Three Things

Back to my usual "Break the Blogging Dry Spell formula"...

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE ME:
01 | unexplained noises at night
02 | the idea of flying over the ocean
03 | certain deep-sea creatures -- the kinds that look like aliens

THREE PEOPLE WHO MAKE ME LAUGH:
01 | Mr. F.
02 | my brother
03 | if you are my friend... you make me laugh.

THREE THINGS I LOVE:
01 | trying and learning new stuff
02 | fishnets
03 | jeans that are friendly to my rear

THREE THINGS I HATE:
01 | blemishes
02 | waiting in line
03 | commercials

THREE THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND:
01 | stock market
02 | commodity prices
03 | engine stuff

THREE THINGS ON MY DESK:
01 | Heely's shoe tool
02 | web cam
03 | black nail polish

THREE THINGS I'M DOING RIGHT NOW:
01 | typing
02 | blinking
03 | breathing

THREE THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE:
01 | Live in another country/culture
02 | Hike Machu Picchu
03 | See my grandbabies

THREE THINGS I CAN DO:
01 | spinning back kick
02 | "Amen" drum break
03 | top rock and six step... sortof

THREE WAYS TO DESCRIBE MY PERSONALITY:
01 | sassy
02 | quirky
03 | impulsive

THREE THINGS I CAN'T DO:
01 | "big" math in my head
02 | remember stuff without writing it down
03 | hack a computer

THREE THINGS I THINK YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO:
01 | opera -- loud and in a dark room (Pourquoi me reveiller -- Werther; very intense)
02 | the sound of a baby nursing at it's mother's breast
03 | a child's squeals and laughter during a tickle/chase game

THREE THINGS I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO EVER:
01 | Paris Hilton singing
02 | Evening news -- too depressing before bed
03 | Parliament channel

THREE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FOODS:
01 | curry -- Indian or South African
02 | caramel apple cheesecake
03 | fresh strawberries

THREE THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN:
01 | to keep my mouth shut at the right time
02 | sewing or knitting
03 | another language

THREE BEVERAGES I DRINK REGULARLY:
01 | ice water
02 | Diet Pepsi (w/ bar lime, please?)
03 | fruit juice or coffee

THREE SHOWS I WATCHED WHEN I WAS A KID:
01 | The Flintstones
02 | Gilligan's Island
03 | The Incredible Hulk

Recently Overheard.

Flutterby's Right Shoulder: Ouch. Bloody hell! What are you doing to me, Flutterby?

Flutterby: Oh shut up. Just pretend you're a lot younger, OK? Can you manage that? I only rolled on you once, for crying out loud. You'd think you could handle a bit of punishment by now, oh KravWonderShoulder. *smirk*

Shoulder: *indignant* Look here. I don't mind a roll or two, it's that nasty banging up against other shoulders I'm not so fond of. And, I'll have you know I'm not the only one. Calves and Right Hip were talking yesterday and they're not too happy, either. And you should see Left Butt Cheek... --

Flutterby: *interrupts* -- yeah, I know about Left Butt Cheek. I was THERE, remember, smart arse?! Besides, if Leftie knew what the deal was, she'd just be quiet and thankful that I pulled off that slide and didn't smash her up on a skate wheel.

Shoulder: Sure. But she's still smarting with the rinkburn and I don't think you...

Flutterby: Don't think I what? Feel her pain? Trust me, I feel it just fine. GAH! Is it too much to ask for body parts that can keep up with me, here?

Shoulder: *pouts*

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Sigh. Derby was not kind to me this week. Actually, derby was awesome. Better than, even. But, my body is running to catch up after three nasty practices in a row. Lots of hard work, some tumbles and a crazy baseball slide on a floor that wasn't at all slide-ey (my bad, I forgot in the moment!) left me with some bruises and a lovely fist-sized angry red rinkburn. Oh, and I can testify that a full session of running toe starts will render one's calves a trembling, sore mess the next day.

