What I got for Christmas

   About a week ago I published a post about what I wanted for Christmas. Everyone had been asking and asking and I finally came up with something....

A SKATEBOARD!!!

   Needless to say, my family was a little less than thrilled. My daughter rolled her eyes so far back I thought she might be able to see yesterday. Handsome hubby left for work with a glint in his eye and a giggle in his grin. 

Perhaps my track record made them question my choice.

   

   I have taken a few tumbles and left a few digits in undesirable places...

  

Or maybe it's my sense of balance. I am getting way better at this whole "tuck and roll" thing.

      I have to admit, I was a bit discouraged. My friends patted me on the back, shaking their heads, my brother chuckled and my nephews raised their eyebrows. Then, perhaps the hardest blow of all was Christmas Eve Midnight Mass.

   We went to celebrate the joy of Christmas and to hear my daughter play with the bell choir. It was a beautiful Mass and I was enjoying myself... until the homily. Father was talking about how things bring only temporary happiness and not to be discouraged if we didn't get the things we asked for... new phones, cars, skateboards...

Yes, he said skateboards.

   My poor husband nearly fell out of the pew. God tends to speak pretty loudly. Well, okay, he shouts at me to get his point across, but really, the Christmas homily? Wasn't that taking things a bit far?

I prepared for the inevitable.

   Christmas day started out with a headache. Between doses of ibuprofen and bouts of fatigue, I happily prepared for the arrival of friends and family to celebrate the day. But there was no wheeled package underneath the tree for me.

   It was behind the chair in the living room.

   My hubby gets me. Totally gets me. And he got me a skateboard... along with knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards.

   Not to worry though, this skateboard is not about happiness...

   Yes, it made me happy to see it on Christmas morning.

   You see, I do have balance issues and I'm not known to be too terribly swift, so I am likely to fall off that thing many many times. (Thus elbow/knee/wrist guards.)

   The skateboard is about what is important. Getting back up and getting back on. It's a reminder to keep going, even if sometimes it might mean riding the damn thing on my butt.

I promise to stay off the stairs.

What I want for Christmas

   Over the last few weeks I have had a lot of people ask me what I want for Christmas.

It really left me stumped. 

   After all, I don't sit around all day thinking about what I want. I actually spend most of my days trying to figure out where I need to be, what it is I'm supposed to be doing and how on Earth I am possibly going to accomplish it. Then, when I finish my coffee, I go and just do it and see how everything rolls.

   Everyone who asked me complained that I needed to come up with something more concrete, something that could be placed beneath the tree. So during my coffee session, I gave it my best effort and created a mental list so I could answer the question.

Apparently socks and underwear are NOT considered good answers.

Even if I really really really need them.

Well fine, back to the drawing board.

   This task was a little easier with my daughter, she had a set idea of what she wanted and I had a pretty good idea of what she needed, so when someone asked, I had some suggestions to give out. My husband was a piece of cake, he needed/wanted a new phone so I told him to pick one out and buy it.

   Having finally come to the conclusion that I was not going to receive socks and underwear, I broke down and bought some. Sitting with my morning coffee once more I decided to review my options.

It took two cups, but I finally came up with something.

A skateboard!

Cool, huh?

I thought so. But apparently my family is not on the same page.

   My daughters response was a horrified "NO MOM!" You would think I offered to come to school and sing the national anthem at the next assembly or post her cute baby pictures all over the halls.

Honestly, I've got those urges under control.

   Thinking that a skateboard (even the mini ones I was eyeing) were a little out of her price range, I decided to approach my husband. He has been telling me that he still needs to do his shopping and I thought that I would be able to make things a bit easier.

I might talk to him again if he ever stops laughing.

   He did tell me between fits of snorting and barely disguised giggles that he wasn't sure with my balance and walking abilities a skateboard was such a good choice.

 I have to admit, one leg doesn't lift too well and it's response time is less than desirable, but you only need one working leg to propel oneself on a skateboard. Since I already have a great deal of forward motion going for me, I explained that a skateboard would be ideal to keep up with my momentum and efforts to stay upright.

   He left for work with a twinkle in his eye and an undisguised chuckle. I get the distinct feeling there will be no wheeled packages under the tree for me this year.

