Friday, November 21, 2008

Friday Fill-In

1. The last band I saw live was: Jesse Winch, his talented brother, and another really good Irish-music musician, at a fundraiser where Pat Garvey also played, and bagpipers, I should look up which group.

2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is it being over (albeit, I'm thankful for E and his family welcoming me so; M will be away, maybe I'll see her in her running race, however).

3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is postponed, per usual, until the paycheck closest to Christmas, most likely, with some of it in the after-Christmas sales, really, as sigh, M's not with me this year.

4. Thoughts of Oireachtas practice schedules and related details fill my head.

5. I wish I could wear a bikini again (not since I was 42 oh well sigh).

6. Bagpipes are awesome, sometimes haunting, sometimes celebratory, the large kind or the small kind, uillean pipes I *think* those are called. Oh, yeah, and best when played by guys with kilts on ;)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to no set plans yeah, tomorrow my plans include a ceili that E and I will take two of his grandsons to, and Sunday, I want to see M's half-sister, Si, in her play but who knows if I'll be able to or not!

This is the post with the original inspiration for Friday Fill-In's: http://fridayfillins.blogspot.com/ but I found it on CW@sMom's blog here:
http://cw2smom-wearinmyheartonmysleeve.blogspot.com/2008/11/friday-fill-ins.html

Faith Factor

Faith Factor, live on tour in Germany, November 2008, with the song, Deliver Us From Evil. Look for their cd, Against the Darkened Sky, at http://www.Target.com

Go to this link here for the video (ah, it'll be loud): YouTube - Faith Factor - Deliver Us From Evil (live '08)

Or, http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNFW_Oqaaqw

Trying again to imbed this:

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

She kicked (her) butt.

"Irish dancers kick butt." It's not just a bumpersticker; it's the truth. Usually, it's a good thing when Irish stepdancers kick their butts. The aim of most good Irish stepdancers it to literally kick their behinds while executing certain dance steps.

(Some Irish ceil and set dancers may kick rather high, most don't but some do, and some dancers do both styles of Irish dancing, but for the most part, kicking ones backside is NOT a goal nor aim for most of us ceili / set dancers. Thankfully!)

Last night, OHBoy was told that he needed to kick his, hmm, feet, heels, ?, up higher, at his butt, not down low, when he does a particular turn in his dance. I'm sure that there's a fancy name for it.

The other week, I was watching the dance class that my daughter, M, assists in. One of her friends was wearing a long, yellow t-shirt over her shorts. there was a greyish-black mark on the back of her shirt. Then I notice, that every time she danced certain steps, her hardshoes kicked her backside, and left a mark. Ha, proof to the teacher that this girl really was kicking her butt!

So, of course, M kicks her feet up behind her, and hits her backside. Except last night, somehow, M kicked herself right in the center on her tailbone. In her hardshoes. The tip of her hardshoes smacked her tailbone.

E called me as M and I were coming home. We commented on how wicked cold it had gotten suddenly (19F where he was traveling, and 29F at home, to drop more as night wore on), and how warm Florida sounds. "Of course, but how come you're comparing this to Florida?" I had to remind him, "The Oireachtas is in Florida this year."

Anyway, "How'd practice go?" "Oh, good, well, except that M kicked her tailbone." E, laughing, "I can see how that could happen." M looked over at me, trying to move herself up and out of the car, wincing, "OWWW!"

M told me this a.m. that normally she'd just see how it goes, but "with Oireachtas 3 weeks away...." Her face showed enough worry, that I didn't correct her, that the SRO is really just over 2 weeks away now. She can walk, but she's still in pain this morning, and poor kid, she'd really hoped to get her in to see the doctor today. Tomorrow is the first orthopaedic appointment I could get for her. This is with the same wonderful doctor she was referred to when she kicked her own ankle, and bruised her ankle bone. I didn't even know a person could bruise a bone. The doctor estimated 3 months to heal, no restrictions but DO keep it protected from further kicks. Yeah, it should be done healing in time for the Oireachtas, if she didn't kick it again Monday evening, "just" doing drills so she hadn't put on her protective brace yet. And now, potentially bruising a tail bone. Agh.

No more horseback riding for a while, M.

