Summer

I'm watching these last days of summer fly by. It has been a wonderful, wonderful time.

There have been freeze pops.

Playgrounds

Pools

Baseball with Coach Pedro - a great guy who always praised a job well done.

Even Gita wanted a pair of flip flops.

There were lemonade stands (and chocolate chip cookies too!)

We even had a marketing guy who circled the neighborhood to drum up business and took orders from the tennis court across the street. He even took lemonade orders and delivered them to the park.

Our wonderful Hudson, Wisconsin, Fourth of July parade. We have a Miss Hudson and her court of princesses. They have a great parade dance . . .

Our Hudson Raiders High School Band which is awesome.

And some reminders in a container of impatiens: Imagine, Believe, Dream, Faith, Simplify.

Hope you had a good summer too.

25 More Things You Don't Know About Me

My last post got me to thinking about what an oddball I really am, and a friend of mine emailed and mentioned a few unusual things that I totally forgot about. I'm finding this introspection oddly cathartic, so I thought I'd put out another list:

25 More Things You Don't Know About Me:

1) I am developing clostrophobia more and more with each passing year. I had a panic attack not long ago when I crawled under a bed to get something I had stored there.

2) I once rode in an elevator with Bryan Adams just before he became a successful artist.

3) I like to lie down on my deck and look up at the blue sky and think.

4) I intentionally play dumb to irritate people.

5) I have only had one job that I truly loved, and, unfortunately, I wasn't there very long.

6) I had a "bucket list" years before the movie made them popular.

7) I think Cher is cooler than Madonna and Lady Gaga put together.

8) My dream is to own a yarn shop.

9) My other dream is to be a backup singer for Kid Rock.

10) Josh Holloway makes me weak in the knees.

11) I know how to sew, but somehow none of my sewing projects ever turned out.

12) I loved it when my kids were babies.

13) I am fearless when I become angry. Much like the Incredible Hulk, only not green. And I'm loud when I'm angry.

14) Whenever I go to a concert, I stare at the stage and wish I could feel what it is like to have the talent to stand up there and entertain people.

15) I used to perform ballet en pointe. I still have my toe shoes.

16) I am a helluva baton twirler. A lost art if ever there was one.

17) I have been afraid to walk outside in the dark since I saw "I Am Legend" awhile back. There might just be zombies in that big pine tree . . .

18) I can sing "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" from Showboat.

19) I make fantastic omelettes.

20) I often have epic cooking disasters.

21) I can't swim.

22) I sing and dance when I vacuum.

23) I think my husband is one of the smartest men I've ever met, and not just because he married me.

24) I believe I am clairsentient and am adept at reading people.

25) My cat and I are so tuned into each other that she wakes me up when I'm having a bad dream. Cats are so much cooler than people.

25 Things You Didn't Know About Me

There have been a number of bloggers and Facebook people posting "25 Things" lists. So, I thought, what the heck? It's fun to be a little sophomoric and self-absorbed now and then. Here's my list:

1) My favorite time of day is mid-afternoon.

2) I hate Sundays.

3) My favorite flowers are ivory roses, irises and lily of the valley.

4) My favorite season is fall.

5) My favorite holiday is Christmas.

6) I hate losing things, and I can still remember everything I've ever lost. And, yes, it still bugs me that I lost those things.

7) I can't stand to have people touch my head or hair.

8) I eat all the topping off my pizza before eating the crust. Always have, always will.

9) I hate driving.

10) I have freakishly strong eye muscles. I am frequently amaze eye doctors.

11) I have a debilitating fear of bats. Probably from watching my mother catch and boil one on the stove once. This was years before "Fatal Attraction". The woman was ahead of her time.

12) My eyelids don't close all the way when I sleep.

13) I was once told that I look like Ava Gardner. And Sela Ward. That was awhile ago.

14) I would only want to be young again if I could take my 40-ish brain with me back in time.

15) I hate funeral visitations. And I hate the time after a person's burial when everyone walks away from the grave and leaves the deceased behind, even though I know it has to be done. And I hate how the world just keeps going when you are so filled with grief that you want to scream and just wish everything would stop. It bothers me when people die. Always.

16) My favorite Beatle was Paul. And my favorite song is "Let it Be".

17) My favorite poet is W.B. Yeats. And my favorite poem is "When You Are Old" by Yeats.

18) I've loved every cat I've ever met.

19) Dogs love me, and I love most of them right back. Except for the little yappy ones that look like rats.

20) I miss the '80s. Especially the obscure '80s songs. And the hair. All of the hairspray I used in the '80s is responsible for a great deal of the global warming. I had great '80s hair.

21) I wish I had a Volkswagen Beetle. My parents had an orange one once, and I loved it.

22) I used to be able to recite almost all of the lines in the movie "Gone With the Wind". Fiddle dee dee.

23) My kids once irritated me so much, I took a wine bottle out and tried to open it with a corkscrew, but it was a twist-off cap. I jammed the corkscrew right through the metal cap. I really needed that drink.

24) I taught myself how to knit. My first project was a seed stitch and cabled set of mittens. I only ever finished one. It is orange. And, yes, I still have it.

25) Every day of my life I wake up and wonder what I want to be when I grow up.

School Registration Haikus

School registration was this morning. The lines weren't too long. The children were ill-behaved. I think I turned in all 5,000 forms properly filled out and signed. They gave me an additional form to be filled out by our pediatrician to allow my son to have an asthma inhaler at school. Just one more hoop to jump through.

By the time I got the lunch accounts set up and payments made, my head felt like it was ready to burst, and I was ready to run away screaming like a banshee.

This day calls for some haikus:

School registration

Forms and money fly about

How I dread this chore

School photos taken

The boy's hair won't stay in place

Alfalfa photo

Dress shirt, vest, red socks

How young boys dress for photos

Like 70's pimp

Pink argyle sweater

Angelic smile on sweet face

You don't fool your Mom

Endless wait in lines

This day calls for alcohol

Next time pack a flask

I am crabby now

Children starting to act up

Where's my padded cell?

I made these up while trying to keep my sanity in line this morning. Something about registration day with the principal present (along with all the administrative staff, some teachers and other parents) just causes my kids to go berzerk. I hate it when you leave a place and you know that they're going to talk about how naughty your kids are when you're gone. And you'd think that I would be used to that by now.

Reminder to self: There is a new guidance counselor at school this year. I'm going to have to get in touch with her to let her know why the last guidance counselor had my phone number on speed dial.