Manners

Both of my girls seem to have selected a very lovely core group of friends that they spend time with. Jim and I have witnessed some pretty special moments with these children. I know that there are ups and downs with friends, especially for girls, and I think my daughters have been pretty lucky so far to avoid any real, long-lasting heartache. I believe that’s because they’ve got some pretty good friends—and for this, I think we’re ALL blessed!

The thing that struck me this afternoon was the spectacular display of manners one friend just exhibited. Josie asked if she could have one of her friends over and we said that’d be fine. She called the friend, and luckily, she was available, and she headed right over. As she was walking in the front door, the first words out of her mouth were “Thanks for inviting me over!” I just think this is wonderful! I mean, it was said out of sincerity, and yet, she didn’t make a big deal out of it—like “Oh, I need to make sure I tell you thank-you so your parents will hear me and see how polite I am” (a la Eddie Haskell). She just made a comment in passing and moved on.

It made me wonder, how many people (namely parents) are really instilling the value of good manners in their children these days? I remember that it was a huge part of our upbringing when my older brother and I were growing up, and I can say the same for Jim and his siblings. We were taught not to speak until spoken to (when in the company of adults), we said ‘please’ or ‘thank-you’, we knew better than to ever talk back, we never argued with what our parents said and we tried very hard not to whine. When we answered the phone, we had fantastic phone manners. (I witnessed these in another friend of my daughter’s, the other day, when I called to talk to that friend’s mother, who is a friend of mine.) We wrote thank-you notes for all gifts received, for vacations spent with family members, etc. And we didn’t automatically expect anything (payments, rewards, kudos or thanks) for doing household chores… we merely did them because they were our chores.

Are we raising our children by the same standards today that we were raised by when we were growing up? I doubt it. And I know that some of this is because we maybe want to be a little less strict with our kids than our parents were with us. I think that’s okay, to a certain extent. But I don’t think that the manners our children display should suffer for that more laid-back approach to parenting.

I can’t say that I’m perfect in this respect… that my children are so much better than anyone else’s—I’m just as guilty as the next parent, when it comes to being lax about instilling good values. But I’m also grateful when I see someone who really seems to go above and beyond the average kid.

Sleepy? or not so much?

I just finished some homework (stuff that was due at 11:59 p.m. last night....Sunday night, which to me, it still is) and submitted it to Blackboard at 11:59:38. Wow. Talk about a close call! I never got a chance, all weekend, to get around to it, and since I knew it wasn't due until tonight, I didn't feel like messing with it earlier in the week. I won't hold off that long again, though. (Part of the problem was that I didn't remember that the assignment was actually going to take some time and some thought. I not only had to write a review of a book I hadn't yet read, but I also had to create a lesson plan based off that book.) I got it done on time, though, so no worries, right?


The problem is, now it's almost 1:00 a.m., I've messed around on the computer a bit, and I'm still not tired. Why does this always happen? I feel like I'm seriously becoming a vampire. It's far less exciting than all the vampire novels make it seem. Basically, I want to sleep during the day, and at night I'm wide awake. It sucks. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't HAVE to be awake during the day. If I were single and childless, I could make this work to my advantage (y'know, get a night job, stay out dancing all night, whatever). As it is, knowing myself the way I do, if I could change things, I'd probably end up being sleepy at night and wide awake during the day. It's Murphy's Law, I guess.....

To bite an apple…

What is it about certain foods that makes them more appealing than others? More specifically, if a Gala apple tastes similar to a Red Delicious apple, why do some people prefer the Red Delicious? or the Gala? I know, for me, it’s the act of biting into the apple—especially that first bite. When I bite into a Red Delicious apple and there’s an audible *crack* as the skin breaks and juice springs forth… oh man, there is nothing like that! And likewise, there’s nothing so disappointing as biting into an old Red Delicious, or perhaps some other variety of apple, expecting that crack and juice, and finding it to be soft and mealy. Ugh! I know other people have tossed an apple after one bad bite like that, and I’ll admit, I’ve done it a few times as well. Blech! Now, if you go and just cut slices of that apple off the core and eat them as “apple chips” (as my kids call them), they’re still tasty and that mushy apple can be salvaged. But if you’ve got your heart set on the tactile pleasure of biting into a crisp apple, being let down can actually ruin the whole experience for you. At least, that’s been my experience.

