Worry for naught, at least in one case

Lately, I have been stressing out over M's schoolwork. In the past she has had trouble keeping up with her assignments. She can do the work, but little things trip her up like forgetting to write down the assignment or only bringing home half of the materials. ABM and I thought that she was off to a better start this year, until we got a call from one of her teachers saying that M will get an F for this term if she doesn't turn in several missing assignments. Just when we got that cleared up, I came home to find that she had after-school detention for missing assignments in another class.

While we were in the midst of dealing with M's mess, I found a reading test from the end of last school year that showed C2's reading level was below average. I remember seeing this test but somehow I blocked it out of my mind. So I've spent the past week flagellating myself up for being a bad mother and wondering what will become of C2 if her reading doesn't improve. I started thinking back to all those times when it took her twice as long as C1 to finish the same homework and wishing I had helped her more. I envisioned the poor kid being stuck in dead-end jobs just like her parents.

All that worry over C2 in the past week seems a little foolish now. I just finished looking over the stack of graded assignments that her teacher sent home, and the majority of the grades were between 90 and 100. These were math, science, and language arts papers. The worst thing I could find was her handwriting. I'm still going to bring up my concerns to her teacher on 10 Nov at the parent/teacher conference, but I'm beginning to feel that I blew things out of proportion. As for M, I'm holding out hope that if I present an example of an organized person it will benefit us both.

Friends with children in the same age group have suggested that I have both girls tested for ADD. I have an irrational resistance to that suggestion. I've seen people use ADD/ADHD as an excuse for why they can't do something or as a reason for why their kids should get special treatment. Also, I have to admit that I like having low-maintenance kids. We don't have to worry about medications or special diets; God knew what he was doing when he gave me "normal" kids. Still, if the teachers recommend that I have them tested I will do what is best for them.

Quick Health Update

Even though I haven't counted points at all this week and only exercised twice, I still managed to lose 2 of the 3.5 pounds I gained last week. I've had a bad attitude lately but I anticipate better results in the coming weeks. NotMissy is having surgery next week (those that know the word of prayer . . .) and won't be back for 6 weeks. I'll miss her company, but it will give me a chance to get back to walking on my breaks.

Right now, I've got to get back to work. ABM and I have been making some headway in organizing our lives and I don't want to slow down the momentum. See you on the ramparts!

PDAs and Dukes of Hazzard

My brain is cluttered with strange associations that have formed over the years. There are normal associations, like 09 September and crisp notebook paper because that was the first day of school when I was a kid. There are other associations, however, that require more explanation. For instance, ramen noodles and Super Mario Brothers are eternally linked in my brain because my family discovered them both at the same time. Other links are Anne Rice & Shake 'n' Bake (things that made me ill while on bedrest) and Southern Comfort and flying hamburgers (we'll save that story for later).

I just realized this morning that another crazy link has been forming in my mind: PDAs and "Dukes of Hazzard". For the past few weeks I have either been shopping for discontinued Palms on eBay or looking for free Palm software. Meanwhile, ABM discovered the "Dukes of Hazzard" reruns on CMT. It is strange to know this odd little blip in time is going to stick in my head, yet I can't remember the names of medications I've taken or friends I had in high school.

Health Update

Two scales don't lie; my weigh-in this morning was 257.5 pounds. Somehow I have gained 3.5 pounds in the past week. My WW points target changed without me noticing it until Wednesday so I'm sure that had a bit to do with it. My target was 35 points a day and now it is 30. I use the WW website to keep track of my points but usually I am entering points at work, which means I enter my meal and close the window quickly before my boss sees me :-). This week, however, I pried one of the PDAs out of ABM's hands and downloaded Weight Watchers On-The-Go, which is their tracking software designed to sync up with my online eTools account. It takes up a good bit of space on my little 8 MB Palm, but I have access to the same restaurant and grocery database that I use online. Since I am a gadgety girl, I am more likely to keep track of every single thing that I eat if I use the PDA. I want to get a handle on this before my weight goes right back to where I started.

I haven't exercised much this week, but I enjoyed what I did. I did Walk Away the Pounds for 20 minutes on Monday and 10 minutes on Tuesday. Believe it or not, I did it before I went to work. This is the best time for me to exercise, but it is difficult for me to make it a habit.

