, you grammarians out there, I know I just wrote in a fragment. It's called being conversational.) But, I am now sure he'll at least be aware of making the choice, rather than just blindly repeating what others teach him.
Nimitz' Lady
P.S. JBP has been "reading" over my shoulder as I write this (that means he's been making me read it to him as I write) and says he'll be saying it my way. We'll see if that decision holds up to peer pressure.
And the cute thing is, Dennis doesn't even know he's being funny
One of my favorite cartoons, and my mother's too for that matter, is a Dennis the Menace cartoon. Dennis parents are talking about one of the situations he's just gotten himself into and one says to the other, "And the cute thing is, Dennis doesn't even know he's being funny!" Of course, the other part of the cartoon is Dennis hiding just around the corner covering his mouth with his hand, apparently giggling.
This is soooooo JBP. Today, while we were cleaning house, even as JBP was saying he couldn't wait for summer so there wouldn't be any school, he was typing up, again and again, words from his recent spelling lists.
At this point, I think the whole I-don't-like-school-thing has just gotten to be a habit with him. Because everytime I turn around he's doing something school-work related, mostly even when it's NOT required. Personally, I think he doth protest too much.
Nimitz' Lady
This is soooooo JBP. Today, while we were cleaning house, even as JBP was saying he couldn't wait for summer so there wouldn't be any school, he was typing up, again and again, words from his recent spelling lists.
At this point, I think the whole I-don't-like-school-thing has just gotten to be a habit with him. Because everytime I turn around he's doing something school-work related, mostly even when it's NOT required. Personally, I think he doth protest too much.
Nimitz' Lady
If it's not the cats, it's the kid
Long title for a simple scenario. We've been dealing with what seemed like a peeing war between our two cats. Turns out it was just a case of Nimitz getting old and not being able to hold his bladder through the night. And Samantha felt that she had to keep up with the "territory marking" Nimitz was doing.
The addition of a second litter box in the upstairs bathroom, just steps from our bed, has apparently solved that problem.
So, imagine my surprise when I got up in the middle of the night one night this week and found my pyjamas soaked with urine.
JBP had crawled into bed with us about a half hour earlier. His little hands and feet were like blocks of ice, so I'm assuming that's what woke him up. Our policy is he can stay with us for up to 45 minutes, then it's back to his own bed. Otherwise he'd spend all night, every night in our bed and we'd be black and blue from all his thrashing around.
So, I got up to put him back in his own bed. But, when I slipped an arm under his knees to pick him up I discovered he was soaking wet. In the short time he'd been huddled up next to me he'd managed to wet the bed.
So, we stripped him and put him back to bed in his clean, dry bed. Then cleaned up our bed, as best as possible. Der Deutscher spent the rest of the night on the couch and I spent the rest of the night clinging to the opposite side of our bed trying to avoid the wet spot, not covered with a bath towel.
If it's not the cats, it's the kid!
Nimitz' Lady
The addition of a second litter box in the upstairs bathroom, just steps from our bed, has apparently solved that problem.
So, imagine my surprise when I got up in the middle of the night one night this week and found my pyjamas soaked with urine.
JBP had crawled into bed with us about a half hour earlier. His little hands and feet were like blocks of ice, so I'm assuming that's what woke him up. Our policy is he can stay with us for up to 45 minutes, then it's back to his own bed. Otherwise he'd spend all night, every night in our bed and we'd be black and blue from all his thrashing around.
So, I got up to put him back in his own bed. But, when I slipped an arm under his knees to pick him up I discovered he was soaking wet. In the short time he'd been huddled up next to me he'd managed to wet the bed.
So, we stripped him and put him back to bed in his clean, dry bed. Then cleaned up our bed, as best as possible. Der Deutscher spent the rest of the night on the couch and I spent the rest of the night clinging to the opposite side of our bed trying to avoid the wet spot, not covered with a bath towel.
If it's not the cats, it's the kid!
Nimitz' Lady
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