While babysitting a couple days ago, the four-year-old boy (we'll call him Brett from now on, which y'all will understand is not his real name but is being used for his protection, or something like that...) and I got into a discussion about age and teeth.
Him: "When I'm five, then will I lose my baby teeth?"
Me: "Yeah, probably. Maybe not when you first turn five, but sometime when you're five."
Him: "Do you have all your grown-up teeth?"
Me: "Yep. But your sister (who is ten) probably has both baby and grown-up teeth right now. Does she?"
Him: "Yeah, because she's both big and little. I can tell by looking at her; she's big and small at the same time."
----
Then, last night, we got into another discussion somewhat related to age...
Me: "Are you looking forward to going to kindergarten soon?"
Him: "Yes."
Me: "It'll be different than your old school (a pre-school), huh?"
Him: "Yeah, but I'm gonna be there a long time and then I'll pass and be done."
Me: *Laughs* "A looooong time. You stay in school for a long, long time. Did you know I'm still in school?"
Him: "You are?? What's your school?"
Me: "I go to college."
Him: "How many years is that?"
Me: "Well, it's 13 years of regular school and then four of college, so about 17 years all together."
(At this point, his jaw drops and his eyes bug out like they do in the cartoons. And I consider telling him that if he wants to be a doctor or a lawyer, it'll be even longer school time, but I decide to just leave it as is.)
Him: "Then, after all of those years, you pass out?"
He meant, you pass out of school, but his true wisdom shined through in the words he really did say instead. Don't you all agree?
I nodded and laughed and told him that, yes, after so many years of school, you could certainly pass out...
Can I interest you in some fireworks? We have several "buy one, get one free" deals, including my favorite little fountain, The Moondance, which has pretty gold sparks and purple pearls. We also have the famous sparklers, called Morning Glories by the company we use. We don't have the much-talked-about snake fireworks, though, as they are now illegal in our parts of the hills.
Yeah, so I've been working at the church's fireworks stand for the past three days. Besides the heat and all the dirt out there in that field, it's been kinda fun being down there playing salesperson and visiting with folks I don't normally visit with at church. I just hope sales pick up between tonight and tomorrow, because it hasn't seemed nearly as busy this year as it usually is.
----
This guy came to my door this evening and introduced himself, announcing that he was from the United States of America and selling seafood and steaks. My little dog was barking ferociously and I was trying to calm her down as he said this, and I could have sworn he'd said he was from the U.S. government.
I couldn't figure out why the U.S. government would be selling meat door to door...
Man, they are desperate for money, aren't they?, I thought.
After I informed the guy that, no, I was not the "lady of the house" and my parents weren't home, and after I listened to his spiel about how good their meats were, and after I went back inside my home I voiced my confusion to my sister.
This Sixpence None the Richer song has haunted my thoughts for the past few days...
Paralyzed
I look out to the fields where blood is shed upon the ground
I breathe in and breathe out,
Change the channel, mute the sound
I take a match, a cigarette, and a walk to clear my head
My stomach’s reeling at the thought of all those human beings dead
I breathe in, I breathe out, then go down to do an interview
About a song, three minutes long,
I just need something to do
Especially when my dearest friend was sent to cover Kosovo
His last assignment brought a bullet and now he’s gone
Chorus:
Feels like I’m fiddlin’ while Rome is burning down
Should I lay my fiddle down, take a rifle from the ground
I need the ghost to breathe a northern gale tonight
‘Cause I’m paralyzed, I’m paralyzed
I packed his books up, left the office, went to tell the wife the news
She fell in shock, the baby kicked and shed a tear inside the womb
I breathed in, I breathed out, soaked the ground up with my eyes
It’s hard to say a healing word when your tongue is paralyzed
I breathe in, I breathe out
I breathe in, I breathe out
I breathe in, I breathe out
I breathe in, I breathe out
I heard on the local news this evening that 24 people were stuck upside down for two hours on a roller coaster that looked a lot like "The X" at a Six Flags in Maryland...
On Saturday I went to Six Flags with Ash and her youth group. It was so crowded that we actually ended up riding only two roller coasters and one water ride as well as some "kiddie" rides, even though we were there for almost 11 hours. But it was still fun. :)
I closed my eyes for most of my time on The Viper because I was already feeling a little queasy just being out in the intense heat without something to drink. The ride is fairly jolty already, but with my eyes closed I wasn't able to position my neck very well for the sudden twists and turns and upside down loops, so my neck was stiff all day yesterday. The Riddler's Revenge, on the other hand, was just as exciting and fun as I remembered it being the last time. That's my favorite coaster at the theme park, so I was glad it was one of the ones for which we did wait out the long line -- about an hour and 15 minutes, which was far better than the supposed 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hour wait in order to ride The X!
