Seven Quick Takes Friday
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It's been a few weeks, huh? I love doing the Seven Quick Takes, so I'm trying it again. Thanks to Jen at Conversion Diary for hosting this fun event. (By the way, if you want to read a post that will really make you cry, read this one that Jen wrote this week.)
So, on with the show!
1
I just cringe to think about how judgemental I was of other parents when my kids were young. Honestly. Back then I couldn't even imagine how some families could not manage to eat dinner together every night.
Pass the crow, I'm suddenly feeling very hungry.
Not only do we NOT manage to eat dinner together every night, we're pretty lucky if we get to eat dinner together a couple of nights a week. What with one girl working every day and another one taking driver's ed every night and both of them busy with schoolwork and church stuff. And then that little one has her stuff too sometimes--especially at this time of year. Life is crazy, I tell you. Just plain crazy.
But tonight the stars aligned and we all managed to have our knees under the same table at the same time. Six thirty, to be precise.
And, can I just tell you, we had such a great time talking together that we didn't even get up from the table until 7:45 when the phone rang. Otherwise I think we'd still be sitting there.
2
When we get going like we did tonight, having dinner with a bunch of girls is kind of like watching Wimbledon. The conversation gets passed from one end of the table to another--really fast. And the topics switch just as quickly. It's truly an amazing sight.
So amazing, in fact, that B mostly just sits there and watches. It's tough being a man in this house, let me tell you.
Especially when one of your children truly believes that talking is her gift.
3
I never quite understood why our schools stay open past Memorial Day. Really. Nothing . . . and I do mean NOTHING . . . gets done after Memorial Day.
I don't blame the teachers for this, truly I don't. They are trying their best to keep kids engaged in learning, but when the weather gets a little nicer (not that it's been nice this week, but try to imagine it with me if you can) the kids just zone out.
So they try to plan a few activities to make the days until the "Last Day" a little more bearable. I so would not want to be a teacher at this time of year.
Especially a teacher to 5th graders who are already antsy because they are thinking about how they're leaving the school, heading to greener pastures, and are just plain outta there. Fifth graders need an extra dose of "stay-with-me" at this time of year.
Our blessed teachers have done their very best to keep the kids busy. They've helped with their kindergarten buddies a lot, taken extra gym time, basically tried to keep the wiggles out. So tomorrow is a special treat. A big day of no learning whatsoever. They are taking the kids to the pool.
Everyone is so excited (boy, I hope the weather breaks for this one), especially, according to Maggie, the girl who bragged all day that she got a bikini. I'm sure none of the 5th grade boys will notice.
4
For the longest time Abby has been wanting the Wii Fit system, so she used some of her birthday money and waited for the thing to go on sale and bought herself a Wii Fit. Which she is so nicely sharing with the rest of the family.
I've had fun watching everyone move and groove on the balance board. The games look like fun. You can even pretend you're in the Alps on a ski slope. Transport me, baby!
But have I stepped on it yet? No way. I knew that little board was just a scale in disguise, so I have stayed away from it.
Until tonight. I guess it must have been the wine we had with dinner, or the laughter, whatever. I was feeling daring, so I ventured onto the Wii Fit board.
You know what? Wii Fit is my friend. For someone who was expecting a fitness age of about 83, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I am very nearly as fit as my age. (Not sure if that last sentence made sense, but there you go.) And my BMI, I am very happy to report, is in the normal range. Would I even mention this to you if I had failed the body test--are you kidding? No, I would not. But I'm a happy girl and may even venture onto the Wii Fit again . . . in about a month.
5
If you know me, you know I keep busy. I volunteer . . . a lot . . . and I take on too much responsibility within those volunteer positions. In the past year I have had five different commitments at church alone. Three of those have come to an end. Two I'm happy to continue next year.
I have also served as our school district's PTA scholarship chairperson for the past three years. It's been great fun, but I can't serve any more because I'll have a senior next year and how would that look if I handed my own kid a scholarship? Hmmm. Come to think of it, would that be so wrong?