I think I was in my early 20’s when I had someone explain to me that I am a tactile eater. Basically, if I understand that correctly, it means I like or dislike foods based as much on the texture and feel of the food as the taste. Some great examples I can think of are radishes and celery (again, they’re crisp when you bite into them, almost to the point of making that *crack* sound), nuts in ANYthing (ice cream, breads, cakes, cookies) are a good idea, ice cream with chunks of stuff (chocolate chips, bits of coconut, etc.), grease-soaked French fries over the crisp ones (I know this seems like the opposite of the trend I’ve set with other foods, but something about the texture of those greasy fries is so much more appealing to me than the crisp ones). I’ll always choose a candy bar with stuff in it over the non-crunchy variety: Hershey’s with almonds instead of the plain milk chocolate; Snickers instead of Milky Way; Crunch bars, Twix, Mr. Goodbar; Almond Joy over Mounds (though I do like dark chocolate, so I miss out on that by choosing the crunch of Almond Joy). My absolute favorite candy is Cinnamon Imperials/Red Hots. Those are some crunchy candies! I like Hot Tamales, too, but I prefer the crunch of Red Hots.

Anyone else out there a tactile eater? What else gets you excited about food?

Web 2.0 Tools–So Fun!

I just started using yet another Web 2.0 tool today. I LOVE these things!

First, let me explain, for anyone reading who may not be familiar with the term Web 2.0. According to Webster’s Dictionary (online version, of course—what else would I use?):

Main Entry:
web 2.0

Part of Speech:
n

Definition:
the second generation of the World Wide Web in which content is user-generated and dynamic, and software is offered that mimics desktop programs

Example:
Web 2.0 encourages collaboration and communication between users.

Etymology:
2004

Okay, so many of my classes in Library Science have focused, totally or in part, on utilizing Web 2.0 tools. It makes sense, when you think about it. Today’s modern Librarian is an Information Professional, not merely a book-pusher. Part of being an Information Professional is knowing about all forms of media, including books, but also various periodicals (magazines, newspapers), digital materials (DVD’s, CD’s, CD-ROM’s, etc.), play-aways (audio-book players), e-books, etc. There seems to be no end to the formats available for library patrons these days; and let us not forget that many patrons use their library for things other than obtaining simple reading material. A lot of people go to the library to use a computer, and we can only begin to imagine all the various computer needs people have. Therefore, an Information Professional must be fluent in as many of these formats as possible.

Lucky me! It behooves me to find more and more tools and delve into them in my spare time. One tool I learned about a few weeks ago, at the Women of Faith conference, was Pinterest. I hope to write about that sometime soon, but I’m still busy messing around with it…

In the meantime, I got busy today, finally, with something I’d heard about in one of my classes. Apparently (this should come as no surprise to me, but I just never really thought about it), there are various methods of online bookmark storage available. You know how you have your Favorites stored on your computer, within your browser? Say you use Internet Explorer (the little ‘e’ that’s probably on your desktop), or maybe even Firefox or Chrome or some other browser, to connect to the Internet. Somewhere in your browser, you have either Favorites or Bookmarks, but they’re the same thing… places you’ve been to that you know you’ll go back to, perhaps often. I’m not even going to get into the idea of dragging pages onto a new tab on your browser line… that’s something I’ve recently started doing with sites I visit nearly every day, but that’s another blog topic…. Back to Favorites/Bookmarks.

If your computer ever crashes (which I’ve had happen—ouch!), you’ll have to go back and find as many of your old favorites as you can, right? What was the web address for Tracy’s blog? I can’t remember it…. dang. Now I have to wait for an e-mail from her…. What about the web address for the County Assessor, so I can see a picture of someone’s house by plugging in their address (sometimes that’s more helpful than using MapQuest or Google Maps)… That was in my Favorites and now it’s gone. What to do!?

There’s an answer to this problem—of course you have to do this BEFORE your computer crashes, so if you’re reading this right after a crash and you haven’t already taken these steps, I apologize… I can’t help you. Go to Delicious or Google Bookmarks or Diigo. (Click on these words—they’re highlighted here, which means I’ve turned them into “hot links”… not Little Sizzlers, which are great with pancakes and syrup, but active website links for you to just point your mouse at and click.) I haven’t used all three, so I can’t say they’re exactly the same. I’m sure they each have their perks. The point is, you can use each of these sites to save your favorites from your browser. It’s private, it’s something you use a password to get into, but not only are they saved in case your computer ever crashes, you can also access them from ANY computer, ANYwhere! Awesome, right? I actually uploaded all my favorites to Delicious and then transferred them over to Google Bookmarks, because, frankly, it was easier that way.

