5 Things

Alternate Title: 5 Things You May Not Know About Me But Which Probably Wouldn't Surprise You.

I wrote about this meme once before. I said then that there wasn't a whole lot unknown about me and if there was something there was a reason it was a secret. Well my mother over at Bears In Exile put this meme on her blog so I thought I would give it another try. Sometimes it is hard to come up with something to blog about. It was really hard coming up with 5 things. I put a lot of thought into this. I mean I don't want to tell those things that make me seem neurtic or psychotic, afterall.

1. I ran track in high school

2. I bite my nails. I don't have any desire to stop. I'm not the least bit ashamed.

3. My hair is not naturally curly. Although, I haven't been seen without curls since the early 80's.

4. I'm a closet Trekker. Yep.

5. I believe in life on other planets. I just can't believe in the big 'ol universe we're the only ones. Look what happened to us when God gave us free will on this planet. We've almost destroyed it and Him in the process. I like to think He tried it again and maybe got it right.

"S"

It is cold again today. The forecast is predicting the S word. (We don't like to say it out loud around here.)

If you live in colder climates you might not realize how people react to the prediction of "S" here in the Southland. First of all, we rarely get any "S" that actually sticks to the ground or especially the road. Mostly, it is just the threat of "S" that sends people into a tizzy. This evening if you went to any of the area groceries you would find them cleaned out of milk and bread. School will mostly likely be canceled for tomorrow before sundown. No sense in getting up tomorrow if it can be canceled today.

We do not put chains on our tires or other winterizing so bad weather does create hazardous conditions for school buses and people in 2 wheel drive vehicles. Our downtown area has a lot of elevated roads and they are usually closed with any chance of icing. (Years ago, when I worked 20 miles away I would have to try and reach work without getting on the parkway or interstate when this happened. It is not easy.)

I have always worked in a business that does not usually close for weather. We are expected to be open regardless. I am fortunate to drive a 4 wheel drive. It is the other idiots on the road you have to watch out for. Many people will rejoice that their business are closed and will then proceed to go out and play in then wintry weather.

It is supposed to warm up above freezing tomorrow afternoon so if there is any "S" it will most likely be a short-lived threat and life will continue on as normal. The grocery trucks will deliver more milk and bread. But like I said it is the threat of "S" that causes the problem and not the actual "S".

Monday

This morning when I dropped the children off at school it the temp read 19'. This is very cold for us here in North Alabama. When I got to work the temp was up to 24' but still too cold to sit in my car for my morning ritual of breakfast and reading.

My Mother came back to our house to stay after a week cleaning up her parents house. She volunteered to baby-sit last night so hubby and I could go out. I wanted to be a good dieter but can you really turn down free baby-sitting? So we went out to Maccaroni Grill and of course I had Penne Rustica (I did bring over half home with me) and this morning I am up 0.5lbs. That is the nature of my dieting saga, though.

So I am a little down this cold Monday. Tomorrow, though I have a lunch date with friends from my homemaker's club and the entire day to spend with my mother. Tomorrow will be a good day.

Saturday

Well it is Saturday and I have caught up on reading blogs and still I have found nothing witty to say. No exciting memes have I come across. Nothing worth commenting on. Really. So instead I give you this thought for today.

The best things are nearest; light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things of life.

Unknown

123 Meme

I tagged myself from AllyBean for this meme.

This is how it works:
1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag three more folks.

I am currently reading The Old Fox Deceiv'd by Martha Grimes. I haven't gotten to page 123 yet so I hope it doesn't spoil anything. I started counting with the first full sentence on the page.

"Not 'unhappy' nor 'poor' young woman. Maud Brixenham didn't waste time feigning

sympathy. She drank some of the sherry and set the fluted glass on the table."

Okay, if there are 3 book lovers reading my blog - "Tag, you are it."

Memories

I just returned after two days out of town. I was helping my mother and various other relatives sort through the lives of my grandparents. My grandfather passed away late November. The house he and my grandmother (deceased in July 2005) had lived in for over 40 years is being sold. Fortunately, someone in the family is purchasing the house.

The house is small - only two bedrooms but it is where they raised their 4 children. It originally had 3 bedrooms but a wall was removed to make a larger living room many years ago. It seems they hardly ever threw anything away. They had an outbuilding and a "shop" full of old memories and quite a bit of what must have been worth saving to them but now is merely trash.