I also did Jack Lalanne twice this week. Yes, I said Jack Lalanne. ESPN Classic shows his original black-and-white shows from the 1950s early in the morning. I vaguely remember seeing Jack Lalanne on TV in the mid-1970s so I thought it would be funny to try one of his workouts. For someone in poor physical condition like me, Jack Lalanne is no joke. There are a couple things in his workouts that I can't do, like the bicycle. I don't think that his workout is enough by itself but it makes a good addition to walking.

Call Me the Cast Off Queen

ABM and I have a strange dynamic when it comes to technology. He acts like he doesn't care that much about new gadgets and such, but it isn't true. To outsiders, I'm the wannabe geek in this house who is into all the "boy" hobbies like computer games and comic books. It takes me a while to talk ABM into letting me get a new toy but somehow after I get it, he winds up using it more than me or getting a better one. For instance, it took me two years to convince him that we should move up from dial-up internet to broadband. Once we did, I could barely get near the computer because he was always playing Spades on Yahoo!

Right now we are in the midst of a friendly gadget battle. ABM bought me a very basic mp3 player a few months' ago after much begging. Once he saw how useful it was, he went out and bought himself one -- still basic, but a nicer model than mine. After I bought M a used Handspring PDA on eBay, ABM bought a Palm m505 and a Palm Zire. Guess who got the m505 (which has half the memory and a dimmer screen)? Me, of course. I do all the research just so he can get the model with the bells and whistles. The last straw was when he told me yesterday that, after only having his mp3 player two weeks, he is ready to move up to an iPod. What!?! I almost threw a shoe at him. He better tread lightly because he knows that he can't figure out how to work all these gadgets without me :-).

Growing My Own Gamers #2

The Kerplunk game that I found on eBay arrived on Saturday. This is the 1967 edition of the game. I know that I could have purchased it new, but (a) it was cheaper and (b) I like the box. C1, C2, and DJ all had great fun playing it, but this will mainly be a warm-up on game nights because it takes a little while to set up.

The only other game we played this weekend was Speed (some of you may know it as Spit). The layout I use is two 5-card reserve piles and 20 cards to each player with only 5 cards allowed in your hand at a time. I can see that we need to play this a few times before we move on to more complicated card games. C2 did the best, but all three of the kids had trouble remembering that you could only play a card if it was one higher or one lower than the card on top of the stack.

I picked up another vintage game on eBay this weekend called Stay Alive. This game is on my list of toys I wanted as a kid but didn't get. As you can probably tell, spending time on eBay has altered my game-buying strategy. I can pick up these old kids' games even cheaper than new card games and satisfy my inner child in the process :-).

Even though I discovered that there is a new reproduction edition of the classic Mystery Date, I have decided against getting the game. I'm attracted to the retro girliness of it, but I think I should concentrate on games that have a bit more of a challenge. Besides, DJ feels left out a lot as the only boy; buying a girls-only game would only make it worse.

Health Update

This is just a quick update to announce that I am at the 10-lb mark! I didn't go to my WW meeting again this week but I am counting my points and using the WW online tools. Exercise consisted of 100 crunches and 45 minutes of walking for the week. I was slack, but I am going to do better next week. NotMissy has been bailing out on walking at break time, but she can afford to because she has exercise equipment at home. It's time for me to go back to exercise videos or walking in the morning before work. The idea of a partner was nice, but ultimately I need someone who is going to be a little more dedicated than I am and I haven't found that yet.

Is she still writing this blog?

I feel like I haven't posted in weeks. I'm still here, but I am trying to get things in order at home. My house needs to be cleaned, my eldest daughter is ignoring her homework again, my hair has an inch of new growth, I haven't read any of my library books, etc. Hopefully, I can collect my thoughts and start posting more frequently.

Growing My Own Gamers #1

Welcome to Growing My Own Gamers! As I have expressed earlier, I have been researching the boardgaming hobby for the past several months. ABM and I used to play games quite often before we were parents, but I understand now that these weren't "serious" games. My contributions to our game collection were party-style word and trivia games like Taboo and Outburst. ABM is a fan of card games like Spades and luck-based family games like Monopoly and Clue. Now we are both interested in games that are a bit more challenging, but most of our friends are too busy to get together on a regular basis. Cultivating my own game partners from among our four kids seems like the best option. Although they are young I think they are ready because these four will analyze their moves after a round of Pit, which isn't exactly heavy on strategy. I'm going to take you along on my journey to try new games and improve our skills, mainly because I've got to write about something to keep this blog going!

