One year blogging anniversary next Sunday.
Friday, July 30, 2010
My Bucket List
My Bucket List
You know, this isn't all of it though. Doesn't your bucket list evolve as you do? Give me 2 or 3 things that are on yours - maybe I'll add them to mine.
- Travel Route 66 - start to finish. With our family.
- Finally visit Washington DC.
- Become published.
- Write a novel. Or two.
- Be married for 50+ years.
- Raise responsible, well-educated, self-moderating, financially responsible children.
- Visit the Greenbrier every year - or close to it.
- Read 1-2 books per month per year.
- Go to Scotland.
- Go back to England.
- Hold myself to a higher standard.
- Lose 20 pounds before I turn 40.
- Keep it off until I'm old(er).
- Age gracefully.
- Don't embarass myself if I forget #13 every once in awhile.
- See Our Lady Peace in concert 20 times. #9 was in May.
- Keep learning.
You know, this isn't all of it though. Doesn't your bucket list evolve as you do? Give me 2 or 3 things that are on yours - maybe I'll add them to mine.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
What do you do when . . .
WARNING - POST CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
What do you do when people, ADULTS, kind of mock your child for their choices?
Way back in the beginning of the summer, Oldest did a creative writing camp that she loved. LOVED. Right up her alley in how it fit her personality.
At the end of the week, she had sharing day. Husband attended and was amazed by her diction, projection, creativity and confidence.
That evening we all went to the pool and one of the Moms there said, "Hey, Missy, what kind of camps does Oldest do? Sports?"
I said, "No, she actually just finished a writing camp. It was an awesome one."
"Riding camp? Like horses? That's so cool!"
"No, actually, writing camp. Like creative writing."
"GET THE FUCK OUT. You put your child in a writing camp? In the summer? What kind of kid is she?" Laughing.
"Well, actually, she loved it. It plays to her strengths. She's a very creative girl."
"Yeah, but. We just do sports all summer. I wouldn't THINK of putting my kids in academic camps. But whatever works for you!" Laughing, while walking away.
Is it any wonder kids try to "hide" their giftedness? Why parents of gifted kids downplay it, hide it themselves and therefore send the message to their own child that their brainpower is something to be embarassed by?
This notion that if your kid's involved with sports it's something to sit around with other parents, talking about it, strategizing about it, lamenting about the "travel schedules" is so tiresome to me. I sit and listen to parents do this and sometimes they turn to me and say, "What sport is Oldest in?" As if that's the only thing worth talking about when it has to do with your child. No wonder I feel isolated.
I think I need to start a Parent Support Group for Gifted Children. I wish SENG's educational materials could be had without attending a weekend conference that requires flying halfway across the country.
Thank goodness for the internet and the "gifted friends" I've made through that.
What do you do when people, ADULTS, kind of mock your child for their choices?
Way back in the beginning of the summer, Oldest did a creative writing camp that she loved. LOVED. Right up her alley in how it fit her personality.
At the end of the week, she had sharing day. Husband attended and was amazed by her diction, projection, creativity and confidence.
That evening we all went to the pool and one of the Moms there said, "Hey, Missy, what kind of camps does Oldest do? Sports?"
I said, "No, she actually just finished a writing camp. It was an awesome one."
"Riding camp? Like horses? That's so cool!"
"No, actually, writing camp. Like creative writing."
"GET THE FUCK OUT. You put your child in a writing camp? In the summer? What kind of kid is she?" Laughing.
"Well, actually, she loved it. It plays to her strengths. She's a very creative girl."
"Yeah, but. We just do sports all summer. I wouldn't THINK of putting my kids in academic camps. But whatever works for you!" Laughing, while walking away.
Is it any wonder kids try to "hide" their giftedness? Why parents of gifted kids downplay it, hide it themselves and therefore send the message to their own child that their brainpower is something to be embarassed by?
This notion that if your kid's involved with sports it's something to sit around with other parents, talking about it, strategizing about it, lamenting about the "travel schedules" is so tiresome to me. I sit and listen to parents do this and sometimes they turn to me and say, "What sport is Oldest in?" As if that's the only thing worth talking about when it has to do with your child. No wonder I feel isolated.
