Write Away by Elizabeth George

Characters

1. Real people have flaws.
2. We all doubt ourselves over something.
3. We grow and change through events.
4. We all live with conflicts.
   

I am... 24

I am... 24 and...

a worker
a wife
a sister
a daughter
a friend
a granddaughter

I am... me

I am...

a daughter
a sister
a granddaughter
a wife
a mother
a lover
a friend
a dancer
a thinker
a scientist
a reader
a crocheter
a worker
a sinner
a dreamer
a student/learner
a nerd
a techie
a writer
a scrapbooker
a cook
a baker
a cuddler
a hugger
a housekeeper
a pet owner
a crafter
a walker
a jogger
a driver
a kayaker
a caregiver

2009 Spelling Bee

Missy is in fifth grade for this spelling bee.

Unfortunately, she was out on her first word.  As disappointed as I was, I didn't feel too bad about her missed her word:

goatee.

I don't really expect a fifth grader to know how to spell it.  But, apparently, it is fair game and it got her out.  Her best friend made it to the second round, but was eliminated with 'futon'.

Here is the entire list used in our spelling bee:

Round One:

chocolate

balcony

ninja

gospel

canary

frolic

broadleaf

thermal

diplomat

prescription

easel

dejected

goatee

hustle

tutu

reckless

denture

earthenware

topical

chinchilla

forlorn

powwow

spectrum

candidate

Round Two:

hassock

talc

denim

renovate

falsetto

totem

ravel

pragmatic

finale

herbivore

safari

futon

ventilate

tundra

palette

alamo

Round Three:

collage

fatigue

gazelle

portfolio

bequeath

stoic

All words in the third round were spelled incorrectly, except for the winning word 'portfolio'.

I still have some favorite words for spelling bees:

persimmon

pomegranate

muscular

chandelier

Age

I must be getting old.

And I'm OK with it.

Really.

I'm perfectly content to bundle the kids up and let them happily play out in the snow.

Without me.

I gave my blessings and concerns about trying to sled down the gravel driveway with only half an inch of snow.

Good luck to them.

Without me.

I'm perfectly content to get a hot mug of coffee and sit by the window and watch it snow.

From inside my warm house.

Sometimes, it's actually easier to be old....

Sometimes....

Sparkling Iciciles

This morning was spectacularly beautiful.

The temperature was right at freezing and it was raining steadily and heavily so at times.  Normally, these two conditions don't elicit excitement from me, especially in concert with each other.  But this morning was different.  It had one additional factor---ice.

Now, usually icy conditions strike fear into my heart.  And I was indeed concerned this morning.  Driving in icy conditions is about the last thing on the planet I will do willingly.

Presumably, the road temperature was a bit warmer than the air temperature this morning.  Once I found that the roads weren't particularly icy and driving wasn't as hazardous as I feared, I started to look around me.

And I saw the ice.  

First on the bushes, glistening on the stems.  Then on the trees, weighing down the branches dramatically, especially the pines.  Then as icicles, hanging daintily from mailboxes.  Lots of small icicles along the bottoms of the street signs.  All of the trees and bushes were sparkling as far as the eye could see.  Everything was a bit brighter and shinier than usual, despite the overcast skies and the rain.

It was magnificent.

I was still cautious with my driving.  Apparently, not everyone else was.  

According to the radio report, my usual route to work was considerably backed up, due to an accident.  As I approached the intersection to my second-choice route, I found that it, too, was considerably slowed, most likely from those avoiding the main route.

So, I took my third choice in routes to work.

I got in safely and only twenty minutes later than usual.  I fully expect I would have been stuck in traffic much, much longer than that if I had tried to crawl through my first-choice route.

The city had no ice.

No icicles.

No sparkles.

None of that beauty.

The city was five or six degrees warmer than where I live.  Those few degrees made all the difference.

I am so incredibly thankful to live where I do.

The neighborhood was beautiful again this morning, but in a way I don't usually see.

Remember to cherish beauty when and where you find it!

