Topic : Is This Normal Social Discussion

Thanks Neecie for alerting us. I'm sure those of us who remember Donna think of her fondly.

 

Donna - Hope you're doing well - with even more happiness in store for you and yours.

 

Heck, I wish that for everyone. ;-)

I heartily approve! Your girls already love Ron and think of him as their Dad, I'll bet.

 

If they haven't seen the "donor" for two years, they probably have forgotten him anyway. I say GO FOR IT!

 

and thanks for the invite. I would certainly try to be there, even though I'm not a camper.

 

HITYL? well, how can I when I'm not here much any more??? My bad! kak

Trace - Glad you had a good time on your trip. I am waiting to hear all about it along with the rest of our gang.

 

Ami - Thank you for the CD. I've been listening to it off and on since it arrived in the mail. I am so happy for you and John. I know he makes you feel so proud. And he should be proud of himself not only for his musical abilities but for his good grades. That takes a lot of discipline. Wish I had had that in my high school days... :-}

 

Loretta - Thanks for the "holler" I know you'll have lots of fun this summer with your girls. I'm looking forward to meeting you and everyone else who can make it to JP's shindig.

 

JP - Miss your bluebird. I almost didn't know who JP621 was, but figured it out as soon as I read about your trip adventures. Did you ever find out what the alarm was? I was in Denver all by myself about 16 years ago, in a hotel room - on the 15th floor - when the fire alarm went off in the early morning hours. Scared me half to death. We never did evacuate. I just watched from my peephole while a couple of guys who seemed to know what they were doing were going up and down the hallway trying to reassure everyone that we were all safe.

 

Neecie - Don't worry about the thank you - I just didn't know if the hats made it to your house. I found the funkiest ones I could at my Goodwill store. I had priced new ones but I was too cheap - especially when this was just a wild idea - I didn't think you really needed any hats from me. They'll be okay for Halloween. :- ]

 

Kelly - Glad that you are mostly recovered from your health scare. UTIs are bad enough but to have to suffer with a misdiagnosis, then the ER. Plus having depression too. Yikes! Wish I was closer. I would have come over and been your nurse, but I would be better at babysitting Stephanie. Sorry to hear that you and Steph will have to tough it out without Mark for 6 months when he has his overseas opportunity. Too bad we can't all meet at your place. ;-]

 

Sorry if I missed anyone. I'll be tied up with the Board fight but will try to keep you all informed as we go along. I'd appreciate any advice. I know Ami will have lots of information with which to arm myself! She's the hardest and toughest fighter I know. :-D

 

 

First I just want to say I'm glad you are enjoying the cd. I think John was right proud that I was sending it to everyone. He helped me get them ready and went to the post office with me etc. We were talking that sending one to Australia and one to Canada and then the rest all over the country here...well he could now say he was 'world renowned' LOL. =D

 

Well really first I want to say YIPEE!! it is so good to see you! =)

 

Oh you really do know me don't you?! hehe

 

So they got unnerved when you asked questions huh? Hmmm....oh yes I have had my share of organizations that don't like it when you ask questions, take notes and make recommendations, suggestions, etc. Sometimes it is Good Ole Boy clubs and sometimes it is incompetance and insecurity, and sometimes it is just assholishness. What ever the cause it bites as you know.

 

There is something I truly despise about any organization being befuddled and incompetant. If you can't answer questions, well get out of the way and get people who can, that is how I see it. So they dismissed you for asking questions? Amazing Kak, sounds so much like the horsehockey I dealt with in BSA. The more questions I asked the more nervous many of those guys became. I was never so frustrated as when that all blew apart.