A Little At a Time is Okay

I was cleaning out the shower (which I HATE doing—I mean, I hate doing laundry, it’s a chore, and I’ll whine about it ‘til the day I die, but scrubbing the shower is the one household duty I completely and utterly avoid until I can’t let it go any longer—it’s the worst!), and I was thinking, “I really need to blog more.” I’ve been thinking that a lot lately, but you may have noticed, nothing has come from my thinking that…. I think I went the whole summer without a single blog entry. It’s not that I didn’t try. I think I tried one or two times to write something, and I went days with my blog open, as if having that tab open would entice me to write something. (When, in fact, it only made me feel guilty for wasting that space on my browser with a tab I knew I wasn’t going to use!)

All of a sudden, as sweat dripped down my neck and back and I was submerged in a cloud of Comet, it came to me: WHO am I writing this blog for? Is there some homework assignment I’m writing it for? (No.) Do I have thousands of fans hanging on every word I say, waiting all hours of the day and night to see new entries? (Uh, no.) Although I may have one or two faithful readers (hi Mom! hi Aunt Sue!), I don’t think anyone else ever even takes a peek at this thing. I’m writing it for ME. It’s MY blog!!!

With that realization, I decided, if I want to write something long and drawn out and fantastic, I’m certainly free to do so. But I don’t have to wait until I have something terribly important to say, because it’s MY blog. If I just have a thought that cracks me up for a moment and I want to jot it down, that’s okay, too. I don’t have to make sure I get in 500 words or more. It’s okay to drop by here quickly, make a comment or two, and take off again.

I feel so liberated! I’d been holding off on making any entries lately, because I put this stigma on myself, feeling that I had to wait to write something until I had something incredible to say. Duh! What-EVAH!!!!  

RSS Feeds

I've known about RSS feeds for probably five years, if not more. I tried subscribing to a few a couple of times, but I rarely read them and never really saw much reason for them. I just didn't get the point. I think I was searching for feeds just to be taking part in something. I wasn't really grasping the idea.

Now, nearly a month after my spring classes have ended, I would consider myself somewhat addicted to my RSS feeds. One of the assignments we had for my Teaching and Learning in a Digital Environment (TLDE) class was to check out a few blogs in our field. I found a few that were okay, but others in my class suggested a couple others that I found more interesting. In the process, though, something really cool happened. One of my two instructors pointed out the Reader feature offered by Google. Once you've got an account with Google, you can do a ton of different things, and one of those things is consolidating all the RSS feeds you subscribe to in one Reader. (Basically, just one location where you can read any updates on a daily basis--it's kind of like you create your own online newspaper, with 'articles' focusing on things you're interested in.)

For example, I've got a few different headings on my Reader setup: Cooking, Library, Family and Friends, and Spiritual. I have a number of blogs I follow or subscribe to, and I've got them organized into those different categories. The Reader automatically files the updates for me under the categories I've specified. I also follow a few other sites that don't go under any of those headings, but that also give regular updates (there's a Dilbert Daily Comic Strip, The Urban Dictionary's Word of the Day, and my daughter's middle school puts out a daily bulletin, to name a few).

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.  (If you notice, I have embedded a link into the "RSS" at the beginning of this paragraph. Click on that link to head to a Wikipedia definition and history of RSS feeds.) Many sites have daily or periodic updates that you can follow. In the top of your screen, on the right side of your browser line, if you see the symbol below, you can follow those updates just by clicking on that icon.

 

I wouldn't say that I read every single update every single day, but I do try to follow some of my updates pretty regularly. It's such a neat feature, I can't get enough of it! Google Reader is not, by far, the only way to subscribe to and/or consolidate your RSS feeds. It's one of probably hundreds, at least. However, when I was first subscribing to feeds, I didn't access them very frequently at all. I've found that the Google Reader is extremely user friendly, and I've got it saved as one of my home pages, so I can go there at the beginning of the day every day without any trouble at all. I just click on the "home" icon on my browser, and my Reader opens with all the latest updates.

