I am happy to say that my dad has returned home and no more scares unless he continues to be a terrible boy.  Monday morning, he decided that he could resume his crossing guard duties at school in the freezing temperatures and snow flurries.  I had a day to sleep in that morning and mom is on the school bus from 6.45-8.00.  Needless to say, there was no one to stop him.  At 10.30 when he should be getting ready for the pre-k students to come and go, he was lying on the couch sleeping.  I tried to revive him, but to no avail.  So at about 2, mom calls the village office to say that he will not be doing the crossing guard until at least Wednesday when he has a follow-up appointment.  I guess it makes sense that they only allow employees of the village do the job or I could have walked out the door and done it just as well.  At three, he attempted to go out the front door to cross the street.  However, I put my foot down and, surprisingly enough, he actually listened.  In the meantime, he is not taking his meds as he should be.  Yesterday, he did not take them AT ALL.  This morning, we asked if he had taken them yet; he did not know which ones to take.  WOOLY SHEEP (I actually said that under my breath!!! Stubborn!!! Send HIM to Liswathistan (kidding).  Hopefully, this doesn’t last long.  But for the most part, he has been resting and allowing his body to recover while driving those around him CRAZY!!  But patience with the patient is sure to win out, eventually.

Sunday is usually my favorite day of the week, but our last one ranks low on a list of my favorites.  First, the kids started out the day by being terrible.  Our 4-year-old Sammie was excited to see the snow – all 20 flakes of it that fell that morning – and she asked her still-half-asleep parents if we could go sledding.  My husband groggily mumbled yes, apparently thinking she was saying something else.  Later when we were up and about, I told him what he had agreed to, and so we then had to find something else comparable in my daughter’s mind to sledding.  Giving them an outside toy, we bundled the 3 oldest kids and sent them outside, the oldest of whom wanted to stay inside – which began her downward spiral.  She went outside reluctantly, but as soon as she came in, she threw a major tantrum about who-knows-what.  This set off the other two – our toddler was upset because her almost-9-year-old sister was acting totally out of her mind, and our 4-year-old…  well, I guess it’s just that she never misses an opportunity to act like a nut.  My husband dryly called it “Trickle-Down Crabonomics”, which I find the perfect term to describe the volatile cause-and-effect relationship between siblings in a large family.

Somehow, we were ready to leave the house for our favorite Sunday brunch, and we were only 7 minutes past schedule, not bad.  The kids cheered up in the car, and they were good during the entire meal, but unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the quality of the food.  It seems our favorite brunch has gone down a few steps in quality, to say the least.  They used to feature an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet with delicious selections that varied from the usual scrambled eggs and bacon usually featured at these things.  They even had a little table with chicken nuggets, peanut butter and jelly, and pizza for the kids.  They had a make-your-own-omlette bar, which had a variety of ingredients, from spinach and feta cheese to onion and green peppers.  Our favorite was the pasta bar – the chef makes fresh pasta right in front of you, and the alfredo is simply delicious – something even all the kids agreed upon.  We’ve been visiting this brunch for about a year now, and slowly over time, there’s been a downgrade in quality.  At first it wasn’t that noticable – cloth napkins going to paper, the end of the kids’ table, little things here and there.  But now, it’s down to a line of silver servers containing things like scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy and a make-your-own omelet bar with about 4 ingredients: one kind of cheese, bacon, mushrooms, salsa.  No more onion, no spinach, no feta…     and certainly no pasta bar, our favorite part.  And I never even got to try the marinara.  Well, anyway, that’s enough about that – another victim of this economy, I guess.  I know their menu is based upon the number of reservations they get, so maybe if the reservations somehow increase, so will the quality of the food again.

So after the disappointing buffet – which usually means I don’t have to worry about cooking the rest of the day since we’re all so full, this was not the case today – it was time to watch one of the biggest Chicago Bears games in recent years.  It was for first place and against their rivals, the Green Bay Packers.  The Packers scored more than 12 times as many points as the Bears did, and my kids weren’t very good during the game, so it was difficult for their father to even watch the slaughter.  Our 2-year-old fell asleep early, which we thought was a good thing, but she was woken up by her oldest sister during the battle we had about her cleaning the bathroom that was trashed during the sleepover she had had Friday night.  So now we had a late-napping toddler, and we spent the rest of the day fighting about the bathroom with our oldest.  Next thing I know, it’s time for bed for everyone, and we never even got any parent-alone-time, ugh.