Just remember, if you decide to go to a theme park sometime in the near future, the lines are much shorter if you go during a school day sometime in early September. That's a major advantage for homeschool families, I guess. ;)
With large crowds, you're bound to see some interesting slogans printed on t-shirts worn by the other park-goers. Here are some of the ones I noted and jotted down on the back of a receipt while I was there:
-- Tact is for people who don't have enough wit to be sarcastic.
-- I don't have an attitude. I'm just RIGHT.
-- The clown made me do it.
-- Keep staring. I might do a trick.
-- I do too have an imagination, and you don't exist.
"Home-schooling isn't child abuse," concluded a recent editorial in The MetroWest Daily News. The write-up talked about a Massachusetts family, the Bryants, whose homeschooling practices have raised quite a controversy in their area. Apparently, the Department of Social Services there thinks it is saving the children from abuse or neglect by forcing them to take standardized tests away from home.
The editorial goes on to note that cases like this one give a bad name to DSS workers as a whole because they show them in an extremely petty light. Yeah, I agree. In fact, this is one of my biggest sources of frustration and anger. I have literally watched DSS and CPS involve themselves in the supposed cases of neglect amongst perfectly able homeschool families, and I have also watched them drop the ball far too soon in obvious cases of physical and sexual abuse of helpless children.
I have seen homeschoolers who carefully provide for their childrens' every need (physical, educational, social, etc.) questioned as though they were negligent because they actually took full responsibility for their children in every sense of the word, and I have seen children allowed to stay or go back to unhealthy living conditions because there "wasn't enough evidence" to place blame on a specific person even though it was obvious that at the very least something was very wrong with the situation. I have heard of homeschool parents automatically suspected of all kinds of things just because someone saw the kids outside during school hours, but I've watched parents who've already proven themselves incapable of taking care of their children properly given chance after chance to play their natural role in the child's life.
If these DSS and CPS agencies didn't go around looking for problems with homeschoolers and other parents whose parental choices don't obviously harm their kids, they'd probably have a lot more time and resources available to do their real job. There are real cases of abuse out there, and not all of those kids are receiving help from the agencies created for that purpose. And yet there are other petty cases fought to "save" kids from their neglective parents who take such a large interest in their education.
Something is wrong with this picture. Maybe the government and its agencies should do their job and let the rest of the parents do their own job. Just a suggestion...
(Thanks to Miss Rhesa for pointing me towards this article.)
The concert was good, though not very well-attended and the crowd we did have didn't really get into the music much. I think the guys were a little disappointed, especially at first... On the plus side, I got to stand about four feet from the stage the whole time. They played most of my favorite songs, except A Million Lights, which my sister and I mentioned to them later when we talked to them after the show. I guess you can't have everything...
Another music related bit of info: Switchfoot's Gone has made it to the radio airwaves. I've only heard it played once so far, but it made my day anyway. ;)
In honor of tonight's concert, here is another Tree63 song, this one taken from their most recent album:
Be All End All
Center of attention night and day
I just hang on every word you say
with worlds revolving 'round you silently
how come you have all this time for me?
'Cos you spend all day inside my brain
I'm overcome -- hard to explain
So what am I supposed to do?
I must have you
Be All End All
Start me finish me
You've been walking down my street again
now everybody want to be my friend
Beginning and the end of everything
you're the only song I want to sing
I'm absolutely in pursuit
of something absolutely true
and all around has come undone:
you're the 1*0*1
Every summer I make a list of things I want to do or accomplish during my months away from school. Of course, it's always full of unrealistic goals, and I never get everything (or even most of it) done before school takes over my life again. This summer I have even more than the usual amount of things to get done. If I'm going to move away at the end of August, I have a lot of things to go through and pack before then, besides the many other little preparations I must make for my semi-independent status. And then there's the fact that I'm working full-time...
I'd really like to keep this summer as restful as possible, so I'm trying to keep the added pressures and expectations of myself to a minimum, but there are still a few extra things that I'd really like to do this summer:
--Spend more time on the swing outside, sipping Dr. Pepper or lemonade
--Finish all websites I've been (or should be) working on
--Get my life together
--Read a lot of good books
--Figure out what I want to/should do next semester
--Trust God fully
--Write at least one short story and ten poems
--Take pictures and relearn photo techniques
--Have tea and visit with S. Miller at least twice
So far, I've only managed to read a few good books and take some tentative steps towards trusting God more...
