Karma or confusion?

Many many thanks to all of you who enjoyed my interview with the girls on Tuesday. Rhea is quite talented at asking the questions. And my girls are quite talented at creating pandemonium with said questions.

And then on Tuesday night. I got an email from my Aunt Elizabeth. About that interview. Because she doesn't believe in commenting:

AT LAST!

Just finished your interview with your adorable daughters and the flashback was instant...

You can't imagine how much they sound like you did at their age...

and I would think that your day would come and your unique take on life, your precociousness, your positivity about always being positive that you had all the answers would return to take revenge...

nothing at all is wrong with all that, but now you know why your Declarations and Proclamations almost always caused your Aunt (and every other adult who came under your dominion) to roll her eyes and wait for this day!

Keep blogging and I will keep reading and,maybe, just maybe, when I am a woman of leisure (Yeah, right), I will blog back.

To Katie and Maddie: Keep up the good work

To your Mom: At last! Payback time! hehehehe

Elizabeth

Well...I just don't know what she could possibly be referring to. No clue whatsoever.

It wasn't me that was so stubborn. So stubborn that I didn't sleep through the night until I was almost one. So stubborn that I would scream if anyone besides my mother tried to hold me. So stubborn that I could cry for five hours strait. Until someone would come and pick me up.

I mean. It wasn't me who would hold my breath when I didn't get my way. And then pass out. Knocking my head on the terazzo floor. And get a concussion. Twice.

It wasn't me that was such a good rule follower in pre-school. That I tried to police all my classmates. And inform my teachers that they were explaining things incorrectly.

It wasn't me that met practically every statement uttered in my direction with an "I knew that."

It wasn't me that kept up a such steady stream of chatter. Even if no one was listening. Even telling my grandmother that my mom was pregnant. Before my mom even had a chance to take a breath.

It wasn't me who was nicknamed "Rattlesnake" by the friends of my parents. I was never likened to a snake. With a sharp tongue. That is quick to strike. And always has a comeback. And the nickname was never prevalent enough to be put on a birthday cake.It wasn't me that was told by every single teacher I had in my first year of high school that I should join the debate team. Including my algebra teacher.

I just don't know what Aunt Elizabeth could possibly mean...

So...what about you? What were you like growing up? Do you see the same kinds of traits with your own kids? Has your aunt ever laughed and uttered the word "karma?

Theme song - John Lennon - Instant Karma. Though "Karma Chameleon" was tempting...

Un-Wordless Wednesday: School pictures

School has started. And people begin to switch gears. From summer into fall. It's the season of leaves changing. Football begins. Baseball ends. And photographers descend upon our schools.

Madalyn had picture day at school last week. I had to pick a background. Pick between four poses. And decided how much I wanted to spend. ALL before she even saw the picture man. How was I supposed to pick a background color when I don't know what she will insist on wearing that day? Will someone brush her hair? Will they take this picture after she ran a mile for the presidential fitness test? And she's all hot and sweaty. Like last year.

At least the back grounds are solids. Unlike her pre-school pictures. One year they had a fall background. You know. Leafless trees. Squirrel in said tree. Looking like it was erupting from her head. Another year it was an old fashioned desk. With an apple on it. She was 2. And all she could do was look at that apple. Try to touch that apple. I am not in possession of either photo package. If I knew I'd be blogging, I would have purchased them. Just to show you how horrible they were.

And with homeschooling Katie...she gets left out of the horrid photo experience. Mostly because there are no school pictures. Except for the ones I take. But nothing posed. Suitable for a wallet size picture to exchange between friends. Or a 5x7 to mail to grandma. Now, there were a few years when I got my friend Teri to come and take pictures of our homeschool group. But those pictures are so good, they can't possibly count as a "school" picture.

This is me in 2nd grade - the same age that Madalyn is now.

I think it screams "THIS IS 1977!"

Or how about this one - 7th grade - a smidge older than Katie:

This one screams as well. From the wings. The Lacoste shirt. The purple eyeliner. Definitely 1982.

(**edited to add: ummm...after looking at these pictures again, I realized how straight my hair was. Really straight. And now - unbelievably curly. Ringlet curly. You'd think I have a spiral perm curly. The things that baby hormones will do to your body.)

So, what about you? Did your school pictures turn out well? Do your parents still have them hanging in their homes like a shrine to your childhood? Do you buy pictures of your kids from school?

Don't forget to sign up for the Favorite Things Swap!!

Theme Song: Dave Matthew's Band - So much to say

Dirty Little Secret

I have a secret. It’s a part of myself that I keep to myself. Until now.

I am capable of blending in. I don’t think that anyone can figure out my secret just by looking at me. Maybe there is a radar of sorts that some might be able to hone in on it. And I do have this tendency to wear comfortable shoes. And I would wear a pant suit over a dress any day. But I really don’t think anyone knows.

I have never tried to convert anyone to my life style. Socializing with me will not turn you into one. Although if you get to know me, and how I really feel. You might want to try it.

A lot of the people who are like me live in the city. But I am hiding here in suburbia. Living life on the down low.

My friends think that I am like them. They send me emails and pictures. They direct me to blogs that they think I might like to read. They don’t know that I just hit delete. Because they think that I am like them. And I can’t bring myself to correct them.

They ask me if I saw the Republican convention. But I was watching “Ellen.” They ask me if I have heard the latest Toby Keith song. I plead ignorance. When really the Indigo Girls and REM are tops on my ipod.

But truthfully, I am not like my friends. It is so hard to keep this secret to myself. Only a very few people know. My husband knows. And I have his full support.

So, I decided that it was high time that I told you all the truth. I can’t live like this anymore. I must come out of the closet. Let my freak flag fly. Let loose the “L” word. And tell you that I am le…la…li...liberal.

Theme song: All American Rejects - Dirty Little Secret

Seven Things

I saw this meme over on Sissy's blog. Sort of. I made some tweaks to it. And it kind of goes with my inability to come up with a Thursday Thirteen. I have 37 lists saved in word. All of them with 7 or 8 items on each list. Maybe I should do a Thursday Thirteen of all my 7 item lists. I am all about big talk. Big ideas. And no follow through.

So, along those lines, here are 4, 7 item lists. Cause 7 or 8 would be too much work.

7 things I can't do

• dance. I have no sense of rhythm at all.
• remember song lyrics
• watch gory movies
• speak plant
• speak car
• drink alcohol. It does not like me at all.
• drive slowly

7 Things I do well

• read prolifically
• teach
• swim
• play trivial pursuit. I have a bastion of useless knowledge on the tip of my tongue.
• speak pedantically
• procrastinate
• cook

7 Things I have never done

• Mowed the grass
• Shopped at a thrift store
• Cooked on a gas grill
• Taken the presidential fitness exam. In high school I refused to dress out for PE on those days.
• Watched an episode of "Friends"
• Worn a hat
• Had a cavity

7 Things I want to do

• Renew my vows. In Vegas. With Elvis. AND at a drive through chapel.
• Travel, travel, travel, and then travel some more
• Get certified to SCUBA dive - and then SCUBA dive
• Go back to school. And get that real PhD.
• Somehow aquire the patience to learn a new language or to play piano or something.
• See a play on broadway
• Host a blog stalkers convention to meet all the friends from inside my computer

So, what about you? What can you do? Can't you do? Never done? Wanna do?