Oh, well, just because the day wasn’t all I was looking forward to still doesn’t make it a “bad day”.  It was a weekend, which means family day, and I don’t think those could ever be bad…  not like yesterday when I got to Walmart, unloaded two little kids, did some shopping and realized I forgot my credit card.  Had to set my stuff aside, bundle up the kids and go out to the car, but it wasn’t there either – it was at home.  So after re-loading the kids, going home, and re-unloading the kids at Walmart, I was more than a little irritated, not to mention extremely rushed now because I had to get to the school to pick up my oldest.  So no, I didn’t get all the shopping done, I was late to pick up my daughter, but at least I got her to Brownies on time.  Then I went to my meeting for 20 minutes, then left for a Brownie patches ceremony, then back to my meeting, kid in tow…  it was a hectic day, and I’m glad today is date night so I can spend some quality time alone with my husband and unwind.  Only problem there is that no housework gets done on date night, so big surprise, I’m behind yet again, sigh…  But then again, you probably guessed that based upon my lack of blog posting!

I’ve wondered about this expression for some time. I’ve always thought that it referred to wiping your slate (chalkboard) clean before starting something. I just finished a google search and found that it can have a deeper meaning or much lighter.

One thing I found deals with the whole “Nature or Nurture” question. The blank slate referring to a child being born with no thoughts or instincts and everything is learned from the environment. Too deep for my taste this evening.

I also found a rather poorly written (in my opinion) Harry Potter based story. Dealing with one persons magically induced amnesia. Yawn.

There were a few sites that used “the Blank Slate” as part of their name. Nothing that really caught my eye.

One or two political references to the Blank State were also found, and that is all I will say on that.

Even one reference to a Blank State Theater. More to my liking, but not exactly what I was looking for.

Funny, I didn’t easily find anything close to what I actually had in mind when I formed those words in my mind.

So, since I didn’t find what I was looking for, I’m going to have to think more on exactly what starting with a blank slate means. Look for further updates or add your own..

No, this is not one of the Boy Wonder’s many quips to the Caped Crusader (that I am aware of, anyway).  This comes from the 1994 movie The Fantastic Four.  Never heard of it?  Wasn’t it made more recently than that?  These are not surprising questions.  In the early ’90s a theatrical version of the superhero team nearly made it to the multiplex.  Promotional materials were created (a trailer, movie posters, even a PG rating).  However, it was shelved for one of several reasons that I will not dwell upon.  Instead, I will comment on the film itself without giving too much away.

This is an origin story made on a shoestring budget of $2 million… and boy does it show.  It has a lot in common with the 60s television series from which I took the title of this post.  It also reminds me of another theatrical release of the early 80s: Flash Gordon.  The movie depicts the events in which Dr. Reed Richards, siblings Sue and Johnny Storm, and pilot Ben Grimm all become the super-powered humans they have come to be known.  As well as the creation of the evil Dr. Doom.  Plus, we are introduced to another key element in the comic legend, Alicia Masters.

I had heard of this extremely rare version when the big budget feature was released a few years ago.  However, I had no idea that I would some day get to see it.  It is pure camp made for what in Hollywood terms is peanuts. But for what it is, it is a lot of fun.  Good for an evening of B-movie entertainment.  Plus in a survey it ranked higher than some other not so worthy superhero movies (Batman & Robin for one).

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS (not purposely, but if you have yet to see Quantum of Solace or even have a fresh viewing of Casino Royale behind you, I would skip this post.  And if you are uninterested in either, then I give you permission to skip it all together.

One thing I can say about the new Bond is that it does not lack from the action pieces.  The new movie starts right off with 007 in a battle with a semi and at least three other cars while he is inside his Aston Martin.  The plot picks up mere moments after Casino Royale ended and follows Bond on the trail of a new sinister organization that was responsible for the death of his love, Vesper.  This organization is so all-encompassing and secret that neither CIA nor MI6 know of its existence.  That being said there is almost no one that can be trusted.  The British government has a hard time trusting Bond himself who seems to be on a mission of revenge.  M herself puts a hold on all of his passports, credit cards, etc. making it nearly impossible to move about on his mission.  OK… enough on the plot.