The good news is that all this hard work is paying off. My coach pulled me aside to go over my benchmark results and I was so pleased to see how well I did on them. And I couldn't help but grin like a fool when she told me that if I keep it up over the next couple months, she was pretty sure I'd make the travel team when try-outs hit.

Now, for anyone who's grown up being relatively confident of their athletic abilities, made cuts and placed at track and field, etc.... this kind of thing is probably no biggie. But for me? Big deal. I never was really involved in any team sports, hated gym class, avoided track and field. I might have wanted to try out for a team or two but never did cause I lacked confidence that I could stack up against the competition and took myself way too seriously -- the idea of being cut from try-outs was a nightmare I didn't want to even think about.

My first team experience was a year after the Princess was born when I joined a ladies soccer league. And while I never, ever tore up the field, I was a solid defender. You know, generally made the smart play and could be counted on to stop what I was supposed to stop. I actually had not bad instincts for the game once I found my groove, I dug hard and found an aggressive, competitive side of myself that I didn't really know was there. My second and third years I would often sub in as goalkeeper. I hated that feeling of pressure that the buck stops with me. But when my team needed someone, the fingers ended up pointing in my direction which, while it felt good in a way, also really sucked. I can recall a couple replay-worthy saves and a memorable moment when I thought my face might have caved in from a howitzer of a shot (Does it count that I stopped the ball -- with my FACE??) but it really wasn't my position to shine in.

After soccer, I suppose Krav was my next athletic adventure. I think my body finally played catch-up for all those nonathletic years and my Krav training helped me out immensely with that whole mind-body connection. I still want to go back and finish training for my next ranking... but right at the moment derby has a hold of me, I guess. I have a window of opportunity, age-wise, to abuse my body on the derby track and so it's now or never. Krav can wait. :)

I'm just not sure my body is really pleased with the new arrangements. Lucky for me, this is a dictatorship and not a democracy. The word on the street is Put Up or Shut Up.

You hear that, Shoulder?? Good. Glad we have an understanding.

Tough Nut.

I am a little worried about my little buddy. The Kid has always been a sensitive and emotional little dude. He wears his little heart on his sleeve and problems and issues always seem to affect him so deeply. It's easy to tell when something is bugging him.

And I know that something is going on inside him lately. My loving, funny little guy has been replaced with a sullen, grumpy Person who gets tummy aches each day before school.

But, here's the problem. The Kid may well be sensitive and emotional. But he is certainly not very self-aware. In his own little mind, all he knows is that the world sucks. Asking him to pinpoint WHY it sucks and WHAT we can do to help it not suck? That's asking too much.

Which is really frustrating for a straightforward parent like myself. And concerning. I wonder how in the world I'm going to give him the tools to navigate life, when he struggles navigating his own insides. I know that he's only six and that some of this self-awareness truly does develop a bit later for boys, etc, etc, yada, yada. It just makes it hard to reach him where he's at right now, though.

So... all you parents of boys out there... any advice? I've talked to his teacher at school already. A number of times, actually. I know that there are some issues there in terms of compatibility between the Kid and her. Frankly, I think that he can be a bit of a challenge at school and she is the type who likes to squish the Challenges. Unfortunately, it's a bit late to change things up... Otherwise, I don't have a lot of insight about this thing. The Kid has friends, people like him, there's been no reports of any bullying or whatever.

Anyway, I look forward to hearing what you all may have to say about this. In the meantime, I'm launching The Kid Protection Program. We have a lunch date today and since I have the week off of work, I'm going to take some extra time to connect with him after school and stuff. Maybe he just needs some extra TLC.

A Little Bit of This...

My kids are home from school, yet again. The Kid managed an impressive fever last night after his first day back at school which won him a morning off. And the Princess, who had been at school the day before, ended up coming home midday being really pretty sick. So, morning off for her, too.