   As he drove away for work I told him to stuff a sock in it. I know what is going to be in his Christmas stocking this year.

Who says no to God?

   We typically arrive at church early. It give us time to settle down before Mass, take off our coats, say a prayer, and greet our fellow parishioners. But we also arrive early so that my daughter can help with children's liturgy. The set up takes place before Mass. She likes to do that sort of thing and we like to encourage her. It helps keep her involved in our community and we want her to grow up to be an involved member of the church. This year she is alternating between helping out with the kids and playing flute with the musicians.

Besides, sometimes she drives me batty in the pew.

   Like a few Sundays ago she asked me if I had any water. You know, as if I had a water bottle in my pocket just in case she suddenly felt thirsty in the middle of Mass. I mean why not? Right?

   Anyway, we were at church early. I was waiting by the door for my husband before going in to find a pew (we drive separate as he leaves for work right after Mass) when daughter approaches me to ask if I can help with children's liturgy.

Well, okay, I wasn't planning on it, but I can do. This is my community too.

   Then, she tells me something about how they were supposed to have it, but none of the adult leaders were there. Umm, say what? I am not really prepared...

Then Father asks me if I am okay with helping out.

   This is a conspiracy. I am sure of it. But I say; "Sure, I can do that." Because who says no to God? A priest is a mediator between us and God. Right?

   Well, there was this story in the bible about this chap who did say no to God. As a matter of fact, he went out of his way not to do God's will. I recall it had a bit about encountering a whale and getting swallowed whole, something that is not high on my to do list. Quite frankly, I don't like whales all that much. We went on a whale watching cruise once. At first I thought it would be really cool, then this whale decides to swim right under the boat and it was wider than the boat was long. NOT COOL! I am pretty sure my fellow passengers didn't like me trying to shoo it away.

I digress.

   I had just been asked to help out (run) children's liturgy. Mind you, there were no other adult leaders. I have helped before, a looonnnnggg time ago when my daughter was little and attended children's liturgy, but I had never actually led a session. Having said yes, I head downstairs to start setting up. My wonderful husband comes down to prep with me. He is such a supportive spouse. We are early, there is time. I say a prayer to the holy spirit. I review the scripture (I had read the scripture, but somehow it flew out of my brain between the door and the gathering space where the children's liturgy was to meet). He reviews the scripture. It's not like we don't know the scripture, but just in case, you know?

I say another prayer. God, just what is it you want me to do? I feel a little unprepared.

And God answers. Just like that. 

    He says; "What do you mean, What do I want you to do? SERIOUSLY? You are forty nine years old. You have gone through RCIA. You have taken bible study classes. You teach religious education once a week. You have been around kids (I even gave you one). You know the scripture. I have provided you with an education. It is not like I haven't prepared you. It is twenty freaking minutes with little ones between the ages of two and seven. FIGURE IT OUT!"

If you have ever heard that God talks in whispers, I am here to tell you sometimes he yells.

    Thus admonished, I head up to church for the start of Mass. When father calls the kids for liturgy, My husband and I return to the gathering place. My daughter leads the kids come down. Two of them come with a parent in tow.

So we start.

    It was fine. It really was. I ask the little ones to raise their hands if they have ever had grapes. We talk about what kind of plants grapes grow on. We read scripture. We talk about what happened in the scripture. We relate the scripture to their personal experiences (like borrowing toys from their friends and returning them later.) We talk about what Jesus would have us do. We play a game. We act out the scripture with how the story would have gone if the people in the story HAD done what Jesus tells us we should do. We send the kids back to church to tell the story to their parents.

It was a wonderful experience.

   The children were able to attend a session that day to learn about scripture and what Jesus teaches us on their level. The parent who came down decided that she would volunteer and contacted the director later that day. My daughter was able to be a part of our community doing one of the things she loves to do. There were no whales.

    Turns out children's liturgy wasn't on the schedule that Sunday. But God had different plans. Apparently I was a part of them. And if you ask me, I think he has a sense of humor too. Pretty sure I heard him chuckling...

To Freeze or Not to Freeze; that is the credit problem

   On September 7th, one of three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax reported a data breach that exposed millions of consumer's personal information, such as names, social security numbers, birth dates, and in some cases, drivers license numbers. And lets not forget the thousands of credit card numbers and documentation with personal information as well.