 

Don't know about you, but I am all about rules. Rules to me are NOT made to be broken as many a glib male will tell you. (I guess some females will too, but I find more often than not it is males.) When I worked at the bank, volunteered on school commitees, and dealt with Scouts ....everytime it was a issue of rules it was some male that thought it was ok to break (or ignore) rules. Well to me what is the point of having them? If someone bothered to come up with rules then they should be able to explain them....and follow them. They should also be able to deal with issues as they arise in an appropriate manner. Dang Kak, don't you know that you are just supposed to take up space on a committee and think only when someone tells you it is ok to think. ;P

 

Well that is how they all work out for the most part I have found. Fill a chair, but please don't think. Doh ><

I remember working on a committee for the school system where they were investigating the food in the cafeteria. Measurements, quality, timing from classroom to lunchroom to classroom, hygiene and health regs. I had from one board meeting to the next to bring up issues. So I spent two weeks eating school lunches three times each day (elementary, middle and high) to measure, taste, time. I kept precise records of everything. I then discussed the timing with local doctors regarding it's affects on digestion and health (the school nurse was giving 150 antacids a day and the school was scratching it's collective head...doh again). I then studied up the Federal regulations on school lunch requirements, and then state regs. I got all my ammo, ooops I mean info gathered. I had a great case for just how completely incompetent our dietician and school cafeteria programs were in fact. (Something I didn't know until I began researching it all). In the end did the board really want to know any of this? Nope, not a word in fact. Nor did they do a thing about it...oh wait yes they did, the dissolved the committee working on it that's right. *rolls eyes*  Same story different year when I worked on the budget committee for the elementary schools. Big gripe about teachers making 'too many copies' of things for students. The usual gripe fest about it costing so much. So what did I do? A cost analysis. Helllooooo.....guess what? It was cheaper to buy each teacher a personal copier to have in her classroom to be used one year (the average ability...then to be tossed out) than it was to operate the way they were operating. Which was leasing three massive copiers and paying rent and copy fees to the office supply house. The copier contract was some $12,000 a year. INSANE. Like I said I showed them they could supply each teacher with a new personal copier AND throw them away each year cheaper than what they were doing. What did they do??? Renewed the contract. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Well...that was some rant! Sorry. =P

 

And the list goes on and on and on.  I have always wanted so much to help with things....and I am damn good and digging in and asking the hard questions....and finding the solutions. But I find that if something involves much real thinking Kak, it is many times just plain old over some peoples heads. I know that sounds terribly arrogant, but I can't help but think that is so. There is simply no other accounting for why a better solution is passed over....the powers that be either can't think it through, or just won't. Needless to say my arse has been chapped many a time in things like this. grrrr....

 

You know Kak, it is simply the Peter Principle at work....even in volunteer organizations. Some people rise to their level of incompetence and.....stay there. *sigh* I find that is exactly who makes those decisions to see the 'thinkers' home.

 

Hugs sweetie, jackasses are everywhere!

~Ami

xoxox

Okies so I treated myself to a Wii Fit. Now I love my Wii gaming console, I love playing tennis and boxing and baseball and bowling. I am always sore afterwards (means I don't pay enough =P). It is so great to play and not have to leave home to do it.

 

If you haven't played on a Wii I recommend you find a friend who has one and at least give it a go. This is the best thing since sliced bread in my opinion. All the fun of video games with all the exercise of physical sports too....and all in your jammies. =)

 

So back to the Wii Fit. OMG!! Now I have done the personal trainer thing, the gym thing, the diet thing yadayada. All of it. Even did fitness in college for heavens sake but I still suck at it. I sit at a computer and work (and play)....and munch all the dang time. (Instead of smoking....yay me...but damn >< )

 

So when I saw the Wii Fit, I figured what the hell, I have a Wii system I should at least see what it is all about. And it is so much cheaper than a gym membership (which I was considering renewing...again.) So I got it. I had no idea what to expect, but this is the coolest thing I have seen/done in as long as I can remember. It tracks everything you do, advises you on your BMI, weight, credits of time exercising, all cumulative and graphs it all for you too. So you can see each day exactly what you have accomplished (or not). This interactive exercise and fitness has yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance exercises. It teaches you about how balance and posture are important to maintain metabolism at it's highest rate, etc, etc. It also calculates a Wii Fit age for you based on your agility and balance and real birthdate. It is an amazing thing. Kudos to who ever came up with this...I am loving it.