There are several things that I liked about the movie.  Returning players from the previous films: our old friend Felix Leiter from many of the previous films. And Mathis whom you never know where his loyalties lie.  But as he alluded to, the world is full of gray.  Black and white are almost nonexistent in the world today.  I have always liked the series when it travels around the world and this one goes all over.  Battles are fought on land, sea, and air.  And there are two lovelies.  One for strength of character, the other for a bit of eye appeal.

HOWEVER,  and this was a complaint I had with the previous film.  Bond is too serious.  Killing may not be all kicks and giggles, but the best films of the series had some moments of relief from the action.  Few puns, few double entendres.  Daniel Craig is too hard… lighten him up a little at least.  Put some of the fun back into the series.

Final verdict: I would definitely recommend this to fans of the 007 series… of which many seem to be divided.  However, if you are unfamiliar with it, Quantum of Solace definitely is not the film to start with.  I have a difficult time suggesting which film to go to when asked by novices.  I was introduced with For Your Eyes Only and was thrilled from then on.  Perhaps one or two of my faithful readers can suggest a jumping off point.  A few of us have favorites but is that a good place to start?

The first job I selected for the fourth district I am now in may still be coming, but the second job was a two-day job for 8th grade language arts.  It was at the school where I know a few of the kids from my church.  As it turns out the school is only about a half mile from my church too.  I noticed on the map that this school was comprised of two buildings: an elementary and a junior high school.  As such, I did not expect to run into them since they are in elementary.  As it turns out, the schools were connected and there is some shared space such as the cafeteria.  I still didn’t run into them on the first day though.  It was actually the second day when I was entering the building that I saw two of them.  They were early because they were doing broadcasting, which is becoming increasingly common in schools these days.  At this school I would guess the elementary and junior high sides share this as well, with the elementary using it in the morning and the junior high in the afternoon during their homeroom.

This day was divided into two-period blocks again, another common thing in junior high/middle school that I did not have when I was in junior high.  Reading and other english classes were separate.  Would you believe I had a dedicated spelling class in 6th grade?  “What class do you have next- math?  Gym?  Social studies?”  “No, I have spelling.”  I don’t even recall what we did all week outside of the pre- and post-tests.  I do remember some of the tests were verbal though, and not a fun game like sparkle either.  There was one time they gave me the word “anxiety” and I mumbled something like “angziety” but when asked to repeat myself louder I changed my answer and got it right- total luck.

The first two blocks were 8th grade as the job description promised.  On Thursday they had a test which followed the daily “caught ya”  sentence correction.  Easy enough for me.  Following that we started an Edger Allan Poe story in their books.  Rather than reading it together there was a CD recording.  Unfortunately this was so soft the room had to be absolutely silent in order to hear the reader.  We only got through a few pages of this.  I tried to play it on the DVD player and see if it came out any louder through the TV than the portable CD player, but oddly enough the DVD player didn’t recognize the CD.  Did it only play DVDs?  First time I’ve ever encountered a DVD player that didn’t play CDs, unless it was just this one for some reason.

The last block was 7th grade.  They started the same way, with a daily sentence and a test.  The same test in fact as eighth grade.  Huh?  She gives the same lesson to both grades?  Well, not in every case as it turns out.  Following the test we did vocabulary and were supposed to do a worksheet on symbolism in poetry afterward, though we ran out of time before finishing the vocabulary.

Between these blocks was the 4th period lunch, starting at 10:07.  I guess I should really say breakfast.  Remember I mentioned the two schools sharing some space?  Well this early lunch was a consequence of that.  I am pleased to say I didn’t truly get a chance to eat until 1:30.  The teacher I was subbing for only had the first and last periods of (not counting homeroom, which follows the last period).  She apparently has lunch duty during 4th.  As the general rule goes, if the teacher has a job (s)he gets paid extra for, the sub doesn’t do it.  If it’s part of the regular duties, the sub has to do it too.  Some schools pay a stipend for lunch duty, some don’t.  This one does, so even though I didn’t get to eat until late I was quite happy because this school is an exception to the rule and gives subs a chance to earn stipend pay in cases like this, so I did! 🙂

The last ten minutes of the day was homeroom.  That’s right, ten minutes.  Well, they had to fit in the broadcast announcements some time, and elementary uses the room at the start of the day, so enter homeroom period.  There is not enough time to work on homework in the last few minutes following announcements, so the kids get to chat.

