Today is Memorial Day - the day we recognize and thank those men and women who have fought to protect our nation and freedom, and have now since passed.
Someone yesterday made mention that we should be careful about who and how we say "Happy Memorial Day"…because, for some, it is the day that they are reminded of a great loss. For the widows or widowers, mothers and fathers, siblings, children, and friends whose loved ones never returned from war, it isn't a happy one. For them, it isn't merely a day off work and a Monday when the mail isn't delivered…it isn't a great time to shop the Memorial Day sales or BBQ out with friends and family. It is a sobering thought, isn't it?
Honestly, I am unsure what word to use, replacing the "happy" that we place before most every holiday. Maybe have an honoring Memorial Day? Have a thankful Memorial Day? Have a respectful Memorial Day? I suppose any of those would work - being we are honoring those who have died; we are thankful for those who put their lives in crosshairs of triggers; we hold great respect for those who gave their lives so we could enjoy this day! "Freedom isn't free" sounds very cliche, but it is so true.
So, if you know someone who has lost a loved one, family member, or friend who bravely sacrificed their life in the face of battle, then thank them - give that widow or widower a hug, that mother or father a hand shake, that child or sibling a pat on the back - tell them that you recognize their loss and how much you are thankful and respect those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom!
Monday, May 28, 2018
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Road trips with children...
My husband and I have always pledged, "We will never get a mini-van!" Even when we added number three, we found a solution to avoid becoming the stereotypical mini-van parents - third row seating SUV, enough to accommodate two adults and three children in car seats!
After all three were free of those restraints, my husband traded it in for his dream vehicle, the Jeep - aka, the tank. For short trips around town, the situation is acceptable, but for road trips? The trio crammed into the back seat, three adorable sardines, adorned with blankets, pillows, backpacks, and toys... For eleven hours, each way, trip completed twice a year, it is less than ideal!
Hour one - settling in...the excitement of the destination, engaged in games or books...music and conversation in the front seat, mostly bliss. Hour two - still ok, some restlessness, inevitably someone has to use the restroom...we stop. Hour three - 4, somewhat like first two, but the wiggles begin. Hour five- 6, wiggling becomes "scoot over!" "She's on my side!" "Isn't it my turn to play the (insert newest gaming device)?" The question that no road trip can ever avoid - "Are we there yet?!" Ahhhhh
It is still at least 4-5 hours to go. The knowing that the question will be asked no less than 30 times, the arguments, more frequent pee stops, ready to pop out the windows..."Are we there yet?!"
Rewind time around 30 (cough) years - a scene similar to the above, with the blankets and pillows, books and toys, two kids ride the ten or so hours to Grandma's house. There were just two of us - me and my younger brother, AND we were in a Bonneville! Still, the arguments would ensue over whose space ended where and the "Are we there yet?" drove our parents insane! Two kids, a larger back seat, for less hours…getting the picture?
After our white-knuckled, down back roads, trip home from NC in January - snow and ice in places that never saw either, let alone had the capacity to salt or clear them; we have re-thought the road trip. Soon, we will have two teenagers and a 9 year old, the eldest being as tall as I am and the middle soon-to-be. To save our nerves and brain cells, we are reverting to renting a mini-van for all future trips!
After all three were free of those restraints, my husband traded it in for his dream vehicle, the Jeep - aka, the tank. For short trips around town, the situation is acceptable, but for road trips? The trio crammed into the back seat, three adorable sardines, adorned with blankets, pillows, backpacks, and toys... For eleven hours, each way, trip completed twice a year, it is less than ideal!
Hour one - settling in...the excitement of the destination, engaged in games or books...music and conversation in the front seat, mostly bliss. Hour two - still ok, some restlessness, inevitably someone has to use the restroom...we stop. Hour three - 4, somewhat like first two, but the wiggles begin. Hour five- 6, wiggling becomes "scoot over!" "She's on my side!" "Isn't it my turn to play the (insert newest gaming device)?" The question that no road trip can ever avoid - "Are we there yet?!" Ahhhhh
It is still at least 4-5 hours to go. The knowing that the question will be asked no less than 30 times, the arguments, more frequent pee stops, ready to pop out the windows..."Are we there yet?!"
