Mommy Flash day

When I don't have a sub job, we have Mommy/Flash Day.
Flash started the morning at full speed, as usual.
and is currently messing up the playroom, his specialty.

The other day he and Daddy built a spiderweb of green yarn throughout the house.
Its still there. Today's jobs are getting the oil changed and planning Hubby's Birthday.
Which is tomorrow. He has already gotten his present...a new grill,
but we still need to do something.
We're going to be in Georgia next week
(Hubby is going to a Rural Ministry Conference at Columbia).
So we need to get ourselves ready, figure out Daddy's birthday
and apparently play computer games...
Full day!

Lay Leader

I was lay leader/liturgist today at church - opposite my Hubby.
And it was great!
I feel odd saying it but I felt much more involved in church and I loved being "up there"

This unemployment thing is going to my brain.
For 11 years I spent a part of every week reading aloud in front of a group.
Dancing, singing and acting silly. Storytime.
And the closest I come is the subbing.
Such a glory hound, ego maniac....
Cannot believe how much I liked being in front of a crowd again.
sick sick sick.

Friday5: Everything Old is new again...

One of the revgals "had two separate conversations in which people were musing about how much change is occurring. The WW II generation, of which my mom is a part, went from horse and buggy to automobiles, saw the lessening, or even the end of many diseases, went from widespread use of kerosene lamps and outhouses (in the country, and most folks were rural)) to a totally electrified and plumbed society. The fastest means of communication was a telegraph. The second conversation--gulp--was about MY generation and how much change occurred in the last half of the 20th century. The person said his 13 year old had not seen a vinyl record album until a few days before, couldn't remember a time without cell phones, and on and on."

As for the questions!

1. What modern convenience/invention could you absolutely, positively not live
without?
Hubby is saying Air conditioning...since we had our serviced yesterday and are facing a gasp new system. I'm thinking car or something...

2. What modern convenience/invention do you wish had never seen the light of day?
Why?
Ummm alarm clock? I like my sleep.

3. Do you own a music-playing device older than a CD player? More than one? If
so, do you use it (them)?
Not anymore. In fact, I replaced the tape deck in my older car a few years ago
and was surprised how cheap it was to get a CD and ipod jack installed.
Just got the tapes out of the same car...tonight.

4. Do you find the rapid change in our world exciting, scary, a mix...or something
else?
Oh a wishy-washy mix. I think the jumps in computers and cell phones is a waste.
There is no reason that an expensive computer or phone or anything
should be obsolete in 3 years. Its just wasteful.

5. What did our forebears have that we have lost and you'd like to regain? Bonus
points if you have a suggestion of how to begin that process.
Homemade/community made entertainment. I think we've lost some of our creativity through the pervasive entertainment culture. Of which I am a huge consumer, sigh.
I have friends with no TV's, who don't know the celebrities in the media. Who read literary books and see the Oscar-worthy serious movies. Um...I just can't do that...lets try for a happy medium, OK? Some TV free nights and gasp limiting computer time and being outdoors.
Those are my trade=offs.

Every 15 minutes

Hubby participated in a drunk Driving Prevention program at a local high school this year.
It was intense.

They pull a kid out of class every 15 minutes
and have them put on a black shirt and white makeup and return them to class.
One of the teachers was identified as "killed" too.
Theres a wrecked car on the lawn of the school.
A kid is arrested for the drunk driving accident that killed his passengers.
They actually take him out of school in handcuffs and walk him through the process at the courthouse and everything.
Hubby participated as a member of the team that notifies the parents.
Its a whole community thing: school, sheriff's, police, court system, parents.
Lots of crying.

That happened Tuesday.
Wednesday I subbed in that high school.
Art, so the kids all have their projects to work on and I pretended to read,
while I heard all about it.
This time from the kids perspective, not Hubby's.
Sounds like it was very eye-opening for everyone.


Took the day off today, AC repairman is coming and I need to tidy, laundry etc.
Having a hard time getting things done around here.
Had an interview this week (not promising), and sent an application to the local college for something I could really do!

And Flash will go to preschool at the same place he's been going to daycare next year. A place he's used to and we're comfortable with. And they've started to include him in some of the preschool things there. I guess to get him up to speed. So, an up week so far.

just the basics

Most things are the same but,

Different:
weather Hello Spring!
Flash was accepted for preschool next year!