If you aren't subscribing to any RSS feeds, I'd suggest you check it out. It's super cool! And if you ARE following some good feeds, feel free to message me about them. Thanks!

**Note: It seems that the RSS symbol or icon is no longer showing up in the browser line on either Internet Explorer or Firefox (I don't know about other browsers); but if you're looking at a site that has regular updates, most authors want you to have the ability to subscribe to those updates and they make that icon available as a hot link somewhere on their page. Look for that orange symbol I installed above.**

Going Green

     I must admit, every time I hear the term "going green", I think about that scene in the movie, "Twister", when the series of tornadoes is about to hit. I can relate, living in Nebraska, to that scene so well. There's no other way to describe how everything really does go green. It's bizarre, and they actually were able to re-enact that pretty well in the movie. It's one of my favorite movies, without a doubt!

     But I'm not wanting to write about tornadoes today. My excitement about "going green" refers to the fact that we have just recently increased our recycling capacity. Before, we only recycled newspapers, aluminum cans, and the occasional cardboard box. Jim and I were pretty much in agreement: it's not that hard to take those items to the recycle bins behind our local grocery store every few months. (Especially since it was usually Jim doing it!) Still, there was always a part of me that felt like we could be doing more. I think we both wanted to do more... we were just holding out for the best deal, I guess. (Yes, that's right, I'm painting a clear picture for you: we wanted the cheapest, laziest way possible to do the recycling. Ugh, that sounds horrible... luckily, I know we're not the only ones who are in that boat!)

     So we got the call last week from the people who publish our local newspaper, saying they were having a special--they'd bring us a "tote" (cute word for big ugly plastic garbage can like the other ones we already have, only this one is, appropriately, green), and we can dump all of the stuff we want to recycle into it without having to separate it first, and for the first six months, it's available at an incredibly low cost. What? You mean you're going to give us a cheap option to be even more lazy AND we're going to feel GOOD about it? That's right, for a limited time, you too can help the environment without stepping further than your own driveway. Coool!!!!  

     Okay, I know I'm sounding pessimistic... I'm just amazed at how little I was willing to do before we got that green tote. Saving cans and newspapers? The absolute minimum. Seriously. Today was the first full day we've had that tote, and I recycled a milk jug, a large juice bottle, about 10 old magazines, an old prescription bottle (with all the information marked out with a Sharpie), two used water bottles, and a yogurt cup, along with today's paper and two pop cans. Let me tell you, I feel GOOD about this! Beer bottles and wine bottles, old chocolate syrup containers, ice cream buckets, soup and tuna cans, etc. It seems like the possibilities are limitless. I'm so pumped! 

     I started recycling as a kid. We didn't drink as much pop, growing up, as Jim and I do now. It was mostly on special occasions that we'd get 10 or 12 cans of Shasta in the house (mmm, Black Cherry and Dr. Diablo were my favorites!), but we had enough beer cans to keep me busy. Every few days, I'd take the cans out to the garage, squash them with my feet, and toss them into an old garbage can (the original steel kind, like you see Oscar the Grouch living in) lined with a black plastic bag. When that bag got full (after a few months), I'd tie off the top, put a new bag in, and keep going. About once a year, maybe twice if I was lucky, I'd point out to my Dad that we had several bags of cans to turn in. Since I was the one who took the cans out and crushed them, I was the one who got the money for them. We'd make a trip into the closest town with a recycling center (my hometown didn't have one), and the guys would weigh out my bags. It usually got me about seven bucks, though I do remember earning $11 one time! I was pumped! This was typically enough bread to get me a new record (vinyl) or maybe even a new Barbie (since they only released new models of Barbies about once or twice a year). 

     Nowadays, I have to PAY to recycle, but I'm done playing with Barbies and I don't have a turntable anymore, anyway. So it's all good.....

Bubba

I don't think I've devoted much, if any, space here on my blog to our sweet little puppy. We had a dog when the girls were very little (Phoebe, a black lab/retriever mix), but she was too big for our small house/yard, so we gave her to some friends who lived out in the country, on a big farm. She lived there, very happily, for many years. During that time, we discovered Josie is not only allergic to cats (as are Jim and I), but she's also allergic to dogs. Once we moved to our current home, we thought, "Someday, we'll find the right kind of dog--one Josie won't be allergic to."