The breach happened from May through July.

It was announced in September.

It was the second breach, supposedly unrelated to the first in March.

That makes me feel much better.

   Thousand of people were notified that their data may have been compromised. The Federal Trade Commission issued a post on What to Do if you are worried that your personal information has been accessed.  In case you don't want to read the article, it states that you should check your credit reports, consider freezing your credit files, monitor your existing bank accounts and credit cards, and file your taxes early.

   Is that all? Sounds easy enough.

   Well, it is a bit time consuming. After all, you have to contact each credit bureau separately. Right after the breach, getting on the websites for the three major credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian) was a bit of a nightmare. The automated phone options were a little easier to navigate, but forget it if you wanted an operator. (I understand that this has gotten better in the weeks since the announcement.)  Heaven forbid that you have a life - you know - a job, kids that need to get to lessons on time, events to attend, and laundry to do (nudity in public is still frowned upon). 

   Still, every good consumer wants to take the time to protect personal information in any way possible. Freezing credit files sounds like a pretty good way to do this. After all, credit reports are important...

• You can't buy a house without them
• You have trouble buying a car without them
• Depending on your occupation, you might not get a job without them

Yep, you read that last point correctly. 

You may need your credit report available if you are searching for a job.

   I am sure I knew this, but I hadn't thought about it until this recent credit breach. It wasn't really mentioned in any of the articles I read. But when one of my family members opted to freeze their credit files in order to protect their personal data it proved to be an issue. The difficulty wasn't in freezing the file, the problem was one of the agencies froze the wrong file. 

OOPS.

   Their son discovered the error when he applied for a job that required a credit check. He and his father share the same name. It is not the first time he has had problems with the credit reporting system. At one time, he had utility bill records dating back to 1964. He was born in the 1970's.

Note to self - All offspring need unique names.

   Having had difficulties in the past, he figured out what had happened pretty quickly and was able to obtain the pin number from his father to unlock the file so that his potential employer could access the file. A bit of a hassle and one he should not have had to go through. They don't share a social security number, but it turns out the credit bureau had a glitch in the system and it locked the wrong one. Then later locked the correct one. Well, how secure is that?

   So what kind of jobs require a security check? More than I expected. Mortgage Loan Originator and accounting jobs (Okay, no brainer there), law enforcement, medical jobs, military, government jobs, jobs in powerhouses, cashiers, and parking booth operators and any position that requires a security clearance or handling sums of money to name a few. Now that narrows things down.

   I can understand why companies would want to check your credit, especially those that would have employees handling sensitive information or high dollar amounts, they are trying to limit their exposure to fraud and theft. Curious, I wondered what it was that they did see. After reading several confusing articles, I found one I liked on CreditCarma  (Why do some employers check your credit history?) written by Louis DeNicola.

   While your credit score is not given to employers (nor is age, year of birth, or account numbers), they can see if you have derogatory marks on your report that can indicate how responsible you are financially and if you might be a risk to their companies. Okay, I get it.

Photo Credit: Marco Verch via photopin (License)

 So now all I have to remember, in addition to regularly checking my credit score, and paying my taxes early (I already keep a close eye on all my account balances) is to unfreeze my credit before applying for a loan or a job. Got it.

   I can't even remember what I was going to make for dinner tonight.

   And how exactly do I pay my taxes early? Last time I checked, employers aren't required to send forms out until the end of January and financial institutions have an even later date to do so.

I had better figure out what we are having for dinner first.

Counting my blessings over what I didn't accomplish

There are many things I would like to have accomplished this year...

   While I am no gardener by any stretch of the imagination, I did think it would be nice to have a little corner of the yard to grow some things. Specifically things you can eat. All my friend's gardens have begun to yield fantastic results. I am blessed to be on the receiving end of such bountiful harvests.

   I, on the other hand, grew 5ft dandelions along our driveway. My husband wanted to enter them in the county fair. To my credit, none of the dandelions had turned to the floating seed heads.

I do not believe anyone is looking for what I have to harvest.

   

   Just like I am pretty sure that I won't be playing in the band anytime soon. First the kids told me that I would need to be in 8th grade or high school to march with them. Then they informed that I would need to play an instrument as well. I don't suppose the harmonica is considered a band instrument, is it?

