Sorry for the gap

I was away in Baltimore most of last week, attending a trade show. I ran into some terrific people out there, and I'd like to give a shout out to their products.

First of all, there was Green Eggs and Hammocks, home of the X-Chair. I have one now (trade show floor model) sitting on my screen porch, looking great and taking up very little room. It's also just about the most comfortable chair I own.

Next, I bring you the simple, but terrifically fun harmonica necklace. I gave one to my daughter and a few neighborhood kids, and they were an instant hit. Such a simple thing, but so much fun.

The weather here is just gorgeous, and my kids were out all weekend soaking it up, with me panting after them and trying to keep up. Yes, they keep me young, but they also suck every ounce of energy from my body, I swear! I'm heading outside now to chase my three year old and watch him eat a popsicle. It beats sitting in a cubile, let me tell you.

And now I'll leave you with a little diversion called Feed the Head. It's a lot of fun, and touching different parts can make all kinds of weird things happen. Be sure and knock on the forehead, then feed the dots through the mouth. OK, so it's bizarre. But fun, I promise.

Later gators....

I feel linky today

So we'll start off with a few links to get you to smile.

Nora, the piano playing cat (scroll to the bottom for the link).

The Funeral, starring Carol Burnett and Robin Williams. Be sure and watch all the way to the end - they repeat the scene, but this time Robin goes off-script and throws in some ad-libs. Genius. Just genius.

It's gorgeous outside, another pretty day in a string of them. I'm out on my screen porch smelling the mulch and all is right with the world.

This time last year, I was a full-time worker drone in a very large company - a senior level administrative professional, supporting a handful of very overworked people with stress levels that can only be described as "nuclear". Oh how I miss those days.....not.

Tomorrow is Administrative Professionals Day, and if you happen to be one, I salute you. If you happen to be supported by one, get out there and do something nice for them, beyond the flowers and the card. It's not an easy job, and Administrative Assistants are usually taken for granted (until they go on vacation, anyway).

I'm going to sit here working in my new corner office (a.k.a. "screen porch) and enjoy life!

Happy beautiful Friday

We finally got over our N'oreaster and it's seventy degrees outside. Dare I hope that spring has finally come? I was joking around with my neighbor on Monday as we stood in the SNOW at the bus stop - I told him I was going to dig the groundhog out from under his shed (he's had one there for a while now) and I was going to berate for falsely predicting an early spring. Not that I make a habit of berating small, feral animals (other than my children), but sometimes it just has to be done. Anyway, he's off the hook because it's a genuinely gorgeous day outside. To make it even better, I got my tax refund today.

Life is good for me.

On another note - life isn't so good for the parents, family and friends who will be attending the funerals of the Virginia Tech shooting victims over this next week. Please remember them in your thoughts and prayers, and if you can, make a donation to The Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund:

Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc.
University Development (0336)
902 Prices Fork Road
Blacksburg, VA 24061

Let's all hope for brighter days. And as always, Hug the ones you love. Today.

He rode the school bus alone today

He rode the school bus alone today, and I'm the one who put him there. I'm the one who carried him on, bewildered, forced him into the car-seat, kissed him and reassured him in vain and then watched his tear-streaked face through the window as the bus pulled away.

All my fault.

It's for the best, I know. He's getting the help he needs, I know. He loves riding the bus home from his classes, and has for a few weeks now, so I know he probably stopped crying less than two minutes down the road.

Still, I long for a simpler time. A hundred years ago, on a farm, there would have been no special classes. No standardized testing, no Rossetti Infant/Toddler Language Scale. Instead, he'd be biding his time doing the chores he was capable of doing, chasing farm animals and playing in the sunshine. When it came time for him to go to school, his teacher or me or his Dad would just shrug and say "he doesn't learn as fast as the others". We'd go on with our lives and he'd go on with his, and eventually, it would all even out. Some strange part of my mind chides me and tells me that if I'd just kept my mouth shut, he could be running and playing right now without a care in the world instead of riding a bus to the school where they try to make him speak more clearly and interact with others.

Foolish thoughts. It is what it is. In a little over two years, he has to start kindergarten. By then he needs to be able to communicate, to tell you his name and where he lives and how old he is. He needs to understand eventually that letters make words and words tell stories and stories can change your life. Right now, he lives in his big bubble, and he peeks his head out every now and then to sing his ABC's with no context, to repeat stories and mimic the funny voices I use when I tell them, or rattle off long strings of dialogue from his favorite movies.

In the summer, I can put him on the porch with a few cups half-filled with water, and he'll spend an hour or more pouring them into each other, fixated on the water as it flows and splashes, dipping his hands in it, putting his finger in the larger drops and pushing and smearing the water around, feeling it play between his toes as it runs down the table his cups are on. Its fascinating to watch him, as though he sees the water down to a molecular level that you and I are just too busy and impatient to grasp. At times like that, a psychologist would watch him and say he's showing an autistic behavior. I watch him and I think he's smarter than me. Smarter, more patient, and seeing the world in a way I'd love to experience, if only for five minutes. I wonder...does he look at me and wish the same?

He'll be home a little after noon. His face will light up when the bus pulls up in front of his house, and I'll run onto the bus and kiss his face while he impatiently wriggles to get out of the seat straps. Then he'll wrap his arms around my neck and all will be right in our world again. It'll just be him and me, without a care as we read and play and pour water and watch Blues Clues. I close my eyes, repeating over and over that he only needs to be strong till then, but the truth is, he's the strong one.