Rewind time around 30 (cough) years - a scene similar to the above, with the blankets and pillows, books and toys, two kids ride the ten or so hours to Grandma's house. There were just two of us - me and my younger brother, AND we were in a Bonneville! Still, the arguments would ensue over whose space ended where and the "Are we there yet?" drove our parents insane! Two kids, a larger back seat, for less hours…getting the picture?
After our white-knuckled, down back roads, trip home from NC in January - snow and ice in places that never saw either, let alone had the capacity to salt or clear them; we have re-thought the road trip. Soon, we will have two teenagers and a 9 year old, the eldest being as tall as I am and the middle soon-to-be. To save our nerves and brain cells, we are reverting to renting a mini-van for all future trips!
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| From a LONG time ago - but our favorite way that they travel - asleep! |
Monday, May 21, 2018
The pretentious lanai...
I have mentioned our "pretentious lanai" more than a few times in my blog. I call it this because I had never heard the term "lanai" until searching for a new home in Florida. "Oh, it has a lovely lanai," was something I simply could not appreciate. Finally, I asked.
What I grew up calling a back porch or patio - that is what a lanai is. Mind you - porches can be on the front or the back of a home, as can patios, although they are usually more back. A lanai refers to a back porch or patio with a roof. Apparently, the term originated in Hawaii and Florida adopted it. Basically - if it has concrete, a roof, and is located in the back of a home, it is a lanai.
Ok, so the word "lanai" does sound Hawaiian, but in Florida, it just sounds pretentious to me. "Oh, what a lovely lanai you have," spoken in the snoodiest of accents. Our's being screened in makes it all the more pretentious - "Isn't our screened-in lanai marvelous?"Yet, it comes up in many blogs, due to the fact that I love to sit in my pretentious lanai and write, teach homeschool, watch wildlife, and the likes.
Recently, we added a roof to floor curtain on one side of the lanai. As the spring turns to summer, more and more of it would be flooded with sunlight and, therefore, heat. Adding the curtains cuts the outside temperature quite a bit and negates the need for sunscreen. (Also, it adds privacy, which is nice.) With the outdoor couch my husband added, it has become my favorite room in the house, or…hmm, my favorite room on the property? The overhead fan blowing and breeze from the lake, the curtains blocking heat and harmful rays, and a comfortable couch facing the water and wildlife - why wouldn't it be my favorite?! :)
What I grew up calling a back porch or patio - that is what a lanai is. Mind you - porches can be on the front or the back of a home, as can patios, although they are usually more back. A lanai refers to a back porch or patio with a roof. Apparently, the term originated in Hawaii and Florida adopted it. Basically - if it has concrete, a roof, and is located in the back of a home, it is a lanai.
Ok, so the word "lanai" does sound Hawaiian, but in Florida, it just sounds pretentious to me. "Oh, what a lovely lanai you have," spoken in the snoodiest of accents. Our's being screened in makes it all the more pretentious - "Isn't our screened-in lanai marvelous?"Yet, it comes up in many blogs, due to the fact that I love to sit in my pretentious lanai and write, teach homeschool, watch wildlife, and the likes.
Recently, we added a roof to floor curtain on one side of the lanai. As the spring turns to summer, more and more of it would be flooded with sunlight and, therefore, heat. Adding the curtains cuts the outside temperature quite a bit and negates the need for sunscreen. (Also, it adds privacy, which is nice.) With the outdoor couch my husband added, it has become my favorite room in the house, or…hmm, my favorite room on the property? The overhead fan blowing and breeze from the lake, the curtains blocking heat and harmful rays, and a comfortable couch facing the water and wildlife - why wouldn't it be my favorite?! :)
Monday, May 14, 2018
Graveyard of love bugs...
