Have you ever felt like you've been really busy but you can't really say HOW you're busy?
I feel like I've been busy over the last couple of weeks but I can't seem to come up with anything out of the ordinary that should make me feel that way.
We spent some time in WVa and saw our families, played catch up at work AFTER the vacation, had the OBros practicing weekly for the OBB4 at the house, had a few family dinners, mowed the lawn, shopped some, read some, and did the always present laundry and house cleaning, but it seems like time is just flying by!
All the stuff I've been doing is just routine day to day "Stuff". Nothing special (other than the travelling.)
Certainly, my lengthy commute takes some time out of the day. I'm fortunate that I don't have to commute daily...only 3 days a week. Sometimes, I wonder how much time I actually spend in the car commuting. The only good thing about the commute time is that I use that time to catch up with my family & friends on my cell phone. I know all the statistics say driving and talking on the phone is dangerous, but sometimes talking helps keep me awake during all the stop and go traffic.
Of course the infamous OBB4 is just a few short weeks away and that always takes a little time and planning. I'm looking forward to it but hope the weather cooperates this year. It was a boiling heat wave last year!
Maybe things are in the "calm before the storm" mode...there hasn't been all that many things that have peaked my interest to write about lately.
I have enjoyed spending time living vicariously reading my favorite bloggers (see links). I have really tried to imagine how it would feel to quit my job and venture out for a month doing fun things with my friends but more importantly, doing something you've always dreamed about. (Cara's blog) I'm not sure I really ever had a desire like that so if is a little hard to imagine. I give big kudos to her for proceeding with her goal now , while she can. I have also enjoyed reading Justin's blog about his adventures while Cara is gone. Bobby's blog is always witty and interesting and I am constantly amazed at his celebrity sightings and his interesting job.
I figured I would set a goal of writing something at least weekly on my blog, but I really enjoy writing the blog entries that "seem to write themselves". They usually are the topics that I am excited about and that I don't really think much about.
In the meantime, I guess time will keep flying by and I'll keep trudging along doing my "normal" things, working, enjoying my family ....and FEELING BUSY!!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
Men, Women & Weddings
Weddings & Men....Weddings & Women....Totally different ideas and outlooks from those two groups!
I have been thinking on this topic for some time now because it is hard to miss the differences in how men & women look at weddings.
Having lived with 3 guys and 1 husband for many years as the only female, I was really outnumbered. (until Becky joined the family),
This became obvious early on when much of our early family life was centered around sports. Even now, there is always a discussion about some current sporting event, most recently the World Cup.
I am still teased by my family regarding the memorable question: " Who pitches for the Dallas Cowboys?" After they quit laughing over that question and wiped their tears, my husband gently told me it wasn't a pitcher but a quarterback. I also tend to ask what inning, or half, or period it is and usually say the wrong term for the sport we are watching. I am immediately corrected with the correct term, usually in unison.
I have learned alot about male sports over the years, and I do enjoy watching some of the many games that are on our TV. I always enjoyed watching the boys play any of their sports when they were little, even though I was not the best spectator when they played. I have come to understand how important, their "sport stuff" is to them.
The same can NOT be said about how they view weddings.
Let's face it, women dream about weddings most of their lives and men spend a good bit of their time trying to avoid them.
I got married very young and had never been to any other wedding, but my own, when I got married. It was a nice small wedding with a very small reception in the church hall. I was just too young and dumb to realize there were lots of options for weddings and receptions. Since we had the reception in the church, this made it impossible to drink or dance....what were we thinking???? Even though it was simple and small, I loved my wedding and honeymoon and I certainly wouldn't change the groom!
There is one thing that all brides have in common, no matter how much planning, expense, or money goes into the weddings. That would be their wonderful happy faces!
Recently, we have attended a few weddings of friends' children and weddings of the boys' friends. It seems like the boys have attended MANY weddings in the last couple of years.
Wedding Season has provided me the opportunity to ask many questions about the weddings and/or engagement parties being attended.
Becky and I have spent enumerable hours discussing wedding colors, dresses, ideas, settings, flowers and all the lovely things involved in the weddings. She never gets upset if I ask questions about the weddings she and Tommy attend, and she always has the answer to my questions. Even if the question is as ridiculous as : what type of shoes did the wedding party wear? She is after all a girl!! And girls get into weddings and all the tiny details....that's part of the wedding experience. I'm betting that most guys would never think about the programs and who actually tied that nice ribbon on them and how long that took to do that little job!
Talking to any of the "GUYS" (husband included in this) usually results in much frustration. They just don't get the fascination about weddings!
As I was told by one of my sons, who shall remain nameless, he said a good wedding had lots of alcohol.
Questions to the guys usually result in something like this:
Mom: Did the bride look pretty?
Son: Yeah she looked nice.
M: What kind of dress did she wear?
S: Just a wedding dress.
M: What color were the bridesmaid dresses?
Son, answer #1: Just a dress, I wasn't paying that much attention.
Son, OR answer #2: Low cut dress in the back(or front), ______ looked good in it.