We divided up the memories - or the sentimental trappings of a family first. There was very little of real value but everyone wants something to remember. We divided up the pictures, dishes, furniture and linen. I was fortunate enough to take home my Mama's Bible, my Papa's binoculars and many pictures.

Went through boxes and boxes of pictures. I do not know why they were never sorted into albums. One box chronicled the youth of my mother and her siblings, another box told of my growing up years with my cousins. Framed pictures of the grandchildren as adults as well as the great-grandchildren covered the walls.

It was a time of letting go but I could feel their presence everywhere. I could hear my Mama say, "Don't throw that away!" I could see my Papa working in his shop.

I miss them but I am glad I was able to keep these memories and the sentimental items I kept from the house.

Choice

Yesterday, January 22, was Blog for Choice Day and I missed it because I was at my other job where they expect me to work ALL DAY and not just read blogs and stuff.

Why I am "Pro-Choice"

I am coming out of the closet (so to speak) here an addressing a controversial subject. So far I have avoided anything highly charged or political and written about mundane subjects. But I felt the need to write this post after last week reading an article at www.powerpak.com titled, "Emergency Contraception: A Guide to Over The Counter Availability" as well as well written blogs by J at Thinking About and Maya's Granny.

I am ProChoice because simply, I believe in the right of a woman to have a choice about her own body. I believe ProChoice is as much about legal abortions as it is about the choice to plan when and if to have children. I admit that this directly conflicts with many of my other conservative Christian views. I know that many people I know disagree with me. But I can not in good conscience support any decision to restrict women's decisions about their own body by men.

I am ProChoice but I believe that a life is created at conception. I believe that life has a soul and that abortion ends that life. I believe that abortion often has long lasting emotional consequences for women (much like pregnancy and parenthood). I believe young women should have education that comes before this choice needs to be made. I do not believe I would make this choice given any circumstances. But that is my choice. That is the choice of a young, middle-income woman from a loving family and in a happy marriage who has not been faced with that decision. I do not believe that other women with far different situations should have to make the choice I do. They should be allowed their own Choice.

I am ProChoice but I believe in the sanctity of life. So I do believe more needs to be done to prevent the unwanted pregnancies that lead to abortions. I do believe abstinence is a good alternative for some people but preaching abstinence to today's generation of girls (and boys) as a form of birth control is ignorance at its most shocking. No one has ever been able to show that providing birth control to teenagers encourages promiscuity. What encourages this behavior is the media and our culture's promotion and preoccupation of sex everywhere we turn. We promote sex but we do a poor job of providing prevention. I do think girls are having sex too young. I do believe they would be better off if they waited and programs that promote Waiting are a good idea. But believing that teenagers will not have sex if they sign a "Pledge to Wait" is ludicrous and naive. Even the best intentions will go awry in the right (or wrong) circumstances.

I am ProChoice and a strong believer in birth control. Sexually active teenage girls should be taking the "pill" or other form of contraceptive as well as being responsible for providing their own prophylactics. (We still have to protect against those STDs.) I have been taking the "pill" off and on (I do have two children) for over 10 years and find it the best choice for me. But consideration should also be given to other hormone contraceptives such as the patch, the shot, or the ring. For some people the costs of these methods is prohibitive and they rely on barrier methods with a lower success rate. That is why there is a great need for PlanB.

I am ProChoice and I support the sale of PlanB over-the-counter. It is currently legal in Alabama to anyone over age 18 or by prescription to someone younger.

"All currently available hormonal methods of contraception have been shown to act by the following mechanisms: altering the endometrial lining, altering the cervical mucous, interfering with fertilization or transport of an egg, or preventing implantation. There is good evidence that Plan B prevents or delays ovulation as a primary mechanism of action; however, the product works when taken throughout the menstrual cycle, which means that additional mechanisms may be involved. The contraceptive activity of Plan B can be fully explained by mechanisms of action that do not involve post fertilization effects."

PlanB prevents pregnancy in the first 72 hours after intercourse primarily by preventing successful fertilization and implantation. Just like the "pill" it is not a form of abortion but of pregnancy prevention.

So all women of childbearing age not using a form of hormonal birth control should keep on hand PlanB for contraceptive failures. I will even go a step further and say that all mothers of teenage daughters should keep PlanB on hand. Because some of you need to get your heads out of the sand and face reality.