I think I need to start a Parent Support Group for Gifted Children. I wish SENG's educational materials could be had without attending a weekend conference that requires flying halfway across the country.
Thank goodness for the internet and the "gifted friends" I've made through that.
Monday, July 26, 2010
My Happiness Project -Time
It's Happiness Monday! I love My Happiness Project, where I decided to spend a year "finding" happiness with the help of Gretchen Rubin and her awesome book. Check out her website for more information. And buy the book! It's never too late to start your own Happiness Project.
Do you consider time to be your friend or enemy? I have times when it's my utter enemy - I get up extra early to get things accomplished and Youngest wakes up 20 minutes later, thus giving me no time. Or lots and lots of time, hours upon hours, where I sit thinking about all of the things I planned to do that I can't do until much later.
That kind of thinking makes me angry. When I don't live in the moment, I get angry. Makes it fairly obvious to say I should live in the moment, then, right? It's hard though, we all know that! How we "think ahead," which is necessary, but it causes us considerable grief in the moment and makes us not appreciate where we are right then.
Sometimes, though, time is my friend. Youngest slept 2.5 hours one day last week and Oldest spent the entire time creating her own personal "Pokemon handbook." I had the full time to myself and was able to actually think, follow through and do some much needed planning that I hadn't been able to do for a couple of weeks. It made me feel so happy. I was able to live in the moment with the kiddies that afternoon because I'd been so productive in the hours before it.
Time. Productivity. Living in the moment. Each one leads to the other. If I have time, I can be productive. If I'm productive, I can live in the moment. And then feel happy.
So on those days when it's no time and therefore no productivity, I still haven't figured out how to live in the moment. Have you?
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Have You Hugged Your Gifted Child this Week?
This week is National Gifted Education Week. I'm not sure why it's in July, but no matter! Here are my suggestions for ways to "hug" your gifted children this week:
Get to know the SENG website. Supporting the Emotional Needs of Gifted Children is oh, sooooo important. Plus yours truly has an article on the site! And I didn't even have to pay them to put it there!
Get to know Davidson Institute for the Gifted website. Lots and lots of resources for parents seeking answers about gifted kids.
Do a #gtchat with Deborah Mersino on Twitter! Really, what are you waiting for? If you really, truly want to feel connected to other parents who totally get it, do this. Find Deborah here. Do you know how much these have grown since she started them in January? This is helping the gifted advocacy fight really move forward!
Hoagie's Gifted.
Prufrock Press.
Ohio Association of Gifted Children. Parent Day is in October - check the site and go! What a great way to connect with local gifted parents. And the guest speaker, while not publicly announced yet, is sooooooooo awesome. Like I own his books awesome. Like I am going to trip over myself when I meet him awesome. Stay tuned, Ohioans.
This is a brief thumbnail of the resources out there. I am still partial to that good old-fashioned thing we call reading books on the subject, but my book list is too extensive to reproduce here today.
And drumroll, please . . .
What's the most important way to hug your gifted child this week?
Hug your gifted child(ren).
Get to know the SENG website. Supporting the Emotional Needs of Gifted Children is oh, sooooo important. Plus yours truly has an article on the site! And I didn't even have to pay them to put it there!
Get to know Davidson Institute for the Gifted website. Lots and lots of resources for parents seeking answers about gifted kids.
Do a #gtchat with Deborah Mersino on Twitter! Really, what are you waiting for? If you really, truly want to feel connected to other parents who totally get it, do this. Find Deborah here. Do you know how much these have grown since she started them in January? This is helping the gifted advocacy fight really move forward!
Hoagie's Gifted.
Prufrock Press.
Ohio Association of Gifted Children. Parent Day is in October - check the site and go! What a great way to connect with local gifted parents. And the guest speaker, while not publicly announced yet, is sooooooooo awesome. Like I own his books awesome. Like I am going to trip over myself when I meet him awesome. Stay tuned, Ohioans.
