Hide and Go Seek

Do you have a place where you go to hide from others in your household?
One of my favorite places to hide is the bathroom. It wasn’t always such a great place, but then I had children… and sometimes it was the only place I could be alone. (True,  sometimes even that didn’t work, but they outgrew that stage pretty quickly.)  By the time I had 4 little boys crawling and walking about the house, I had firmly established the bathroom (preferably my own bathroom) as a place of refuge.  I would excuse myself from the noisy, messy kitchen table on the pretense of needing to use the toilet, but what I really needed was a Rest Room. Perhaps I would bring along a book or a catalog, but mostly I wanted the peace and quiet. If I was really lucky, my husband would bathe all of the children and get them into pajamas before finding me.  🙂      Not that I was fooling him; he knew what I needed by 7 o’clock in the evening — a break!

Now that the kids are older and no one needs hands-on help with evening routine, I still take the time to hide to rest.  (My husband does this, too, but his rest room is down in the basement with a video game controller in hand.) I find a quiet room where I can read and not be bothered by requests, a place where I can ignore the dirty dishes in the sink and the burnt-on spills on the stove top.  I’m pretty sure that the kitchen fairies are not paying a visit in my absence, but for some reason I really need the time away from the mess for just a little while.

I try to keep a stash of reading material handy for a quick getaway. Sometimes I grab the latest book I am reading for book club, sometimes I take an interesting catalog that arrived in the daily mail. Recently I have been picking up a magazine that miraculously appeared in our house, with no tell-tale signs of its origins. It’s called AFAR: where travel can take you and it has been called America’s best travel magazine.  I am now dreaming of spending a week in the Lower Engadine region of Switzerland and visiting the Matakana Coast of New Zealand. I haven’t yet read the section on Tiawan, but I suspect it will be added to my wish list of places to visit and experience.

Where do you go to hide from others in your household? (Or if you don’t do that now, where did you go to hide from them… because I suspect that you’ve done it, too!)

What reading material do you keep on hand for your escape?

Iced Super Cookies

This is what the roads looked like at 11 o’clock this morning…

I had to drive slowly, keeping plenty of space around  my car due to flying platters of ice randomly flying off the roofs of other vehicles.
[side note: I love parking in the garage. No scraping necessary.]
The chunks of ice splintered spectacularly when they hit the ground.

But at least that gave me plenty of time to listen to NPR and learn how smart-phone apps are gathering plenty of information on other people. I say other people, because I don’t have a smart phone.  (I consider myself lucky to even have limited texting capabilities. Hello, I’m Kcinnova and I live in the 20th century.) But if I ever do get a smart phone, I think I’m going to name it “Big Brother.”

Yes, your apps are watching you. Not a big deal, really — just gathering information such as your user password, contacts, age, gender, location, phone ID, and phone number.  The tracking device has been referred to as “super cookies.”  According to the Wall Street Journal, “These phones don’t keep secrets. They are sharing this personal data widely and regularly.”  Just one more reason to believe that you can’t have your cake and eat it, too keep your cookies to yourself.

So what do you think? Do you have a smart phone? Does this concern you, or is it more of a “meh” reaction in today’s world of uber-shared information?

Poetic Thanksgiving

There is a critter
(thankfully, it’s not a skunk)
hiding ‘neath the shed.

Can you guess what it is?

8 questions

 

Melli, Ella, and me

 

I was over at Melli‘s blog and saw that she had written 8 questions, just for the taking. 😛  She will be surprised, perhaps, to discover that I am one of those folks who hadn’t seen the 8-question meme and was thrilled to be given 8 questions!  Of course, it took me a while to get on the ball and answer them…

So on the off chance that one of you might NOT have been tagged with this already and might actually be wishing that someone would give you 8 questions… (yea… right!) … here they are… JUST for you!

1. If you could do ONE thing, anything… big or little… to make the world a better place, what would it be? And why?
I’d like to have everyone spend a day in his or her enemy’s shoes (figuratively speaking). Perhaps then, people would have more compassion for one another instead of being so quick to judge or hate.

2. If you had to survive a natural disaster, which kind would you choose?
I’ve “missed out” on experiencing the effects of 2 natural disasters: the Nisqually Quake of 2001 and the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980. I was living in Washington State 30 years ago, but all I heard and felt was a great big BOOM at 8:32am on May 18th. Many folks were covered by a foot of the powdery gray fallout, but we only received a dusting of the ash. And in 2001, I was living in Texas and only heard about the earthquake from my Seattle relatives. Given a choice between the 2, I’d take the earthquake.

3. What do you think is the MOST amazing thing about the human brain?
Well… I don’t know that it is the MOST amazing thing, but I find it pretty amazing that there are so many functions taking place in our bodies that we don’t have to THINK about in order to do –breathing comes to mind here– and yet our super-computer brain keeps those functions running.

4. If Crayola asked you to name THIS COLOR, what would you call it? Please don’t say orange. Be creative!
That color would definitely be called PUMPKIN!

5. What is the longest you’ve ever procrastinated doing something and what is that something?
Oh, so many things! I am an A-1 procrastinator. Right now I’ve got a growing pile of shirts that need ironing. The last time I finally ironed, I discovered that my kids had outgrown 2 of the shirts while I ignored the chore! Lame–I know.

6. If Jesus were coming to your house for dinner tonight, would you be more concerned about what to feed Him, how clean the house is, or what you were going to wear?
I’m lucky that dinner is already planned for tonight, so I suppose I’d be a little panicked about the cleanliness factor. I don’t think I would worry about what I’m wearing. I would, however, be concerned that he might catch the upper respiratory virus I seem to have picked up. [cough, hack, blow nose, repeat]

7. What WOULD you feed Him?
Tonight’s dinner is slated to be homemade lasagna,  and since that qualifies as company fare, I would definitely keep it on the menu! We’re also having homemade bread (bread machine) and a salad, plus apple crisp for dessert.