Gifts - Late 2008

Buy at Target:

• 3M Sawtooth Picture Hangers
• 2 lego bins
• 4 tube squeezers
• chip clips
• mini jams
• english toffee

Buy at Hallmark:

• little Webkins
• ornaments

Buy at Old Navy/Payless:

• Sweater/shirt for C
• Slippers for V
• Slippers for J

Grandma:

• Mimi's gift card
• Lebkuchen

Rosie:

• Lebkuchen

Elizabeth Allison:

• (beaded bracelets to make)
• blendy pens
• [travel brush/mirror]
• dolphin mosaic
• sour candy factory

Sarah Rose:

• (beaded bracelets to make)
• blendy pens
• [travel brush/mirror]
• fairy window mosaic
• sour candy factory

Sarah Ellen:

• blendy pens
• doll clothes

Matthew William:

• blendy pens
• assembly cars

Mom & Dad:

• Gardenia creme
• chamois
• Victorian stuff
• Toaster/gift card
• (licorice)
• (English toffee)
• (shake flashlights)
• (scented pouches)
• (magnetic clips)
• (chip clips)
• (tube squeezers)

Chris:

• (altoids)
• (scented pouch)
• clothes
• password directory- borders/B&N
• (chip clips)

Vanessa:

• (shake flashlight)
• (coloring stickers)
• (flossers)
• (trail mix)
• (tic tacs)
• ([travel brush/mirror])
• (lego pen)
• (mosaic coloring book)
• architecture set
• architecture book
• Lego Ferris Wheel
• scarf - handmade
• robe
• book fair book

Jeremy:

• (shake flashlight)
• (coloring stickers)
• (flossers)
• (trail mix)
• (tic tacs)
• (iron bead project)
• (mosaic coloring book)
• (lego pen)
• (lego mini figure)
  
• lego coast guard
• scarf - handmade
• bug vacuum

Joint:

• [Monopoly]
• [Fridge Crawlers]
• [Blendy Pens]
• Classic bound stories
• Brown Bears

Legend:

(stocking stuffer)

[Nick contrib]

have in hand

sent

Thanksgiving Dinner

Us:

• Turkey
• Corn bread stuffing
• corn bread
• green bean casserole
• wheat-free pecan pie
• cranberry relish

Them:

• 
  

Christmas Visit

Things To Do:

Visit Mickie

DC:

• White House - 10 Nov 2008, sent Mikulski email requesting tour
  
• National Christmas Tree
  
• American History Museum
  
• Udar-Hazy Center A&S Extension Museum
  
• Luce Center - Heaton bowl
• National Building Museum
• Mount Vernon?
• Naval Observatory?

Baltimore:

• Baltimore Museum of Industry
  
• National Aquarium
  
• Port Discovery
  
• Walters Museum
  

Other:

• Annapolis
  
• Downtown Ellicott City
  

Stupid

This is just plain stupid.

Vanessa and I both forgot this morning that she needed to take a note to school, so that she could attend the Geography Bee practice after school today.

Pure forgot.

We have remembered every other time so far.  This time, we forgot.

Around 9 AM this morning, I received an email from her teacher that we had forgot a note for the Geo Bee practice.  The teacher suggested contacting someone in the office (did not provide a specific contact person), in order to provide permission, if I so wished.

I immediately responded to the teacher thanking her for letting me know.  I also said that yes, I wanted Vanessa to go to the Geo Bee practice and that I would contact the office.  I asked the teacher if there is anyone in particular that I should contact.

I know that the teachers are unable to read and respond to email in any timely fashion during the school day, so I went ahead and looked up the school web site and found the office administrators' email addresses.  I wrote an email providing permission for Vanessa to attend the practice today and sent it to three of what appeared to be the most appropriate office administrators.

Three of them.

At 1:30 this afternoon, I still had not gotten a response from anyone.  Not the teacher.  Not any of the three administrators.

So, I called the school office.  The person who answered was none of the three that I had sent the email to.  I explained everything to this individual and then she asked me to hold.  When she came back on the line, she said that yes, the email had been received (by at least one of the intended recipients), but that in the future, Suzy Que (named changed) should be emailed.

The correct person to direct my email to, Miss Susy Que, was, in fact, on the list of three that I did email this morning.