This is a brief thumbnail of the resources out there. I am still partial to that good old-fashioned thing we call reading books on the subject, but my book list is too extensive to reproduce here today.
And drumroll, please . . .
What's the most important way to hug your gifted child this week?
Hug your gifted child(ren).
Monday, July 19, 2010
My Happiness - The Good Side of Blogging
What do you love about blogging? How is it connected to your happiness?
Blogging makes me happy because it gives me an outlet. I can emote about things that I may not emote about to the check out lady at the grocery store. Why can't I just open up a word document and emote there, though? Why does it have to be blogging?
Because I might connect with people while emoting. And no matter how much I like to hide behind my books or computer, no matter how much I like to be home rather than out and about, I need affirmation from people. So emoting into a word document, while more satisfying because I would have to edit less, would be less satisfying because I'm not going to connect with anyone.
I really like some of the people I've met blogging - people who I would have never met through Facebook or in public. People I certainly wouldn't have met in a word document! For that reason, I am so happy I began blogging close to a year ago. I can't believe it's already been that long!
So what will I do for my one year Blogging-versary? Wait and see, wait and see. It's August 8th.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Dear So and So - Summer hygiene
Head over to Kat's after learning about summer hygiene!
Dear So and So -
If cleanliness is next to godliness, is uncleanliness next to demonic possession?
Just asking, because it would be nice to know how seriously I need to take my uncleanliness
Dear summertime hygiene -
One of my favorite things about summer is that I need less clothing layers. One of my least favorite things is that I walk around "just ripe, maybe one day short of rotten" in my personal hygiene. I do not know why it's so hard to shower in the summer.
Signed,
If you smell me coming down the street, walk on by, don't say something that will make me cry. I KNOW already.
Dear car that just got detailed -
When I took the car seat off the seat, I nearly wept with embarassment that I had to allow someone else to SEE the grime AND clean it. Not one to be embarassed by other people cleaning my things (I've been known to farm out laundry, ironing, and I have cleaning people come bi-weekly - God BLESS them), I was mortified and drove home thinking I was the most slovenly pig on the planet.
Signed,
Then I mentioned this feeling to the service department on pick up and he replied, "Yeah, that was dirty, but we've seen it sooooo much worse." Whether you were lying to make me feel better or whether it was true, I don't care. Bless YOU, service department man
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Summer half gone
Poof! At the end of today, our summer is halfway over.
How does this make me feel?
Relief - we've made it to the halfway point with no major incidents
Sadness - I'm so busy this summer, I feel like I'm missing all of the relaxation. A mentor of mine says that modeling positive involvement in an organization will help raise kids who are committed to their community and understand the importance of philanthropy, but sometimes when my 2 year old wakes up and says, "Mommy, what meeting do you have today?" I wonder. Or when my 8 year old says, "you're very busy, Mommy," and she's a perfectionist, it makes me worry that what I'm modeling is that she has to be running, running, running to be doing the right thing.
Fatigue - that's just on my list at all times. No matter what I'm doing or feeling, I'm just plain tired anymore.
Dread - August is hard, no two ways about it. This school year's going to be hard, no two ways about it.
Nostalgic - watching your kids grow up right before your eyes makes you think about a lot of things in life. Mostly how fast it all goes (no matter how long the days are).
Happy - we're having a good summer. Even with its merry go round aspects.
So what about your halfway point? How do you feel about summer? Good, bad, never want it to end? Counting the days until the school bus arrives?
How does this make me feel?
Relief - we've made it to the halfway point with no major incidents
Sadness - I'm so busy this summer, I feel like I'm missing all of the relaxation. A mentor of mine says that modeling positive involvement in an organization will help raise kids who are committed to their community and understand the importance of philanthropy, but sometimes when my 2 year old wakes up and says, "Mommy, what meeting do you have today?" I wonder. Or when my 8 year old says, "you're very busy, Mommy," and she's a perfectionist, it makes me worry that what I'm modeling is that she has to be running, running, running to be doing the right thing.