UPDATE: The bone is actually bruised. It hurts her a bit less, she's to try to avoid things that aggravate it (like sitting on hard chairs, um, 6 hours in school 5 days a week), and she can ice it after activity such as dancing. Oh, and he was happy I'd canceled her riding lessons for several weeks. Hopefully, she won't be too much more sore after a dance rehearsal this evening, but somehow, unless she re-kicks it in that incorrect spot, I think she'll be fine. Ouch!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Tagged, part two (I'm real, really)

Thanks, Sheria, for honoring me with the "Let them eat cake" Marie Antionette, a Real person, a Real award, award. Wow, very cool, and I love the great company. The Examined Life: Thank You, Indigo

Here are the Rules for the Award:

1. Please put the logo on your blog (I tried, really. My computer wouldn't allow that.)

2. Place a link to the person from whom you received the award

3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs

4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog

5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them.

The hardest things are copying over that photo/visual, and chosing (new) people! So, pretend I copied over the photo, kay? My pc won't let me do that.

Ah, I love highlighting others -- so -- great writers who are oh so real, include:

Merujo, a fellow Montgomery Countian with so much inside of her: Church of the Big Sky ;

Fred (because this doesn't have to be just women, does it?) -- catch his new blog on blogger and fascinating stories here: Drunk in the Shadows of Reflections;

Emily who seems to be re-emerging and re-creating her identity, while has likely always been a great writer: Two Write Hands (and two left feet);

Helen, another intelligent single mom, career woman, trying to do it all with an ailing parent to boot (okay, so I like to think of myself as intelligent, amuse me by agreeing, thanks): Life, thoughts. Yeah, life thoughts.;

Winievere who is about as real and warm and positive as they come, with great tags, too: Woman in the Glass Box;

Dan, yep another man, who lends his camera lens and random amusings from the mid-west, to help make it through the day, The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind (he's busy working on his blog, so go bug him and make him work ha);

my dear friend, Amy, yet another intelligent single mom, career woman, trying to do it all with three young boys, including a quite differently abled kid (not sure if hers is private?), talk about real, Odd Mom Out.

This went quickly -- I reserve the right to add more later -- Rebecca and Indigo and Sheria have been bestowed already, where did I put Lisa's blog link, Kathi's, Guido's, oh heck.....?, etc. Yes, I am enjoying this continued and evolving blogging / journaling community, even while I miss a few. Thanks for the prod, and nomination, Sheria.

also Tagged, part one

I needed a push of motivation myself, so am taking Emily up on her "anyone who wishes to be tagged, is," meme. Two Write Hands (and two left feet): Tagged. Hey, I can come up with random thoughts with the best of them (you can stop laughing and nodding now).

1) The frost this morning looked quite feathery, like feathered paisley etchings, on some of the cars. Adding -- it's snowing, it's snowing! Okay, flurries, but that counts.

2) I have to get a note to M's school, by today, saying she was sick last week and hence please excuse her for being "tardy" one day. She was sick last week, but more so the week previous, and enough to have her struggling to stay on top of all that blasted homework, but that's not why she was late. Her dad got her there late, again; she was in tears telling me. Argh. Too many times, and it's an excused absence which leads to "loss of credit." She can't lose credit because of him getting her there late, so I'll say, "M was sick on date x. Please excuse her for being late to school." They can imply that the two sentences correlate if they so desire. I dislike lying. I dislike her being penalized for something out of her control, more. Adding -- I blogged and hence didn't get to her school dagnabbit.

3) My latest favorite song is Plain White T's, One thing I need, To do, Three little words, For you, I love you (one, two, three, four). It's perceived simplicity is a bit Beatlesque, sans when PWT's harmonizes as I don't recall the Beatle's ever doing barbershop. I hope I'm as delighted with this song 6, 8, 12 months from now and not sick of it.

4) Off and on, I consider making my boyfriend, E, a cd of songs I think of him when I hear. I have a couple definite's I'd include, and some I don't think are a style he'd like. I'm not quite sure how to go about making one, and debated enlisting help from his one daughter, but I'm thinking she'd think it weird and icky to know the romantic love songs her dad's girlfriend wanted to give to her dad.