------------------------------------------------

In keeping with the title of this blog, I want to bring my love of pop culture's past into my recreational life more prominently. One way I plan to do this is by playing vintage games. Since I don't have any truly vintage games in my collection right now (unless you count my anniversary edition of Pit with the original 1901 art), I did a little browsing on eBay.

I have a house full of girls so I thought that Mystery Date might be a fun game to play with them. True, it is heavily based on luck which would cause a serious gamer to sneer, but I thought it would be a fun warm-up title for game night. Although the game was updated recently with an electronic phone that gives clues, I wanted to get one of the older copies of the game because the artwork is so charming. I figured I could get one for about $30.

Boy, was I in for a rude awakening! The 1965 version of this game is going for $100 on eBay. I am not looking for one in mint condition; I just want all the pieces to be there. I guess people don't try to sell games if they aren't mint. I may end up getting one of the modern versions, after all.

----------------------------------------------------

Another more pleasant surprise was the expansiveness of the Board Game Geek database. I only expected to see entries for games from the past 20 years, with the exception of perennial favorites like Scrabble. Who knew that I would find not only entries but also reviews for obscure 40-year-old games like Ten Commandments? The BGG site is a bit intimidating to a newbie but once you get used to it can be really helpful. I've heard gamers comment on BGG's weaknesses on different podcasts, but I think it is a great first stop for anyone who wants to get a sense of
how big the hobby is.

---------------------------------------------------

I didn't play any games with the kids this weekend, unless you count Jimmy Neutron Checkers online with DJ. The downside of playing checkers on the computer is that most programs force you to take your jumps. This meant that it was difficult not to beat poor DJ by a wide margin. He didn't seem to mind; I think he was just happy that I played with him. We do need to get some pieces for our checkerboard soon, though, so that I can give him some pointers on strategy (if you knew how bad I am at playing strategically, you would realize how funny that is!)

Perfect TV show for cleaning house

Right now I am watching a marathon of Great Things About Being . . . It is one of those countdown shows where comedians and famous-for-being-famous people make little jokes about each item. These shows are all over the dial right now. I believe VH1 started the trend with I Love the 80s where they brought out fad items from the items and let the pundits share their memories of them. This type of show is perfect for playing in the background while I fold laundry or clean the bathroom because you don't really need to look at the screen that often. It is almost like listening to a comedy album (remember those?)

Worthy First Project for Denise Needles

One of my pregnant coworkers, who wasn't due until Christmas, had to have an emergency C-section on Thursday. I don't know all the details but it had something to do with the mother's blood pressure, which the doctors were still having problems stabilizing as of Friday afternoon. The baby is doing better than the OB expected, but he only weighs two pounds.

I was already planning to knit a 5HBS for this baby, but now I think I want to knit something else. I've heard that is difficult to get clothes for preemies around here. The 5HBS does have the numbers to knit it for a 4-7 lb baby, but I am quite sick of that pattern right now. If any of you can point me to a free online pattern, I would appreciate it.

Quick Health Update

This is a true 255 this week, I think. I didn't go to WW today so I weighed on my home scale, which is a bit suspect since the kids jump up and down on it a lot. My week has been pretty good diet-wise so it is conceivable that I lost 1/2 lb. I doubt that I lost much more because I didn't exercise. I wanted to give my foot a rest; I will get back on track Monday. I got another swing dance DVD from NetFlix that the girls are dying to try. I don't think they will let me off the hook!

This is just a quick post to show you the finished jacket. I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Camoflauge and the Five Hour Baby Sweater pattern that is available free on the internet. The instructions for adding the hood are also out there on the web somewhere. I don't think the site where I got them several years ago exists anymore. 

My reluctance to spend money (especially on myself) is well-known among my friends, online and in real life. Every once in a while, however, I snap and start spending money like a sailor on shore leave. My purchases are rarely the ones at the top of my priority list and I feel a bit sick when I'm done, just like the aforementioned sailor. So here I am, coming clean with a list of my indiscretions.

--A set of Denise needles and two balls of Dancing yarn from Knitpicks. This order arrived on Saturday and I haven't even opened the box yet. Go ahead, take away my knitting license :-).

