Sunday, July 29, 2012

15 Random Thoughts

The other day? 
We hung 4 loads of laundry 
in 94 degree heat. 
I rock. 
Also? My kids are troopers.
 
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I don't like having smartphones shoved in my face.

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 We got a small rebate in the mail 
from our health insurance company,
thanks to Obamacare.

They're only allowed to use a certain percentage 
of what they charge us for administration costs 
(rather than direct health care) - 
since they went over that percentage, 
they had to pay us back. 
Win!

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Dishes don't stop.
3x/day.
Every day.

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And our kitchen is about 90 degrees most of the time.

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When Maurice Sendak died,
we read "Pierre" together 
as a way to honor him.
It is my favorite Sendak book.

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A few months before he died,
I came across this interview of him on NPR.
The interview is said to have generated more emails 
than any other in 2011.
I can see why.
I listened to it and cried.
It is so very raw that it's hard not to get emotional.
Kudos to both him and the host.
I loved this interview.

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I love the look of backwards baseball caps on boys/men,
especially on my husband and my son.

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I hate flies.

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I read a magazine article the other day on 
30 ways to save money on cable, phone, and Internet.
We already do all 30 things.
Great, because it's validating.
Bummer, because it didn't have any more ways for us to save.

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A two-page post on Blogher called,
caught my eye the other day.
It had a lot of great tips 
that I hope I take to heart when I'm older.

This line stuck out to me most:
"Whereas you may have more free time 
than you know what to do with now, 
your daughter is probably in the busiest, 
 most hectic phase of her life."

I *do* feel like I'm in the 
"busiest, most hectic phase of life,"
even more than back in college or grad school.
Reading that line helped me realize 
that other moms out there feel similarly.
And that I'm not crazy.

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Our kids threw a birthday party  
on Minecraft for a friend
the other day.
So very cool and creative.

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My BIL and SIL just moved into a trailer.
and it brought back memories of our own trailer.
My brother used to call us "trailer trash" 
when we lived in it.
He's never lived in a trailer, 
so he can mock all he wants,
but we loved our double wide.

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Just a reminder . . . 
When we do those "Encyclopedia of Me" posts,
our kids do them, too.
They've got some new posts on their blogs.
I'm sure they'd love for you to read them!
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We eventually heard from the county 
about our property taxes and the reassessment.
They didn't triple,
but they more than doubled.
In fact,
they went up about 120%.
Ugh.

4 comments:

Dr. Mark said...

You do rock, and so do our kids. I love having them help us. It makes the work lighter and we spend even more time together. Win win!

The Sendak interview was very good. It almost haunts you after hearing it.

I'll have to wear backwards baseball caps more often! ;)

Our doublewide was very good to us, so much so that it made it into my "A" encyclopedia post. I love the different experiences we've had together.

Watching you, and also being right there with you, I think "busiest, and most hectic" is an entirely accurate description. You're not crazy!

Great list!

Anonymous said...

Took awhile to comment because I needed to find time to listen to the NPR interview you linked. It was raw and..interesting. It challenges my beliefs so I'm having a difficult time knowing what to say. I do appreciate that he was honest. Yes, I'm haunted.

Emily said...

That's one thing I miss about our apartment--there were lots and lots of lines up for hanging laundry, and we don't have any here. I'll have to put some up but I'm not sure how.

I love backwards hats too. Sexy. Not on little boys, though, that would be weird.

I feel like my dishes are more than 3 times a day because my kids are constantly eating! Drives me nuts!

I don't know what to say about that interview. I just felt so sad after reading it. So sad for him to have been so lonely, and so sad for his world view. Losing someone you love is always, always awful. But in my experience, there is also lots of hope. The people close to me that have died are my grandparents and my uncle that were very, very sick. Why would I want them to live on the earth anymore? Why would I want them to be sick? I know what I know: that there is an afterlife, that we will see each other again, that life and families are eternal. That my grandparents and uncle are so much happier in the spirit world than they would be if they were still on the earth. So for poor Maurice, to think that's just the end? With no children or family or anything? I can't imagine anything worse. What a horrible way to live out your last few years. I guess haunted is the right word, but in a horrible, terrible way. I wish somebody had taught him differently so he could have had some happiness at the end of his life.

Boquinha said...

Jimmy, yeah, that happens sometimes. One of the things I really like about you is that you listen to that and contemplate rather than pushing it away.

Emily, I didn't get the impression that his world view made him sad. I think it was just that he missed everyone, and especially his partner of so many years. I know many, many atheists and agnostics who find great peace in the thought that this life is it -- they live it fully and don't put off until "the next life."

For me, I felt that that interview spoke volumes about the love he had in the most important relationship in his life and he misses that. I'm glad he had that in his life, though. And I'm glad for the legacy he's left us through his beloved books and that interview as well.