I am a pendulum made of steel,
dusted with gold, half soft, half
hard, part frail enough to melt
or bruise or mar when swung
from side to side,
still solid to steady
rushing cycles of my life.
To the right I dive, to the left I drag
myself back, never progressing
far enough to break glass
box that keeps me bound
to eternal hesitation and wondering
which way to turn, and wandering
just far enough to feel doubt
tighten around my neck.
I mark time with indecision,
aware with each tick, each tock,
another moment passed away.
I blink in rhythm, a trance
or routine where uncertainty
is certain, and swinging from choice
to choice lulls to sleep, then jolts
awake. Familiar sways
reassure and disturb in single beat.
By the end of a game of Balderdash, the silliness level is usually already fairly high. Add to that a card with the word bummalo drawn last, and you can only imagine the resulting definitions written...
--A depressant made with extract of buffalo hoof.
--A homeless man who hops from box car to hitch-hiking.
--An Italian term used to describe a dead beat in the mafia.
--The ceremony of eating the heart of a buffalo.
--A Dutch tabloid famous for its stories on American and British stars.
Other answers that didn't make it to the paper but were laughed at afterwards:
--A bummed buffalo.
--A buffalo's bum.
--A lazy buffalo.
--An unemployed buffalo.
--A messed up buffalo burger.
--A cousin to the cebu and buffalo.
The real definition: A small dried fish used in chutney relish.
"Pharyngitis is an inflammation or infection of the pharynx, or a sore throat," says the handout given to me by the Urgent Care doctor this morning. It's viral, so there's nothing they can really do for me. Just take ibuprofin if I'm in a lot of pain (I didn't know that helped sore throats 'til now). Drink fluids. Rest and relax. Yeah, okay... And now I'm off to babysit again...
1) I have 5 cats, 2 dogs, and 18 chickens as pets
2) I used to play the piano and really need to pick that back up this summer
3) I love to read but rarely get the opportunity to read for pleasure these days
4) I spent three years at a two-year college because I took extra classes I didn't end up needing
5) I collect key chains, and candles unofficially
6) I’ve never broken a bone, except a tooth
7) I don’t wear nail polish
8) I got my license at the age of 20
9) I could easily become a vegetarian because I don’t like many meats
10) I’ve been to a Passover supper before
11) I’ve kept a journal off and on since about 2nd grade
12) I’ve been to 9 states, plus Canada
13) I rarely watch TV or even movies
14) I love wildflowers
15) I like to wear fun socks
16) I have an active imagination (just ask me about my close call with the Mafia)
17) I was homeschooled for 11 years
18) I have more online friends than RL friends
19) I read my Bible every night, no matter what
20) I dislike even the smallest of spiders
21) I own two pairs of sunglasses, one of them with purple-tinted lenses
22) I get along better with more mature adults than my “peers”
23) I want to travel to Ireland and several other European countries
24) I've never been to Boston in the Fall, but I would like to someday soon
25) I don’t know what I’ll be doing with my life this next semester
26) I hate feeling like I have no control
27) I still struggle some with self-esteem and self-confidence issues, but I've come a long way over the years
28) I love Mexican food, but I like the Americanized dishes more than the real stuff
29) I like to take pictures
30) I love to write poetry
31) I feel helpless without a notebook and pen beside me
32) I’ve been published three times
33) I started my own online ‘zine when I was 16
34) I’ve met four online friends
35) I love sunflowers
36) I can’t draw…at all
37) I take on the role of observer in most group situations
38) I’m a full time nanny for three kids over the summer
39) I tend to lose lyric sheets from my favorite CDs
40) Ash likes to tease me about it
41) I’m far more devoted to chocolate and Dr. Pepper than Ash is
42) I tend to over-analyze situations and probably worry too much
43) I love fishes (crackers!) ‘cause they’re so delicious!