Yes education is important and any money this country spends on educating young women on how to prevent pregnancy is money well spent.

I am ProChoice because I want there to be choices for all women.

For references to the above information on PlanB please see the referenced article at www.powerpak.com. Tomorrow, back to mundane subjects.

1.5 lbs

I am very pleased to share with you that I lost 1.5lbs last week. This is very big for me because I have been losing less than a pound a week. This brings my total weight loss since I started (what was it, in October?) to 10.7lbs. Yeah! This is as they say in Weight Watchers A MILESTONE. Now I think I will celebrate my loss in true dieter's fashion by binging on chocolate! Just kidding.

Quote of the day:

The best things are nearest; light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things of life.

Unknown

Goals

This post is in response to the Write-Away Contest I read about on Scribbit.

In January, for some traditional reason I don't know the origin of people like to make new year's resolutions. They make a list of goals for themselves for the new year.

I don't really like to make goals. I don't participate in this January madness with an unrealistic list that will bring discouragement and self-loathing later on in the year. When I do make a goal I like to make it vague enough that if I don't quite make it there is still room to pat myself on the back. I want to lose some weight and am trying to diet but I refuse to put a number on the goal. I would like to raise confident, intelligent, Christian, sensitive, selfless (well you get the picture) children. But the reality is I would settle for surviving parenthood and all its numerous pitfalls and raising my children to become happy adults.

When I was in college I was very focused on the goal of graduating and getting a job. I did these successfully. Soon after that I got married (a goal also) and my husband and I settled into young married life. We made a goal of buying a house and we bought a house. We decided to start our family and we had children.

But since the children have come along I have floundered around in the goal department. I tend to just keep doing what I've been doing. I have all these vague goals for the future - save for kid's college, pay off the house, save for retirement. But I tend not to think of them too much.

What happens, I think, in the middle adult years, is we just focus on raising our families and working our jobs, and the mindset gets stuck on survive. This is the title of my blog and it comes from the lyrics to the song, "Deep Water" by Jewel:

"And you wake up to realize Your standard of living somehow got stuck on survive."

I don't think it is a negative thing, really. It doesn't mean I am not motivated or inspired or that I have difficulty following through. It just means I go on about my life.

And so I don't really like to make goals. I would like to just keep on living and loving and being.(Or is that a goal?)

Book Update

I just finished reading Michael Crichton's new book Next. (I ended up buying it for myself because no one took my hint.) If you are familiar with Crichton's other work Prey and State of Fear than you are familiar with his ability to take on controversial novel subjects. Next did not dissapoint. If you are unfamiliar with these titles you may know Crichton as the author of Jurrasic Park (made into a blockbuster movie) and Lost World (a different movie was made with that same name but not based on his book). He has also written several other great books including Congo, Sphere, Timeline and Prey. His books are well researched and well written. Next jumped around a bit and the characters were sometimes difficult to keep track of. But overalll, I feel Crichton did a good job of developing a novel around genetic engineering and its moral, ethical and legal pitfalls.

Also, this month I read the book, Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani. This was a novel where the heroine was a pharmacist. Quite a great idea, I think. Wish I had come up with it. It was a good read and I am looking forward to more books by this author.

Earlier I finished Valley of Bones by Michael Grueber, author of Tropic of Night which I reviewed here. It's subject matter is somewhat similar in style and if features one of the characters from the earlier book. Again, I really enjoyed this author. The writing style is a bit different as is the subject. But it was well written.

Just to round out this update I also read the first Richard Jury mystery, A Man With A Load of Mischief by Martha Grimes. Like many books at the beginning of a series (where I have read a later book) it lacked some depth but did not turn me off to the series. I plan to read all of these mysteries eventually.

Weather

I keep reading on blogs about this terrible weather that has attacked the country. People are without power and forced to leave their homes for shelters. Ice has school closed and people stuck at home. I'm sure any of them would trade their weather for mine.

On Sunday it was 70' here. Yesterday it did drop below freezing but today it is partly sunny. It has been years since we have seen any weather like the above. In fact, it snowed pretty hard on New Year's Eve 2000 and that is the last real snow we've had. My six year old daughter has yet to experience any real snow. When I was growing up (in this same area) we got out of school for snow or ice at least once yearly. Since I have lived in Huntsville we have had a few winter storms but nothing in the last 6 years. Is this the global warming I hear so much about? The last few years we have had very mild winters. I have a closet full of sweaters and sweatshirts and cute pull-overs that never see wear.