One son was actually getting together with his out of town friends on the weekend that the "bridesmaids" where getting their dresses fitted. In his defense, he didn't actually go to the fittings, but he was with the whole group of girls/bridesmaids the whole weekend. He couldn't even begin to tell me a thing about the dresses! Not the color, not if they were liked by the girls...nothing. Now if that had been a daughter, I would have known, down to the last button, what the dresses were like!
He has gotten a little better about sharing some details of the weddings he attends because he knows I will probably ask him something. He has even volunteered some information, if it was memorable to him. He mentioned one time that the location of one of his friends weddings was "pretty incredible and it was one of the best weddings he had been to." He even described some of the scenery and was really impressed with how beautiful the bride looked. That particular wedding was on top of a mountain at a winery.
I guess there will always be that difference in how men & women look at the wedding thing.
My boys will continue to get the "20 questions " about the weddings they attend because I really enjoy hearing about the details. They will continue to get annoyed at those questions, in most cases, just cause they are of the male gender.
Becky and I will continue to discuss all the details. We probably will have these same communication issues when all those weddings result in babies!
I can hear it now:
Mom: When is the baby due?
Son: I don't know....sometime...
M: Do they know if they are having a boy or girl?
S, answer #1: I don't know. OR
S, answer #2: Yes ...( and nothing more)
M: Do they have any names picked out?
S: HOW DO I KNOW??
I can't hardly wait!??!!!
As my husband says about weddings: They are just 20 minutes and a piece of paper. (At least he didn't say 20 minutes and a lifetime of grief!)
I have been thinking on this topic for some time now because it is hard to miss the differences in how men & women look at weddings.
Having lived with 3 guys and 1 husband for many years as the only female, I was really outnumbered. (until Becky joined the family),
This became obvious early on when much of our early family life was centered around sports. Even now, there is always a discussion about some current sporting event, most recently the World Cup.
I am still teased by my family regarding the memorable question: " Who pitches for the Dallas Cowboys?" After they quit laughing over that question and wiped their tears, my husband gently told me it wasn't a pitcher but a quarterback. I also tend to ask what inning, or half, or period it is and usually say the wrong term for the sport we are watching. I am immediately corrected with the correct term, usually in unison.
I have learned alot about male sports over the years, and I do enjoy watching some of the many games that are on our TV. I always enjoyed watching the boys play any of their sports when they were little, even though I was not the best spectator when they played. I have come to understand how important, their "sport stuff" is to them.
The same can NOT be said about how they view weddings.
Let's face it, women dream about weddings most of their lives and men spend a good bit of their time trying to avoid them.
I got married very young and had never been to any other wedding, but my own, when I got married. It was a nice small wedding with a very small reception in the church hall. I was just too young and dumb to realize there were lots of options for weddings and receptions. Since we had the reception in the church, this made it impossible to drink or dance....what were we thinking???? Even though it was simple and small, I loved my wedding and honeymoon and I certainly wouldn't change the groom!
There is one thing that all brides have in common, no matter how much planning, expense, or money goes into the weddings. That would be their wonderful happy faces!
Recently, we have attended a few weddings of friends' children and weddings of the boys' friends. It seems like the boys have attended MANY weddings in the last couple of years.
Wedding Season has provided me the opportunity to ask many questions about the weddings and/or engagement parties being attended.
Becky and I have spent enumerable hours discussing wedding colors, dresses, ideas, settings, flowers and all the lovely things involved in the weddings. She never gets upset if I ask questions about the weddings she and Tommy attend, and she always has the answer to my questions. Even if the question is as ridiculous as : what type of shoes did the wedding party wear? She is after all a girl!! And girls get into weddings and all the tiny details....that's part of the wedding experience. I'm betting that most guys would never think about the programs and who actually tied that nice ribbon on them and how long that took to do that little job!
Talking to any of the "GUYS" (husband included in this) usually results in much frustration. They just don't get the fascination about weddings!
As I was told by one of my sons, who shall remain nameless, he said a good wedding had lots of alcohol.
Questions to the guys usually result in something like this:
Mom: Did the bride look pretty?
Son: Yeah she looked nice.
M: What kind of dress did she wear?
S: Just a wedding dress.
M: What color were the bridesmaid dresses?
Son, answer #1: Just a dress, I wasn't paying that much attention.
Son, OR answer #2: Low cut dress in the back(or front), ______ looked good in it.
One son was actually getting together with his out of town friends on the weekend that the "bridesmaids" where getting their dresses fitted. In his defense, he didn't actually go to the fittings, but he was with the whole group of girls/bridesmaids the whole weekend. He couldn't even begin to tell me a thing about the dresses! Not the color, not if they were liked by the girls...nothing. Now if that had been a daughter, I would have known, down to the last button, what the dresses were like!
He has gotten a little better about sharing some details of the weddings he attends because he knows I will probably ask him something. He has even volunteered some information, if it was memorable to him. He mentioned one time that the location of one of his friends weddings was "pretty incredible and it was one of the best weddings he had been to." He even described some of the scenery and was really impressed with how beautiful the bride looked. That particular wedding was on top of a mountain at a winery.
I guess there will always be that difference in how men & women look at the wedding thing.
