Bored

Oh my goodness I'm dying of boredom here. I think everyone on earth is already gone for the Memorial Day holiday. The office is dead, I've read all the blogs I normally haunt, I have nothing to do, someone... anyone... please... entertain me!!!

I've made a list of things to do tomorrow, because if I do them all now, tomorrow will be a complete and utter waste in the office.

I'm going to knock one more thing off my list... then I'm going to go run 3 miles. Because I can do that at work. hee hee!

Bad year for losing current and former neighbors...

I've lost another current and another former neighbor.

Dr. John Jackson was an amazing man. We only lived in his neighborhood for 4 years, but he was quite possibly one of the nicest most intelligent people I've ever met. Please read this wonderful obituary that appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this morning. He has quite an amazing story. We lived three houses south of him. If we would run into him out in the yard, he would always ask us to play with Alex outside more, because he loved seeing him. He passed away last week.

We lost another current neighbor, Ken Verduin, in December. He was also a wonderful, kind man. He had been in failing health for awhile, and he died exactly the way he wanted to... at home.

Of course, I blogged extensively about losing my childhood neighbor and another amazing person, Lolita Junk. Even months after her death, the tributes to this wonderful woman keep coming in our hometown.

And another former neighbor passed away just monday. Geri Reynolds lived across the street from us. She was an education reporter for the Galesburg Register-Mail for the entire time that I lived there. My senior year of high school I was the student representative to the school board. I got to know Geri at those meetings, discussing where I wanted to go to college and what I wanted to do for a career. I really picked her brain about what it was like being a reporter. She encouraged me to go to a small college (as she did)... saying I could be a big fish in a little pond. But she clearly didn't know me very well. I wanted to be a medium sized fish in a huge pond. Her other advice on writing and getting involved with the college paper or magazine was all heeded.

All this death makes me sad, but looking back, I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have had such wonderful, interesting, and accomplished neighbors everywhere I've lived.

Mom-isms

You catch yourself saying them... things your own mom used to say. Admit it!
Every now and then there's one of those phrases that jumps out of your mouth before you can stop it and you sound just like your own mom did.

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!"
"Don't you sass me!"
"You don't have to like me, but you do have to love me."
"Eat your dinner so you can grow big and strong."

Those are a just couple from my own dear mother that stick out in my over-tired, over-worked mind. But lately there's a couple that I've said that I'm CERTAIN my own mom never uttered.

"I'm not going away. You're stuck with me."
"We don't punch people. EVER."
"Stop hitting the dog with your bat. If she bites you it's your own fault."
"No rocks in the house. Leave them in the garden."

Rediscovering Writing

I was one of those kids who loved to write. Growing up, I wrote letter, poems, short stories, lists, you name it. I loved the feeling of filling up a page with my thoughts and ideas. I majored in English and Journalism in college, so I carried on that love of writing into my university life. I wrote many long papers for my English courses, but found that my two majors conflicted when it came to writing style. My English professors couldn't understand why my sentences and papers tended to be short and somewhat choppy. My Journalism professors couldn't understand why I enjoyed long, run-on sentences full of flowery descriptions. So I had to explain to each one about my other major. "Ah, that explains it," was the most common response. I had to work very hard to let my English major side come out in the appropriate papers, and to stick to just the facts for my Journalism reports.

After college, I got a job as a producer at TV station, where I was able to continue writing. After 10 years of writing dumbed down versions of news reports (the reasoning for this is Americans have short attention spans, so you have to cram as many facts as you can into 15-20 second blurbs. You get more time if you use a soundbite (45 seconds), or a whole 1:00-1:20 if you're writing a package. So my writing suffered miserably as a result. Oh, in TV terms I was pretty good. And I could write stories fast, too. But now that I'm out of the world of short, punchy TV writing, I realize how much my writing needs to be improved. I'm reading a book right now that I think is really well written, an example of the kind of writing I would like to do. It's called "Love Walked In" by Marisa de los Santos. It's a book club book and I usually make it a policy not to discuss books before the actual meeting, so I'll avoid plot lines. But I'm telling you, the descriptions in this book are just spectacular.

So I'm going to work on being more descriptive in my blog posts and in my other writing. I'm warning all you readers now, so don't be surprised if some of my posts seem a little over the top.
My writing is a work in progress and I just want it to get better! Wish me luck!

Spring is finally here!

The tulips are nearly bloomed out, our hostas are starting to pop through the ground. We've had to mow the lawn and everything is turning green or sprouting flowers.

After a long brutal winter, spring is finally here! The weather today is supposed to be sunny... not sure how warm it will get... but the upper 60s yesterday felt like summer. It's weird how your body adjusts to the climate in which you live. It was maybe 67 degrees yesterday Downtown, and after my workout (I ran 2.25 miles!!) I just left my shorts and t-shirt. 67 degrees and I'm wearing shorts. But such is life in Wisconsin!

I'm going to try to finish a book today so I can get started on my next book club selection, spend a little time outside with Alex, and try to get even farther with my Busia blanket (Busia is what we call my grandma. She's Polish.)

Speaking of Alex... here's a picture of him in some fantastic boots after my friend Tony's boys. Alex LOVES his boots! He also loves working outside, so these are great for mucking around outside.

I didn't need to discover this...

Yet another addictive site has been discovered, thanks to Therese. This one is for organizing your knitting and crocheting projects. It's called ravelry. And it's so popular there is a waiting list to join. I applied for a login, and about two weeks later, I was finally in.

It's really cool. You set up a profile, enter your projects. It's pretty neat. Exactly what I need... another place to waste time online. Sorry Craig and Alex! Mommy's plugged in to her sites right now! Here is a photo of my most recent project, Busia's Blanket. I'm hustling to get it done for my grandma's 90th birthday at the end of the month. I'm running out of time!!!

Reading vs. Yarn Crafts

Therese brought up an interesting dilemma at our last meeting. She has trouble figuring out what to do with her "me time." It's a toss up for her between reading and crocheting.

I actually had this inner debate with myself the other night. Craig was finishing up the dishes, Alex was safely snuggled up in bed, and we were getting ready to watch our Thursday night shows that we had DVRd. I want to finish the book I'm currently reading so I can start on my next book club read, but I also really want to work on the blanket I'm making for my grandma. I can't read and watch TV, so I went with crocheting. I think it was a great choice in the end. I got three more rows done on her blanket, which needs to be finished by Memorial Day weekend. It's a present for her 90th birthday. All of us kids are going to try to make it down to visit with her. I can't wait. I know she's going to love it!

I guess I'm lucky in a lot of ways. I have a great husband who encourages me to take time for myself. I have two hobbies that I love, crocheting/knitting and reading. And I have an adorable little boy who goes to bed early enough for me to indulge in a little me time.
Life is good!