Anyway, today was a happy day because I handed my Scholarship Chair notebook off to the next chairperson. Like I said, I enjoyed this responsibility a lot, but it was time to be done with it, and I'm glad to have emptied the spot on the floor near the computer that was holding all of my scholarship stuff. It's just plain freeing to hand stuff over to the next person. Ahhhh.
6
Now that American Idol is over, along with Biggest Loser and 24, we've been wondering what we'd watch in the evenings. (Pathetic, I know.) So tonight, while flipping through the channels, Maggie and I found the most gripping television drama that we've seen for a long time.
The National Spelling Bee.
Zzzzzzz. Oh, sorry, I must have dozed off while some kid was spelling "avoirdupois" or "sagacious" or "olla podrida."
Really, kids, GET A LIFE!!
And, ABC, you need to get a life too. And stop treating the National Spelling Bee like some kind of intense athletic event. It's a spelling bee! Good grief!
Next thing you know the commercials will feature bikini-clad women selling beer to minors.
We did just have to laugh though, because apparently the kids can ask a few questions about the word before they actually dig in and, you know, spell it.
Questions like "What is the origin of this word?"
"Could you please use this word in a sentence?"
"Is there an alternate pronunciation?"
"What part of speech is it?"
Hey kids, why don't you just try this one: "Could you spell that for me please?"
7
So, you want to know what we talked about during this amazing dinnertime tonight? Tell you what, I'm going to give you a list of topics, then I want you to vote on which one you'd like me to tell you about, and I'll expand on it in the next post. Blog fodder. It's a good thing.
Comments are always good too (hint, hint).
So, here you go. Make sure to vote early and often (this IS Chicago, you know!).
* How I want to be BFFs with Kate and Abby's Spanish teacher. From the stories I've heard, that woman sounds like someone I would seriously like to hang out with.
* Reminiscing about the girls' 4th grade teacher and how two of the girls had to make true confessions to her during their time in her class.
* "Life papers"
* How I called one of the teenagers' friends by his only-known-to-them nickname by mistake.
* Laughing like crazy over all of our different laughs.
So there you go. Topics galore. Let me know which one you'd like to hear about, and I'll do it. Or suggest something else. I'm feeling dauntless, indomitable, tenacious, ebullient . . .
So, on with the show!
I just cringe to think about how judgemental I was of other parents when my kids were young. Honestly. Back then I couldn't even imagine how some families could not manage to eat dinner together every night.
Pass the crow, I'm suddenly feeling very hungry.
Not only do we NOT manage to eat dinner together every night, we're pretty lucky if we get to eat dinner together a couple of nights a week. What with one girl working every day and another one taking driver's ed every night and both of them busy with schoolwork and church stuff. And then that little one has her stuff too sometimes--especially at this time of year. Life is crazy, I tell you. Just plain crazy.
But tonight the stars aligned and we all managed to have our knees under the same table at the same time. Six thirty, to be precise.
And, can I just tell you, we had such a great time talking together that we didn't even get up from the table until 7:45 when the phone rang. Otherwise I think we'd still be sitting there.
When we get going like we did tonight, having dinner with a bunch of girls is kind of like watching Wimbledon. The conversation gets passed from one end of the table to another--really fast. And the topics switch just as quickly. It's truly an amazing sight.
So amazing, in fact, that B mostly just sits there and watches. It's tough being a man in this house, let me tell you.
Especially when one of your children truly believes that talking is her gift.
I never quite understood why our schools stay open past Memorial Day. Really. Nothing . . . and I do mean NOTHING . . . gets done after Memorial Day.
I don't blame the teachers for this, truly I don't. They are trying their best to keep kids engaged in learning, but when the weather gets a little nicer (not that it's been nice this week, but try to imagine it with me if you can) the kids just zone out.
So they try to plan a few activities to make the days until the "Last Day" a little more bearable. I so would not want to be a teacher at this time of year.
Especially a teacher to 5th graders who are already antsy because they are thinking about how they're leaving the school, heading to greener pastures, and are just plain outta there. Fifth graders need an extra dose of "stay-with-me" at this time of year.