How about the radio?

   

On top of everything else, my team didn't win the tug of war contest either.

   Despite these recent setbacks, I am not at all depressed. Why? Because while I did not have the chance to puck fresh vegetables from the vine, I did have the opportunity to hog snuggle with a baby. Outside on a beautiful day no less.

   I also had the good fortune to go chicken hunting in the suburbs with my best friend and her family. No instruments required! I didn't catch one, but it was fun to see someone else capture the prize so that it might be returned to its own yard.

Great job Allie!

  Moreover, there was the time I was able to spend with my family which required no tugging, no war and no dirt! Just a lot of fun, which is always a win.

    

   

   So if you are starting to get depressed about what you were not able to accomplish, I remind you, just count your blessings. They are all around you if you remember to look.

   You may find that you accomplished more than what you set out to do.

YEAH! Back to school time!

   So my last post was like....way back in early July. Somehow it is now August. Late August. And now suddenly the kid is going back to school!

 YEAH! Why? Cause the kid is 13. My summer went kinda like this: 

   "Mom, why did you wake me? I wanted to sleep in today!"
 
    Ummmm, okay, it is 11am. Just how late were you thinking?

   "What is for breakfast?"

    It would be lunch time now.

   "But I just got up!"

   I can't help it if it took you forty five minutes to find clothes and put them on, and another twenty minutes to brush your hair and your teeth.

   "I don't want that for lunch. Can't we have something else?"

   No, this is not a restaurant.

   "Can I have a friend over?"

   After you clean your room and practice your instruments.

   Next five hours are spent getting around to practicing instruments. She manages to clean section of the floor the size of a postage stamp. Has to be told three times to strip bed and get sheets in washer. Drags feet to do daily chores written on wipe off board in kitchen. Complains there is no time left in the day to see her friends and she never gets to see them over the summer. Has to be reminded to take a shower. Goes to bed (finally). Sleeps 18 hours. REPEAT.

YES, I am sooooo ready for school schedule!

   Until I get the schedule.

   Religious Ed class time changed. Need to enter about a thousand entries into the calendar for different events. Oh, by the way, there is marching band practice afterward, add that to the calendar. And can we change music lessons to Monday? Say, here is the regular band schedule and activities to put on the calendar. Wanna add early morning Jazz band three times a week as well? Plus after school activities.

When do we get off the ride?

   I think school is out in June or something.....

   At least the school day is consistent. 

Except Wednesdays...those are early dismissal. And every other month there is a Wednesday with an even earlier dismissal. Then there are holidays, institute days, and (heaven forbid) snow days.

   

Round and round we go!

 

Well, it sounded like a good idea...

   I am beginning to think that life should come with a "Do you want to reconsider that?"button.

   Such as the time we decided to redo the entire outside of our home while remodeling the kitchen... Seemed like a good idea at the time.
And yes, it all worked out in the end.

Might have been handy to have one of those buttons around then. 

Just Saying...

   This button could not only be applied to the larger projects in life, but also to the smaller stuff...

   Like recently when we picked a beautiful weekend to go camping. We went biking, picking berries, aaannnndddd...

Canoeing!

Seems like a harmless enough decision from the picture.

Okay, one of us looks happy with the choice.

   What the picture doesn't tell you is that it was a little windy. Well, to be honest, quite a bit windy. And the water was high. So high that there were buoys to let boaters know where to go and where NOT to go due to flooding. Then there was the issue of a current. Did I mention that the water was a bit choppy?

   But we had a water map (of sorts) to tell us how to get to the river from the inlet where we rented the boats. All we had to do was paddle out a little bit, round an island (avoiding the NO BOATS area with the $250 violation fine) and enter the river, then when we were done, return to the tributary. What could go wrong?

I believe I mentioned that it was windy.

And the water was a bit choppy.

Did I also mention that the return voyage was upstream?

   I know I left out the part where the map wasn't especially helpful. So, even though we didn't end up in the NO BOATS area (with the $250 dollar fine), we didn't make it to the river either. Instead we found the lake. With even choppier water than the tributary. And a current that just wanted to suck boats out and never let them go again.

What we lack in muscle power and brilliance, we make up in sheer determination.