In the meantime, Donovan came along. We were a busy, happy little family with our two daughters and one son. Every now and then, we would get to thinking about having a dog, but it was just never the right time. About a year, maybe a year and a half ago, though, we started to think about it a bit more seriously. We knew we'd need to wait until Donovan was potty-trained, and, like I'd said, we'd want to find a "hypo-allergenic" dog.

In October of this past fall, we finally found the perfect dog--a Bichon Frise puppy. Plus, a month or so before, we'd heard that Phoebe had died, out on the farm. We were saddened to hear of her passing, but it felt like it was a sign that we could move on. So, Jim, Josie and Donovan went to "meet" the puppy, to make sure Josie wouldn't have any bad reactions to him--of course, they fell in love!

So, we've had Bubba (a name I probably wouldn't have chosen for him, but I can appreciate irony as much as the next person, and it fits him now) for just over five months, and he is definitely a part of the family. I'd have to say he's a Momma's boy, which makes sense since I spend the most time with him (being a stay-at-home-mom). We haven't taken him to puppy training or anything like that... I think it's still up in the air whether we will or not. He's a good boy, though, and he behaves pretty well without "official training".

After I took him in to get groomed, he looked so malnourished, I've been afraid to do it again!

One of my favorite things about him is the way he sometimes does this kind of hop-run, when he's really in a hurry--our back yard is pretty big, so he's got a lot of room to run around. Normally, he'll do the alternate leg thing (y'know, right front paw goes at the same as left rear paw, and left front paw moves in time with right rear paw). But when he's in a hurry, his front paws move in sync and his rear paws move in sync, so it kind of looks like he's hopping or leaping along. So totally cute!

I also love the way he attacks certain things. He's really a very sweet, gentle dog, but he is still a puppy and there's definitely a part of him that feels like he needs to be fierce. There are three items, in particular, that he will attack. His bed (really just a big doggie pillow), his little blue elephant (it always seems like he's punishing the elephant for something!), and his big green squeaky toy. We have to put the squeaky toy up in the evenings, when the girls are working on homework or we're trying to watch TV, because the loud squeaks combined with his intense growling... it's funny for a minute, then it's annoying trying to hear over it!

Took this one today--can you tell he needs a haircut? But he's so adorable!

He also does this cute thing with his paws, either while sitting on his hind legs, or while lying on his side, where he waves both his front paws together repeatedly... Almost like he was flipping through folders in a file cabinet. When he's on his hind legs, he'll do it sitting, or he kind of stands and hops for a while, upright, while doing it. It's really cute. I think it's his "Come play with me, pay attention to me" move.

My absolute favorite thing is snuggling with Bubba. I'm a napper. I've always been a napper, even as a kid. Whenever I can squeeze one in, I will. Oftentimes, I'll lie down on the couch, get all cozy with my favorite pink fleece blanket, and here comes Bubba! He climbs right up on me, stepping where he may, and he'll sometimes lie right on top of me. I nuzzle his hair a bit, and then he'll look into my face for a bit before doing one of those reverse sniffs dogs do. (He sniffs in a bit, then blows right back out, with a little more force.) Most times, though, he'll curl up at my feet or between my chest and my arm, and I'll pet him 'til I drift off to sleep. He's my Bubba!

"You don't LOOK like a librarian!"

Okay, before I begin, I have to comment on the fact that it is an absolute delight having this little puppy in our house. We've had Bubba since mid-October of last year (2010), and he's simply a joy to have around. He's a bit of a spaz, sure, but aren't all dogs? (And honestly, aren't people kind of spazzy, too?) But he's so loveable and sweet and cute and well-behaved. BIG BONUS is that Josie's not allergic to him. We're all happy with him. I'll admit, it was a bit stressful when we first got him, but he's grown accustomed to us and us to him. I love my little puppy, who is definitely a Momma's Boy! (I have to admit, though, it IS a bit difficult writing this on my laptop while he's sitting so close to me--he puts his head on the computer and he keeps moving the cursor on the mouspad. Oh well... it's nice to snuggle with him.