I'm not saying to send some of the bad weather my way. NO, that would be tempting things. I can't really handle school being out because I would still be expected to be at work. However, a few snow flurries would be welcome.

10 Things I love that start with P and 10 things I don't

J at Thinking About tagged me for this meme and assigned me the letter "P".

1. Presents - doesn't everyone love presents.

2. Pink - it is really not my color

3. Pears

4. Persimmons - actually, I'm not sure I've ever eaten one

5. Pleasant Weather - not like today

6. Peas - English mainly, yuck!

7. Parties

8. Palenontologists - just kidding

9. Pancakes

10. Private number - when it shows up on my caller id

11. Promises kept

12. Promises broken

13. Packing and unpacking - too!

14. permission - who needs it?

15. Pickles - dill or sweet

16. Pacifiers in children over 2 years old

17. Pharmaceuticals- the prescription kind - they are my livlihood

18. Pigs in general, although I do like pork

19. Peanut Butter - especially in Reese's Cups

20. Politically Correct - who can remember all of it?

I had an easier time coming up with P words that I love, they just popped in my head.

Tuesday

Today is the first day of a 3 day-in-a-row workweek for me. (I know some of you work 5 days in a row. But please remember that I work 10 hour shifts and am not allowed to leave for lunch.) I have caught up on my blog reading and now must come up with something witty to blog about. (Tomorrow, I'll read all the magazines - what will I do on Thursday?)

"Today you will feel completely in control of your life and it will feel as though nothing can fluster you. This will be very useful as there is likely to be something of a crisis at school or in the workplace that will need your input. A positive aspect between the Moon and Saturn will allow you to cope with ease. "

This is my horoscope for today. The crisis could be that my previous employer (WM) has begged me to come back and offered me more money and better hours than I was making with them before. I am having a hard time with this decision. I hope the Moon and Saturn will help me out.

I read about this quiz called Weffriddles on Chichimama's blog and I am stumped. I only got to level 3. Someone help me out here.

I got several comments on my jeans blog. It seems at least 5 people are reading my blog. Wow!

I weighed in today and have lost a total of 9.2lbs. Yeah for me!

Jean's, Sneaker's, and Face Paint

I read this great post and all the comments that followed on BooMama's blog today. It was about blue jeans. In it she refers to being a southern girl. Now I am a southern girl (born & bred as they say) and I grew up in jeans. I love blue jeans. I remember my very first pair of designer jeans. I was in the 4th or 5th grade and they were Chic Jeans (does anyone know if they still make these?). I believe they were a size 7/8 or some ridiculous number like that. Later in high school and college I discovered Levi's. I wore jeans all the time in high school and college. I did not own anything else but dresses (which I reserved for church). I love Levis' because they come in LONG which I need. After 2 pregnancies and some serious weight gain and loss and gain and loss I no longer wear Levi's. Last year I discovered Gloria Vanderbilt. They have these wonderful stretch jeans and colored denim and I have about 6 pair. I wear the colored ones to work. I am definitely a jeans girl, though. I wear shorts in the summer but I do not own any capri's or other cute, dainty summer pants. I do own some dress pants but they require wearing dress shoes which I reserve for church or "dressy" events. That brings up another reason I wear jeans. My footwear of choice is sneaker's. I wear sneaker's to work and everywhere else but church. I own 4 pair of dress shoes (2 summer, 2 winter) and I've had one of them since high school. I own 2 pairs of sandals, two pair of casual footwear (boots) and at any given time several pairs of sneakers in various states of newness (I buy a new pair about once a year). So I am a female who owns only about 10 pairs of shoes.

And as long as I am confessing to my lack of qualifications to be a girl. Let me say I don't wear make-up anymore. I wore it when I was younger but somewhere after the 2nd child I gave up. It isn't really that I don't like it or that I have any objection to it. The truth is I am just a bit lazy and hated the whole process of putting on and then taking off again. I have learned to accept my make-up less self (and I think my husband has, too. We kind of compromised. I quit wearing make-up and he quit shaving.) and am quite comfortable with it. So between my wash-and-go hair (no blow-drying), no make-up, and limited wardrobe I can be out the door in under 30 minutes (not counting getting children ready). There aren't really that many people out there like me I've found. My salt of the earth, truck-driving sis-in-law even wears make-up.