  

    After an hour an a half of serious paddling, we made it back to the dock. All three of us still in the boat. AND we brought back an extra life jacket that we found along the way! Such a deal. Of course now the rental agency is probably wondering what happened to that fourth passenger...

   My daughter learned that paddling can be a heck of a lot of work. Even more so in windy, choppy water conditions. She paddled for about fifteen minutes before discovering that current can also be a challenge.

   She also learned that her parents aren't much for reading and comprehending waterway maps. Nor are they particularly good with navigation .

   She may have realized that deciding who is captain ahead of time might have been a good choice as well.

So, has anyone seen a "Do you want to reconsider that?" button I could pick up?

In case we have any more brilliant ideas this summer.

Summer break for parents

Summer break from school started like a week and a half ago. I think. I am a little scattered.

I already can't remember what normal life was like.

   I used to daydream about my summer break. You know, enjoying the flowers, sleeping in, lunch dates with friends, running through fresh cut grass. Reality has set in.

   Well, we did start this summer by planting flowers...

   When I say we, I mean me, while kid disappeared for an hour to get the watering can, spent forty five minutes in the house going to the bathroom, and about twenty minutes putting the plastic containers in the recycle bin that was three feet away from where I was getting muddy and promising doom to the blooms in my hands.

  It was ninety the next day. Can you say wilt? I am not yet enjoying the flowers. I don't like to get up early to water and take care of plants before the heat comes and kills everything that moves. I would prefer to be sleeping in. That is what summer breaks are for after all.

As for that sleeping in part...

   Not sleeping in either.

I HAVE BEEN UP EARLY EVERY FREAKING DAY SINCE BREAK STARTED.

   Then that one day when I didn't have go be up. You got it. I was up even earlier. Four am early. If I am not careful, folks are going to start thinking I am a morning person. I a not. My biggest issue with getting up early is I feel the need to be doing something. Unfortunately, everyone else is sleeping. Sometimes, if it is a watering day, I go outside and play with the garden hose. Once I even found myself pulling weeds. If I am not careful, I might also be mistaken for a gardener!

   This could be my own fault. I looked at the calendar. There seem to be an awfully lot of commitments on there. They all seem to start early. And I am not sure what week this is.

Heck, I am not sure what day it is.

   Think I was supposed to publish a blog post last week....

OOOPS

   If I missed a date with you, I apologize, I am not sure what month it is either. Okay, better nix those dreamed up lunch dates.

   At least I can enjoy running through a freshly mowed lawn. I say this with pleasure as I am oohing and ahhhing over the new lawn mower we broke down and purchased this year.

   It means that I can enjoy the benefits of fresh cut grass without actually having to mow the lawn. You see, I won't have to mow the lawn myself for like the next eight or nine years or until the power drive breaks and the sucker becomes impossible to start without starter fluid, a screwdriver and thirty minutes of sweating and swearing.

   Then no one has time to mow the lawn but me.

  The lawnmower phenomenon works just like the snowblower situation. A new snowblower appeared in the garage last winter. As a result, it didn't snow all winter. We are probably in for the warmest winters on record for the next fifteen years. You can stop worrying about global warming, it is just the machine in our garage that has changed the weather patterns around the world.

   You can thank me later. But better wait till fall. When I might know what year we are living in. And this summer break thing is over.

Mom's joining the band!

 Last weekend was the Memorial Day. In our town it means a parade with silent fire trucks, ambulances and squad cars. It means veterans, troops of girl scouts and boy scouts and the Knights of Columbus all to honor our country's fallen soldiers. It also means MARCHING BANDS!

   It was beautiful weather, just right for walking in a parade. After taking pictures of the kids, I was totally pumped!

And I thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be awesome if I joined the band too!"

   I figured I could start at the back in the flute section, then work my way up to the clarinets and on to the percussion before finally finishing with the horns. I wouldn't go as far as the banner carriers, because I might trip and I sure didn't want to create a chain reaction for the rest of the players.

When I voiced my enthusiasm, one of the flute players thought it was a pretty cool idea.

He even offered me his flute!

   My daughter, however, vetoed the idea. She said, "No mom, you would definitely trip the band up by the time you got to the percussion."

   I think she is referring to my awkward gait. I suppose she has a point. But then I had inspiration. How about if I were pushed? There were some pretty dedicated band members...