5) I'm not actually farsighted. My eyesight is changing, but not sufficiently to read logos on planes, usually. I can't read the big signs on the aisles in grocery stores if they're hung in the middle of the aisle, and not on the ends (even with my eyeglasses on). I didn't write that entry very clearly, apparently. No airplane of that size has ever been that low to the ground above my buildings that I've seen.

6) I'm starting to enjoy this new version of blogging community. So, thanks, Emily, and, thanks to Sheria for my next entry..... and Kathi for my next to next entry when I get that far. And, did I mention -- it's SNOWING!

Friday, November 7, 2008

if I can read the logo, is that plane too close?

How come I can't read the bottle of pain reliever, but I can read the logo on the airplane?

Yeah, I know I'm middle-aged now, even turned another year older this week (I teased E that now I'm only 14 years younger than he is -- he knows, finally, that I don't care about that).

Yes, I have bifocals on order. They've been waiting until I have the additional $166. to pick them up, while my DD has her various needed medical appointments (okay, and I did have a couple). Yes, my current eyeglass prescription is actually fairly close. Yes, I'm keeping the same frames, as it's cheaper and they're a bit wide but otherwise good. Sigh, even if I've had a few people remark how similar they are to a particular Alaskan governor's eyewear.

I can't see a clock on the bedside table unless the numbers are of sufficient size, i.e., large. I keep my cell phone handy, and use that to check the time (and, as an alarm. Someday I'll figure out how to use it as an Mp3 player, too, which it also is).

I can, normally, until this week, read most anything if it's close enough to my face. WithOUT eyeglasses even. I may require more lighting then I cared about in my younger days of say, my 30's. I just retested, yep, get it in my face and I can read anything legible in a language I know. Most of my life, since elementary school, I've been nearsighted.

So, how come even with my glasses on, I cannot quite read much of anything on the bottle of Aleve that E gave me. (I'm out of ibuprofen, and sick. Again. Okay, more like chronically sick but it's swung to worse levels again. Taking ibuprofen has really helped my pains and fever so I can sleep.) I'm not sure if it's the tiny print, the bright blue on white contrast with a sloping (curved bottle) label, or what. I took just one last night, and none yet today because I just can't tell, i.e., fully read the information. I just tried it again, nope. Is it the bright flourescent lighting, or the itsy-bitsy print? (Thankfully, the bottle is openable. I used to hand over my "childproof" capped bottles to my then young daughter, for her to open easily for me whenever I couldn't, and I usually couldn't. We both struggled recently over a Scope travel-size bottle.) Adding: later today, it was easier, somehow. But on the front where it says noproxen sodium, has got to be some of the tiniest font I've seen. Isn't this bit of information important? I thought Aleve was ibuprofen; obviously, it's not. Only as it said "strength to last all day," did I decide one might be enough. That font's legible (and larger). Oy. (I'm buying ibuprofen again, today!)

So on this gorgeous fall day, just brisk enough to feel really good on my warm skin this morning, I was walking Daisy. The leaves brilliant and coloring the grass, the air still a bit moist from recent rains, the plane shining a bit pink in the early light. Wait, how come I can see this plane so well. Hmmm, it's a FedEx plane, an orange and purple logo, etc. I can read this fairly easily albeit it was partially as I recognized the logo, partially as I could make out the letters. Daisy stayed sniffing about, certainly gathering information as to which dog had done what where, and if rabbits or deer or Joshua the cat had wandered by. I thought of the dawning sun tinting things rose-colored while watching this airplane fly slowly by.

Wait. How come I can read that? It's THIS close to me?! Slowly by at a very low, way too low, altitude for where it likely came from.

It'd be nice, but I know my eyesight isn't getting quite THAT good. At one point in my life, apparently shortly before the need for bifocals, ones eyesight can improve before switching again..... I just know I've hit 47 years old, the same age as our President-elect, Senator Barack Obama. I never see him wearing eyeglasses. Hmmm.

FYI -- it could reach 74 F degrees today, here. I pity South Dakota, with over 4 feet of snow and high winds (I heard 60 mph, the mail courier heard up to 100 mph wind). Then mail courier and I got discussing the pros and cons of snow. I don't want it YET, but I do love it.