It is May in Florida -the month where love bugs emerge from the bladed recesses of grass and weeds and wreak havoc on vehicle paint and walkways. If you aren't familiar with love bugs, the males are smaller than the females. When they take flight, they literally attach themselves to one another and are stuck this way until the male dies and the female lands to lay the eggs. First flight, breed, die - the life cycle of a love bug!
Every year, we scrape the guts of deceased off the paint and windshield of the car - this is nothing new…but this year, they have been bombing our front door. No less than two-hundred of the discarded males litter our front walkway and there are consistently at least twenty that are still paired in the entrance. Think conjoined birds, attached in opposing directions, trying to fly - yep, they don't get very far or fast! They just hover, moving sporadically, bumping into things and clinging to screens.
Every year, we scrape the guts of deceased off the paint and windshield of the car - this is nothing new…but this year, they have been bombing our front door. No less than two-hundred of the discarded males litter our front walkway and there are consistently at least twenty that are still paired in the entrance. Think conjoined birds, attached in opposing directions, trying to fly - yep, they don't get very far or fast! They just hover, moving sporadically, bumping into things and clinging to screens.
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| This is after many were already swept away…welcome, to the love bug morgue! |
Friday, May 11, 2018
How do you say "Pecan?"...
Although I spent the majority of my childhood south of the Mason Dixon line, I was born in Ohio and raised by two (wonderful) parents who had lived in Ohio and Michigan all of their lives. In a home with predominantly northern accents and verbiage, more of that "stuck" than the environment around me. I suppose if I had friends who picked on my more northern accent or words, I may have developed the middle Tennessee "drawl" more, but that wasn't the case.
Pronunciations and word selection, not to mention accents, are very different - not just in the north or south, but all of America. Take the word, Pecan…I have heard it said three different ways, my pronunciation of the word varies between two of these: Pick-AHN and Pee-KAHN…as my favorite pie, I will call it whatever the baker would like! The third is PEE- can. Apparently, Pee-KAHN is the nationwide dominant pronunciation. PEE-can is popular up the East Coast and New England. It is Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma were the pick-AHN is used - this is odd, because neither of my parents or family are from these states, yet they use pick-AHN!
That brings me to my son's pronunciation of the word syrup. Almost the entire United States pronounces it as Sir-up. Only parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York areas use Sear-up. Despite the fact that no one in his immediate and extended family pronounce it that way, he says Sear-up. So why is that? And why do I say pecan differently? Who knows!
The reference of carbonated beverages also varies. A teacher of my son's did a FaceBook poll on what it is called and where the person was from. Over one hundred responses and all but two fit the "mold." The term "soda" is used in the Southwest, New England, FL, Georgia, the Carolinas, the Virginias, PA, and Missouri; "pop" in the north - coast to coast, minus New England; and "coke" in Southern Texas through Tennessee, with the states south of these. After we moved from Ohio to Tennessee, my dad once ordered a coke (assuming the brand - "Do you have coke?" "Yes," "Ok, I will have a coke."), but received a Pepsi. It was then that we learned that anything that is dark and carbonated is called a coke!
How do you express to someone that you would like to help relocate them from one position to another? Do you "take them to the store," "bring them to the store," or "carry them to the store?" Or how about working the lights - Do you "turn the lights on," "flip the lights on," or "cut the lights on?" The last of both of those was a North Carolina thing that we adjusted to, after moving there. You carry people to the store and you cut the lights on…odd - because you aren't physically carrying anything and cutting the lights usually goes with off, not on…anyway!
So - how do you say "Pecan?"
Pronunciations and word selection, not to mention accents, are very different - not just in the north or south, but all of America. Take the word, Pecan…I have heard it said three different ways, my pronunciation of the word varies between two of these: Pick-AHN and Pee-KAHN…as my favorite pie, I will call it whatever the baker would like! The third is PEE- can. Apparently, Pee-KAHN is the nationwide dominant pronunciation. PEE-can is popular up the East Coast and New England. It is Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma were the pick-AHN is used - this is odd, because neither of my parents or family are from these states, yet they use pick-AHN!