When I relayed my ability to overcome my walking obstacle I was met with more opposition.

 "Mom, you can't read music and you can barely play the radio."

Details. Surely we could work that out.

I can be a pretty determined person.

   Well, I did get to be in the parade when all was said and done. Granted, I had chaperone status, but hey, I could march! As I told my daughter, if my friends and family can go to war and die for me, then surely the least I could do is march across town in a parade to honor them.

    

Even if only behind the band.

Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Attack

   I read in the news today that Microsoft is working to make Artificial Intelligence mainstream. So is their competition. Their goal is to integrate AI into all the products they offer from phone apps to factory floors.

photo credit: Theen ... Rusty Grate via photopin (license)

This gave me pause. 

   Because also in the news were stories about our legislators and other key persons who hold important offices in our government. Stories about things they have said, the bills they are trying to push through and the regulations they want to enact or undo.

Potentially we could have factory floors smarter than our lawmakers.

   Maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing. Especially if this AI is programmed to have society's best interest at heart. After all, the appliances they are programming with AI are meant to make our lives easier. Now that I think of it, I just might vote for a smart floor if it ran against some of the politicians we currently have in office. Heck, at this point I might vote for a stupid floor if it ran against some of what I see in our government. Just saying....

   But then, not two articles later, I read about Avast, a leading antivirus firm, warning about cyber attacks on home appliances. Not just computers, but TVs, coffee makers, microwaves and refrigerators. I must say, not having a technologically advanced home apparently comes with some advantages.

I would be particularly worried if I couldn't access my fridge. 

Terrified if there was an attack on my coffee maker.

Of course, if a cyber attack did occur on my coffee maker, there would be a lot of terrified people in this word because I would be without caffeine. Things would get pretty ugly if my coffee were to be held hostage.

Lucky for me (and the rest of the world) there is little to fear about cyber attacks in my home. My appliances are just stupid ones. Except the coffee maker, I would never call it stupid. Even if it doesn't have AI.

However, I am left to wonder, could we already be experiencing AI cyber attacks on a much higher level, say in our government? After all, aren't some of the folks we voted for making some particularly odd choices? Could it be that the politicians of today are are nothing more than robots that have been hacked?

If I wasn't paranoid before, I am now.

Season of the Grouse.

   This has been an absolutely beautiful spring! Warm temps, lovely flowers, green trees. Lots of bright sunshine.

Is it going to snow this week?

   I live in the Chicagoland area. It is part of the package.

   It wouldn't be spring without the wild weather that elates us one moment, then plunges us into the darkness of winter the next. As a true midwest native, I have all my wardrobe available, from the heavy sweaters and coats to tank tops and strappy sandals.

Please tell me I don't own this anymore!

   As I start venturing into clothes and shoes from last summer (Ok, maybe a few summers ago), I start noticing a couple of issues with my wardrobe transition.

   It would appear that my clothing selection is getting a little (lot) dated. Moreover, things are starting to get shabby. Frayed collars and torn pants may be chic for Nordstroms, but I don't think much of muddy jeans as a fashion statement. (Looks more like a laundry issue to me.) Not only do I need to freshen up my closet fare, but I also need to take stock of my shoe collection. All five pair.

It's the beginning of Grouse season.

   I have gone through this issue for several seasons now and there seems to be no real relief in sight. As a matter of fact, the shoe dilemma seems to be getting worse. Due to a drop foot problem that has developed into a partially collapsed arch and weakened ankle muscles, I wear a brace. With inserts. And grouse...a lot.

   This attractive monster has now become an everyday-all-the time accessory. Even with it, my gait leaves much to be desired. Some days I feel I should audition for Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, or perhaps Igor in Frankenstein. All I am missing is the hump.

Now a hump might be cool. I will have to consider doing something about that.

   At this time I don't have a hump. What I have is a brace and a set of inserts that fit in a wide variety limited selection of shoes. Most of which actively earn the title orthopedic. For those of you who really want to drop some cash on orthpedic shoes, they can be wildly expensive. Let me think, groceries this month...or shoes I don't want to buy?

Listen to the Grouse.