 

I/we have been doing it now for 4 days. I am curious if the new will wear off and it will be dust collector like so many things. The cumulative tracking part is what is cool, you can see your progress. It is also what we talk about together. Hehe we compare scores with each other and we compete to an extent. In short we are having a family blast with this thing.  Not to mention we are getting a health and PE lesson each day and John recants his summer school lessons to us. (He is learning we like very rich southern cooking....and though it is the finest food in the world...it is fattening as all get out!) He also is turning his nose up at McD's *gasp*.

 

Alrighty then, well I need to go to bed now. I just wanted to share with you all how absolutely cool this thing is and how much fun we are having as a family with it. Fitness and family fun all in one.....and we get to do it all in our jammies. How sweet is that!!!

 

Hugs,

~Ami

xoxox

Certainly makes me want to do it. ....not! I do some repetitions with 5lb weights for muscle tone and 30 sit up (the right way) most days and that;'s all I get out of me.  But I love once again how you told your story. The one to KAK too. You know it really is sad that she'll be all prepared and nothing will change. And I'm impressed you went to all the research you went thru on your little projects. Sometimes I wonder if I ever really was a mother!!!

Honey, honey doing committee work for anything doesn't say a thing about whether you are good mother or not. Hell my kids didn't learn to brush their hair until they were teenagers. =P

 

I have been a most unconventional mother in many ways. I let my kids play hooky from school, let them sleep in their clothes, didn't make them clean up after themselves, and should have thumped them every time they talked back at me. lol Sometimes I look back and I think 'wtf was I thinking spending all that volunteer time when I could have been playing with the boys??!!!!"

 

See now they are grown (nearly all of them) and they don't give a flitter about hanging with mom. It makes me sad sometimes. I missed a lot of time I could have spent with them, in the days of mommy worship. John has entered that stage of argumentativeness. I hate this stage in kids. He has to argue every single thing no matter how ridiculous. It is in them, part of the hell of puberty...but sheese.

 

Yesterday we went to Wally to get a poster board for a project for health class. Not a problem at all. I saw these cool cut out sticker letters and some cool markers and mentioned he might want to get those too. Oh no, you would have thought I told him he had to wear a dress and pigtails the way he carried on. I finally just had to walk away following the last argument of "I hate markers and want to use a regular pencil and stencils".....errrrmmm okie dokey whateva! *rolled my eyes till they hurt*

 

Since this is my third at the hell phase, it is not new. But it saddens me that my last baby is leaving the 'mommy is the bestest' stage. Instead I am now entering 'parents are annoying' stage. *tear*

 

I will be grand again when he hits that "I want to learn to drive" stage.

 

The very best mother type thing I think I ever did was give my kids hooky days. It started with Ed when he started school. You see I was notorious for playing hooky when I was in high school. Before the days of limited absences, if you made the grades they didn't say much at all. So I played hooky all the time. In one semester alone I missed 28 days. LMAO I partied, went swimming, played all day basically. There were always people somewhere also playing hooky so it wasn't hard to find things to keep busy for the day. Even before I had a ride, I would just catch the bus to school and be back in time to catch it home. hehe. I was not a good child in school...not at all.  So when Ed started school I could hear the echo of my mother's wails at me "you will have a child like you someday!!" 

 

Well of course I had to prove her wrong. ;)  So what did I do? I gave my kids three hooky days a year each school year. They could pick the days anytime, they had to plan for it at least a day ahead. Other than that it was their choice. If they wanted to lay in bed all day they could, if they wanted to watch tv all day they could. I was cool with pretty much whatever. They loved it!! It made them feel like they controlled their lives a wee bit. And guess what?? Never once did Ed or Matt ever play hooky from school.

 

Amazing how well it worked in fact. Anyway we still do it today with John. Three days a year, and you know what? Last year John didn't even take his. (It would mean missing orchestra class, lol).

