Snowmaggedon, Snowpocalypse, Snotopia, Sno My God Can We Stop Already? · Feb 5, 23:40
I thought I’d post to let everyone know it’s snowing here. No, don’t thank me, two people who live on Pluto who haven’t spent the last 48 hours obsessing about the snow.
People in glass houses you know….. I am obsessing too. It’s super fun and definitely not the norm. I can’t stop hoping we get 3 feet, or more, how fun!
I keep thinking how we’re really not that different from our ancestors. Are we really that different from the Incas praying to Illapu for rain? Is refreshing the weather.com page less of a ritual, less faithful, less of a desperate human wish to control what we cannot?
We have a sturdy house, a fireplace, plenty of wood, plenty of food and we like most of the Eastern seaboard will be almost certainly be just fine. We’ll be more than fine; we’ll have fun, we’ll sled, we’ll miss entirely the catastrophe it could be were it not for those few saving graces I mentioned. But being outside just now, even for a few minutes, made me realize that save my modern conveniences, we don’t control the weather at all. When it comes to hurricanes and blizzards and thunderstorms and tsunamis and earthquakes and tornadoes, we’re at the mercy of same Gods as a thousand years ago.
It makes me feel ancient and precious and a bit put in my place.
— LCM
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Taxis to Airplanes · Jan 16, 13:18
This is a conversation Champe and I had this morning. It’s pretty typical of our conversations, so I thought I’d record one for posterity.
Scene: Sitting in the parking lot at Providence Rec center waiting for Todd and Caden. After swimming class.
Champe: What’s that police-y looking car doing?
Me: You mean the yellow car?
Champe: Yes
Me: That’s a taxi cab. Remember you rode in one in New York.
Champe: What’s a taxi cab.
Me: They pick you up and drive you places and you pay them money. They are more common in big cities like NY. DC has them, but not as many as NY, because there lots of people don’t even have a car and it’s too crowded. And some places don’t have hardly any taxis
Champe: Tell me a place that doesn’t have hardly any taxis.
Me: Wyoming
Champe: Tell me another place.
Me: a small town in Mississippi
Champe: Tell me another place.
Me: West Virginia.
Champe: Tell me another place.
Me: Africa. Well South Africa would, but lots of countries wouldn’t have any.
Champe: Yeah ‘cause they just have penguins and polar bears there.
Me: You’re thinking of Antarctica, not Africa. And yes, Antarctica is one place where there are no taxis at all.
Champe: Yeah cause they don’t have trains or cars or people or anything there. They don’t have snow or dirt.
Me: They have snow. That’s the one thing they have.
Champe: What about dirt?
Me: (trying to remember 8th grade Earth Science) Ummm, I’m not exactly sure if there is dirt or not under the ice and snow.
Champe: Well you should go there and dig a hole to see.
Me: I don’t like the cold that much, I don’t want to go.
Champe: Well what if you wore 2 snowsuits, 50 gloves, 60 hats, and one hundred thousand socks and one pair of boots.
Me:Yeah it’s not really worth it to me to do that. I’d rather someone else go to Antarctica to see if there is dirt.
Champe: OK, I’ll go, but I need to take a grown up with me.
Champe: To watch me.
Champe: Um, but what about polar bears? Are they nice or mean?
Me: I don’t know; I’ve never met one.
Champe: Well, we’ll see. If the polar bears are bad, we have to run away fast. We better keep an airplane right there that we can jump into if the polar bears are bad.
Champe: And I’ll bring a cup with me, in case I am able to dig up some dirt.
— LCM
Talking Stuff · Jan 4, 12:03
My friend Jill and I amuse ourselves by talking about absolutely nothing almost every morning during our respective commutes (she to work and me returning home after dropping kids off at school). This morning she called a bit earlier than usual so I still had Champe in the car.
We immediately launched into 5 or 6 different simultaneous subjects (possible sighting of a creepy man, website launch slated for today, first day back to school, hard or not for our kids? etc etc).
When I pulled into the school driveway about 3 minutes later, Champe said, “Whew, I’m glad we’re here finally so I don’t have to listen to all that talking stuff!”
We’re pretty positive our husbands feel the same way.
— LCM
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Procrastination · Dec 3, 11:39
I have a very important deadline that I am focusing on, and I was almost going to have to STAY FOCUSED, when all of a sudden, thank goodness, I thought of THIS:
My gift wish list. I’m sure Todd many of you are pondering what to get me for the holidays. Here is a handy list.
Pie. Thingies.
A Cutting Thing.
And, I know it’s cheesy, but I really want one of these.
I will add to this more next time I am in danger of being productive.
— LCM
Meme · Nov 30, 22:03
I am self-tagging myself for a meme. Five things you want your children to know by the time they grow up.
1. Stolen from my very smart Dad. “The only person you have to live with for the rest of your life is yourself.” Dad always encouraged me to make decisions that I could live with. He almost always let me make my own mistakes, and boy was I good at that! But I do think it’s important for every person to realize that you’re not obligated to please a bunch of other people. But you are a much happier camper if you’re not living with oodles of regrets and disappointment in yourself – so thinking carefully about whether you want to live with your choices is a smart way to live.