That brings me to my son's pronunciation of the word syrup. Almost the entire United States pronounces it as Sir-up. Only parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York areas use Sear-up. Despite the fact that no one in his immediate and extended family pronounce it that way, he says Sear-up. So why is that? And why do I say pecan differently? Who knows!
The reference of carbonated beverages also varies. A teacher of my son's did a FaceBook poll on what it is called and where the person was from. Over one hundred responses and all but two fit the "mold." The term "soda" is used in the Southwest, New England, FL, Georgia, the Carolinas, the Virginias, PA, and Missouri; "pop" in the north - coast to coast, minus New England; and "coke" in Southern Texas through Tennessee, with the states south of these. After we moved from Ohio to Tennessee, my dad once ordered a coke (assuming the brand - "Do you have coke?" "Yes," "Ok, I will have a coke."), but received a Pepsi. It was then that we learned that anything that is dark and carbonated is called a coke!
How do you express to someone that you would like to help relocate them from one position to another? Do you "take them to the store," "bring them to the store," or "carry them to the store?" Or how about working the lights - Do you "turn the lights on," "flip the lights on," or "cut the lights on?" The last of both of those was a North Carolina thing that we adjusted to, after moving there. You carry people to the store and you cut the lights on…odd - because you aren't physically carrying anything and cutting the lights usually goes with off, not on…anyway!
So - how do you say "Pecan?"
Monday, May 7, 2018
All zapped out….
Ah, the good old MacBook Pro…My husband got it over ten years ago. In his line of business (Computer networking, engineering, cloud, etc.), he has to update to something newer every few years. So, it became mine! Mac and I have done a lot of writing, blogging, bill paying, and research together. Although the bottom of the screen now glows (no clue why) and various marks and dents litter its surface, Mac has been ever-faithful, always getting the job done.
However, of late, Mac is getting cranky, shocking me…literally! If you have ever drug your feet across carpet, then touched something metal - it is that kind of sparked shock. Ouch! Perhaps, in his old age, he is becoming picky about how he is touched. He is becoming the elderly widower, living in the scary old house that kids are afraid to near, for fear of being eaten…or, in this case, zapped!
Using Florida Virtual for some of the middle school classes, however, requires being on a computer…which is usually mine. So, I ordered another laptop - it is a Levono - microsoft and does what needs to, in regards to accessing excel, word, and the internet. No worries of being zapped for the kids, but I still prefer old Mac, despite the zaps. Maybe it is the keyboard layout or the less touchy mouse, but I just am not ready to retire this old Mac!
Then again, I am apple biased. After I was diagnosed with leukemia, at ten years old, the Make A Wish foundation sent a couple of representatives to the hospital. They told us all about the organization and asked what wish I wanted to make. Honestly, I had NO idea! I didn't want to meet a celebrity - my prednisone chipmunk cheeks, balding hair, and general feeling of sickness put a crimp in that idea. I was too young to drive. I had already been to Disneyland and Disney World. So - the top three that kids generally ask for - celebrities, vehicles, and vacations - were off my list.
Ever practical, even at ten, I wanted something that would last - something that would benefit more than just me, but my whole family. What did I eventually select (and even though I am officially dating myself with this comment) in the summer of 1988? An apple computer - a 2Gs, to be specific! For anyone born before 1985, you might remember that most people did not own computers in their homes. We were the first in the neighborhood, that is for sure!
Apple didn't merely send the screen and hard drive of a 2Gs, though. They sent those and a color printer, mouse, joystick, and games, as well! To say they went all out would be an understatement. Showering me with a massive dose of love and encouragement, I was all smiles for weeks. (Ok, not when I had a bone marrow biopsy or spinal tap, but otherwise - smiles!)