 

What makes me think it was a cool mom thing? To this day I hear the boys telling their friends about how "cool" it was to have hooky days. And invariably I hear friends say "wow I wish my mom would do that". Now that makes me glow. =)

 

Nah Janet, committee and volunteer work does not a great mother make!! I wish I had spent that time genuinely playing with my kids. But I like to volunteer, to think I am helping our lives by volunteering....though I did come to think much of it was just an illusion. *sigh* These days I just volunteer to stack chair and music stands in orchestra. LOL A no brainer!!! ;)

 

Hugs,

~Ami

xoxox

 

 

I don't think DP knows who I am with this jp621 person and of course I haven't taken the time to take care of it.  Where's Donna when you need her?! Someone email me and let me know what's what with her!

 

Anyway, I played ALOT with my kids. Being a single parent and very, very poor we hung out together all the time.  When my youngest was....8 he said "Mom! You're just a big kid!!!!" Loving it of course. I see so many kids getting to play sports and go on vacations and go out on boats and all those things "rich" people did and wish with all my heart that I was able to do that with my boys, but in retrospect I suppose it wasn't all so terrible, terrible bad. We were extremely close back in those days. Us against the world. I think they liked me! lol Simple little "Wonder if I can feed them today" stuff, but lots and lots of fun. I think I may pull out the albums I put in the attic!

 

Thanks Ami!

I got tickled at Matt today. He was talking about his recent trip to Louisville/Frankfort to see his gf and meet the mom deal. Anyway he was talking about how their family is compared to how our is. It is interesting how people do raise kids differently. I laughed and told him I had just posted about 'hooky days' and that I felt that was my coolest mom thing. He disagreed and told me the coolest mom thing was that they could talk to me about anything and that I gave them free reign to discuss any and everything. He said he never felt that things were ever off limits. *awwww...*

 

It made me feel good, though I really do wish I had played more with them. The only thing we ever did outside the home was go camping with all the scouts. That we did and I made the time to do. Other than that we had one one day vacation in all the time that they were little. The only other trip we ever did was to a funeral in Georgia. Not much of a vacation. I'm like you I really did feel bad at times that I couldn't do such things. No amusement parks, no beaches, no anything. We only went to the movies 2 times in 15 years. I didn't even have television for 10 years, I had a vcr and a tv to play it on, but could not get any television channels because I didn't have an antennea and of course cable was a huge luxury that I never had until I married Raj. LOL And you know what....I got it turned off this year. He nearly freaked but to me it was just stupid to pay that bill when we hardly ever watched it at all. So now I am back to no cable even. And for the most part I don't miss it at all. =P

 

So we played a lot of Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit when the kids were little. We would play for hours and hours and hours especially on the weekends. And it was too much fun too. So I guess really I did play as much as I could. Most of the time I was closed up in my office working though. =( And then watching my hand spring up when they asked for volunteers for anything....and then wasn't appreciated for all the effort. See, told ya....should have been home playing instead! ;)

 

I remember looking in the fridge once and there was a half of a pack of cheese left. Nothing else and no money to get more food either. I wondered how dang creative can we be with just cheese. lol, ah yes the good old bad old days. You know one of the philosophers says that in the struggle to find happiness, it is the stuggle that IS the happiness. (sort of paraphrased) I think I agree with that somewhat. Those hard times were good times though, even with all the worry.  Though....I might could have been just as happy rich as hell! LOL Who knows. hehe

 

Hope you enjoyed your pics. Albums are fun!! I went today to get a drawing framed. It is a drawing Matt made when he was 15 of an egert. I have saved it all these years and today broke down and took it to the framers. I can't wait to get it back. I love all the kids things and all the memories. I never get tired of reminiscing (sp) . Btw JP where are your boys now? What are they up to? Oh and we need a report on your foot and so forth. Whatup girlfriend?

 

Hugs,

~Ami

xoxox