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Oct 28, 2013

Random Bits & Pieces On A Monday

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The past week has really been lived in short snippets, not in a full post. And the week ahead will be just as busy, I think, leaving me unable to keep two thoughts together. But hey, it’s ADHD Awareness Month, so really, this fits right in.

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Cordy just finished up the fall season of soccer. They get photos taken in the fall, and this year we remembered to show up early for her soccer photos. Actually, my mom remembered to take her to soccer early that week – Aaron and I were running the Color Me Rad 5K.

You know those times when you see a photo of your child and suddenly he/she looks SO much older than you thought? Well, that would be this photo for me:

Cordy's soccer photo

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Part of the reason I’ve been so busy lately, other than work, is due to taking on the role of activist regarding our school levy issue. I never wanted to be a part of this, and certainly didn’t want to devote nearly all of my free time to getting the word out about how this levy plan isn’t good for our schools and can’t be trusted. But having the mayor yell at me lead to more research on the topic, which then lead to an inner drive that I can’t let people vote on this without knowing what it’s really about – something the levy campaign has been skillful in avoiding.

Locals, please take a peek at the work I’ve been doing with other parent volunteers at ItsOKAYtoVoteNO.org and share with friends in the district.

So now I’m involved, and I’m attending every meeting and candidate night I possibly can regarding the issue. That also means I occasionally get to hear other debates during the same event. Many times these things can be very dull, but then you get one oddball candidate and suddenly you have your entertainment for the night.

Case in point: the city council candidates debate, where one candidate answered nearly every question – regardless of topic – with his same platform message. To make it even more amusing, he brought a video camera with him, and was recording the entire debate from his position at the table on the stage. Yes, that meant those next to him had a camera shoved right in their faces.

 City Council funThe guy with his head turned is the one holding the camera.

The photo is blurry, which was partially due to my laughing.

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This weekend was Highball Columbus, aka the community Halloween party. We were lucky to secure babysitting and so we went to the evening party on Saturday. Aaron was dressed as US Agent, a variant on Captain America, and I was Hermione from Harry Potter. It was freezing, so I was mighty glad for my wizard robe and Gryffindor sweater. And for the hot chocolate spiked with bourbon, which the organizers were selling at each drink station.

There were a lot of great costumes there. Aaron met up with two friends, also dressed as superheroes. They then stumbled across two strangers who completed their Avengers group, so they posed for photos. All they needed was a Hulk.

Highball Avengers

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I have an interview with a local radio station this week and I’m worried I’m going to screw it up. (Yes, it’s related to the school levy.) Have I ever mentioned how nervous I am with public speaking?

Writing is so much easier, because I can think more carefully about each word. But speaking? And not a speech but questions that I won’t know in advance? Yikes. I’ll need to call up every ounce of focus to keep my ADD-brain on track. Spare some good thoughts for me on Wednesday morning!

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Have you entered my giveaway yet for a pair of Monster N-Tune headphones? If no, go do it soon – the giveaway ends 11/1, and BlogHer is giving away 25 pairs of them. I’m still using mine and they are some SWEET headphones!

Filed Under: random ·


Apr 30, 2012

Personal Check-In (In Case You Wanted To Know)

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What I’ve been watching lately:

Once Upon A Time – Fantastic fairy tale drama. If you haven’t seen it yet, wait for a marathon on ABC and get it all at once, so you don’t have to suffer a week between episodes like me.

Sherlock – If you haven’t seen this BBC show yet, fire up Netflix and watch the first season. I’ve already watched both the first and second seasons and I’m now re-watching the first season. Ladies, I guarantee you’ll start out thinking the guy who plays Sherlock is kinda funny looking, but by the end of it you’ll think he’s downright sexy in his own way.

Political ads – I’m not at all happy about this. There are months left until elections, and I’m ready to petition to move it up sooner to get rid of the ads. My Tivo is on overdrive right now – I’ll even sit in silence for 30 minutes to wait for a program to record so I can then skip past the commercials.

What I’ve been listening to lately:

Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” – is anyone else as obsessed with this song as I am? I now have three different versions of it on my playlist. Including this amazing adaptation (thanks for pointing them out, Erin!):

Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” – total guilty pleasure here. I don’t want to admit I like her at all, but this song makes me want to dance and feel happy.