So, more than you really wanted to know, right?

Planned Obsolescence

J at Thinking About wrote a really good post about Planned Obsolescence. You always knew it existed. Did you know there was a term for it? Don't give in to the machine. Do you remember when manufacturers built things to last? This is before they realized that you don't want things to last. You want people to buy bigger and better. Why do you think the fashion people keep changing the fashion? They all want to stay in business. We've had 3 or 4 T.V.s since we were married (12 years). We've had two washers and dryers in the last 12. My parents still have the dryer they bought 18 years ago. I bet they still have that 3 legged waffle iron, too.

Diet Update

Well, despite a week at Disney World eating high on the hog when I weighed this morning I was at the same place I was before Christmas. So YEAH! No net gain since Christmas. Now I can get serious again about Dieting. I am trying to ease into it this week. (Can you ease on to a moving train?) I started cutting back slowly and arrived at Thursday following the Weight Watcher's Point System again. (Last night, I went to a meeting and left before the refreshments were served!) I am encouraged by the scale this morning. Next week, I am going to start back exercising and take a look at the Pilates DVD my sis-in-law loaned me. Meanwhile Sis-in-law has been doing fantastic! on NutriSystem. Mother is also dieting because that is what women do in January.

School

What do men do in January? My husband started back to school last night. He has been trying to complete an educational degree so that he can quit his high-paying job to do something less stressful and more satisfying. He is only taking one class per semester so it is a slow process. Our long-term plans are for him to attend school full-time starting in Fall of 2008. First, we have to trim down our financial responsibilities (spelled d-e-b-t). I think that if we live for 1 year on only 1 income then when he does start teaching it will be like getting a raise.

Lots of people we know live on only 1 income and we often wonder how they achieve this. We tried it for a short time while my babies were small (actually I did work part-time) and managed okay. Then my husband tried an upstart company for a few months working without a salary and we managed that okay. The truth is it doesn't take long to live up to your means whatever they are. We are still making payments on one of our cars and we have a home-equitly loan we are trying to pay down (from building a detached garage for hubby's many hobbies). We try to contribute to our 401K and IRA and we do save some. I have a goal of paying our house off before my oldest starts to college. (We have the Alabama PACT fund for tuition.) But in general we spend what we make. We go on nice Vacations (DISNEY), we dine out alot, we buy what we want and pay off our credit cards every month. Every spring the IRS sends us a big check and we go a little CRAZY.

So I am hoping that we can trim back and send my husband to school and live on only my income for 1 year. Luckily, I work in a profession that is always hiring. (I often joke, I could quit my job this morning and have another one this afternoon!) And also, it is not hard to pick up extra shifts for more income.

Backwards Children

My children are a little bit backwards. While we were at Disney World I had to threaten, cajole, etc to get them up and moving everymorning (I actually had them up before daylight one morning) so we could start at the parks early. They easily took an hour each morning to wake up, dress (no baths) and eat a pop tart before they were ready to go. We came back Monday night. Tuesday morning my son is asking if he can get in the car (to go to school) before I have my teeth brushed. Daughter, though, had to be dragged out of bed and actually taken to school late. So, it is just the son who has his priorities confused.

Children

While we were in the airport trying to get through security in Orlando my daughter looks up at her parents and says, "You are entering an area where turn by turn directions can not be provided." Sometimes children are hysterical.

Home At Last

I am home after a week in Florida where the weather was in the 70's and 80's all week. I visited Mickey and I am glad to be home. I haven't even looked at our pictures yet. Anyone interested in reading my review on the trip check out the Orlando Forum on Tripadvisor. My name there is GMRPH.

So, kids are back in school, I am back at work, and I am fighting a nasty hacking cough. Don't you love winter. Don't you love January? I've got a lot of blogs to catch up on.

Interestingly, my husband took his laptop to Disney and did not get it out until we were in the airport on the way home. We did have internet service for a fee. I really don't know how he made it 6 days without it. Granted, I drove the family on a pretty full schedule. Still, who knew he could live without it? Makes you think...