Needless to say, Apple gained a fan. However, for a while there, when microsoft had the cheaper laptops, I was a customer. Let's face it, Apple did have some down time before the iPhone, iPad, iPods, ieverythings - but they got back into the game! Ouch! Zap! Calm down Mac, it's just a blog! :)
However, of late, Mac is getting cranky, shocking me…literally! If you have ever drug your feet across carpet, then touched something metal - it is that kind of sparked shock. Ouch! Perhaps, in his old age, he is becoming picky about how he is touched. He is becoming the elderly widower, living in the scary old house that kids are afraid to near, for fear of being eaten…or, in this case, zapped!
Using Florida Virtual for some of the middle school classes, however, requires being on a computer…which is usually mine. So, I ordered another laptop - it is a Levono - microsoft and does what needs to, in regards to accessing excel, word, and the internet. No worries of being zapped for the kids, but I still prefer old Mac, despite the zaps. Maybe it is the keyboard layout or the less touchy mouse, but I just am not ready to retire this old Mac!
Then again, I am apple biased. After I was diagnosed with leukemia, at ten years old, the Make A Wish foundation sent a couple of representatives to the hospital. They told us all about the organization and asked what wish I wanted to make. Honestly, I had NO idea! I didn't want to meet a celebrity - my prednisone chipmunk cheeks, balding hair, and general feeling of sickness put a crimp in that idea. I was too young to drive. I had already been to Disneyland and Disney World. So - the top three that kids generally ask for - celebrities, vehicles, and vacations - were off my list.
Ever practical, even at ten, I wanted something that would last - something that would benefit more than just me, but my whole family. What did I eventually select (and even though I am officially dating myself with this comment) in the summer of 1988? An apple computer - a 2Gs, to be specific! For anyone born before 1985, you might remember that most people did not own computers in their homes. We were the first in the neighborhood, that is for sure!
Apple didn't merely send the screen and hard drive of a 2Gs, though. They sent those and a color printer, mouse, joystick, and games, as well! To say they went all out would be an understatement. Showering me with a massive dose of love and encouragement, I was all smiles for weeks. (Ok, not when I had a bone marrow biopsy or spinal tap, but otherwise - smiles!)
Needless to say, Apple gained a fan. However, for a while there, when microsoft had the cheaper laptops, I was a customer. Let's face it, Apple did have some down time before the iPhone, iPad, iPods, ieverythings - but they got back into the game! Ouch! Zap! Calm down Mac, it's just a blog! :)
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
"Some assembly required," or not...
Another geek peek here - I love to build things! My mother's father was a carpenter/builder and my mom's brother is still…amazing works of beauty, sketched-glass laced together with intricate woodwork and stone. Maybe it is in my genes, but I love to build!
I ordered a six-drawer tall/narrow dresser last weekend. The high ratings and perfect size, with "some assembly required" - I was sold. It arrived yesterday in a very tall and heavy box - way too narrow for anything to already be assembled. Hm. Apparently "some assembly required" means that I didn't have to measure and cut the wood, or drill little holes in various parts of the planks. I enjoy a challenge and was armed with screwdrivers and a hammer, so I read the directions. It was 6 pages of pictures, all incredibly vague with nothing labeled…but, neither was any of the wood or hardware! Going by hole positions, shapes of wheels, and sizes of screws, I began.
If the pieces had been labeled and a FEW words of explanation offered, It would have shaved a good hour off the process. Two hours, a pinch bruise on the left pinky, blisters on the thumb, and a lacerated pointer finger later, it was complete. It turned out great and I really love it, but I must say two things. One - "some assembly required" isn't accurate. It should have read, "All assembly required, but don't worry - we cut the wood and have all the hardware. Labeling is absent and directions are vague, but you can do it!"
Two - the builder and klutz genes collide into a physical oxymoron. Inserting a large zinc cam into a wooden hole shouldn't be an accident waiting to happen…but a misplaced pinky finger in the push? Yep. Additional injuries, klutz related and occurring during the build - a toe was stubbed on a plank and ankle bruised; however, that is just me…walking around the labyrinth of wood and hardware! It is a recipe for disaster when the klutz picks up a hammer and nails! :)
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| Not the best picture - but, walah! :) |
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