Friday was similar to Thursday, except the plans were different.  8th grade watched a video, again on Edgar Allan Poe, and 7th grade finally got to work on POEtry (sorry, my bad attempt at a pun) once they finished vocabulary.  Following homeroom, I got a surprise: another student from my church.  He’s in 7th grade now, but when he was in 4th grade I had him on the weekends.  He should have been with me for 5th grade too, except he was allowed to start going to the church’s junior high program for some reason I never fathomed.  Ironic, considering as far as school is concerned this district doesn’t start junior high until 7th grade.  I was going to mention this to his dad since I volunteer with him, but he wasn’t there this weekend.

So, how was your week? 🙂

That’s right!! This weekend on two different channels broadcast from the same city, they are having a Holiday Music Preview in preparation for their annual 24/7 marathon of merriment which begings the day after turkey and all the way through December 25th.  One of the tunes is one in a long series of parodies to the immortal classic “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”  Entitled “The Twleve Pains of Christmas,’ Bob Rivers and his Chorus (thank you to the digital radio dispplay that lists the title, artist, and year (on occasion) lists the things that most annoy them about the season.  One of the voices is a dead ringer for Archie Bunker who hates hangovers.  While I do love carols, novelty songs, all the best in Christmas melodies, it IS TOO EARLY for them.  I can only imagine the people who listen to the All Christmas Channels All The Time All Year Long (of which there is at least one.  I have also heard some of my favorites already which I had to give listen to.  “Snoopy’s Christmas,”(Snoopy vs. The Red Baron… nothing to do with A Charlie Brown Christmas)  “Hippopatamus For Christmas,” “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.”  I will post later about some of my favorite traditional carols down the road.  OK, OK… admittedly, I have not changed my car radio all weekend, but I still do think it is too early.  So, I think my title should be included in a new take on the song.

I tend to be up late at night writing these blogs. Recently I’ve been using my little computer light instead of the room light. This gives me just enough light to find the special keys on the keyboard that I don’t have a feel for in touch typing. Working with computers for the past 20+ years has given me some comfort with the keyboard, but I still have to look for keys on occasion.

Anyway what I’m really trying to say is that I write a lot in the dark. With the darkness surrounding me, my thoughts tend to follow a different path. Outside of the little circle of light near the computer the rest of the room is dark. I listen to the sounds of the evening. The dog shifting in his sleep, the frog gently croaking in his tank, his crickets with their serenade until supper time. 😉 Even a daughter shifting in her sleep makes noise from the next room over. Trains can be heard in the distance. I’m sure if I would open a window, the owls would be audible in their late fall hunts.

For the most part I find the dark peaceful. My mind can wander were it wants. Thought of friends, family, ghosts from the past can and do fill my brain. I can think of many wonderful events in the world of science, theater or movies. Books may take up my time, and lesson my words here. This, I think is a way for me to rest. My dream state while being awake. I’ve often wondered how I can get by on so little sleep. I do tend to make up for it on the weekends, but I’m usually around 9:00 or so (believe me that is well past my 6:00am wake up during the week). Even when 2:00 rolls around, I find my self full of thoughts and a busy mind.

Tonight I still have thoughts running in my brain. Thoughts of strange beasts, and burning estates (it was a game people!!!) Thoughts of having fun with friends. Odd little thoughts that I need to work out. All thoughts in the dark.

Thoughts in the dark to lead me in lifel
Thoughts to clear my head and mind.
Thoughts of the here and now
Thoughts of the past and then
Thoughts that may take me to the light.

Tonight, a great friend and I went to see my niece and nephew in their elementary school’s production of Schoolhouse Rock, Live! Ok, so it was the juniorfied version of the show. phooey!  A year ago our community theatre did a production of the full 21 song-filled show in which I was the central character, Mr. Mizner, on his first day as a teacher.  The 80 kids on stage tonight delivered a very fun, energetic (but shortened) version.  The kids were broken down into four groups each of which were on stage in turn  during certain songs (you try putting 80 kids on stage at the same time).  I attempted to find my two stars and easily spotted Elizabeth when she was on stage.  However, my godson, Joshua, decided to hide himself whenever possible.  BUT, I did catch him getting into the dances a few times.