Our blessed teachers have done their very best to keep the kids busy. They've helped with their kindergarten buddies a lot, taken extra gym time, basically tried to keep the wiggles out. So tomorrow is a special treat. A big day of no learning whatsoever. They are taking the kids to the pool.
Everyone is so excited (boy, I hope the weather breaks for this one), especially, according to Maggie, the girl who bragged all day that she got a bikini. I'm sure none of the 5th grade boys will notice.
For the longest time Abby has been wanting the Wii Fit system, so she used some of her birthday money and waited for the thing to go on sale and bought herself a Wii Fit. Which she is so nicely sharing with the rest of the family.
I've had fun watching everyone move and groove on the balance board. The games look like fun. You can even pretend you're in the Alps on a ski slope. Transport me, baby!
But have I stepped on it yet? No way. I knew that little board was just a scale in disguise, so I have stayed away from it.
Until tonight. I guess it must have been the wine we had with dinner, or the laughter, whatever. I was feeling daring, so I ventured onto the Wii Fit board.
You know what? Wii Fit is my friend. For someone who was expecting a fitness age of about 83, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I am very nearly as fit as my age. (Not sure if that last sentence made sense, but there you go.) And my BMI, I am very happy to report, is in the normal range. Would I even mention this to you if I had failed the body test--are you kidding? No, I would not. But I'm a happy girl and may even venture onto the Wii Fit again . . . in about a month.
If you know me, you know I keep busy. I volunteer . . . a lot . . . and I take on too much responsibility within those volunteer positions. In the past year I have had five different commitments at church alone. Three of those have come to an end. Two I'm happy to continue next year.
I have also served as our school district's PTA scholarship chairperson for the past three years. It's been great fun, but I can't serve any more because I'll have a senior next year and how would that look if I handed my own kid a scholarship? Hmmm. Come to think of it, would that be so wrong?
Anyway, today was a happy day because I handed my Scholarship Chair notebook off to the next chairperson. Like I said, I enjoyed this responsibility a lot, but it was time to be done with it, and I'm glad to have emptied the spot on the floor near the computer that was holding all of my scholarship stuff. It's just plain freeing to hand stuff over to the next person. Ahhhh.
Now that American Idol is over, along with Biggest Loser and 24, we've been wondering what we'd watch in the evenings. (Pathetic, I know.) So tonight, while flipping through the channels, Maggie and I found the most gripping television drama that we've seen for a long time.
The National Spelling Bee.
Zzzzzzz. Oh, sorry, I must have dozed off while some kid was spelling "avoirdupois" or "sagacious" or "olla podrida."
Really, kids, GET A LIFE!!
And, ABC, you need to get a life too. And stop treating the National Spelling Bee like some kind of intense athletic event. It's a spelling bee! Good grief!
Next thing you know the commercials will feature bikini-clad women selling beer to minors.
We did just have to laugh though, because apparently the kids can ask a few questions about the word before they actually dig in and, you know, spell it.
Questions like "What is the origin of this word?"
"Could you please use this word in a sentence?"
"Is there an alternate pronunciation?"
"What part of speech is it?"
Hey kids, why don't you just try this one: "Could you spell that for me please?"
So, you want to know what we talked about during this amazing dinnertime tonight? Tell you what, I'm going to give you a list of topics, then I want you to vote on which one you'd like me to tell you about, and I'll expand on it in the next post. Blog fodder. It's a good thing.
Comments are always good too (hint, hint).
So, here you go. Make sure to vote early and often (this IS Chicago, you know!).
* How I want to be BFFs with Kate and Abby's Spanish teacher. From the stories I've heard, that woman sounds like someone I would seriously like to hang out with.
* Reminiscing about the girls' 4th grade teacher and how two of the girls had to make true confessions to her during their time in her class.
* "Life papers"
* How I called one of the teenagers' friends by his only-known-to-them nickname by mistake.
* Laughing like crazy over all of our different laughs.
So there you go. Topics galore. Let me know which one you'd like to hear about, and I'll do it. Or suggest something else. I'm feeling dauntless, indomitable, tenacious, ebullient . . .