2. Kindness is a very good thing. When people ask me what I want my kids to be when they grow up, I say “kind.” This is good to consider in tandem with number one; meaning number one is not an excuse to be an ass who’s not worried about anyone but yourself.
3. You are capable, imaginative and self-sufficient. Case in point: Champe played with scissors, toothpicks and string most of the day. With very little supervision. We treat him as capable, teach him what he needs to know (basic safety street smarts) and let him have at it. He had a fabulous day and I got a lot of fireside reading done.
4. Cherish and nuture and feed your relationships. Your friendships, your loves, your family, your MOM – these are probably going to be the fabric of your life. I heard a speaker once talk about climbing Everest and how on the training mountain they had to sleep on the sheer face of the mountain, hung in a hammock suspended from pylons they hammered in. He emphasized how much time they spent hammering each pylon in, how careful, how attentive, how they double checked, and they he suggested that you think about what your real life pylons are and do you spend as much time on them? And if not shouldn’t you? The people you love, they are those pylons.
5. Be a life long learner. When you start every day with interest and enthusiasm, it’s much more fun. School, projects, vacations, conversations: all are more interesting when you have intellectual curiosity.
I’d like to hear what some other friends or other lurkers think. Jill, Jen, Laila, Andy, Kirstin, Karen, Antoinette??? Who wants to participate? Link back to your blog in the comments if you want. Or write your five things in my comments if you want to.
— LCM
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1 of 17 trillion · Oct 23, 14:00
I am such a lax blogger that I have AT LEAST 17 trillion things I HAVEN’T blogged about that I want to. And each day that I let pass, the task becomes more and more insurmountable. How many new pyschological illnesses will we see from blogging, etc? Obviously online addiction, but how about blogaholism, or post traumatic blogging syndrome, or attention deficit blogging, or infrequent posting disorder, the one I currently suffer from?
— LCM
Motherhood Permanently Ruins You · Aug 18, 17:07
I am incapable of reading any news. Really. If that news involves any sort of pain, seperation or death, and any of the people involved are parents, children or, God forbid, babies, I am visibly upset, and often weep copiously. Then, I inexplicably google to find more dire details about said news story, followed by more weeping.
Seriously, you know you have a problem when even this article stops you dead in your tracks, and renders you incapable of working because all you can do is think about that baby and his mom.
— LCM
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Random and Entirely Unrelated to the Normal Topics of this Blog · Apr 7, 11:19
Posted on my freecycle list today:
Offer: Leonardo DaVinci action figure (Petworth)
Posted by: XXXXX
Mon Apr 7, 2008 7:32 am (PDT)
Slightly dusty, but still new in box. Comes with paintbrush, easel and frame with removable paintings. Thanks!
Is it just me or do “Leonardo DaVinci” and “action figure” seem like oxymorons to anyone else?
— LCM
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Meme Schmeme · Apr 4, 12:28
A while ago, a friend tagged me for a meme. Talk about paralysis! This is the same friend who taught me the expression, “Sometimes I let the best be the enemy of the good.” !!!
So here I sit, supposed to come up with a favorite quote. Sure, I could take some liberties and post two or three. But two or three won’t really help me. Perhaps if I could share two or three thousand???
Anyone who knows me, knows that words are my drug of choice. And like any good addict, I am wont to choose favorites. The authors, lyricists, poets, friends whose words inspire me include: Denise Levertov, Sting, Shakespeare, Catherine Newman, Stephen King, and his wife, Tabitha King, Paul Simon, Journey, Pink Floyd, Barbara Kingsolver, Robert Frost, Confucius, Meryl Streep’s character, Susanne Vale, in Postcards from the Edge, Tony Soprano, bloggers aplenty, Richard Bach, Dolly Parton, Karen Carpenter Pilcher, Claire Sproul, Kevin Moran, my son, Champe, and my dad, Joe Champe.
Need I mention that I could go on? And on. And on.
So what’s a girl to do? I want to play, but it’s like asking me to pick a favorite kid, and I only have two of those. Ah ha – I just thought of something! Kinda like the same friend who sent the meme originally has decided to post once a day, I will try to add a quote I like (no favorites) to my header every day. Oh, the traffic this will inspire!!! I bet 4-6 people will religiously check every day! Google ad revenue will begin flowing in!!
— LCM
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Woof · Apr 1, 12:16
Definition: A “woof” is when you make a classic “goof” when ordering on woot. (I just coined this new word moments ago.) For example, a “woof” would be if, after months and months of trying to get a BOC (bag of crap), you finally, finally got through on the servers and accidentally ordered only one piece of crap, not three.
Then you would get this email:
Thank you for your purchase.
Your order number 23226789 for 1 Random Crap has been received by Woot on 4/1/2008 and your credit card has been charged $6.00. Your order will typically ship within 5 business days.
That’s just an example of a woof. It’s not something that happened to anyone (who happens to be an exhausted, night nursing mom who also owns her own business) that we know.
— LCM
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