My boys will continue to get the "20 questions " about the weddings they attend because I really enjoy hearing about the details. They will continue to get annoyed at those questions, in most cases, just cause they are of the male gender.
Becky and I will continue to discuss all the details. We probably will have these same communication issues when all those weddings result in babies!
I can hear it now:
Mom: When is the baby due?
Son: I don't know....sometime...
M: Do they know if they are having a boy or girl?
S, answer #1: I don't know. OR
S, answer #2: Yes ...( and nothing more)
M: Do they have any names picked out?
S: HOW DO I KNOW??
I can't hardly wait!??!!!
As my husband says about weddings: They are just 20 minutes and a piece of paper. (At least he didn't say 20 minutes and a lifetime of grief!)
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Blah, Blah Blogs
Today I was watching one of my favorite shows (Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood) and the topic of blogging was a featured clip.
Just a few interesting facts that I found interesting in the story:
1. Bloggers are usually highly educated, middle aged, and have a high income.
( I'm thinking : Two out of three of those aren't bad.)
2. Bloggers tend to be: trend setters, and are highly opinionated.
(One out of two of those aren't bad.)
3. Sarcasm sells on blogs. As they said in the story, it is easier to tear down than to build something up.
(I don't think I'm too good with the "snarky" comments...their term, not mine. That's not to say that I couldn't be sarcastic in the right circumstances, but I don't consciously try to be controversial.)
There were other parts to the story, but I found it interesting that some of the bloggers actually were offered jobs from people reading their blogs.
I have no fear about that happening to me....I definiately fall into the "let me tell you about my dog" category of bloggers.
"They"said that most bloggers write to connect with family and friends...I would agree with that. I like to see what comments my family and friends make about my entries.
I'll keep blogging as long as I keep having fun with it...even though there are still those out there that say "What's a blog ?? and Why are you doing that???"
Just a few interesting facts that I found interesting in the story:
1. Bloggers are usually highly educated, middle aged, and have a high income.
( I'm thinking : Two out of three of those aren't bad.)
2. Bloggers tend to be: trend setters, and are highly opinionated.
(One out of two of those aren't bad.)
3. Sarcasm sells on blogs. As they said in the story, it is easier to tear down than to build something up.
(I don't think I'm too good with the "snarky" comments...their term, not mine. That's not to say that I couldn't be sarcastic in the right circumstances, but I don't consciously try to be controversial.)
There were other parts to the story, but I found it interesting that some of the bloggers actually were offered jobs from people reading their blogs.
I have no fear about that happening to me....I definiately fall into the "let me tell you about my dog" category of bloggers.
"They"said that most bloggers write to connect with family and friends...I would agree with that. I like to see what comments my family and friends make about my entries.
I'll keep blogging as long as I keep having fun with it...even though there are still those out there that say "What's a blog ?? and Why are you doing that???"
Technical Difficulties
I had great plans to write a blog today about my vacation...sort of reminds me of that first day of school back from summer vacation when the teacher asks you to write that essay on "How I Spent my Summer Vacation".
Unfortunately, my blog had this little glitch that made the links show up at the bottom of the page.
I tried a few things and even went on the blogger assistance site to see if I could get the links back up to the beginning of the blog...hence the new format.
I'm not sure I like this format but I'm afraid I will really screw things up more to switch back. (Those of you that know me know how I hate change!)
In the process of trying to straighten things out, I lost part of one of my entries.
That one is lost for good because I really messed that up royally. I also figured out that I really hate not being able to read instructions and not understand much of the directions. Reading that blogger assistance stuff with all that computer lingo is enought to give you a headache.
I finally resorted to calling in my computer expert, but he said he "didn't do blogs".
He hates to disappoint me so he sat down and read the computer lingo and helped fix the problem and also backed up my blog.
I don't think it would be a big loss to lose this blog, but since I have invested some time into it, I feel a little better with the back up.
I was so frustrated with the whole technical mess, that I lost my desire to write anything but this venting about technical frustrations!
Hopefully, sometime this week I will write about my vacation to good 'ole WVA.
Unfortunately, my blog had this little glitch that made the links show up at the bottom of the page.
I tried a few things and even went on the blogger assistance site to see if I could get the links back up to the beginning of the blog...hence the new format.
I'm not sure I like this format but I'm afraid I will really screw things up more to switch back. (Those of you that know me know how I hate change!)
In the process of trying to straighten things out, I lost part of one of my entries.
That one is lost for good because I really messed that up royally. I also figured out that I really hate not being able to read instructions and not understand much of the directions. Reading that blogger assistance stuff with all that computer lingo is enought to give you a headache.
I finally resorted to calling in my computer expert, but he said he "didn't do blogs".
He hates to disappoint me so he sat down and read the computer lingo and helped fix the problem and also backed up my blog.
I don't think it would be a big loss to lose this blog, but since I have invested some time into it, I feel a little better with the back up.
I was so frustrated with the whole technical mess, that I lost my desire to write anything but this venting about technical frustrations!
Hopefully, sometime this week I will write about my vacation to good 'ole WVA.
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