I'm the one who's hanging on.

The Random Element

I'm watching the news right now, as some of you are, and I know you're feeling what I feel. Anytime there's a horrible event like this, it eats part of your soul, particularly if you are a parent. If you are a parent of one of the students killed at Virginia Tech today, you'll feel like today took all of your soul. My heart goes out to each and every one of them, and to those who survived as well.

What happened today represents every parent's worst nightmare: the random element. Yes, we’re all afraid of child molesters and drug addicts and people with guns, but we can take steps to shield our children from that, to a degree. We make sure we don’t live near known child molesters. We warn our kids not to talk to or go anywhere with strangers. We tell them to stay away from people who use drugs or play with guns. We can’t keep them completely safe, but we can take steps, be proactive, go on the offensive and lessen the danger.

This gunman walked through the halls of a dormitory on a normal, run-of-the-mill Monday morning, and for reasons unyet determined, decided to create a hell on earth for a little while. Nothing could have prepared any of them for that. Nothing could have warned them. It was random, and unexpected, and utterly terrifying for me or any parent to contemplate.

The serial killer that’s standing behind you in line at the grocery store. The girl with the flat tire that you stopped to help, who has a drug habit and a concealed knife. The man who coaches your child’s soccer team before he goes home to download hours worth of sickening child pornography. You can’t know. You can’t predict. Random. And when they strike, people are not only left with a hole in their life that will never heal, they’re left with a lifetime of second guesses. If only I’d….what if I’d have….I should have….Why didn’t I….it's a tough burden to bear. Survivor's guilt, they call it, but really, survivors are victims, too. Whether they survived a hail of bullets or survive the police showing up at their door to tell them the awful news about their loved one, they are victims of this tragedy.

There will be much speculation in the days to come. Fingers will be pointed, motives will be reached and discarded and discussed with great fervor by those who find it hard to believe the random element was as random as it was.

Maybe because we don’t want to believe. Maybe because if things really can be that random, none of us are really safe. Including, and especially, our children.

Hug your kids today. Please.

Culinary Mayhem

Lord, how I love Paula Deen. I could listen to her talk all day long. I want to go to her restaurant and order two of just about everything on the menu. With a side of angioplasty, of course.

Check out this recipe. It's fried butter. Fried balls of butter and cream cheese. Does she wake in the middle of the night with dreams of this stuff? Be sure and serve these at your next dinner party, followed by a big plate of Fettucine Alfredo and then top off with this for dessert (NOTE: this should not be attempted if your house has less than 2.5 bathrooms).

Ye Gods.

Conversation with a six year old

Driving home from dance class last night....

Bella: Mom, how do you know the speed limit?
Me: There are signs on the road, honey. You just look for them.
Bella: What's the speed limit if you're just going around the block?
Me: It depends on the block. Ours is 25.
Bella: What if you're only going three houses away?
Me: Well, then you wouldn't have time to get up to 25.
Bella: What if you were driving across the street?
Me: Now that would be silly, wouldn't it? I could just walk across the street faster.
Bella: What if you lived across the street from a hospital and you had someone with a broken leg in the car and you had to drive there?
Me: Uh...well, I guess if it were a very busy street, like a highway...uh...I suppose I'd drive them, yeah.
Bella: And when you got to the hospital, what if they had a coffee cup and dropped it out of the car and it broke and they stepped on the broken parts and cut their foot and there was blood everywhere and they slipped in it and broke their other leg?
Me (shaking my head to clear it): Um, well, that would be bad. I guess we'd get a wheelchair.
Bella: And what if sharks smelled the blood and they came?
Me: Bella, sharks only live in the water.
Bella: What if the hospital was near a harbor like Baltimore? And what if a ship, a really big ship hit the dock and knocked the guy with a broken leg out of his wheelchair into the water and the sharks ate him!
Me: I have no idea where this conversation is going.
Bella: Mom, pay attention. We're talking about an emergency, here. You need to know how to be prepared.

Oy. My kid.

Saw this in the news today. Call me nuts, but isn't this stuff supposed to kill germs?

That's all for now, kiddos. Go hug somebody!

These dreams...

I had a dream last night that Rob and I were in the car driving too fast on a winding mountain road. Suddenly, the guard rail disappeared and we went flying off the side of the mountain falling, falling, falling to our certain death.

It seemed to take forever to fall, and I was trying to get Rob's attention, to tell him one last time that I loved him. I thought that was important. Unfortunately, Rob was too busy clutching the steering wheel and screaming his head off with his eyes bulging out in terror. It was very frustrating, and I woke up still mad at him for it.

He, of course, thinks I'm nuts. Go figure.

Welcome to the Hug of the Day

I'm going to do my best to update this every weekday. I'll share a link or two that I've found interesting (and occasionally a link or two that caused me to shoot Diet Coke out my nose), and if you're still awake, I'll remedy that with a few lines about my life and the bizarro universe around me.

So without any further ado.... here are today's links:

This girl needs a Hug.

Hug an owl!

And finally, a great big HUG to the researchers in the U.K. who may have found a cure for diabetes.

Thanks for reading. Now go hug somebody!