Tball is hysterical! Today was our third practice and Flash is beginning to interact with the other players and stay on the field. He still pounces on the ball like a cat, yelling attack!
A plane flew over the ballfield today and all 15 boys pointed and yelled "Plane!" and stopped playing. Very excited to wear his uniform, even though you don't have to at practice.

Very tired these days.

Earthquake

We had an earthquake this morning around 5 am.

Hubby was the only one who woke up. No damage, just strange.

Outta Dodge...

Hubby went to a retreat this weekend
and there was nothing to keep us here
so Flash and I went to visit his best friend in the world, 2 hours north of here.
We walked in the door and they hugged and ran upstairs to play picnic for a while.
Tea and sympathy with our friends, her parents...on all sides actually.
A really good time.
And when we came back, dinner with a new pastor friend of Hubby's.
They're a town away and his wife is lovely, they have a beautiful baby.
And he grills a mean batch of ribs.

Getting out of town was a fantastic idea!

Dogs

The dogs have really adjusted well to our new location.
3 years as apartment dogs was difficult.
But we have a nice backyard here,
and when my folks were here in ovember we installed our old invisible fence from GA.
It works...OK.

Retraining went well.
Simba, with whom we never used the invisible fence did not get it.
He's 9. And he'll still cross the line occcasionally to follow a neighbor dog.
We did not include the garage in the fenced area
and he'll walk in there if he thinks he'll get a car ride.
We joke that he must think theres a bees nest around somewhere.

Max has a higher powered collar and he just doesn't care.
If he wants to go for a run, he'll take the "correction"
and be gone for a couple of hours with the neighbor dogs down to the creek in the neighborhood.
Those of you who remember my dogs from seminary
will remember them as being extremely territorial of our apartment
and that Max was very hard to control when he saw another dog, and was belligerent.
Not so now. I think that was a territory thing...I think he had claimed the whole neighborhood.
Now he's great friends with the neighbor dogs...although they aren't allowed in our yard.
Funny dogs.

Thanks

Had a good day today. Many of my best days are the ones I spend with Flash.
We went to the library and I met the director.
Actually she saw my name when I checked out
and recognized that I had submitted an application to that library.
They don't have any openings, and rarely do, but she was very nice
and said she'd keep an eye out for a job for me in the area.

The library is across the street from the church so we stopped by to visit Dad.
He needed to make a hospital visit in the big town 20 minutes away,
so we all piled in the van, picked up some lunch and tagged along.
The Happy meal toy was a pirates bandana, a natural for my costume-loving boy.
But pirates are still a little scary. We hung out in the car while Hubby visited,
then hit the store for a new baseball mitt or glove
(I keep getting corrected and I don't know which one is right.)
And we couldn't leave the store without a pair of superman pjs.

So we came home and Hubby did some phone visiting
while Flash changed into the PJs and his cowboy bots
and played out in the yard for a few hours. some Sun tea.
Planned our visit to GA (Flash and I are going to spend two extra days!
Hubby has presbytery anyhow).
Some pizza, Scooby-Doo and soon...Flash will have a bath.
He loves a bath. Toss in some Rescue Heroes and a few pennies
and an underwater treasure adventure begins!

All the news that fits...

On the up side...
t-ball practice started today and it was hilarious.
Flash is probably the youngest there and he would play for a while,
with lots of coaching to keep him on task and then cover his head with his glove
or run over to me and tell me that he had a wonderful dream last night
or remind me that we should have a milkshake afterwards (3times).
He got beaned in the nose and was ready to go 40 minutes into it.
We did have milkshakes though.

Been a while since I blogged
my excuses are computer time, lethargy and lack of things to say.
I'm in a holding pattern here
job situation stagnant
friends...maybe a friend next door.
a lead on preschool for Flash for next year
Church is frustrating because there isn't anything for me.
The new bible study group was disappointing.

Also our area is having a rough time.
County is out of money, massive cutbacks and some lay-offs.
and there was, it seems, an innocent but devastating accounting error.
and...the furniture factory is essentially shutting down.