Way too much whining from my two kids – they sometimes make going out to do anything fun a real drag. We went to a Viking Festival yesterday, expecting to have fun. They saw the bounce house and could do nothing but sulk and whine about it, keeping us from enjoying everything else. When they finally started to behave better and earned a turn in the bounce house, they immediately began whining and begging for ice cream. So we left. The end. Moral of the story? Find a babysitter more often.

Construction noise – I’m so thankful that I’m no longer working night shift, because if so this little blog would suddenly have posts in all caps with no punctuation and probably no real words. The community directly behind us has started work on leveling the land for a huge apartment development. They were supposed to be single family condo homes, but thanks to the market and a paid-off city council (it’s apparently legal to promise the council money towards a park and new bridge that the city can’t pay for in exchange for a yes vote) they’re now building giant apartment buildings on the other side of my backyard. It’s loud. Very loud. And only beginning, guaranteeing no chance of moving from our house for at least, well, forever.

What I’ve been feeling lately:

Sick – I started last week with a UTI, forcing a quick trip to urgent care and now a strong regimen of antibiotics, and then ended the week with a cold, courtesy of Mira. I’ve been foggy headed and drugged up for the past seven days, making me very unhappy and not that pleasant to be around. I hope two illnesses in one week buys me at least a few weeks of health.

Nostalgic – Mira has suddenly found her singing voice, and just like her speaking voice, chooses to use it nonstop. However, I can’t bring myself to ask her to stop after countless repetitions of “You Are My Sunshine” because it’s adorable. She sings from the heart, reminding me of how fearless I was in showing off my talents as a kid, too. I’d put together elaborate song and dance routines and force my family to watch. Mira knows she’s awesome and doesn’t hesitate to shout it to the world. When did I lose that fearlessness?

Unsettled – This sounds negative, but it really isn’t. It’s the feeling I get when I’m suddenly possessed with the urge to do something new. Something creative. It’s building, but the spark hasn’t hit yet, so I’m left waiting for the feeling to reach the peak and find out what direction it will go. Maybe I’ll get back to sewing again, maybe the writing bug will hit in full force, maybe it’ll be something entirely new. I don’t like this nagging feeling of something being wrong, but I know that once it finally resolves, something fantastic will hopefully come out of it.

What I’ve been eating lately:

Baby carrots – I didn’t realize that when you buy a giant pack of baby carrots for your kids from Costco, there’s a 75% chance that your kids will suddenly no longer like baby carrots. So the dog and I are doing our part to not let them go to waste, which means a side of baby carrots with nearly every meal.

Yoplait Greek cherry pomegranate yogurt – I generally dislike yogurt. But I know it’s good for me (especially when taking antibiotics), so I’m often searching for a yogurt I can tolerate. This one? Delicious.

Girl Scout cookies – I’m listing this only as proof of my self-control. These cookies were purchased over two months ago, and they’re still in the house. I eat them slowly, taking only one “serving” at a time. I’d like to think there’s some kind of badge for that accomplishment.

What’s been on my mind lately:

Costuming – Thank you for your comments on my post about my husband’s costuming. I’ve been considering all of the advice you provided and I think the answer is I will join him in the hobby. Although I don’t plan to go headfirst down that rabbit hole – more like send a flare down the hole to scout for depth and then rappel down slowly. Not sure what costume I’ll do first, or how soon it’ll be done.

Party planning – Mira begged for a big birthday party this year. We normally never invite anyone except close friends and family, but she wanted to invite her class. She’s been to half a dozen birthday parties for those kids, so we agreed and she’ll now be having a big party with kids I barely know. We were smart and decided to not host it at home, but that still means getting invites together for over 20 kids and planning out the logistics of this party.

Budgeting – A smaller income equals a tighter budget. Suddenly I’m back to reading frugal blogs and clipping coupons each week as our checking account drops dangerously low. Although honestly, I don’t mind it that much. Sure, I’d love to go buy something without any concern for cost, but the trade off is that Aaron and I are both currently working in jobs we love, so I’m willing to set aside some of my wants for happiness. Besides, that stuff would probably just create more clutter to stress me out anyway.

What I’ve been wanting to do lately:

Home improvement – I may not be handy, but that doesn’t mean I’m not dreaming of new flower beds in front of the house and a kitchen island and new paint throughout the house.

Get my hair cut – Why do I wait so long for the most basic things? Every day I look in the mirror and see my hair reaching scraggly lengths, yet I still can’t find time for a simple cut? Must stop ignoring my own needs and make an appointment soon.

Laugh more – ’nuff said.

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And that, friends, is how you write a blog post when you can’t keep two connected sentences together in your head at the moment.