And then the individual on the phone with me said, "Oh, but she's not in 95% of the time."


Why, please tell me, would ANYONE instruct me to email someone who is, 95% of the time, NOT IN THE OFFICE?????

Give me a break, people.

V Birthday

Last Minute

• balloons - pick up - PAID
• donut holes - pick up and pay for

Goodie Bags

• Goodie bags
• keychain
  
• tatoo
• pencil
• candy - pixie, tootsie, air

RSVPs

1. Vanessa
   
2. Jeremy
   
3. Gwynn
4. Arman
5. Hannah
6. Matthew
7. Danny 
8. Alexis
9. Brandon
10. Christina
11. Domonique
12. Kali
13. Tyler
14. Christian
15. Talia
16. Courtney

Negative RSVPs

1. Sarah Colbert
2. Sadie Bowers

Thank Yous

1. Grandma & Grandpa - Lego House
2. Manhas - art set
3. Hannah -
4. Matthew -
5. Arman -
6. Danny -
7. Tyler & Christian -
8. Scotts -
9. Talia & Courtney - Indy Jones Legos
10. Kali & Ivan - TV microscope

Secretary

Missy wants to be Secretary for the school student council. She turned in the paperwork and insisted on making a poster.

I stopped by the store on the way home from work and bought a poster board. When I got home with it, I instructed Missy to lay out how she wanted her poster on a plain sheet of paper first. Once she knew what she was going to do, then she could use a pencil and draw it out on the poster board.

She did lay out the design on the plain paper, but not very tidily. Then she started on the poster with the pencil. As she was doing this, I saw that she had misspelled the word 'Secretary'. I told her to check it and she insisted that it was right.

"No, it's not. Check again."

"Yes it is!"

"No, you are missing the first 'r'. You have the information sheet right there, use it to get the spelling correct."

Then in a small voice,

".... Oh ...."

Right. She then corrected 'secretary'. I told her that was the reason for doing it in pencil first and to make sure to check over everything very carefully. Then I left to do other things.

When she announced that she was done with the pencil and was ready to move on to the markers, I came in to look it over.

Instead of drawing the words exactly as she would trace them with the markers, she had done the second half (her motto) very quickly and it was rather sloppy. It definitely should not be traced. So, I told her she needed to clean it up, erase the messy parts and get it looking just the way she wanted before starting with the markers.

She went back to work and fixed it up a bit. Then she started with the markers.

It was getting close to bedtime, so I began helping her by coloring with another colored marker on other words. She finished her name and wanted to add some glitter highlighting to her name, so she did that. Unfortunately, she is too quick about doing each step, and the highlighting didn't look fantastic.

It was getting late, we were too far behind, and she needed to get to bed. So, I told her I would finish up the rest for her, which was just coloring in letters with the marker.

I sent her off to bed.

Later, I returned to the poster and finished the coloring. I worked at tidying up the edges of the letters, filling in thin spots, and generally doing what I could make it look the best I could.

After declaring it complete, I got my camera to take a picture. I placed the poster in the middle of the table, stood up on a chair and aimed to take the picture.

As I was centering the poster in the camera display, I froze.

She was not going to be able to take this poster to school the next day.




















I was so disappointed and frustrated.

When she got up the next morning, I told her she wasn't going to be able to take it to school.

"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy???"

"Go look at it."

(long pause while studying the poster)

"What? I don't see anything."

"Look again."

(pause)

"I still don't see what's wrong."

"Check your name."

In the tiniest of voices,

"Oh."

After a bit, she said she could squeeze it in. I told her, no, she couldn't. It was too obvious.

I bought another poster board later that afternoon.




When running for an office that involves note taking, typing, and the like, one should not hang a poster with a misspelled name that has been unmistakeably corrected.


Here is the second poster. Much better, Missy!

charm

Never a dull moment....

Every morning, my drive to work takes me through some scary parts of Baltimore.  Not the scariest, but that distinction is only one block over from where I drive.  Daily I pass drug deals on the corners, burned and boarded up row houses, traffic signals left non-functioning, oodles of unattended potholes in the roads, seedy street people, hitchhikers, and jaywalkers. None of this is any more extraordinary than any other large city.  But I think you get the idea.