I was pretty impressed with the work put into the show.  Lots of high energy (as it should be) and choreography that even I could have done.  There were only eleven of the songs from the full version present.  I was surprised that “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly” was not included.  I thought that the kids could have done a good job with that and had fun.  Most disappointing, to me anyway, was the absence of “The Tale of Mr. Morton.”  But, as Megan pointed out repeatedly… “It’s the JUNIOR version… j-u-n-i-o-r!!!”  I thought… ok, but… I don’t see why I got to sing the song and the young man playing Tom did not.  THAT IS HIS BIG NUMBER.  I would have been disappointed if I were him and did not get to sing it.  The kid did a good job in the part, but he could have shown a little bit more apprehension at the beginning.

Tonight’s version of “Do the Circulation” featured a soloist resembling Elvis Presley singing the song and doing some moves.  This was a fun bit, but I liked our idea of turning the cast members into gym equipment (treadmills, weight benches, etc) and having the kids in the choir operate them.  Since our version had a female singing the song, it would not have worked.

I also missed the added dialog that our wonderfully gifted and talented director and awesome friend added to the show for a more cohesive and flowing plot.  Tonight, the constant raising and lowering of the lights between each song was at times tedious but I don’t suppose there was anyway around it with all the kids coming on and off stage.  I wonder how many parents had to be behind the scenes to corral all 80 of them.  Carol… could you have done THAT by yourself?  You only had 30 to work with.  Here is your chance to COMMENT on our blogs… hmmm.

A fun evening although our plan to eat at the Olive Garden before the show did not work out.  Promise Megan that we will go there reaaaaaaly soon… thanks for coming.  And you can comment, too.  I know you are both out there reading and lurking in the shadows 🙂 .

No one as far as I know asked the question posed in the title, but today I certainly felt that way, as the nerd that is, not the one asking the question. I suspect my brother felt the same way. You see, we went to the funeral of someone we have never met. As such, we never met her family either so I am certain more than one person was wondering, “Who are they?”

Let me start at the beginning.  About twenty years ago my uncle met a woman and her family.  Eleven years ago they started seeing each other.  They never did get married, so I can’t call her my aunt, but they were close just the same.  In all that time none of us were ever introduced to his girlfriend; I’m not sure why.  A couple of months ago she was diagnosed with brain cancer, apparently inoperable, and was given a prognosis of just several months.  Then, the cancer showed itelf to be extremely aggressive and about about a week ago I learned her prognosis was downgraded to just a couple of weeks.  Less than a week later she was gone.

I suppose the wake yesterday would have been a more appropriate time for near strangers like us, but we didn’t make it so we went to the funeral today instead.  I pretty much went just to support my uncle and my mother as again I never met his girlfriend or her family.  She did leave behind several grievers though including children and grandchildren, so my uncle wouldn’t have been her first husband had they gotten married.  I must have looked like robotman at this funeral.  How can one be sad and grieved when he doesn’t even know the subject of the funeral?  Truthfully, as far as sadness goes I do tend to be kind of a robot at times.  Even at my father’s funeral I never broke down, and you can’t get much closer to someone to be grieved over than a parent (or child to put the bond in the other perspective), with the exception of a spouse. Needless to say my uncle was very grieved and like my mother with her spouse, JustJ with his, and countless others who have lost the one closest to them, he will not soon get over this (nor should he, if anyone thinks I am suggesting this).

The funeral was a three part affair.  We met at the funeral home and any who wished to were able to make last respects at this time.  Though I had never met her and thus didn’t need to see her body I nonetheless joined the line as we processed past her and out the door to the vehicular procession, the part that drivers everywhere are always thrilled about 😉 .  We headed to part two- the church where the funeral would be held.  It was a Catholic service, so I found much of the ritual unfamiliar and I found I could not join in many of the prayers.  Those prayers were either to Mary, to the Saints, or just prayers for the deceased.  As a Protestant I do not believe in any of those.  I pray to God the Father directly with Jesus as my only intercessor, and I believe once dead a person is judged immediately and then goes on to one of two places so therefore prayers for them are useless.  Prayers for the family and others still living on the other hand are more than welcome and I either joined in at these points or prayed in this fashion during the other prayers.

Part three of the service was the long procession to the cemetery.  It was at this point we made our departure and headed home.  My other uncle was also there and chose to stay so at least there was someone still there for my one uncle from his own family.  I do hope everything went well with it.  I expect we will be seeing my uncle and my grandmother soon.  My mother is very close to them both even if I don’t get close to my extended family.  She tells me there is a lunch planned for the near future.  Perhaps I’ll pay for it if my uncle will let me.  He always covers these things and it would only be right if he didn’t have to this time.