Fatigue - that's just on my list at all times. No matter what I'm doing or feeling, I'm just plain tired anymore.
Dread - August is hard, no two ways about it. This school year's going to be hard, no two ways about it.
Nostalgic - watching your kids grow up right before your eyes makes you think about a lot of things in life. Mostly how fast it all goes (no matter how long the days are).
Happy - we're having a good summer. Even with its merry go round aspects.
So what about your halfway point? How do you feel about summer? Good, bad, never want it to end? Counting the days until the school bus arrives?
Monday, July 12, 2010
My Happiness Project - July = Pursue My Passions
It's Happiness Monday! I love My Happiness Project, where I decided to spend a year "finding" happiness with the help of Gretchen Rubin and her awesome book. Check out her website for more information. And buy the book! It's never too late to start your own Happiness Project.
So waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in January when I planned the year of My Happiness Project, July was to be BOOK MONTH. I couldn't wait for it, because one of my biggest passions in life is reading, as I've listed on here before, numerous times.
I planned to buy and read books, catch up on the books lining my nightstand (my goal for the month was 5 - waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in January I thought summer was perfect for leisurely reading with the kids). More importantly I planned to do some things with the books I plan to write - I was finally going to start outlining them. Or at least one of them. And the books I've been neglecting were going to get some love - the family scrapbooks.
Sigh. Life changed between then and now and I've had to tailor this month. I'm going to try to read 5 books still, but I have to table my plans to outline MY book(s). This saddens me. I have ideas, good ones (they're always best when viewed inside your own brain, aren't they?), but I have no time right now. Maybe soon, or maybe I'll just have to continue to jot things into my book file on the computer when something really rears its head.
And as for the family scrap books? I really, really want to start working on them. Maybe my first step will be to download that digital software I purchased in April. Yep, can't start the digital scrapbooks until the software's in - even I know that. Then see if I can carve out an hour a week for the rest of the summer.
What am I going to do to "buy happiness" this month? I'm having my organizer come back and help me with my office. It's the one place I've been LOATHE to tackle since I began doing the home re-org in February. And it's yucky. Unhelpful, time consuming and unattractive. I've waved the white flag on doing it myself. She comes tomorrow. Hopefully we get some good work done.
What are you doing with the lazy days of July? The halfway point of summer? The time when summer's still pretty fun and we're not yet in that hard, hard part of August where it's TIME to go back to school (by the bickering and back to school shopping), but the calendar doesn't SAY it's time yet (because you still have 3 more weeks to go)?
Poor Missy. I guess I'll head to the pool. ;)
Friday, July 9, 2010
Friday - Follow - For - Fun and . . . AWARDS!
I've decided to do Friday Follow again this week - I found some great blogs last week and would love to spend another week "browsing!"
If you are new here (from there) - welcome! Happy to have you and I would love to meet you too. Just leave a comment. Some day soon my posts will be meatier, but summer time is about not enough time to blog apparently!
If you are new here (from there) - welcome! Happy to have you and I would love to meet you too. Just leave a comment. Some day soon my posts will be meatier, but summer time is about not enough time to blog apparently!
And Hippie Mommie gave me two awards on Wednesday. I just love her! And not just because of the awards either! She bubbles with enthusiasm and it's contagious. If you want to feel more cheery - spend a few minutes on her site!
Rules are to say 3 things I love about myself and pass them on. I'm a bad, bad, bad, girl. I'm not passing them on. Not because there aren't totally deserving peeps out there, but because of time - summer time that is. Which means NO TIME. Sigh.
What 3 things do I love about myself? Wow, tough. Hard to shine the compliment spotlight on yourself, isn't it? Makes you feel a little braggy?
Here goes:
I love that my children make me cry over my love for them. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I love my sense of humor. Some people don't get it, but that's the POINT. It's not for simpletons - it's wit and wit requires a little je ne sais quoi in the cerebellum. At least that's what I tell myself when people don't laugh.
I love that I'm comfortable being alone - or just with our family. So many people I look around and see people who MUST be with other people at all times. I am ok with solititude.
happy weekend.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Happiness is a lovely weekend
I didn't get my Monday Happiness post in because my family and I were continuing our 4 day celebration of July 4th.