I don't even want to say it lest I jinx it, but... the fact that I've managed not to get either Mr. F's chest cold or the grommets' ear/nose/throat thing-ey is nothing less than a miracle. I think it's maybe cause I've been taking Grapefruit Seed Extract, which is an antibiotic. I really have no other explanation cause this is really one for the record books. You won't see me complain, though.

Warning: TMI... Really, really a lot of TMI... Beware.
Unless... the GSE (as a Vitamin K inhibitor) could be also responsible for the freaking CRIME SCENE my body tried to replicate yesterday, almost sending me to Emerg. cause Holy Cow The Bleeding, people. Un. Freaking. Real. The healthline nurse very gravely warned me to head straight to the ER and I, well, didn't do so. But really, have you seen a FlutterCity ER lately? I took some iron and prayed, instead. Not that I was irresponsible about it, but just more "Wait and See". I felt fine, actually, and by midnight things had mostly gone back to normal so... I'll say nothing more except that I NEVER want to do that again.

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The Princess is really hitting her stride at school, lately. She's been bringing home some terrific marks and really being conscientious about doing a good job on her projects and studying and what not. Unfortunately, this has not in any way, shape or form influenced the condition of her room. Three weeks ago, she joined a band class at school and came home with great news; she's been chosen to be the drummer of this little rock band. Passed auditions and everything. (I knew all those hours of playing RockBand with her would pay off!) It was really so wonderful to see her confidence in herself; to have a skill that only we knew she had be validated in front of her peers. Or something like that, I'm not really explaining it well, I know.

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I'm irked at the scheduling I've been getting at my new job. My supposed "Weekday/Day shift" has turned into me being the exclusive "WeekEND day shift" girl and I'm not pleased. I have talked to my manager and now he's doing some sort of shady quick-step around why the hours have changed. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, I just know that I'm not pleased with the present situation and hate the feeling of being lied to. I absolutely DESPISE the idea of leaving a job so quickly -- it's not what I want on my resume, I am not a quitter... but I may have no choice if things can't become a bit more flexible.

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The Kid's front two teeth came out some time ago and I swear this is the cutest look for him. He looks just like the sweetest little vampire, ever. I swear, it's adorable.

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I've really been wanting a dog, lately. Which is all kinds of silliness considering just how busy we are and how dreadful our last experience was. But, hey... some dreams don't die, I guess. Maybe someday I'll have my house on a little piece of land somewhere where my big, smooshy eared doggy can have the best life ever and I can smoosh his smooshy ears and kiss his kissy face whenever I want and life will be grand. Right? Right.

"arghh" and "stupid" and "Hmmmm..."

First, "Arghh and Stupid": I had to toast my template as it wasn't really compatible with, well... posting and all stuff pertaining to blogging. Especially posting pictures. I'd like to say that I tried really, really hard to make it work, but I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to tech-ey stuff that is not readily apparent. After a couple googles and a visit to Blogger Help? Done. Which means I'm back in black for the time being. (anyone else rocking out that AC/DC tune in their head right now? Thought so...)

"Hmmmmm...": I had a rendezvous with my hairstylist today. One which was long overdue cause a girl like me can only go so long without a little... you know. :D I always hate leaving it go too long; I feel sheepish walking in with outgrown panels and ratty ends. But, it always happens. Either cause of budget or just cause I have a hard time planning ahead for stuff like that. I'm kinda a fly by the seat of my pants person and booking something ahead two or three weeks makes me all kinds of anxious, cause, well... what if something else comes up? Or other various non-essential and non-rational concerns. Whatever. The point being that I finally got my butt into the salon and told my favorite girl "Have at it." Which means that I really, really trust her.

Which may have backfired a bit. Not much, but I'm still trying to decide whether I really like it or if it's all wrong. She decided to lighten everything up around my blond panels and then chopped a lot off and threw in a fringe of bangs. Which ended up like this:





Oh well, when it comes to hair my philosophy is pretty much that It Will Always Grow Back. And there have been some defining hair moments that have had me chanting that while cowering in the corner of the shower and I'm still alive to tell it.

I guess I'll get used to this, too.