--Six pairs of new panties. In my defense, I needed them and the total purchase was only $10.

--Two Lascivious Biddies CDs. I was only going to buy one but when she said they were two for $25, Rabbit talked me into getting them both.

--Jumpstart 2nd grade software for DJ. It was only $1, and I paid $25 for the kindergarten and first grade versions of the same software.

--A $2.99 electric massager from Goodwill. No, it isn't that kind of massager. I got it for my back. Honest.

--A used Handspring Visor Deluxe from eBay for M. She's been wanting one of those cheap electronic date books that are in every Scholastic flyer for $16. I spent the same amount of money and got her a real PDA.

--A used Palm M505 for $55, also from eBay. I don't feel that I should take the full blame for this purchase. ABM saw it on my watch list and bid on it when I wasn't looking. The man is very susceptible to auction fever; I gotta keep an eye on him.

Hopefully, I will be able control myself for a while now that I've got the spending jones out of my system -- at least until it is time to go Christmas shopping :-).

Please get magazine w/cute boys in it.

This is not a text message I ever thought that I would be sending to my husband. However, M has an assignment for English where she has to cut out photos of celebrities to match with the characters in the book The Outsiders. Entertainment Weekly just had a feature on the anniversary of the movie, but I've already trashed that issue. Besides, I think that probably would defeat the teacher's purpose 'cause I'm betting that she is going to show them the movie after they read the book. I've got ABM on the hunt for an issue of Tiger Beat. Who woulda thunk it?

IneedtoquitmyjobIneedtoquitmyjobIneedtoquitmyjob

My house is a wreck and I don't have the stamina to clean it. Even the surface cleaning is taking too much out of me. I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, made some spaghetti for lunch, wiped the counters, and swept the floors on the first floor and now I'm tired. My refrigerator is bordering on gross, I haven't cleaned the three bathrooms, practically everything we own needs to be folded, and none of the rooms on the second floor have been touched. On days like this I have the overwhelming desire to just stop showing up for work. I know that isn't realistic because my income is a necessity, but trying to cram all this stuff into the weekend drives me crazy. I know I could do some of it during the week, but I don't feel like it. My resolve to work as hard as ABM barely lasted seven days. Knowing that I have to get up for work tomorrow keeps me from pushing myself.

Health Update

My exact weight at weigh-in yesterday was 255.8 lb, which is another 6/10 of a lb lost. My total loss so far is 8.2 lb. I've got to take off that extra .8 lb this week because I rewarded myself early for 255. I bought two CDs at the Lascivious Biddies show. That's a big deal for me. Excluding the Hairspray CD I bought a few months ago, I haven't purchased a CD for myself in over 10 years.

This week's WW meeting was basically "fake it 'til you feel it". Tell yourself that you are fabulous even before you reach your goal. I suffer from a little too much of that attitude sometimes--I think I am so fabulous that I don't need to deprive myself of what I want. In reality, there are a lot of things I don't give myself (like CDs and new clothes) so I treat myself to food instead. If you buy yourself a new dress or a computer game when you are on a tight budget people may talk, but everybody's got to eat.

My right heel is still giving me fits, so I had to slow down a tad on my exercise program. I rented Just My Size Yoga last week. My intention is to try to keep moving in other ways until I can start walking again. Someone suggested that I get fitted for proper walking shoes, but $100 for one pair of shoes would not fly with ABM. I may look at New Balance because I've seen them for $35. I'm not sure that they would be much better than the cheap Wal-Mart sneakers I already have, though.

A great day with a friend

A few weeks ago, I was a bit jealous of Cari at Dogs Steal Yarn. I'm a big enough woman to admit it. On 11 Sep she posted about a wonderful weekend she had with friends. It was the kind of weekend that only childless people who live in urban centers have, and I wanted to have one, too. Since I do have kids, there is little chance of me having a whole weekend but I decided to at least snatch a day. I live near the largest city in NC, so surely I could find some urban-style fun of my own. Here's what my best friend Rabbit and I did on a recent outing.

Before going to Charlotte, we stopped at a discount store in search of the perfect panties. My local Wal-Mart no longer carries Lovepats, which are the only underwear that don't ride up on me. Their official website doesn't even carry my size anymore. Luckily, the discount store had some so I picked up six pairs. Don't underestimate the power of comfy undies to please a woman!