July 4th has rocketed (get it?) into the top holiday slot for me in recent years. It is filled with fun and freedom (get it?) from any and all obligations except those that we choose ourselves. In other words, it's not an extended family holiday for us and I love that. (For all of you family members who read this - no offense, people. We all know that sometimes the best times are those spent with your own personal, immediate family. I still love you all.)
That being said, our dance card was quite (QUITE) full this weekend, but I stress, with activities planned by, executed by or attended by just us. Bliss, really.
One of the weekend "dates" was a trip to see Toy Story 3 with Oldest. OMG! Am I late to the party here? It was heart-wrenchingly sad. I'm talking hitching sobs coming from not just me, but Oldest too (which, of course, made me cry even harder that SHE'S crying over the recognition that some day she's going to grow up and leave us). The part at the land fill, you know, when they all start holding hands? OMG AGAIN! The two of us were crying so hard we were wrapped up in each other's arms like a couple of babies! AND WE WERE IN THE FRONT ROW because we got there late. Nice.
It was the kind of time with her that I will remember forever. We spent the kind of afternoon that makes me say she is the best kid ever. Her empathy and deep emotions - if she can learn to protect them from the tramplers ENOUGH - will help her become quite the humanitarian someday. She is such a feeler and I love that about her.
Other than that, we had parties, fireworks, parties, family time, togetherness and parties. And we marched in our local parade! So fun and our first time. The girls had a blast. Here are pics of some of the weekend fun.
This is a picture of me "on fatigue" apparently. I was not loaded, though it looks like I was. I was very, very tired. I wouldn't include it, but I'm sometimes called out for including pictures that are flattering to me and a little less so to the others, so here it is. So good of the others, you get zombie girl too.
July 4th has rocketed (get it?) into the top holiday slot for me in recent years. It is filled with fun and freedom (get it?) from any and all obligations except those that we choose ourselves. In other words, it's not an extended family holiday for us and I love that. (For all of you family members who read this - no offense, people. We all know that sometimes the best times are those spent with your own personal, immediate family. I still love you all.)
That being said, our dance card was quite (QUITE) full this weekend, but I stress, with activities planned by, executed by or attended by just us. Bliss, really.
One of the weekend "dates" was a trip to see Toy Story 3 with Oldest. OMG! Am I late to the party here? It was heart-wrenchingly sad. I'm talking hitching sobs coming from not just me, but Oldest too (which, of course, made me cry even harder that SHE'S crying over the recognition that some day she's going to grow up and leave us). The part at the land fill, you know, when they all start holding hands? OMG AGAIN! The two of us were crying so hard we were wrapped up in each other's arms like a couple of babies! AND WE WERE IN THE FRONT ROW because we got there late. Nice.
It was the kind of time with her that I will remember forever. We spent the kind of afternoon that makes me say she is the best kid ever. Her empathy and deep emotions - if she can learn to protect them from the tramplers ENOUGH - will help her become quite the humanitarian someday. She is such a feeler and I love that about her.
Other than that, we had parties, fireworks, parties, family time, togetherness and parties. And we marched in our local parade! So fun and our first time. The girls had a blast. Here are pics of some of the weekend fun.
I hope that your 4th was safe. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of a weekend like this it's easy to forget the meaning behind the holiday. We talk about "safety" on the 4th of July and mean it about things like stray fireworks and drinking accidents, drownings or boating accidents.
Our safety, however, is fully tied up in the fact that we are safe from tyranny, oppression, genocide and (hopefully) terrorism. THAT kind of safe is just as important as "holiday weekend" safe. Actually more important. Without this kind of safe, we wouldn't even get to "weekend safe."
Happy 4th - belated.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Friday Follow - Wanna join?
So here's a fun new Bog hop! Little love to go around for us all. Give it a try - you never know who you'll meet!
And if you're coming from Friday Follow to me, hello! I am happy to meet you. Happy 4th of July to all.
x2