This morning, traffic had to dodge around two lanes that were blocked by several large, black SUVs.  As I pulled up and stopped for the traffic light, I discovered that all of the men around the SUVs were in black shirts with bright yellow writing on the back, reading "AUTO THEFT TASK FORCE".  The men that were not wearing bullet proof vests had the word POLICE across their chests.  Then I noticed that at the center of all of the SUVs was a top of the line, brand new, large black BMW.  Thankfully, there didn't appear to be anyone in the BMW.

Can anyone please explain to me why or how Baltimore ever became known as "Charm City"?

I don't get it.

Then again, I don't really get Los Angeles being the "City of Angels", either.  At least LA has Hollywood, and people pretend that they are angels.

I don't see how "charm" came to anyone's mind in reference to Baltimore....

Leaves

Today is the first day that I have noticed leaves.  On the driveway.  Falling from trees.  On the front sidewalk.  On the neighbor's lawn.  Not very many. Not yet.

Here starts the annual pilgrimage through leaf-dom, which usually doesn't end until sometime in November.

There are some disadvantages of owning a forest.  Some advantages.  Leaves are definitely a disadvantage.

Now... if I could just come up with some incredibly easy to manufacture, self-marketing, high-demand, and highly lucrative product produced from fallen leaves....

Oh, and don't think that leaves mean "autumn". The high yesterday was 93 and today is supposed to be 87.  It is *not* autumn, despite the leaves and halloween decorations for sale everywhere. Right now, I am sitting in our screened porch at 10am and it is 76 degrees and 82% humidity. Pretty nice. Not autumn, but then again, this doesn't represent the heat of the summer, either. Hmmm.... Maybe it is getting to be autumn....

Happy Late Summer!  Yep, that's what it is!

File Cabinet Poetry

cooling fall sun
beautiful forest rust
misty languid light

trudge through winter
blow bitter wind
still garden death

whispers to spring
incubate lazy petals
rain of life


humid summer storm
swim through heat
ship me to the sea

Trust

Some thoughts:


Trust

Trust is something that is earned, not given. It takes a significant amount of time and effort to build trust, but it can be lost in a moment.

Transparency is required for trust to exist. Trust is difficult to maintain in a judgemental environment.

If trust exists, communication is forthright and unhampered. Without trust, information is withheld.

Dinner with Lisa

Lasagna (beef and ricotta)
side salad (make balsalmic, get italian)
loaf of bread
make cheesecake
drinks? lemonade, beer, ?

Sunday, 4:30pm...

Halloween Decos

Cover Front porch light
cover driveway lights
graveyard scene with wheel barrow, bones & tombstones
carved pumpkins
orange lights in screened porch and patio
fake candles
spider webs over closed doors
Jack over staircase
hang spiders
GET traveling ghost on wire
JACK-O’-LANTERN LANTERNS Item Number: IN-25/3294
GHOST GARLAND Item Number: IN-3/328
SPIDER AND COBWEB LIGHT-UP LANTERNS Item Number: IN-70/4190
ZULTAN ANIMATED CRYSTAL BALL Item Number: IN-25/5588
PUMPKIN LIGHT SET Item Number: IN-42/117

Halloween Treat Bags

Hieroglyphics Card
Glow Stick/necklace
Egyptian Sudoku
Halloween Jelly Pops - Oriental Trading Item Number: IN-25/2837
HALLOWEEN ACTIVITY SETS Item Number: IN-25/2167
HALLOWEEN COLORING BOOKS Item Number: IN-25/1728
MINI HALLOWEEN YO-YOS Item Number: IN-25/223
6 JACK O LANTERN TOY BAGS Item Number: IN-46/345
6 CANDY CORN TREATS BOXES Item Number: IN-46/343
SUDOKU BOOKS Item Number: IN-43/39018

Halloween Menu

Menu

Hot Dog Mummies
Jack O Lantern Pizza Buns - Gummy Faces - OrientalTrading Item Number: IN-25/3921
Harvest Vegatables

Witch's Brew Punch

Gorp
Candied Apples
Popcorn Balls

Boorthday Cake