After a yummy lo mein lunch, we headed to the McColl Center for Visual Art. Not only is this an art museum, but it is also an artists' community. It is housed in an old church that was gutted by a fire in 1985, leaving the stone facade. ABM passed that burnt-out shell many times, hoping that someone would do something with it rather than tearing it down. Rabbit and I toured the Afro Cuba Works on Paper exhibit and then we went upstairs to view the work of the artists-in-residence. My two favorites were Michael Harris and Tom Thoune.

Mr. Harris' exhibit included photos of women's hair along with snippets of verse about them. I think I identified with that one because it conveyed the fact that hair and how it is styled is not just a fashion choice for black women. How we style our hair is a political choice even when we don't mean it to be.

Mr. Thoune is a local artist who has been commissioned by the transit authority to create a mosaic wall in the new light rail station. In prepartion for this, he has created several paper mosiacs of the cogs that is he going to recreate in ceramic on the actual wall. More than anything, his work made me want to go home and cut up some paper for my own mosaic. Perhaps it is the result of being a knitter for the past several years, but whenever I see work that I enjoy it makes me want to go home and try my hand at the technique. If I hadn't promised ABM that I would stick to fiber, I would probably have projects spread out all over the house.

Next we moved on from art to history at the Levine Museum of the New South. The permanent exhibit on the bottom floor is called Cotton Seeds to Skyscrapers. Unlike the more generic history exhibits that I remember from my childhood, this exhibit relates specifically to what was going in NC during different periods of American history. It shows how Charlotte in particular went from farmland to one of America's banking capitals.

I can't imagine anything stranger than seeing part of your past in a museum. Purses, Platforms, and Power had a little 1970s bedroom set up and there on the bookshelf were the electric hot rollers and the 8-track radio that I owned as a kid.



The radio was even in a Plexiglas case! I hadn't seen that radio in ages and it caught me by surprise. That little black box was my faithful companion for many years. The one they had in the case was so pristine that I wanted to take it home. On the table they had a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves which is where I learned everything I knew about my body in high school. Talk about feeling old! For you knitters out there: they also had a corner dedicated to the "do it yourself" ethos of the 1970s which included vintage yarn (some of which is in my stashette) and a can full of knitting needles. Since this is a hands-on museum, I was so tempted to knit them a little swatch and put it back in the basket.

Dinner was a casual, open-air affair at The Mellow Mushroom. I was about to regale you with an account of the unique neo-hippie atmosphere of this pizza restaurant, but then I did a search and found that it is part of a chain. Still, it fits in well with the other establishments in the NoDa neighborhood which all have that free-spirited feeling. The house special calzone (cheese, mushroom, tomatoes, and spinach) was excellent.

Across the street was the venue for the climax of our evening: a performance by the Lascivious Biddies. I first heard this quartet on Coverville, and fell in love. According to their bio, their style is cocktail pop. That sounds accurate because when I listen them I feel like I should have a martini glass in my hand. I have been listening to their podcast since the first episode. When they went on tour, I thought that they would never come down here so I didn't even check the schedule. Imagine how upset I was when I found out that not only did they come to my area, but that they played a venue practically in my backyard in little dinky Gastonia! I was so surprised that I posted a comment on their site and was delighted to receive a speedy reply letting me know that they would be in Charlotte two months later.

The performance was great! Lee Ann, the lead singer, has great energy. She almost shimmers off the stage. All four of the girls have great patter between them that doesn't sound forced or rehearsed. This group has a way with a cover song. They did a cover of Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" that made it sound creepy and stalkerish. Their version of the Jimi Hendrix song "Fire" was awesome. As for their original songs, this is where their wittiness rises to the top. How many bands do you know that have songs about Mr. Rogers and Laura Ingalls Wilder? The band has a tune that makes salt sexy! I can't wait until they come back in February so I can take NotMissy to see them. Do yourself a favor and go buy their CDs NOW.

So that was my day. It may not be impressive by NYC standards, but I definitely felt like City Girl on the Go. Whenever I have a day like this, I vow that I am going to do it more often but it never works out that way. I think I have used up my entertainment allowance for the year!

Hold tight

I've got a lot of stuff I want to talk about, but I've got to do some housework first. Nothing major, but don't be surprised if I make three or four posts today. C U L8R!