Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Flat Mail


Third grade is SO much more interesting now than it was back in the dark age. My daughters class did a Flat Stanley project, and it's been interesting to say the least. If you're not familiar with Flat Stanley, here's a site that explains how these projects work: Flat Stanley Project/


Her flat mail got off to a slow start, but gathered steam quickly. The process is, you mail it out, from there it goes to the next person, and so on... then at the end the packet gets mailed back to the school. After 2 questionable moves, the packet was sent back to the school, and we had to start over again. This time, though, I decided to send/deliver her to each person myself.

She traveled to Chicago IL, Charleston SC, Punta Gorda FL, Cincinnati OH, and Beaumont TX. Then she got to sail from Annapolis to New York City via the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal. No sooner did she return from her sail than she was off to Charlotte NC for the Coca-Cola 600. The jetsetting wasn't supposed to end there, she was supposed to leave for Maine today, but that fell through, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed... she might be heading over to visit with the President later today.

So glad 3rd grade is just about over! I'm pooped!

Friday, May 26, 2006

Parenting can be scary!

Up until now, the worst moment has been when my daughter asked "mommy, how did you have me?" (BTW: I'm sticking with my stork story, so help me out here)

Now I'm terrified about keeping her away from drugs!

As a person who doesn't like to take medications, I finally reached the point today where I HAD to have something to get rid of this sinus headache. Gotta love Virginia during pollen season! I just discovered that I can't walk into CVS and buy ANY product that contains Pseudoephedrine. Apparently this stuff can be used to make methamphetamine. So I start reading up on it... scary stuff! But then again, for me, a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Came across a site designed to help parents learn how to address drug use. The Parent Partnership

I know MY parents never talked to me about drugs, or sex for that matter! I'm sure that's why at 16, with the help of a friend, I DEMOLISHED a fifth of bourbon. Never mind that I was SUPPOSED to be home watching my siblings. Parents came home found me passed out in the bathroom. Punishment? My father dragged me out shopping for the entire next day, dry heaving. I don't believe I touched alcohol again until college.

Fast forward to my most recent cruise, I'm pretty sure I had about 6 beers in a week... more than I've probably had in the past year (with the exception of the day of Buffett concerts)... in Jamaica I absolutely fell in love with Red Stripe beer, so when I got home, I bought a 6 pack (5 are still in the fridge 3 weeks later). My daughter flipped out! Turns out, in her sweet little innocent 9 year old brain, parents who drink shoot their children. Whoa! Not sure where this came from, and while I'm not going to encourage that thought, her obvious fear of drinking might help me out later.

Smoking, don't think I'm going to have to worry there, either. Up until a year and a half ago, when my mother quit smoking, my daughter was constantly on her case to quit. I grew up with a smoker, and have never smoked, so, fingers crossed, she won't either.

That just leaves drugs, and sex, but since her classmates go around telling each other that kissing makes babies... I think I'm okay for a bit on that too! (Gotta love Catholic schools).

Drugs, can't use the "I didn't do them, so don't you either" approach, so I'm left with thinking about just keeping her so busy she doesn't have time for friends? Not going to work is it? For the time being, since she's a competitive figure skater, most of her free time is spent at the ice rink, and I've seen no evidence of drugs being all that commonplace in figure skating, but naive me, could be COMPLETELY off base here.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Technology and stuff

As one who struggled with Typing in junior high, I've never given much thought to the keyboard. Apparently there are some people who have.

QWERTY

Until today I had never heard the keyboard called a QUERTY keyboard. Obviously, where have I been?

One thing I do know a bit about is carpal tunnel, you know, from all those years of LEARNING to type. This was interesting to read Carpal Tunnel ,I found out it's not time to call a doctor, just yet.

Saw an interesting bumper sticker today: Vote Democrat, it's easier than thinking.

And then on a sporty red corvette, the tags read: B4TAXES

Both gave me a good laugh.