Now, I have to address this because it just cracks me up:

Ever since I decided to go back to school, whenever I tell people I'm studying to be a librarian, someone always says "You don't LOOK like a librarian." Hmm.... This begs the question: WHAT does a librarian look like? I've looked up the word "librarian" in the dictionary, but there's no accompanying picture. That's not much help. So I go to the library and look around. Funny, I never noticed it before, but none of the librarians look alike. I can't figure out which one of them, then, "looks like a librarian". Nobody's wearing a nametag that says "Librarian" on it, and I haven't been able to figure out the standard "Librarian" uniform--some of the folks behind various desks are wearing jeans and t-shirts or sweaters, others wear dressier slacks and tops. I've seen both men and women working in the libraries, checking out books, working the reference desk, shelving books. Men and women who aren't related typically don't look alike, so the very fact that both genders work as librarians confuses me: which one of these is more likely to LOOK like a librarian? Once you narrow down a gender, what hair color, skin color, body shape, mannerisms, etc., does a librarian have?

Here's a librarian I wouldn't mind looking like! Marian the Librarian, from the Music Man.

Oh! Then I start thinking, when those folks said I don't look like a librarian, there's an underlying statement there (or there could be): namely, I must look like something else. What is it that I look like, then? I'm curious. Do I look like a doctor? A teacher? Perhaps a fireman? Or is it more complicated than that? Maybe I look like an out-of-work hairdresser? (I wish!)

Marisa Tomei's character in My Cousin Vinny was an out-of-work hairdresser.

I read a blog recently about how someone was hoping to get hired as a librarian, and one of the reasons she was hoping to be hired was because she was a "hipster" (whatever that is) and I guess she wanted to improve the image people have of librarians. I understand that, to a certain extent. But at the same time, it's kind of a crock. What difference does it make what a librarian looks like, as long as they're able to do their job effectively? I still haven't decided if I'm perturbed or amused by the comment that I don't look like a librarian...

Pros and Cons of Snow Days

We've already had four snow days this year (unless I'm mistaken--pretty sure it was two days in a row two weeks or so ago, and then two days in a row this week). Last year we went over our "quota" for snow days, so the kids had to make some of the time up. They extended their school days before and after school by a few minutes, for about two weeks. It made for a rushed day and kind of cramped some of their after-school activities, but it sure beat trying to add those days to the end of the year! (Or taking time off of Spring Break, etc.) While I don't think we've had as much snow as we did last year (at least, not yet), we're close to our limit on snow days. The school system here sets aside five days per school year. So hopefully, if they have any more snow days, there'll be only one. 

The kids and I all get excited when there's going to be a snow day, and yet, we end up kind of looking forward to when they go back to school. So I'm going to list the pros and cons of snow days.

Pros

• A day off from school

• The opportunity to sleep in (at least in theory, it doesn't always work out that way for Mom)

• Relaxed atmosphere in the morning, which is not what it's like on school days (we're busy as bees in the mornings as we get ready--each girl has her own start-time at school, and there's lunches to get ready, papers to be signed, hats and gloves to be found, teeth to be brushed at the last minute, etc.)
• No rushing around in the afternoon, picking kids up from various school locations
• Time to do extra stuff we don't normally squeeze in (the other day it was painting and baking cookies, sometimes it's pla-doh, watching movies, playing dress-up, etc.)
• Extra time together--I know this sounds kind of corny, but I love spending time with my kids, even when they get under my skin, even when part of me wants to sneak away on my own mini-vacation for a day. My kids light up my life, and I'm pumped whenever they're home unexpectedly.

Cons

• Our schedules get thrown off--not only are we lazy during those snow days (whether or not we sleep in), but we don't run by the same schedule... so going back to our regular routine (even if we've only had one snow day) takes a little adjustment.
• Boredom. I know I listed a bunch of stuff we can do, and we often do all those things within the space of about an hour, and then it's "ho, hum, what can we do now?" or, worse, "can I have something to eat?" We're all subject to eating out of boredom, and it's really bad when I didn't shop for groceries anticipating the snow days! (read: less snack foods and 'fun' lunch items) It was particularly bad this time, as it was not only super snowy, but it was also too cold to go outside. (Wind chills were well below zero, and it's just dangerous going out for any amount of time then.)
• Of course, boredom leads to irritability. Everyone gets on each other's nerves, everyone wants to play on the computer at the same time, or they argue over which Wii game to play, or they can't agree on a movie, or they're not playing the pretend game the right way, etc. There's a lot of whining and yelling and door slamming, and there's a fair amount of crying, too. (None of it by me, this time, but it's always something I reserve the right to do!)
• The threat of having to make up work. This isn't a huge deal, in my opinion or in the kids' opinion. If they have to make it up, so be it. We work it out. But it is a con, and it's worth mentioning.