Filed Under: me me me, random ·


Jan 16, 2012

Not So Funny?

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I was reading through Facebook updates last week and came across an image shared by a friend of mine. Like so many of the word images shared on Facebook, I immediately laughed when I read it.

The image?

But more interesting was the commentary beneath it. My friend also found this funny, saying this was so like her. Another of her friends, however, replied that as a mother of a child with ADD, she didn’t find it funny at all.

Hmmm. It make me wonder if I should feel guilty for laughing?

Would this be considered making fun of a disability? I don’t know. I mean, for many types of humor, there is often a nugget of truth that is exaggerated for comedic effect, or a stereotype stretched to a ridiculous extent. If I was to be offended by any exaggeration of a personality trait, physical trait or behavior, I’d pretty much have to avoid every comedy club and never watch The Daily Show ever again. I’d really miss Jon Stewart.

But I don’t know if laughing at something like the image above is equal to teasing the kid who is different on the playground. My take on the image is also a little different because I actually have ADD. I read that statement and think, “Hell yeah, I’ve had days not too different from that!” Days when I’m in a full contact wrestling match with my mind to pin down a little focus – on any topic, I don’t even care which one – just for a few minutes.

So I read that and see the nugget of truth. It IS hard to focus with ADD. I’ve had moments where friends stare at me strangely because I’ve jumped topics in such a way that they don’t see the connection.

On the other hand, I can understand her friend not finding it funny. We all have our trigger issues that we don’t see any humor in. I’m certain her friend does have rough days caring for a child with ADD. As a mom of a daughter with autism, I get it. Years ago, when Cordy was newly diagnosed, I wouldn’t have found any jokes about autism funny, either. I can respect her view, because no one can tell someone else what is or isn’t funny to them.

For me, however, I do appreciate the humor. As long as it isn’t intended in a harmful or mean-spirited nature or intended to tease one person, poking fun at ADD, or any other condition, in a gentle way is fine with me. I even appreciate a good autism joke – Cordy and I have learned to laugh at some of the more silly aspects of autism, of which there are MANY if you look closely enough.

It also boils down to a simple mantra for me: laugh or cry. There are moments when I need, need, NEED to pay attention, to focus, to not screw up some important task that I must stay on track to complete. Sometimes I win out; other times I fail. I can either choose to cry in frustration at my limitations, or I can laugh at them and move on. One way is certainly less depressing than the other.

So I apologize if you read the above joke on ADD and are offended, because no offense was intended. (Whoa, that rhymed. Sorry, I tried writing that sentence another way and it didn’t sound nearly as good.)

I also don’t know if it’s more acceptable to laugh at an ADD joke posted by someone who has ADD, but if so, laugh away. I certainly did.


(PS – It took me a week and about a dozen starts and stops to write this post. Can you tell it’s been a rough week? See? This is me choosing to laugh.)

Filed Under: big issues, me me me, random ·


Nov 2, 2011

This Is Not A Blog Post

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Oh sure, you might have thought you were getting a blog post from me today, but you’re not.

Instead you get this:

Pirate princess

And this:

Pink petal princess

And this:

Ready for trick or treat on Halloween

Revel in the cuteness and expect a real post in another day or so.

Or you can go visit my other blogs where I’m giving away Naturalizer shoes and Sephora gift cards.

Filed Under: Cordy, holidays, Mira, random, shameless promotion ·


Jul 6, 2011

Not The Kind Of Dreams I Want

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I came home from work yesterday morning to find a small swarm of ants had invaded our kitchen floor, conquering the chunk of bread crust they had found. As I wiped out the enemy forces, I made a mental note to give the kitchen floor a good scrub down as soon as possible to dissuade the little trespassers from coming back.

As I drifted off to sleep, I continued to worry about the ants coming back and how I needed to clean the floor soon.

Next thing I know, it’s late afternoon. I looked at the floor and decided that I had time to get it done before the rest of the family got home. I grabbed a bucket with soapy water, pulled out a sponge, and got to work cleaning the floor on my hands and knees. It felt like it took forever, but every nook and corner were cleaned and I felt satisfied that the ants would have to look elsewhere for any food.

And then I woke up.

I dreamed the entire thing.

Coming downstairs, I walked past the kitchen and thought, no way am I cleaning that floor. I’m already exhausted from scrubbing it in my dream!

If only I could have been sleepwalking (sleepcleaning?) while dreaming it.

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Filed Under: daily life, me me me, random ·