   What happened to that really cool neurostimulator I wore? The one that allowed me to expand my shoe selection and lessen my grousing? The expensive Walk Aid I enjoyed for a few years, with it's equally expensive electrode pads, became ineffective. Insurance balked at covering their end of the deal (despite the policy clearly indicating that it was covered) and the company that sold and handled the equipment couldn't figure out how to bill correctly. Added to these woes, the pads began to leave rashes (electrical burns) and my arch took a dive that the inserts alone could not handle.

   So back to the brace. And the shoes that they fit in. And lets not forget grousing.

   To be frank (I suppose I could be Joe or Henry) I don't really want to spend my money on a pair of orthopedic shoes. There is really nothing wrong with my trusty old hiking shoes. Except maybe they are starting to wear funny after 25 years...

   I now provide a lot of entertainment for the neighbors when I cross the yard to retrieve the mail. Everyone comes out to look at the Grouse as it tumbles into the ditch. Recently I have put on performances at local gas stations as well. Perhaps I will sell tickets and use the proceeds for a new pair of hiking shoes. I like hiking shoes. They provide a lot of support and handle uneven terrain quite well. You would be surprised how much uneven terrain is out there. With a dandy pair of new hikers, I might cancel my membership to the local tumbling team. Then maybe I will stop grousing.

Except when I have to dress up.

Hiking shoes don't pair well with dresses.

Children are a reflection of ourselves

Someone recently told me that my daughter was just like me.

I thought over this for about 12 seconds before dismissing the notion as altogether ridiculous.

Still struggling to contain the giggles.

   Yes, she has my sharp sarcastic sense of humor. Yes, she does resemble me in many ways (poor kid). Yes, we share the same gene pool. But that is where the likeness comes to a screeching halt.

   For one, my daughter is tall and slender. Something I definitely am not. I am exactly the same height as my mother and my grandmother. Maybe a bit taller than my great-grandmother. In other words, short. She takes after her daddy's side of the family. Like all of them, she has long legs that reach all the way down to the ground. I wear shoes so that folks won't notice that mine do not. Unfortunately this means I am not getting any hand-me-downs. Nor will I be able to "borrow" from her closet. Heck, I can't even swipe a pair of her cute shoes to run some errands.

   And they would look so good on me...don't you think?


   There is also that whole music thing.

   She can read music. She plays multiple instruments (and quite well I might brag). I am lucky if I can play the radio.

   Speaking of radio....
I like my music LOUD.

The kid thinks I should turn it down AND stop singing all the songs.

At the top of my lungs.

Especially if I don't know the lyrics.

   She has also informed me that classical music doesn't have lyrics. You've gotta be kidding me, right?

   Might as well tell me that the answer for 6-2+(3x2) isn't the Easter Bunny.

Yes, she did tell me that is not the answer.

I took a peek at her homework.

My taxes looked easier.

   As if all this wasn't bad enough, she feels like my behavior is a little immature. So what if I like to pretend I am a fighter pilot while driving the expressway? Who cares if I get out of the car to dance in the parking lot when my favorite tune is playing? And what if I rolled my eyes last week while talking to the doctor's office? They couldn't see me, I was on the phone!

   In conclusion, I have decided that the person who told me my daughter is just like me, is right, if they were referring to a more mature, taller, smarter, and musically talented version of myself that I have yet to grow into.

   In an effort to try and close the gap between our differences, I decided to give my daughter pets.

I got my daughter a chicken.

Named it Peck-Peck.

And a horse.

Named it Nag-Nag.

Nag-Nag pictured to the right, Peck-Peck center.
Lucky kid!

Week with the cats.

   This week my friend is away from home and so I am cat sitting her three fur babies. So she doesn't miss them too much, I have sent her some pictures of them.

I started with my typical view of the cats.

    As the week has progressed, they have gotten more friendly...

Billy thinks my daughter is great!

Today I sent some more pictures...

   Billy is such a cuddler! We spent some time together this morning relaxing, though it took me some convincing that cats don't drink coffee. I think he has other ideas on the matter. 

   Each of the cats have very different personalities. The lovely queen likes her space. Mostly she just likes company. Petting is permitted occasionally. Especially before meals.

   Today, one of the cats brought me a present!

Uh Oh, hope these weren't important!

   Can you guess which cat had these?

   Thinking cats need more watching....I will have to stop at the store to pick up some googly eyes. Hehehehe.