Overall, I think we prefer having the snow days, despite the cons. It's nice to have a break in the routine, a little chance to shake things up a bit. But, like summer vacation, it's nice when they go back to school! I always laugh at myself, the way I wish for breaks like summer or Christmas or snow days, and then in the middle of them, I'm counting down to when the kids will go back to school. I think it's the curse of a woman to never be fully happy with what we've got. I do my best to try, though.  =D

Poetry

First, a quick word about Kindle for PC: I just finished a book on the software I downloaded for free. (I got about six books for free, and there are several more I can download, as well.) The book itself was okay. I guess I didn't have any huge complaints about reading an e-book. I liked being able to bookmark several places at once. (The book I was reading had recipes thrown in from time to time, and I wanted to copy them down, but not until I was done with the book. So I would bookmark the recipes, and I'd also bookmark wherever I left off reading.) I liked that I could change the size of the font and how many words appeared on the screen. However, reading an e-book on a computer was probably not the best way to assess something like that--SO less portable than a Nook or Kindle! Aside from that, the only thing I really didn't like about an e-book was the fact that I didn't know how far along I was in the story. There's a bar at the bottom at the screen that tells what percentage of the book I've read through, but it's not like looking at a real book and saying, "Oh, I've got about sixty pages left." I had no idea where I was in the book, and it's not like it mattered, but I realized that's one thing I enjoy about reading a real book.

Okay, now the real idea behind my post tonight.
Lindsay apparently had some assignment for school that involved finding various forms of writing. Jim went to help her find some things, and in the course of looking for different formats, they found some of Grandma Hirons' (Jim's maternal grandmother) poetry books. The woman had some serious writing skills. I went downstairs to get something and heard Jim reading one of her poems to Lindsay. I knew as soon as I heard it what he was reading. When he was done helping Lindsay find what he needed, he brought some books up and read some of the poems to me.

Edna Hirons, my mother-in-law's mother, passed away nearly eight years ago. I only had the pleasure of knowing her for five or six years. She was an inspiration to me, being a writer and a mother. She was a Faith-driven woman, which was also something that tied me to her, though I couldn't say, at the time, that I was living a Faith-driven life. I was still reckless and irresponsible when I met her, but I can honestly say that she set an example for me (along with a handful of other incredible women) that I continue to try to follow.

I don't even know, for sure, how many little books of poetry Edna wrote and published. She always published them on her own, so they're not the types of books you would see in a library or bookstore. However, we have copies of several of them here at our house, and they're nicely bound and printed. She never made any money from them, but that wasn't the driving force anyway. I believe she wrote poetry that she felt God gave her, and her reason for publishing that poetry was to share her gift with others. She admitted to Jim and me that she was second or third cousins with Robert Waller (The Bridges of Madison County) and yes, he made money writing his books, he acquired fame from them. But Edna would not compromise her morals and beliefs just to write the kind of books that sell. I always respected and admired her for that.

Edna decided, at one point, to publish a book of patriotic poems. Interestingly, this book was not to be HER poetry, but poems she'd collected from friends and other writers, along with a few poems written by family members. She enlisted my help in editing this book. I was so excited to have such an important role! How ironic it was that we were finally ready to take the collection of poems to the publisher in October of 2001--one month after the attacks of 9/11. We had been working on this book for a number of months, but it seemed even more important than ever that we get that book out as soon as possible. Publishing that book with Edna was one of the proudest accomplishments of my life!

When Jim and I were preparing to get married, Jim bet me that I would cry at our wedding. I'm an extremely emotional person (I cry at commercials!), so he thought it was a sure thing. I didn't cry at our wedding, so I won the bet! But I did cry the night before, at our prenuptial dinner. Edna stood up and read a poem she'd written just for us, just for that night, and it was the most beautiful thing ever! I cry now, because she didn't make any copies of that poem, and I can't find the original!!! Ugh!

Anyway, losing Edna was painful for me, and I'd only gotten to know her for a short time. But she is not now, nor will she ever be, forgotten. She still plays a huge role in our lives and I'm so very grateful for the gift of having known her at all. She was loving, kind, warm-hearted, outspoken, joyful, and a terrific cook!