8. If I gave you $5 to use to make a stranger smile, what would you do with it?
Hmmmm…. buying a coffee for the person in line behind me at Starbucks would be a great idea, if I ever went to Starbucks… and it would be awesome to buy a homeless person a meal at McDonalds or something like that, but in my remote-ish area, that’s not likely to happen either… so maybe I would buy a bunch of flowers and give them to someone who looks “down.” Then I’d smile and say, “God loves you, and I hope you have a blessed day!”

In which I turn into a housecat

It happened when I was talking with my 11-year-old about things he hoped to someday see or do. I reached into my brain for an example and… came up with nothing. Not only was I lacking a list, I couldn’t even find the bucket!

Am I destined for a life of contented napping, purring, and walking in and out of the house countless times a day?
Or can you all help me with some ideas from your own bucket lists?

Musical Monday: fitting in

Subdivisions

Did you feel outcast as a teen?
Part of the “in” crowd?
Or somewhere on the fringes?

What makes you happy?

At 2:28 AM on Tuesday, a single cicada began creating a raucous symphony, which went on for a full 7 minutes. It woke my husband, but I wasn’t sleeping anyhow — it was 72 degrees (22C) with the  dew-point at 71°F — weather-wise, not my ideal sleeping temperature. A couple of rain showers came through here last night (well, not HERE on the blog 😉 )  and I’ve got some very happy flowers and plants this morning.

To jump-start your thoughts, click here.

Christmas Meme

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
I’m a sucker for egg nog. I might be an egg nog-aholic (and I’m talking about the kind you get at the grocery store, the NON-alcoholic kind)!
Just thinking about it and writing about it makes me want some RIGHT NOW.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa puts little gifts in stockings. Family & friends wrap presents and place them under the tree.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
We are totally mish-mash around here.  Outside we have some colored lights and some white lights, and the same goes for the tree… although I didn’t really plan it that way for the tree…

Last year I had only white lights on the tree and the kids begged for colored for this year –but we only had about 200 working colored lights left. I’m hoping to go to all LED bulbs, but I’m waiting to purchase them AFTER Christmas when they are half price (they’d better be!!) because they are so darned expensive right now.
S000, I carefully put about 500 white lights on the tree and then let the boys add the colored lights, too.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope. Never have. I don’t even know that I’ve ever been kissed under the mistletoe! We had a fake mistletoe ball when I was a kid, with a little elf hanging off the top of it.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
It happens in stages, usually in early December, but this year we got started on the day after Thanksgiving.  It’s still not complete.  I know, I’m running out of time! 😛

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
It might just be homemade cranberry-orange relish! Or maybe it’s homemade Stollen.  Can I just say Egg Nog? 😛

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
One year, when money was particularly tight, we had a “homemade” Christmas. It was pretty easy for us as kids, since we made some of the gifts at school. I’m sure it was a challenge for my parents!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I don’t know exactly when… I think it was an evolving process, but definitely the year we ran out to see what Santa left us and the stockings were hanging empty (!!) and my mom had to send us back to our rooms because “Santa” hadn’t been there yet… and then about 15 minutes later she rang some little bells and told us to check and see if Santa had come… and sure enough, the stockings were full.  But we weren’t fooled!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
When I was a kid, this is when we opened the gifts from grandparents, who lived far away. It was probably so we could be sure to say thank you when we talked to them on the telephone the next morning!
Now we let the kids choose one gift to open on Christmas Eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
We have a varied collection of ornaments — some homemade and some store bought and some from my childhood.
One year I had a tree of my own to decorate, which I did in blue, silver and gold, along with some of my favorite ornaments from Germany.  While it was pretty, it wasn’t as nice as the colorful family tree. I’ve never repeated the experience, and this year the kids did almost all the decorating.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!  I hope we get a big dumping of snow this year, twice!!

12. Can you ice skate?
Bwahahahahaha…. let’s just say that I have been on ice skates before… and that I ice skate better than I roller skate, and I cross-country ski better than I can ice skate.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I don’t recall receiving it, because I was not yet 3 years old, but my childhood dolly was definitely my favorite gift.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Jesus’ birthday

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
My grandmother and mother occasionally would make a “baked Alaska” pie: they would start with a baked crust, then add one by one (freezing in-between layering) luscious layers of pink peppermint candy ice cream and chocolatey-fudge goodness, topped with meringue and baked to a golden brown on top!  Oh, that was a piece of heaven!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I loved having the kids sing happy birthday to Jesus and blowing a candle out for Him, but they’ve outgrown that now. *sniff*
We do have a family Advent wreath, and we enjoy driving around to see which neighborhoods & houses have beautiful lighting displays.

17. What tops your tree?
SuperDad grew up with an angel tree-topper while I grew up with a star on the top of the tree.  Here is proof that the woman gets to choose the tree topper:

18. Which do you prefer: Giving or Receiving?
Definitely giving (although it is pretty special to be on the receiving end when my husband decides it is a “jewelry Christmas”).

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?
I think I OD’ed on candy canes when I was a young teen. One small piece now and I’m done.

20 Favorite Christmas Show?
It’s A Wonderful Life

21. Saddest Christmas Song?
Vince Gill’s song “It Won’t Be The Same This Year”

22. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Oh, I have so many favorites! But the classic “Silent Night” when sung at a candlelight worship service is probably THE favorite one. It’s awfully pretty in the original German, too.

Keep Guessing!! I’m still waiting for a winner…

What is special about today?

The first commenter to correctly tell me why this day is special in my household will win a small package of goodies!

*Of course, if you are the winner, I will need to have your address to mail you a package. But I think I’m pretty trustworthy! 😛