44) I’ve had pneumonia twice
45) I’m quiet and introverted, but not shy (anymore)
46) I sing on my church’s worship team for Sunday evening service
47) I remember almost everything
48) I care deeply for those I know and love
49) I care too much at times
50) I always wanted to go on a summer missions trip, but never did
51) I’ve never been on a date
52) There are a few people with whom I’m comfortable being either silent or talkative, pensive or silly at any given time
53) I’m very close to my parents and siblings
54) My sister and I are “telepathetically” linked
55) Naming things is one of my hobbies (All my porcelain dolls have first and middle names)
56) I have a list of future children’s names that I intend to use whether or not my future husband likes them. :-P
57) I like dramas better than comedies, whether they’re TV shows or movies
58) I like heart-wrenching, sad, dramatic, romantic movies that make a person cry...but I also like suspenseful and mysterious dramas
59) I played soccer for one year and loved it
60) I would like to learn to play the guitar someday (hint, hint)
61) Getting married and raising children are my two biggest goals in life, besides pleasing God in whatever He would have me do
62) I love children’s books
63) I am interested in Celtic Christianity
64) I am also interested in history of every period, but particularly ancient and medieval history
65) I voted for the first time in the famous 2000 presidential election
66) I did not vote for Gray Davis in the last California governor election
67) I’ve been summoned for jury duty once, but my group was dismissed before trial
68) My favorite color is purple, but blue and green are close seconds
69) I firmly believe in concrete details and vivid imagery in writing (just ask my tutoring students)
70) I do not share my deepest fears with anyone
71) I am not close to any of my relatives outside my immediate family, even though I live near a lot of them
72) I have never been skiing or snowboarding
73) I love the ocean and would like to live within walking distance of the coast someday
74) I don’t like to swim, either in a pool or in the ocean
75) I have bad allergies, especially in the month of May
76) I like silver better than gold
77) I rarely wear jewelry besides the one necklace, one ring, and two bracelets I never take off
78) I can read and speak Spanish, but not fluently
79) I am extremely aware of my shortcomings, even if I don’t make the effort to change them
80) I greatly enjoy discussing and debating serious issues
81) I value sincerity and honesty in friendships
82) I am extremely thrifty with my money, but I’ll splurge on music and books much easier than on anything else
83) I never believed in Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny
84) I have good intentions to do so many things, but I never get around to a lot of them just because of a lack of time
85) I am a slow writer, but I’m learning to write quicker
86) I am a night owl, but I find early mornings are okay once I actually wake up
87) I eat Texas Sheet Cake for breakfast whenever we have it in the house
88) I judge songs by their lyrics before their music
89) I judge books by their covers (and by their authors)
90) I usually hate to shop
91) I am an intercessor, though I don’t always live up to that call on my life
92) I used to do puppets for children’s church and special youth-related events
93) I love the rain, except when I’m waiting at bus stops
94) I am fascinated by the moon and stars – almost obsessed with them
95) My favorite type of music is praise music
96) Little things matter to me and make my day, even if others brush them off easily
97) I like to play board games
98) I usually solve Wheel of Fortune puzzles before the contestants do
99) My computer hates me
100) I will probably never be considered an adult by those around me until I am married and have children
101) I have witnessed miracles before
102) My bedroom walls are painted royal purple and blossom green
103) I can type over 90 wpm, but usually I type much slower when it doesn’t actually matter
104) I’ve been bit by a goose before
105) I used to wear dress up clothes everywhere, and my mom willingly allowed it (ack!)
106) Though I don’t base my worth on it, other people’s approval is important to me
107) Still, I always think for myself and am rarely swayed by the crowd.
108) I hate to have blood drawn, but my doctor seems to always find a way to require it during my visits
109) When I was in elementary school and had to go to bed way too early, I used to put myself to sleep by seeing how far I could count without moving. Then, I’d try skip counting by 3s or 7s or 9s instead of just counting straight through.
110) I can’t stand racism or classism or anything else that describes a group of people acting superior over another group of people
111) I laugh at myself often
112) I hate it when my grandma takes pictures at family gatherings
113) I cringe every time I hear people swear, especially when they take the name of the Lord in vain
114) I am an expert at wasting time
115) I couldn't live without potatoes
116) I act like I'm not paying attention in Sunday School, but then I mull over the lesson all week
117) I don't accept everything I hear, even if a teacher or other "expert" says it, but I do consider it carefully before discarding it or accepting it
118) I am a cookie connoisseur
119) I am…Hannah!
I've come to the conclusion that older Disney movies are so much better than the newer ones. Maybe I'm biased, since I grew up on Lady and the Tramp and Peter Pan and Cinderella and Snow White, but these classics seem to out-do all the pizzazz and advanced technology of the newer movies every time. (Well, I did like Mulan a lot...)
On a related note, older cartoons are most definitely better than the new stuff kids watch today. Babysitting as much as I do now, I get to see a lot of pretty pathetic cartoons. Last night we watched an old Bugs Bunny cartoon, and the other day my brother was watching an old Popeye cartoon. Yeah, maybe I'm just partial to the good ol' days (or something like that...), but I think Bugs Bunny is still funnier than CatDog...