Grandma Hirons, I miss you! Although I hope to live many, many more years here on Earth, I anxiously look forward to seeing you again, in Heaven. I love you!!!

To Kindle or not to Kindle...

I'm hearing a lot about friends and family who have recently starting using Kindle (or Nook or iPod touch with iBook or iPad with iBook, or some other e-reader system), and I'm starting to really consider the pros and cons of getting such a device.

Cons:
They're kind of pricey
You have to buy books to read on them
Borrowing books to read on them can be tricky (not all libraries lend in all formats)
It's not like holding a book (the feel of turning pages, the smell of the paper, being able to find something you just read or pop ahead briefly are challenging)
Compared to how many books are available in print (millions? billions?), there is a rather limited amount of books available for these devices (I believe it might go to hundreds of thousands)

Pros:
They're cool (any kind of new technology is exciting and attractive to me)
They're portable
You can download several books for free
You have access to several books at a time, whereas with a physical book, you'd typically only bring one or just a few with you anywhere at one time.

I recently found out that Amazon.com has a large number of books available for download for the Kindle system for free. Further, I found that Kindle offers programs not only for that specific device, but also for the iPad, for PC computers, and for other devices as well. So I downloaded Kindle for PC the other day. I've obtained about six free books from Amazon so far, and I've been reading one of those books for the past couple of days. It's kind of a pain to have to have my computer to read from, but it's a great way, I think, to at least get a feel for that method of reading. I don't think I'll ever completely give up physical books--my love for them is simply too great. But I think this is something I'll consider more and more over the next few months. It might be something I want to consider getting at some point. (And from there, of course, I'd have to really think about which device to go with: Kindle, Nook, iPad or iPod Touch, etc.)

Fun experiment!

Happy New Year!

I don't think I'm quite over the holidays just yet--last night I stayed up 'til about midnight, watching "Holiday Inn", and I hope to stay up late soon to watch "White Christmas" and "Meet Me In St. Louis!" I borrowed all three movies from my friend, Eileen, after we took our girls and a few other Girl Scout friends to see one of the local high schools' production of "White Christmas". It was super cool--they even had snow falling IN THE THEATER at the end of the play! Plus, Josie saw Santa Claus--for real--watching the play. During Intermission, we went to walk around in the lobby, and I saw my friend, Sheila, who used to be my boss at Super Saver. She said her son, Dillon, was in the play. She was talking to me about it, and Josie was kind of walking along with us, when Sheila (who was ushering that night) stopped and said, "Look, here's Santa Claus!" and she grabbed this guy by the arm. Sure enough, it was him! He turned around, looked at Josie and smiled (his blue eyes twinkled) and asked her, "Have you been a good girl this year?" He might have said a couple more things, but Josie was trying to melt into me, she was so star-struck! (I'll admit, I was, too.) After that, we raced over to our friends and told them about the encounter. Once the play started up again, we saw that Santa was sitting in the front row. I saw my friend, Sheila, again, and she kind of whisper-shouted up to me, "Notice when he leaves, what kind of hat he's wearing." Well what do you think it was? Yup! A red elf hat with white fur trim. Josie wanted to go back and talk to him some more, since her friends had seen him too, and she'd regained her confidence. But I told her that, since it was only about two weeks before Christmas, it was probably his last night off for a while, and he'd probably appreciate a bit of space. He was just wanting to relax and be a "regular guy" for one night. She was a little perturbed, but Lindsay reinforced my comments when we got home.

A few days later, we had Eileen and her daughter, Eleanor, over to decorate cookies for Christmas. Turns out Eleanor had spotted Santa as they were leaving the play, and HE came up to HER and said, "I LOVE those chocolate chip cookies you leave me!" (Which, of course, is exactly the kind of cookies they leave for him--we leave frosted sugar cookies.) Eleanor and Josie had a great day swapping details of their encounters with Santa.

I told Eileen I'd love to see the movie version of "White Christmas," because I never had (I saw "Holiday Inn" years ago, but had forgotten most of it, and I only got 1/2 way through "St. Louis" this summer). She offered to bring over all three movies. But, of course, Christmas brought us a slew of new movies, so it's taken a while to get around to watching these. I was pleased with "Holiday Inn" and can't wait to watch the other two!